Captain Thomas Silliman, East Feliciana Parish, La.
File prepared and submitted by Claude B. Slaton

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From the Clinton Watchman, Friday, Nov. 11, 1932:

PICTURES OF THE PAST

The Felicianian of Aug. 10, 1838, contains the following death 
notice and obituary:

"Died--in this town, on the evening of the 3rd instant, Captain 
Thomas Silliman. The deceased was born on the 26th day of August, 
1776, in Middlesex County in the state of Connecticut; from whence 
he removed with his family to this parish in 1832. Mr. Silliman 
left his birth place, his parents and many dear relatives and 
friends to seek the reward of virtue and industry in a strange 
and distant state. It should be a consolation to his distant 
relations that the upright and exemplary conduct of Captain 
Silliman for several years here, won for him all the esteem 
and friendship, which he so abundantly enjoyed in his native 
state. He died suddenly of an attack of apoplexy. On Friday 
morning he was apparently well, and before the close of the 
same day he was wrapt in the winding sheet of death. We have 
but seldom seen at a village funeral so many sincere and mourning 
friends unite their sympathies with the melancholy family of a 
deceased parent. The eminent morality of Captain Silliman will 
leave behind him a lasting memory of love, respect and regret 
among the numerous acquaintances who sympathize with a bereaved 
family, for the irreparable loss they have sustained in the 
melancholy death of an affectionate parent and loving husband."

The Silliman family was prominent in Connecticut, as it afterwards 
became prominent in Louisiana. Benjamin Silliman I was a 
contemporary of Thomas Silliman, and quite likely a relative. 
Benjamin Silliman was a noted American chemist, geologist 
and physicist. He graduated Yale College in 1796, being 
afterwards appointed tutor and professor, and became professor 
emeritus in 1853. He founded the American Journal of Science 
and was long its editor. He also published a number of books 
on scientific subjects and travel. He died in 1864. His son, 
Benjamin Silliman II, followed largely in his father's 
footsteps, being graduated from Yale, and occupying for 
many years a professorship in that institution. He also 
published the American Journal of Science and published a 
great many books. He became the first state chemist of 
Connecticut. He died in 1885.

With this background of education and culture it is not 
to be wondered that the Louisiana branch of the family 
should make some effort for the advancement of the cause 
of education. Thomas Silliman, whose death is recorded in 
the opening paragraph of this chapter, did nothing in this 
direction, though he laid the foundation for the fortune, 
a part of which his son, William Silliman, so generously 
devoted to the cause of education of young women. Silliman 
Female College was established in Clinton in 1852, chiefly 
through the benevolence of Mr. William Silliman. In 1886 
he purchased the property to which he donated $20,000. His 
object was, he said, "to give to the public an institution 
of learning to which all may send their children, without 
interfering with the religious prejudices of any." To the 
fund created by Mr. Silliman several thousand dollars was 
added, making Silliman, at one time, the wealthiest college 
in the southwest, and enabled the institution to offer 
superior advantages, both in scope of curriculum and in 
assistance to worthy students. The entire management of 
the college was intrusted to a board of trustees selected
by the presbytery of Louisiana, irrespective of denomination. 
The buildings formerly occupied by the college are of brick, 
large, well arranged, and were erected at a cost of $30,000. 
The college grounds cover an area of twenty acres, shaded 
by magnificent oak, beech and magnolia trees.

The name of the institution was subsequently changed to 
Silliman Collegiate Institute, and in its later days had 
the standing of a junior college. For over seventy-five 
years this institution of learning occupied a prominent 
place among educational institutions of the south, and many 
prominent women of this section acquired their education 
at Silliman. However, conditions change and schools with 
them. Development of the public school system and creation 
of higher institutions of learning under patronage of the 
state formed a combination with which such schools as 
Silliman could not compete, economically, and Silliman 
was closed a few months ago. For a long period, Silliman 
fulfilled an important role in educational circles and the 
faith and benevolence of William Silliman were abundantly 
justified.

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