Rev. Calvin H. French Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1760-1761 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	A photo of Rev. Calvin H. French faces page 1760.


	REV. CALVIN H. FRENCH, A. M., D. D., is a native of the old Buckeye 
state, having been born in Wellsville, Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 
13th of June, 1862, and being a son of Rev. Charles P. and Mary J. 
(Brown) French. His father, after serving as pastor of home mission 
churches in Virginia and spending some time in broken health at his own 
home in Washington county, Pennsylvania, removed to Grand Ridge, LaSalle 
county, Illinois, when the subject was eight years of age. He there 
secured his early educational discipline in the public schools and later 
entered the high school at Streator, that state, where he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1883. He was then matriculated in Lake 
Forest University, in the town of that name, and there completed the 
classical course and was graduated in 1888, with the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts, while his alma mater later conferred upon him the degree of 
Master of Arts. Dr. French early decided to prepare himself for the 
ministry of the Presbyterian church, and in 1888 entered the Union 
Theological Seminary, in New York city, where he completed his divinity 
course, being graduated as a member of the class of 1891 and licensed by 
the presbytery of Chicago in June of that year. In the autumn of the 
same year Dr. French came to South Dakota and was ordained by the pres-
bytery of Southern Dakota and installed as pastor of the Presbyterian 
church at Scotland, Bon Homme county, where he remained until August, 
1898, having also acted as principal of the Scotland Academy, a church 
institution, during the last year of his pastorate. In the year 
mentioned was effected a consolidation of Scotland Academy and Pierre 
University, and the outcome was the founding of Huron College. Upon the 
establishing of the new college Dr. French was made president of the 
same, and he has ever since continued incumbent of this important exec-
utive office, in which his work has been a noble and prolific 
contribution to the educational prestige of the state. In recognition of 
his high intellectual attainments and his prominence as an educator and 
representative member of the clergy of the Presbyterian church, the 
Wooster University, at Wooster, Ohio, conferred upon him, in 1901, the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. In politics the Doctor gives his 
allegiance to the Republican party, and he ever manifests a lively 
interest in the questions and issues of the hour.

	On the 17th of July, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. French 
to Miss Anna E. Long, of College Springs, Page county. Iowa, and they 
have two sons, Robert C. and Ralph V.

	From the bulletin of Huron College for 1904-5 we make the following 
historical excerpt: "The presbytery of Southern Dakota established 
Pierre University in 1883. The synod of Dakota was established in 
October, 1884, by order of the general assembly and assumed control of 
the college. With the division of the territory and the admission of the 
two states, the name of the controlling body was again changed, becoming 
now the synod of South Dakota. This was the name of both the 
ecclesiastical body and of the legal corporation until January, 1904, 
when the articles were amended and the corporate name of the institution 
changed to Huron College. Rev. Thomas M. Findley became the first 
president, serving two years. In 1885 Rev. William M. Blackburn, D. D., 
LL. D., succeeded to the presidency and continued in office until 
August, 1898. During these fifteen years the college did a noble and 
far-reaching work. It aided in the classical training of twenty-nine 
young men for the gospel ministry, two of whom are now missionaries in 
distant foreign lands. Many more became teachers, while hundreds were 
sent out to become centers of helpful and uplifting influence in almost 
as many different communities. Scotland Academy was established by the 
presbytery of Southern Dakota in 1886. Of its students seven have 
entered the ministry, while more than eighty are known to have become 
teachers. Owing to unforeseen changes in the development of the state, 
the synod deemed it necessary to remove the college from Pierre. With 
the purpose of obtaining greater efficiency in the educational work of 
the church in this state, it was determined to consolidate the college 
and academy. Action to this end was taken at a special meeting of the 
synod held at Huron on June 2-3, 1898. The people of Huron, by public 
subscription, raised a sufficient amount of money to purchase and fit up 
a large and substantial four-story building, costing, at the time of 
erection, fifty thousand dollars. On account of advancing years and 
failing health Dr. Blackburn resigned the presidency in the summer of 
1898, but remained in the faculty as president emeritus and professor 
until his death, in December, 1898. The college will long bear the 
impress of his life, and its growth and usefulness will be a lasting 
monument to his noble self-sacrifice in its behalf. Rev. C. H. French 
became president of the college in August, 1898, and at once began the 
work of reorganizing and rebuilding on the new foundations. During the 
summer of 1902 a new impulse was given to the development of the college 
by the beginning of an effort to secure money for buildings and en-
dowment. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company offered to donate 
for a campus four blocks of ground admirably located in the residence 
portion of the city. Subscriptions were taken in South Dakota and help 
was obtained from friends in the East. On December 3l, 1903, a total sum 
of one hundred thousand dollars had been given or subscribed, of which 
thirty thousand or more will be available for use during the present 
summer (that of 1904). With this amount the new dormitory for girls will 
be completed and an artesian well will be secured and a central heating 
and lighting plant will be installed. The college is under the man-
agement of the Presbyterian synod of South Dakota. The synod elects the 
trustees, who are divided into three classes and serve three years each. 
They must not be less than five nor more than twenty-four in number, and 
two-thirds of them must be members of the Presbyterian church. This 
board of trustees appoints the faculty and administers all the affairs 
of the school."

	It may be further said that the college is Presbyterian, but not 
sectarian, and that its curriculum and facilities are of the best, while 
its faculty has been selected with the utmost of discrimination. An 
excellent library and museum are maintained, a college paper published, 
and the student life is of enthusiastic and appreciative type. Four 
courses are offered in the college, leading up to the degree of 
Bachelor' and Master of Arts, while there are also musical, academic, 
normal and commercial departments, each equipped for most effective 
work. The financial budget of the institution has increased from eight 
thousand dollars, in 1898-9, to eighteen thousand five hundred dollars 
in 1904. An endowment and building fund of one hundred thousand dollars 
was secured December 31, 1903. The building now occupied is valued at 
about twenty-five thousand dollars; the dormitory and heating and 
lighting plant, completed in the summer of 1904, represent an 
expenditure of thirty-five thousand dollars, and the campus, given by 
the railway company, on the 1st of September, 1904, is valued at twelve 
thousand dollars. The state, the church, the official board, the faculty 
and the students all have reason to take pride in Huron College and to 
be assured of its still brighter and more glorious future.