North American Scholar

SMITH, John

  • Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1752-12-21
  • Born City: Rowley
  • Born State/Country: MA
  • Parents: Joseph & Elisabeth Palmer S.
  • Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1809-04-30
  • Death City: Hanover
  • Death State/Country: NH
  • Married: Mary Cleveland, 8 Feb. 1871; Susan Mason, 13 Jan. 1785.
  • Education:

    B.A. Dartmouth, 1773; D.D. Brown, 1803.
  • Professional Experience:

    Tutor Moor's Indian Charity Sch. (Hanover, NH), 1774-8; prof, class. langs. Dartmouth, 1778-1809; librarian, 1779-1809; trustee, 1788-1809; asso. preacher Dartmouth Coll. Ch., 1773-7.
  • Publications:

    A Hebrew Grammar without Points (Boston, 1772); The Duty, Advantages, and Pleasure of Public Worship (sermon) (Hanover, NH, 1795); The New Hampshire Latin Grammar (Boston, 1802); M. Tulli Ciceronis ad Q. Fratrem Dialogi Tres De oratore, ed. Z. Pearce, notes & index by Smith (Walpole, NH, 1804); A Grammar of the Greek Language (Boston, 1809).
  • Notes:

    Smith devoted his adult life to Dartmouth, serving as professor of languages, college librarian, and pastor in the college church for over 30 years, where he lectured on theology on Saturday evenings. He declined a pastorate at the Congregational Church of West Hartford, CT, to take the chair of languages at Dartmouth. He knew Samaritan, Chaldaic, and Arabic languages and wrote grammars of Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
  • Sources:

    Michael R. Cioffi, BDAE, 1206; Memoirs, ed. Susan Mason Smith (Boston, 1843); NatCAB 9:95; WhAmHS 562.
  • Author: Ward W. Briggs, Jr.