BLYTHE, James, first president of Hanover College (1832-36), was born in Rowan county, N. C., Oct. 28, 1765, and was graduated from Hampden Bidney College, Va., in 1789. He was licensed by the presbytery of Orange, N.C., in 1791, and ordained by the presbytery of Transylvania, in 1793. He served as pastor of the Pisgah church, Kentucky, from 1793 to 1832. In 1794 he founded Kentucky Academy at Pisgah, which, with Lexington Academy, became Transylvania University the same year. For ten years," 1794-1804, he filled the chair of mathematics in Transylvania University, and then became president, which office he held until 1817. He was professor of chemistry in the medical department of Transylvania from 1822-30, and in 1832 was called to the presidency of Hanover College. Hanover College was the outgrowth of a desire on the part of the Presbyterian church in Indiana to provide herself with an educated ministry. Men fitted to endure the hardships of ministering to the scattered churches, among the constantly growing population of this western country, had "to be trained on the ground. To provide for this training, the presbytery of Salem, embracing Indiana ant! Illinois, and connected with the synod of Kentucky, in 1826 requested the pastor of the church at Hanover, Rev. John Finley Crowe, D.D., to open and conduct an academy until further provision could be made. The school was opened Jan. 1, 1827, in a log-cabin near Dr. Crowe's house, with six pupils. This was the humble beginning of Hanover College, and of the McCormick Theological Seminary, at Chicago, Illinois. The synod of Indiana was constituted May, 1826, and was composed of the presbyteries of Salem, Madison. Wabash and Missouri, the school at Hanover being temporarily placed under the care of the presbytery of Madison. Upon the application of this presbytery, the legislature of the state granted a charter, incorporating Hanover Academy, Dec. 30, 1828. In 1829 the presbytery transferred the care of the academy to the synod of Indiana, and that body made arrangements with the board of trustees to open a theological department under the provisions of the charter. The theological department was opened in 1830, when Rev. John Matthews, of Shepherdstown, Va., was unanimously elected professor of theology by the synod. This department was continued at Hanover" until 1840. It was then removed to New Albany, Ind., and in 1859 to Chicago, Illinois. The academy, which was chartered in 1828, grew steadily; regular college classes were formed, and in 1833 the legislature granted a charter incorporating it as Hanover College. The friends of the institution had been active in securing funds, and the necessary buildings for preparatory, collegiate and theological departments had been erected. The first catalogue issued after the change in the charter presents, for all departments, a faculty of seven professors and four assistants, and 183 students: theological, seven; collegiate, sixty-three; preparatory, 113. After resigning the presidency of Hanover in 1836, Dr. Blythe acted as stated supply of the church at Lexington, Ind., until his death. He received the degree of D.D. from Princeton College in 1805. In 1816 he was chosen moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church, which met at Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1831 he was moderator of the convention of delegates from the presbyteries, which met at Cincinnati, on the suggestion of the general assembly, to consider the subject of domestic missions. Dr. Blythe was a profound scholar, and a man of superior ability, a fluent and ready speaker, strong in debate and an excellent preacher. His long experience as a teacher in Transylvania admirably fitted him for his position as president of Hanover. The college grew rapidly under his management, the catalogue of 1834-35 showing an attendance of 236 students, gathered from a wide territory, embracing every state, from Pennsylvania to Texas and Missouri. This prosperity was followed by a period of darkness and trial. The manual labor system for aiding poor students, attempted by many institutions of that day, was tried at Hanover. It failed, and in 1835 was abandoned. The college was involved in debt, the expense of education was largely increased, and as a necessary consequence, a large number of the students withdrew. This, together with some disaffection in the faculty, led to Dr. Blythe's resignation in 1836. He died at Hanover May 20, 1842.
{Source: The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 2; Publ. 1892, by James T. White & Co., N. Y.; Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.}
