Do you know which Tusculum alumnus treated President James A. Garfield as he struggled to survive an assassin’s bullet? Or which Tusculum alumnus served as the 19th speaker of the United States House of Representatives? Or which Tusculum graduate became a prominent editor, killed a man for slander and then was appointed the U.S. minister to Bolivia?
These Tusculum graduates – John Harvey Girdner, John White or Allen A. Hall – are all part of a new display in the Thomas J. Garland Library that highlights the contributions these and other Tusculum College alumni made to the early development of the United States. The display is located on the main floor of the Library in the Reference/Information Commons Room near the staircase.
Featured in the display are James Dixon Black, class of 1872; Samuel A. Coile, class of 1879; Julia A. Doak, class of 1879; John Harvey Girdner, class of 1886; John Gloucester, who graduated before 1810; Newton Hacker, class of 1860; Allen A. Hall, who graduated before 1830; Oscar B. Lovette, class of 1893; Frank I. Milligan, who attended in 1869; Samuel Milligan, class of 1843; John Holt Rice, who graduated before 1847, and John White, who graduated before 1830.
Black served as the 39th governor of the state of Kentucky. His political career began four years after his graduation from then Greeneville and Tusculum College when he was elected to Kentucky’s House of Representatives. He also served as Knox County superintendent of schools for two years and president of Union College for three years. In 1915, he became the state’s first assistant attorney general and served as lieutenant governor for four years.
Dr. Coile was one of the young graduates that attracted the attention of Tusculum’s first benefactor, Nettie Fowler McCormick, to the school. A preacher and teacher, Coile served as president of his Alma Mater from 1901-1907. During his presidency, the College experienced significant student enrollment growth and Virginia Hall was constructed.
Doak was the first woman to graduate from Tusculum College. A descendent of Tusculum College’s founders, she worked as personal secretary to the state superintendent and taught for several years. She also broke societal norms in marrying at age 42 in a time period when women were considered “old maids” if not married by their mid-20s.
Dr. Girdner was one of the most distinguished surgeons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the four surgeons to treat President Garfield after he was shot. Girdner’s experience in treating the president led to his invention of the telephonic bullet probe, which was widely used in the removal of bullets prior to the development of X-ray technology. He also invented the phymosis forceps used in the circumcision procedure. Dr. Gardner was the first person to successfully graft skin from a cadaver onto living skin. He was also a prolific writer on medical and social subjects.
John Gloucester was the first African-American to graduate from college in Tennessee and the first African-American to be ordained as minister in the Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Gideon Blackburn purchased Jack, a slave, for the purpose of setting him free. Blackburn gave Jack the name of John Gloucester and granted him manumission papers. As a free man, Gloucester pursued a life of ministry. When he appeared before the Union Presbytery, it was determined he needed more education and was sent to Greeneville College. Later, Gloucester and the Evangelical Society of Philadelphia established the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pa.
Hacker served in the Civil War rising from private to captain in the 4th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment (USA). He was captured and was a prison of war for several weeks. After the war, Hacker studied law and in 1867, was elected to the Tennessee legislature. Hacker also served as district attorney and circuit court judge in Washington County.
Hall was an accomplished lawyer and editor who graduated from Greeneville College. Known as a prominent editor, Hall shot and killed a man who accused him of being an abolitionist. In 1863, Hall was appointed the U.S. minister to Bolivia.
After graduating from Tusculum, Lovette earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University while serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He then served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish American War. After leaving the military, he returned to Greene County where he served as the county court clerk and clerk and master of Chancery Court. In 1912, he became president of Citizens Savings Bank of Greeneville, one of the leading local financial institutions. His reputation in the community led to political success as he was elected as attorney general, and in 1930, became the only person to defeat the popular Carroll Reece for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Frank Milligan was a student at Greeneville and Tusculum College in 1869 when he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. During his career in the Navy, he accompanied President Ulysses S. Grant in his tour of the world. Milligan also served as an officer on the U.S.S. Dolphin’s around-the-world tours of duty and later served as a squadron trainer.
Samuel Milligan was elected to the state legislature while still a student at Tusculum College. He served as a major in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. He was founder and first editor of The Greeneville Spy newspaper. He was selected as a commissioner to settle the conflict over the boundary line between Tennessee and Virginia. He served as Tennessee Supreme Court Judge from 1864 to 1868. He was then appointed by President Andrew Johnson as Judge of the United States Court of Claims in Washington, D.C., a position in which he served until his death in 1872.
Rice was a noted journalist and editor in southeastern Kansas and also excelled in law and politics in Georgia and Kansas. In 1856, he was elected major general of the 12th Division of the Georgia State Militia. Soon thereafter, he founded Franklin Publishing Company. He was a primary promoter of the construction of a railroad to link Natchez, Miss. to Bastrop, Ark. He also served on the Interstate Mississippi River Improvement and Levee Association and successfully lobbied Congress to increase federal funds devoted to levee construction along the Mississippi.
A distinguished attorney and politician, White was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1835 and served as Speaker of the House from 1841 to 1843. He was then appointed as federal judge in the 19th District of Kentucky, serving until his death in 1845.
The display was created by five students as a project for a “Theory and Practice of Citizenship” course. The students were Vinton Copeland, a sophomore political science major from LaGrange, Ga.; Adrienne Jones, a freshman pre-medicine major from Bristol; Catherine Kolb, a a senior psychology major from Greeneville; Kyle Smith, a sophomore sport management major from St. Petersburg, Fla., and Luis Zamora, a sophomore business management and economics major from Santiago, Chile.
Over the course of the block, they developed a spreadsheet that tracked the accomplishments of alumni from 1794-1929. What they discovered amazed the class and instilled a pride in knowing that they were walking in the footsteps of such fascinating individuals.
To share their information, the students wrote 12 mini-biographies that also will be shared over the next several blocks of the spring semester.