George A. Baxter

George Addison Baxter (July 22, 1771 – 1841) was an American university administrator. He served as the President of Washington and Lee University and Hampden–Sydney College.

Early life

George Addison Baxter was born on July 22, 1771 to George Baxter and Mary Love in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He graduated from Liberty Hall (renamed Washington College in 1813, now Washington and Lee University).

Career

Baxter became a professor at his alma mater, Liberty Hall, in 1798. He served as its president from 1799 to 1829. In 1832, he became a professor at Union Theological Seminary in Prince Edward County, Virginia (now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond). In 1812, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 1835, Baxter served as acting president of Hampden–Sydney College.^[2]

His publications include An Essay on the Abolition of Slavery, published in Richmond in 1836. It argued that slaves were better off in slavery than they would be in freedom. It was a response to the rising tide of abolitionist action, especially Brown University's President Francis Wayland. Baxter is buried in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Death and legacy

George A. Baxter's Cemetery Monument on the campus of Hampden-Sydney College

Baxter died in 1841. His family home, Baxter House near Edom, Virginia was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.^[3]

References