Jeremiah Chaplin
Encyclopedia
Jeremiah Chaplin was a Reformed Baptist
theologian who served as the first president of Colby College
(then called the Waterville College) in Maine.
Chaplin was born in Rowley, Massachusetts
(now Georgetown, Massachusetts
) in 1776. He worked on the family farm and graduated from Brown University
in 1799. Chaplin spent a year at Brown as a tutor and then studied theology eventually becoming pastor of a Baptist church in Danvers, Massachusetts
. He left this pastorate in 1817 to become president of the new Waterville College (later Colby College) at which he served until 1833. During the remainder of his life, Chaplin preached in Rowley, Massachusetts and Wilmington, Connecticut, and then moved to Hamilton, New York where he died in 1841. Chaplin held to a Calvinist Baptist theology throughout his life.
Reformed Baptist
Reformed Baptists are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. They can trace their history through the early modern Particular Baptists of England. The first Reformed Baptist church was formed in the 1630s...
theologian who served as the first president of Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
(then called the Waterville College) in Maine.
Chaplin was born in Rowley, Massachusetts
Rowley, Massachusetts
Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...
(now Georgetown, Massachusetts
Georgetown, Massachusetts
Georgetown is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,183 at the 2010 census. It was incorporated in 1838 from part of Rowley.-History:...
) in 1776. He worked on the family farm and graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1799. Chaplin spent a year at Brown as a tutor and then studied theology eventually becoming pastor of a Baptist church in Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...
. He left this pastorate in 1817 to become president of the new Waterville College (later Colby College) at which he served until 1833. During the remainder of his life, Chaplin preached in Rowley, Massachusetts and Wilmington, Connecticut, and then moved to Hamilton, New York where he died in 1841. Chaplin held to a Calvinist Baptist theology throughout his life.