Theophilus Adam Wylie
Encyclopedia
Theophilus Adam Wylie was a Presbyterian minister, college professor, and president pro tem of Indiana University.
on October 8, 1810, Wylie was the son of Margaret Watson Wylie and Samuel Brown Wylie, Reformed Presbyterian
minister and professor of languages at the University of Pennsylvania
. His brother Theodorus W. J. Wylie was also a prominent Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia. Theophilus was educated at the English Academy, and at Wylie and Engles Academy before entering the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in 1830. After graduating he became a teacher at the Academy of the University of Pennsylvania. Wylie entered the New Light Reformed Presbyterian Seminary, where his father was professor, and was licensed to preach in 1836.
, by his half-cousin Andrew Wylie
who was then president of Indiana University. Wylie began as professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at the opening of the May term in 1837. In 1852 Wylie accepted a position as professor at Miami University
, in Oxford, Ohio
which, by his own description, “was then in a flourishing state and looking up, while the Indiana University at the time was looking in the opposite direction.” Wylie returned to Indiana University two and a half years later, as Indiana was in the midst of recovering from the destruction of its main building by fire. He became professor of languages and then chair of Natural Philosophy. Wylie continued to teach as a professor until he was appointed as emeritus professor in 1886. He served in that capacity until his death in 1895.
During his career, Wylie received honorary Doctorates in Divinity from Miami University
, Monmouth College
, and Princeton College as well as an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Pennsylvania.
At various times Wylie taught Latin, Greek, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. He was also Indiana University's first librarian and served as president pro tem of the University in 1853 and 1859. In 1876 Theophilus installed the first telephone in the state of Indiana, built from plans sent to him from a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, that ran between his home and a college laboratory. He also had a keen artistic ability, and many of his drawing survive today. Additionally, Wylie began to experiment with photography soon after the daguerreotype
process was invented in 1839, and held patents including ones for a galvanic cell
battery.
Theophilus was said to be a very effective teacher, respected by his students. Speaking of him at the dedication of Kirkwood Hall on January 25, 1895, Isaac Jenkinson, then president of the Board of Trustees of the University, had this to say:
"A man who has given his whole life's service to sustaining, perpetuating, and making useful the work of this University. He has labored with a zeal, and earnestness, and a devotedness which has brought him rich reward from the grateful hearts of hundreds of students, but which has left him poor indeed in other recompense."
A former student and colleague of Wylie, Amzi Atwater, remembered thus:
. In 1859, following the death of Andrew Wylie’s widow, Theophilus purchased their former home, and moved there with his family. Theophilus and Rebecca had eight children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Theophilus and Rebecca's children and grandchildren include:
Joshua Theodore Richard Mellette
Their home is now the Wylie House Museum operated by Indiana University Libraries to interpret the lives of both the Theophilus Wylie family and Andrew Wylie family who lived there.
Early life
Born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
on October 8, 1810, Wylie was the son of Margaret Watson Wylie and Samuel Brown Wylie, Reformed Presbyterian
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America , a Christian church, is a small Presbyterian denomination with churches throughout the United States, in southeastern Canada, and in a small part of Japan. Its beliefs place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches...
minister and professor of languages at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. His brother Theodorus W. J. Wylie was also a prominent Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia. Theophilus was educated at the English Academy, and at Wylie and Engles Academy before entering the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in 1830. After graduating he became a teacher at the Academy of the University of Pennsylvania. Wylie entered the New Light Reformed Presbyterian Seminary, where his father was professor, and was licensed to preach in 1836.
Academic career
In that same year he was offered a professorship at Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, by his half-cousin Andrew Wylie
Andrew Wylie (IU)
Andrew Wylie was an American academic and theologian, who was president of Jefferson College and Washington College before becoming the first president of Indiana University ....
who was then president of Indiana University. Wylie began as professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at the opening of the May term in 1837. In 1852 Wylie accepted a position as professor at Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, in Oxford, Ohio
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...
which, by his own description, “was then in a flourishing state and looking up, while the Indiana University at the time was looking in the opposite direction.” Wylie returned to Indiana University two and a half years later, as Indiana was in the midst of recovering from the destruction of its main building by fire. He became professor of languages and then chair of Natural Philosophy. Wylie continued to teach as a professor until he was appointed as emeritus professor in 1886. He served in that capacity until his death in 1895.
During his career, Wylie received honorary Doctorates in Divinity from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, Monmouth College
Monmouth College
Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.-History:Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church...
, and Princeton College as well as an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Pennsylvania.
At various times Wylie taught Latin, Greek, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. He was also Indiana University's first librarian and served as president pro tem of the University in 1853 and 1859. In 1876 Theophilus installed the first telephone in the state of Indiana, built from plans sent to him from a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, that ran between his home and a college laboratory. He also had a keen artistic ability, and many of his drawing survive today. Additionally, Wylie began to experiment with photography soon after the daguerreotype
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
process was invented in 1839, and held patents including ones for a galvanic cell
Galvanic cell
A Galvanic cell, or Voltaic cell, named after Luigi Galvani, or Alessandro Volta respectively, is an electrochemical cell that derives electrical energy from spontaneous redox reaction taking place within the cell...
battery.
Theophilus was said to be a very effective teacher, respected by his students. Speaking of him at the dedication of Kirkwood Hall on January 25, 1895, Isaac Jenkinson, then president of the Board of Trustees of the University, had this to say:
"A man who has given his whole life's service to sustaining, perpetuating, and making useful the work of this University. He has labored with a zeal, and earnestness, and a devotedness which has brought him rich reward from the grateful hearts of hundreds of students, but which has left him poor indeed in other recompense."
A former student and colleague of Wylie, Amzi Atwater, remembered thus:
- “A student who should have met Doctor Wylie on the street on those days – a man of small stature and weak voice and half diffident, unworldly manner certainly far from self-confidence – would hardly have been able rightly to estimate him. In order to do so, he would need to visit him in his rare old home and see him in the midst of his most interesting family and accept their generous hospitality. He would thus see him surrounded by every indication of old time learning and refinement such as few have enjoyed. He would see him in the midst of his boos, his pictures, his ancestral portraits and paintings and mementos of other times and scenes. Only this would he realize his hereditary touch with scholars, divines and great missionaries and the noble forces leading to the world’s advancement”
Family life
On November 5, 1838, Wylie married Rebecca I. Dennis (1812-1913) of Germantown, PennsylvaniaGermantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
. In 1859, following the death of Andrew Wylie’s widow, Theophilus purchased their former home, and moved there with his family. Theophilus and Rebecca had eight children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Theophilus and Rebecca's children and grandchildren include:
- Elizabeth Louisa Wylie (1839–1930): Married Herman Balthasar Boisen; children Anton Theophilus Boisen, Marie Louisa Boisen
- Richard Dennis Wylie (1841–1861)
- Margaret Wylie (1843–1938): Married Arthur Calvin Mellette; children Theophilus Wylie Mellette, Charles Edmond Mellette, Arthur Anton Mellette,
Joshua Theodore Richard Mellette
- Susan Emma Wylie (1846–1848)
- Samuel Brown Wylie (1848–1851)
- Theophilus Andrew Wylie (1852–1878)
- Samuel Brown Wylie (1854–1890): Married Sara Seabrook Mitchell; children Theophilus Andrew Wylie, Samuel Brown Wylie, Rebecca Wylie, Laurence Seabrook Wylie
- Theodorus William John Wylie (1857–1934): Married Fannie Thompson
Their home is now the Wylie House Museum operated by Indiana University Libraries to interpret the lives of both the Theophilus Wylie family and Andrew Wylie family who lived there.