Richard Edwards (educator)
Richard Edwards (December 23, 1822 – March 7, 1908) was a Welsh American educator from Cardiganshire. Emigrating to the United States with his family when he was a child, Edwards studied at the State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He then led a number of schools: the Boys' High School in Salem, Massachusetts (1853–1854); the State Normal School in Salem (1854–1857); the Normal School in St. Louis, Missouri (1857–1861); Illinois State Normal University (1862–1876); and Blackburn University (1891–1893). From 1887 to 1891, he served as the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Biography
Richard Edwards was born in Lledrod, Wales, on December 23, 1822. The son of Richard and Ann (Jones), Edwards was raised on the family farm. His family immigrated to the United States in 1833, settling in Ohio. In October 1844, Edwards took a job teaching a school. After one term, he enrolled in the State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He then studied and taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. In 1848, he returned to the State Normal School to teach astronomy, physics, map-drawing, and geography. Five years later, he was named principal of the Boys' High School in Salem, Massachusetts.[1]
In 1854, Edwards was appointed a visitor of the Massachusetts State Board of Education and was soon thereafter named principal of the State Normal School in Salem. In 1857, Edwards agreed to become the principal of the Normal School in St. Louis, Missouri. He led the school for four years, then was elected principal of St. Louis High School. Aware of his skill managing normal schools, the Illinois State Normal University in Bloomington, Illinois recruited Edwards in 1862. The school was without a leader since original president Charles Edward Hovey left to fight in the Civil War. Edwards was elected chair of the mathematics department in May, then became president of the university that June.[1]
Edwards led the university until he resigned in January 1876. He received an honorary Master of the Arts degree from Harvard University in 1863, followed by an honorary Legum Doctor from Shurtleff College in 1867. Under his guidance, the number of students had increased from 285 to 780. Edwards then became pastor of the Congregational Church of Princeton, Illinois; he had been ordained as a minister three years earlier. He resigned in 1884 to become financial agent for Knox College.[1] In 1887, he was elected as a Republican as the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction, serving for four years. He then accepted the presidency of Blackburn University, who bestowed honorary Doctor of Divinity upon him the same year. He returned to Bloomington in 1893, occasionally working with Illinois Wesleyan University.
Edwards married Betsey J. Samson on July 5, 1849. They had nine children together: Annie, Richard A., Ellen S., Mary C., Nicholas T., George H., Walter A., Owen M., and Florence M.[1] He became a member of the Illinois Industrial League in 1858. In 1862, he joined the Illinois Natural History Society and the Illinois State Teachers' Association. He led the latter group as president in 1863 and 1864. He died on March 7, 1908, and was buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington.