Overview
Revered Harvard minister Thomas Hill (1818 – 1891) led an extraordinary life as a man of science and faith in the 19th century. This blog post chronicles his illustrious journey across disciplines.
Holder of mathematics expertise, religious wisdom and administrative finesse, Hill contributed seminal innovations in calculating machines besides helming prestigious universities like Harvard. His patented arithmometer invention and writings on moral philosophy evidencing the unity between science and faith makes Hill one of early America‘s most intriguing polymath figures.
Detailed Biography and Achievements
Early Years
Born in 1818 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Thomas Hill displayed keen intelligence from childhood. Encouraged by his father Thomas Hill Senior to pursue botany and science, he was largely self-educated besides a 3 year stint at the Lower Dublin Academy in Pennsylvania. After apprenticing at an apothecary, Hill gained admission to Harvard University aged 20 in 1838. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1843.
Esteemed Ministry and Emerging Reputation
Obtaining his divinity certification from Harvard Divinity School in 1845, Hill immediately commenced a 14 year ministerial stint at the First Church in Waltham, Massachusetts. Already renowned as an elite orator from his 1858 Phi Beta Kappa address at Harvard, his 1859 compilation of moral philosophy sermons and lectures on "The Mutual Relation of the Sciences" evidenced deep immersion in both science and faith.
University Presidency at Antioch and Harvard
In 1859, Hill was appointed President of newly founded Antioch College in Ohio. But the American Civil War forced its closure by 1862. That same year, Hill succeeded Cornelius Conway Felton as Harvard University President upon Felton‘s sudden death. As president for 7 years, Hill‘s key contributions included:
- Implementing an elective system for undergraduates
- Raising admission standards
- Establishing an Academic Council representing all departments
- Endowing graduate scholarships
- Introducing visiting lecturer positions
Exhausted from constant faculty clashes and health issues, a disenchanted Hill resigned in 1868. But his vision as reformer had steered Harvard through a turbulent era and expanded research infrastructure.
| Year | Institution | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1859 | Antioch College | President |
| 1862 – 1868 | Harvard University | President |
Globetrotting Mathematician and Author
After a sabbatical year traveling through Europe in 1869 to recuperate, Hill briefly returned to academia as visiting lectureship stints at Union Theological Seminary and Bowdoin College. His lifelong passion for mathematics also drove Hill to publish two geometry textbooks – "First Lessons in Geometry” (1855) and "Second Book of Geometry” (1862).
From 1872 onwards, Hill regularly voyaged alongside his naturalist friend and Swiss-American polymath Louis Agassiz including an expedition through South America to Brazil.
Returning to New England by mid-1870s, Hill resumed ministerial duties at the First Church in Portland, Maine where he contently spent his last 18 years writing, inventing calculation tools and occasionally lecturing on science and ethics at Bowdoin College.
Key Inventions – Calculating Marvels Ahead of Their Time
A largely self-taught mathematician with keen interest in astronomy, Hill patented two seminal calculating inventions still ahead of their time in the early 1800s.
Calculating Occultations and Eclipses
As early as his Harvard student days, Hill built a customized instrument to accurately compute eclipses and occultations. Though not patented or commercialized, this device demonstrated his precocious mathematical ability.
The Hill Improved Arithmometer – A Mechanical Calculating Marvel
In 1857, Hill obtained a patent for a 10-digit mechanical arithmometer device which enabled complex calculations using just key presses. The Hill arithmometer improved upon French mathematician Thomas de Colmar‘s 1820 design by:
- Allowing chained calculation across multiple numbers
- Enhancing ease-of-use through key-based input
- Boosting reliability via mechanical enhancements
This presaged modern calculator designs relying on keypads decades later. Below table summarizes the key capabilities.
| Feature | de Colmar Arithmometer | Hill Arithmometer |
|---|---|---|
| Digits | 6 | 10 |
| Keypad Input | No | Yes |
| Chained Calculation | Not possible | Supported |
Unfortunately, Hill didn‘t capitalize on his creation enough to yield commercial success. But as mathematician George Perkins later effused – Hill‘s improvised calculating gadgets displayed "very great ingenuity and intimate acquaintance with the principle of mechanisms."
Marriages, Personal Tragedies and Eventual Demise
In his personal life, Hill endured terrible tragedy despite professional success. He married Anne Foster Bellows in 1845 with whom he had 6 children before her premature death in 1864. His second wife Lucy Elizabeth Shepard also died in 1869 shortly after their marriage in 1866.
Of his total seven children across both wives, Hill‘s youngest son Otis was mentally handicapped since birth – a condition impossible to treat in those times – thus causing his father great anguish.
Thomas Hill passed away aged 73 in his old hometown of Waltham in November 1891 after prolonged illness.
Enduring Legacy
While Hill‘s incredible gifts across ministry, academia and inventing did not translate to fame and fortune during his lifetime, mathematician George H. Perkins‘ tribute summarizes his lasting impact:
"Versatile, independent, progressive … he bore a manly part in substituting the new ideas for the old"
When religious orthodoxy clashed with modern science in late 19th century, Thomas Hill‘s multifaceted career and flexible thinking helped pave the way for future polymaths possessing both moral imagination and technical ingenuity.
His patented arithmometer calculating machine design that presaged modern calculators also evidenced how ministerial backgrounds need not preclude scientific curiosity.
So while Hill perished in obscurity, his illustrious life broke fresh ground and expanded conceptions on how religious figures can fruitfully engage science to help advance human civilization. The epitome of the scholar-pastor, Thomas Hill merits resurrection as a true polymath progressive.
References
A Memorial of Thomas Hill – Joseph Henry Allen et al, 1893
Harvard‘s Unitarian Presidents: Henry Ware, Thomas Hill – Anthony D. Baker, 2022
Thomas Hill Pierce – History-Computer, 2023
