www.union.edu/Presidents/
Fifth president of Union College, March 1, 1866–June 30, 1868
Laurens Perseus Hickcok, born on October 12, 1822 in Bethel, Connecticut, was the first president of Union College to have graduated from the College, Class of 1820.
Upon graduation, Hickok became a Presbyterian minister, serving as pastor of several churches in Connecticut from 1820-1836. He gave up active ministry in 1836 and accepted a position as professor of theology at Western Reserve Seminary in Hudson, Ohio. He remained at Western Reserve Seminary until 1844, whereupon he accepted a similar position at Auburn Theological Seminary in Auburn, New York.
Union College approached Hickok in 1851 as a possible successor of Nott, whose advancing age had become a concern for the trustees. Hickok was initially reluctant, but acquiesced under two conditions: that he be actively involved with the management of the College, and be permitted to create a graduate department. Hickok accepted the position of Professor of Moral Philosophy, and Vice President in 1852, with the understanding that he would become president upon Nott’s death.
Nott’s death was not as imminent as the trustees suspected. He continued as president of the College for the next fourteen years, though his physical health was deteriorating. Hickok’s fourteen year wait to become president was fraught with frustration. He discovered Nott was not as eager to share the management of the College with him as he initially led him to believe, and his efforts to establish a graduate department were met with passive but persistent resistance.
Nott suffered his first stroke in 1859, incapacitating him. His appointment as president was for life and, though his health prevented him from fulfilling his responsibilities as president, he refused to resign. Hickok became acting president until Nott’s death in 1866.
After Nott’s death, Hickok finally became president of the College. The preceding fourteen years of prostration and contentious relations with faculty and members of the board circumscribed Hickok’s power as president. In 1868, he submitted his resignation after only two years as president. Following Hickok’s resignation, trustee Ira Harris assumed the position of acting president from 1868-1869.
Hickok died in Amherst, Massachusetts on May 6, 1888.
Condensed from Wayne Somers, compiler and editor, Encyclopedia of Union College History (Schenectady: Union College Press, 2003), page 378.
Image courtesy of Union College, Schaffer Library Special Collections and Archives, Photograph Collection