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Photo Gallery: Nathan S.S. Beman at Mt. Zion
Marker
text:
Nathan Sidney Smith Beman, Presbyterian minister, educator,
editor, college president, after graduating from Middlebury College,
Vermont, taught and preached in New England until 1812, when he came with
his wife to Georgia to regain his health. "A man of intelligence and almost
boundless energy," Nathan Beman found unusual opportunities in Georgia where
wealthy planters were banding together to establish centers of religious
instruction and education for their children.
In late 1812, Beman became teacher and pastor at Mt. Zion, an academy town
founded by Hancock County planters in 1811. Some of the State's leading
families supported Mt. Zion Academy which became one of the most celebrated
schools in Georgia. The outstanding men Beman attracted to teach contributed
much to the state in educational and religious leadership.
Offered the presidency of the University of Georgia, Beman accepted
reluctantly and temporarily, resigning because of his wife's illness and
death in 1819. He continued to direct the Academy, to preach, and to edit
The Missionary, a weekly gospel newspaper. In 1821 he married Mrs.
Caroline Bird Yancey, mother of secessionist William Lowndes Yancey. In
1823, Nathan Beman and his wife moved to Troy, N.Y. where he continued his
ministerial and academic career.
070-12 Georgia Historical Commission 1966 |