John Price Durbin, Seventh President of Dickinson College, was born
near Paris, Kentucky, October 10, 1800. He was apprenticed to a
cabinet-maker in Paris, and the meager wages he received were invested
in books. In 1819 Durbin became a Methodist circuit-rider. He
afterwards studied at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and was
graduated from Cincinnati College in 1825. In the fall of that year he
became professor of languages in Augusta College, Augusta, Kentucky,
and he occupied the chair until 1831, when he was elected chaplain of
the United States Senate. In the next year Dr. Durbin was elected
professor of natural sciences in Wesleyan University, Middletown,
Connecticut, He remained at Wesleyan but one year, when he was chosen
editor of the New York _Christian Advocate and Journal_. In 1834
Editor Durbin became President Durbin of Dickinson College, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the greatest head the college has ever
known. During vacations Dr. Durbin traveled extensively in Europe and
the Orient, and these journeys are best preserved in his books. In the
1844 General Conference of the Methodist church he was in the thickest
of the great fight over the slavery question; and in the following
year he resigned as president of Dickinson, after more than ten years
of distinguished success in the management of the ancient college. He
now returned to the active pastorate, taking charge of the Union
Methodist church in Philadelphia. From 1850 to 1872 Dr. Durbin was
secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society, in the interest of
which he visited Europe in 1867. He raised many millions of dollars
for foreign missions while he was in charge of the society. He was the
founder of foreign missions in Bulgaria. Dr. Durbin was an eloquent
and persuasive preacher, an able administrator, and during the latter
years of his life he wielded a wonderful influence in the Methodist
church. He died at New York City, October 17, 1876. His works include
_Observations in Europe_ (New York, 1844, 2 vols.); _Observations in
Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor_ (New York, 1845, 2 vols.);
and he edited the American edition of Wood's _Mosaic History of the
Creation_ (New York, 1831). Dr. Durbin was a rather prolific
contributor to religious and secular periodicals. His _Observations in
Europe_ is the best literary work he did.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _History of Kentucky_, by R. H. Collins (Covington,
Kentucky, 1882); Appletons' _Cyclopaedia of American Biography_
(New York, 1888, v. ii).