A Backwoods Boy Works His Way through College and Becomes University
President.
AT ten years of age he was a country lad on a backwoods farm on Prince
Edward’s Island.
At thirteen, he had become a clerk in a country store, at a salary of
thirty dollars a year.
At eighteen, he was a college student, supporting himself by working in
the evenings as a bookkeeper.
At twenty, he had won a scholarship in the University of London, in
competition with all other Canadian students.
At twenty-five, he was professor of philosophy, Acadia College, Nova
Scotia.
At thirty-eight he was appointed President of Cornell University.
At forty-four, he was chairman of President McKinley’s special
commission to the Philippines.
In this summary is epitomized the career of Jacob Gould Schurman.
It is a romance of real life such as is not unfamiliar in America.
Mr. Schurman’s career differs from that of some other self-made men,
however. Instead of heaping up millions upon millions, he has applied
his talents to winning the intellectual prizes of life, and has made
his way, unaided, to the front rank of the leaders in thought and
learning in this country. His career is a source of inspiration to all
poor boys who have their own way to make in the world, for he has won
his present honors by his own unaided efforts.