William Chauncey Fowler
William Chauncey Fowler [1]
a Congregational minister, was born at Killingworth (now Clinton), Connecticut, September 1, 1793. He graduated from Yale College in 1816, and then spent a year as private tutor in a family in Fauquier County, Virginia; resumed his position as rector of the grammar-school in New Haven, beginning also the study of theology under Professor Fitch. In 1819 he was appointed tutor in the college, and August 31, 1825, was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Greenfield, Massachusetts. In 1827 he was dismissed, to accept the professorship of chemistry and natural history in Middlebury College, Vermont, where he remained until 1838, and then went to Amherst College, Massachusetts, as professor of rhetoric. He resigned this position in 1843, but continued to reside in Amherst till 1858, when he removed to Durham, Conn., and died there, January 15, 1881. From the time of his resignation as professor, he was engaged in preparing various works for the press. In 1845 he edited the university edition of Webster's Dictionary. He next prepared three volumes, composing a series of English grammars, entitled The English Language in its Elements and Forms. In 1858 he published Memorials of the Chaunceys; in 1863 The Sectional Controversy; in 1866 a History of Durham; in 1872 a Treatise on Local Law in Massachusetts and Connecticut; and later several collections of essays. In 1850 he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature from the town of Amherst. He represented the 18th district of Connecticut in the state senate in 1864. See Obituary Record of Yale College, 1881.
