Hamilton College - Hamiltonian Yearbook (Clinton, NY)

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FOR NVHAT HE HAS BEEN AND FOR XVI-IAT HE HAS DONE AS A SON OF HAMILTON AND A CITIZEN OF AMERICA XVE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBE THIS VOLUME TO Ghz 19011. cfililgu ifiout, HIL. ZZ., OF THE CLASS OF '64, AND PRESENT UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF WVAR.

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1EIihu 1Root LIHU ROOT, the third son ofthe late Doctor Oren Root and Nancy W. Buttriclc Root, was born on College Hill, in tl1e building now known as Knox Hall, fthen occupied as a residence,j February 15, 1845. In the various alterations of the building, the room in which he first saw the light has remained unchanged. On the fatherls side he is descended from james Root, of Great Barrington, Mass. His grandfather, whose name he bears, settled in the town of Vernon in 1797, on a farm which was in the northern edge of the so-called Oneida Reservation. His greatuncle, VVilliam Root, who took up the tract adjoining on the south, was a leader in politics and represented the county in the Assembly of 1820. His father, becoming a teacher at the age of 19, clung to that work, became in 1849 Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Hamilton, and lecturer on Natural Science, and resigned in 1881 at the age of 78. On the mother's side, Mr. Root was the great grandson of john Buttrick, of Concord, who as Major commanded the patriot force and gave the first firing orderf' of the American Revolution. His grandfather, Horatio G. Buttrick, was a Major in the force raised to meet the threatened French invasion in 1796. The elder Professor Root's family moved to Clinton in 1850, and young Elihu soon after began his school work in District No. 6. He continued his school work in preparation for college at the Clinton Grammar School. He entered Hamilton in 1860, with one of the few classes in the college history numbering over fifty. He was a hard student and despite deficient preparation, was soon recognized as among the foremost. He wrote prize essays but won no prizesg IO