James B. Simmons

HSU Benefactor, Pastor

詹姆斯·巴洛·西蒙斯于1827年出生在达奇斯县，父母是威廉和克拉丽莎·西蒙斯, New York, of Dutch and Scottish ancestry. When Simmons, the youngest of five children, was five months old, his mother was tragically thrown from a carriage and killed.

In his teens, Simmons spent three years at Madison University in Hamilton, New York, preparing for college. He entered the freshman class there in 1847, but soon moved to Brown University, living in a garret and doing janitorial work while attending school. 他每月付一美元房租，把自己的开销限制在不超过一美元.12 weekly for food. 他经常只吃面包和牛奶，允许自己一周只买两次肉. Simmons said of his self-inflicted frugality, “I had a bowl and fork, and would stick the fork in a piece of bread and dip it in the milk, withdrawing it quickly, lest it should absorb too much milk, for I had to be economical.他用来吃饭的碗在理查森图书馆历史中心展出.

西蒙斯于1851年从布朗大学毕业，开始了三年的神学学习，并在牛顿神学院完成了学业, near Boston. 也是在1851年，他与来自罗德岛普罗维登斯的年轻贵格会教徒玛丽·伊丽莎·史蒂文斯结婚. When her husband entered seminary, Mary also began to study Hebrew, Greek, and other subjects at the seminary. In 1854, Robert Stevens was born to them.

While Simmons studied at Newton, 他担任普罗维登斯第三浸信会的牧师，并很快赢得了良好的声誉. In 1857, 这个年轻的家庭搬到了印第安纳波利斯，西蒙斯在那里担任第一浸信会的牧师，直到1861年他们搬到费城，在第五浸信会工作. 在那里，他带领会众建造了一座哥特式英语风格的美丽教堂.

After he left Philadelphia, 西蒙斯被大学授予两个荣誉博士学位，这两个学位都是对他在事工方面的能力和他激励人们为教会学校提供资金的能力的赞赏.

1867年，他被任命为美国浸信会家庭传教协会的通讯秘书. 他面对内战结束后被释放的四百万奴隶的状况，这些奴隶生活贫困，需要教育和其他好处.

他作为秘书的第一个努力是在里士满为自由民建立一所基督教学校, Virginia, the capital of the Southern Confederacy. In 1865, 西蒙斯成功地为科尔弗研究所争取到了10美元的拨款,000 from the U. S. 购买了里士满的旧美国酒店，作为科尔弗的搬迁地. 科尔弗学院的课程一直在一幢租来的叫做兰普金监狱的建筑里举行, 这是一个奴隶贩子拥有的，他用它来关押和惩罚奴隶，直到他们被放到市场上出售. The conversion of the hotel into a school, which was renamed the Richmond Institute in 1876, 现在给这些新解放的奴隶一个受教育的好地方. 里士满学院后来被并入现在的弗吉尼亚联合大学.

Following the Richmond endeavor, six similar schools were founded with the assistance of Secretary Simmons. Those include, Benedict Institute (now Benedict College) in Columbia, South Carolina; Leland University in New Orleans; Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina; Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C.; the Nashville Institute, now Roger Williams University, in Nashville, Tennessee; and Augusta Seminary in Augusta, Georgia.

In 1874, 他从宣教协会秘书的职位上退休，在接下来的八年里担任纽约市三一浸信会牧师. 随后，他被美国浸信会出版协会董事会选为纽约州的外勤秘书. 在这个职位上，他在几十个讲坛上演讲，为圣经和宣教工作筹集资金. 多年来，他还参与了另外两所学校的筹款活动, one in Indiana which closed after a few years, 另一个是后来在华盛顿特区成立的哥伦比亚大学.C.

他作为高等教育筹款人的名声在1890年吸引了羽翼未丰的阿比林浸信会学院的受托人的注意. 建成这座大楼的资金已经用完了. O. C. Pope, Dr. 西蒙斯和他的儿子来到阿比林参观学校的拟议地点. 西蒙斯在肥沃的西德克萨斯地区看到了巨大的潜力，那里的土地面积是整个纽约州的两倍, and which was rapidly filling up with people. 西蒙斯没有从其他渠道筹集资金，而是自掏腰包. Over time, he and his wife and son, in addition to the $5,000 in cash originally given in 1890, gave to the school donations in excess of $20,000.

As a name for the school, Simmons chose Christlieb College, which translated from the German language is “College of Christ’s Love.” His wife and son, however, 坚持要使这所学校成为西蒙斯家族教育事业的丰碑. 早期的一座建筑被命名为安娜大厅，以纪念西蒙斯的孙女，她曾在西蒙斯学院短暂地教授艺术.

玛丽·西蒙斯在学院成立两年后去世，她是第一个被埋葬在这里的人. James B. Simmons died December 17, 1905, at the age of 78. His remains were buried on the campus next to those of his wife. 他的愿望是，即使是他们的“骨灰也可以为基督教教育作证”.”