November 13th, 1735
Rev. Stephen West, D.D., first Vice-President of Williams College, was born on this date at Tolland, Conn. He held this office for nineteen years, beginning in 1793 at the first meeting of the Williams Board of Trustees.
West graduated at Yale in 1755, taught school, studied theology under Timothy Woodbridge in Hatfield, MA. and commenced his ministerial labors as chaplain at Fort Hoosac. He preached in Stockbridge following Jonathan Edwards and some of the earliest pastors in Berkshire County were his pupils. He died in 1819 after serving his church for over 60 years. "His friends acknowledged the power of his mind and the goodness of his heart." (Durfee, Biograhical Annals of Williams)
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