Trustees in America

Trust; Trustees; Trust on this side the water

Lebanon, CT

The American Trust was a board modeled on the English Trust that was intended to safeguard donations and property given in America for Moor's Indian Charity School. This Trust was formed in 1768 at Whitaker’s suggestion, largely so that there was a body in place to take charge if Wheelock died. As opposed to the English Trust, the American Trust was composed of Wheelock’s close friends and confidants, and was unlikely to oppose any of Wheelock’s plans. Its members were William Pitkin, Benjamin Pomeroy, James Lockwood, Timothy Pitkin, Nathaniel Whitaker, William Patten, Ralph Wheelock, and Samuel Kirkland. Wheelock entrusted to them all donations made to Moor’s, including the Joshua Moore estate upon which the school rested. The American Board became largely defunct when the Dartmouth Charter was issued in December of 1769; at that time most of its members became Dartmouth College trustees instead: William Pitkin, Timothy Pitkin, Benjamin Pomeroy, James Lockwood, and William Patten.

Chase, Frederick. A history of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire. 1891. Richardson, Leon. An Indian Preacher in England. Hanover: Dartmouth College Press 1933. Trustees of Dartmouth College. The Charter of Dartmouth College. http://www.dartmo.com/charter/charter.html Accessed 12/14/2013.