Kerr, George (1), D.D., LL.D.,
a Presbyterian minister, particularly eminent as a Christian educator, was born in Antrim County, Ireland, Dec. 18,1814, and came to this country with his parents in 1823. Early attached to the Church, he decided to enter the ministry, for which he sought thorough preparation, first by a full classical course at Williams College, Mass., and later at the Union Theological Seminary of New York City. He was licensed and ordained in 1844, and began his ministerial labors as pastor of the Reformed (Protestant Dutch) Church in Conesville, Schoharie Co., N.Y. In 1846 'he received an urgent call to the principalship of Franklin (N. Y.)Academy, an institution then hardly deserving a higher place than the district school. . Kerr, accepting the position, soon made this academy one of the best in the state. For a short period he filled a chair in the New York State Agricultural College, and then became principal of Watertown Academy, N. Y., and in 1865 removed to Cooperstown, where he did active and valuable service for the large seminary then located there. In 1867 he decided to return to Franklin and to resume his position in that school, but, while preparing for the removal, died, March 27. "Dr. Kerr was a man of work; his characteristics were prominent and clearly defined; all through life he was intellectually on the alert; everywhere, on all worthy subjects, analytical, independent, discriminating. He was a thorough scholar, especially in Greek literature, and a marvel of enthusiasm and power as a teacher" (Wilson, Presb. His. Almaniac, 1868, p. 215). He aimed not only to educate the mind, but had particular regard for the education of the heart of all his students. (J. H.W.)