James Hulme Canfield Papers

James Hulme Canfield, father of Dorothy Canfield Fisher, was born in Delaware, Ohio March 18, 1847. He lived in New York City (Brooklyn) until age 8 and then, after the death of his mother, went to live with his paternal grandmother and an aunt in Arlington, Vermont. His father, Eli Hawley Canfield, remained in New York City, minister to congregations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

James Canfield graduated from the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute in July of 1864. He attended Williams College (1864-68) and upon graduation moved west, first to Iowa, to work for various railroad companies. In 1871 he studied in the law office of Hall and Gould in Jackson, Mi., and was admitted to the bar in 1872. He remained in law practice there until 1877. Canfield married Flavia A. Camp in 1873.

James Canfield taught at the University of Kansas from 1877 to 1891. He was first professor of History and English Language and Literature and then of History and Political Science. In 1889, at his request, a position as Professor of American History and Civics was created for him. During this time he was also secretary, and in 1889, president of the National Education Association. He remained active in the NEA through the early 1900's. Canfield left Kansas in 1891 for the position of Chancellor to the State University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In 1895 he became President of Ohio State University, resigned the position in 1899 and became Librarian at Columbia University. He remained in this position until his death.

James Hulme Canfield died March 29, 1909 after a January 1909 street car accident which eventually led to two apoplexy attacks (strokes).