1894-96
THE FOUNDING OF CLARKSON UNIVERSITY
At Niagara Falls, George Westinghouse built the first power generators of significant size. King
Gillette invented the safety razor. Roentgen discovered x-rays. Dr. Edward Trudeau founded the Saranac
Laboratory for the Treatment of Tuberculosis. Elster and Geitel invented the photoelectric cell. Freud
published Studies in Hysteria. The US Supreme Court enunciated the "separate but equal" doctrine.
McKinley and Hobert were nominated by the Republicans on a gold standard plank; Bryan and Sewell by the
Democrats on a free coinage of silver platform. On July 7, Bryan made his famous Cross of Gold speech. The
Republicans won in November. The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece. Gold was
discovered in the Klondike. The Duryea Brothers produced 10 cars. Motion pictures were first shown on a
public screen. Marconi announced the discovery of the wireless [radio]. C.G. Curtis invented the steam
turbine, and William Hadaway the electric stove. Utah was admitted as the 45th state.
Thomas S. Clarkson
Memorial for T.S.C. Main Building
Charter
Eaton's Vision
Aims of the School
First Year
Baccalaureate Degrees
Dedication
Thomas Streatfeild
[sic
] Clarkson
(1837-94. The man in whose
memory the College was founded was the son of Thomas S. Clarkson and the
grandson of another Thomas S. Clarkson; he even had a cousin with the same name!
He was born on November 30, 1837, and never married. He had a brother Levinus (1835-76), and
three unmarried sisters, Elizabeth (1833-1918), Lavinia(1842-1926), and Frederica(1846-1909). His oldest
sister Ann Mary (1831-95) married her first cousin, Thomas Streatfeild Clarkson, the other namesake in the
family. To prevent complete confusion in Potsdam, this cousin Thomas chose to be known by the name of T.
Streatfeild Clarkson. He and his wife had two daughters: Annie ["Miss Annie"] (1856-1929), and Emily
["Miss Emilie"] (1863-1946), who married William Moore in 1901. These two daughters were instrumental
in founding the school in the memory of their cousin, and later were instrumental in its survival
