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Birth:
December 27, 1861 in Washington County, Pennsylvania
Death: July 5,
1931 in New York City, New York
Educational Background: A.B., Washington and
Jefferson College, 1885; Western Theological Seminary, 1890
Teaching Experience: Professor of Greek and
Mathematics, Blairsville College, Pennsylvania, 1885-87
Ministerial Experience: Associate Pastor, First
Presbyterian Church, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 1890-92; Pastor,
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 1892-1902;
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Redlands, California, 1902-05;
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Beaver, Pennsylvania, 1905-09
Administrative Experience: Board of Trustees, Washington
and Jefferson College, 1898-1908; Western Theological Seminary, 1907-??
Key events/accomplishments during administration: Dedication of Carnegie
Science Hall (now Stuart Hall), Sinclair Memorial Chapel, and Voorhees
Hall; Endownment reaches $1 million; Graduating classes number fifty or
more students for first time; Flunk Day begins in 1911
Post-Coe Career:
Presbyterian Board of National Missions
John Marquis Leads the Saints of Cedar Rapids
After president Marquis
resigned from presidency, he was a frequent visitor on campus and kept
in close contact with his replacement, President Gage. When inquiring
of the school, Marquis always asked Gage the same question: "How are
the saints in Cedar Rapids?"
These "saints," of course,
were the students of Coe College, the same saints that under his
presidency began the tradition of Flunk Day in 1911.
Marquis was born on a farm
in western Pennsylvania December 27, 1861 and
graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1885. After teaching
Greek and mathmatics for two years at Blairsville College for Women in
Blairsville, Pennsylvania, Marquis attended the West Theological
seminary at Pittsburgh, graduating in 1890. He was ordained a
Presbyterian minister in 1891. He served as a pastor for ten years in
Pennsylvania and three years in California. Throughout his entire
education, from primary school to professional studies, Marquis
remained friends with Samuel McCormick, who became Coe's third
president. It was because of his influence that Marquis accepted the
role of president of Coe College and moved to Cedar Rapids to begin
serving in 1909.
It was under his presidency
that the "saints in Cedar Rapids" established the tradition flunk day,
as well as May Fete, Homecoming, Colonial Ball and Founders’ Day. The
Marquis administration was responsible for developing the home
economics, engineering and music department, which was granted full use
Marshall Hall, as students would now be taking full advantage of the
new Science Hall. When the ground breaking ceremony for the Science
Hall was held in May of 1909, President Marquis conducted a celebration
which began with a procession of faculty and students in Old Main. They
were then led by the band to a small platform at the site of the new
building. Dr. Burkhalter and the 1909 class president gave speeches,
then C.G. Greene of the board of trustees guided a plough and students
loaded the first wagonload of dirt.
Marquis was also responsible
for the construction of the T.M. Sinclair Memorial chapel and Voorhees
Hall, but the changes he made to campus were not strictly physical. In
response to World War I, both a Reserved Officers' Training Corps and a
Student Army Training Corps were placed on campus. The September 1917
Courier reports the necessity of college training for America's young
men and women, with Marquis leading the way. Marquis accepted a
position as the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home
Missions his final year at Coe, explaining: "Every soul of us at this
hour owes his best and his all to his country, and that along the line
where his efforts will count for most regardless of the sacrifice
involved."
In 1916, Marquis, an
ordained Presbyterian minister, was elected as the Moderator of the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America. While this was
a high honor, it was very taxing for Marquis to serve both positions at
one time. On many occasions, he could not be on campus and the Trustees
and faculty had to help fill his role. Marquis attempted to resign in
June of 1917 after being elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Home
Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church. The announcement was made it
the May 29, 1917 Cosmos that Marquis would be accepting this honorable
position. The editor had this to say in response:
Now we feel that the student
body has not been made sufficiently aware of the importance of this
election to the new church office and what it will mean in his
relations to the college. Wake up. Do you realize that there are other
organizations with great work to be performed trying to take our great
man from us? It is unnecessary to recount to the older classmen and
alumni the many tings that Dr. Marquis has meant to Coe and what he has
done to put it where it now stands in the educational world. Sometimes
we feel that Coe did not blossom out into a real college until Dr.
Marquis came here. Since that time Coe has grown by leaps and bounds
under his inspiration and direction, buildings have been added,
endowment has been doubled, faculty and curriculum have been
strengthened, and Coe has been placed in the front rank of
colleges….Without being selfish in our desire for the services and love
of a great man, we nevertheless urge that every effort on the part of
trustees, faculty, students, and townspeople be exerted to retain Dr.
Marquis as president of Coe College.
The following week the front
page headline of the Cosmos read " 'Prexy, We Can't Let You Go' Is New
College Slogan." The Tuesday morning chapel service was dedicated to
students and alumni making their requests that President Marquis remain
at Coe. Marquis stated: "I do appreciate the things that have been said
and only wish they were true. I would a thousand times rather live in
Cedar Rapids, yet this question has been put to me in a way I must
think about. I cannot decide until after a trip to New York after
commencement."
In spite of all efforts to
retain him, President Marquis submitted his resignation to the
Board of Trustees August 1st 1917. An excerpt from his
resignation follows:
I have wanted to stay, but
the happiest years of my life have been the eight spent at Coe College
and in association with the men of the faculty and the Board of
Trustees, but more and more it has come to me that should I refuse [the
church position] I would doom myself for the rest of my life to the
feeling that I had done wrong and followed my heartstrings rather than
my duty. So reluctantly and sadly, I ask the Executive Committee
through you as its Secretary to accept my resignation as President...Of
the future of the College I have not the slightest doubt. It is too
bright to be seriously affected by the coming or going of any man. With
such a governing Board as you men have been, and are, it is bound to
grow bigger than any of us dream.
A compromise was arranged
and President Marquis agreed to continue as President for at least a
year, visiting the campus as often as possible. He stipulated before
agreeing that he was to receive no salary as President and that his
resignation was to "lie on the table" so that it could be acted upon at
any time. Though matters continued to run smoothly, members of the
College community felt a president was necessary for the welfare of the
institution. Steps were then taken to find a suitable replacement and
in 1920 Harry Morehouse Gage became President of Coe College.
Marquis was elected to the
Board of Trustees and remained active in the Presbyterian church until
1929 when he fell ill and was forced to retire. Dr. Marquis died July
5, 1931 in New York City. Of his death, President Gage remarked: "When
I last left his sick bed his parting words were, 'My daily prayer is
for Coe.' Community and college have lost a very great and good friend."
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