Hamilton Gazetteer / Entities / George William Knox

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person

Overview

George William Knox (1853–1912) was a Hamilton College alumnus of the Class of 1874 who became a missionary, theologian, and professor of comparative religion. Born in Rome, New York, Knox graduated from Hamilton in 1874 and went on to a distinguished career as a missionary in Japan, where he served as a professor of ethics and philosophy at the Imperial University of Japan and as vice president of the Asiatic Society. He later became a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Knox received the honorary degree of D.D. from Princeton University and LL.D. from Hobart College. He died on April 26, 1912, in Seoul, Korea, while on an observation and lecturing tour abroad.

At his 1874 graduation, Knox delivered the Philosophical Oration and also won the Eleventh Head Prize Oration — an award for original oratory — on the subject “Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.” He was an active figure in Hamilton alumni associations in New York City in the early twentieth century.

Relevance to Research

Knox exemplifies the Hamilton College tradition of graduates pursuing missionary and scholarly work in Asia in the late nineteenth century. His repeated appearances in Hamilton Life during the early 1900s, including a lecture at the college in 1906 and presence at alumni dinners, show that he maintained strong ties to Hamilton throughout his career. His 1912 obituary in Hamilton Life provides the fullest account of his post-Hamilton life. The 1910-11 and 1911-12 catalogs list him as a trustee of Hamilton College, a mark of his continued institutional connection.

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