1852: An Acadia Tragedy Unfolds (Part 18, Jun 20/25)

Rev. Dr. John Mockett Cramp, the College President

Being only one of two faculty members at Acadia College in 1851/1852, President Cramp performed many of the administrative responsibilities of the College. He and Professor Chipman worked tirelessly to build an endowment and find sponsorships, while maintaining a full teaching load. They must have relied upon each other diligently. Then without warning, Professor Chipman—his passion for learning and his dedication to the institution, was gone. Dr. Cramp wrote in the Christian Messenger, “I cannot attempt reflections, for I can scarcely think. It is a stunning stroke.” (extra, 11 June 1852, 1) Archivist Wendy Robicheau learned more about him, while attempting to understand how the accident deeply impacted Dr. Cramp and how he found the strength to carry on with his administrative duties while dealing with his grief.

John Mockett Cramp, Acadia D.D. 1846, was born on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, England, in 1796. He died in Wolfville in 1881 and is buried in Willowbank Cemetery. A memorial plaque for him is in the Wolfville Baptist Church.

Rev. Dr. Cramp immigrated to Canada with his family in 1844, to take the position of President of Canada Baptist College in Montreal. He visited Acadia College in 1846 and received an honourary doctorate. He returned to Acadia College as President in 1851, being invited to the post by T.S. Harding, Edward Manning, William Chipman, and others. When the Acadia presidency was offered to Dr. Edmund Crawley in 1853, Dr. Cramp stepped aside but remained on faculty and taught in the newly formed Theological Institute. After Dr. Crawley was forced to resign from the College in 1860, Dr. Cramp resumed his presidency until retiring in 1869.

His obituary in the Christian Messenger of 14 December 1881, noted that “he wrote extensively against slavery in the colonies, against the Bible monopoly, about disabilities of the Dissenters with regard to marriage and burial of the dead, and restrictions in holding public office only to members of the Church of England.” The obituary claimed him to be a linguist, historian, theologian, scholar, and author who “found Acadia weak and struggling for existence. He left it on a firm foundation, with an efficient corps of instructors and a good attendance of students.” Dr. Cramp was described by alum I.B. Oakes (Class of 1871) as a “dapper English gentleman, wholly devoted to the interests of Acadia, with outstanding abilities as scholar and administrator and a kingly man, a scholar and a Christian gentleman to whom the College owes its foundation” (Acadia Bulletin, September 1931).

Dr. Cramp arrived at Acadia College in 1851 with Anne, his wife of a quarter-century. Their grown children did not move to Wolfville with them, although letters show that the youngest daughter did live in Wolfville near the time of her mother’s death. Anne Cramp died in 1862. Dr. Cramp wrote an extensive booklet in her memory called A Portraiture from Life by a bereaved husband, 1862. The bulk of his library was destroyed in a house fire but the rest of his books are preserved in Acadia’s Special Collections known as the John Mockett Cramp Collection and his presidential papers are in the Acadia University Archives.

The next post will discuss the origins of the University’s Archives from 1846.

If you have been watching the timeline, you will realize that one accident victim is still missing. That story comes later in the month. Let me tell you about a historical commemoration being planned on 27 June 2025. Hear Dr. Cramp give a short 1852-style funeral sermon before we process to the graves of Isaac Chipman and William Grant in the Old Burying Ground. The family-friendly commemoration is open to everyone. Please join us at 6.30pm in the Wolfville Baptist Church.