John Clark Ridpath

RIDPATH, JOHN CLARK, an American educator; born in Putnam co., Ind., April 26, 1840; was graduated at Indiana Asbury University in 1863; and later held a professorship in Baker University, Kansas. In 1869 he became Professor of English Literature at Asbury University, Indiana, and was elected its vice-president in 1879. Through his influence the endowment of nearly $2,000,000 was bestowed on the university by Mr. DePauw, whose name it now bears. In 1874-1875 he published a “History of the United States” which he supplemented with another in 1877. In 1876 he issued a “School History,” and in 1879 an “English Grammar.” Desiring to devote his whole time to literature, he resigned his university offices. In 1881, he published the “Life of Garfield,” a “Life of J. G. Blaine” in 1848, a “Cyclopædia of History” in 1880-1884, a “History of Texas” in 1884, “Great Races of Mankind” in 1894, “Life and Times of Gladstone” (1898), and “A History of the United States” (8 vols. 1900). He died in New York City, Aug. 1, 1900.