Hollis, Thomas, Sr

Hollis, Thomas, Sr.

One of the early benefactors of Harvard College, was born in London in 1659. His father, though a Baptist, was a member of the Independent Church at Pinner's Hall, and he followed in the same relation. Having accumulated a fortune in trade, he gave large sums to charity and to advance the Baptist and Independent Churches. Still more substantial marks of his liberality were conferred on Harvard College, Mass., in which he founded a professorship of mathematics and one of theology, and endowed scholarships for poor students, enriched the library and the cabinets, etc. He died in London in 1731. See Crosby, Hist. of the Baptists, 4, 229; Bogue and Bennett, History of the Dissenters, 2, 414; Christian Examiner, 7, 64; Skeats, Free Churches of England, p. 323.