Samuel Lander

Samuel Lander II (January 30, 1833 – July 14, 1904) was an American Methodist minister, educator, and academic administrator who founded Williamston Female College, now Lander University, in 1872 and was its first president. A civil engineer and surveyor early in his career, Lander soon began teaching. He joined the faculty of Catawba College in 1853 and taught at several other schools before returning to his hometown of Lincolnton, North Carolina, to found the Lincolnton Female Seminary. After becoming a Methodist minister in 1866, he got his first position in administration as president of Davenport Female College in Lenoir, North Carolina. After spending less than a year as co-president of Spartanburg Female College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Lander relocated to Williamston, South Carolina, after being appointed to preach at a Methodist church there. In February 1872, he founded Williamston Female College with an enrollment of thirty-six students. The school grew quickly, doubling its enrollment by the end of its first academic year. Lander, who was appointed president by the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, ran the school with an emphasis on individual academic performance. The school relocated to Greenwood, South Carolina, starting in 1903, though Lander died the following year before the move could be completed. The school reopened as Lander College in September 1904 and still bears his name today.

Early life and education Samuel Lander II was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on January 30, 1833, to Elizabeth Ann Miller (1793–1875) and Rev. Samuel Lander (1792–1864). He was their seventh child and third son, though one of his older brothers, George, died in infancy twelve years before Samuel was born.

Lander enrolled at Randolph–Macon College, in Ashland, Virginia, in 1849 and graduated at the top of his class on June 10, 1852. He earned a Master's degree from Trinity College—now Duke University—in 1855.

After founding the Lincolnton Female Seminary in Lincolnton, Lander became president of Davenport Female College, which had been founded in Lenoir, North Carolina, in 1855. He remained at Davenport from 1868 to 1870, at which point he left to become co-president of Spartanburg Female College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. After making improvements and upgrades to the hotel and hiring personnel, on July 14, 1904,