10 Facts About Moses Waddel

Moses Waddel was an American educator and minister in antebellum Georgia and South Carolina.

Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.

Moses Waddel was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover.

Moses Waddel began his ministry in the South Carolina Lowcountry; but coming to view Charleston's sophistication as sinful, he departed for the backwoods Upcountry.

In 1801 Moses Waddel moved back across the Savannah River, to Vienna, South Carolina, and then to Willington, where he founded the famous Willington Academy in 1804.

In 1819, Moses Waddel further enlarged his fame with Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.

Moses Waddel became the fifth president and served from 1819 until his resignation in August 1829.

Moses Waddel acquired money for the library, garnered state funding, and raised three new buildings: Philosophical Hall, New College and Demosthenian Hall.

Moses Waddel was said to possess an ordinary intellect, but he combined it with an iron will.

Moses Waddel would go on to be the first librarian at Texas Tech University.