Ignatius Alonso Few
1789 - 1845
Ignatius Alonso Few, the eldest son of Captain Ignatius Few, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was the first chairman of the Emory Board of Trustees and the first president of Emory College. Born in Columbia County, Georgia, Few studied briefly at Princeton and in New York City before returning to Georgia to study law in Augusta. At this time, Few was a passionate advocate for philosophical rationalism and was not hesitant to engage in lengthy debates on one of his favorite subjects, the “grounds for religious beliefs.”
In 1823, he became seriously ill with what was then known as “lung fever,” what today is believed to be tuberculosis. During his illness, he experienced a religious conversion and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Five years later, he left the law and joined the ministry. However, after serving in churches in Macon and Savannah, his precarious health required that he leave the active ministry at the end of 1834. That same year, the Methodist Conference Manual Labor School was founded in what was later to become known as Clark’s Grove, an area just west of downtown Covington. Few became its founding director. Despite the financial hardships that plagued the school from the onset, Few persisted and campaigned the Methodist Episcopal Georgia Conference for the Manual Labor School to be replaced with a traditional college based on academics. After considerable debate, he was successful in persuading the Georgia Conference of 1836 to ask the state legislature for a charter to establish a college. Thus was Emory College born. With a budget of $10,000, President Few and trustees Samuel J. Bryan and Charles Saunders formed a building committee and, by 1838, the first cornerstone of the first building – a small wooden chapel “without ornament or belfry” – was laid. Ignatius Few remained active in both church and college affairs until his death in 1845. Emory’s Few Hall was named in his honor.
In 1823, he became seriously ill with what was then known as “lung fever,” what today is believed to be tuberculosis. During his illness, he experienced a religious conversion and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Five years later, he left the law and joined the ministry. However, after serving in churches in Macon and Savannah, his precarious health required that he leave the active ministry at the end of 1834. That same year, the Methodist Conference Manual Labor School was founded in what was later to become known as Clark’s Grove, an area just west of downtown Covington. Few became its founding director. Despite the financial hardships that plagued the school from the onset, Few persisted and campaigned the Methodist Episcopal Georgia Conference for the Manual Labor School to be replaced with a traditional college based on academics. After considerable debate, he was successful in persuading the Georgia Conference of 1836 to ask the state legislature for a charter to establish a college. Thus was Emory College born. With a budget of $10,000, President Few and trustees Samuel J. Bryan and Charles Saunders formed a building committee and, by 1838, the first cornerstone of the first building – a small wooden chapel “without ornament or belfry” – was laid. Ignatius Few remained active in both church and college affairs until his death in 1845. Emory’s Few Hall was named in his honor.