John McKnight Bloss Collection
1870-1968 (inclusive), 1892-1905 (bulk)
Bloss, John McKnight, 1839-1905
.04 cubic feet (3 folders and 16 photographs)
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of copies of photographs and published
biographical information about John Bloss and his family. The
written materials include local and family histories, clippings,
and a hand- drawn map of the Bloss Farm north of Muncie, Indiana
prepared by Will Bloss. The photographs include 2 portraits of
Bloss taken in New Albany, Indiana (ca. 1870-1875); images of
Bloss, campus views and buildings, Corvallis, and the Willamette
River taken during Bloss' presidency (1892-1896); a photograph
of the Bloss Family at their farm in Hamilton Township, Indiana
(near Muncie) in early 1905 and a later family photographs from
the 1950s; photographs of the 1886 and 1889 Indiana University
football teams; and 2 photographs of Bloss' grave marker in Indiana
taken in 1968 by his grandson. The most notable photographs show
construction of the annex to Mechanical Hall in 1894 --View this image.; views of
the orchard and garden north of Benton Hall; and a full portrait
of Bloss wearing a Union greatcoat taken in the campus greenhouse.
Provenance
These copies were made from materials owned by Wilma Bloss (President
John Bloss' granddaughter-in-law) and loaned to the OSU Archives
for duplication.
Biographical Note
John McKnight Bloss (1839-1905) served as President of Oregon
Agricultural College from 1892 until 1896. He entered Hanover
College (Indiana) in 1854 and received an A.B. degree with honors
in 1860; in 1864-1865 he studied medicine at Ohio Medical College
in Cincinatti.
Bloss fought with the 27th
Indiana Volunteer Infantry in General McClellan's Army of
the Potomac during the Civil War. On the morning of September
13th, 1862, Sergeant Bloss found what would later be known as
"Lee's Lost Dispatch" (Special Order 191) giving detailed
Confederate troop movements. Bloss recognized the importance of
this find and forwarded it through the chain of command to General
McClellan. Bloss fought and was wounded in several battles, including
Antietam, before he resigned in 1864.
His career in education included serving as a teacher; principal;
superintendent of the city schools of Evansville (1875-1880) and
Muncie (1883-1886), Indiana and Topeka, Kansas (1886-1892); and
the State Superintendent for Public Instruction for Indiana (1880-
1882).
In April 1892 he was selected as the third president of Oregon
Agricultural College. In addition to his duties as President of
the College and Director of the Experiment Station, he was appointed
as Professor of Mental and Moral Science and taught courses in
political economy, psychology, and ethics.
He resigned from the College in 1896 due to failing health and
returned to his farm north of Muncie, Indiana where he remained
until his death in 1905. During his retirement, he established
the first consolidated school (Royerton) west of the Allegheny
Mountains in his home township of Hamilton. Bloss married
Emma L. McPheeters in 1865 and had 2 children, Nannie (b. 1866)
and William H. (Will, b. 1869). His first wife died of typhoid
in Topeka, Kansas and Bloss married Mary A. Woods in 1893, while
the College President.
Nannie Bloss accompanied her father to Corvallis in 1892 and later
married Dumont Lotz, who was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry
(1891-1892) and Station Chemist (1892-1893) at OAC.
President Bloss' son, Will, spent 1893-1894 in Corvallis. Although
not enrolled as a student, he coached and quarterbacked the first
college football team (1893), sang first baritone with the College
Quartette, and coached the college baseball team the following
spring (1894). After 3 years of service in the U.S. Army at Vancouver,
Washington, he returned to Corvallis in 1897 and coached the championship
1897 football team.
Related Materials
President's Office Records
(RG 13); and MC-Bloss, John McKnight.
Shelf Locations
SR 6/6/6/11
2/2/9/11
7/2/3/b (map)
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