The Biographical Dictionary of America/Backus, Truman Jay

BACKUS, Truman Jay, educator, was born in Milan. N.Y., Feb. 11, 1842; son of the Rev. Jay Spicer and Mercy (Williams) Backus, and a descendant of Isaac Backus. He was graduated from the University of Rochester in 1864; attended the Rochester theological seminary, 1864-'65, and was assistant secretary to the American Baptist Home Mission society, 1866-’67. He was professor of rhetoric and the English language at Vassar college, 1867-’83, and president of Packer Collegiate institute. Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1883. He was president of the Long Island state insane hospital. He received the degree LL. D. from Rochester in 1883; rewrote Shaw's "History of English Literature" and published "Great English Writers" (1885); "Outlines of English Literature" (1887).