Description
George Burrowes (1811-1894) was one of the first four instructors at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. He was professor
of Hebrew and Old Testament literature, 1871-1894. The donation of Dr. Burrowes's personal library in 1873 was the beginning
of the SFTS Library. The collection includes poems, diaries, and research papers.
Background
George Burrowes was born April 3, 1811, at Millham, near Trenton, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton College in 1832
and received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1835. After serving various churches in
New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania, he was selected by the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church to teach in California.
He arrived in San Francisco via Panama in 1859. There he helped found City College of San Francisco. He returned to the East
Coast in 1865, serving as professor of religious instruction at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He returned to
San Francisco and became head of Hebrew Language and Literature at San Francisco Theological Seminary on December 4, 1871.
In 1890 he was made Emeritus Professor and retired. He died on April 21, 1895.