Simeon Walcher Harkey was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, on December 3, 1811. He graduated from Gettysburg Lutheran seminary in 1834, and in 1850 was elected as professor of Christian theology at Hillsboro College. Harkey was influential in transferring the location of Hillsboro College from Hillsboro to Springfield, IL, where the name of the college became Illinois State University. After President Springer's resignation in 1855, Harkey became acting president until William M. Reynolds took leadership in 1857. When Reynolds resigned in 1962, Harkey served as acting president again from 1862 to 1866. Harkey also was president of the general synod of his church in 1857 and in 1865 he served as chaplain at Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois. Wittenberg College gave him the degree of D. D. in 1852. Dr. Harkey died on March 1, 1889 in Knox County, Illinois. Sources: Spielman, William Carl. [i]The Diamond Jubliee History of Carthage College, 1870-1945[/i]. Carthage, Ill.: Carthage College, 1945. http://books.google.com/books?id=qEwXAAAAIAAJ&dq=denhart+carthage&source=gbs_navlinks_s Ancestry.com http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=harzed&id=I05068