Benjamin S. Hedrick, undated
Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick was born 13 February 1827 in Davidson County near Salisbury. He attended the University of North Carolina and graduated in 1851 with "first honor in the senior class." On the recommendation of President Swain, he acquired a clerkship in the office of the Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While there, Hedrick took advanced courses at Harvard with Louis Agassiz and other notable scientists. He returned to his alma mater in January 1854 to become professor of analytical and agricultural chemistry, passing up a job offer from Davidson College. Image from North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.