Benjamin Minor was educated in private schools in Essex, until he was twelve years of age, when he was sent to the classical academy of Mr. Thomas Hanson, in famous Fredericksburg. There, with some additional aid in mathematics and French, he was prepared for college. In the fall of 1833, he was admitted to the junior class of Bristol College, on the Delaware, above Philadelphia, and at the end of the session gained one of the honors and was advanced to the senior class. Bristol College was a manual labor institution, under Episcopalian auspices, and Mr. Minor found the experience gained in its carpentry department useful in after life.
His father was now willing to trust him at the University of Virginia, which both preferred, and he matriculated the next session of 1834-'5, and continued there three years. During these he obtained distinctions and diplomas in a number of the schools, including his favorite, moral philosophy and political economy, and commenced the study of law. In 1836, Professor Charles Bonnycastle offered him the position of principal of an academy in Baton Rouge, La., but he declined it. When, however, that professor proposed to him to live in his family and teach his children a few hours each day, this was readily accepted, for it did not take him away from the University. Moreover, he was fond of teaching,
