Marquis Lafayette Wood
President, Trinity College 1883-1884
http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/history/presidents.html
When Braxton Craven died in 1882, the Trustees turned to Marquis Lafayette Wood (1829-1893). Although he served only a year-and-a-half, we might not be here today except for his leadership during the critical period following Craven's death. When nineteenth century institutions became closely identified with the personality of a long-time leader, they more often than not succumbed at the death of their president. A minister and Craven's closest friend, Wood was a graduate of the school--the only president also an alumnus in our history. He worked diligently for the college, raised the first money ever for endowment, and remained on the Board of Trustees the rest of his life, even submitting the resolution in 1889 to move the college from his beloved native Randolph County. His one-sentence definition of the college presidency was that "All great enterprises require time and patience and labor and suffering and money." After Wood left, the college was run for three years by a Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Marquis Lafayette Wood was a Methodist clergyman, missionary, and educator. He served as President of Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.) from 1883 to 1884. The Marquis Lafayette Wood Records and Papers primarily consist of diaries, sermons and addresses, with a small amount of correspondence, minutes, account books, and writings. Modern materials, such as Wood family genealogies and biographies, were added to the collection as well. Major subjects of the collection include Trinity College during the mid 1880s and Wood's career as a minister in North Carolina and as a missionary in China during the early 1860s. Materials range in date from 1852-1984 (bulk 1855-1892).