Samford's first president, 27-year-old Samuel Sterling Sherman, was a native of Vermont who had come south to improve his frail health. He opened a preparatory school in Tuscaloosa, tutored in ancient languages at the University of Alabama and served as UA's librarian. His reputation attracted the attention of those searching for a president for newly-founded Howard College in Marion.
Sherman accepted the presidency of Howard College in spite of the UA president's warning that the Baptists wouldn't be able to sustain their new school. This was an act of great faith, because when Howard College opened in 1842 it consisted of a single wooden building and had no students, no faculty and minimal resources. The curriculum was so limited that when the local newspaper prepared to announce the opening of "Howard University," Sherman went to the printing office and changed the copy to read "Howard English and Classical School"--a more modest and accurate description of the college.
