James Hadley (March 30, 1821 – November 14, 1872) was an American philologist who taught Greek and Hebrew languages at Yale College.
Biography
Hadley was born in Fairfield, New York, where his father was professor of chemistry at Fairfield Medical College. At the age of nine, a knee injury left him crippled for life. Hadley received his early instruction at the Fairfield Academy, and also acquired some scientific knowledge from his father. He became assistant at the academy, and later graduated from Yale College in 1842, having entered the junior class in 1840. Hadley was then a resident graduate at Yale for a year, after which he entered Yale's theological seminary, where he spent two years.
From April to September 1845, Hadley was a tutor at Middlebury College.
As an undergraduate, Hadley had proven an able mathematician, but the influence of Edward Elbridge Salisbury, under whom Hadley and William Dwight Whitney studied Sanskrit together, turned his attention toward the study of language. He knew Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, several Celtic languages, and the languages of modern Europe; but he published little, and his scholarship found scant outlet in the college classroom.
James Hadley's brother, Henry Hamilton Hadley (born in Fairfield July 19, 1826; died in Washington, D.C., August 1, 1864) was a noted educator. Henry graduated at Yale in 1845. He then held the office of tutor for two years, and studied theology, finally completing his course at Andover in 1853. He then spent some time in New York studying law, but returned to New Haven, and there spent more than three years in theological pursuits, especially in a systematic study of the Hebrew language and the Old Testament scriptures. In 1858, Henry became instructor of sacred literature in Union Theological Seminary, New York, and professor of Hebrew there in 1862. During 1861, he held the professorship of Hebrew in the theological department of Yale. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Henry was prevented by his friends from enlisting in the Union Army, but paid for two substitutes. During the summer vacation of 1864, he offered his time for the work of the United States Sanitary Commission, and was sent to City Point, Virginia, where he died. Henry published articles in the American Theological Review.