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endowment that compared favorably with the more established east coast schools, and enrollment ranked fourth among all colleges of the
Presbyterian Church. Laws had a dominating personality, and he did not tolerate well interference from other school officials. Laws came into conflict with the Westminster trustees over matters of discipline, and at the outbreak of the
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in 1854. At the college's first commencement in June 1855, the board of trustees elected Laws to the position of president of the college. Laws was officially confirmed to the position in
October of that year. His term as president of Westminster was highly successful. He raised funds to establish an
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Laws initially placed a gold indicator in a window at the
Exchange, but he soon began installing them, through his newly founded Reporting Telegraph Co., in brokerage firms throughout Manhattan and pushing the latest prices of gold over the telegraph wires. Thus, as early as 1866, brokerage houses
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In 1863, Laws returned to New York from Paris, and he found a job as manager of New York City's Gold
Exchange and an amateur electrician, invented the gold indicator to put an end to the crush of messenger boys scurrying into the Exchange and back out to their clients with the latest gold price in
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in 1861 he was arrested and tried for treason after refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the federal government. As a
Virginia native, Laws was a southern sympathizer. He was removed from his position and jailed for three months in a
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hand. As the price of gold changed, an electrical signal sent from the trading floor would cause a hand on the device—a clocklike dial rimmed with numerals—to move until it pointed to the latest trading price.
277:(March 23, 1824 – January 9, 1921) was an American minister, professor, physician, college president, businessman and inventor best known today as the inventor of the Laws Gold Indicator, a predecessor of the
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willing to pay the monthly fee could base trades on up-to-the-minute market information rather than waiting for runners to bring the news. In June 1869, Laws hired a penniless would-be inventor named
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328:. Laws was released on the condition that he leave the United States. He spent 1862 teaching in Paris, but in 1863 he returned to the United States and settled in New York.
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at the
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from 1876 to 1889. After he stepped down from the presidency in 1889, he moved to
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453:"Center for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching, and University Assessment"
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421:"Laws, Samuel Spahr (1824-1921), educator, businessman, and inventor"
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after Laws, and at the
University of Missouri, residential building
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435:"The Civil War in Callaway County | Callaway County, Missouri"
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War Comes to
Westminster College – Missouri's Civil War
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959:People of Missouri in the American Civil War
492:at The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org)
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324:prison, where he spent his time reading
310:Samuel Spahr Laws became a professor at
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969:Westminster College (Missouri) faculty
954:People from Ohio County, West Virginia
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964:Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
944:Leaders of the University of Missouri
293:and a member of the Alpha chapter of
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391:Richard T. Farmer School of Business
281:. He was an 1848 graduate and class
914:American Civil War prisoners of war
611:Presidents and Chancellors of the
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929:Businesspeople from West Virginia
532:President of Westminster College
401:were also named in honor of him.
251:Bellevue Hospital Medical College
924:Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery
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353:Laws served as president of the
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904:19th-century American inventors
238:Princeton Theological Seminary
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934:Christians from West Virginia
496:Works by or about Samuel Laws
909:Academics from West Virginia
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939:Columbia Law School alumni
345:as mechanical supervisor.
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375:Asheville, North Carolina
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510:Offices and distinctions
389:that housed most of the
363:Columbia, South Carolina
46:7th President of the
949:Miami University alumni
385:Miami University named
377:where he died in 1921.
212:39.171250°N 84.526000°W
919:American Presbyterians
614:University of Missouri
557:University of Missouri
355:University of Missouri
349:University of Missouri
332:New York Gold Exchange
49:University of Missouri
359:Kansas City, Missouri
217:39.171250; -84.526000
181:Spring Grove Cemetery
90:1st President of
567:Richard Henry Jesse
322:St. Louis, Missouri
312:Westminster College
306:Westminster College
279:ticker tape machine
242:Columbia University
208: /
92:Westminster College
84:Richard Henry Jesse
806:American Civil War
459:on October 6, 2014
367:Richmond, Virginia
317:American Civil War
115:Office established
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564:Succeeded by
555:President of the
538:Succeeded by
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441:on July 24, 2012.
275:Samuel Spahr Laws
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455:. Archived from
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437:. Archived from
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399:Laws Observatory
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842:Christianity
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461:. Retrieved
457:the original
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439:the original
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387:the building
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291:Oxford, Ohio
274:
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203:84°31′33.6″W
200:39°10′16.5″N
122:Succeeded by
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79:Succeeded by
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23:The Reverend
15:
899:1921 deaths
894:1824 births
774:(2017–2020)
768:(2014–2015)
762:(2004–2013)
756:(1997–2004)
750:(1993–1996)
744:(1987–1993)
738:(1978–1987)
732:(1971–1978)
726:(1964–1970)
717:Chancellors
709:(1955–1963)
703:(1935–1954)
697:(1931–1935)
691:(1923–1930)
685:(1922–1923)
679:(1908–1921)
673:(1891–1908)
667:(1876–1889)
661:(1866–1876)
655:(1865–1866)
649:(1860–1862)
643:(1856–1859)
637:(1850–1856)
631:(1841–1849)
549:Daniel Read
481:Samuel Laws
215: /
154:present-day
146:Ohio County
110:Preceded by
72:Daniel Read
67:Preceded by
27:Samuel Laws
888:Categories
866:Technology
772:Cartwright
701:Middlebush
622:Presidents
561:1876–1889
535:1855–1861
527:New office
405:References
229:Alma mater
186:Cincinnati
854:Education
818:Biography
730:Schooling
395:Laws Hall
326:Aristotle
257:Signature
104:1855–1861
100:In office
61:1876–1889
57:In office
830:Business
695:Williams
463:June 15,
150:Virginia
792:Portals
754:Wallace
748:Kiesler
736:Uehling
724:Schwada
653:Lathrop
635:Shannon
629:Lathrop
498:at the
159:), U.S.
766:Loftin
760:Deaton
742:Monroe
689:Brooks
641:Hudson
381:Legacy
192:, U.S.
172:, U.S.
707:Ellis
683:Jones
671:Jesse
647:Minor
246:LL.B.
778:Choi
677:Hill
665:Laws
659:Read
465:2014
397:and
190:Ohio
164:Died
140:Born
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289:in
285:of
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