Samuel Sobieski Nelles was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Methodist minister and academic.

Born in Mount Pleasant, Brant County, Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

, the eldest son of William Nelles and Mary Hardy who had immigrated to Canada from New York state

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 after the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, Nelles was educated in local schools, the Lewiston Academy, the Frederica Academy

Frederica Academy

Frederica Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school located on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, USA. It currently serves students from grades Pre-K to 12. The school has a fully functional lower school, middle school, and high school...

, and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary

The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was the name of two institutions located on the same site in Lima, New York.The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was founded in 1831 by the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The plan for its establishment dates to 1829 when the Conference...

. He attended Victoria College

Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...

 in Cobourg

Cobourg, Ontario

Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...

 from 1842 to 1844 and graduated from Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 in 1846, and there became a member of the Mystical Seven

Mystical Seven (Wesleyan)

The Mystical Seven is a society founded in 1837 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut that currently is in existence as two separate groups. Publicly, members are called Mystics.-Early history:...

. He spent a year as a principal of the Newburgh Academy in Lennox County

Lennox County, Ontario

Lennox County is a historic county in what is now the Canadian province of Ontario.As an upper-tier municipality, the county of Lennox was created on paper in 1792, but has never existed as a discrete municipal entity. From 1792 until 1864, it was part of the United Counties of Frontenac, Lennox...

 before being ordained a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church

Wesleyan Methodist Church

The Wesleyan Methodist Church was a Methodist denomination in the United States organized on May 13, 1841. It was composed of ministers and laypeople who withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church because of disagreements regarding slavery, church government, and the doctrine of holiness...

 in Canada in 1850.

In 1850, he was appointed professor of classics and acting principal of Victoria College

Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...

. In 1851, he was appointed principal and succeeded Egerton Ryerson

Egerton Ryerson

Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was a Methodist minister, educator, politician, and public education advocate in early Ontario, Canada...

 in 1854 to become president. In 1884, the school was renamed Victoria University

Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...

and he would become its first chancellor and president serving until his death in 1887.