Justin Smith Morrill

Justin Smith Morrill was an American politician and entrepreneur who represented Vermont in the United States House of Representatives (1855–1867) and United States Senate (1867–1898). He is most widely remembered for Morrill Land-Grant Acts that provided federal funding for establishing many of the United States' public colleges and universities following a movement led by Jonathan Baldwin Turner. He is also remembered for the Morrill Tariff. Originally a Whig, after that party became defunct Morrill was one of the founders of the Republican Party.