When considering early American Presbyterianism, attention is rightfully given to the leaders who proved influential, like Francis Makemie and Samuel Davies. It is also easy to point to signature decisions and controversies such as the Adopting Act, the Old Side-New Side debate, and the Plan of Union. But perhaps the most impactful decision ever made was to establish a college.  

Princeton University would become influential not only in the life of the Presbyterian church, but also in the life of the young republic. As Mark Noll has noted, Princeton plays an important role in the “interwoven history of republicanism, Calvinism, and the American Enlightenment and the closely related history of the Presbyterian church.”

Located between Philadelphia and New York, the school became an intellectual center that produced pastors, politicians, and leaders for the growing nation. Samuel Miller once remarked that the College of New Jersey, as Princeton was first known, is “one of the most conspicuous institutions in our country, and one of those whose history and influence are most worthy of being traced.”

Wherever you find Presbyterians, you will find an emphasis on education. “Education in colonial America was the child of religion … Education was important, they thought, not only to develop an enlightened citizenry and to ensure an intelligent reading of the Scripture, but especially to supply the churches with scholarly clergymen.” ¹ Thus said Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker in his authoritative work on the history of the College of New Jersey, renamed Princeton University in 1896. 

From its founding in 1746 until 1812, the institution was remarkably used by God to provide theological education for Presbyterians. But its early years were full of trials, as the school lost five presidents in just 21 years, most of whom died shortly after their inaugurations. The college also faced bouts with diseases, extreme difficulties in keeping its doors open, war, and controversies that threatened to unravel the entire enterprise. 

Yet despite these hardships, the college grew into one of the country’s most prestigious institutions. The College of New Jersey had strong theological roots, a historic role in training dedicated Presbyterian preachers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and an enduring legacy that stands in stark contrast to Princeton University’s departure from this theological foundation.

Theological Education in the 18th Century

Eighteenth-century theological training was markedly different from the seminary system we are familiar with today. During that time, there were three avenues for obtaining this education. 

First, enrollment at a European university. Colonial aspiring pastors often journeyed across the Atlantic to study divinity at institutions within their denomination. Traditionally Congregationalists attended Oxford or Cambridge, while Presbyterians studied in Edinburgh or Aberdeen. However, this route was costly and challenging, making it inaccessible for many. As ecclesiastical traditions took root in the colonies, this method of education gradually declined, pushing successive generations further from their European, Scottish, or English origins.

The second option for clerical training was through private institutions. William Tennent attempted to provide theological education for Presbyterians when he founded the famous Log College in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania. Samuel Blair also founded Faggs Manor Classical School in Pennsylvania. Regardless of noble intentions, these institutions, especially Log College, were stifled by the negative response of some Presbyterian churches to the school’s connection with George Whitefield’s revivals, and, more importantly, with Gilbert Tennent’s provocative sermon, “Dangers of an Unconverted Ministry.” The connection made many traditional, or “Old-Side,” clergy question whether such academies were a reliable means of training candidates for the ministry. 

The third option was divinity programs in the colonies, such as Harvard (1636) and Yale (1701), founded by Puritans, intended to educate Congregationalist pastors. The colleges remained a viable option for training Presbyterian clergy until the middle of the 18th century, when Presbyterians grew concerned about the direction of Harvard and Yale.² New Side Presbyterians sought to establish a school for pious ministers, prompting the founding of the College of New Jersey.

Princeton’s Presidents

On October 22, 1746, the College of New Jersey received its charter from New Jersey Governor John Hamilton. The original trustees were five prominent New Side Presbyterians: Samuel Blair Sr., Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent Jr., Samuel Finley, and Richard Treat.³ All were graduates of either Yale College or the Log College but had grown dissatisfied with the education available at Yale. They founded the new school in hopes of producing capable public servants and, especially, devout Presbyterian clergy favorable to the recent revivals. 

Although the College of New Jersey was not a seminary — after all, it received its charter from the state — the founders hoped that it would be a major producer of devoted Presbyterian ministers. After the charter, Johnathan Dickinson was elected as the college’s first president. 

Jonathan Dickinson (1688-1747)

Jonathan Dickinson, the distinguished writer and theologian, received a master’s degree from Yale College in 1706 and served at Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church for his entire ministerial career (1709-1747). He was an internationally-renowned theologian, surpassed only by Jonathan Edwards. In the Old Side-New Side Presbyterian division from 1741-1758, his sympathies were clearly with the revivalists. He supported Whitefield’s awakenings and even experienced a revival at his own church. 

The college began in Elizabethtown under Dickinson’s supervision with 8-10 students. The eager students moved into Dickinson’s house and accessed his library, yet their excitement was short lived. “The infant college was destined to have many shocks,” and the first of these came four and a half months later, when Dickinson died suddenly at the age of 59. The uncertain future for these college students lasted only until the trustees appointed Aaron Burr Sr. as president.   

Aaron Burr, Sr. (1716-1757) 

Burr became the college’s second president in 1747. He matriculated at Yale College in 1735 and, during his graduate studies in 1736, recounted a conversion experience and a call to ministry after which he settled at First Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey, where he spent the remainder of his ministry (1736-1755). After electing Burr, the college moved from Elizabethtown to Newark to accommodate his ministry there. 

Despite the struggle following Dickinson’s short tenure, Burr kept things together and established a firm foundation for the fledgling college during a nine-year campaign. The college took root at Newark, and in 1753, Samuel Davies and Gilbert Tennent — two of the New Side’s most famous preachers — were commissioned by the New York Synod to travel to England and Scotland, where they successfully recruited financial aid and support for the college. The pair returned home with endowments that would ensure the college’s future. 

In 1755 the college relocated to Princeton. It was here that Burr built the first permanent structure in honor of William III of the House of Nassau. Nassau Hall, as it was named, was “one of the largest and one of the handsomest buildings in the country, working under a system of instruction justly acclaimed for its proficiency, while the institution was buttressed by a small endowment and had won the admiration even of its enemies.” ⁴

Under Burr’s leadership, the college blossomed; the first class graduated six students, five of whom were Presbyterian ministers. Unfortunately, Burr, only 41 years old, fell ill and died on September 24, 1757. Nonetheless, in the last year of his presidency, there were 70 students and three tutors. He was buried in the Princeton Cemetery, which is now called “President’s Row.” Five days after his burial, the presidency fell to Burr’s father-in-law, Jonathan Edwards.   

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

The trustees appointed Edwards as their third president in January 1758. This was a natural selection in view of his scholarly fame and New Side sympathies. Students and trustees alike eagerly anticipated the celebrated theologian’s tenure but were soon disappointed by the brevity of Edwards’ presidency. Upon moving to Princeton, Edwards took an experimental inoculation for smallpox that proved fatal. After two months as president, Edwards died on March 22, 1758, and was buried in the President’s Lot of Nassau Street Cemetery. The College of New Jersey, only 11 years old, had lost three presidents and once again faced an uncertain future.

Samuel Davies (1723-1761)

In an attempt to replace Edwards with someone of similar stature, the college unanimously called Samuel Davies to fill the vacancy. He was trained in the academy of Faggs Manor under Samuel Blair. Upon completion of his studies, Davies was ordained in 1753 to serve as an evangelist to Virginia by the New Side-aligned Synod of New York. In his evangelistic preaching style, he was the means by which God stirred a Southern Great Awakening. 

When the Synod of New York commissioned him to travel to the British Isles to secure two years’ endowments for the college, he grew in popularity and became an internationally famous preacher. Although he originally declined the invitation as the college’s fourth president, the trustees prevailed upon him, and he accepted the position, settling in Princeton in July 1759. 

Despite his popularity, Davies was overwhelmed by his call to the presidency, thinking himself ill-equipped to lead such a distinguished institution. Nevertheless, his reputation affirmed his qualifications. A friend recounted that he was accompanied by the most “uncommon gifts of the God of Heaven.” He was “modest, lovable, scholarly, eloquent, acquainted with recent trends in education, and he was ideally equipped to lead the college.” ⁵ Yet, Davies drove himself mercilessly to reconcile his scholarship to what he supposed he was lacking. 

He had previously developed tuberculosis from riding a 500-mile circuit while serving as an evangelist in Virginia. While in Princeton, Davies’ long confinement in an attempt to strengthen his insecurities proved to weaken his constitution, and he took ill. On January 1, 1761, he preached his last published sermon, based on Jeremiah 28:16: “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die … .’” Davies said, “It is not only possible—but highly probable, that death may meet some of us within the compass of this year.” ⁶

Almost prophetically, a month later, he died of pneumonia on February 4, 1761, continuing the misfortune of the Princeton presidents. 

Samuel Finley (1715-1766)

Following Davies’ death, the college’s trustees appointed Samuel Finley, who began his service in 1761. As a founding father of the college, he was a logical choice. Finley emigrated from Ireland and most likely attended the Log College. In 1742, he was ordained as an evangelist, and in 1744, he accepted a call to Nottingham, Maryland. From there, he became one of the most famous New Side preachers. 

While not the orator Davies was, Finley had all the makings of a college president. His tenure saw enrollment rise from 70 to over 130 graduating students. The most frequent graduates became New Side ministers; however, the college also produced public servants and statesmen. 

One example is Samuel Kirkland, who was the second governor of New Jersey, a founding father of America, and the third Chief Justice of the United States. 

After five years as president, Finley died on July 17, 1766, following the unfortunate pattern of the former presidents. With the death of Finley, the College of New Jersey “stood at a crossroads,” and “the Presbyterian founders of the College of New Jersey were inching into a world of new social, cultural, and religious realities.” 

The New Side/Old Side division ended in 1758, and its New Side founders, the “most talented leaders, lay buried in the Princeton Cemetery” (Burr, Edwards, and Davies).⁷ The revivals had cooled, the reunion had begun, and Finley’s death left another vacancy. By this point, filling the post required greater sensitivity than before, as the college trustees wanted to prevent former Old Side Presbyterians from advancing in the presidency. 

News reached the trustees that the Old Side desired Francis Allison to be installed as president of the college. However, his open aversion to New Side revivalism made him an unsuitable choice. The trustees, instead, chose John Witherspoon as their top presidential candidate. After the initial disappointment at Allison’s dismissal, the trustees were hopeful that Witherspoon, an impartial Scot, could reconcile the New and Old Side divisions, thereby uniting the two under a single Presbyterian college. However, Witherspoon’s wife, being a homebody, was opposed to leaving Scotland, and he, in turn, declined the presidency. On September 30, 1767, the trustees voted again, this time selecting Samuel Blair Jr. as their sixth president. 

Samuel Blair Jr. (1741-1818)

Blair attended Faggs Manor, which was founded by his father, Samuel Blair Sr., and was a College of New Jersey alumnus. Blair seemed like a good fit to keep the Old Side at bay, which raised complaints on their part that hiring Blair was partisanship at its core. They grumbled that he was too young and inexperienced to be president. The trustees wrongly assumed that Blair Jr. held to his father’s New Side sympathies. Some supporters of the college, troubled by his progressive tendencies, urged him not to take the post. 

By the time of Blair Jr.’s appointment in 1767, his father had long since died, the revivals had cooled, and New Side Presbyterianism had grown outdated. Over time, Blair’s theological views became even more tolerant, and in 1784, he published “The Mystery Hid from Ages,” which he preached in a Presbyterian pulpit, maintaining the universal salvation of God. 

A leading trustee, Robert Stockton, concerned about Blair Jr.’s theological positions, traveled to Scotland to see whether Witherspoon would reconsider. With his wife now on board, Witherspoon accepted. 

After being urged to rescind his post, Blair took a call in the historic Old South Church in Boston, making room for Witherspoon to become the sixth president. Witherspoon’s appointment marked a crucial turning point in establishing the College of New Jersey, shaping American independence, and elevating Presbyterianism to a national church. 

John Witherspoon (1723-1794)

Witherspoon was born and raised in Scotland, where he earned a master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1739. After pastoring in the cities of Beith and Paisley, his renown as a churchman and academic earned him an invitation to serve as the College of New Jersey’s president. 

Upon his arrival, Witherspoon reconstructed the college’s educational system. Being trained during the Scottish Enlightenment, he made significant reforms. He introduced the classes to the Scottish moral philosophy of Francis Hutcheson and Scottish Common Sense Realism, a system developed by Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart. Although Witherspoon added these classes to the curriculum, as Kevin DeYoung argues, “There is no evidence that Witherspoon was a serious disciple of Thomas Reid.” ⁸

Witherspoon, however, did not abandon his commitment to Calvinism. He taught students the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms and helped train scores of Presbyterian ministers during his presidency. Under Witherspoon’s leadership, the college flourished, and so did American Presbyterianism. Witherspoon personally taught and graduated 114 ministers, so many that the size of the Presbyterian Church required a larger court than a Synod. In 1789, the church held its first General Assembly in Philadelphia, at which Witherspoon and John Rodgers were elected co-moderators. Looking over the Assembly, he could see the countless ministers that he had personally trained.⁹

Yet Witherspoon’s influence extended beyond ecclesiastical structures. He promoted resistance in the colonies through his countless sermons and collegiate instruction and served as a prominent member of the Continental Congress. Two of Witherspoon’s most renowned students were John Jay and James Madison, both of whom served intimately with the colonial cause. Witherspoon supported the revolution in several ways, including hosting the Continental Congress in Nassau Hall and being the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The college itself served as barracks for the colonial army during the war, leaving Nassau Hall severely damaged. The success of the revolution brought peace again to the College of New Jersey in 1783. 

Witherspoon’s tenure also produced many politicians. “These students included a president of the United States (James Madison), a vice-president (Aaron Burr, Jr.), twelve members of the Continental Congress, five delegates to the Constitutional Convention, forty-nine U. S. representatives, twenty-eight senators, and three Supreme Court justices.” ¹⁰ It was becoming a college that produced more statesmen than clergy, and this concerned the trustees. Although training pastors remained a major goal of the college, the rate of graduates seeking ordination diminished from 21% before the American Revolution to 13% after.¹¹

Witherspoon’s leadership signified a slight departure from the New Side Presbyterians who initially founded the college. While Dickinson, Burr, Edwards, Davies, and Finley served for a combined total of only 21 years, Witherspoon dedicated 26 years to the college, implementing transformative reforms with a lasting impact. After a long and successful career, he died peacefully in his study in 1794 of natural causes and was replaced by Samuel Stanhope Smith, his son-in-law.

Samuel Stanhope Smith (1751-1819)

Smith graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1769 and then studied divinity under Witherspoon. He left Princeton for a time to enter the Presbyterian ministry, commissioned as an itinerant preacher in Virginia in 1773. Smith was the founding president of Hampton-Sydney College, where he served from 1775 to 1779. He returned to Princeton in 1779 to become a professor of moral philosophy; there he remained until he became president. Smith seamlessly balanced clerical responsibilities with his role as president, and the Presbyterian Church embodied its respect for him by electing him as moderator of the General Assembly in 1808. 

He lectured students on the Westminster Confession of Faith, softening the hard parts while teaching the basic tenets to remain in the Reformed tradition. Additionally, Smith brought Enlightenment thought and Scottish Common Sense Philosophy to his Westminster Calvinism, even more so than Witherspoon. According to Mark Noll, he was one of “America’s first professional academics to study the ethics of Francis Hutcheson and also one of the first Americans to incorporate the insight of Thomas Reid into his own work.” ¹² This won the respect of his students but not the conservative trustees. Initially, his presidency marked a success for the College of New Jersey; however, this promising chapter was undermined by unfortunate events that ultimately led to his resignation.    

Between 1802 and 1812, a series of incidents unfolded that led to Smith losing control of the campus. First, a fire, which Smith believed had been intentionally set, destroyed Nassau Hall, prompting the college to suspend seven students. In March 1807, a student revolt with “infractions such as insulting townsfolk, carousing, and cursing a tutor,” led to the suspension of three students. In response, 150 students signed a petition stating that the trustees had acted hastily. To maintain control, the trustees promptly suspended an additional 126 students, triggering retaliation. Students smashed doors and broke windows, and, fearing further violence, the trustees canceled classes from March through the summer, dramatically reducing enrollment.¹³

Smith’s tenure was noted for the irreverence and irreligion of the students. “The dilemma facing the college was a part of a larger crisis within the nation,” and Smith’s presidency “coincided with the major thinking of the young republic’s basic assumptions and values.” ¹⁴

The liberal theological shift of the French Revolution, the democratic impulse evidenced by the Princeton students’ rebellion, and Thomas Jefferson’s election as U.S. president prompted the conservative trustees to pull together. They began to grumble, and ministers grew concerned.  Samuel Miller, then pastor of New York City, complained in a letter to Ashbel Green about Smith, insisting that a seminary was necessary, which was “uncontaminated by the college.” ¹⁵

The Need for a Seminary

Over time the university failed to train and send an adequate number of ministers to keep up with the country’s growing demand for clergy. The westward expansion of the United States increased the demand for ministers, but by 1806, only 9% of graduates pursued the pastorate.   Before the American Revolution, nearly half of the university’s graduates entered the ministry.  

Formerly known as a training ground for Presbyterian ministry, the university’s focus shifted to politics during the presidency of John Witherspoon and to science during the presidency of Samuel Stanhope Smith. Several men who were brought onto the board of trustees in 1807 were suspicious of Smith’s theology and intellectual bent. They lost confidence in the quality of theological education provided by the university and wanted to press the distinctives of Presbyterianism.  

The Presbyterians watched the New England Congregationalists successfully launch Andover Theological Seminary after losing faith in the ability of Harvard to train ministers. The Presbyterians, too, needed some formal means of training ministers.

In 1808, Archibald Alexander preached to the General Assembly on 1 Corinthians 14:12, wherein he asserted that no improvements in the church’s mission could be had until a seminary had been established. In 1809, a formal overture was presented to the General Assembly for establishing a theological school. In 1810, the decision was made to establish one central seminary, and a committee was formed to plan the start of the seminary. The Assembly approved the plan, primarily penned by Ashbel Green.  

In 1812, Princeton Theological Seminary was formed, with Green, Miller, and Alexander as its principal founders. Though it had a separate board appointed by the General Assembly, the seminary used the college facilities before constructing its own on a parcel of land donated by Richard Stockton.  

In that same year, Smith, under pressure from the trustees, Smith resigned from the College of New Jersey, and Green was appointed president.

Conclusion

The establishment of a seminary reflected the New Side Presbyterian founders’ intentions for the College of New Jersey. Even though their charter was issued by the state, their objective was to produce godly, capable, learned pastors. Aaron Burr eloquently said, “Though our great intention was to erect a seminary for the education of ministers of the gospel, yet, we hope that it will be a means of training up men that will be useful in the other learned professions.” ¹⁶

Princeton University’s New Side Presbyterian beginnings, combined with the pastoral backgrounds of its first seven presidents, and the core purpose of producing clergy, demonstrate its theological roots. Although it may no longer be regarded as a theological institution, we would be amiss not to honor its original intent.

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Allen M. Stanton serves as pastor of Steen’s Creek Presbyterian Church in Florence, Mississippi, and is also the managing editor of Studies in Puritanism and Piety Journal. 

1. Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, Princeton 1746-1896 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2nd edition, 1960), 3. 
2.  Clark Gilpin, “The Seminary Ideal in American Protestant Education, 1700-1808,” Theological Education 20, no.2 1984), 85-106. 
3.  See Sean Michael Lucas’ online article for ByFaith on the New Side/Old Slide division in Early American Presbyterianism.
4.  Wertenbaker, Princeton 1746-1896, 42.
5.  Wertenbaker, Princeton 1746-1896, 43.
6.  Samuel Davies, “This Very Year You Are Going to Die,” Sermon on January 1, 1761.
7.  Jame H. Moorhead, Princeton Seminary in American Culture (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2012), 12.
8.  Kevin DeYoung, The Religious Formation of John Witherspoon: Calvinism, Evangelicalism, and the Scottish Enlightenment (Routledge Studies in Evangelicalism: Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, UK: 2020), 18.
9.  Mark A. Noll, America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 125.
10.  Nathan Feldmeth,  S. Donald Fortson III, Garth M. Rosell, and Kenneth J. Stewart, Reformed and Evangelical across Four Centuries: The Presbyterian Story in America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022).  
11.  Moorhead, Princeton Seminary, 14.
12.  Noll, America’s God, 104.
13.  Moorhead, Princeton Seminary, 19.
14.  Moorhead, Princeton Seminary, 19.
15.  Samuel Miller to Ashbel Green, May 10, 1808, in Samuel Miller, Jr. Life Samual Miller, D.D., LL.D., Second Professor in the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, at Princeton, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, 1869), 1:242. 
16.  Cited in Moorhead, Princeton Seminary, 11.