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John Witherspoon
(1722 - 1794)
John Witherspoon
was the GGG grandson of John Knox the
reformer and the GG grandson of John Welsh
of Ayr and the brother to our ancestor Susan Ann Witherspoon - both
of Susan and John's parents were descendants of John Welsh.
He is famous
as the president of Princeton University for his role in the creation
and signing of the of the Declaration of Independence.
The Early
Years
John Witherspoon was born in Gifford, East Lothian on 5 February
1722, where his father Rev James Witherspoon A.M was the Minister
of Yester, and his mother was Anne Walker, daughter of Rev David
Walker. Rev James Witherspoon was noted as a man, "eminent
for his piety and literature, and for a habit of great accuracy
in his writings and discourses."
John attended
the preparatory school in Haddington, East Lothian, where he excelled.
At 14 he started at University of Edinburgh where he attained a
Master of Arts in 1739. In 1743 he graduated as a Doctor of Divinity
- he was twenty one. He assisted his father for a short time, until
he was ordained on 11 April 1745.
Minister
of Beith and Paisley
His first posting was as a Presbyterian Minister of the Auld
Kirk in Beith in Ayrshire where he preached for twelve years.
In 1746 he observed
the battle of Falkirk, unfortunately finding himself captured, and
imprisoned in the Castle of Doune. His cellmated escaped during
the night, however two were injured, and insufficient rope left
for him to get out. He decided to await the Lords decision instead,
and although charged with attempting to escape, he was given his
liberty, and returned to his Parish in Ayrshire.
On September
2 1748 - whilst in Beith - he married Elizabeth Montgomery a local
girl and daughter of Robert Montgomery of Craighouse.The Witherspoons
had ten children, five of whom died in childhood.
Whilst in Beith
he gained a wide reputation as both an orator and through his many
ecclesiastical writings, including "Ecclesiastical Characteristics"
(1753) - an attack on those ministers who preached humanism instead
of dogmatic truth - and "Serious Enquiry into the Nature and
Effects of the Stage" (1757) - where he wrote that the theatre
was not an innocent recreation but an arouser of immoral passion.
His reputation
resulted in a number of different offers from many churches across
Scotland (and abroad), and finally in January 1757 he was installed
as pastor at Paisley, where he found a large and active congregation.
In 1764
he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University
of St. Andrews, in recognition of his theological skills.
In 1766, the
College of New Jersey (later Princeton College) offered him the
College Presidency. At the time Witherspoon declined because his
family - particularly his wife - were reluctant to leave Scotland.
In 1768, 21-year-old Benjamin Rush - who enrolled at the University
of Edinburgh's medical school - visited Witherspoon. Rush was armed
with letters from Benjamin Franklin and managed to convince the
family that the move would be a positive one, and in May 1768 the
family left Scotland.
President
of Princeton
On 7 August 1768 the 42 year old Witherspoon and his family
- his wife Elizabeth three sons and two daughters - arrived in the
Americas. Later that month on 17th August, he was inaugurated as
the 6th President of the College of New Jersey. He brought with
him 300 valuable books as a gift to the college, while his friends
in Scotland and England gave many more.
Dr. Witherspoon
enjoyed great success at the College of New Jersey, turning it into
a very successful institution. His earned a reputation for tireless
work which stimulated donations from all parts of the country and
the finances of the institution flourished during this period. He
was recognised as a strong leader who stimulated his students to
emulate him. He also wrote frequent essays on subjects of interest
to the colonies.
He was president
of the college when James Madison attended, and his students included
the future president, a vice-president, twenty-one senators, thirty-nine
congressmen, three justices of the Supreme Court, nine cabinet officers,
and twelve state governors. He also taught five of the nine Princeton
graduates who were representatives to the Constitutional Convention.
Accused of running a "seminary of sedition," he introduced students
to Enlightenment thinkers, a "common sense philosophy," and a firm
belief that faith might walk hand-in-hand with reason. When John
Adams stopped over in Princeton on his way to the first meeting
of the Continental Congress in 1774, he met Witherspoon and pronounced
him "as high a Son of Liberty, as any Man in America.''
Witherspoon
the signer
While he at first abstained from political concerns, he contributed
to the cause of the Patriots by sermons and writings and by participation
in various local activities. Eventually he gave more active support
to the revolutionary cause, accepting appointment to the committees
of correspondence and safety in early 1776. Early in the year 1776,
Witherspoon was elected a representative to the Continental Congress
by the people of New Jersey. He took his seat a few days prior to
the 4th of July, just in time to vote for R. H. Lee's Resolution
for Independence. He voted in favor, and assisted in the deliberations
on the momentous question of the Declaration of Independence - which
he also signed, the only member of the clergy to do so.
Witherspoon
served twice in the state legislature first from early 1776 to 1779
and then again from 1781 to 1783. It was during his first term in
the state legislature that Witherspoons eldest son, James, was killed
on 4 October 1777 at the battle of Germantown.
In November,
1776, he shut down and then evacuated the College of New Jersey
at the approach of British forces. The British occupied the area
and did much damage to the college, nearly destroyed it. In 1779
- whilst still President of the College - he retired from teaching
and handed over the day to day running of the school to his son-in-law,
the Rev. Dr. Samuel Smith.
However Witherspoon
found it difficult to retire from public life all together. The
revolutionary war had done much damage to the college, and in 1783,
Witherspoon visited England with Joseph Reed to seek funds to rebuild
Princeton College . Despite the residual hostility in Britain at
the time, his mission was successful, and he spent the next years
of his life rebuilding the college and focussing on its administrative
affairs.
In 1784 a second
tragedy befell the family when his daughter Frances died in childbirth.
After his return
from England, Witherspoon looked to retire, but he was called on
one more time to serve his adopted country, when he was a delegate
to the New Jersey convention, which ratified the U.S. Constitution
in 1787.
Between his
arrival in the Americas and his retirement, Witherspoon was also
instrumental in stimulating and unifying the Presbyterian Church
in America Presbyterians had grown in numbers and were scattered
geographically. By 1788, a new organization and new standards for
the American Presbyterian Church were in place. In May 1789 in Philadelphia,
the first General Assembly, the national body, convened. Witherspoon
presided, opening the meeting and preaching a sermon on 1 Corinthians
3:7. He then conducted the election of the first official leader,
the moderator, of the new denomination. But Witherspoon’s influence
in the church went beyond these formal actions. In 1789, there were
177 Presbyterian ministers in the colonies, and by one count ninety-seven
were Princeton graduates, fifty-two of them Witherspoon’s own students.
His later
years
Witherspoon commenced his retirement proper in 1787, the later
years of his life were spent in the cultivation of a farm at
``Tusculum,'' a handsome residence he built on Cherry Hill Road
a mile from Princeton.
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His wife
Elizabeth died in 1789 and - less than two years later - at
the ripe old age of 70 he remarried in May 1791. His second
wife was Ann Marshall Dill, the widow of Dr. Armstrong Dill.
She was only twenty-three years old, and the marriage caused
much speculation and comment - she bore him two daughters.
Around
the time of his marriage he suffered a number of injuries
first to one eye then the other, becoming totally blind in
1792, this blindness was the beginning of his decline, but
he apparently remained cheerful.
On November
15 1794, he finally succumbed to his cumulative illnesses
and died
on his farm, "Tusculum," just outside of Princeton in November
of 1794, a man much honored & beloved by his adopted countrymen.
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Tusculum
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John was survived
by four children John - a physician - David - a lawyer - his daughter
Ann - who married to the Rev. Samuel S. Smith, the successor of
Witherspoon in the presidency of the college - and Mary Ann - who
was only 6 months old at the time of his death.
The following
epitaph is inscribed on the marble which covers his remains:
Beneath
this marble lie interred
the mortal remains of
JOHN WITHERSPOON, D.D. LL.D.
a venerable and beloved President of the College of
New-Jersey.
He was born in the parish of Yester, in Scotland,
on the 5th of February, 1722, O. S.
And was liberally educated in the University of Edinburgh;
invested with holy orders in the year 1743,
he faithfully performed the duties of
his pastoral charge,
during five and twenty years,
first at Beith, and then at Paisley.
Elected president of Nassau Hall,
he asumed the duties of that office on the 13th of August, 1768,
with the elevated expectations of the public.
Excelling in every mental gift,
he was a man of pre-eminent piety and virture
and deeply versed in the various branches
of literature and the liberal arts.
A grave and solemn preacher,
his sermons abounded in the most excellent doctrines and precepts,
and in lucid expositins of the Holy Scriptures.
Affable, pleasant, and courteous in familiar conversation,
he was eminently distinguished
in concerns and deliberations of the church,
and endowed with the greatest prudence
in the management and instruction of youth.
He exalted
the reputation of the college amongst foreigners,
and greatly promoted the advancement
of its literary character and taste.
He was, for a long time, conspicuous
Among the most brilliant luminaries of learning and of the Church.
At length,
universally venerated, beloved, and lamented,
he departed this life on the fifteenth of November, MDCCXCIV.
aged LXXIII years.
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