Signer of the
Declaration of Independence; born in
Gifford, Scotland, Feb. 5, 1722; was a lineal descendant of
John Knox.
Educated at the
University of Edinburgh, he was licensed to preach at twenty-one.
When the
Young Pretender landed in
England young
Witherspoon marched at the head of a corps of militia to join him. He was taken prisoner at
Falkirk, and remained in Donne Castle until the battle of
Culloden.
While settled at
Paisley he was called (1767) to the presidency of the College of New Jersey, at
Princeton, and was inaugurated in August, 1768.
He had already written and published several works, and had acquired a fine reputation for scholarship.
Under his administration the college flourished, financially and otherwise.
He was not only president, but was
Professor of Divinity; also pastor of the Presbyterian church at
Princeton.
At the beginning of the Revolution the college was for a time broken up, when
President Witherspoon assisted in the patriotic political movements.
He also assisted in framing a State constitution for
New Jersey, and went as a delegate to Congress in time to advocate and sign the
Declaration of Independence.
For six years he was a punctual attendant of Congress, serving faithfully on important committees.
He was a member of the secret committee and of the board of war.
In Congress he opposed the repeated issues of paper money, and he wrote and published much on the topics of the time.
In 1783 he went to
England to collect funds for the college.
He died near
Princeton, N. J., Sept. 15, 1794.
