For the actor, see John Witherspoon (actor).
Dr. John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794), was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. He was the only clergyman and college president to sign the Declaration.
John Witherspoon was born in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland, to the Rev. James Alexander Witherspoon, a descendant of John Welsh of Ayr and John Knox. He attended the Haddington Grammar School, and obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1739. He remained at the University to study divinity, afterwards becoming a Church of Scotland (presbyterian) minister at Beith, Ayrshire (1745-1758), where he married Elizabeth Montgomery. They had ten children, only five surviving to adulthood. From 1758-1768, he was minister of the Laigh Kirk (Low Church) in Paisley. During his two pastorates he wrote three well-known works on theology. He was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity from the University of St Andrews, Fife. During the Jacobite rising of 1745, he was briefly imprisoned at Doune Castle, Doune, Stirling, which had a long-term impact on his health.
At the urging of Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton, whom he met in Paisley, he finally accepted another invitation (he had turned it down in 1766) to become President and head professor of the small Presbyterian College of New Jersey in Princeton, and he and his family emigrated to New Jersey in 1768, at the age of 45, where he took up the position of 6th President of the college which was later to become Princeton University. Of the several courses he taught, including Eloquence or Belles Lettres, Chronology (history), and Divinity, none was more important than Moral Philosophy, a required course, and one he considered vital for ministers, lawyers, and those holding positions in government (magistrates). He was firm but good-humored in his leadership and instituted a number of reforms, including modeling the syllabus and university structure on that used at the University of St Andrews and other Scottish universities. Witherspoon was very popular among both faculty and students, among them James Madison and Aaron Burr. As the College's primary occupation at the time was training ministers, Witherspoon was a major leader of the early Presbyterian church in America.
From Witherspoon's legacy at Princeton, out of his students came: thirty-seven Judges, three of whom made Supreme Court, ten of his former students became cabinet officers, twelve were members of the Continental Congress, twenty-eight sat in the Senate, forty-nine were United States congressmen, one became Vice-president, and finally one, President (James Madison). These people and many more became great influences to America. When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met in 1789, 52 of the 188 delegates had studied under Witherspoon. The limited-government philosophy if most of these men was due in large measure to Witherspoon's influence.
Witherspoon also helped to organize Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, NJ.
As a native Scotsman, long wary of the power of the British Crown, Witherspoon soon came to support the Revolution, joining the Committee of Correspondence and Safety in early 1776. He was elected to the Continental Congress and, in July 1776, voted for the Resolution for Independence. In answer to an objection that the country was not yet ready for independence, according to tradition he replied that it "was not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it."
Witherspoon served in Congress from June 1776 until November 1782 and became one of its most influential members and a workhorse of prodigious energy. He served on over 100 committees, most notably the powerful standing committees, the board of war and the committee on secret correspondence or foreign affairs. He spoke often in debate; helped draft the Articles of Confederation; helped organize the executive departments; played a major role in shaping foreign policy; and drew up the instructions for the peace commissioners. He fought against the flood of paper money, and opposed the issuance of bonds without provision for their amortization. "No business can be done, some say, because money is scarce," he wrote.
In November, 1778, as British forces neared, he closed and evacuated the College of New Jersey. The main building, Nassau Hall, was badly damaged and his papers and personal notes were lost. Witherspoon was responsible for its rebuilding after the war, which caused him great personal and financial difficulty. He also served twice in the New Jersey Legislature, and strongly supported the adoption of the United States Constitution during the New Jersey ratification debates.
He suffered a series of eye injuries and was blind by 1792. He died in 1794 on his farm Tusculum, just outside of Princeton, and is buried in the Princeton Cemetery.He was 71 when he died.
Ideals Witherspoon preached from the pulpit and ideas he taught in the classroom lived on after his death. He is commemorated by a statue in Washington D.C.. The last known male Witherspoon is Henry Kollock Witherspoon, Jr. A son-in-law was Congressman David Ramsay. David married Frances Witherspoon on 18 March 1783.
A bronze statue at Princeton University by Scottish sculptor Alexander Stoddart is the twin of one outside The University of Paisley, Paisley, Scotland . Paisley honored Witherspoon's memory by naming a newly constructed street in the town center after him, in deference to his having lived in Paisley for a proportion of his adult life. In Princeton today, a University dormitory built in 1877, the street running north from the University's main gate, and the local public middle school all bear his name.
There were many named Witherspoon who emigrated to America. Today, any Witherspoon claiming to be a direct descendant of John Witherspoon would have to trace their lineage to John Witherspoon (b. 1790), the only grandson of the Rev. John Witherspoon. Reese Witherspoon, an American actress, is one of those who can trace her roots to John Witherspoon.
