John Witherspoon

Signature of Jade Widenka written in black cursive writing.
Historical portrait of an older man with shoulder-length gray hair, dressed in 18th-century clerical attire, against a dark background.

BORN - February 5, 1723, at Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland, 25 miles east of Edinburgh.  Parents (Scottish ancestry) - James Alexander Witherspoon III (b1691-d1759) and Anne Walker Witherspoon (b1696-d1787).  Six Children -  John Knox Witherspoon (b1723-b1794), David Witherspoon (b1724-d1762), Susan Witherspoon French (b1725-___), Josias Witherspoon (b1728-___), James Witherspoon (b1730-d1770), Margaret Ann Witherspoon (b1732-d1761).      

DIED - November 15, 1794(1794-11-15) (age 71), at his farm, Tusculum, near Princeton, NJ.  Religion – Presbyterian.  Buried – Presidents’ Section of the Princeton Cemetery at the Nassau Presbyterian Church.     

APPEARANCE – The picture above is the portrait of John Witherspoon (age 60) painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1783.  Medium height, stout, bushy eybrows, a prominent nose, and large ears.  Had a quality contemporaries described as ``presence.''  Good sense of humor.  Always wore his minister’s clothes to Congress to remind people that he believed God was on America’s side.  Suffered from insomnia. 

FAMILY – Married - Elizabeth Anne Montgomery (b1722-d1789) on 1748.  Twelve Children (five surviving to adulthood) – Anne Witherspoon Smith (b1749-d1817), Christian Witherspoon (b1750-d1756, age 6), James Witherspoon (b1751-d1777), Robert Witherspoon (b1753-d1754, as infant), Barbara Witherspoon (b1756-1763d, age 7), John Knox Witherspoon Jr. (b1757-d1796), Frances Witherspoon Ramsey (b1759-d1784), David Witherspoon (b1760-d1801), George Witherspoon (b1762-d1762, as infant), Infant son Witherspoon (b1763-d1763, as infant), Anna Witherspoon (___), Joseph Witherspoon (b1768-d1850).  Wife Elizabeth died in 1789.  Married -  Ann Marshall Dill (b1768-d1811)  in 1791.  Two Children – Frances Witherspoon (b1792-d1793, as infant) and Mary Ann Witherspoon (b1794-d1846).   

OCCUPATION – MINISTER, COLLEGE PRESIDENT, EDUCATOR, LEGISLATOR.  Graduated from the Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland.  Became a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) Minister.  Fellow Signers, Richard Stockton and Benjamin Rush, travelled to Scotland to recruit Witherspoon to come to America to become the President of the Presbyterian College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).  Immigrated to America in 1768.  President of Princeton College from 1768 to his death in 1794.  Member of the Continental Congress representing New Jersey from 1775 to 1782.      

AT SIGNING – Age 53 at signing.  Only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration.

AFTER SIGNING – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia until 1782.  His son James was killed in the Battle of Germantown near Philadelphia in 1777.  The British ravaged his farm, Tusculum, near Princeton.  Part of the Battle of Princeton was fought on the College campus.  British destroyed the finest library in the country at the time.   The damage resulted in the college being closed for a time. 

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                              

College – Nassau Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (1756).  Located at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, Phone 609-258-3603, Website www.princeton.edu.  John Witherspoon served as President of Princeton College from 1768 to his death in 1794.                                                                         

Gravesite – Princeton Cemetery at the Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ.  Located at 61 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542, Phone 609-924-8203, Website www.nassauchurch.org                                                                                                                                   

President’s House – John MacLean House, Princeton, NJ (1756).  Located at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, Phone 609-258-3603, Website www.princeton.edu.  John Witherspoon lived in the house from 1768 through 1779.                                                                                                                                       

Summer Home – Tusculum, Princeton, NJ (1773).  Located at 166 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, NJ 08542.  John Witherspoon’s summer home and farm and location where he died in 1794.  Tusculum is the name of a Roman City now in ruins in Italy.  Privately owned.    

Battlefield – Princeton Battlefield State Park, Princeton, NJ (1777).  Located at 500 Mercer Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, Phone 609-921-0074, Website www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests.  Battle fought on January 3, 1777, soon after the American victory at the Battle of Trenton and resulted in another American victory.  The battle ended when the British troops who had taken refuge in Nassau Hall, surrendered.          

Historic brick building with a clock tower, surrounded by leafless trees and a paved walkway leading up to the entrance.

Nassau Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (1756). 

Located at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, Phone 609-258-3603, Website www.princeton.edu.                                                                 

Founded in 1746, Princeton is the fourth oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S., next to Harvard, William and Mary and Yale.  Nassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton.  At the time it was built in 1756, it was the largest building in colonial New Jersey and the largest academic building in all the American colonies.  The University, then known as the College of New Jersey, held classes for one year in Elizabeth, NJ and nine years in Newark, NJ before it the Hall was completed.  John Witherspoon served as President of the College from 1768 to 1794.  During the Revolutionary War, the building was occupied by both British and American forces and suffered considerable damage, especially during the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777.