Log College

First seminary serving Presbyterians in North America

The Log College, founded in 1727, was the first theological seminary serving Presbyterians in North America, and was located in what is now Warminster, Pennsylvania. The location is in what is now Warminster, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1727, and operated until William Tennent's death in 1745. and Finley a later president. In historical treatments on the origin of Princeton University, the Log College is referred to as a "remarkable institution,"

Known graduates of the Log College include Charles Beatty, John Blair, Samuel Blair, Samuel Finley, John Redman, William Robinson, Charles Tennent, John Tennent, and William Tennent Jr., John Rowland, Hamilton Bell, William Robinson, Charles Beatty, James McCrea, John Campbell, John Roan, William Dean, Daniel Lawrence, David Alexander. The number of graduates of the Log College is unknown, but is thought to have been about 18 or 20, most of whom were adherents of the New Side in the Old Side New Side Controversy.

There are many connections between the Log College and the College of New Jersey, which would become Princeton University in 1896, but it is not accurate to say that the Log College was its direct antecedent. From its inception, under the guidance of Presbyterian Reverend Jonathan Dickinson, the College of New Jersey focused on a broad range of the liberal arts and sciences, in contrast to the Log College's explicit preparation for the ministry. A closer connection has often been proposed, perhaps in an effort to claim an earlier founding date for Princeton. However, soon after the College of New Jersey was founded, a number of Log College men joined their New Side brethren from Yale and Harvard in support of the new venture. The first trustees, including five Log College adherents enlisted by Dickinson and Pemberton, announced Dickinson's appointment as the first President of Princeton University in April 1747. Six months after the granting of the College of New Jersey's charter in October 1746, and shortly before classes started in May 1747, Log College alumni Samuel Blair, Samuel Finley, and William Tennent, Jr., along with adherents Gilbert Tennent and Richard Treat, accepted election as trustees of the new College. Finley later became its fifth president.