PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. An institu tion of higher education at Princeton, N. J., founded in 1746. About 1726 William Tennent, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, had established in Bucks County, Pa., a school known as the Log College, the success of which led in 1739 to a movement by the Synod of Philadel phia toward the establishment of a larger college for the middle colonies. The plan \ vas abandoned owing to the unsettled condition of the times. In 1742 internal eonlliets led to the division of the synod, and members of the newly formed Synod of New York determined on independent action. They sought a charter for the founding of a col lege in New Jersey. without assistance from either of the old synods, and secured it on Octo ber 22, 1746, from John Hamilton, Acting Gover nor of New Jersey. The institution was called the College of New Jersey and was situated at Elizabethtown. The first president was Rev. Jonathan Dickinson. A second charter was granted in 1748 by Jonathan Belcher. royal Gov ernor of New Jersey, owing to doubts as to the validity of the first charter, and in order to give other religions communions a share in the adinin ii:tration of the institution. President Dickinson died in 1747 and was succeeded by the Rev. Aaron Burr, to whom belongs the credit for the organ ization of the curriculum, the procedure, and the discipline of the college. The institution was soon removed to Newark, where the first com mencement was celebrated in 1743. in 1752 it was voted that the college he fixed at Princeton upon condition that the inhabitants seenre to the trustees 10 acres of cleared land, 200 acres of woodland, and the sum of f1000. In 1754 the cornerstone was laid for the first building, which was named Nassau Hall. The college was com pleted and the students removed from Newark to Princeton in the fall of 1756. President Burr died in 1757 and was succeeded by Rev. Jonathan Edwards, who died a month after assuming office. He was followed by Rev. Samuel Davies, who devoted much time to building up a college li brary. Davies was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Finley (1761-66) and in 1768 John Witherspoon, D.D., a Scotch clergyman, was inaugurated as president. He was a bold and active advocate of American independence. Among the students of this period were many later conspicuous as lead ing spirits, among them James Madison, Aaron Burr, William Bradford, Philip Freneau, and Henry Lee. The college suffered heavily during
the war. The course of instruction was inter rupted by the presence of both armies; Nassau Hall was wrecked, the library scattered, and the philosophieaI apparatus ruined. Yet only one commencement, that of 1777, was omitted, and the seven members of the graduating class for that year received their degrees a few months after the regular time.
President Witherspoon was succeeded in 1795 by Samuel Stanhope Smith, under whose admin istration the curriculum was broadened and the first provision for regular instruction in chem istry in an American college was made. On March 6, 1802, the interior of Nassau Hall was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt in 1804, During the administrations of Presidents Ashbel Green (1312-22) and James Carnahan (1823-54) the in stitution had a rapid development. A department of law was established in 1846, but was aban doned in 1852 from lack of funds. Under Presi dent John Alaelcan (1854-68) four new ships were established, with an endowment of $195,000. On March 10, 1355, the interior of Nassau Hall was again burned, and was rebuilt in 1860. James SleCosh of Queen's College, Bel fast, was elected president in 1868, and resigned j the office in 1888. During his term the ance increased from 281 to 603, and the faculty from 10 professors and 7 tutors to 31 professors, 4 assistant professors, and 5 instructors. Gifts amount ing to upward of $3,000.000 were received, of which $1,000,000 was expended in the erection of 14 buildings. Among the more important changes in the curriculum were the introduction of the system of elective studies ( 1S70) ; the founding of the John C. Green School of Science (1873) ; and the establishment of the Graduate Department (1877). Francis Landey Patton (q.v.) became president in 1888. During the fourteen years of his administration the college increased from 603 to 1354 students, and the fac ulty from 40 to 100 instructors, while 17 new buildings were added to the equipment. On Oc tober 22, 1896, the one hundred and fiftieth anni ver'ary of the signing of the first charter of the College of New Jersey, the corporate title was changed to Princeton University. Dr. Patton resigned the presidency in ,June, 1902, to resume the work of teaching in the Princeton Theological Seminary, and, at his own request, was succeeded by Woodrow Wilson (q.v.), the first lay president of the institution.