Log College.

About Log College

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. It was founded by William Tennent and operated from 1727 until Tennent's death in 1746, and it graduated proponents on the New Side of the significant Old Side–New Side Controversy that divided presbyterianism in colonial America at the time. The Log College was, as a physical structure, very plain, according to George Whitefield's journal; it was a private institution that had no charter. At that time, ministers could not get ordained unless they had graduated from Harvard, Yale, or a college in England. Thus, an important purpose in its founding was to support the spread of New Light Christianity by enabling proponents to become ordained. In sources dated through the early 20th century, it was referred to as a remarkable institution, with graduates including Samuel Finley, John Redman, and John Rowland. Though the number of eventual graduates is unknown, many would play important roles in the Old Side–New Side Controversy, and Log College alumni Samuel Blair, Samuel Finley, and William Tennent, Jr. would become trustees of a newly formed College of New Jersey, which would be renamed Princeton University in 1896.