Jonathan Edwards

Who was Jonathan Edwards?

Jonathan Edwards was the 1st president of Washington & Jefferson College following the union of Washington College and Jefferson College.

Edwards was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 19, 1817. He graduated from Hanover College in 1835 and from Hanover's theological department in 1838. Edwards taught in Kentucky from 1838 to 1842 before becoming ordained clergy in the Presbyterian Church in 1844. He served as pastor at various churches in Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Edwards served as the fifth president of Hanover College from 1855 through 1857.

On April 4, 1866, Edwards was elected as the first president of the newly-unified Washington & Jefferson College. By the end of his presidency, the college was considering consolidating the two campuses, a direction Edwards supported. Edwards resigned the presidency of W&J on April 20, 1869 to accept a pastoral charge in Baltimore. He died in Peoria, Illinois on July 13, 1891.