Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church was founded in 1839 in Princeton, New Jersey. [1] The church was formed after the Nassau Presbyterian Church allowed 90 of the 131 former African American members to form their own church, after a fire had devastated the Nassau church. The church is among New Jersey's oldest African American Presbyterian congregations. [2]
The sanctuary was built in 1840 in the Greek Revival style. The recessed entrance was a new and common design feature on religious architecture of the time. [3] The church was first called the "First Presbyterian Church of Color of Princeton", but reported to the General Assembly in 1845 as the "Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church". [1]
Betsey Stockton, who may have been the first black Presbyterian missionary in the U.S., helped found the church after she returned to Princeton in 1835 from her work as a missionary in Hawaii. [2] Reverend William Drew Robeson led the church as pastor from 1879. Robeson moved into the church parsonage with his wife Maria Louisa Bustill of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and there they raised their children, including Paul Robeson. Reverend Robeson was a former slave, and as such he preached racial equality, which eventually led to his forced resignation in 1901 for being "too radical." [1] [2] Susie Ione Brown Waxwood, a YWCA official and local clubwoman, joined Witherspoon in 1942; she was an ordained elder and president of the Women's Association. [4]
In 2018 the church installed a new pastor, Reverend Lukata Mjumbe, a graduate of the Princeton Theological Seminary. [5]
John Witherspoon was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the College of New Jersey, it is the second-oldest seminary in the United States. It is also the largest of ten seminaries associated with the Presbyterian Church.
William Drew Robeson I was the minister of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901 and the father of Paul Robeson. The Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church had been built for its black members by the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton.
Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson was a Quaker schoolteacher; the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey and the mother of Paul Robeson and his siblings.
Robert Finley was an American Presbyterian clergyman and educator who is known as one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, which established the colony of Liberia in West Africa as a place for free African Americans.
Philip Milledoler was an American Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed minister and the fifth President of Rutgers College serving from 1825 until 1840.
The Princeton Public Library serves the town of Princeton, New Jersey. It is the most visited municipal public library in New Jersey with over 860,000 annual visitors who borrow 550,000 items, ask more than 83,000 reference questions, log onto library computers over 90,000 times, and attend more than 1,300 programs. Its usage exceeds all but five of New Jersey's twenty-one county systems. Compared to New Jersey's largest municipal library, Newark, Princeton spends four times as much per capita, and has nearly double the number of visitors and circulation in absolute terms despite a tenth the population.
Princeton Cemetery is located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the Nassau Presbyterian Church. In his 1878 history of Princeton, New Jersey, John F. Hageman refers to the cemetery as "The Westminster Abbey of the United States."
The Nassau Presbyterian Church is a historic congregation located at 61 Nassau Street in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It has been the home of many important figures in the history of Presbyterianism in the United States as a result of its proximity to Princeton University and the Princeton Theological Seminary. The church operates the Princeton Cemetery and is a contributing property to the Princeton Historic District. The current pastor is the Reverend Dr. David A. Davis.
The First Presbyterian Church and Cemetery in New Brunswick, New Jersey is one of the oldest churches in the Presbyterian denomination. It was the seat of the Presbytery of New Brunswick which is now located in Trenton, New Jersey.
Betsey Stockton, sometimes spelled Betsy Stockton, was an American educator and missionary. In her early life, she was an enslaved person, but was emancipated and became a Christian missionary in Hawaii.
Princeton University was founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, shortly before moving into the newly built Nassau Hall in Princeton. In 1783, for about four months Nassau Hall hosted the United States Congress, and many of the students went on to become leaders of the young republic.
Robert Hett Chapman was a Presbyterian minister and missionary and the second president of the University of North Carolina.
Samuel Miller was a Presbyterian theologian who taught at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Doctor John Witherspoon is a bronze sculpture and granite pedestal which depicts John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister, member of Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born in Scotland, Witherspoon immigrated to the U.S. in the 1760s and later became president of the College of New Jersey. He strongly supported the Thirteen Colonies in their fight to obtain freedom from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Princeton Historic District is a 370-acre (150 ha) historic district located in Princeton, New Jersey that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It stretches from Marquand Park in the west to the Eating Clubs in the East, from the Princeton Cemetery in the north to the Graduate College in the south. The district encompasses the core parts of the campuses of the Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University. It also includes the business district centered on Nassau Street and many historic homes, both mansions in the western section and more humble dwellings in the Witherspoon/Jackson neighborhood. Notable churches within the district include Nassau Presbyterian Church, Trinity Episcopal, Nassau Christian Center, and the Princeton University Chapel. The district is home to seven of Princeton's nine, and New Jersey's fifty-eight, National Historic Landmarks, the largest concentration of such sites in the state.
Elements is a New American fine dining restaurant located in Princeton, New Jersey which reopened on August 11, 2015 at its new location on Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton. The restaurant originally opened in 2008 on Bayard Lane in Princeton and closed in 2014 while the new location was developed.
John Blair was a Presbyterian minister, a Trustee, Professor, and Acting President of Princeton University. His brother Samuel Blair was a leader of the Presbyterian New Light religious movement. His nephew, Samuel Blair was the second Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.
Reverend Charles William Nassau D.D., was a Presbyterian minister and the fourth president of Lafayette College serving from 1849 to 1850.
Susie Ione Brown Waxwood was an American philanthropist and clubwoman, based in Princeton, New Jersey.
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