Witherspoon

 John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 until November 15th, 1794) 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 was president of the College of New Jersey (1768-1794 and later Princeton University) became an influential figure in the formation of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a participant in the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the sole active clergyman and the only college president who signed the Declaration.Later Witherspoon signed the Articles of Confederation and supported the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.In 1789, he presided as the moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.his latter claim to be of Knox origin, though it is of ancient the origins is a matter of debate and without the primary documentation.He attended the Haddington Grammar School and obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1739.