Ashbel Green (July 6, 1762 – May 19, 1848) was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

minister and academic.

Biography

Born in Hanover Township, New Jersey, Green served as a sergeant of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non- professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

, and went on to study with Dr.

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 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 real ...

and graduate as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...

from the College of New Jersey, known since 1896 as

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, in 1783. Green later became the third Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from 1792 to 1800, the eighth President of Princeton University, from 1812 to 1822 (and highly unpopular, due to what many students saw as his heavy-handed leadership style), and the second President of the Bible Society at Philadelphia (now known as the Pennsylvania Bible Society) after having been one of its founding members in 1808. Green was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

in 1789 and the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1814. He emancipated his family's slave

Betsey Stockton Betsey Stockton (c. 1798–1865), sometimes spelled Betsy Stockton, was an American educator and missionary in Hawaii. Life Betsey was born into slavery in Princeton, New Jersey, about the year 1798. While she was a child, her owner Robert Stockt ...

in 1817, taught her and recommended her as a missionary to the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

, making her the first single female overseas missionary. He also published a periodical entitled the ''Christian Advocate''. Green married Elizabeth Stockton on November 3, 1785. They had three children: Robert Stockton Green (1787–1813), Jacob Green (1790–1841), and James Sproat Green (1792–1862), the latter of whom served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and was the father of Robert Stockton Green (1831–1895),

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official re ...

. After his first wife died in January 1807, he married Christina Anderson in October 1809. They had one child: Ashbel Green, Jr. (b. 1811). Ashbel Green died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania on May 19, 1848.

Archival collections

The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia has a collection of Ashbel Green's original papers, including sermons and correspondence.

Notes

External links

Princeton University biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Ashbel 1762 births 1848 deaths Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives New Jersey militiamen in the American Revolution People from Hanover Township, New Jersey Presidents of Princeton University Princeton University alumni Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers People of colonial New Jersey Members of the American Antiquarian Society