John Blair Smith (June 12, 1756 – August 22, 1799) was born in Pequea,

Pennsylvania Colony The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...

, the son of the Rev. Robert Smith, who ran a celebrated academy there. Like his older brother, John Blair Smith was

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 ...

of the Class of 1773 at the College of New Jersey, now

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 ...

. He was in the graduating class of 1771, with William Graham, the rector of Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington & Lee University) and Henry "Light Horse" Lee, governor of Virginia and father of Robert E. Lee. He was recruited at the age of 19 to come to Virginia as a tutor at the new Hampden–Sydney College, then being founded by his elder brother, Rev.

Samuel Stanhope Smith Samuel Stanhope Smith (March 15, 1751 – August 21, 1819) was a Presbyterian minister, founding president of Hampden–Sydney College and the seventh president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) from 1795 to 1812. His stormy ...

. While a tutor at the College, John Blair Smith was chosen in 1777 as a captain of a company of students (about sixty-five total) 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 t ...

, assigned to the defense of Williamsburg. In 1779 Samuel Stanhope Smith resigned his presidency and the pastorates of his churches, in order to answer a call to be president of the College of New Jersey. The younger Smith, who was ordained and elected president of Hampden–Sydney on the same day his brother resigned, managed to revive the flagging enterprise, and, with the assistance of Trustee

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first a ...

, then Governor of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, persuaded the General Assembly of

to grant a charter in 1783 – bestowing the power to grant degrees and establish a self-perpetuating Board. Smith was also pastor in Cumberland and Briery, as these positions were part of the college presidency. At Hampden-Sydney, Smith also added the theology school. John Blair Smith resigned in 1789, after being pressured by trustee

, whose position on ratifying the constitution Blair Smith had written a dissention of. He accepted a position as pastor to the

Old Pine Street Church Old Pine Street Church is a Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania built in 1768. American Revolution Old Pine became known as the ''"Church of the Patriots"'', because many of the parishioners such as John Adams, stood with George Was ...

in Philadelphia. Four years later he was elected the first president of

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. Eight months after returning to his pastorate in Philadelphia in 1799, he died there in a yellow fever epidemic.. Hampden–Sydney College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John Blair 1799 deaths 1764 births Presidents of Hampden–Sydney College Princeton University alumni Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers Presidents of Union College (New York) 18th-century American clergy