Religious Leader, Educator. One of the Incorporaters of the Presbyterian Ministers Fund, the oldest insurance company in the world. In 1743 Samuel Finley was assigned by the New Brunswick Presbytery to the newly formed Presbyterian congregation at Milford, Connecticut. After he preached there, Governor Jonathan Law ordered him "transported as a vagrant" from the Connecticut colony. Later, Samuel Finley was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later known as Princeton University) from 1761 until 1766. During his five year presidency at Princeton, the college graduated 130 students. He received an honorary doctorate of divinity from the University of Glasgow in 1763. Samuel Finley and his friend Gilbert Tennent were two of the great preachers of the New Life Gospel. Finley along with Tennent and Richard Treat was one of the original incorporaters of the Presbyterian Ministers Fund. During the summer of 1766, Samuel Finley died while visiting Philadelphia and was buried there, the extreme heat making it impossible to take his body to Princeton for interment. When the old Second Church was torn down, the remains of Tennent (who was also buried there) and Finley were first put in a strong box and then transferred to Abington Presbyterian Church Cemetery for burial.
Religious Leader, Educator. One of the Incorporaters of the Presbyterian Ministers Fund, the oldest insurance company in the world. In 1743 Samuel Finley was assigned by the New Brunswick Presbytery to the newly formed Presbyterian congregation at Milford, Connecticut. After he preached there, Governor Jonathan Law ordered him "transported as a vagrant" from the Connecticut colony. Later, Samuel Finley was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later known as Princeton University) from 1761 until 1766. During his five year presidency at Princeton, the college graduated 130 students. He received an honorary doctorate of divinity from the University of Glasgow in 1763. Samuel Finley and his friend Gilbert Tennent were two of the great preachers of the New Life Gospel. Finley along with Tennent and Richard Treat was one of the original incorporaters of the Presbyterian Ministers Fund. During the summer of 1766, Samuel Finley died while visiting Philadelphia and was buried there, the extreme heat making it impossible to take his body to Princeton for interment. When the old Second Church was torn down, the remains of Tennent (who was also buried there) and Finley were first put in a strong box and then transferred to Abington Presbyterian Church Cemetery for burial.
Bio by: RosalieAnn
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