William Linn

The Reverend William Linn (1752–1808) was the second President of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), serving in a pro tempore capacity from 1791 to 1795. He was also the first Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

Born in 1752, William Linn was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in 1772, and was ordained by the Donegal Presbytery in 1775. After serving as a chaplain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Linn served as a minister and a teacher before being appointed a Trustee of Queen's College in 1787. After the death of the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh in 1790 the Board of Trustees appointed Linn to serve as President pro tempore of Queen's College in 1791. During this time, the college fell into financial trouble, and temporarily closed its doors in 1795. Linn served for twenty-one years as a Regent of the University of the State of New York and died in 1808. cite web |url=http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/linn.shtml |title=William Linn, President Pro Tem, 1791-1795 |accessdate=2007-08-26 |quote=A gifted preacher, William Linn (1752-1808), of Pennsylvania was described as "a most ardent and impassioned" minister. He graduated from Princeton in 1772, was ordained by the Donegal Presbytery in 1775, and served as a chaplain in the American army during the Revolution before being called as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Big Springs, Pennsylvania in 1776. Linn remained at Big Springs for seven years before he moved to Maryland to become the principal of the Washington Academy. He left teaching to return to the church in 1786. In 1787, Dr. Linn was appointed a trustee of Queen's College, where he assisted Jacob Hardenbergh in securing subscriptions for the new College building, and when adequate funding for the College appeared remote, debated with his fellow Trustees the merits of merging the College with that of Princeton.|publisher=Rutgers University ] In 1789 he was elected the first Chaplain of the House of Representatives. [cite web|url=http://chaplain.house.gov/chaplaincy/history.html|title=History of the Chaplaincy|publisher=Office of the Chaplain, United States House of Representatives|accessdate=2008-09-20]

References