Samuel Finley

Samuel Finley
Charles Walker Lind, after John Hesselius, Samuel Finley (1715–1766), President (1761–66), 1870, Princeton University Art Museum
5th President of Princeton University
In office 1761–1766
Preceded by	Samuel Davies
Succeeded by	John Witherspoon
Personal details
Born	(1715-07-02)July 2, 1715 Armagh, Ireland
Died	July 17, 1766(1766-07-17) (aged 51) Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania
Parents	Michael Lauder Finley Ann O'Neill

The Rev. Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an evangelical (Presbyterian, "New Light") preacher and academic, he founded the West Nottingham Academy, and was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later known as Princeton University) from 1761 until 1766.

Finley was the second son from a family of at least 9 children of Michael Finley by Ann daughter of Samuel O'Neill. At least 2 of his brothers, Rev James Finley and Rev. Andrew Finley, became ministers.

It is likely that Samuel Finley was a graduate of William Tennent's Log College, in Neshaminy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, known for its training of evangelical Presbyterian ministers who played a role in the 18th Century religious revival known as The Great Awakening. Finley also was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Glasgow.

In 1743 Finley was assigned by the New Brunswick Presbytery to the newly formed (January 1742) Presbyterian congregation at Milford, Connecticut. This congregation was started when 39 Scotch-Irish people applied under the Toleration Act as Presbyterians under the Church of Scotland. The larger community of Connecticut may have tolerated this new church, but actions indicate they did not foster and encourage it. In May 1742 the Presbyterians were denied erecting their church on the commons. In November 1742, with the aid of a court order, they built their first church nearby on donated land. Their first five ministers were harassed with fines, imprisonment, and threats of being apprehended as early as January 1742. It was into this climate that the Rev. Samuel Finley was assigned to the Milford Presbyterian congregation. He preached in Milford on August 25, and in New Haven, Connecticut on September 1, 1743. For this, he was prosecuted and condemned. Governor Jonathan Law ordered him "transported as a vagrant" from the Connecticut colony. Charles Augustus Hanna, author of The Scotch-Irish, (page 24), concludes that this harsh treatment, so contrary to the British Constitution, sowed seeds of revolution by acting as a forfeiture under the Colonial Charter. In any event, Finley was escorted from Connecticut and advanced on his journey to New Jersey and his future.