Aaron Burr, Sr.

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Aaron Burr, Sr.
Posthumous Portrait of Edward Ludlow Mooney (1813–1887), oil on canvas, Princeton University.

Aaron Burr, Sr. (born January 4, 1716 in Fairfield , Colony of Connecticut ; died September 24, 1757 in Princeton , Province of New Jersey ) was an American Presbyterian minister. In 1746 he was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey , now Princeton University , and from 1748 until his death the president of this university. He was the father of Aaron Burr, Jr. (1756-1836), the third Vice President of the United States.

Life

Burr studied at Yale College (BA 1735) and then prepared in New Haven for the priestly career. He was ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in Elizabethtown in September 1736 and called to pastor two months later by the Newark Congregation , New Jersey. After a year-long probationary period, he was confirmed in office by the East Jersey Presbytery. At this time, Burr came under the influence of the Great Awakening , which in many parts of America divided the parishes into supporters ("New Lights") and traditionalist skeptics ("Old Lights") of this revival movement. As a priest, Burr assumed an intermediate position between these two positions. As an acceptable candidate for both factions of the First Church in New Haven, he was therefore appointed copastor of this congregation, which was particularly important for New England Protestantism, but deeply divided by the Great Awakening, but did not accept the offer.

In 1746 Burr was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey in Elizabeth , in which the Presbyterian priests were to be trained in the spirit of the revival movement, and was one of the eight first curators. After the death of the first president of the college, Jonathan Dickinson , he taught the eight students of the college in his parish in Newark from 1747 until he was officially appointed president by the board of trustees a year later. In 1752 he married Esther Edwards , the daughter of Jonathan Edwards , the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening. In 1755 he was released from his pastor's position in order to be able to devote himself entirely to teaching. In 1756 he followed the college's move to the still existing campus in Princeton, but died a year later. Burr employed three runaway slaves that he had acquired at Nassau Hall, his last home.

After his death, his father-in-law, Jonathan Edwards, became president of the college. However, he died in 1758. His successor, Samuel Davies , held the office of President for only three years before he died.

Burr's marriage to Esther Edwards had two children, Sally Burr (1755–1797; married to Tapping Reeve in 1771 ) and Aaron Burr, Jr. (1756–1836), who was to become Vice President of the United States in 1801. After the early death of their parents, the two orphans grew up in the care of their uncle Timothy Edwards.

Works

During Burr's lifetime four of his sermons, a theological treatise and his Latin grammar were printed:

  • The American Grammar: or, a complete Introduction to the English and Latin Languages (1751)
  • A Sermon Preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Mr. David Bostwick, at Jamaica, on Long-Island, Oct. 9, 1745. (1745)
  • A Discourse delivered at New-Ark, in New-Jersey, Jan. i, 1755. Being a Day set apart for Solemn Fasting and Prayer, on Account of the late Encroachments of the French (1755)
  • A Sermon Preached before the Synod of New-York, Convened at Newark, Sept. 30, 1756. (1756)
  • The Supreme Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ maintained. In a Letter to the Dedicator of Mr. Emlyn's Inquiry into the Scripture-Account of Jesus Christ. (1757)
  • A Servant of God dismissed from Labor to Rest. A Funeral Sermon, Preached at the Interment of his late Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq .; Governor of New-Jersey, who died at Elizabeth-Town, Aug. 31, 1757. (1757)

literature

  • Franklin Bowditch Dexter: Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History. Vol. I. Henry Holt & Co., New York 1885. ( digitized ). Pp. 530-34.
  • Burr, Aaron, Sr. In: Alexander Leitch: A Princeton Companion. Princeton University Press, 1978.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Shelby Lohr: Aaron Burr Sr. , Princeton & Slavery
  2. ↑ Aaron Burr Sr. 1748-57 , The Presidents of Princeton University, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Burr, Aaron Sr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burr, Aaron Sr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Presbyterian clergyman, President of the College of New Jersey
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1716
PLACE OF BIRTH Fairfield , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1757
Place of death Princeton , New Jersey