Abraham Pierson

Reverend Abraham Pierson (1641-1707) was the first rector, from 1701 to 1707, and one of the founders of the Collegiate School — which later became Yale University. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where his father, the Rev. Abraham Pierson, Sr., was the pastor of the Congregational church.

Abraham's family moved to Southampton, Long Island while he was still an infant. At that time, the region subsequently known as New York was still part of the Dutch New Netherlands, and Southampton was affiliated with New Haven. His father became the pastor of the Congregational church in Southampton.

Around 1646, Abraham's family moved to Branford in what is now Connecticut. At that time, Branford was affiliated with the New Haven Colony and Abraham's father was the pastor.

In 1666, Abraham's family moved to New Jersey where his father established the town of New Ark, present-day Newark, New Jersey. At that time, Abraham was a student at Harvard College.

After graduating from Harvard College in 1668, Abraham was ordained a minister and he joined his father in Newark. After his father's death in 1678, Abraham succeeded his father as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Newark. Abraham also inherited a library of over 400 books from his father.

In 1691, The Congregational Church in Newark chose to become Presbyterian. At that time, Abraham moved to Greenwich, Connecticut to become the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Greenwich. Some time later he moved to Killingworth (now Clinton, Connecticut)

Pierson was the minister of the Killingworth Congregational Church at the same time he started to teach the first classes of what would become Yale University in his parsonage. Pierson is today interred in Clinton.

References:

1. For the period of 1640 to about 1664, it has been assumed that Abraham Pierson, Jr., as a child, lived with his parents and followed the movements of his father, Rev. Abraham Pierson, Sr. The Rev. Abraham Pierson, Sr. was one of the most prominent figures in the New Haven Colony, and his activities are well-documented in many places, including the following.

a. Winthrop's Journal 'The History of New England' 1630-1649, edited by James Savage, 1853.

b. The Founding of Harvard College, Samuel Eliot Morison, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1935, pages 91 and 396.

c. The History of Long Island, Peter Ross, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1902.

d. A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1913

e. Pierson Millenium, by Richard E. Pierson and Jennifer Pierson, Heritage Books, October 1997. ISBN: 0788407422.

2. Notes of lectures attended at Harvard College, Abraham Pierson, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1667, Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

3. Rev. Abraham Pierson, Jr.'s tenure as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Greenwich is remembered in one of the stained-glass windows of the current edifice of that congregation.

4. Rev. Abraham Pierson, Jr.'s residency in Killingworth, Connecticut (present day Clinton) is documented in every history of Yale College, as well as a bronze statue and an elementary school.

5. Dictionary of American Biography, by Johnson, Allen and Malone, Dumas (editors), Volume 14, Pages 588-589. "It is commonly stated that Abraham the younger was born at Lynn, Mass. in 1641, but according to his tombstone in the graveyard at Clinton, Conn., he "deceased March ye 5th 1706/7 aged 61 years."

If Abraham Pierson, Jr. was born in 1641, as commonly stated, then he would have been 23 to 27 years old as a student at Harvard (1664-1668), and about 32 years old at the time of his marriage ca 1673. If born ca 1646, as implied by his tombstone, he would have been 18 to 22 years old while at Harvard, and 27 years old when married. The latter ages are much more reasonable.

If Abraham Pierson was born in 1646, then he was probably born in Southampton and not in Lynn.