Reverend William Tennent, a Presbyterian minister with links to Portadown, and whose inspirational work in education in Pennsylvania helped create Princeton University, has been commemorated with an Ulster History Circle Blue Plaque.
William Tennent worshipped at Vinecash Presbyterian Church. Some of his family were baptised there.
He emigrated to America in 1718. His cousin James Logan, born in Lurgan, granted the family land. Logan was close to William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania.
Tennent built a log cabin some 20 feet long in which he taught the future Presbyterian ministers who served the growing number of congregations in the colonies.
His critics sneered at his humble school as the “Log College”, but its foundation has been described as the most important event in colonial Presbyterianism.
Inspired by his example, his students supported the founding of the College of New Jersey, the forerunner of Princeton, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States.
