Charles Nisbet

Charles Nisbet (January 21, 1736 – January 18, 1804) was a Scottish-American academic and churchman, and the first Principal of Dickinson College.

Early life and education Charles Nisbet was born in Haddington, Scotland, on January 21, 1736, the son of William Nisbet (physician) and Alison Hepburn. His father was a schoolteacher at Long Yester near Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. By 1754, Charles Nisbet had completed studies at both the High School and the University of Edinburgh and had entered Divinity Hall to prepare for the ministry.

Career He was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh on September 24, 1760. On May 17, 1764, he was ordained to the parish church of Montrose. Nisbet was an outspoken evangelical and sympathiser with the American Revolution. Anti-Catholic in his view, he was questioned after the Gordon Riots.

Nisbet was unanimously re-elected as principal on May 9, 1786. For the following eighteen years, his efforts to build the new institution were untiring.

Death On New Year's Day, 1804 he contracted a cold, which progressed to pneumonia. Nisbet died in Carlisle two and a half weeks later on January 18, 1804.

Personal life In 1766, Nisbet married Anne Tweedie. The Nisbets had four children: Thomas, Mary, Alison (1773) and Alexander (1777). His son Alexander Nisbet born 1777 was a founding member of the St Andrews Society of Baltimore in 1806.