Philip Lindsley

Philip Lindsley (1786–1855) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and classicist. He served as the acting president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) from 1822 to 1824, and as the first president of the now-defunct University of Nashville from 1824 to 1850.

Early life Philip Lindsley was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey on December 21, 1786. He was educated in private academies and graduated from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. However, he declined its presidency, as well as the presidencies of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

In December 1824, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to take up the presidency of Cumberland College. Additionally, in an essay entitled Thoughts on Slavery, he wrote, "Our slaves must be emancipated." Nathaniel Lawrence Lindsley (1816–1868). John Berrien Lindsley (1822–1897). He married Sarah McGavock Lindsley (1830–1903). Margaret Lindsley died in 1845. In 1849, Lindsley married Mary Ann Myers, widow of Elias Myers, the founder of New Albany Theological Seminary.

Death He died in Nashville on May 25, 1855.