The actual date of Abraham Pierson's birth is not established, but he was probably born between 1641 and 1648 at Southampton, New York. His father, Cambridge- educated and a minister of the Church of England, had emigrated to Boston in 1639 to escape the hostility of Archbishop Laud. After a brief sojourn as pastor at Lynn, Massachusetts, the elder Pierson moved to Long Island, where he helped found the town of Southampton. He did not remain there long and soon moved to Branford, Connecticut, as pastor.

The son, Abraham, received his early education in English and Latin from his father and later under the tutorship of Jeremiah Peck and John Davenport, the latter being the principal founder of the New Haven Colony. At eighteen the young Pierson went to Harvard College, where he was one of a class of five. Here he was trained in the Calvinism of the day and also in the scientific courses that were available. He was graduated in 1668 and went to Milford, Connecticut, to study theology under the Reverend Roger Newton. No doubt here he first met Thomas Buckingham, who was later to join him as one of the original trustees of Yale. And it was at Milford that he married Abigail Clark.

In 1670 Pierson rejoined his large family of five sisters and three brothers who had moved to Newark, New Jersey. At this time he was admitted to the ministry and for the next twenty-two years assisted his father in the Newark Church. In Newark his father was working to establish a colony which would hopefully be governed along the ecclesiastical lines which Davenport had labored to set up at New Haven; as a result he remained outside the more liberal political tendencies which were developing in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. In 1678 the elder Pierson died and left to Abraham the then considerable estate of £822.

The son was elected to succeed his father as minister of the Newark Church. Although he was popular in the early days of his pastorate, by the 1690's Pierson had lost much of his rapport with the congregation. Scotch-Presbyterian thought was a growing force of the day, and his own response to this undoubtedly accounted for some of the complaints.

The conflict revolved largely around the problem of church organization, in particular the powers and duties of the elders and synod. The dilemma was made more complex by the fact that Pierson had been without salary for two years. In 1692 the impasse between pastor and flock ended abruptly in Pierson's dismissal.

For the next two years he stayed at Greenwich, Connecticut, and in 1694 was called to the church at Killingworth, Connecticut (now Clinton). Here he was installed as pastor, and here he spent the remaining years of his life. At the time, Killingworth was a small and poor farming community, but it was not long before Pierson occupied a prominent place among the Connecticut ministers. With them he was drawn into discussion which led to the founding of a college within the Connecticut Colony.

In the early days of the New Haven settlement the idea of a college or seminary had been promulgated by Davenport and others. At a General Court held in Guilford on June 8, 1652, it was voted, "The matter of a College at New Haven was thought to be too great a charge for us of this jurisdiction to undergo alone.... But, if Connecticut does join, the planters are generally willing to bear their just proportions for erecting and maintaining of a College there." This project was introduced in various forms throughout the latter half of the 17th century. A large part of the impetus came from the need for a learned ministry to supply the pulpits of the Colony. Evidence also supports the view that a fear existed among the orthodox ministers of New England that Harvard was falling under the control of the "latitudinarians"-a bulwark of orthodoxy was needed. Another compelling motive was the simple necessity of providing a closer, more convenient and less expensive seat of learning.

Early in October in the year 1701 a number of clergymen from scattered towns in Connecticut met at the Branford parsonage of Samuel Russel and made a gift of books "for the founding of a college in this colony." The meeting was a hurried one, as the General Assembly of the Colony was to meet in New Haven shortly, and the ministers hoped to present the Assembly with a request for a charter. The "founders" called the projected college "a collegiate school," and although it was intended to bolster the churches it was definitely not to be controlled by them. The General Assembly granted the charter, probably on October 15, 1701. A board of ten trustees was created: James Noyes of Stonington, Israel Chauncey of Stratford, Thomas Buckingham of Saybrook, Abraham Pierson of Killingworth, Samuel Mather of Windsor, Samuel Andrew of Milford, Timothy Woodbridge of Hartford, James Pierpont of New Haven, Noadiah Russell of Middletown, Joseph Webb of Fairfield. (Mather and Woodbridge were known as the "upriver trustees.")

On November 11, 1701, seven of the board met at Saybrook and adopted general rules for the government of the college. They also elected a rector, Abraham Pierson. Israel Chauncey, the oldest of the group, was offered the position as a complimentary gesture, but he declined. Rector Pierson agreed to move in due course to Saybrook, which was selected as the location for the school. Scholars meanwhile would be taught at the Rector's house in Killingworth (roughly 12 miles away) until it was deemed "convenient" to move.

During the first half-year (January-May, 1702) only one student attended, Jacob Hemingway of East Haven. Later he remarked he "solus was all the College the first half-year." He received instruction from Pierson in classics and divinity. In September 1702, at the Reverend Thomas Buckingham's house in Saybrook the first Commencement was held, a quiet ceremony attended only by the trustees and those who were to receive degrees. Four young men who had previously been graduated from Harvard were awarded the degree of Master of Arts ad eundem and one who had been privately educated, Nathaniel Chauncey, received both the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. Hemingway received his degree in 1704.

Enrollment slowly increased in the early years, and by 1704 there were in all twenty students, most of them boarders at the Pierson home, which was handsomely managed by Mrs. Pierson. One may surmise that the students were supplied with certain luxuries, for the Rector made his own apple cider and cultivated his own tobacco. The increase in numbers led to the hiring of an assistant to Pierson. The first "tutor," as he was called, was Daniel Hooker; he was later replaced by John Hart, who had received the first bachelor's degree in course, in 1703. Hart was not paid a salary, being dependent upon the fines he could extract from the students for failure to obey the rules. He was somewhat overzealous in his duty-a fact which led in 1704 to the first student rebellion. The trustees quickly quelled the outbreak, and the rules were clarified both for the students and for Mr. Hart, who was then voted a salary.

The curriculum consisted of theology, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and brief courses in logic, mathematics, and physics. The latter subject was taught from Pierson's Harvard lecture notes, which were described as obsolete, even when new! The students who used the text agreed that if they learned physics at all, it was from other sources. The upperclassmen were required to listen to the Rector's Sunday sermons and immediately afterward repeat them to him verbatim. This exercise it was hoped would promote theological orthodoxy. At least it was an exercise in memorization.

All through the early years the Collegiate School was plagued with financial difficulties, and the Colony responded with little or no support, despite the fact that the students were predominantly from Connecticut-and at that were mainly students recruited by the trustees.

A more intricate problem was the location of the School. The people of Killingworth did not want their popular pastor to move, and yet they were uneasy about students living in the town. On more than one occasion Pierson prepared to move, and the trustees repeatedly offered a salary increase; but the Killingworth congregation would not dismiss him. The trustees, irresolute as a body, were unable to agree among themselves on a permanent site in the face of bids from several Connecticut towns. In the midst of this controversy Rector Pierson died, after a short illness, on March 5, 1707.

During his years as Rector eighteen students were graduated with first degrees. The concentration of studies was chiefly in philosophy and science, his own favorite subjects. Today, Abraham Pierson is memorialized at Yale in Pierson College, and his descendants have continued to play a prominent part in the life of the University.

Source: Holden, Profiles and portraits of Yale University presidents pages: 7-11