Breckinridge, John

BRECKINRIDGE, JOHN: American Presbyterian; b. at Cabell's Dale, near Lexington, Ky., July 4, 1797; d. there Aug. 4, 1841. He studied at Princeton and was tutor there 1820–21; was chaplain of Congress 1822–23; was ordained Sept. 10, 1823, and was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Ky., 1823–26; of the Second Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, 1828–31; corresponding secretary of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia 1831–36; professor of pastoral theology in Princeton Seminary 1836–38; secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions 1838–40. He was president of the American Colonization Society, and at the time of his death was president-elect of Oglethorp University, Georgia. He was a leader of the Old School party and an ardent controversialist. He published a discussion with Archbishop Hughes of New York under the title Roman Catholic Controversy (Philadelphia, 1836) and some minor controversial essays.