Abraham Pierson

Reverend Abraham Pierson (1646 – March 5, 1707) was the first rector, from 1701 to 1707, and one of the founders of the Collegiate School — which later became Yale University. He was born in Southampton, Long Island, where his father, the Rev. Abraham Pierson (Sr.), was the pastor of the Puritan (Congregational) church. At that time, Southampton and much of eastern Long Island were administered as part of the Connecticut Colony. It is commonly stated that Abraham Pierson (Jr.) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640 or 1641. This claim conflicts with his gravestone in present-day Clinton, Connecticut [see note 5], as well as the period he spent as a student at Harvard (1664 to 1668). Around 1647, Abraham's family moved from...