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The Rev. Dr. Francis Alison. 1705 - 1779
   Francis Alison was born in 1705 in County Donegal, North Ireland. In 1732, he graduated with a Masters of Arts from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Following his University education, Alison trained for the Presbyterian ministry, which brought him to the United States in 1735. Between 1736 and 1752, he served as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in New London, Pennsylvania.
   Disturbed by the prevailing standards of education and the lack of reliable institutions in Pennsylvania's lower counties, Alison started a free school in New London, Pennsylvania. The school operated out of Alison's home for nine years and was supported by the Synod of Philadelphia. It became an academy in 1743. In 1752 Alison left his New London school in the hands of his assistant Alexander McDowell to move to Philadelphia. His New London Academy later moved to Newark, Delaware in 1763. The University of Delaware (in Newark) traces its origin to this school.    

     Ben Franklin asked Alison, now in Philadelphia, to fill a vacancy at the new Academy of Philadelphia (which would later become the University of Pennsylvania) as principal scholar at the university, he set the standard of education in the Classics,  Philosophy and Natural Sciences.
   During his life, Alison received numerous honors, including degrees from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1756, Yale in 1775, and in 1758, he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, the first such award given to an American. As mentioned earlier, he taught signers of the Declaration and kept up correspondence with major figures of his day,  He died in 1779 in Philadelphia during the War of Independence.
   Alison was known for his "Love of Country and Love of God," (Rev. Thomas Pears) and was regarded as the "greatest classical scholar in America." (Ezra Stiles, President of Yale 1778-1795).

francisalison.org is the online presence of the Francis Alison Foundation, LLC, which is in the process of becoming a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization dedicated to the preserving of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Francis Alison and promoting his rightful place in US history.

While many people today do not know about the Rev. Dr. Francis Alison, we are fortunate to have multiple first- and second-hand resources at a number of institutions, Although most of them have public access, we intend for this site to be the one-stop locus for Francis Alison research, with all documents found in one place.

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