A modern view of John McMillan's Log School, the oldest remnant of Washington & Jefferson College
English: Picture of John McMillan's Log School [1], built in the 1780s, located on East College Street beside Canonsburg Middle School in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, on May 1, 2010. A sign near the log school says the following: "John McMillan's Log School - This log structure was a frontier Latin school in the 1780s, located about a mile south of Canonsburg. It was moved to what had been the Jefferson College campus in 1895 as a symbol of Canonsburg's educational tradition." The two signs on the log school say the following: "This log cabin was built in 1780 by the Rev. John McMillan D.D.[2] and was the beginning of Jefferson College. It was donated by his descendants, the Fulton brothers, to the Rev. William F. Brown D.D. who removed it to this campus in 1895, and committed it to the guardianship of the trustees of Jefferson Academy. By action of the board of trustees 1907, its perpetual care was entrusted to the college fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, founded in Jefferson College in 1848, for the honor of the founders of the fraternity: Daniel Webster Crofts, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Naaman Fletcher, Ellis B. Gregg, John T. McCarty." "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding in 1852 of Phi Kappa Psi on this campus. Phi Gamma Delta in convention assembled on August 30, 1952, invited its distinguished colleague of the Jefferson duo to share perpetually the custody of this historic log cabin." According to page 2 of Helen Turnbull Waite Coleman's Banners in the Wilderness: The Early Years of Washington and Jefferson College (1956, University of Pittsburgh Press, OCLC 2191890), "John McMillan built a log building and made it a school, according to tradition about 1780. We know that James McGready was studing Latin with him there as early as 1783.(2) The historic log school which is still preserved in part at Canonsburg is the log structure that McMillan rebuilt after a fire of unknown date consumed his first building." On page 7, it goes on to say that, "McMillan's name stands first among the original trustees of Washington Academy when it was chartered in 1787, and he remained on its board until 1795... collected money for the school that was eventually located at Canonsburg. McMillan transferred his students to Canonsburg at an unknown date, and stood by it as teacher, officer, or friend until the end of his life." According to the Canonsburg Log Cabin Preservation Project Page, "In 1787 Pittsburgh Academy and Washington Academy were chartered by the state legislature. John McMillan was on the board of both, but both failed. At about this time, though, the log building that McMillan used for his school burned down. For a while, probably while Washington Academy was active, it made no difference as he had no students. When he built a replacement building is not known, but it would have been in the late 1780s. It was in operation in 1791 when Canonsburg Academy opened, as McMillan wrote that he sent his students there." The Canonsburg Log Cabin Preservation Project Page was adapted from an article in Jefferson College Times, December 2004, by James T. Herron, Jr. According to the Canonsburg Historical Markers Page, "Canonsburg Academy was chartered as Jefferson College in 1802." According to The Centennial celebration of the chartering of Jefferson College in 1802, Jefferson College was chartered on January 15, 1802. Therefore, the log school that is preserved in Canonsburg is likely from the late 1780s, since the Canonsburg Academy was chartered on March 11, 1794, according to Helen Turnbull Waite Coleman's book, and a 2 story stone school house was built and in use by the Academy in the 1790s. The Canonsburg Academy petitioned the General Assembly for funding in 1798, and became Jefferson College in 1802. So, the preserved log school was likely built in the late 1780s, or in the very early 1790s.