death_place death_date children birth_place birth_date spouse ordained article_title education name church
cross creek , pennsylvania 20 may 1793 cephas dod , albert baldwin dod new jersey march 7 , 1740 phoebe baldwin dodd 1777 by the presbytery of new york thaddeus dod
 college of new jersey -lrb- now princeton university -rrb- thaddeus dod presbyterian
thaddeus dod

thaddeus dod -lrb- 1740-1793 -rrb- was a prominent presbyterian minister in western pennsylvania .
he is one of the founders of washington & jefferson college .
dod 's ancestors were english puritans who settled in connecticut in 1645 and migrated to the newark , new jersey area .
dod was born in 1740 and was raised in the `` hill town '' of mendham borough in morris county , new jersey .
in 1751 at the age of 11 , he dedicated his life to `` god and doctrine . ''
dod funded his education at the college of new jersey -lrb- now princeton university -rrb- by teaching for a number of years , graduating in 1773 at the age of 33 .
he married phoebe baldwin shortly thereafter .
he continued to study theology and was licensed to preach in 1775 .
he was ordained by the presbytery of new york in 1777 and left to preach at patterson creek , hampshire county , virginia -lrb- now in west virginia -rrb- in addition to a devotion to religion , dod held a strong grasp of the classical subjects , especially the languages of greek , latin , and hebrew .
he exhibited an uncommon proficiency in literature and sciences ; he composed poetry , often breaking into verse in a dead language in his diaries .
as a preacher , he spoke on the importance of sacred music , a subject he studied scientifically , and introduced `` singing without reading the line '' to his congregations .
in person , he was described as `` dark and vivid , quick and ardent . ''
in 1778 , dod accepted a ministerial call from two congregations in present-day washington county , pennsylvania : lindley 's fort at lower ten mile near -lrb- now amwell township , pennsylvania -rrb- and cook 's fort at upper ten mile -lrb- -rrb- .
he was the second minister to settle west of the monongahela river and the first to establish a presbytery west of the allegheny mountains .
his family remained in patterson creek for two years before moving into a log cabin near his congregations .
dod 's home was in a dangerous location near fort henry , perched on a steep rise with wooded valleys on either side .
his home , log school , and churches were often subject to attacks from local indian populations .
in 1781 , dod and his neighbors built a log school building , the first of its kind in the west and much larger than any other dwelling in the settlement .
in 1782 , the school contained 13 pupils .
it was furnished with three or four beds for students in attendance .
dod taught classes in english , the classics , mathematics , and surveying before its closure in 1785 .
he was one of the original trustees of washington academy , located in the washington , pennsylvania courthouse , and he held office as its first principal .
the courthouse burned during the winter of 1790-1791 , destroying dod 's collection of books .
dod also helped organize the academy in canonsburg , pennsylvania , which would later grow into jefferson college .
