Francis Herron
Francis Herron [1]
a Presbyterian minister, was born near Shippensburg, Pa., June 28, 1774. His parents were Scotch-Irish. Their high regard for know-ledge induced them to send him to Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., then under the care of that distinguished Presbyterian, the Rev. Dr. Nesbitt. Here he graduated May 5, 1794. He studied theology with Robert Cooper, D.D., and was licensed by Carlisle Presbytery in 1797. He commenced his work as a missionary in the then backwoods of Ohio. In 1800 he became pastor of the Rocky Spring Church, where he labored for ten years with great success. In June 1811, he was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, Penn. He found his new church embarrassed with debt, and the people "conformed to this world" to a degree almost appalling. But his earnestness and activity relieved the church of debt within a few years, and awoke the members to a sense of their spiritual danger. In 1825 the General Assembly resolved to establish a theological seminary in the West. Dr. Herron, with his naturally quick perception, urged Alleghany City, Pa., as the best location, and by great exertions obtained the decision to locate it there. He then undertook the toils and anxieties of its sustenance; and to no one does the Western Theological Seminary owe its success in a greater degree than to Dr. Herron. In 1827 he was elected moderator of the General Assembly held in Philadelphia. In 1828 and 1832 his ministrations were blessed by gracious revivals of religion; and in 1835 another revival occurred, marked by great excitement. In 1850 he resigned his charge, to the great regret of his people. Being then in his seventy-sixth year, he felt that his work was ended. He lived ten years longer; though the infirmities of age grew apace, his serenity and cheerfulness never failed. He died Dec. 6,1860. Such was the estimation in which his character and talents were held by his fellow-citizens, that the courts of Pittsburg adjourned on the announcement of his death, an honor never before paid to any clergyman in that city. — Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac, 1862, p. 95.
