Simm, Hugh, d. 1810.

Hugh Simm was a mechanic by trade in the town of Paisley in Scotland. He also studied the classics and divinity under the tutelage of the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon. When Witherspoon and his family left Paisley to take the Presidency of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1768, he took Simm with him. On Witherspoon's recommendation, Simm was hired by the trustees of the college to become Princeton's first librarian and inspector of rooms, for a salary of £5. Simm was awarded the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts from the College in 1768. Simm received from his brother Andrew news about friends and family in Scotland, and sent information about the growing community of people coming to America from Paisley and Glasgow, Scotland. Within a year Simm became a teacher at the grammar school, which was in the same building as the College, and following that he took another teaching position at a grammar school in Freehold, NJ. where he taught Latin, Greek, and natural philosophy, with a salary of £50 to £55 per year. Simm left Freehold to teach at another grammar school in New York City, where he got married, then became the head of another school in Albany, NY. The advent of the Revolution caused a break in the relationship between him and Witherspoon. Simm was a loyalist to the British Crown while Witherspoon was a member of the Continental Congress. Simm finally returned to Paisley, and was rewarded for his loyalty during the Revolution by the British Crown.

John Witherspoon was the sixth president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and from 1776 to 1782 a leading member of the Continental Congress. He came from Scotland in 1768 to assume the presidency of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and held office there until his death, a quarter of a century later.

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