Page:History of the University of Pennsylvania - Montgomery (1900).djvu/176

172 Connecticut, who became the head in 1754 of the New King's College, New York? There was no meeting of the Trustees in June 1753 for lack of a quorum; and the conjecture relating to Mr. Cradock in this connection has only the warrant of Franklin's special notice of his Academy Sermon on a Week Day, which he deemed important enough to apprise his readers of.

name is so interwoven with the work of the first score of years of the Academy and College, that we naturally desire to know somewhat of the man who made for himself this distinction. He was born, the son of William Kinnersley a Baptist Minister, in Gloucester, England, 30 November, 1711. His father immigrated to America in 1714, and settled in Lower Dublin, near Philadelphia, where he officiated as minister to the Pennypack Baptist Church. He died in 1734; and the son afterwards united with the Pennypack Church, and on his marriage in 1739 removed to Philadelphia. His talents as a public speaker were soon manifest, and his desire was to enter the ministry but his health not being robust he was not ordained until 1743. He had in one of his lay sermons denounced Whitefield's teachings and so incurred the enmity of most of his co-religionists who were entranced by that wonderful preacher, that he was for a season under excommunication by his brethren, and for some time he attended Christ Church; but a reconciliation took place in 1746 when the Philadelphia Baptist Church was organized, of which he became one of the constituent members, and with this he remained in communion the remainder of his life.

It was in the year 1746 that in the indulgence of his well formed scientific tastes he became deeply interested in the investigation of electricity and its subtle and wonderful powers, and became closely associated with Franklin in his experiments and with others like minded. His pursuit of it was so engrossing as to overtax his health and he sought convalescence in Bermuda, whither he resorted at subsequent times for a like purpose; and it was while here that Franklin corresponded with him in the