Hezekiah Balch

[1][2] While he was still a child, Balch's family moved south to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

[1] In 1766, Balch received his Master of Arts from Princeton and was licensed to preach August 11, 1768.

[2] Balch's first acts as a pastor were as a missionary in the rural areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

[4] In 1794 he was granted a charter for Greeneville College, the first act of the Territorial Legislature which predated the state of Tennessee.

Balch's zeal for Hopkinsian theology drew scorn back at home among staunch Calvinists such as the Rev.

At the first meeting of the school's board of trustees, on 18 February 1795, Balch was chosen as the college's president.