David Nelson (Presbyterian)
David Nelson was a Tennessee-native and former War of 1812 medical surgeon, Presbyterian minister, and anti-slavery advocate who was the first president of Marion College, the first institution of higher learning chartered by the state of Missouri. Two other co-founders of this school included William Muldrow and Dr. David Clark.David Nelson moved to Missouri in 1830 and settled in the Palmyra area in the same county as Hannibal. The first building for Marion College was a log cabin. Marion College became the first chartered college in Missouri and the second educational institution in Missouri to grant degrees.
In the mid-1930s, he resigned as school president and left the state of Missouri. The outspoken abolitionist had been forced to flee the area for Quincy, Illinois, where he helped with the Underground Railroad.
The murdered journalist Elijah Parish Lovejoy was influenced by Nelson.
