
Erskine’s first president embodied a ‘spirit of sacrifice’

In October 2024, we published “Erskine through 185 years: Assembling the stories,” the first of a series of articles in recognition of Erskine’s 185th anniversary and in celebration of our new online archive. This month, we focus on the institution’s first president, Ebenezer Erskine Pressly. His role at Erskine included seven years as president and service as professor of theology and professor of moral sciences. He also contributed significantly to the community as a longtime pastor of the Due West Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church.
Born Dec. 23, 1808, near Cedar Springs ARP Church in Abbeville County, South Carolina, E.E. Pressly was prepared for college studies by the age of 15 and in 1826 became a member of the first graduating class of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Licensed to preach in 1829, Pressly served Generostee ARP Church near Iva as well as Due West ARP Church. He was married in 1831 to Elizabeth Agnew. The couple had 12 children, but only four lived past adolescence.
As pastor of the Due West ARP Church during the time when the ARP Synod was considering the establishment of a seminary, Pressly pledged $3,000 from what was then known as the “Due West Corner” congregation, proposing that the school be located in Due West.
Pressly’s proposal was accepted by the Synod, and Erskine Seminary opened in Due West in 1837, welcoming two students, with Pressly as its president and professor of theology. Two years later, the Synod appointed Pressly professor of moral sciences and president of Erskine College. By 1840, 51 students were enrolled.
Students in E.E. Pressly’s classes called their professor “Ebbie.” He was known for his love of figurative passages of scripture and his ability to bring clarity to such texts. Congregants appreciated Pressly’s distinctively original sermons, which displayed a strong and independent turn of mind.
To protect the college and preserve its peace, the first president steered Erskine away from many controversies of the day. “I cannot live in a tempest,” Pressly told a politically minded pastor.
Early in his presidency, E.E. Pressly turned down a portion of his salary, according to the Synod treasurer’s report of 1840, as noted by Walter Armstrong Kennedy, Jr. in “Erskine College Before the Civil War,” his 1945 master’s thesis at the University of South Carolina. “This was by no means the only time Dr. Pressly refused to receive the whole amount of his salary,” Kennedy wrote, “nor was he the only member of Erskine’s faculty who manifested this spirit of sacrifice.”

Pressly’s “spirit of sacrifice” as Erskine’s first president also entailed offering his time and energy in administrative work far removed from the quiet study he might have enjoyed.
In October of 1846, Pressly resigned as president of Erskine College, citing exhaustion due to the constant strain of business. Only 37 years old, Pressly had accomplished much during his seven-year presidency. Student enrollment had grown from 17 to 65, and 63 men had graduated by 1846.
After his resignation from the presidency, he continued to teach theology, and he served as pastor of Due West ARP Church for the rest of his life.
While traveling to a preaching appointment in 1860, Pressly was thrown from his buggy and injured. After a few days, he seemed to recover and resumed preaching. Later that year, Pressly became confused during a sermon and left the pulpit. His health failed rapidly, and he died on July 26, 1860, at the age of 51.
We thank Alan Pitts for his labor in the Erskine Archives and his work on this series. Sources he consulted, in addition to the master’s thesis mentioned above, include the Abbeville Press & Banner (Nov. 14, 1847, and August 10, 1860).