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In 1889 the obituary of Beverly College’s first president began: “At Mt. Auburn the Spirit of J. P. Weethee Takes Its Flight, An Eminent Man with a Varied Career, Deep Scholar, Writer and Theologian.” Jonathan Perkins Weethee was born in 1812 in Dover Township, Athens County, Ohio, son of Daniel and Lucy Wilkins Weethee. The father walked from New Hampshire and arrived in Marietta in December 1798. The following spring he journeyed to what is now Dover Township, Athens County, using a compass to find his way in the wilderness. His choice of a new settlement became a blessing for Jonathan, since it was a short distance to Ohio University. He attended this school from 1827 until 1832, when he graduated with an A.B. degree.
For two years Weethee studied medicine under the private instruction of Dr. A. V. Medbery of Athens. During this time he became committed to religious activities. In 1837 he went to Pittsburgh and placed himself in association with the Pennsylvania Presbytery to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and began studying for the ministry. Later, at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Madison College was forced to suspend classes and Professor Weethee was invited to open a school in the college building. This school became very popular and he instructed one hundred students each session. His obituary notes, “he began teaching at sunrise and heard from fifteen to twenty classes a day. On Saturdays he rode eighteen miles to a church, preached in the evening and on Sunday morning, and riding home in the afternoon was ready to commence college work Monday morning.”
In 1842 Weethee was elected president of Beverly College, a new institution of higher learning under the care of the Pennsylvania Synod of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Williams’ History of Washington County, Ohio (p. 547) incorrectly says the college opened with J. P. Whitten as the president. From 1845 to 1848 Weethee removed to Cincinnati, where he took charge of the Second Advent congregation. He served as the pastor at the Chardon Street Church in Boston from 1848 to 1851. While in this position he held protracted meetings in New York City, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Providence, Bangor, Maine, Woodstock, New Brunswick, Halifax and Nova Scotia. An advertisement was located in the September 4, 1850, New-York Daily Tribune stating: “Second Advent Preaching, Elder J. P. Weethees [sic], late President of Beverly College, Ohio (P.D.) will preach in the College Hall, 67 Crosby St…. All lovers of truth are respectfully invited to come and hear for themselves.”
In 1851 Weethee took charge of the Amesville Academy, where he continued teaching and preaching for two years. He accepted the presidency of the college at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, from 1855 to 1858. He then began teaching at his residence on Mount Auburn, near Millfield, Dover Township, Athens County, which eventually became the incorporated Weethee College. This institution closed several years before his death. In the 1870 census his real estate was valued at $11,000 and his personal estate $2,500, suggesting that he achieved financial success during his life. About 1887 the trustees of Ohio University bestowed upon him the honor of doctor’s degree.
Weethee was criticized by his contemporaries when he predicted that streets would someday be paved with bricks made from local clay and that coal mining would become a major industry. Both came true during his lifetime. His obituary notes that he “was a profound thinker and spent considerable time in writing on the prophetic scriptures.” He was energetic, charismatic, and a dynamic speaker. When many were predicting the time and day of the Second Coming of Christ (Adventism), J. P., as he preferred to be called, spoke instead of “times and seasons.” He was the author of two large volumes, The Coming Age, Its Nature and Proximity and The Eastern Question. He was thoroughly versed in the geology and mineral resources of Athens County. He was a strong advocate of railroads.
At the age of twenty-four he married Anna C. Krepps of Philadelphia. They did not have children, but she was his faithful companion for over fifty years. After she died, he married Ella Barbar, who survived him. Professor Weethee died in December 1889. He rests beside his first wife in the Nye Cemetery, Chauncey, Athens County.
One hundred and seventy three years after Professor Jonathan P. Weethee (1812-1889) brought his intellectual and leadership skills to Beverly, his picture (shown here) is finally spread throughout the community.
Phillip L. Crane, a Waterford resident and Marietta history teacher for 32 years, will share stories of historical events in the Lower Muskingum Valley.