Class of 1794

Matthew Brown was born in the White Deer Valley of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, where his father had removed from Carlisle to become one of the earliest settlers in the area. The father, an elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, was an active opponent of colonial rule; he died of fever while serving in the Revolutionary War. The two year old Matthew was taken in by an uncle, William Brown, who lived near Harrisburg. As a prominent figure in Dauphin County, Brown was able to provide his adopted son with an education in local schools before enrolling him in Dickinson College in nearby Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Graduating with the class of 1794, Matthew returned to Northumberland County where he began to teach classical school; his intellectual pursuits brought him into contact with such noted individuals as Joseph Priestley. He also began to study divinity in 1796 and three years later he was licensed to preach by the Carlisle Presbytery. He was ordained in 1801.

Francis Herron was born on June 28, 1774 near Shippensburg in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He enrolled at nearby Dickinson College and graduated in 1794. He was determined on a career in the Presbyterian ministry, and so studied theology under his pastor Robert Cooper, and was licensed by the Carlisle Presbytery in October 1797.

His immediate work began as a missionary, moving through Pittsburgh and then west through the backwoods of Ohio as far as present day Chillocothe. He also made a name for himself by camping several nights with the Native Americans, who were then numerous around what is today the town of Marietta, Ohio. Despite being asked to lead several congregations in the west, Herron eventually was installed as pastor of the Rock Spring Church, closer to his home, in April 1800. After ten years of service in Cumberland County, he did return, however, as he was appointed as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh in June 1811. The remainder of his service was spent in that city.

Jesse Wharton was born in Covesville in Albermarle County in Virginia on July 29, 1776, a year after his brother Austin Wharton (1775-1835). Both attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and graduated with the class of 1794. While his brother Austin went on to practice medicine in Cumberland County, Virginia, Jesse studied the law and was admitted to the Bar in his home county. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee with his practice and was elected as a Republican to the Tenth Congress in 1807 serving only one term. He remained prominent in Tennessee Republican circles and five years later was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George W. Campbell. He served from March 17, 1814 to October 10, 1815, when a successor was elected.

He continued his law practice in Nashville although President Andrew Jackson appointed him as a member of the board of visitors to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York in 1832. He married and had at least one daughter, Sarah, who married Thomas Jefferson Green of North Carolina. Green was later a general in the Texas forces and a hero of the Texas Revolution. Wharton also raised and educated his brother William's orphaned sons, both of whom also later played a prominent role in the Texas War of Independence. Jesse Wharton died in Nashville on July 22, 1833.