Rev. James Witherspoon was inducted in 1720 and served a long and
notable ministry during which he was appointed a Royal Chaplain.
He was married to Anna Walker and had five children, one of whom, John,
was to achieve greatness in North America.

John Witherspoon, who  was a descendant of John Knox on his mother’s side,
was born in 1723 and brought up in Gifford.
He graduated from Edinburgh University and followed his father into
the ministry serving at Beith and later at Paisley.

In 1768 he was invited to become President of the College of New Jersey,
later to be the world famous Princeton University.
Impressed by the education he had enjoyed at Edinburgh University he recreated that system at Princeton.
He was the first moderator of the Presbyterian Church of America and
a signatory to the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.