Guide to the Swift Family Papers

Elisha Pope Swift was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Williams College in 1813 and Princeton Theological Seminary in 1816. While attending seminary he met Elizabeth Beach, daughter of Darling and Keturah Beach and niece of Asbel Green. Elisha and Eliza were married in 1817, shortly after his ordination. Both were deeply committed to the growing missionary movement and applied for appointment under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). After considerable delays and obstacles they ended their affiliation with the ABCFM and in 1818 Elisha acted as a supply minister in Boston. Following that position they traveled to Pittsburgh where Elisha accepted a position as minister of the Second Presbyterian Church, a post he held for thirteen years.

Elisha Swift was also instrumental in establishing the Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in 1822. He became a member of the first faculty and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1825. In 1831 he was designated secretary for the Western Foreign Missionary Society, an organization he worked tirelessly to create. He resigned his pastorate in 1833 to devote all of his time to the society and help shape and direct its transformation into the Board of Foreign Missions of the PCUSA, finally achieved in 1837. In 1835 Elisha accepted the post as minister for the First Presbyterian Church at Allegheny and remained there until his death.