 During this difficult period, marred by declining finances and difficulties in the transition to religious control, it was David Elliott, Samuel J. Wilson, and Brownson who kept the college afloat.James I. Brownson, who was President of the Board of Trustees, took the Presidency as a temporary position to transition the college into religious control, with the express requirement that he would be released from service as soon as a replacement was found.As pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, he was a good friend of the college, and had been baptized by David Elliott.