 Washington College graduate and local Presbyterian pastor Samuel J. Wilson was appointed president pro tempore after Edwards' exit.However, the operations were interrupted by a lawsuit from a group of Canonsburg residents and Jefferson College partisans who challenged the closing of the Canonsburg campus by claiming that the action had violated the charter.On January 3, 1870, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the Board's action was legal, but that decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.