>College of William & Mary
The leaders of the Virginia Colony had long wanted school to give their sons higher education, as well as to educate the natives. An attempt to establish a permanent university at Henricus for these purposes around 1618 failed after the Indian Massacre of 1622 wiped out the entire settlement, which was not rebuilt.
Almost 70 years later, with encouragement from the Colony's House of Burgesses and other prominent individuals, Blair prepared a plan, believed by some historians to be modelled after the earlier one from Henricus, and returned to England in 1691 to petition the monarchy for a new college. The Powhatan people had been largely decimated and reduced to reservations after the last major conflict in 1644, but the religious aspiration to educate them into Christianity was nevertheless retained, perhaps as a moral incentive to help gain support and approval in London. Moreover, the school would serve to train clergy born in the colonies for service among their neighbors.[4]
The trip to London proved successful. Blair was supported in his efforts by John Tillotson, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. (Protestants King William and Queen Mary II of England were reigning joint monarchs of Great Britain, having just deposed Catholic James II of England in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution.) In 1693, a charter was granted for The College of William & Mary in Virginia, named to honour both monarchs. Blair was made president of the new school for life.[3] He served for 50 years, from 1693–1743, and remains the longest serving president of the college and the second longest serving college president in US history.
After Blair returned to Virginia, the trustees of the new college bought a parcel of 330 acres (1.3 km2) from Thomas Ballard for the new school. The location chosen was at Middle Plantation, a high point on the Virginia Peninsula so named because it was equidistant from the James and York Rivers. Middle Plantation had served as a defensive location during periodic conflicts with the Native Americans since its establishment in 1632. Blair established his home at nearby Rich Neck Plantation.
The College was given a seat in the House of Burgesses.
Financial income was to come by taxation of a penny per pound on tobacco exported from Maryland and Virginia to countries other than England, and from other similar sources, such as an export duty on furs and animal skins.
The new school opened in temporary buildings in 1694. Properly called the "College Building," the first version of the Wren Building was built at Middle Plantation beginning on 8 August 1695 and occupied by 1700. Today, the Wren Building is the oldest academic structure in continuous use in America. (Incidentally, it is called the "Wren Building" because tradition has it that the building was designed by the famed English architect Sir Christopher Wren who had designed St Paul's Cathedral in London. His actual involvement with the College Building completed in 1700 is disputed by some historians.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blair_(clergyman)#Missionary_to_the_Virginia_Colony