Presbyterians were present in North Carolina from the colony’s earliest days, with the largest groups, the Scots-Irish and Highland Scots, arriving in large numbers during the 18th century and settling chiefly in the Piedmont and Cape Fear area. The early settlers had no ministers, so after many petitions the Synod of New York sent William Robinson to preach in the winter of 1742-43, the Synod of Philadelphia sent John Thompson in 1744, Hugh McAden arrived in 1755 and visited both the Piedmont and Cape Fear areas, James Campbell began ministering to the Highland Scots in 1757, and Alexander Craighead arrived in Mecklenburg County in 1758. Other Presbyterian ministers of the period included David Caldwell, who came as a missionary in 1764 and became a teacher and statesman, and Henry Patillo, author of the first school textbook in the colony, who arrived in 1765. The first three presbyteries were Orange in 1770, Concord in 1796, and Fayetteville in 1813, and the Synod of North Carolina was organized on October 6, 1813, at Alamance Church. Presbyterians strongly supported education: in 1767 David Caldwell opened his Log College in Guilford County, a forerunner of other academies led by Henry Patillo, Samuel E. McCorkle, James Hall, and William Bingham; at Presbyterian request the Colonial Assembly chartered Queens College in 1771, though the King disallowed the act; Davidson College opened in 1837 with Robert H. Morrison as first president; and other Presbyterian colleges included Flora Macdonald, Queens, and St. Andrews. Prominent Presbyterian laymen included William R. Davie, a founder of the University of North Carolina, Archibald D. Murphey, an early 19th-century advocate of internal improvements, constitutional reform, and public education, and Calvin H. Wiley, the first State Superintendent of Common Schools. Growth was slow at first but accelerated through the Great Revival of the 18th century, which began with the preaching of James McGready, and through statewide camp meetings; according to Synod records, in 1813 there were 3 presbyteries, 25 ministers, 102 churches, and 4,000 communicants, and in 1963 there were 9 presbyteries, 623 ministers, 645 churches, and 147,272 communicants.