An institution of higher learning of The Presbyterian Church USA, Davidson College was founded in 1837 by The Concord Presbytery after purchasing 469 acres (1.90 km2) of land from a Revolutionary War commander, Brigadier General William Lee Davidson, for whom the college is named. The first students graduated from Davidson in 1840 and received diplomas with the newly created college seal designed by Peter Stuart Ney, who is believed by some to be Napoleon's Marshal Ney. Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina with a historic 665-acre main campus and a 110-acre lake campus on Lake Norman.