Archibald Alexander
(1772-1851)
Archibald Alexander was
born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, 17 April 1772" died in
Princeton, New Jersey, 22 October 1851. His grandfather, of Scottish
descent, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1736, and after a
residence of two years removed to Virginia. William, father of
Archibald, was a farmer and trader. At the age of ten Archibald was
sent to the academy of Rev. William Graham at Timber Ridge
meetinghouse (since developed into Washington and Lee University), at
Lexington. At the age of seventeen he became a tutor in the fatally
of General John Posey, of The Wilderness, twelve miles west of
Fredericksburg, but after a few months resumed his studies with his
former teacher. At this time a remarkable movement, still spoken of
as "the great revival," influenced his mind and he turned
his attention to the study of divinity. He was licensed to preach 1
October 1791, ordained by the presbytery of Hanover 9 June 1794, and
for seven years was an itinerant pastor in Charlotte and Prince
Edward cos.
In 1796 he became
president of Hampden Sydney College, Virginia, but in 1801 resigned,
and visited New York and New England. During his tour he went to see
the Rev. Dr. Waddel, the celebrated blind preacher mentioned by Wirt
in his "British Spy." The result of this visit was his
marriage to Dr. Waddel's daughter Janetta. Immediately after he
resumed his presidency, but, owing to insubordination among the
students, retired, and became in 1807 pastor of the Pine Street
Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The degree of died D. was
conferred on him by the College of New Jersey in 1810, and in the
same year he was elected president of Union College in Georgia, a
fact which remained unknown even to his family until after his death.
On the organization of the theological seminary at Princeton in 1812
Dr. Alexander was unanimously chosen as the leading professor. As the
number of students increased and other professors were added to the
faculty, he was enabled to direct his attention more particularly to
the department of pastoral and polemic theology, in promoting which,
with the general interests of the institution, he labored with zeal
and success till his death, a period of nearly forty years. His
powers both for pulpit oratory and polemic disquisition were
extraordinary. He was always busy, and from 1829 to 1850 scarcely a
number of the "Princeton Review" appeared without an
article from his pen. His style was idiomatic and forcible. With the
exception of occasional sermons and contributions to periodicals, he
published nothing until he had entered his fifty-second year. His
first work was "Outlines of the Evidences of Christianity"
(1823), which has been translated into various foreign languages and
is used as a textbook in Colleges. It was reprinted in London in
1828, and again with a new edition in 1833, accompanied with
introductory notes by Rev. John Morison, D.D. This was followed by a
"Treatise on the Canon of the Old and New Testaments"
(1826); "Lives of the Patriarchs" (1835) ; "Essays on
Religious Experiences" (1840) ; "History of African
Colonization" (1846); "History of the Log College"
(1846); "History of the Israelitish Nation" (1852), and
other works. He also contributed largely to periodicals. He left
several works in manuscript, of which the "Outlines of Moral
Science" (1852) was pronounced by the "Westminster Review"
to be a "calm, clear stream of abstract reasoning, flowing from
a thoughtful, well-instructed mind, without any parade of logic, but
with an intuitive simplicity and directness which• gives an
almost axiomatic force." Other posthumous works were "Duties
and Consolations of the Christian "; "Patriarchal Theology
"; "History of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia ";
"Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Clergymen and
Alumni of the College of New Jersey"; and "Church Polity
and Discipline." He left five sons, of who three became
ministers, and one daughter. The eldest son wrote the life of his
father, and edited his posthumous works (New York, 1854). *His son,
James Waddel, clergyman, born near Gordonsville, Louisa County,
Virginia, 13 March 1804; died at the Red Sweet Springs, Virginia, 31
July 1859. He received his academicals training at Philadelphia, was
graduated at Princeton in 1820, and studied theology in Princeton
seminary. In 1824 he was appointed a tutor, and during the same year
he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, New
Jersey During 1825-'28 he was in charge of a Church in Charlotte
County, Virginia, and from 1828 to 1830 was pastor of the first
Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey His health failing, he
resigned this charge and became editor of "The Presbyterian,"
in Philadelphia. He was professor of rhetoric and belles lettres in
Princeton College from 1833 till 1844, when he assumed charge of the
Duane Street Church in New York City. From 1844 to 1851 he was
professor of ecclesiastical history and Church government in
Princeton theological seminary, and in 1851 he was called to the
pastorate of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, where he remained
until his death. Among his published works are "Consolation";
"Thoughts on Family Worship"; "Plain Words to a Young
Communicant"; a series of essays entitled "The American
Mechanic and Workingman "; "Discourses on Christian Faith
and Practice" (New York, 1858); " Gift to the Afflicted";
a biography of Dr. Archibald Alexander (New York, 1854); and more
than thirty volumes for the American Sunday-school ninon. He was also
a frequent contributor to the "Princeton Review" and the
"Biblical Repertory." "Forty Years' Familiar Letters
of James W. Alexander," was published by the surviving
correspondent, the Rev. John Hall, died D., of Trenton, New Jersey (2
vols., New York, 1880).*His son, William Cowper, lawyer, born in
Virginia in 1806; died in New York City, 23 August 1874, was
graduated at Princeton in 1824. He was admitted to the bar in 1827,
and soon gained a reputation for legal knowledge and eloquence and
took part in political affairs. For several years he was president of
the New Jersey state senate. He was nominated for governor, and
lacked but a few votes of election. After being a member of the peace
congress of 1861, over which he was frequently called to preside, he
withdrew from polities and devoted himself entirely to the business
of insurance, having been elected president of the Equitable Life
Insurance Company when it was organized in 1859, of which he was
president at the time of his death.
His
son, Joseph Addison, clergyman, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
24 April 1809; died in Princeton, New Jersey, 28 January 1860, was
graduated at Princeton, with the first honor in his class, in 1826,
and associated himself with R. born Patton in the establishment of
Edgehill seminary at Princeton. From 1830 to 1833 he was adjunct
professor of ancient languages at Princeton, after which he spent
some time abroad studying languages. In 1838 he was made professor of
oriental literature in Princeton Theological Seminary, and in 1852
was transferred to the chair of biblical and ecclesiastical history,
which he held until his death. He was master of almost all of the
modern languages of Europe, and as an orientalist had few superiors.
This great linguistic knowledge is shown in his numerous exegetical
works, which include "The Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah"
(1846), "The Later Prophecies of Isaiah" (1847), "Isaiah
illustrated and explained" (1851), "The Psalms translated
and explained" (1850), "Commentary on Acts" (1857),
and "Commentary on Mark" (18,58). He also published a
series of "Essays on the Primitive Church Offices" (1851),
and numerous articles in the " Biblical Repertory" and
"Princeton Review." Since his death his " Sermons "
have been published (1860), and also a" Commentary on Matthew"
(1861), and "Notes on New Testament Literature," prepared
in conjunction with Dr. Charles Hodge (2 vols., 1861). His biography,
by his nephew, Henry Carrington Alexander, was published in 1869. His
son, Samuel Davies, clergyman, born in Princeton, New Jersey, in
1819, was graduated at Princeton in 1838, and studied theology in
Princeton seminary. He preached in various places, and in 1855 was
settled over the Phillips Presbyterian Church in New York city. He
has contributed numerous papers to the "Princeton Review,"
and published "Princeton College during the Eighteenth Century"
(1872); and a " History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland."
~Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2001
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