Presbyterians of the Past

Archive - 2014

B. B. Warfield, 1851-1921

As a boy, the interests of B. B. Warfield were aimed at a different vocational target than theology and ministry. Following his birth on November 5, 1851 to William and Mary Cabell Breckinridge Warfield, Benjamin grew...

G. B. Strickler, 1840-1913

John M. Wells, in his book, Southern Presbyterian Worthies, describes the setting of scenic Strickler’s Springs— Near the center of Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the very heart of the Valley of Virginia, rises a...

J. A. Alexander, 1809-1860

They said he looked like Napoleon Bonaparte, his students entered the lecture hall in fear and trembling, he read his sermons with his head bowed motionless over the pulpit, and he found social situations very...

John Witherspoon, 1723-1794

In a historical tour of Princeton, New Jersey, Nassau Hall on the university campus is on the must-see list.  It is a grand but simple building, surrounded by trees, and its lovely presence reminds visitors of the...

Thomas Smyth, 1808–1873

Thomas Smyth was born June 14, 1808 in Belfast, Ireland, the sixth son of Samuel and Ann Magee Smith. Thomas’s father was a grocer and an elder in the local Presbyterian Church. Later in Thomas’s life he adopted...

J. W. Alexander, 1804-1859

James Waddell Alexander was born to Archibald and Janetta Waddell Alexander in Louisa County, Virginia, on March 13, 1804. The infant had been named for Janetta’s father, James Waddell, D.D., who had ministered in the...

Henry A. Boardman, 1808-1880

Henry Augustus was born to John and Clarinda (Starbuck) Boardman in the city of Troy on the Hudson River in New York, January 9, 1808. John was a merchant in Troy who had partnered with another man to form Hillhouse and...