Alfred Williams Anthony (13 January 1860 – 20 January 1939) was an American author,

Freewill Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

leader, and religion professor at Bates College in Maine.

Biography

He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on 13 January 1860 to Lewis Williams Anthony and Britannia Franklin Waterman. He was a descendant of Rhode Island founder,

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...

. Anthony graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1883 and

Cobb Divinity School Cobb Divinity School (also known as Bates Theological Seminary or the Free Will Baptist Bible School) was a Baptist theological institute. Founded in 1840, it was a Free Will Baptist graduate school affiliated with several Free Baptist institution ...

in 1885, which was then affiliated with Bates College. Anthony also received an A.M. degree from Brown in 1886.Bates Special Collections information about Anthony and his papers, (accessed July 15, 2008)
/ref> In 1887, he was appointed to a professorship at

and went on to publish various books and articles. When the Divinity School merged with the College religion department, he became a religion professor at Bates College serving from 1908 to 1911. He retired from Bates in 1918 to New York City. He donated land in Lewiston near Bates College to the Stanton Bird Club to create

Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary is a 450 acre forested wildlife preserve owned and managed by the Stanton Bird Club in Lewiston, Maine since 1921. At 510 feet high Thorncrag hill is highest point in Lewiston and contains many hiking trails. History In ...

. Anthony was also active in various

institutions and served as President of the Board of Trustees of Storer College in West Virginia. He was also Chairman of the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians. He travelled to Africa and Asia as Secretary for the Free Will Baptist Home Missions Council. Anthony also as a Trustee for Bates College,

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

, and

. He died on 20 January 1939 and was buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Rhode Island. File:Cobb Divinity School faculty photo.jpg, Cobb Divinity School faculty, ca. 1895 with Anthony in the lower left File:Cobb Divinity School; Roger Williams Hall.jpg, Cobb Divinity School building once funded by Deacon L.W. Anthony (Alfred Anthony's father)Bates College Buildings History
File:Anthony Hall, the administration building of the former Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia LCCN2015631390.tif, Anthony Hall on the Storer College campus in Harpers Ferry

Books and honors

Anthony published various notable books including ''An Introduction to the Life of Jesus'' (1896), ''The Method of Jesus'' (1899) and ''Bates College and Its Background'' (1936). He received an honorary D. D. from Bates in 1902, Brown in 1908, and an L.L.D. from Colby in 1914. Anthony died on January 20, 1939.

Family

Anthony married Harriet Wyatt Angell in September 1885, and they had three children: Elizabeth Williams, Lewis Wilmarth (who died as a child) and Alfred Williams Anthony, Jr. Elizabeth also graduated from Bates College in 1908. His first wife died in 1899. In February 1903 Anthony married Gertrude Brown Libbey, with whom he had three further children: Richard Lewis, Warren Shaw and Charles Sheldon Anthony.

References

External links

Bates College Special Collections' information on Anthony''The Method of Jesus''
by Alfred Anthony (1899) {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Alfred W. Bates College alumni Brown University alumni Baptists from Maine Writers from Providence, Rhode Island 1860 births 1939 deaths Hillsdale College people Baptists from Rhode Island 19th-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers Free Will Baptists Cobb Divinity School alumni Burials at Swan Point Cemetery