Rev. Samuel Magaw, D.D. (1735 – 1 December 1812) was a clergyman and educator from Pennsylvania. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1784 and served as Vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1782–1791).

Formative years

Born in Pennsylvania in 1735 Samuel Magaw was a son of William Magaw of

Shippensburg Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan St ...

. His brothers were Dr. William Magaw and Colonel

Robert Magaw Robert Magaw (1738 – January 7, 1790) was an American lawyer from Carlisle, Pennsylvania who served as a colonel in the Continental Army during the U.S. Revolutionary War. Early life and education Robert was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvan ...

, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War. A member of first class graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1757, when he received the bachelor's degree, Samuel McGaw then received his master's degree in 1760. Educated for a tutorship at the suggestion of the authorities at the same college, he also later studied divinity. He was married to married Lucia Doz, a daughter of Andrew Doz, of Philadelphia.

Religious life

In 1767, Magaw traveled to England for orders and ordained as an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest. Upon his return to the United States, he became a missionary of the

Society for Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

at Dover and Duck Creek, Delaware. Appointed Rector of St. Paul's Church in Philadelphia in 1781, he held that office until 1804. In 1783, Magaw was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Vice-provost and professor of moral philosophy at the university from 1782 to 1791, he voluntarily withdrew from that role in 1791, after the college and university had merged, in order to enable his friend, Dr. John Andrews, to be elected in his place. Magaw then assisted Rev. James Abercrombie, D.D. in founding the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1784. Numerous sermons that he preached on special occasions during this time were published, and have since been reprinted. Bishop White, in his memoirs of the said church, makes complimentary mention of the part Dr. Magaw had taken in 1784 in the organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.The Alumni Register, The University of Pennsylvania, Volume 9. 1906. In 1802, Dr. Magaw was elected president of the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Navigation Company, replacing James C. Fisher who had resigned.Baer, Christopher T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context." Archived from the original on (2007), updated May 2015.Accessed a

on August 23, 2018.

References

Entry on Magaw from the University of PennsylvaniaAppleton's entry via Google Book Search''The Scotch-Irish in America''
(Pennsylvania, 1902). The author notes that "The Magaws were a Church of England family, which indicates, perhaps, that they were not Scotch-Irish." {{DEFAULTSORT:Magaw, Samuel 1735 births 1812 deaths Clergy in the American Revolution Clergy from Philadelphia Members of the American Philosophical Society People of colonial Pennsylvania 19th-century American Episcopalians