William Arthur (5 December 1796 – ) was an Irish-born American
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
minister and
abolitionist. He was the father of the twenty-first president of the United States,
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A ...
.
Life
William Arthur was born on 5 December 1796 in
Ballymena Borough, County Antrim. His parents names were Alan Arthur and Eliza MacHerg. Alan Arthur was the namesake for his grandson's middle name.
William Arthur graduated from
Belfast College, came to the United States, studied law for a short time, and was then called to the Baptist ministry. After preaching in Vermont and western New York, he was settled as pastor of the Calvary Baptist church of
Albany, N. Y., where he remained from 1855 to 1863. He afterward removed to
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, where he published a magazine called ''The'' ''Antiquarian and General Review'', to whose pages he contributed much curious learning on a variety of topics. He published an ''Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names'' (New York, 1857), which was favorably received.
During the last ten years of his life he lived in retirement, preaching occasionally, and giving much time to literary pursuits. Arthur was noted for his attainments in the classics and in history. William Arthur died on 27 October 1875 in
Newtonville.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, William
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1796 births
1875 deaths
18th-century Irish people
19th-century Irish writers
19th-century Baptist ministers
19th-century lexicographers
People from Ballymena
Baptist ministers from Northern Ireland
Arthur family
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
Irish lexicographers