James Waddel

James Waddel (or Waddell, July 1739 – September 17, 1805) was an Irish American Presbyterian preacher from Virginia noted for his eloquence.^[1]

He was a founding trustee of Liberty Hall (later Washington and Lee University), when it was made into a college in 1776.^[2]

Biography

James Waddel was born in Newry, Ireland in July 1739. His parents, Thomas and Janetta Waddel, emigrated to the United States later that same year, settling in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Delaware line.^[3] When James was about twelve years old he suffered an injury to his hand. This incapacitated him to the extent that his father thought it was necessary for him to be educated, so that he could support himself. He was educated at the historic 'Log College' (now West Nottingham Academy) at Nottingham, Pennsylvania and was taught by Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, DD. He became so proficient in ancient languages that he became a tutor at that school when he was fifteen years old.^[4] He became an assistant teacher in Reverend Robert Smith's academy in Pequea, Lancaster County.^[1]

When nineteen or twenty years old, he moved to Louisa County, Virginia, where he became a tutor. Meriwether Lewis was one of his students. Under the influence of Samuel Davies, Waddel decided to study for the ministry. He studied theology under John Todd and was licensed to preach in 1761, and the next year became pastor of Presbyterian churches in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He started several churches in Northumberland and Lancaster counties, introducing the Presbyterian Church into areas where previously there had only been the Anglican Church.^[3]

In Lancaster County, James met Mary Gordon, the daughter of Mary Gordon (Harrison) and James Gordon, a wealthy and influential planter. In 1767 James and Mary were married from "Verville", the home of her father, into the "Honeymoon Cottage" at Merry Point, on the Corrotoman River. The couple eventually had ten children,^[5] nine of whom survived to adulthood.^[4]

When the American Revolutionary War began, the Waddel family moved to the Tinkling Spring church in Augusta County and also preached in Staunton.^[1] He purchased a large farm called "Springhill" on the South River by Waynesboro. During the war he made many addresses to soldiers encouraging them to fight; one stirring sermon in particular was having been given to the forces of Campbell, McDowell, and Moffett, while assembled at Midway in preparation to meet the army of Charles Cornwallis in North Carolina.^[4]

He served as a founding trustee of Liberty Hall, formerly the Augusta Academy, when in 1776 it was renamed in a burst of revolutionary fervor and relocated to Lexington, Virginia.^[6][6] Other founding trustees along with Waddell were prominent men including Andrew Lewis, Thomas Lewis, Samuel McDowell, Sampson Mathews, George Moffett, and William Preston. ^[2] Finally chartered in 1782, Liberty Hall was again renamed, to Washington College and finally Washington and Lee University. It is the ninth oldest institution of higher education in the country.^[6][7]

In 1785 he settled on an estate in Louisa County, where he supplied vacant pulpits and was principal of a classical school.^[1] He visited George Washington the next year.^[8] He became blind about 1787 due to cataracts, but continued his labors without interruption, writing as well as preaching with great industry, and was known as "the blind preacher."^[9]

Dickinson College gave him the degree of D.D. in 1792. He died at "Hopewell", his Louisa County estate near Gordonsville, Virginia, in 1805.^[1] His last words were recorded as "Let me die, take the pillow from beneath my head. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."^[4]

Legacy

Waddel is described as being tall and erect with fair complexion and blue eyes.^[10] After he lost his sight at the age of 48 he continued to write and teach until his death. He is invariably described as cheerful, happy, and resigned to his physical afflictions.^[4]

Before his death he ordered that all his manuscripts be burned, so that his eloquence has become a matter of tradition. The best idea of him as a pulpit orator is to be gathered from the sketch of Dr. Waddel as the blind preacher in William Wirt's Letters of a British Spy. This was written in 1803, when Dr. Waddel was old and infirm. It has been questioned how far the author gave himself the license of fiction in his description, but Dr. Waddel's biographer gives a qualified description as follows:

"Mr. Wirt stated to me that, so far from adding colors to the picture of Dr. Waddel's eloquence, he had fallen below the truth. In person he was tall and erect, his mien was unusually dignified, and his manners graceful and eloquent. Under his preaching, audiences were irresistibly and simultaneously moved, like the wind-shaken forest."

—James Waddel Alexander, Memoir of the Rev. James Waddel, D.D.

James Madison, who had been his pupil, said: "He has spoiled me for all other preaching," and Patrick Henry classed him with Samuel Davies as one of the two greatest orators he had ever heard.^[1]

In 1871 his body was moved to the yard of the Waddell Memorial Presbyterian Church at Rapidan, Virginia. His daughter, Janetta Waddel, married the Reverend Archibald Alexander in 1802. His grandson, James Waddel Alexander, wrote a memoir of him originally published in the Watchman of the South (1846).^[10]

Family

James Waddell and Mary Gordon had ten children:^[5][11]

1. Nathaniel Waddell. Married his cousin Mary Smith Gordon.
2. James Gordon Waddell (1770-1857). Married (1) his cousin Lucy Gordon. Married (2) Mildred Thornton Lindsay.
3. Elizabeth Waddell (1777-1851). Married Rev. William Calhoun.
4. Isaac Waddell (1780-18??). Moved to South Carolina where he settled on the banks of the Tyger River in Greenville District. Married, about 1805, Nancy Middleton and had several children. One daughter married ____ Goodlet. Another daughter, Martha, married William Hubbard, a hotel proprietor of Anderson, South Carolina.
5. Janetta Waddell (1782-1852). Married Archibald Alexander. Their issue included James Waddel Alexander, William Cowper Alexander, and Joseph Addison Alexander. Another son, Henry Martyn Alexander, was the grandfather of Eleanor Butler Alexander-Roosevelt, wife of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
6. Anne Harrison Waddell (1783-1853).
7. Dr. Addison W. Waddell (1785-1855). Married (1) Catherine Ann Boys and (2) Mrs. Ann Douglas. He and his first wife were the parents of writer and historian Joseph Addison Waddell.
8. Sarah Waddell (1789-1865)
9. Lyttleton Waddell (1790-1869). Married Elizabeth Edmonson.
10. Harrington Waddell. Died young.

Tyler, in Men of mark in Virginia, omits Isaac and adds a daughter named Mary.

James Waddell is thought to have been a cousin of Rev. Moses Waddel. There are various spellings and pronunciations of the family name. Descendants of James have typically pronounced "Waddell" with a stress on the final syllable and have spelled it with two Ls.^[5]

Sources