James Waddel

Background

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.

Education

He was educated at the historic 'Log College' (now West Nottingham Academy) at Nottingham, Pennsylvania and was taught by Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, D. D. Waddel became so proficient in ancient languages that he became a tutor there when he was just fifteen years old.

Dickinson College awarded him the degree of D. D. in 1792.

Career

Licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover on April 2, 1761, and ordained at a meeting of the presbytery held in Prince Edward County on June 16 and 17, 1762, he received calls from congregations both in Virginia and in Pennsylvania. On October 7, 1762, he accepted a call from a congregation in Northumberland and Lancaster counties of the Northern Neck of Virginia. During the first year there he was assisted in reviving the fervor of his congregation by the forceful preaching of George Whitefield. As a nonconformist preacher he was naturally subject to attack by the Anglican clergy. In all such encounters he seems to have borne himself well. The magistrate had become very lax in the enforcement of the laws in regard to dissenters, and they permitted him to take the qualifying oaths six months after his acceptance of his first charge in Virginia. There is no record of his ever being oppressed by the law. In 1776 or 1777 he accepted a call from the Tinkling Spring congregation in Augusta County and in 1778 removed with his family to the Shenandoah Valley. Later he was pastor of the two congregations of Tinkling Spring and Staunton. In 1785 he removed east of the Blue Ridge to a plantation he called "Belle Grove, " not far from the town of Gordonsville, and lived there for the rest of his life. He established a group of churches in Orange, Louisa, and Albemarle counties and preached regularly in the Hopewell church near Gordonsville, in the Brick church near Orange Court House, and in the old meeting house on the Rockfish Gap road about five miles from Charlottesville. He died at his home.

Achievements

• His ministry helped to establish the cordial understanding between the Virginia squirearchy and the Presbyterian Church.

Religion

Although he permitted his daughters to learn the minuet, he was a staunch defender of the Calvinistic theology and a determined opponent of the philosophical deism then dominant in the South.

Views

Quotations: "Let me die, take the pillow from beneath my head. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. "

Personality

In person he was tall and very thin. His eyes were light blue, his complexion fair, his face and forehead long and narrow. His manner was gentle. He spoke with animation but never ranted. His voice was low, sweet, and very distinct.

His eyesight had never been good and in 1787 he became blind. In 1798 he underwent an operation for cataract, as a result of which he recovered his sight for a time. During the eleven years of his blindness he continued to preach as before, or perhaps with increased effectiveness.

Connections

In 1768 he married Mary, the daughter of James Gordon of Lancaster County, Virginia. One of their ten children married Archibald Alexander and became the mother of Joseph A. and Samuel D. Alexander.

Father:

Thomas Waddel

Mother:

Janetta Waddel

Spouse:

Mary Gordon

child:

Harrington Waddell

child:

Isaac Waddell

child:

Anne Harrison Waddell

child:

James Gordon Waddell

child:

Lyttleton Waddell

child:

Dr. Addison W. Waddell

child:

Sarah Waddell

child:

Elizabeth Waddell

child:

Janetta Waddell

child:

Nathaniel Waddell