William Wilberforce Newton

Background

William Wilberforce Newton was born on November 4, 1843 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of the Reverend Richard Newton and his wife, Lydia Greatorex, and younger brother of Richard Heber Newton.

Education

Newton was educated in Philadelphia, graduating at the University of Pennsylvania in 1865 and at the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1868.

Career

Ordered deacon on June 19, 1868, by the Reverend W. B. Stevens, Newton was ordained priest February 19, 1869, by the same bishop. After serving one year at the Church of the Epiphany as assistant to his father, he became successively rector of St. Paul's Church, Brookline, Massachussets, 1870-75; Trinity Church, Newark, New Jersey, 1875-77; St. Paul's, Boston, 1877-78; and St. Stephen's, Pittsfield, Massachussets, 1881-1900.

On account of a severe affection of the throat, which rendered public speaking almost impossible, he gave up the pastoral ministry in 1900.

Like his father, he was markedly successful in preaching to children. He published the Pilgrim Series of sermons for children in six volumes (1877 - 90), The Gate of the Temple, or Prayers for Children (1876), and edited the American Church Sunday School Magazine from 1885 to 1906.

In the years of his retirement he contributed many articles and stories to periodicals. His writings were of merit but not such as to secure any permanent place in literature.

Achievements

• Newton organized the American Congress of Churches, a shortlived attempt at bringing about greater comity among churches, which met at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1885, and at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1886. His best works for adults were his Essays of To-day: Religious and Theological (1879), and an excellent life of the Reverend W. A. Muhlenberg, Dr. Muhlenberg (1890), in the series of American Religious Leaders.

Works

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  • The Vine Out of Egypt, or the Growth and Development of the American Episcopal Church: With Special Reference to the Church Life of the Future (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Vine Out of Egypt, or the Growth and Dev...)

  • The Priest and the Man, or Abelard and Heloisa: An Historical Romance (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Priest and the Man, or Abelard and Heloi...)

  • A Father's Blessing: And Other Sermons for Children (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from A Father's Blessing: And Other Sermons for C...)

  • The Child and the Bishop

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Voice of St. John: And Other Poems (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Voice of St. John: And Other Poems She ...)

Religion

In theology Newton was a Broad Churchman and sympathized with the liberalizing tendencies in his Church.

Personality

Newton was tall and spare in build; his complexion was florid, his manner hearty and affable. He had a delicate sense of humor, and before his throat affection developed, a ringing voice, which, with his pleasing personality and appearance, made him an effective speaker.

Connections

On November 16, 1870, Newton married Emily Stevenson Cooke of Philadelphia, by whom he had one son.

Father:

Richard Newton

clergyman

Mother:

Lydia Greatorex

Spouse:

Emily Stevenson Cooke

Brother:

Richard Heber Newton