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William Kimborough Pendelton was an American clergyman, educator and editor. He was minister of the Disciples of Christ.
Background
William Kimborough Pendelton was born on September 8, 1817 in Yanceyville, Louisa County, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Edmund and Unity Yancey (Kimbrough) Pendleton. His ancestors had been prominent in Virginia for several generations, the earliest of them in America, on his father's side, being Philip, a schoolmaster, who emigrated from Norwich, England, in 1674, returned in 1680, and came over again in 1682 to stay. His father's grandfather, John, was a brother of Edmund Pendleton. His father's grandmother, Sarah Madison, was the sister of President James Madison. On the maternal side, William was of Welsh descent. In his infancy his parents moved to "Cuckoo House, " Cuckoo, Louisa County, which an ancestor had built.
Education
William Kimbrough Pendleton spent his early days, receiving instruction in nearby schools, and in 1836 entering the University of Virginia. He finished his course there in 1840, and, having spent the last part of it in the study of law.
Career
In 1840 William Kimbrough Pendleton was admitted to the Virginia bar. In the meantime the elder Pendletons had joined the Campbellite movement and had been among the charter members of Gilboa Church, near Cuckoo. In June 1840 William was baptized by Alexander Campbell. From that time until Campbell's death the two were intimately associated. In 1840 Campbell's plans for an institution of learning embodying ideas of his own bore fruit in the establishment of Bethany College, and he persuaded Pendleton to become in 1842 its first professor of natural philosophy. For the remainder of his active career the interests of the college were his chief concern.
In 1845, William Kimbrough Pendleton was appointed vice-president, and, since the president, Campbell, had many extraneous duties, much of the administrative work fell to Pendleton, and no little of the success of the institution during its formative period is attributable to him. After the death of Campbell in 1866, Pendleton was elected president and served as such until 1886. During the forty-five years he was connected with Bethany, he took part in the cooperative enterprises of the Disciples, being one of the leading members in their first national convention, October 1849, at which the foundations of their organized missionary work were laid. He also exerted a wide influence through his writings. In January 1846 he became an associate of Campbell in editing the Millennial Harbinger, and in 1865, its editor-in-chief, continuing as such until the paper was discontinued at the close of 1870. For years many of the leading articles were written by him.
From 1869 to 1876 William Kimbrough was associated with William T. Moore in the editorial management of the Christian Quarterly, and in December 1873 he became a member of the staff of the Christian Standard, of which Isaac Errett was editor. To both these publications he contributed regularly. Pendleton also took an active part in the civic affairs of the region in which he lived. He worked energetically for improvement in roads and schools. In 1855 he was the Whig candidate for congressman from his district, opposing the Democratic representative, Zedekiah Kidwell, but was defeated in a spirited campaign.
After 1861 William Kimbrough Pendleton supported the Democratic party. He was a member of the West Virginia constitutional convention of 1872 and was prominent in its proceedings. In 1873 Governor John J. Jacob appointed him state superintendent of public schools to fill out the unexpired term of Charles S. Lewis, and during his incumbency he framed a school law, which was adopted by the legislature. In 1876 he was elected superintendent and served until 1880. Relinquishing the presidency of Bethany in 1886, he retired to Eustis, Florida, where he had purchased property, and found employment in overseeing his orange groves.
William Kimbrough Pendleton died at Bethany, where he had gone to attend the Commencement exercises on September 1, 1899.
Achievements
William Kimbrough Pendleton was one of the most influential of the pre-Civil War preachers and pioneer leaders. As educator, he was best known as president of Bethany College.
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Personality
Quotes from others about the person
John William McGarvey once spoke of William Kimbrough Pendleton as "one of the clearest headed men he had ever known. "
Connections
In October 1840 William Kimbrough Pendleton married Campbell's daughter, Lavinia, who died in 1846, and in July 1848 he married her sister, Clarinda. His second wife died in 1851, and on September 19, 1855, he married Catherine Huntington King of Warren, Ohio. He had seven children.
