William Dexter Wilson

Background

William D. Wilson was born on February 28, 1816, in Stoddard, New Hampshire, the son of William Wilson and Rhoda Lane Gould.

Education

He obtained his secondary education in an academy at Walpole, New Hampshire, where he showed such ability in mathematics that on graduation he was appointed a teacher of that subject. Soon deciding, however, to study for the ministry, he entered Harvard Divinity School, from which he was graduated in 1838.

Career

After four years as a Unitarian preacher, he became converted to trinitarian principles and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church. From 1842 to 1850 he was rector of a small parish in Sherburne, New Hampshire.

In 1848 he published his first work, The Church Identified by a Reference to the History of its Origin, Perpetuation, and Extension into the United States (republished in 1866).

In 1850, taking with him a private class of about ten students, he became an instructor in moral and intellectual philosophy in Geneva (later Hobart) Divinity School, where he also acted as treasurer for the associated alumni and, in the last of his eighteen years there, served as acting president.

During this period he published An Explanation of the Rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer (1854), An Elementary Treatise on Logic (1856), and an interesting pamphlet, Attainder of Treason and Confiscation of the Property of Rebels (1863), which was an open letter to Judge Samuel A. Foot together with Judge Foot's reply, both writers striving to prove that there were no constitutional restrictions on confiscation in such cases.

In 1868 he was called to the chair of moral and intellectual philosophy in the newly founded Cornell University, where for another eighteen years he was the sole member of his department. He also acted as registrar and had much to do with the organization and administration of the university. This Cornell period was one of great literary productivity, seeing the publication of The Closing Scenes of the Life of Christ, a Harmonized Combination of the Gospels (1869); Lectures on the Psychology of Thought and Action (1871); Logic, Theoretical and Practical (1872); Fancy and Philosophy, an Introduction to the Study of Metaphysics (1872); Positive and Negative Terms in Mathematics (1875); First Principles of Political Economy (1875); The Influence of Language on Thought (1879); Order of Instruction in Mathematics (1876); Live Questions in Psychology and Metaphysics (1877); The Foundations of Religious Belief (1883). In 1886 he was made professor emeritus at Cornell, and in the following year he became dean of St. Andrew's Divinity School in Syracuse, New York, where he continued to reside until his death on July 30, 1900.

Achievements

• The clergyman, William Dexter Wilson became quite well known to the reading public for writings in disparate areas. He produced dozens of sermons and books that sought to prove the harmony of gospel records, the scriptural and philosophical foundations of religious belief, a reliable manual of Christian tenets, the heritage of canon law derived from ancient times, and the legitimacy of an Episcopal polity in his chosen denomination.

Works

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  • The Foundations of Religious Belief: The Methods of Natural Theology Vindicated Against Modern Objections (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Foundations of Religious Belief: The Met...)

  • Fancy and Philosophy: An Introduction to the Study of Metaphysics and the History of Philosophy, with Special Reference to Modern Theories of Theism, and Atheism

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The church identified: by a reference to the history of its origin, perpetuation and extension, into the United States

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  • Logic, Theoretical and Practical: A Text-book for Teachers and Students

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • Lectures on the Psychology of Thought and Action: Comparative and Human

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • An Explanation of the Rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer: With Special Reference to Uniformity in Conducting the Service

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • A Discourse on Slavery: Delivered Before the Anti-slavery Society in Littleton, N. H., February 22, 1839, Being the Anniversary of the Birth of Washington

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  • An elementary treatise on logic: including pt. I. Analysis of formulae. pt. II. Method. With an appendix of examples for analysis and criticism. And a ... as well as for private study and use

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Christian Church; Its Constitution, Principles, Functions, and Powers, as Represented in the Holy Scriptures, Etc

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • Miracles In Nature And In Revelation: And Especially The Great Miracle Of Our Lord's Resurrection From The Dead (1890)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

Religion

William Dexter Wilson served as a Unitarian preacher four years, later he converted to trinitarian principles and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Personality

In addition to the diversified interests evidenced by these works William Wilson also had a wide command of languages, knowing French, German, Italian, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Syriac.

Connections

On November 25, 1846, William D. Wilson was married to Susan Whipple Trowbridge.

Father:

William Wilson

Mother:

Rhoda Lane Wilson (Gould)

Wife:

Susan Whipple Wilson (Trowbridge)