William Stith
American historian
William Stith
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3rd
President of the
College of William & Mary |
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In office
1752–1755 |
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Preceded by | William Dawson |
Succeeded by | Thomas Dawson |
Personal details | |
Born | 1707 |
Died | ( 1755-09-19 ) September 19, 1755 |
Alma mater |
College of William & Mary
The Queen's College, Oxford |
Signature |
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William Stith (1707 – September 19, 1755) [1] was an early American historian and an Anglican minister . [2] He was the third president of the College of William & Mary (1752–1755), where Stith Hall was named for him.
Early life
Stith was the son of Captain John Stith and Mary Randolph , a daughter of William Randolph (1650– 1711). [1] [3] [lower-alpha 1] Stith's grandfather was Major John Stith , who participated in Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion. [1] [4]
Stith was educated at the College of William & Mary 's Grammar School and The Queen's College, Oxford . [2] [5] On May 27, 1728, he received his B.A. degree. On April 12, 1731, while still in England, he was ordained a minister of the Anglican Church . [2] He then returned to Williamsburg. [2]
Career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/History_of_the_First_Discovery_of_Virginia_1747.jpg/220px-History_of_the_First_Discovery_of_Virginia_1747.jpg)
In October 1731, he became a master of the College of William & Mary's Grammar School. He also began his role at the Virginia House of Burgesses as a chaplain. [2] Stith was a minister for 16 years at the Henrico Parish in Henrico County beginning in 1736. [2] He was also a minister in York County, Virginia of the York-Hampton Parish. In the 1740s and 1750s, three of his sermons were published. [2]
The Sinfulness and Pernicious Nature of Gaming, 1752 was preached by Stith in Williamsburg before the Virginia General Assembly on March 1, 1752. [6] The General Assembly had considered amending the 1748 Act for preventing excessive and deceitful gambling, but tabled the measure after hearing the sermon. [6] The sermon was published in 1752 and became one of the best selling titles that year. [6]
He is the author of one of the earliest histories of Virginia, The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia: being an Essay towards a General History of this Colony , published in Williamsburg by William Parks in 1747. [7] [8]
He was also the College of William & Mary 's third president (1752–1755) and is the namesake of Stith Hall, a residence hall on the campus. [9] [10]
Marriage and children
He married his first cousin, Judith Randolph , the daughter of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe on July 13, 1738. [2] [lower-alpha 2] They had three daughters: Judith, Elizabeth, and Mary. [1]
Bibliography
- Stith, William (1747). The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia .
Notes
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gordon, Armistead C (1914). "The Stith Family" . In Tyler, Lyon G. (ed.). William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine . Vol. XXII. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson. pp. 44–45 . Retrieved February 25, 2011 .
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Flora, Joseph M.; Vogel, Amber (June 21, 2006). Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary . LSU Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-8071-4855-6 .
- 1 2 3 Page, Richard Channing Moore (1893). "Randolph Family" . Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia (2 ed.). New York: Press of the Publishers Printing Co. pp. 249–272.
- 1 2 3 Goode, George Brown (1887). Virginia Cousins: A Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode of Whitby, a Virginia Colonist of the Seventeenth Century, with Notes Upon Related Families, a Key to Southern Genealogy and a History of the English Surname Gode, Goad, Goode Or Good from 1148 to 1887 . J. W. Randolph & English. p. 211.
- ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner , ed. (1915). "Burgesses and Other Prominent Persons" . Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography . Vol. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 330–331.
- 1 2 3 Bond, Edward L. (2004). Spreading the Gospel in Colonial Virginia: Sermons and Devotional Writings . Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739107201 . Retrieved January 11, 2020 .
- ↑ "Discovery: Stith History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia " . The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 2008 . Retrieved June 1, 2008 . [ dead link ]
- ↑ Fiske, John (1897). Old Virginia and Her Neighbours . Houghton, Mifflin and Company. pp. 255 –256.
- ↑ "William & Mary - Bryan Complex" . Wm.edu . Retrieved July 2, 2016 .
- ↑ "Stith Hall" . William & Mary . Retrieved January 11, 2020 .
Pound sign (#) denotes interim president. |
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