author
William A. (William Andrew) Smith
1802–1870
A prominent 19th-century Methodist minister and educator, he led Randolph–Macon College for two decades and later became a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is also remembered for publishing a forceful defense of slavery, a stance that places his work firmly within the conflicts of his era.
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About the author
Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on November 29, 1802, William Andrew Smith became a minister in the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1825. He went on to build a public career as a preacher, editor, and teacher, eventually serving as president of Randolph–Macon College from 1846 to 1866.
Smith was an influential figure in Southern Methodist and educational circles. In addition to his college leadership, he edited the Richmond Christian Advocate for a time, and in 1866 he was elected a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He died in 1870.
Readers may also encounter him as the author of Lectures on the Philosophy and Practice of Slavery. That book argued in favor of slavery, and it is an important part of how his legacy is understood today. His life and writing reflect both his prominence and the deep moral failures embedded in parts of American religious and intellectual history.