William Patton

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, on August 23, 1798, William Patton studied at Middlebury College and then at Princeton Theological Seminary before being ordained in 1820. He went on to serve for twenty-six years as a pastor in New York City and became known for preaching that was plain, direct, and energetic rather than ornate.

Patton was deeply involved in reform movements of his time. He was an outspoken opponent of slavery, worked for many years with the American Home Missionary Society, and held equally strong views on temperance. He also helped found Union Theological Seminary and is remembered for proposing, in the 1840s, the idea that grew into the Evangelical Alliance.

Alongside his ministry, he was a busy editor and writer. He prepared American editions of widely read religious works and published books of his own, including The Laws of Fermentation and the Wines of the Ancients. He died in Philadelphia on September 9, 1879.