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3n JHemoriam * WILLIAM MILLER PAXTON, D.D., LL.D. 1824-1904 FIINEEAL AND MEMORIAL DISCOURSES WITH APPENDIXES AND NOTES NEW YORK 1905 VN UUbl c^xv.^^ ^JUt iOL^fX^^Z^-^ TABLE OF CONTENTS PACK Address at the Funeral SERvacES by the Eev. John De Witt, D.D., LL.D 7 Memorial Discourse by the Rev. Benjamin B. Warpield, D.D, LL.D 17 Appendix I From the Rev. Dr. Thomas K. Davis, Wooster, Ohio ... 53 II From the Eev. Dr. S. F. Scovel, Wooster, Ohio 56 HI From the Rev. Dr. Oscar A. Hills, Wooster, Ohio .... 66 IV From the Rev. Dr. W. W. McKinnet, Philadelphia ... 70 V From the Rev. Dr. W. B. Noble, Los Angeles, Calitornia . 73 VI From the Eev. Dr. Thomas A. McCurdt, Wilmington, Delaware 75 VII From the Rev. Dr. John W. Dinsmore, San Josfi, Calitornia 78 VIII From the Eev. Dr. Robert E. Booth, New York 81 IX From the Rev. Dr. F. F. Ellinwood, New York 83 X From the Eev. Dr. Chauncey T. Edwards, Portville, New York 85 SI From the Rev. Dr. Be.vjamin L. Hobson, Chicago .... 87 Notes I Dr. Paxton's Ancestry 91 n Chief Facts in Dr. Paxton 's Life 91 m Dr. Paxton 's Churches 92 IV Dr. Paxton 's Publications 93 v Dr. Paxton in the Presbytery of Carlisle 97 VI Dr. Paxton at Pittsburgh 100 vn Dr. Paxton at the Western Theological Seminary . 104 VIII Dr. Paxton at the First Church, New York 105 IX Dr. Paxton and Union Theological Seminary 108 X Dr. Paxton 's Resignation from Princeton Theological Seminary 108 XI Dr. Paxton 's Eightieth Birthday 110 XII Dr. Paxton and the Board of Foreign Missions 112 XIII A Memorial Minute adopted by the New York Presbytery . 113 xrv Necrological Report presented to the Alumni Association of the Princeton Theological Seminary, May 9, 1905 . 115 DISCOURSE AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE, IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, NOVEMBER THE THIRTIETH, 1904, BY THE REV. JOHN DE WITT, D.D., LL.D. DISCOURSE AT FUNERAL SERVICE I SHAEE with you, Christian friends, the great regret you will feel as I announce that Dr. Warfield, who longer than any other of his colleagues has been associated with Dr. Paxton as a professor in the Theological Seminary, is un- able to be present to-day and to give expression to our deep and common sorrow in view of the death of this emi- nent minister of the Church of God. At a later day Dr. Warfield will deliver a discourse commemorating his character and life. At this service, however, it is fitting that we refresh our memory of him by a brief recital of the main facts of his public life and by noting some of the salient features of the man. William Miller Paxton was born in Adams County, in the beautiful southcentral district of Pennsylvania, not far from the southeastern slope of the first range of the Appalachian Mountains, and not far from the county- seat which has given its name to the fiercest and longest battle of the Civil War. He was born among a people partly British and partly German in their blood, whose social life derived its charm from the fact that the College and the Theological Seminary of the Lutheran Church were in Gettysburg, and also from that Gemuthlichkeit, which, if the word cannot be translated into English, is easily recognized by any one who has had the happiness of living in a town created by a union of British and Ger- man settlers. Here Dr. Paxton 's family had lived and been prominent for two generations when he was born on June the seventh, 1824. His father. Colonel James Dun- lop Paxton, was an iron manufacturer, smelting the hema- 9 FUNERAL DISCOURSE tite ore, of which there were rich deposits in the South Mountain, and refining and forging the iron it yielded. Colonel Paxton was a devout Christian. He was also a public-spirited citizen of the Commonwealth, and was hon- ored with high and responsible oflBce in connection with the great system of watei"ways which were constructed by the State just about the time our Dr. Paxton was born. An important part of Dr. Paxton 's preparation for active life he received in his father's counting-room and at his father's mines and furnace and forge. An equally important part of his preparation was due to the fact that his grandfather lived until young Paxton reached manhood. This grandfather, William Paxton, was a notable man and minister. It was for him as well as for his maternal grandfather, AVilliam Miller, that Wil- liam Miller Paxton was named. In his youth William Paxton left his father's farm in Lancaster County, en- listed as a soldier of the Revolutionary army, served in two cami)aigns of the war, and was one of the American foi'ce in the battle of Trenton. After the close of the war he studied for the ministry. He became the pastor of the Lower Marsh Creek Church in the county of Adams and in the i)resbytery of Carlisle, and continued in that posi- tion until ill health compelled his resignation about four years before his death. This Dr. William Paxton— for Dickinson College conferred on him that degree in Theol- ogy—was not only beloved and revered by his own con- gregation but was a man of large influence both in the comnnmity and in the councils of the church. We can almost see him in his grandson as we read the descrip- ' tions of him written by contemporaries. ' He was six feet in height. His features were regular. His expression was o\nn\, calm, dignified and benevolent. His disposition was affectionate. His intellect was strong, active and well-balanced." 10 FUNEKAL DISCOURSE Enjoying the life of his father's home, and the almost unbroken companionship of his grandfather after the lat- ter 's retirement from the pastorate, Dr. Paxton passed from the preparatory school to Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, where he was graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1843. For two years he studied law with a view to the practice of that profession. But in 1845, believing him- self called to the ministry of the Church, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary and was graduated in 1848. He was the last member of the Seminary Faculty who enjoyed the personal acquaintance and the instruc- tion of the Seminary's first two professors— Dr. Archi- bald Alexander and Dr. Samuel Miller. Ordained in 1848, he was pastor of the Church in Green- castle, Pennsylvania, for two years. He was pastor of the First Church of Pittsburgh for fourteen years, and of the First Church of New York for eighteen years. While pastor in Pittsburgh, he was called to the chair of Sacred Rhetoric in Western Theological Seminary. He filled it for twelve years. "WTiile pastor in New York, he was for two years lecturer on Sacred Rhetoric in Union Theo- logical Seminary. In 1883 he became professor of Eccle- siastical, Homiletical and Pastoral Theology in Princeton Theological Seminary. He discharged the duties of this chair until 1902, when on the advice of his physician he retired and became Professor Emeritus. He continued, however, to render to the Seminary services of great value by lecturing from time to time and by his wise coun- sel at the meetings of the Faculty. Dr. Paxton during his active career filled an exception- ally large number of important and influential positions of public trust and honor in the Church. He was a director of Western Theological Seminary when he lived in Pitts- burgh. After the reunion of the Presbjierian Churches, when he was living in New York, he became a director 11 ; FUNERAL DISCOURSE of Uiiion Theological Seminary. He was a director of Princeton Theological Seminary from 1866 to 1883. He was a trustee of Princeton University for thirty-eight years. For a time he was jaresident of the Board of Home Missions, and for a time president of the Board of For- eign Missions; and he continued a member of the latter board until his death. In 1880 he was elected by a unani- mous vote Moderator of the General Assembly. A ministerial career covering fifty-six years, so con- tinuously and variously active, so large in its scope, so distinguished and influential, can be explained only by ex- traordinary gifts and attainments. Some of these we, who have gathered at his burial, may in gratitude to God most fittingly recall. Dr. Paxton was a man of large, vigorous, and well-dis- ciplined intellect, whose powers were healthfully and symmetrically developed. Whatever subjects he studied he grasjjed firmly. His memory held facts and principles with remarkable tenacity. These he related to each other with clear intelligence and by conscientious labor. He brought to this work a judgment which, while always ad- mirable, ripened into wisdom as the years passed on. So that oftenest he reached conclusions in which he could rest, and which seldom needed amendment. He was not a man of impulse. He was not a man who mistook his impressions for convictions. He was a man for counsel whose counsel on a wide range of subjects was widely sought. Indeed, it is an interesting question whether by his active life he has done more for the high interests with which he was associated than by his iMuincnt services as a counselor. He was a man of deep and strong inlellectual convic- tions upon the subject of the truth of Christianity. His study, after liis college course, of the principles of the Common Law, in the Commentaries of Sir William Black- 12 FUNERAL DISCOURSE stone and in the elementary treatises on Pleading and Process and the Law of Evidence, gave a character to his mental habit which was only deepened and fixed by his course in the Theological Seminary.

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