Source: Presbyterian Heritage Center
Alexander, James Waddell
b: March 15, 1804; Hopewell Estate, Louisa County, Virginia
d: July 31, 1859; Red Sweetsprings, Virginia
Family
- Son of a Presbyterian minister, Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) and Janetta (née Waddell) Alexander (1782-1832)
Education
- Educated at schools in Philadelphia, where his father was briefly a minister, and then at Princeton, where his father had been appointed as the first professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary (1812).
- Went to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) (AB 1820)
- Studied theology at Princeton Theological Seminary (1812)
Highlights & Accomplishments
- Ministered to two Presbyterian churches, one in Charlotte County, Virginia (1826-28), the other at Trenton, New Jersey (1829-32)
- Was professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres at the College of New Jersey (1833-44)
- Became pastor of Duane Street Presbyterian Church, New York City (1844-49)
- For a brief period, a Professor of Latin and English Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary (1849-51).
- Wrote a biography of his father, The Life of Archibald Alexander, DD (1854), and other devotional works such as Thoughts on Preaching, being contributions to homiletics (1861).
- His translations were published after his death as The Breaking Crucible; and other translations from German hymns (New York, 1861), containing his celebrated ‘O sacred head! now wounded’*
- Also published after his death was an edition of his letters, edited by John Hall (1829-1898)
- Commemorated alongside his father, Archibald Alexander, and his brother, the biblical scholar Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860)
Hymns included in the Seventh-Day Adventist Hymnal
O Sacred Head Now Wounded, SDAH 156
**Request a correction or addition to this article by emailing us at hymns4worship@gmail.com
Hymns for Worship review these requests regularly and updates will be published as soon as possible
