Witherspoon, Andrew Jackson

Submitted by Mike Miller

Witherspoon, Andrew Jackson, eminent Presbyterian minister, especially distinguished by his work among sailors, was born July 10, 1824, in the Waxhaws settlement, Lancaster district, S. C., the same county in which his illustrious namesake and relative, Gen. Andrew Jackson, was born and raised. In the course of his earlier education, he attended Davidson college, N. C., and afterward South Carolina college, at Columbia, from which latter institution he graduated in 1844. For a few years following, he studied law in the office of his brother, the Hon. I. D. Witherspoon, of Yorkville, S. C., but feeling it to be his duty to enter the ministry, Mr. Witherspoon abandoned the study of law and took up a theological course at the Presbyterian seminary of Columbia, S. C., graduating in 1851. In 1861 he volunteered as chaplain of the 21st Alabama regiment, and entered the service of the Confederacy. He continued with the same command until its surrender near Selma. At the Battle of Shiloh he was taken prisoner, and was confined on Johnson's island 5 months. His release came when the Federal war department ordered that all chaplains he given their freedom. After a period of mission work in Mobile, during which he organized 5 churches in the country around that city, Rev. Witherspoon came to New Orleans, at the urgent request of Drs. Palmer and Smith, and undertook the mission work of the First Presbyterian church. He had been here but a few months when the real work of his life began. On Jan. 1, 1878, Rev. Witherspoon opened, for the benefit of the sailors, among whom he had labored, the Upper Bethel, which afterward, under his careful and zealous supervision, grew to be one of the best-known and most useful institutions of its kind in the world. The material advantages which the Upper Bethel afforded were eagerly sought by the sailors, who were here brought under the pastoral care of Dr. Witherspoon, to their own great temporal and spiritual improvement. This mission, known as ''The Seaman 's Bethel,'' was built entirely through Dr. Witherspoon's efforts, the money being raised by his solicitation, as were the funds for its upkeep. This was at a time when many more sailing vessels were afloat than now, and it frequently occurred that the sailors of a ship were in New Orleans a month or more. Dr. Witherspoon's efforts were constantly directed toward keeping the sailors away from saloons and disreputable resorts, and that he succeeded in so doing in thousands of cases is vouched for as matter of fact. Dr. Witherspoon traveled far and wide in the interest of the Seamen's Bethel, and both in this country and abroad he was everywhere received with demonstrations of the highest respect and appreciation. He managed the affairs of the Bethel with the strictest regard for business principles, and his success in that branch of executive government was frequently commended by those who took an active interest in this great work. Dr. Witherspoon was undoubtedly one of the best-known and most highly respected among the New Orleans clergy of all times. As the organizer of the Seamen's Bethel in Fulton street, he was recognized as a universal philanthropist, and received the thanks of both the American and British governments. Most of the sovereigns of Europe, as well as the rulers of Mexico and Central and South American countries, sent their portraits, with letters of thankful recognition of the service rendered the sailors of their nations and the world at large by the Seamen's Bethel on Fulton street. in New Orleans. Dr. Witherspoon passed away peacefully at Moss Point, Miss., Oct. 25, 1891. He was actively engaged in his life work to the time of his death, having gone to Moss Point for only a short stay, when the end came. His wife, Mary Way Witherspoon, survived him until 1908. She was born at Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1830, and died in New Orleans. They are survived by 2 sons and 3 daughters.

NOTE: Original source includes a photograph of Rev. Witherspoon.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 470-471. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.