Scott, W. A. (William Anderson), 1813-1885

Presbyterian clergyman and educator.

Biography

William Anderson Scott was born on January 31, 1813 and received a license to preach when he was seventeen. He later attended Cumberland College, took his degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained by the Presbytery of Louisiana and Arkansas; he was elected president of the Seminary at Nashville and served as pastor at the Hermitage Church on the estate of Andrew Jackson.

Dr. Scott was called to San Francisco in 1854 to organize the Calvary Presbyterian Church, which grew into one of the largest congregations in the city. When the Civil War came, his southern sympathies brought him into conflict with members of his congregation, and he left California to travel abroad. On his return to the United States, he accepted a temporary post in New York City. In 1870 he answered another call to San Francisco where he organized and edited the Pacific Expositor, helped found San Francisco City College and the San Francisco Theological Seminary at San Anselmo, and wrote several religious books.