Biography of 	WITHERSPOON, Andrew J., Lancaster District, S.C., then Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by 	Mike Miller April 1998

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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.

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.