William Cathcart (1826-1908) is the 6th essay in our latest book, A Noble Company, volume 11

n his History of the Baptists, Thomas Armitage. . .included a chapter about notable American Baptist “Preachers—Educators—Authors.” In it, he provides brief biographies of eleven luminaries of that century. . . [He] closes the chapter with a sketch of William Cathcart. He states that Cathcart “has made the [Baptist] denomination his debtor by his patient investigations and literary contributions. His scholarly attainments and tireless industry have fitted him to do an order of literary work which no Baptist had done, in giving the world his ‘Baptist Encyclopædia.’ Armitage proceeds to assert:

"Having known Dr. Cathcart in intimate friendship for a full generation, his habits of study, his unflagging perseverance, and his uncompromising integrity, the writer is free to express the belief that no truer man lives in our Baptist brotherhood. As an eloquent preacher, a true friend, an honest man and a careful scholar, those who know him best regret the most his retirement in the prime of his manhood, as a serious loss in our effective ranks, he is but another example amongst us of the common sacrifice which our ministry makes to the strain of overwork."

Such a well-deserved encomium begs an interesting question: Why are there no full-length biographies of William Cathcart? He was at the center of American Baptist life for most of the latter half of the nineteenth century; he led a large and prominent church, served one of the most important Baptist associations, was a manager of the American Baptist Publication Society (1860-1883), elected president of the American Baptist Historical Society (1876-1884), and authored or edited several significant books, especially The Baptist Encyclopedia. The lack of such an account is regrettable. Cathcart lived a fascinating life and deserves recognition and appreciation as a servant of Jesus Christ and the Baptist cause. ----James M. Renihan