Withrow, William Henry

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: G. S. French, “WITHROW, WILLIAM HENRY,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/withrow_william_henry_13E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Methodist minister, journalist, and author; b. 6 Aug. 1839 in Toronto, son of James Withrow, a contractor, and Ellen Sanderson; m. 1864 Sarah Anne Smith, and they had two sons, one of whom was William James, and two daughters; d. 12 Nov. 1908 in Toronto.
    • William Henry Withrow followed his brother John Jacob at the Toronto Academy before being admitted in February 1857 to Victoria College, Cobourg. He received a ba from the University of Toronto in 1863 and an ma in 1864, when he was also ordained. Two years later he transferred to the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada, perhaps anticipating that the two churches would unite. In 1868 he was received in full connexion and was appointed to the Davenport and Seaton circuit near Toronto, and in 1873 he became the assistant to the president of the conference, Samuel Dwight Rice, and editor of the church’s Sunday-school publications.
    • In 1872 the book committee of the Wesleyan conference had expressed the need for a Methodist magazine in Canada and the suggestion was endorsed in 1874 at the first general conference of the new church. Withrow was appointed editor at a salary of $1,500, and the first issue of the monthly Canadian Methodist Magazine, Devoted to Religion, Literature, and Social Progress, published in Toronto and Halifax, appeared in January 1875.
    • A kindly, tolerant scholar not drawn readily into polemics, Withrow was also a devout Methodist whose education had been designed to uphold the harmony of science and religion and foster “a disciplined intelligence” rather than to develop the capacity for critical investigation. Hence, for him, as for most of his Methodist colleagues, the great challenges were the conflict “between infidelity and revealed religion” in the “domain of science” and the development of higher criticism in biblical studies. He tried to mediate the claims of theologians, scientists, and biblical critics, often in his choice of books reviewed and articles published in the Magazine. 
    • In the context of his time, Withrow promoted a fruitful association between piety and culture. Canadian Christians were encouraged quietly to entertain new concepts and knowledge and to believe that the claims of Christian theology, history, and the sciences would prove compatible with each other. The religious and intellectual history of the 20th century would belie William Henry Withrow’s optimism.
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=12033
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223779185/william-henry-withrow