[1] He was the author of several books on theology, and was a professor of biblical history and literature at Howard University.
He attended Virginia Collegiate Institute (Roanoke College) and was graduated as valedictorian[2] from Hampden–Sydney College in 1854, and at the Danville Theological Seminary, Kentucky, in 1857, after which he was pastor of Presbyterian churches in Leavenworth, Kansas, Sparta, Georgia, and Liberty, Virginia, and in 1808 organized the Central Presbyterian church in Washington, D.C., where he served until 1898.
He was a member of the Prophetic convention in New York City in 1878, and assisted in drafting and reported the doctrinal testimony adopted by the conference.
[3] He died on July 22, 1927, and is buried at East Hill Cemetery in Salem, Virginia.
[4] In addition to numerous contributions to denominational literature, he is the author of Ecce Deus Homo, published anonymously (Philadelphia, 1867); Christ, Teacher of Men (1877); and The New Life not the Higher Life (1878); The Origin and Work of the Central Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.: A Discourse (1880); The Manifold Ministry of the Holy Spirit (1894); Why Believers Should "Not Fear" (1896).