William Andrew Smith (1802–1870) was an American college president and clergyman.
[2] William Andrew's mother died of illness in 1804 and his father was killed by business associates in 1813.
[1] In 1839, while Smith was serving in Lynchburg, Virginia, he was lent a cradle by Methodist bishop John Early.
The cradle unexplainably rocked back and forth of its own accord and was widely believed to be haunted.
[3] Smith was pro-slavery and published a series of lectures titled "Lectures on the Philosophy and Practice of Slavery, as Exhibited in the Institution of Domestic Slavery in the United States: with the Duties of Masters to Slaves" in 1856.