PASTORS OF
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
 
 
 
JAMES C. BARNES
The First Pastor of FPC
 
Born: Carshalton, England; Friday, April 10, 1789
Education: Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, New Jersey).
Service Dates at FPC: Friday, July 6, 1827–Monday, September 15, 1828 (stated supply)
Died: Stanford, Kentucky; Sunday, March 12, 1865
Note: Barnes was the founding pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, KY. He was the only minister of First Presbyterian Church to serve two pastorates.
  
 

JOHN HOWE BROWN
The Second Pastor of FPC 
 
Born:  Greensburg, Kentucky; Wednesday, March 26, 1806 
Education:  John Howe’s Academy (Greensburg, Kentucky).  He first studied medicine, later law, and then theology. 
Service Dates at FPC:  Monday, September 15, 1828–March 1845.  (Brown was on sabbatical from January 1, 1844 to January 1, 1845) 
Died:  Chicago, Illinois; Friday, February 23, 1872
Note:  John Howe Brown was the youngest pastor to ever serve First Presbyterian Church.  He was twenty-two years old when he first came to the church.  First Presbyterian Church was Brown’s first pastorate.  In 1857, Reverend Brown accepted the pastorate of First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, Illinois, where he served as pastor to Abraham Lincoln and family.  (Although he never officially joined, Lincoln attended First, Springfield, until February of 1861 when the president-elect left Illinois for his inauguration in Washington, DC.)
 
  
 
WILLIAM GRAHAM ALLEN
The Third Pastor of FPC

Born:  Shelby County, Kentucky; Tuesday, June 1, 1813.
Education:  Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey).  Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, New Jersey).
Service Dates at FPC:  Monday, January 1, 1844–Wednesday, January 1, 1845.  (William G. Allen supplied the pulpit during John H. Brown’s sabbatical.)
Died:  Morganfield, Kentucky; Sunday, October 27, 1867.  (Allen died when his horse fell on him.)
Note:  William Graham Allen had the shortest pastorate of any pastor at FPC.  He served only twelve months.

 

  
JAMES C. BARNES
The Fourth Pastor of FPC
 
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, May 4, 1845–Friday, July 31, 1846 (stated supply)
 
(See above for more information.)
 
Note:  At fifty-six years old, James C. Barnes was the oldest pastor to be called by First Presbyterian Church.  He was also the only minister of First Presbyterian Church to serve two pastorates.
 
 
 
 
EZEKIEL FORMAN
The Fifth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Mason County, Kentucky; Sunday, June 20, 1819.
Education:  Centre College, Danville, Kentucky (Bachelor of Arts, 1837).  Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey (1841)
Service Dates at FPC:  December 1847–Wednesday, December 27, 1848 (as stated supply).  December 27, 1848–Monday, 26 March 1860 (as pastor)
Died:  Lexington, Kentucky; Wednesday, April 2, 1902
 
   
 
     
JOHN JAMES COOKE
The Sixth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Baltimore, Maryland; Tuesday, October 13, 1835
Education:  Centre College, Danville, Kentucky (1856).  Danville Theological Seminary, Danville, Kentucky (1859).
Service Dates at FPC:  Winter of 1860-61–Monday, August 3, 1863
Died:  Pittsburg, Kansas; Wednesday, September 3, 1902
 
 


ROBERT LEVI BRECK
The Seventh Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Richmond, Kentucky; Tuesday, May 8, 1827.
Education:  Centre College, Danville, Kentucky (Bachelor of Arts, 1841).  Western Theological Seminary, Alleghany, Pennsylvania (1846).  Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey (1841).
Service Dates at FPC:      Before July 1866–1874 (stated supply).
Died:  Palo Alto, California; Monday, February 15, 1915.
Note:  Robert Levi Breck was the only pastor of First Presbyterian Church who grew up in its congregation. He made a public profession of faith and was baptized at age thirteen on Palm Sunday, April 4, 1841. From 1874 to 1880, he was the first chancellor of Central University (the forerunner of Eastern Kentucky University).
 
 
 
JOHN WOOD PRATT
The Eighth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Saint Mary’s, Georgia; Saturday, May 12, 1827
Education:  University of Alabama [1844 (he was graduated when he was only 17 years old)].  Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.
Service Dates at FPC:  1875–1878
Died:  Louisville, Kentucky; Saturday, March 24, 1888




HARVEY HOPKINS GLASS
The Ninth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Spencer County, Kentucky; Monday, February 20, 1843.
Education:  Centre College, Danville, Kentucky (Bachelor of Arts, 1865).  Union Theological Seminary, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia (1868).
Service Dates at FPC:  Wednesday, November 6, 1878–Sunday, October 9, 1887.
Died:  Danville, Kentucky; Tuesday, March 8, 1921.



THOMAS CUMMINS
The Tenth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Tyrone, Duneagle County, Ireland; Saturday, March 26, 1853.
Education:  Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden Sydney, Virginia (Bachelor of Arts, 1879);  Union Theological Seminary; Hampden Sydney, Virginia (1882).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, August 4, 1889–Thursday, January 22, 1891.
Died:  Belle Meade, New Jersey; Saturday, February 7, 1936.
 
 
 
 
 
THOMAS DWIGHT WITHERSPOON
The Eleventh Pastor of FPC

Born:  Greensboro, Alabama; Sunday, January 17, 1836.
Education:  University of Mississippi (Bachelor of Arts, 1856; Master of Arts, 1858);  Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina (1859).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, September 6, 1891–Tuesday, June 5, 1894.
Died:  Louisville, Kentucky; Thursday, November 3, 1898.
 
 
 
 
JASPER KEITH SMITH
The Twelfth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Newton County, Georgia; Tuesday, October 19, 1869.
Education:  Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina (Bachelor of Arts, 1884);  Union Theological Seminary in Hampden Sydney, Virginia (1891).
Service Dates at FPC:  Monday, August 5, 1895–Tuesday, November 20, 1900.
Died:  Shreveport, Louisiana; Sunday, May 13, 1934.
 
 
 
 
WILLIAM HENRY DODGE
The Thirteenth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Barnesville, Georgia; Thursday, July 26, 1849.
Education:  Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina (Bachelor of Arts, 1871); Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina (1874).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, September 15, 1901–Sunday, April 16, 1905.
Died:  Miami, Florida; Thursday, Monday, January 20, 1919.
 
 
 
 
JOSEPH ADDISON SMITH
The Fourteenth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Lockhart, Texas; Saturday, July 29, 1854.
Education:  Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, Virginia; Union Theological Seminary in Hampden Sydney, Virginia (1880).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, October 1, 1905–Sunday, September 26, 1909.
Died:  Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Wednesday, April 21, 1920.
 
 
 
 
DAVID HOWARD SCANLON
The Fifteenth Pastor of FPC 
 
Born:  Staunton, Virginia; Saturday, March 27, 1875.
Education:  Shenandoah College, Virginia (Bachelor of Arts, 1896; Master of Arts, 1897);  Union Theological Seminary in Hampden Sydney and Richmond, VA (B.D., 1900);  Illinois Wesleyan University (Bachelor of Philosophy, 1904; M.A., 1905; Doctor of Philosophy, 1906).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, November 7, 1909–Sunday, January 4, 1914.
Died:  Durham, North Carolina; Sunday, December 17, 1950.
Note:  Of First Presbyterian’s ten pastors who were graduated from Union Theological Seminary, Reverend David Howard Scanlon was the church’s first pastor to be graduated from Union in Richmond, Virginia.  (Union Theological Seminary relocated its campus from Hampden Sydney, Virginia, in 1898.)
 
  
 
ROBERT LEE TELFORD
The Sixteenth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Rome, Georgia; Saturday, May 23, 1863.
Education:  Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, Virginia (Bachelor of Arts, 1884);  Union Theological Seminary in Hampden Sydney, Virginia (1890).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, December 13, 1914–Wednesday, March 28, 1934.
Died:  Richmond, Kentucky; Wednesday, March 28, 1934.
Note:  Robert Lee Telford was the only one of First Presbyterian’s pastors to die while still under the church’s pastoral call.
 
 
 
JOSEPH ROGERS WALKER
The Seventeenth Pastor of FPC 
 
Born:  Talladega, Alabama; Saturday, Thursday, March 8, 1900.
Education:  Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina (B.A., 1921; M.A., 1924);  Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (B.D., 1921-1923, 1924-1925).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, November 11, 1934–Sunday, May 8, 1938.
Died:  Bloomington, Indiana; Monday, February 26, 1990.
 
 
 
 
LOCKE WHITE
The Eighteenth Pastor of FPC 
 
Born:  Harrisburg, North Carolina; Sunday, November 2, 1890.
Education:  Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina [B.A., 1913, (magna cum laude)]); Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (Bachelor of Divinity, 1917); Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (Doctor of Divinity, 1929).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, October 30, 1938–Sunday, October 3, 1943.
Died:  Friday, March 13, 1964.
 
 
 
OLOF ANDERSON, Jr.
The Nineteenth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Louisville, Kentucky; Friday, December 22, 1899.
Education:  University of Virginia (Bachelor of Arts, 1920);  Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Bachelor of Divinity, 1927).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, February 20, 1944–February 1949.
Died:  Louisville, Kentucky; Tuesday, April 14, 1987.
Note:  On Thursday, March 5, 1964, Olof Anderson, Jr. marched side by side with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. as over 10,000 freedom marchers filed passed the commonwealth’s capital building during a civil rights march in Frankfort, Kentucky.
 
 
 
OLIVER WALTHALL CARMICHAEL, Jr.
The Twentieth Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Lesslie, South Carolina; Friday, June 20, 1919.
Education:  Erskine College in Due West, SC (Bachelor of Arts, 1941); Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, SC (Bachelor of Theology, 1944).
Service Dates at FPC:  Sunday, September 11, 1949–Sunday, February 13, 1955.
Died:  Friday, July 27, 1973.
 
 
 
GRAHAM GORDON
The Twenty-first Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Louisville, Kentucky; Tuesday, November 17, 1925.
Education:  Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts); Berea College (Berea, Kentucky); Southwestern College of Mississippi Valley in Memphis, Tennessee [B.A., 1948 (today, this school is known as Rhodes College)]; Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY (B.D., 1951).
Service Dates at FPC:      Sunday, June 5, 1955–Sunday, March 27, 1960.
Died:  Not Applicable (to date, Graham Gordon resides in South Hadley, Massachusetts).
 
 
 
EDWARD HENDERSON OVERCASH
The Twenty-second Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Charlotte, North Carolina; Monday, July 1, 1918.
Education:  Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina (Bachelor of Arts, 1941); Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia (Bachelor of Divinity, 1944).
Service Dates at FPC:  February 1961–Sunday, September 21, 1969.
Died:  Summerville, South Carolina; Saturday, February 18, 1995.
 
 
 
WILLIAM RECTOR YOUNG, Jr.
The Twenty-third Pastor of FPC
 
Born:  Roanoke, Virginia; Thursday, November 9, 1933.
Education:  University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia (Bachelor of Arts, 1956); Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (Bachelor of Divinity, 1961); Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (Doctor of Ministry, 1973).
Service Dates at FPC:  Monday, September 21, 1970–Saturday, September 30, 1995.
Died:  Richmond, Kentucky; Tuesday, February 28, 2012.
Note:  William Rector Young, Jr. had the longest pastorate of any pastor to serve First Presbyterian Church. He served twenty-five years—from September 21, 1970 to September 30, 1995. He was also the only pastor to be elected pastor emeritus on September 6, 2009.



WILLIAM BRUCE BAILEY
The Twenty-fourth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Conway, Arkansas; Sunday, April 25, 1954.
Education:  University of Central Arkansas (Bachelor of Science, 1977);  Western Kentucky University (Master of Arts in philosophy, 1979); Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey (Master of Divinity, 1986).
Service Dates at FPC:  Wednesday, January 1, 1997–Friday, August 11, 2006.
Died:  Not Applicable (to date, William Bruce Bailey resides in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas).



CURTIS "T" CHRISTIAN IV
The Twenty-fifth Pastor of FPC

Born:  Key West, Florida; Sunday, October 18, 1959.
Education:  University of South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina (Bachelor of Arts, double major in philosophy and religious studies, 1982); Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia (Doctor of Ministry, 1986); Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia (Master of Theology, 1995).
Service Dates at FPC:  Monday, February 11, 2008–present.
Died:  Not Applicable (to date, Curtis “T” Christian IV resides in Richmond, Kentucky). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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