Empie, Adam, Dd

Empie, Adam, D.D.

a Protestant Episcopal minister, was born at Schenectady, N.Y. He graduated from Union College; studied medicine at Columbia College; then studied theology; was ordained deacon in 1809, and his first charge was in Hempstead, L.I., where he also taught the classics; became pastor of St. James's, Wilmington, Delaware, in 1811; in 1814 received an appointment as chaplain and professor of rhetoric in the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.; became rector again at St. James's parish, Wilmington, in 1815; president of the College of William and Mary, Virginia, in 1827; resigned the presidency in 1836; was temporarily principal of the diocesan school at Raleigh, N.C.; removed in 1837 to Richmond, Virginia, becoming rector of St. James's, where he remained until declining health compelled his retirement. He returned to Wilmington in 1859, and died there November 6, 1860, aged seventy-five years. Dr. Empie led a laborious life. He represented his church in Virginia on several occasions in the General Convention. Among his literary remains is a volume of Sermons, published in 1856. See Amer. Quar. Church Rev. 1861, page 698.