The Virginia Waddell family references preserved by William Henry Foote center upon Rev. James Waddell, D.D., the celebrated Presbyterian teacher and orator remembered as the Blind Preacher of Virginia. His ministry connected the Northern Neck with the Shenandoah Valley and central Virginia, while the marriages of his daughters linked the family with the Presbyterian ministers Archibald Alexander and William Calhoon.
The following account brings together the Waddell family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship.
Rev. James Waddell, D.D.
James Waddell was born in Ireland in July 1739 and came to America with his family during infancy. He was educated in Pennsylvania before entering the classical and religious circles that supplied many of Virginia’s early Presbyterian ministers.
Waddell became an assistant in the classical school conducted by Rev. John Todd and encouraged by Rev. Samuel Davies. While teaching, he studied divinity under Davies’s direction. This combination of classical instruction and theological preparation helped establish the educational methods he later followed throughout his own career.
Preparation for the Ministry
Hanover Presbytery received Waddell as a candidate for the ministry at Augusta Stone Church in 1760. He completed the required trials and was licensed to preach in April 1761.
After his licensure, Waddell preached in different parts of Virginia and gained a reputation as an unusually effective speaker. His growing popularity soon brought him to the attention of Presbyterian families in the Northern Neck.
Ministry in the Northern Neck
The Presbyterian congregations of Lancaster and Northumberland counties had previously received the services of Samuel Davies, John Todd, George Whitefield, and other visiting ministers. In 1762 Rev. James Hunt appeared likely to become their settled pastor.
Waddell visited the Northern Neck after repeated invitations. Colonel Gordon and other influential members of the community preferred him to the available candidates and believed that his settlement would create a larger field of usefulness. Hunt consequently withdrew and sought another place of ministry.
At the October 1762 meeting of Hanover Presbytery at Providence in Louisa County, Waddell formally accepted the call from the united congregations of Lancaster and Northumberland. Presbytery recorded its concurrence with his decision.
Waddell served the Northern Neck congregations for approximately sixteen years. His influence extended beyond the pulpit. The Gordon, Carter, and other families associated with his congregation employed classically educated teachers, several of whom later entered the Presbyterian ministry.
Waddell left Lancaster County for the mountain region about 1778. No settled Presbyterian minister immediately succeeded him. Emigration, wartime disruption, deaths, and movement into other denominations gradually reduced the congregation he had served.
Spring Hill and Tinkling Spring
After leaving the Northern Neck, Waddell lived for a time at Spring Hill in Augusta County. The estate had previously been associated with the Preston family and stood within the religious community surrounding Tinkling Spring.
Waddell became affiliated with the Tinkling Spring congregation. His home also continued to serve the educational and ecclesiastical work of the Presbyterian Church. On June 9, 1778, Hanover Presbytery licensed John Blair Smith to preach at Waddell’s house within the Tinkling Spring congregation. Smith later became president of Hampden-Sydney College.
Address to the Revolutionary Militia
During the Revolutionary War, militia drawn from the Tinkling Spring and Bethel communities prepared to reinforce General Nathanael Greene against Lord Cornwallis. The company assembled at Midway, also known as Steele’s Tavern, before departing for the Carolinas.
Waddell addressed the men before they left, exhorting them to patriotism, courage, and prompt obedience to military discipline. The company later joined Greene’s army and participated in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781.
Teacher, Advocate, and Orator
Waddell’s reputation rested not only upon his preaching but also upon his teaching, reasoning, and command of language. Foote remembered him as a tall, spare man with a clear and musical voice, a dignified bearing, and unusual power over an audience.
His wit could also be pointed. During a disagreement over educational values, the younger minister John Blair Smith criticized what he considered Waddell’s excessive worldliness in education. Waddell responded by pointing to Smith’s gold watch-chain, elegant carriage, and silk velvet vest as evidence that the “pride of life” was not confined to educational policy.
Waddell was equally formidable in church proceedings. During the prolonged ecclesiastical trial of Rev. William Irwin, he delivered a defense remembered by younger ministers for its argument, pathos, sarcasm, precision, and flowing eloquence.
Although declining eyesight eventually made him famous as the Blind Preacher, he continued teaching, preparing sermons, and preaching with assistance. His blindness did not end his intellectual or religious work.
Later Residence and Death
During his later years Waddell lived in Louisa County near the meeting point of Orange, Albemarle, and Louisa counties. He continued to supply vacant pulpits and remained active in education after withdrawing from a settled pastoral charge.
James Waddell died on September 17, 1805, at the age of sixty-six. In accordance with his written instructions, he was originally buried beneath an apple tree at a place he had selected near the junction of Orange, Albemarle, and Louisa counties.
Children of James Waddell
Foote’s scattered references identify two daughters of James Waddell through their marriages but do not provide a complete list of his children.
The Eldest Daughter and Rev. William Calhoon
Waddell’s eldest daughter, whose given name is not supplied in Foote’s account, married Rev. William Calhoon.
Calhoon was licensed by Hanover Presbytery in 1792 and performed missionary work in Kentucky before settling there temporarily. He later returned to Virginia and served congregations in Albemarle County. In 1805 he accepted calls from Staunton and Brown’s Meeting House, later known as Hebron, and transferred to Lexington Presbytery.
Waddell’s daughter shared Calhoon’s ministry and domestic life for nearly half a century. She survived her husband, although Foote does not provide her name, dates, or place of death in the passages summarized here.
Janetta Waddell and Rev. Archibald Alexander
Janetta Waddell married Rev. Archibald Alexander on April 5, 1802. Alexander had visited the Waddell household repeatedly and became engaged to Janetta before traveling to the General Assembly and New England in 1801.
At the time of their marriage, Alexander had been appointed president of Hampden-Sydney College. Through this union, James Waddell and Archibald Alexander—two ministers whom Foote regarded as among the most eloquent preachers of their generations—became connected by family ties.
Foote contrasted their appearances and styles. Waddell was tall, spare, stately, and composed, while Alexander was shorter, more excitable, and more visibly vehement. Both possessed penetrating voices, simple and earnest delivery, strong affections, and a gift for pointed sarcasm.
Genealogical Notes
The surname appears in historical sources as both Waddel and Waddell. The modern form Waddell has been used throughout this account for consistency.
The supplied summary gives James Waddell’s death date as September 7, 1805. Biographical accounts identify the date as September 17, 1805, which has been used here.
Foote identifies Janetta Waddell by name and records her marriage to Archibald Alexander on April 5, 1802. He identifies William Calhoon’s wife only as the eldest daughter of Dr. Waddell. Her given name should not be supplied from this source without additional evidence.
The passages gathered here do not identify James Waddell’s wife or provide a complete list of his children. Probate, marriage, Bible, church, and cemetery records will be necessary to reconstruct the full household.
Foote describes Waddell’s original burial beneath an apple tree at a place he selected near the meeting point of Orange, Albemarle, and Louisa counties. Researchers should distinguish this original burial account from later memorialization or reinterment records.
The James Waddell who became Archibald Alexander’s father-in-law should not be confused with other Presbyterian ministers and educators of the Waddell name who appear in contemporary church records.
Source
This family genealogy was compiled from references appearing throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Foote’s scattered biographical, family, church, and settlement references have been brought together here and arranged by generation to make the genealogical relationships easier to follow.
Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Second Series. Second edition, revised. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856. Available online at AccessGenealogy, Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Accessed 10 August 2026.