1843–1914

William was the son of Rich­ard New­ton and Ly­dia Grea­tor­ex, husband of Em­i­ly Ste­ven­son Cooke, and nephew of hymnist Will­iam New­ton.

During the Amer­i­can civil war, he served in Lan­dis’ (Penn­syl­van­ia) Battery.

After the war, he attended the University of Penn­syl­van­ia (AB 1865, AM 1868, honorary DD 1890), and the Epis­co­pal Divinity School in Phil­a­del­phia. He was or­dained an Epis­co­pal dea­con June 19, 1868, and priest February 19, 1869.

He served as assistant rec­tor at the Church of The Epiph­a­ny, Phil­a­del­phia (1866–70); minister at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts (1877–82); pastor of St. Ste­phen’s Church, Pitts­field, Mas­sa­chu­setts (1881–1900); chaplain at the Eng­lish Church in Di­nan, Brit­ta­ny, France (1903–04); and rector at the Church of the As­cen­sion, Wake­field, Rhode Island (1905–06).

His works include:

• Little and Wise: Lessons from the Ants, the Co­nies, the Locusts, and the Spider (Lon­don: Wes­ley­an Conference Office, 1876)
• Christianity and Popular Amuse­ments (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Mudge & Son, 1877)
• Essays of Today: Religious and Theological (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: A. Will­iam, 1879)
• The Wicket-Gate New York: R. Car­ter & Brothers, 1879)
• The Interpreter’s House (New York: R. Car­ter & Brothers, 1880)
• The Voice of St. John, and Other Poems (New York: An­son D. F. Ran­dolph, 1881)
• Troublesome Children, 1882
• The Welcome of Christ to Paradise (Pitts­field, Mas­sa­chu­setts: J. B. Har­ris­on, 1884)
• Told Among the Hills (Pitts­field, Mas­sa­chu­setts: J. A. Max­im, 1892)
• The Child and the Bishop, 1894

• Findagrave, accessed 18 Mar 2019
• Herringshaw, p. 691
• Wikipedia, accessed 18 Mar 2019

1. Awake! Awake! Glad Voices Make
2. Long Ago, in Solemn Midnight
3. Who Is This in Bethlehem’s Town