West, Samuel (1), D.D., an American Unitarian minister, was born at Yarmouth, Mass., March 3, 1730 (O. S.). He labored on the farm until he was twenty years of age ; graduated at Harvard College in 1754 ; was ordained minister of a part of Dartmouth (now New Bedford and Fair Haven) June 3, 1761 ; was a zealous patriot during the American Revolution, encouraging the people in public addresses, entering the army as chaplain, and adding all the weight of his great learn- ing to the American cause; withdrew from his minis- terial labors in June, 1803; and died at the house of his son in Tiverton, K. I., Sept. '24, 1807. He was a man of extraordinary physical and mental powers, and was es- teemed the most learned man of his time in New Eng- land. He was a vigorous preacher, and was noted for the complete mastery of his sid)ject. He was the au- thor oi Essays on Uberty and Necessity (1793 and 1795, 2 pts.), and several single Sermons preached on vari- ous occasions. See Sprague, .4?H«i^,s- (f the A me?; Pul- pit, viii, 37 sq.
West, Samuel (2), D.D., an American Unitarian minister, was born at Martha's Vineyard, Nov. 19, 1738 (O. S.). He spent his early years at hard labor ; entered Harvard College in his twentieth year, and graduated in 1761 ; became chaplain to the garrison of Fort Fow- nal at Penobscot, Me., November, 1761 ; returned home in 1762 ; spent some time in the study of divinity at Cambridge ; was settled as pastor at Needham in 1764 ; became pastor at the HoUis Street Church, Boston, March 12, 1789; withdrew entirely from public labor in 1805; and died April 10, 1808. He was the author of a series of articles in the Boston Sentinel, over the sig- nature of " The Old 'Slan :" — and several single Sermons, A Biographical Sketch has been published by the Rev. Thomas Thacher. See Sprague, Annuls oj' the Amer, Pulpit, viii, 50 sq.
■West, Stephen, D.D., an eminent Congregational minister, was born in Tolland, Conn., Nov. 13, 1735. He graduated at Y'ale College in 1755; taught at Hatfield, Mass.; studied theology with Timothy Woodbridge; became chaplain at Hoosack Fort; and was ordained as
successor of Jonathan Edwards in the Indian Mission at Stockbridge in 1759. In a few years he gave up the Indian portion of his charge, and confined himself to the increasing body of Englisii. He was dismissed in August, 1818, .and died May 15, 1819. Dr. West in appearance resembled a Puritan of the old school. He was most exact and uniform in his habits and work. His Christian character was one of strength, puritj', sim- plicity and tenderness; his preaching was able, earnest, and eminently didactic — five hundred and four persons united witli the Church during his pastorate. In the- ology. Dr. West was a Hopkinsian ; in metaphysics, a Berkeleyan. He was a contributor to theological pe- riodicals, and, besides several Sermons, the following are his publications: — An Essay on Jforal Agency (1772; enlarged ed. 1794). Dr. Woodbridge calls this "one of the most extraordinary specimens of subtle metaphysical reasoning:" — Duty and <)bligalion of Christians to Marry only in the Lord (1779): — An Essay on the Scripture Doctrine of the Atonement (1785): "less metaphysical and more popular than that on Moral Agency. It en- joys a high measure of favor with profound theolo- gians :"^ — An Inquiry into the Ground and Import of In- fant Baptism (1794) : — Dissei-tation on Infant Baptism ; Reply to Rev, Cyprian Strong (1798) : — Life of Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D,D, (1806) : — Three Sermons on the Mosaic Account of the Creation (1809): — Evidence of the Divinity ofCh rist, collected from the Scriptures (1816). See Sprague, Annals of the Amer, Pulpit, i, 548-556; Cong, Qaar. 1859, p. 41.
West, 'William (1), D.D., an American Episcopal clergyman, was born in Fairfax County, Va., near Mount Vernon, about 1739. He was ordained and licensed for Vir- ginia by the bishop of London, Nov. 24, 1761; became rectorof St. Margaret's, Westminster parish, Ann Arundel County, Mil. ; rector of St. Andrew's parish, St. Mary's County, Nov. 17, 1767 ; incumbent of St. (ieorge's parish, Harford Count}^ in 1772 ; incumbent of St. Paul's par- ish, Baltimore County, June 7, 1779 ; Avas five years (1780-85) employed to officiate every third Sunday in St.Thomas's Parish Church; took a prominent part in the organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America after the Revolution; was chosen president of the Diocesan Convention in May, 1790; and died March 30, 1791. He was a Whig during the Revolution, and left no published works. He ordered his sermons to be burned, stating that they were not worthy of preser- vation. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Puljnt, v, 208 s(i.
"West, William (2), an English Wesleyan minis- ter, was born in Ireland. He was converted in early life; entered the itinerancj' in 1779; was totally blind for many years; became a supernumerary in 1817; and died in Aberdeen, Scotland, Sept. 2, 1822, in the eightieth year of his age. West was a man of strict integrity, piety, and of no mean gifts. See Minutes of the Con- ference, 1823 ; Wesl. Meth. Magazine, Oct. 1822, p. 686.
Westall, Thomas, an early iMethodist preacher, labored forty years in England, from 1740 until worn out. He retired to Bristol about 1780. He had some exciting experiences, one of which Atmore records. It was connected with (iwenap, famed in the history of early Methodism. He was at tiie Third Conference in 1746. He died in Bristol, April 20, 1794. He was a pattern of Christian simplicity and humble love. See Atmore, Meth, Memorial, s, v. ; Minutes of the Confer- ence, 1794 ; Stevens, Hist, of Meth. i. 174, 315 ; iii, 89.