William L. Breckinridge

William L. Breckinridge
A portrait of William L. Breckinridge
Breckinridge in 1865
6th President of Centre College
In office
October 15, 1863 – November 1868
Preceded byLewis W. Green
Succeeded byOrmond Beatty
4th President of Oakland College
In office
1860–1861
Preceded byJames Purviance
Succeeded byJoseph Calvin
Personal details
Born
William Lewis Breckinridge

(1803-07-22)July 22, 1803
near Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedDecember 26, 1876(1876-12-26) (aged 73)
Cass County, Missouri, U.S.
Resting placeCave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Spouses
  • Frances Prevost
    (m. 1824, died)
  • Sarah Ann Garnett
    (m. 1873)
RelativesBreckinridge family
EducationTransylvania University
Signature
A portrait of the article's subject
A lithograph of Breckinridge published in 1884, about eight years after his death.

William Lewis Breckinridge (July 22, 1803 – December 26, 1876) was an American pastor and educator. The son of Senator John Breckinridge, he was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and attended college at Transylvania University. Early in his career, he became an emancipationist, and he entered academia in 1831 when he began teaching ancient languages at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1836 to 1858, and was moderator of the 1859 Presbyterian Church (Old School) General Assembly. He was president of Oakland College near Rodney, Mississippi, for one year prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, and afterwards he spent five years as president of Centre College.