George Duffield

Who was George Duffield?

George Duffield was a leading nineteenth-century New School Presbyterian minister who bore the same name as his father and grandfather. His evolution from unconventional doctrinal leanings to more orthodox and standard ones typified the moderation on both sides which led to reunion with the Old School Presbyterians in 1870.

Duffield's grandfather of the same name had been Chaplain of the Continental Congress. Born July 4, 1794, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, to a second George Duffield and his wife Faithful Slaymaker. He was the father of William Ward Duffield, Henry M. Duffield, and George Duffield, Jr.

Duffield graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1811. He studied theology in New York City under the preceptorship of John M. Mason and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1815. He soon settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he ministered nineteen years. There he wrote and published a book entitled "Regeneration" which caused some of the controversy leading to the Old School-New School Controversy that split the church in 1837.

Duffield was called as minister to Fifth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he stayed two years.