Thornton Rogers Sampson was born in Hampden Sidney, Virginia on October 9, 1852. His father was a professor of Hebrew at Union Seminary in Virginia. When Thornton’s grandfather learned that his own son decided to enter the ministry, he is quoted as having said, “Well, the Church may have gained a good preacher, but the devil has lost the best dancer in Virginia.”
Thornton attended Hampden Sidney College and the University of Virginia, graduating from U.Va. on July 3, 1873. It was there that he decided to study for the ministry. His first theological studies took him to New College at the University of Edinburgh. After a year there, he went to Leipzig, Germany where he undertook a study of Hebrew. In 1877 Sampson went to the American College in Beirut where he hoped to learn Arabic. Upon returning to the States in 1878, he entered Union Seminary in Virginia and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of East Hanover. In that same year he was ordained in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Most of us who have heard of Thornton Rogers Sampson know that he was the first president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Seminary was officially established in 1902, but Sampson had labored the preceding two years raising funds to hire a faculty and provide some financial support for students. Between the time of his ordination in 1878 and his coming to Austin Seminary, Sampson worked as a missionary in Greece for twelve years (Athens for seven years and Salonika for five). After a stint in Europe and a tour of Presbyterian mission stations in Asia, Sampson and his family returned to the States in 1892. For two years he served as the Foreign Missions Secretary for the Synod of North Carolina. He then accepted a call to serve as president of Fredericksburg College in Virginia.
In 1896 Sampson received and accepted a call to serve as president of Austin College in Sherman, Texas. From 1884-1895 the Presbytery of Central Texas and the Synod of Texas supported an attempt to start a Presbyterian seminary in Austin. Dr. R. K. Smoot, pastor of First Southern Presbyterian Church in Austin, and Dr. R. L. Dabney, professor at the University of Texas (and formerly at Union Seminary in Richmond), provided the leadership for the Austin School of Theology. However, in 1895 the work of that school had to be “suspended” due to Dabney’s blindness and the inability of Dr. Smoot to run the school alone. In 1900 Sampson was prevailed upon to leave Sherman and move to Austin. His efforts bore fruit and the doors opened in the fall of 1902.
Due to the efforts of many saints who followed Sampson, Austin Seminary has continued to prepare persons for the gospel ministry for over a century. Due to health reasons Sampson resigned as president in 1905, but continued to teach. In addition, his interest in and support of public education led the state of Texas to call him in 1914 to serve as the executive secretary of the Conference for Education in Texas. Sampson continued his work at the Seminary while, at the same time, taking on this new labor.
In the summer of 1915 he and his wife went to Colorado for a vacation. She stayed in Denver while Sampson went on to Estes Park where he enjoyed fishing and hiking in the mountains. On a fishing trip in Rocky Mountain National Park he never returned. He was last seen on September 2. His body was never recovered, but 17 years later, on July 9, 1932 his skeleton was found. Fluent in seven languages, committed to the idea and ideals of education, and profoundly interested in the world mission of the church, Sampson left a legacy that is rich. As we make our own history today, we do well to give thanks to God for those who have gone before us who, like Thornton Rogers Sampson, planted seeds that continue to bear fruit today.
(Much of the information for this column came from the 1917 book, Thornton Rogers Sampson: A Life Sketch, by Arthur Gray Jones, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio from 1895 to 1921).
