Adam Empie

Who was Adam Empie?

Adam Empie was born in Schenectady, New York, on September 5, 1785. Though well-acquainted with Dutch Reform and Presbyterian church beliefs, he warmed to the Protestant Episcopal Church while still a very young man. Empie worked during his years as a student at Union College in Schenectady where he studied under Eliphalet Nott and Benjamin Allen. Despite his busy work schedule and some health issues, he graduated with honors in 1807.

Empie lived in Rhinebeck and Hempstead, NY for the next two years where he studied for the ministry and taught in the Classical Academy of the Rev. Seth Hart, and tutored in the home of Thomas Tillotson, Secretary of State of New York. The Rev. John Henry Hobart, soon to be Bishop of New York, was Empie's mentor during this time.

Adam Empie was ordained deacon in 1809, then admitted into the priesthood. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Benjamin Moore, father of Clement Clarke Moore, a seminary professor and the author of "Twas the Night Before Christmas", led Empie's ordination service. His first assignment was St. George's Church in Hempstead, where he worked as assistant to rector Seth Hart.

By this time, Empie was known for his superior thought processes, but he continued to be plagued health problems doctors diagnosed as "rheumatism." Word of Empie's intellectual and inspirational sermons traveled fast. In 1810, St James' Church, established 1729 in Wilmington, North Carolina, sought his services as rector. To sweeten the deal, they vestry offered him a summer residence on breezy Wrightsville Sound, and suggested he could augment his $1200 a year salary by teaching at a local private school.