Early life and education
William Warren Prescott was born on September 2, 1855, in Alton, New Hampshire, to parents who were part of the Millerite movement. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1877, served as principal of high schools in Vermont, and published and edited newspapers in Maine and Vermont before entering church service.
College president
- President of Battle Creek College, 1885–1894.
- First president of Union College in Nebraska, which he helped found, from 1891.
- President of Walla Walla College, 1892–1894.
His main contribution was in religious education, and he later headed the Bible department at Emmanuel Missionary College until 1934. Sources differ on the dates of his later Union College connection, so only the early presidency is given here.
World tour and Australia
In 1894–1895 Prescott was invited on a world tour to hold Bible institutes and strengthen the church’s educational work. He also helped found the Australasian Missionary College, now Avondale College, in Australia.
Editor and church leader
Returning to the United States in 1901, he became vice president of the General Conference, chairman of the board of the Review and Herald Publishing Association and editor of the Review and Herald. After leaving that editorship in 1909 he edited the Protestant Magazine for seven years. From 1915 until his retirement in 1937 he was a General Conference field secretary, and in 1930 he visited churches and institutions in Europe.
Writings
- Christ and the Sabbath (International Religious Liberty Association, 1893)
- The Doctrine of Christ (Review & Herald, 1920)
- The Saviour of the World (Review & Herald, 1929)
- The Spade and the Bible (Fleming H. Revell, 1933), written after his 1930 trip
- Victory in Christ (Review & Herald)
His books on the person and work of Christ, especially The Doctrine of Christ, are widely discussed in studies of how Adventist understanding of the Godhead developed.
Family and death
Prescott married Sarah Sanders in 1880 and Daisy Orndorff in 1911. He died on January 21, 1944, in Takoma Park, Maryland, aged 88, and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.
