William Cathcart was born in the County of Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, Nov. 8, 1826; his parents, James Cathcart and Elizabeth Cously, were of Scotch origin, the stock known as Scotch-Irish in the United States. He was brought up in the Presbyterian Church, of which, for some years, he was a member. The Saviour called him into his kingdom in early life, and taught him that he should preach the gospel. He was baptized by Rev. R. H. Carson, of Tubbermore, in January, 1846. He studied Latin and Greek in a classical school near the residence of his father. He received his literary and theological education in the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and in Horton, now Rawdon College, Yorkshire, England. He was ordained pastor of the Baptist church of Barnsley, near Sheffield, England, early in 1850. From political and anti-state church considerations he determined to come to the United States in 1853, and on the 18th of November in that year he arrived in New York. In the latter part of the following month he became pastor of the Third Baptist church of Groton, in Mystic River, Conn. In April 1857, he took charge of the Second Baptist church of Philadelphia, Pa., where he was since labored. In 1873, the University of Lewisburg conferred on Mr. Cathcart the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1876, on the retirement of Dr. Malcom from the presidency of the American Baptist Historical Society, Dr. Cathcart was elected president, and has been re-elected at each annunal meeting since. In 1875, in view of the Centennial year of our national independence, the Baptist Ministerial Union, of Pennsylvania, appointed Dr. Cathcart to prepare a paper, to be read at their meeting in Meadville in 1876, on "The Baptists in the Revolution." This paper, by enlargement, became a duodecimo volume, entitle "The Baptists and the American Revolution." Dr. Cathcart has also published a large octavo, called "The Papal System," and "The Baptism of the Ages and of the Nations."

Every thinking man has a Creed about polities, religion, and the best manner of conducting the business with which he is most familiar. It may not be printed, it may not be communicated in words except in special cases, but it surely exists in all intelligent minds.
?William Cathcart

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Baptist Encyclopedia, 1881, 1883
The Baptists in the Revolution, 1875
The Papal System
The Baptism of the Ages and of the Nations

A brief biographical sketch by Thomas Armitage:  He has made the denomination his debtor by his patient investigations and literary contributions. His scholarly attainments and tireless industry have fitted him to do an order of literary work which no Baptist had done, in giving the world his 'Baptist Encyclopaedia.' Endowed with a thoroughly analytical mind, his studies have laid bare to him the radical extremes of Gospel interpretation used by the Roman Catholic and the Baptist. He has given the result in his 'Papal System' and 'Baptism of the Ages.' Having explored the philosophy of the Romish system fully in the one, he gives its direct opposite in the other. Dr. Cathcart was born in Londonderry, Ireland, November 8th, 1826, and was brought up a Presbyterian. Surrounded by the religious contests of his nation and times, Ireland forced its contrasts upon his attention from childhood. He was fitted for college by private classical tutors, but took his literary course in the University of Glasgow. On becoming a Christian, the difference between the Presbyterians and Baptists was forced on his attention when at the age of twenty, and his convictions led him to forsake the religion of his fathers. He was baptized on the confession of Christ, at Tubbermore, by Rev. R. H., son of Dr. Alexander Carson. His theological course was taken at Horton College, under the presidency of the late Dr. Ackworth. In 1850 he was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church at Barnsley, but was so uneasy under the English yoke of Church and State that in 1853 he left a prosperous pastorate to settle in America. The first pastoral charge which he took here was at Mystic, Conn., where he remained till 1857, when he became pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Philadelphia.

He remained in this Church for eight-and-twenty years; doing such an excess of work that at last a constitution of uncommon strength began to break under the load, and he was obliged to retire to prevent utter prostration. Not only did his congregation in Philadelphia double in size, but it became necessary to build a large aid beautiful sanctuary in a new location to accommodate the increase. His people loved him almost to idolization, and gave him up with the utmost reluctance. In 1872 he published his 'Papal System;' in 1876, His 'Baptists and the American Revolution;' a monograph, on that subject, without a rival; in 1878, his 'Baptism of the Ages,' and his 'Encyclopaedia' in 1881. Having known. Dr. Cathcart in intimate friendship for a full generation, his habits of study, his unflagging perseverance, and his uncompromising integrity, the writer is free to express the belief that no truer man lives in our Baptist brotherhood. As an eloquent preacher, a true friend, an honest man and a careful scholar, those who know him best regret the most his retirement in the prime of his manhood, as a serious loss in our effective ranks, he is but another example amongst us of the common sacrifice which our ministry makes to the strain of overwork.