Robert J. Nevin

Dr. Robert Jenkins Nevin, rector and founder of the Church of St. Paul’s-within-the-Walls, at Rome, was even more a familiar figure in the rooms of The Century than many a resident city member, for in his frequent visits to this country, during the enforced vacations of the hot months, he made our club largely his home, and he always brought to it the cheery atmosphere of travel and adventure. Born in 1839, in Allegheny, Penn., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, he prefaced his theological studies by service in the Union army, in which he commanded a battery of artillery at the close of the war, retiring with the brevet of Major U. S. V. Graduated in 1867 from the General Theological Seminary, in this city, he went, after a brief term at Bethlehem, Penn., to Rome and in the next few years accomplished the erection of the beautiful church over which he presided until his death. By the nature of his work in Rome, the object of many sorts of pilgrimage, Dr. Nevin made a wide and varied acquaintance. He was President of the Standing Committee of American Churches in Europe and devoted much time to the promotion of their interests. He was by predilection and habit an enthusiastic hunter of big game, and had pursued his favorite sport literally in the four quarters of the globe. He was engaged on one of these hunting excursions in Mexico, whither he had escorted his two nephews, when he succumbed to a sudden illness. He received the degree of D.D. from Union College and of LL.D. from Hobart.

Edward Cary
1907 Century Association Yearbook