Edward William Cornelius Humphrey

Judge Edward William Cornelius Humphrey (May 23, 1844 - March 22, 1917), also known as E.W.C. Humphrey, born in Louisville, Kentucky, was the son of Reverend Doctor Edward Porter Humphrey (1809-1887) and Catherine Cornelia Prather Humphrey (1816-1844). He was an 1864 graduate of Centre College,
of which he became a trustee in 1885. He was a key figure in a discussion of Presbyterian creed revision held in New York City by the national Presbyterian General Assembly in May 1902. He was the only lawyer in the committee of six Presbyterians charged with drafting the proposal regarding creed revision. The other five members of the committee were ordained Presbyterian ministers, one of whom was the General Assembly moderator.
Education
Judge Humphrey graduated in 1864 from Centre College, where he attended classes in the Old Centre building, now on the National Registry of Historic Places due to its being the oldest academic building west of the Alleghenies). His graduation from Centre was just before Old Centre was temporarily used as an American Civil War hospital. After Centre. he received an A.M. degree from Amherst College, and he studied law at the University of Louisville and at Harvard, class of 1866.
Law practice
He maintained a private law practice, and his 1904 passport shows his occupation as lawyer. He was the half-brother of Federal Circuit Court Judge Alexander Pope Humphrey (1848 - 1928), and Judge E.W.C Humphrey's son Edward Porter Humphrey (1873 - 1955) eventually became a member of the law firm headed by this half-brother, Judge A. Pope Humphrey.
Presbyterian elder at the Presbyterian General Assembly
Judge Humphrey, a Presbyterian Church Elder from Louisville, was appointed by the Presbyterian General Assembly to serve on a national committee which met in Philadelphia on February 5. 1902, to consider creed revision. He was selected as the only lay member of a sub-committee composed of himself and five ordained Presbyterian ministers, namely the General Assembly moderator Rev. Dr. Minton of San Francisco, Rev. D. W. Moffat of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Rev. S. J. Nichols, Rev. D. W. Fisher, and Rev. William McKibben. The group of six was charged with preparing the statement for changes to be presented to the General Assembly the following May in New York. The Fort Wayne Sentinel reported, "Final action, it is expected, will also be taken on the questions of a brief statement from Presbyterian doctrine and a declaratory statement concerning debatable points in the confession of faith."
Biography and family
He married Miss Jessamine Barkley (1846 - 1905), of Danville, Kentucky on Oct. 22, 1867, and their children were Catherine Prather Humphrey Hobson (1869-1936), Lewis Craig Humphrey (1875 - 1927), Herman Humphrey (1880 - 1945), and Mary Brown Humphrey (1885-1980). He was the half-brother of Federal Circuit Court Judge Alexander Pope Humphrey (1848 - 1928), had given the original dedicatory address.<ref name="auto1"/> Cave Hill Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

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