This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 8

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1638 – First Church and Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, was organized on this date. This church, now Unitarian Universalist, was the focus of the Dedham Decision, a decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1820 that gave property rights to parishes rather than churches, changing a long-standing tradition and clearing the way for the new liberal Unitarianism that was emerging in the 1820s. Within 20 years, one-quarter of the Congregational churches in Massachusetts were Unitarian. Read more about the Dedham Decision here at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 7

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1837 – Elijah P. Lovejoy, Presbyterian minister and publisher of the Observer in Alton, Illinois, was killed while mobs destroyed his printing presses for his abolitionist writings. Although Lovejoy had trained as a Presbyterian minister, his work for human rights drew him closer to liberal neighbors who had moved from New England and retained their Unitarian and Universalist upbringings.

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Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 6

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1654 – The British House of Commons, under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, began debate on liberty of conscience, which resulted in general tolerance for religious views but was overturned when Charles II was restored to the monarchy in 1660. Cromwell, although not a Unitarian, defended the rights of Unitarians and all Dissenters to worship according to their own preference as long as they kept the peace.

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Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 5

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1921 – Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell died at the age of 96. Born in Henrietta, New York, she was called to the Congregational church in South Butler, New York, becoming the first woman pastor in the country, although her gender prevented her ordination in that church. She became a Unitarian in 1854, helped found All Souls Unitarian Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and served as its first minister. She wrote 10 books and was the mother of six children. Read more about Antoinette Brown Blackwell at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 4

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1804 – A group of Unitarian ministers in Worcester and Middlesex counties organized the Evangelical Missionary Society to counter Jedidiah Morse’s diatribe against their growing liberalism. Its constitution said, “The great object of this society is to furnish the means of Christian knowledge and moral improvement to those inhabitants of our own country who are destitute or poorly provided.”

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Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 3

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1794 – William Cullen Bryant, one of America’s literary greats, was born in Cummington, Massachusetts. He is remembered chiefly for his poetry, especially “Thanatopsis.” He never graduated from college but read the law in several offices and was admitted to the bar in 1815. For nearly 50 years, Bryant edited the New York Evening Post. He was a member of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City.

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Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 2

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1786 – Samuel Hoar died at the age of 78. He was a Unitarian religious educator and a vehement abolitionist. He graduated from Harvard College in 1802 and then studied law. Sternly opposed to any travel on Sunday, it was said that he would stop a tornado if it were going through town on Sunday. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, Governor’s Council, and the U.S. Senate. He was also Sunday school superintendent and teacher in the First Parish in Concord and a strong Unitarian Churchman all his life.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 1

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1912 – Robert Collyer, an English mill worker turned Unitarian minister, died at 89 in New York City. As a child, he worked from six in the morning until eight at night every day. Collyer came to Philadelphia in 1850 and worked as a blacksmith. Inspired by Lucretia Mott, he became an abolitionist and switched from the Methodist to the Unitarian church in 1859. He began to preach and took a church in Chicago. In 1879 he became the minister of the Church of the Messiah in New York City, which John Haynes Holmes renamed Community Church. Read more about Robert Collyer at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 31

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1867 – Sylvanus Cobb died at age 68. Born in Maine, he was an influential Universalist, working as a minister, theological journalist, legislator, and social reformer in the Boston area. He served Universalist churches in Winthrop and Waterville, Maine and in Malden, Waltham, and East Boston, Massachusetts. Read more about Sylvanus Cobb at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 30

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1867 – John Albion Andrew, a Unitarian prison reformer, abolitionist, and governor of Massachusetts, died at age 49. Born in Maine, he was reared orthodox but became Unitarian in Boston during the ministry of James Freeman Clarke. A lawyer, Andrew visited prisons, took on many cases pro bono, and became an advocate of prison reform. He was an outspoken opponent of slavery, and became the governor of Massachusetts in 1869, after raising funds to support abolitionist John Brown’s family.

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Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.