This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 10

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1797 – Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin died at age 38. Her exact date of birth is unknown. She was a tireless worker for women’s intellectual, domestic, and political freedom and one of the early devotees of women’s rights. Her best known of many works is A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). She died after giving birth to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. She was friends with prominent Unitarians and was heavily influenced by them.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 9

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A ‘roundel’ window from the Netherlands, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1598 – Unitarian books were burned at Leyden, Holland.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 8

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“St. Dominic and the Albigenses” (1495) Berruguete

1647 – Twelve Arguments Against the Deity of the Holy Spirit by John Biddle was burned at Westminster Square in London, England. Biddle is considered the father of English Unitarianism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 7

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1782 – Charles Chauncy published The Mystery Hid from Ages and Generations, or, the Salvation of All Men. He was a Unitarian minister who adopted the Universalist position of universal salvation. He argued that the punishments of Hell are not eternal and that eventually all people will be redeemed. Read more about Charles Chauncy at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 6

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“Procession at Westminister Abbey,” Canaletto, (1749)

1647 – The Assembly of Divines at Westminster in London, England order John Biddle’s Two-fold Catechism to be burned by the common hangman (signifying that its publication was a criminal offense) and also ordered the Committee of Plundered Ministers to examine Biddle. Biddle was a thorough Unitarian and a fine Biblical scholar. His books offended mainline Christians, who found Unitarian ideas blasphemous and treasonous.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 5

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1794 – Hosea Ballou was ordained on this day without advance notice or preparation at the age of 23. Although he had been a respected Universalist preacher for some time, he had never been ordained. One the last day of the Universalist General Convention in Oxford, Massachusetts, Elhanan Winchester, known for his fiery preaching, pressed his Bible against Ballou’s chest at the climax of his sermon, crying out “Brother Ballou, I press to your heart the written Jehovah!” and ordering a church elder, Joab Young, to “charge him.” Read more about Hosea Ballou at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 4

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1796 – Charles Theodore Christian Follen was born in Germany. After fighting in the German-French war, he became a distinguished lawyer; professor at Cantonal School in Grisons, Switzerland; and lecturer at the University of Basel. Follen came to America to teach German at Harvard University. Under the influence of William Ellery Channing, he became Unitarian and founded the Free Christian Church in East Lexington, Massachusetts. Before the church was dedicated, Follen died at sea on January 13, 1840, when the steamboat Lexington burned on Long Island Sound. Read more about Charles Theodore Christian Follen at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 3

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1824 – Caroline Augusta White Soule was born in Albany, New York. She was principal of the female department of Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York. She was a member of the editorial staff of Ladies’ Repository from 1856 to 1865. In 1867, she founded Guiding Star and served as its editor until 1878. Soule went to Scotland as the first foreign missionary of the Universalist Church of America, taking up a ministry at St. Paul’s Universalist Church in Glasgow. Read more about Caroline Augusta White Soule at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 2

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The Church in Oxford, Massachussets

1786 – Adams Streeter died at the age of 50. He was an early Universalist preacher who helped John Murray organize a Universalist society in Boston and the first minister of Universalist congregations in Oxford and Milford, Massachusetts.

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This Day in Unitarian Universalist History September 1

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1844 – Meadville Theological School formally opened in Meadville, Pennsylvania, as a school to train Unitarian ministers. Many believed that churches should not be solely dependent on Harvard Divinity School for ministerial training. The Meadville Theological School moved to Chicago in 1926, incorporating with the University of Chicago. Read about Frederic Huidekoper, founder of the Meadville Theological School.

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