Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

clergyman and historian. He was the father of

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...

and grandfather of

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...

Biography

Holmes was born in

Woodstock, Connecticut Woodstock is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 census. History 17th century In the mid-17th century, John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the Native Americans, established "praying town ...

. He was the son of David Holmes and Temperance Bishop. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1783. In 1784, while ministering in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, he was recruited to be the minister at the Congregational Church in

Midway, Georgia Midway is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,121 as of the 2010 census, up from 1,100 at the 2000 census. Midway has several museums, ...

. He returned to New England to be ordained in 1785 and once for health reasons between 1786 and 1787, but returned to Midway and remained there until 1791. Holmes married Mary Stiles, the daughter of

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

, the president of Yale. Mr. Stiles was the subject of a laudatory biography penned by Holmes. In 1792, Rev. Holmes became the minister at First Church in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1803. In 1805, he published a history entitled ''American Annals''. Holmes was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1813, and also served as its corresponding secretary from 1816-1828. In 1816, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Amid a theological controversy between

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

and

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

, Holmes resigned from the ministry in 1831 and the church chose a Unitarian minister to replace him. Holmes died June 4, 1837.

Family

Holmes married Mary Stiles, daughter of

, in 1790 and second to Sarah Wendell. By the second marriage, Abiel was the father of

and grandfather of

Works

*
The Life of Ezra Stiles
' (1798) *
The History of Cambridge
' (1801) *''A Memoir of the Mohegan Indians'' (1804) *
American Annals
' (1805)

References

*Gray, George Arthur (1908), ''Descendants of George Holmes of Roxbury 1594-1908'',

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

: David Clapp and Son. *White, G. Edward (1993), ''Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: Law and the Inner Self''.

External links

* Open Library
Abiel Holmes
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

contains his paternal grandfather, the Rev. Abiel Holmes books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Abiel 1763 births 1837 deaths People from Woodstock, Connecticut American Congregationalist ministers American sermon writers 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Antiquarian Society Congregationalist writers 18th-century Christian clergy 19th-century Christian clergy People from Midway, Georgia Yale College alumni 18th-century American historians 19th-century American clergy 18th-century American clergy American male non-fiction writers Historians from Georgia (U.S. state) Historians from Connecticut