Edmund Hamilton Sears (April 6, 1810 – January 14, 1876) was an American
Unitarian parish minister and author who wrote a number of theological works influencing 19th-century liberal Protestants. Today, Sears is primarily known as the man who penned the words to "
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set ...
" in 1849. It has been sung to two tunes, one by
Richard Storrs Willis
Richard Storrs Willis (February 10, 1819 – May 10, 1900) was an American composer, mainly of hymn music.
His best known melody is probably the one called, simply, '' Carol''. This is the standard tune, in the United States, though not in Great B ...
and another adapted by
Arthur Sullivan from a traditional English air.
Sears originally wrote the song as a melancholy reflection on his times while a minister in
Wayland, Massachusetts
Wayland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was founded in 1638, and incorporated in 1780 and was originally part of neighboring Sudbury (incorporated 1639). As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was ...
, US. However, "
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set ...
" has since become a popular
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...
.
Biography
Born on April 6, 1810, the youngest of three sons of Joseph and Lucy (Smith) Sears, Edmund grew up on a farm within sight of the Berkshire Hills, in
Sandisfield, Massachusetts.
[Hughes, Peter. "Edmund Hamilton Sears", ''Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography'', April 24, 2002]
/ref> Sears attended Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
, in Schenectady, New York
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, where he was a member of the Delta Phi
Delta Phi () is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York consisting of ten active chapters along the East Coast of the United States. The fraternity also uses the names "St. Elmo," "St. Elmo Hall," or merely "Elmo" ...
fraternity. Following graduation from Union in 1834, Sears studied law for nine months under a lawyer in Sandisfield. He attended Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
, graduating in 1837 and began to preach as a missionary in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
, remaining nearly a year. He served the Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern a ...
Unitarian congregation in Wayland, and then a larger congregation in Lancaster. After seven years of hard work, he suffered a breakdown and returned to Wayland. He wrote "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" while serving as a part-time preacher in Wayland.[Sawyer, Ken. "It came upon a Unitarian midnight clear", ''UUWorld'', November 1, 2002]
/ref>
In addition to the above noted hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...
, Sears authored the following publications: ''Fire-side Colloquies'' (1847); ''Regeneration'' (1853); ''Calm on the Listening Ear of Night; Pictures of the Olden Time'' (1857); ''Athanasia'' (1858); and ''Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life'' (1875). With Rev. R. Ellis he edited ''The Monthly Religious Magazine'' for twelve years.
Sears found Christ best presented in the Gospel of John. ''The Fourth Gospel the Heart of Christ'' (1872) was his most widely read work.[
Sears preached the equality of women and men. After the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, Sears declared from his pulpit that "when the human and the Divine law were in conflict it was the duty of all to obey the latter."][ On Sunday, June 16, 1856, Sears delivered a sermon entitled "Discourse" which not only condemned chattel slavery as evil, but also the slaveholders whom he called the "slave power". The sermon was deemed to be such a strong argument against slavery that it was published and circulated as a pamphlet by Massachusetts abolitionists. "When wrong has become so organized as to make the state its permanent body", said Sears, then the state's functions and the men holding offices do the bidding of wrong and of evil. Sears continued, "humanity dies out of it he state and demonism becomes its life and soul".
He died January 14, 1876, in ]Weston, Massachusetts
Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851.
Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protection of the town's historic resourc ...
.Tillett, Wilbur. ''The Hymns and Hymnwriters of the Church'', Eaton & Mains, New York, 1911
/ref>
References
Bibliography
*''History of the Church in Weston'' (1909)
* Eliot, Samuel A. ''Heralds of a Liberal Faith'', vol. 3 (1910).
*Robins, Chandler "Memoir of Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears," ''Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society'' 18 (1891).
*Christ-Janer, Albert et al., comps., ''American Hymns Old and New'' (2 vols., 1980)
*Cooke, George W., Unitarianism in America (1902);
* Wright, C. Conrad. ''The Liberal Christians'' (1970)
*Wright, Conrad Edick. ''American Unitarianism, 1805–1865'' (1989).
Media
External links
The papers
of Edmund Hamilton Sears are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
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 ...
.
*
*
Works with texts by Sears on IMSLP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Edmund
1810 births
1876 deaths
Union College (New York) alumni
Harvard Divinity School alumni
American Unitarians
American abolitionists
People from Sandisfield, Massachusetts
People from Wayland, Massachusetts