George Edward Ellis (8 August 1814 – 20 December 1894) was a
Unitarian clergyman and historian.
Biography
Ellis was born and died in
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 ...
. He graduated from
Harvard in 1833, and then from the
Divinity School
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
in 1836. After two years' travel in Europe, he was ordained, on 11 March 1840, as pastor of the Harvard Unitarian Church,
Charlestown, Massachusetts. From 1857 until 1863, he was professor of
systematic theology
Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topic ...
in
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 1864 he delivered before the
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. ...
a course of lectures on the “Evidences of Christianity,” in 1871 a course on the “Provincial History of Massachusetts,” and in 1879 a course on “The Red Man and the White Man in North America” (1882). He resigned the pastorate of Harvard Church on 22 February 1869.
From September 1842 to February 1845,
Ellis edited the ''
Christian Register'', at first alone and later with George Putnam,
D.D. From 1849 to 1855,
[ he edited the '' Christian Examiner''. He was vice president and then president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard in 1850-54, serving for one year as its secretary. Harvard gave him the degree of D.D. in 1857, and that of ]LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
in 1883. Ellis was the fourth person who had received both these degrees from Harvard. He 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 i ...
in 1847, and would later serve as the society's secretary for domestic correspondence from 1890-1894.[Dunbar, B. (1987). ''Members and Officers of the American Antiquarian Society''. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society.]
The author Grace Atkinson Oliver married his son, John Harvard Ellis.
Works
* Lives of '' John Mason'' (1844), ''Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...
'' (1845), and ''William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
'' (1847), in Spark's “American Biography”
* ''Half Century of the Unitarian Controversy'' (Boston, 1857)
* ''Memoir of Dr. Luther V. Bell'' (1863)
* ''The Aims and Purposes of the Founders of Massachusetts, and their Treatment of Intruders and Dissentients'' (1869)
* ''Memoir of Jared Sparks
Jared Sparks (May 10, 1789 – March 14, 1866) was an American historian, educator, and Unitarian minister. He served as President of Harvard College from 1849 to 1853.
Biography
Born in Willington, Connecticut, Sparks studied in the common s ...
'' (1869)
* ''Life of Benjamin Thompson
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (german: Reichsgraf von Rumford; March 26, 1753August 21, 1814) was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolut ...
, Count Rumford'', in connection with an edition of Rumford's complete works, issued by 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, a ...
(1871)
* (as editor
''History of the Massachusetts General Hospital''
(1872) (See Massachusetts General Hospital.)
* ''History of the Battle of Bunker Hill'' (1875)
* ''Address on the Centennial of the Evacuation by the British Army, with an Account of the Siege of Boston'' (1876)
''Memoir of Charles Wentworth Upham''
(1877) (See Charles Wentworth Upham
Charles Wentworth Upham (May 4, 1802 – June 15, 1875) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Upham was also a member, and President of the Massachusetts State Senate, the 7th Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, and twice a member of the ...
.)
''Memoir of Jacob Bigelow''
(1880) (See Jacob Bigelow
Jacob Bigelow (February 27, 1787January 10, 1879) was an American physician, botanist and botanical illustrator. He was architect of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts (in which he is interred), husband to Mary Scollay, and the f ...
.)
* ''Memorial History of Boston'', three historical chapters (1880-1)
''History of the First church in Boston, 1630-1880''
with Arthur Blake Ellis (1881)
''The Red Man and the White Man in North America''
(1882)
* ''Memoir of Nathaniel Thayer
Rev. Nathaniel Thayer I (July 11, 1769 – June 23, 1840) was a congregational Unitarian minister.
Early life
Nathaniel Thayer was born in Hampton, New Hampshire to Ebenezer Thayer and Martha Olivia Cotton. His father was a pastor in Hampton ...
, A. M.'' (1885
Google Books
archive.org
* ''Address on the 82d Anniversary of the New York Historical Society'' (1886)
* ''Narrative and Critical History of America'', “The Religious Element in New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
” and other chapters (1886)
''The Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 1629-85''
(1888)
* Articles for the ninth edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
''.
He published numerous sermons and addresses, and contributed to periodicals. He also printed privately memoirs of Charles Wentworth Upham
Charles Wentworth Upham (May 4, 1802 – June 15, 1875) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Upham was also a member, and President of the Massachusetts State Senate, the 7th Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, and twice a member of the ...
and Edward Wigglesworth (1804–1876) (1877).
Family
In 1840 he married Elizabeth Bruce Eager. They had one child, and she died in 1842. In 1859, he married Lucretia Goddard Gould who died in 1869.[
]
His brother, Rufus Ellis (born in 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 ...
, 14 September 1819; died in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, 23 September 1885), was also a Unitarian clergyman. He graduated with honors from Harvard in 1838, and at the Cambridge Theological Seminary in 1841. He preached at Northampton, Massachusetts, then became the first Unitarian pastor in Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
, and returned to Northampton in 1843. From 1853 until his death, he was pastor of the First Church in Boston
First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church (originally Congregationalist) founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building, located on 66 Marlborough Street in the Back ...
. He was also lecturer in the 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 1869 and 1871, and for several years before his death was editor of the ''Religious Monthly Magazine''. Many of his discourses were published, including a series of sermons commemorating the 250th anniversary of the First Church, which were published in a volume (Boston, 1880).
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, George Edward
1814 births
1894 deaths
American Unitarian clergy
19th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Harvard Divinity School alumni
Harvard College alumni
Harvard Divinity School faculty
Clergy from Boston
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
19th-century American male writers
Historians from Massachusetts
19th-century American clergy