Henry Cowles (April 24, 1803 – September 7, 1881) was an American theological scholar and abolitionist.

Personal life

Cowles, son of Olive Phelps and Samuel Cowles, was born in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Conn., April 24, 1803. He was married, July 30, 1830, to Alice Welch, daughter of Benjamin Welch, M.D., of Norfolk, Connecticut, who died October 14, 1843. They had three sons and three daughters, of whom one son (Oberlin College, 1856) and one daughter survived him. In March 1844, he married Minerva Dayton, daughter of William Dayton, of

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

, and widow of Anson Penfield, of Oberlin, who died November 29, 1880. He became the stepfather of Josephine Penfield Cushman Bateham, social reformer, editor, and writer. Of September 7, 1881, at the age of 78, Cowles died of

ataxia Ataxia is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements. Ataxia is a clinical manifestation indicating dysfunction of ...

while at his daughter's home in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Education

Cowles 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 1826. After two years of study in the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, he was ordained, with a view to home-missionary work, at Hartford, Conn., July 1, 1828. Cowles went to Ohio, and after laboring about two years in

Ashtabula Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city ha ...

and Sandusky, took charge of the Congregational Church in Austinburg, where he remained until the fall of 1835, when he became Professor of Latin and Greek in

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

. In 1838 he was transferred to the chair of Ecclesiastical History, and in 1840 to that of Hebrew, in the Theological Department, in which he continued until 1848, at that time he became the editor of the ''

Oberlin Evangelist Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin, ...

'', which he conducted until 1863. For the rest of his life he remained in Oberlin, engaged in literary labor. During the fourteen years from 1867 he published sixteen volumes of ''Commentaries'', covering the whole Scriptures, and devoted the profits arising from them to the missionary cause. He received the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

, Michigan, in 1863.

External links

*
Oberlin bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:cowles, henry 1803 births 1881 deaths American abolitionists People from Norfolk, Connecticut Yale Divinity School alumni American Congregationalist ministers Congregationalist abolitionists Oberlin College faculty American religious writers Yale College alumni 19th-century American clergy