James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author.

Biography

Born in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...

, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though he was raised by his grandfather James Freeman, minister at

King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent christianity, Christian unitarianism, unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, anglicanism, Anglican in worship, and congrega ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.Benowitz, June Melby. ''Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion''. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017: vol. I, p. 110; He attended the

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

, and later graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1829, and

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 1833. Ordained into the Unitarian church he first became an active minister at

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, then a

slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...

, and soon threw himself into the national movement for the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. His theology was unusual for the conservative town and, reportedly, several women walked out of his first sermon. As he wrote to his friend

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...

, "I am a broken-winged hawk, seeking to fly at the sun, but fluttering in the dust." In 1839, he returned to Boston where he and his friends established (1841) the Church of the Disciples which brought together a body of people to apply the

Christian religion Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...

to social problems of the day. One of the features that distinguished his church was Clarke's belief that ordination could make no distinction between him and them. They also were called to be ministers of the highest religious life. Of this church he was the minister from 1841 until 1850 and again from 1854 until his death. He was also secretary of the Unitarian Association and, in 1867-1871, professor of natural religion and Christian doctrine at Harvard. Clarke contributed essays to ''The Christian Examiner'', ''The Christian Inquirer'', ''The Christian Register'', ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''The Index'', and ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. In addition to sermons, speeches, hymnals, and liturgies, he published 28 books and over 120 pamphlets during his lifetime. Clarke edited the ''Western Messenger'', a magazine intended to carry to readers in the

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

simple statements of liberal religion and what were then the most radical appeals to national duty and the abolition of slavery. Copies of this magazine are now valued by collectors for containing the earliest printed poems of

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

, a personal friend and a distant cousin. Clarke became a member of the

Transcendental Club The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism. Overview Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George R ...

alongside Emerson and several others. James Freeman Clarke MET 37

For the ''Western Messenger'', Clarke requested written contributions from Margaret Fuller. Clarke published Fuller's first literary review—criticisms of recent biographies on

George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...

and

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...

. She later became the first full-time book reviewer in journalism working for Horace Greeley's ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

''. After Fuller's death in 1850, Clarke worked with

William Henry Channing William Henry Channing (May 25, 1810 – December 23, 1884) was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher. Biography William Henry Channing was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Channing's father, Francis Dana Channing, died when he wa ...

and Emerson as editors of ''The Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli'', published in February 1852.Von Mehren, Joan. ''Minerva and the Muse: A Life of Margaret Fuller''. Amherst:

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

, 1994: p. 343; The trio censored or reworded many of Fuller's letters; they believed the public interest in Fuller would be temporary and that she would not survive as a historical figure. Nevertheless, for a time, the book was the best-selling biography of the decade and went through thirteen editions before the end of the century. In 1855, Clarke purchased the former site of

Brook Farm Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and EducationFelton, 124 or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education,Rose, 140 was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s. It was f ...

, intending to start a new

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

n community there. This never came to pass, instead the land was offered to President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

; the Second Massachusetts Regiment used it for training and named it "Camp Andrew". In November 1861, Clarke was in Washington, D.C. with

Samuel Gridley Howe Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824 he had gone to Greece to ...

and

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

. After hearing the song "

John Brown's Body "John Brown's Body" (originally known as "John Brown's Song") is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition o ...

", he suggested that Mrs. Howe write new lyrics; the result was "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

". The people of Boston held a public celebration honoring

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

on February 23, 1871, featuring

Edwin Percy Whipple Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and critic. Biography He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1819. For a time, he was the main literary critic for Philadelphia-based ''Graham's Magazine''. Lat ...

as a speaker and a poem by Clarke titled "A Hymn for the Celebration of Italian Unity" based on the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". In 1874, he was elected as a member of 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 ...

. A portrait of Clarke painted by Edwin Tryon Billings hangs in the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

Beliefs

Clarke was an advocate of human rights. Being a Boston Latin School alumnus, he served on a committee of the Massachusetts Society for the University Education of Women which was greatly instrumental in establishing Girls' Latin School in 1878. Tempered and moderate in his views of life, he was a reformer and a conciliator and never carried a pistol as fellow preacher

Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...

did. Clarke believed in recognizing

women's right to vote Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. In a statement published posthumously, Clarke had written, "one of the most important of the reforms proposed at the present time is that which shall give suffrage to women. It is not merely a political question, but a social question, a moral question, and a religious question".Benowitz, June Melby. ''Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion''. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017: vol. I, p. 110−111. He published few verses, but is regarded by some as a poet at heart. A diligent scholar, among the books by which he became well known is one called ''Ten Great Religions'' (2 vols, 1871–1883). Many of Clarke's earlier published writings addressed the immediate need of establishing a larger theory of religion than that espoused by people who were still under the influence of

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 ...

. He was also one of the first Americans to explore and write about Eastern religions.

Selected writings

*''Steps of Belief: Or, Rational Christianity Maintained Against Atheism, Free Religion, and Romanism'' (1870) *"Common Sense in Religion" (1874) *''Essentials and Non-Essentials in Religion: Six Lectures Delivered in the Music Hall, Boston'' (1878) *"Self-Culture: Physical, Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual" (1880) *"Memorial and Biographical Sketches" (1880) *''Every-Day Religion'' (1886) *''Sermons on the Lord's Prayer'' (1888) *"Autobiography, Diary and Correspondence" (1891)

References

External links

New York Times Obituary
* * * ;Papers
James Freeman Clarke Papers
at Harvard Divinity School Library at Harvard Divinity School * Th
James Freeman Clarke Papers
relating to lectures and the Church of the Disciples, at Harvard Divinity School Library at Harvard Divinity School
James Freeman Clarke Correspondence
at

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...

, Harvard University
James Freeman Clarke Letters to

, at Houghton Library, Harvard University {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, James Freeman Harvard Divinity School alumni 19th-century American writers American religious leaders American Unitarians 1810 births 1888 deaths Members of the Transcendental Club American abolitionists Harvard College alumni Boston Latin School alumni Trustees of the Boston Public Library