Nathaniel Colver (born in

Orwell, Vermont Orwell is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2020 census. Mount Independence was the largest fortification constructed by the American colonial forces. The site is now one of Vermont's premier stat ...

, 10 May 1794; died in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 25 December 1870) was an American

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

clergyman.

Biography

Colver's father, a Baptist minister, moved, while Nathaniel was a child, to Champlain, in northern New York, and thence to

West Stockbridge, Massachusetts West Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town had a population of 1,343 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History W ...

, where the son was converted and decided to enter the Baptist ministry. Though he had but slender opportunities of early education, he made himself a respectable scholar. After brief pastorates in various places, Colver was called in 1839 to

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 ...

, where he cooperated in organizing the church later known as

Tremont Temple The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street is a Baptist church in Boston, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. The existing multi-storey, Renaissance Revival structure was designed by architect Clarence Blackall of Boston, and opene ...

. His ministry there was remarkable for its bold, uncompromising, and effective warfare upon

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and intemperance, as well as for its directly spiritual results. On leaving Boston in 1852, Colver was pastor at South

Abington, Massachusetts Abington is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, southeast of Boston. The population was 17,062 at the 2020 census. History Before the Europeans made their claim to the area, the local Native Americans referred to the area ...

, at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and finally, in 1861, at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. While in Cincinnati, he received from

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

the degree of D.D. In Chicago he held the inaugural professorship of doctrinal theology in the theological seminary which later became the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. From 1867 to 1870, Colver was president of the Freedman's Institute in Richmond, Virginia. Colver played a conspicuous role in the anti-masonic,

anti-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 Britis ...

, and

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

s of his day. In 1867, Colver headed the Richmond Campus of the National Theological Institute of Washington D.C., created by the

American Baptist Home Mission Society The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospe ...

. He died shortly thereafter and the school was renamed the Colver Institute in his honor. It eventually became part of

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

in 1899.

Works

Colver published, besides occasional addresses, three lectures on Odd-fellowship (1844).

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Justin A. Smith, ''Memoir of Nathaniel Colver'' (Chicago, 1873) {{DEFAULTSORT:Colver, Nathaniel 1794 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States People from Orwell, Vermont