Noah Worcester (November 25, 1758 – October 31, 1837) was a
Unitarian clergyman and a seminal figure in the history of American
pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
.
Life
Worcester was born in
Hollis, New Hampshire
Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,342 at the 2020 census, growing 9% from the 2010 population of 7,684. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Ho ...
, to a father of the same name, who had been one of the framers of the New Hampshire constitution. At age 16, he joined the militia as a fifer during the
Revolutionary War, and was at the battle of
Bunker Hill, where he narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. He was also at
Bennington
Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous to ...
as a fife major.
In September 1778, he moved to
Plymouth, New Hampshire
Plymouth is a rural New England town, town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. It has a unique role as the economic, medical, commercial, and cultural center for the predom ...
, where he taught, and in February 1782, settled at
Thornton, filling several local offices, and was chosen to the legislature. Having turned his attention to theology, he published a ''Letter to the Rev. John Murray Concerning the Origin of Evil'' (Newburyport, 1786), and was licensed to preach by a
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
association in 1786. He became pastor of Thornton in 1787. In 1802 he was employed as Thorton's first missionary in the New Hampshire society then organized, and in that capacity preached and traveled extensively through the northern part of the state. In this period he commenced a prolific writing career, contributing numerous articles to theological and popular journals.
In 1810 he became a pastor in
Salisbury, New Hampshire
Salisbury is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,422 at the 2020 census.
History
While still part of Massachusetts, the town was granted as "Baker's Town" after Captain Thomas Baker in 1736. After the b ...
, where his ancestor William Worcester, an emigrant from
Salisbury, England
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
, had been the first minister. Three years later, in 1813 he accepted an invitation to edit
''The Christian Disciple'', a Boston-based periodical founded by the eminent Unitarian minister
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
and others, and moved to
Brighton, Massachusetts
Brighton is a Municipal annexation in the United States, former town and current Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located in the northwestern corner of the city. It is named after the English city of ...
.
Self-educated, he accustomed himself to rigorous mental discipline. Physically, Worcester presented the remarkable contrast of robust man "of uncommon strength", combined with unusual mildness of manner.
Worcester married twice. His first wife, Hannah Brown, died in 1797 after falling from a horse. The following year he married Hannah Huntington, of Norwich, Connecticut. He had four sons and six daughters by his first marriage.
His brother, Thomas (1768–1831), whose pulpit Noah had filled in Salisbury, was also a clergyman. Thomas wrote extensively on subjects related to
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
and
Trinitarianism
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...
. Another brother,
Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
(1770–1821), also a clergyman, was corresponding secretary of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
in 1810, and in 1815 engaged in the Unitarian controversy, his immediate opponent being
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
.
Worcester was awarded an honorary arts degree by Dartmouth in 1791 and an honorary
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 ...
by Harvard in 1818.
Peace activism
Although active in Unitarian theological controversies of the day, Worcester is best remembered as a pioneer in the American peace movement. In December 1814, he published ''
A Solemn Review of the Custom of War
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' (under the pen-name Philo Pacificus), still considered one of the best pieces of anti-war literature ever committed to print, and as relevant today as then.
In 1815, he founded the
Massachusetts Peace Society The Massachusetts Peace Society (1815–1828) was an anti-war organization in Boston, Massachusetts, established to "diffuse light on the subject of war, and to cultivate the principles and spirit of peace." Founding officers included Thomas Dawes, ...
, serving as its secretary
until 1828. From 1819 to 1828 he tirelessly edited ''
The Friend of Peace
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', a quarterly periodical of the Society, as well as wrote most of its content. In 1828, the Massachusetts Peace Society merged with the newly formed
American Peace Society
The American Peace Society is a pacifist group founded upon the initiative of William Ladd, in New York City, May 8, 1828. It was formed by the merging of many state and local societies, from New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, of ...
.
William Ellery Channing's eulogy for Worcester was published in 1837. Some measure of Worcester is gained by the following tribute by his friend and co-laborer Channing:
Publications
He wrote:
* ''Familiar Dialogue between Cephas and Bereas'' (Worcester, 1792)
* ''Solemn Reasons for Declining to adopt the
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 compete ...
Theory and Practice'' (Charlestown, 1809)
* ''Bible News, or Sacred Truths Relating to the Living God, his only Son, and Holy Spirit'' (Concord, 1810) This was censured by the Hopkinsian association, of which the author was a member, as unsound on the doctrine of the Trinity.
* ''Respectful Address to the Trinitarian Clergy'' (Boston, 1812)
''A Solemn Review of the Custom of War''(1814) This was republished in Europe in several languages.
* ''The Atoning Sacrifice: a Display of Love, not of Wrath'' (Cambridge, 1829)
* ''The Causes and Evils of Contentions among Christians'' (Boston, 1831)
* ''Last Thoughts on Important Subjects'' (Cambridge, 1833)
He edited:
''The Christian Disciple''(ed. 1813–1818)
''The Friend of Peace''(ed. 1819–1828)
He contributed to ''Theological Magazine''.
Further reading
*
Henry Ware Jr. (ed.),
Samuel Worcester
Samuel Austin Worcester (January 19, 1798 – April 20, 1859), was an American missionary to the Cherokee, translator of the Bible, printer, and defender of the Cherokee sovereignty. He collaborated with Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) in Georgia to ...
(contributor: preface, notes, and a concluding chapter)
''Memoirs of the Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D.''(1844).
Notes
Sources
* , also published as
* Dennis Davidson
in the ''Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography''.
* Samuel Atkins Eliot
Noah Worcesterin ''Heralds of a Liberal Faith'', vol. 2, 1901.
* William P. Marchione
on the Brighton Allston Historical Society website.
"Worcester, Noah" in The New American Cyclopedia, George Ripley and Charles Dana (eds.), Vol. XVI, New York: 1863. (pp. 554 – 555).
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worcester, Noah
People from Hollis, New Hampshire
19th-century Unitarian clergy
American pacifists
1758 births
1837 deaths
People of colonial New Hampshire
Activists from New Hampshire
People from Thornton, New Hampshire
People from Plymouth, New Hampshire