Sereno Edwards Dwight (May 18, 1786 – November 30, 1850) was an American author, educator, and Congregationalist minister, who served as

Chaplain of the Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

Early years

Dwight was the fifth son of

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, ...

President

Timothy Dwight IV Timothy Dwight (May 14, 1752January 11, 1817) was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He was the eighth president of Yale College (1795–1817). Early life Timothy Dwight was born May 14, 17 ...

and his wife Mary Woolsey, born in

Greenfield Hill Greenfield Hill is an affluent historic neighborhood in Fairfield, Connecticut roughly bounded by Easton to the North, southern Burr Street/northern Black Rock Turnpike to the East, and Southport and Westport to the South and West respectively. The ...

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...

. He graduated Yale in 1803, was a tutor there in 1806–1810, and successfully practised law in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

in 1810–1816. For several years during this time, he worked ten hours each day preparing an exhaustive "Geography".

Ministry

Licensed to preach in 1816, he served as the

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for one year's term (December 16, 1816 – December 19, 1817). Dwight was ordained on September 3, 1817, at Park Street Church, Boston. Thereafter, he served as pastor of the

Park Street Church Park Street Church, founded in 1804, is a historic and active evangelical congregational megachurch in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The Park Street Church is a member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. Typical attendance a ...

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 ...

, in 1817–1826, where he greatly influenced the young hymn writer and clergyman Ray Palmer (1808–1887), author of "My Faith Looks Up to Thee", among others. In 1833–1835 he was president of

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

, Clinton, New York. His career was wrecked by accidental

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

poisoning, which interfered with his work in Boston and at Hamilton College, and made his life after 1839 solitary and comparatively uninfluential. His publications include ''Life of

David Brainerd David Brainerd (April 20, 1718October 9, 1747) was an American Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Native Americans among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot, and Brainerd's cousin, th ...

'' (1822); ''Life and Works of

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician ** ''Jonathan Edwards'' (album), debut album ...

'' (ten volumes, 1830), of whom he was a great-grandson; ''The Hebrew Wife'' (1836), an argument against marriage with a deceased wife's sister; and ''Select Discourses'' (1851); to which was prefixed a biographical sketch by his brother William Dwight (1795–1865), who was also successively a lawyer and a Congregational preacher.

Personal life

In August 1811, Dwight married Susan Edwards Daggett (1788 - 1839), the daughter of

David Daggett David Daggett (December 31, 1764 – April 12, 1851) was a U.S. senator, mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, Judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, and a founder of the Yale Law School. He helped block plans for the first college for Afri ...

, of

. Their only daughter did not survive infancy.Select Discourses of Sereno Edwards Dwight: With a Memoir of His Life, by William T. Dwight, p. xxviii

Publications

William Theodore Dwight William Theodore Dwight (June 15, 1795 – October 22, 1865) was an American minister and member of the prominent Dwight family. Dwight was the son of Rev. Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, and Mary (Woolsey) Dwight. He was born at G ...

, ''Select Discourses (1851)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwight, Sereno Edwards Connecticut lawyers Yale University alumni 1786 births 1850 deaths Chaplains of the United States Senate Writers from Fairfield, Connecticut Woolsey family