David Atwood Wasson (1823–1887) was an American minister and Transcendentalist author, an essayist and poet. He was early influenced by

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

, an influence he would shed; he is usually regarded as a disciple 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 ...

Life

He was born in West Brooksville, Maine. He studied at Phillips Academy, Andover and Bowdoin College for just one year from 1845. After theological training at Bangor Theological Seminary, he became pastor at

Groveland, Massachusetts Groveland is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is thirty-four miles north of Boston. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 6,752. The town is divided into two precincts, Groveland and South Groveland. History Grovelan ...

, but only briefly after a conflict with his congregation. He then moved to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. He lost a position at the Medford Unitarian Church because of his

abolitionist 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 ...

views. He was appointed by the "28th Congregational Society" of

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 ...

, and succeeded Unitarian radical

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 ...

, who died in 1860, in 1865. In 1867 he became a founder of the

Free Religious Association The Free Religious Association (FRA) was an American freethought organization that opposed organized religion and aimed to form in its place a universal rational religion free of dogma or theology, based on evolutionary science.Parsons, Gerald. ( ...

Works

*''The Radical Creed: A Discourse At The Installation Of Rev. David A. Wasson, As Minister of the Twenty Eighth Congregational Society of Boston, May 7, 1865. Delivered by the Pastor Elect'' (1865) *''Poems By David Atwood Wasson'' (1888) *''Beyond Concord; Selected Writings of David Atwood Wasson'' (1965), edited Charles H. Foster

Notes

References

*Robert Spence, ''D. A. Wasson, Forgotten Transcendentalist'', American Literature, Vol. 27, No. 1 (March 1955), pp. 31–41 *Robert C. Albrecht, ''The Political Thought of David A. Wasson'', American Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Winter, 1965), pp. 742–748

External links

Entry from ''The Poets of Maine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasson, David Atwood 1823 births 1887 deaths American clergy American essayists 19th-century American poets American male poets People from Brooksville, Maine Bangor Theological Seminary alumni Bowdoin College alumni Poets from Maine American male essayists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century essayists 19th-century American clergy