1814 – Frances Anna Maria Russell was born. She became a Unitarian at age 70. Her grandson was the famous philosopher Lord Bertrand Russell and her husband was Lord John Russell. She was a friend to many Unitarian literary figures, including Charles Dickens, James Russell Lowell, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She helped organize the Unitarian … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 15

1797 – Sir Charles Lyell was born in Kinnordy, Forfarshire, England. He was a lawyer who became an eminent geologist and antrhopologist. Lyell worked to reconcile science and religion. Queen Victoria knighted him in 1848. Lyell worshiped at Little Portland Street Chapel (Unitarian) in London. On his trips to America, he became acquainted with New … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 14

1813 – Henry Solly was born in London. Reared Unitarian, he was a member of the first class at University College in London that would receive Unitarians. He became minister at the Unitarian chapel at Yeovil, Somerset, England, He founded the Working Men’s Clubs, the Charity Organisation Society, and the Garden City movement. His main … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 13

The New North Church, Boston (flickr.com) 1852 – Francis Parkman Sr., a noted Unitarian scholar, died in Boston at age 64. He studied theology under William Ellery Channing and was minister of New North Church in Boston for 40 years. His son, also named Francis Parkman, became a noted American historian. The post November 12 … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 12

1744 – Abigail Smith Adams was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She was the wife of John Adams, second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. One of the most distinguished and influential first ladies in U.S. history, she advised her husband on many issues and worked for … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 11

1801 – Samuel Gridley Howe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He founded the New England Asylum for the Blind in 1832, renamed the Perkins Institution. Howe also wrote textbooks for teaching the blind, and the principles he drew up for Massachusetts became a national model. He worked for prison reform and founded the abolitionist journal … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 10

1805 – Harriot Kezia Hunt, a life-long Universalist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Widely known as the first woman doctor, she was a pioneer in medical practice and a strong advocate of abolition, women’s rights, and public health education. She published her autobiography, Glances and Glimpses, in 1856. The post November 9 first appeared on … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 9

1638 – First Church and Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, was organized on this date. This church, now Unitarian Universalist, was the focus of the Dedham Decision, a decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1820 that gave property rights to parishes rather than churches, changing a long-standing tradition and clearing the way for the new … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 8

1837 – Elijah P. Lovejoy, Presbyterian minister and publisher of the Observer in Alton, Illinois, was killed while mobs destroyed his printing presses for his abolitionist writings. Although Lovejoy had trained as a Presbyterian minister, his work for human rights drew him closer to liberal neighbors who had moved from New England and retained their … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 7

1654 – The British House of Commons, under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, began debate on liberty of conscience, which resulted in general tolerance for religious views but was overturned when Charles II was restored to the monarchy in 1660. Cromwell, although not a Unitarian, defended the rights of Unitarians and all Dissenters to worship according … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History November 6