1863 – Joseph Austen Chamberlain was born, the oldest son of Joseph Chamberlain. He followed the Unitarian family tradition in religion and politics. He was chancellor of the exchequer, secretary for India, and a member of Lloyd George’s War Cabinet, Lord Privy Seal, leader of the House of Commons. King George V knighted him in … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 16
1889 – Manchester College, an academy to train Dissenters from the Church of England for the learned professions, opened in Oxford. Its main function was to train Unitarian ministers, though it had no official connection with the denomination. Now a constituent college of Oxford University, its charter from Queen Elizabeth II requires that the chaplain … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 15
1894 – Edward Estlin Cummings (e.e. cummings) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The son of Edward Cummings, minister of the South Congregational Church (Unitarian) in Boston from 1908 to 1926, Cummings received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Harvard University and then volunteered for duty in France during World War I, where he was arrested … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 14
1841 – Thomas Lamb Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of William Greenleaf Eliot Jr. Due to an eye injury he suffered as a student at Washington University, materials often had to be read to him. Nevertheless, Eliot graduated from Harvard Divinity School and headed to a frontier town of 6,000 inhabitants … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 13
1909 – Dorothy Livesay was born in Winnipeg, Canada. She was a leading Canadian poet of the 20th century. In 1928, she published her first collection of poems, Green Pitcher. She joined the Communist party and worked among the unemployed. She and her husband, Duncan Macnair, joined the Unitarian Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. She … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 12
Basel, Switzerland 1564 – The anti-Trinitarian Martin Cellarius died in Basel, Switzerland, at the age of 65. Considered the first self-proclaimed Unitarian, he was imprisoned in Germany for his beliefs. Cellarius is the author of several biblical and philosophical works, and he influenced both the Polish and the Transylvanian Unitarian movements. The post October 11 first … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 11
1822 – Samuel Johnson was born in Salem, Massachusetts. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School, he was a regular preacher at Unitarian churches in eastern Massachusetts for several years. In 1853 he became the minister of the Unitarian church in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he remained utnil 1870. Johnson published Book of Hymns … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 10
1860 – Lawrence Pearsall (L.P.) Jacks was born in Nottingham, England. Under the influence of Joseph Estlin Carpenter and James Martineau, he became a Unitarian. In 1903, Jacks became a professor at Manchester College, where he was later principal, from 1915 until his retirement in 1931. He was also editor of the Hibbert Journal from … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 9
1720 – Jonathan Mayhew was born on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Although he was the son of Calvinist preacher Experience Mayhew, Jonathan accepted a call to West Church (Unitarian) in Boston in 1747. Mayhew was learned, lectured widely, and became an early outspoken advocate of national independence. He was a pioneer of religious freedom, fervent … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 8
1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., a Unitarian physician and writer, died at age 85. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he published the poem “Old Ironsides” to protest the scrapping of the frigate Constitution. Holmes was Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Harvard College and dean of its medical school. He wrote The Autocrat of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History October 7
