1825 – Theophilus Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire, England. He left the Anglican Church and founded the Essex Street Chapel in London, the first Unitarian chapel in England. He edited The New Testament in An Improved Version, an important translation influenced by higher criticism that played a significant role in subsequent trials in England … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 20

King’s Chapel 1785 – The proprietors of King’s Chapel in Boston voted 20 to 7 to become Unitarian. The congregation revised the Book of Common Prayer to omit all references to the Trinity. “Thus,” wrote Francis W.P. Greenwood, “The first Episcopal church in New England became the first Unitarian church in the New World.” The … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 19

1819 – Samuel Longfellow, brother of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was born in Portland, Maine. He is best remembered as a hymnist who joined his friend and colleague, Unitarian minister Samuel Johnson, in publishing Hymns of the Spirit, which included many of their own hymns. Longfellow was an active essayist, and a biographer of his brother. … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 18

1553 – The civil court of Vienne, France, condemned Michael Servetus to be burned at the stake for heresy, sedition, and rebellion. He had called both the Trinity and orthodoxy into question with his books On the Errors of the Trinity and Christianity Restored. Servetus escaped and was burned in effigy the next day. The … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 17

The Dublin Castle 1703 – Thomas Emlyn, a prominent Unitarian of Dublin, Ireland, was imprisoned for writing “A Humble Inquiry into the Scripture Account of Jesus Christ.” The Dublin ministers accused him of heresy based on circumstantial evidence. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined £1,000, but he remained in jail for … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 16

1946 – William Sinkford was born in San Francisco. He became an active Unitarian in Cincinnati, Ohio, and participated in Unitarian groups as an undergraduate at Harvard, where he was room mates with future UUA president John Buehrens. While he became head of the Liberal Religious Youth, he felt betrayed when the UUA withdrew initial … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 15

1855 – The Universalist Robert La Follette was born in Wisconsin. He served in Congress as a Republican and was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1905 to 1929. He became a leading progressive and helped organize the National Progressive League. He won 17 percent of the popular vote in his 1924 … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 14

1869 – Josef Ferencz, bishop of the Unitarian church in Transylvania, preached the first public Unitarian sermon in Budapest, Hungary. The post June 13 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of Unitarian Universalism.

1802 – Harriet Martineau was born in Norwich, England. A well known novelist and economist, she wrote several books including one about her journeys in America. A fervent Unitarian in her early years, she broke with her Unitarian theologian brother James over her devotion to the positivist philosophy of Auguste Comte, which predicted that theological … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 12

1814 – Henry Whitney Bellows was born in Boston. He became a minister of the First Unitarian Church in New York, which he helped rename All Souls Church of New York. He preached vigorously on public issues. During the Civil War, he united Unitarian and other churchwomen to provide medical and social support for Union … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History June 11