Frederic Henry Hedge (December 12, 1805 – August 21, 1890) was a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Unitarian minister and Transcendentalist. He was a founder of the

Transcendental Club The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism. Overview Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George ...

, originally called Hedge's Club, and active in the development of Transcendentalism. He was one of the foremost scholars of German literature in the United States.

Biography

Born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, Hedge was the son of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

professor of logic and metaphysics Levi Hedge. At the age of 12, he traveled to Germany and studied music for five years under the care of

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

. He then entered Harvard as a junior and graduated in 1825. His knowledge of German was to serve him well both in hymnody — he translated Luther's "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune bet ...

") into the most popular English version — and in philosophy, where it allowed him a greater familiarity with

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

than most of the Americans of his day. After graduating as valedictorian, he enrolled in

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

, where he met his intimate friend

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 cham ...

. After graduating from the Divinity School in 1828, Hedge was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1829, and became minister at a Unitarian church in West Cambridge. In 1835 he took charge of a church in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

; in 1850, after spending a year in Europe, he became pastor of the Westminster Church in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, and in 1856 of the church in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...

. He was central to the development of Transcendentalism in the 1830s. On September 8, 1836, Hedge met with Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Putnam (1807-1878), and

George Ripley George Ripley may refer to: * George Ripley (alchemist) (died 1490), English author and alchemist *George Ripley (transcendentalist) George Ripley (October 3, 1802 – July 4, 1880) was an American social reformer, Unitarian minister, and journ ...

in Cambridge to discuss the formation of a new club.Packer, Barbara L. ''The Transcendentalists''. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 2007: 47. Eleven days later, Ripley hosted their first official meeting at his house on September 18, 1836; the group would eventually be known as the

. Its first official meeting was attended by

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and ...

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...

James Freeman Clarke James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author. Biography Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though ...

, and Convers Francis as well as Hedge, Emerson, and Ripley. Future members would include

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and h ...

William Henry Channing William Henry Channing (May 25, 1810 – December 23, 1884) was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher. Biography William Henry Channing was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Channing's father, Francis Dana Channing, died when he wa ...

, Christopher Pearse Cranch, Sylvester Judd, and

Jones Very Jones Very (August 28, 1813 – May 8, 1880) was an American poet, essayist, clergyman, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. He was known as a scholar of William Shakespeare, and many of his poems were Shakesp ...

. The group planned its meetings for times when Hedge was visiting from

, leading to the early nickname "Hedge's Club". Hedge wrote: "There was no club in the strict sense... only occasional meetings of like-minded men and women", earning the nickname "the brotherhood of the 'Like-Minded'". He became alienated from the group's more extreme positions in the 1840s and did not publish in the Transcendental journal ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'', despite his friendship with its editor

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movem ...

, saying he did not want to be associated with the movement in print. In 1849 he preached a sermon, published as a pamphlet, on Joshua Young's ordination as pastor to his first parish, Boston's New North Church. He was noted as a public lecturer as well as a pulpit orator. In 1853-1854, he lectured on

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

history before the Lowell Institute. In 1858, Hedge returned to Harvard Divinity School as a professor of ecclesiastical history; that year, he also became editor of the ''

Christian Examiner ''The Christian Examiner'' was an American periodical published between 1813 and 1869. History and profile Founded in 1813 as ''The Christian Disciple'', it was purchased in 1814 by Nathan Hale. His son Edward Everett Hale later oversaw publicati ...

'', a role he held for three years.Packer, Barbara L. ''The Transcendentalists''. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 2007: 168. The next year, Hedge began a four-year term as president of the

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...

. In 1872, he resigned his pastorship in Brookline to become professor of

German literature German literature () comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a less ...

at Harvard. He retained this position until 1881. Deeply read in philosophy, ecclesiastical history, and German literature, he ranked as perhaps the foremost German literary scholar in the United States. He died in Cambridge on August 21, 1890, and was buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brah ...

Works

Besides essays on the different schools of philosophy, notably magazine articles on

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...

, and

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

, and other contributions to periodicals in prose and poetry, he published:
''The Prose Writers of Germany'', extracts and biographical sketches
(Philadelphia, 1848) * ''A Christian Liturgy for the Use of the Church'' (Boston, 1856) * ''Reason in Religion'' (Boston, 1865) * ''The Primeval World of Hebrew Tradition'' (1870) *
Hours with German Classics
' (1886) *
'Metrical Translations and Poems''
(with

Annis Lee Wister Annis Lee Furness Wister (9 October 1830, Philadelphia - 15 November 1908, Philadelphia) was a translator who resided in the United States. She specialized in translations from German to English. Biography She was the daughter of the Rev. William ...

; Boston, 1888) * ''Martin Luther and Other Essays'' (1888) He also wrote hymns for the Unitarian church, and assisted in the compilation of a hymn-book (1853), and published numerous translations from the German poets, including

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

's ("

A Mighty Fortress is Our God "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune bet ...

").

Legacy

His chief significance to American thought was his introduction of German scholarship and literature.

References

External links

*
Biography
in the ''Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography'' (uudb.org)
Letters to Ralph Waldo Emerson
an
Papers of Frederic Henry Hedge
at the Harvard Divinity School Library,

''Reason in Religion''
(incomplete text)] at American Unitarian Conference * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedge, Frederic 1805 births 1890 deaths Members of the Transcendental Club American Unitarians American Christian clergy 19th-century Christian clergy Harvard Divinity School alumni Harvard Divinity School faculty Harvard University faculty People from Bangor, Maine 19th-century American clergy Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery