Reverend Nehemiah Adams (February 19, 1806 – October 6, 1878) was an American clergyman and writer.

Biography

He was born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, in 1806 to Nehemiah Adams and Mehitabel Torrey Adams. He graduated from

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 high ...

in 1826, and from

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

in 1829. That same year, he was ordained as co-pastor, with

Abiel Holmes Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American Congregational clergyman and historian. He was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Biography Holmes was born in Woodstock, Conn ...

, of the First Congregational Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1832, he married Martha Hooper. In 1834, he became pastor of Union Congregational Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He would remain in that position until his death in 1878. In 1850, he married again, to Sarah Brackett. In 1854, he took a trip to the American South, and wrote a book entitled ''A South-Side View of Slavery'' (Boston, 1855). In the book, he lauded

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

as beneficial to the

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

es' religious character. This book was one of several polemic works he wrote. It caused a great sensation, and he received much hostile criticism. The book was attacked by abolitionists for its perceived moderation; the abolitionist newspaper '' The Liberator'' called it "as vile a work as was ever written, in apology and defence of 'the sum of all villanies'". In 1861, Adams wrote a successor volume, ''The Sable Cloud, a Southern Tale with Northern Comments'', to answer his attackers, and it was met with a similar response. He also wrote ''The Cross in the Cell'', ''Scriptural Argument for Endless Punishment'', ''Broadcast'', ''At Eventide'', and a ''Life of John Eliot''. He was a member of the

American Tract Society The American Tract Society (ATS) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825, in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating tracts of Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back thro ...

and the American Board for Foreign Missions. In 1869, in consequence of his failing health, his people procured an associate pastor and gave Adams a long leave of absence. He made a voyage round the world and described it in ''Under the Mizzenmast: A Voyage Around the World'' (1871). Adams died in 1878, aged 72. He left nine children.

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Biography

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