William Emerson (May 6, 1769 – May 12, 1811) was one of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's leading citizens, a liberal-minded Unitarian minister, pastor to Boston's First Church and founder of its Philosophical Society, Anthology Club, and Boston Athenaeum, and father to

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

Biography

Emerson was born in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

on 6 May 1769, the fifth born and only son of

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Phoebe (Bliss) Emerson.

Family and early life

William Emerson's grandfather, Joseph Emerson was a minister, as was his father, William Emerson Sr. Emerson's father built and inhabited The Old Manse at Concord. He was the chaplain to the Provincial Congress when it met at Concord in October 1774, and he was a chaplain to the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

when war had begun. William Emerson Sr. died of camp fever while on campaign in 1776, when his son William Emerson was 7 years old. William Emerson Jr. married Ruth Haskins on 25 October 1796 in Boston. She was the daughter of John Haskins of Boston. The Emersons had eight children: * Phebe Ripley Emerson, * John Clark Emerson, * William Emerson III , *

, * Edward Blis Emerson, * Robert Bulkeley Emerson, * Charles Chauncy Emerson, * Mary Caroline Emerson.

Education

William Emerson attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, graduating in 1789. The Reverend Nathaniel Thayer of Lancaster, Massachusetts was his classmate. Prior to his ordination, Emerson taught school.

Ministry

Harvard, MA: 1792–99

On 21 December 1791, the Congregational Church and town of

Harvard, Massachusetts Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 25 miles west-northwest of Boston, in eastern Massachusetts. It is mostly bounded by I-495 to the east and Route 2 to the north. A farming community se ...

extended the call to William Emerson to become their fifth minister. Emerson, who had been preaching on probation, accepted the call 9 April 1792 and was ordained on 23 May 1792. Present at his ordination were ministers from Acton, Boxborough, Concord, East Sudbury, and Littleton, Massachusetts. Concord's Ezra Ripley preached the ordination sermon on Acts 26:18. The town paid the Reverend Emerson $333.30 yearly. While in Harvard, Emerson organized a social library club, serving as its custodian. On 17 June 1799, the First Church in Boston asked the Harvard church for Emerson's release so that he could become their minister.

Boston, MA: 1799–1811

In 1799, the Reverend William Emerson was dismissed by the Harvard church to become the minister of Boston's First Church, for a bonus of a thousand dollars. After this initial interest, his sermons appear to have roused no great enthusiasm, as George Ticknor noted in the ''Christian Examiner'', September, 1849: "Mr. Emerson, transplanted to the First Church in Boston six years before Mr. Buckminster's settlement, possessed, on the contrary, a graceful and dignified style of speaking, which was by no means without its attraction, but he lacked the fervor that could rouse the masses, and the original resources that could command the few." He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1803. In 1804, Emerson founded the Anthology Club, a Boston literary society, and wrote articles for the club's '' The Monthly Anthology''. This publication was the forerunner of the ''

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale (journalist), Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which i ...

'', America's leading literary journal at the time. The Club's reading room led to the founding in 1807 of the Boston Athenaeum. In 1806, Emerson was the chaplain for the Massachusetts General Court.Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ay 28 - June 24, 1806 Boston: Adams and Rhodes, 1806. The Reverend William Emerson is buried in the First Church, in Boston.

Family tree

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, William Clergy from Boston American Unitarians 1769 births 1811 deaths Ralph Waldo Emerson Clergy from colonial Massachusetts People from Concord, Massachusetts Continental Army staff officers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Burials at King's Chapel Burying Ground Harvard College alumni People from Harvard, Massachusetts American people of English descent American male non-fiction writers