Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

clergyman and historian. He was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and grandfather of

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...

Biography

Holmes was born in

Woodstock, Connecticut Woodstock is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The populat ...

. He was the son of David Holmes and Temperance Bishop. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1783. In 1784, while ministering in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, he was recruited to be the minister at the Congregational Church in

Midway, Georgia Midway is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,141 in 2020. Midway has several museums, including the Midway Museum and the Dorchest ...

. He returned to New England to be ordained in 1785 and once for health reasons between 1786 and 1787, but returned to Midway and remained there until 1791. Holmes married Mary Stiles, the daughter of

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

, the president of Yale. Mr. Stiles was the subject of a laudatory biography penned by Holmes. In 1792, Rev. Holmes became the minister at First Church in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. 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 1805, he published a history entitled ''American Annals''. Holmes was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1813, and also served as its corresponding secretary from 1816 to 1828. In 1816, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Amid a theological controversy between

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

and

Arminianism Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was origina ...

, Holmes resigned from the ministry in 1831 and the church chose a Unitarian minister to replace him. Holmes died June 4, 1837.

Family

Holmes married Mary Stiles, daughter of

, in 1790 and second to Sarah Wendell. By the second marriage, Abiel was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and grandfather of

Works

*
The Life of Ezra Stiles
' (1798) *
The History of Cambridge
' (1801) *''A Memoir of the Mohegan Indians'' (1804) *
American Annals
' (1805)

References

*Gray, George Arthur (1908), ''Descendants of George Holmes of Roxbury 1594-1908'',

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 ...

: David Clapp and Son. *White, G. Edward (1993), ''Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: Law and the Inner Self''.

External links

* Open Library
Abiel Holmes
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

contains his paternal grandfather, the Rev. Abiel Holmes books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Abiel 1763 births 1837 deaths People from Woodstock, Connecticut American sermon writers 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Congregationalist writers 19th-century American Christian clergy People from Midway, Georgia Yale College alumni 18th-century American historians 18th-century American Congregationalist ministers American male non-fiction writers Historians from Georgia (U.S. state) Historians from Connecticut