Henry Martyn Dexter (August 13, 1821 – November 13, 1890) 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 author.

Biography

Henry Marty Dexter was born in

Plympton, Massachusetts Plympton is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,930 at the 2020 census. The United States senator William Bradford was born here. History Plympton was first settled in 1662 by Reverend Justin P. Dale ...

. He graduated at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

in 1840 and at the

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 Cambrid ...

in 1844; was pastor of a Congregational church in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, in 1844–1849, and of the Berkeley Street Congregational church,

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 ...

, in 1849–1867; was an editor of the ''Congregationalist'' in 1851–1866, of the ''Congregational Quarterly'' in 1859–1866, and of the ''Congregationalist'', with which the ''Recorder'' was merged, from 1867 until his death. He 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 1869. He was an authority on the history of Congregationalism and was lecturer on that subject at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1877–1880. Dexter died at his home in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

on November 13, 1890. He left his fine library on the ''Puritans in America'' to Yale University.

Bibliography (selected)

In addition to the books listed below, he authored many reprints of pamphlets bearing on early church history in

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, especially

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

controversies. His ''The England and Holland of the Pilgrims'' was completed by his son, Morton Dexter (born 1846), and published in 1905. *''Congregationalism, What it is, Whence it is, How it works, Why it is better than any other Form of Church Government, and its consequent Demands'' (1865) *''The Church Polity of the Puritans the Polity of the New Testament'' (1870) *''As to Roger Williams and His Banishment from the Massachusetts Colony'' (1876) *''Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years, as seen in its Literature'' (1880) * ''A Handbook of Congregationalism'' (1880) — his most important work *''The True Story of John Smyth, the Se Baptist, told by Himself and his Contemporaries'' (1881) *''Common Sense as to Woman Suffrage'' (1885) * "Sketch of the life of Increase N. Tarbox" (1890)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dexter, Henry Martyn Yale University alumni American Congregationalists 1821 births 1890 deaths People from Plympton, Massachusetts Religious leaders from Massachusetts American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Historians from Massachusetts