Samuel Locke (November 23, 1732 – January 15, 1778) was an American

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs it ...

clergyman and educator.

Biography

Samuel Locke was born in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of government, in which an elected mayor is ...

on November 23, 1732. He was the son of Samuel Locke and Rebecca (Richardson) Locke Wilder. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

in 1755. He was ordained at Sherburne 7 Nov 1759. He married Mary Porter on 2 January 1760.Vital Records of Natick, Marriages. p.175
/ref> Mary was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Porter. Rev. Porter was a predecessor to Rev Locke at Sherburne. They had 3 children (2 sons and a daughter): Dr. Samuel Locke (1761-1788), Mary Locke (1763-1796), and John Locke (1765-1800). After serving as pastor in

Sherborn, Massachusetts Sherborn is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Boston's MetroWest region, is in area code 508 and has the ZIP code 01770. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town population was 4,401. Sherborn shares its highly ...

, he was appointed

president of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief administrator of Harvard University and the ''ex officio'' president of the Harvard Corporation. Each is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to the pre ...

. He held that post from 1770 to 1773, when he resigned. He then returned to Sherborn, where he died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleed ...

References

1732 births 1778 deaths Presidents of Harvard University 18th-century American educators Harvard University alumni {{US-academic-administrator-1730s-stub