Religious Aspects of the American Civil War

Very brief biographical information is included in these entries to set historical context of the authors and subjects of the works listed in this guide.

Most of the information on ministers comes from the "General Catalogues" (list of graduates and students) of the theological schools they attended. We have copies in our collection of the catalogues of Harvard, Andover, Princeton, Union, Meadville, Newton, New Brunswick, and Colgate-Rochester, and many of these and others can be found in Google Books. In addition, copies in Google Books of biographical sketches of the graduates of Harvard, Yale, Williams, and other colleges were found to be useful for compiling this data. The print Who Was Who. the Dictionary of American Biography, and other biographical reference sources were also used. For subjects and authors of those in official military service during the War, links have been created to the descriptions of regiments and battles from the National Park Service's Civil War site.

As with any undertaking of a project and presentation of this size, there are likely to be omissions and mistakes. Please email Research Services with comments and corrections.

Ezra Eastman Adams (Aug. 29, 1813-Nov. 3, 1871) graduated from Dartmouth College in 1836. He was the minister of the North Broad Street Presbyterian Church from 1859 to 1867.

William Adams (Jan. 25, 1807-Aug. 31, 1880) graduated from Yale College in 1827 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1830. He served the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in New York City from 1853 to 1873, when he became President of Union Theological Seminary in New York.

William Rounseville Alger (Dec. 28, 1822-Feb. 7, 1905) graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1847. He was the minister of the Bulfinch Street Church (1855-63) and of the New North Church (1863-73).

Charles Gordon Ames (October 3, 1828-April 15, 1912) was the minister of the Unitarian Church in Albany, N.Y., from 1864 to 1865.

Cortland W. Anable (July 28, 1825-Aug. 28, 1898) graduated from Union College in 1846 and from the Hamilton Theological Seminary (now part of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) in 1854. He was minister of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church from 1863 to 1871.

Earl Ashley, age 39, and Anson A. Fenton, age 18, were privates in the 18^th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry and killed in the Battle of Winchester.

Edward Sumner Atwood (June 4, 1833-May 13, 1888) graduated from Brown in 1852 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1856. He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Wellesley Hills from 1856 to 1864 and the South Church in Salem from 1864 until his death.

Charles H. Austin (1810?-Sept. 27, 1887) was a member of the Black River Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church for 50 years. In 1861, he was serving the Methodist Episcopal Church in Frankfort, New York.

Henry Clay Badger (1833-Aug. 4, 1894) graduated from Antioch College in 1857 and from 1859 to 1861, he was its Professor of Modern Languages. In 1865 he was the minister of the Cambridgeport Parish (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

Abijah Richardson Baker (Aug. 30, 1805-Apr. 30, 1876) graduated from Amherst College in 1830 and from Andover-Theological Seminary in 1835. He was the minister of the E Street Congregational Church in South Boston from 1864 to 1866.

George Bancroft (Oct. 3, 1800-Jan, 17, 1891) graduated from Harvard College in 1817 and spent the next year studying at Harvard Divinity School. He taught at the Round Hill School in Northampton from 1823 to 1830. From 1834 to 1840, he wrote and published the first three volumes of his History of the United States. He was Secretary of the Navy from 1845 to 1846 and Minister to Great Britain from 1846 to 1849. From 1849 to 1867 he wrote and published volumes four through nine of his History. In 1866, he was chosen by Congress to deliver the official eulogy for Lincoln. He also served as Minister to Prussia (1867-71) and Germany (1871-1874).

Robert Hale Bancroft (Apr. 21, 1843-Apr. 27, 1918) graduated from Harvard College in 1865 and studied at Harvard Law School. He was in the insurance business and was active in the Associated Charities of Boston

John Glass Bartholomew (Feb. 28, 1834-Apr. 14, 1875) was minister of the First Universalist Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, from 1860 to 1866.

Cyrus Augustus Bartol (Apr. 30, 1813-Dec. 16, 1900) graduated from Bowdoin College in 1831 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1834. He was the minister of the West Church in Boston from 1837 to 1899.

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813-Mar. 8, 1887) graduated from Amherst College in 1834 and Lane Theological Seminary in 1837. He was the minister of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn from 1847 to 1887.

Henry Whitney Bellows (June 11, 1814-Jan. 30, 1882) graduated from Harvard College in 1832 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1837. In 1839 became pastor of the First Congregational (Unitarian) church in New York City (afterwards All Souls church) and served that church until his death. He was president of the United States Sanitary Commission from 1861 to 1878.

Lorenzo Thompson Bennett (Nov. 13, 1805-Sept. 2, 1889) graduated from Yale College in 1825. He began his ministry as a deacon in Christ Church in Guilford, Connecticut, in 1834, and was associated rector of Trinity Church in New Haven until 1840. In 1840 he returned to Christ Church Guilford serving as rector (emeritus after 1880) until his death.

Henry Augustus Boardman (Jan. 9, 1808-June 15, 1880) graduated from Yale College in 1829 and (probably) from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1833. He was the minister of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1833 to 1876 (afterwards, emeritus).

George Whitefield Bosworth (Sept. 30, 1818-Jan. 19, 1888) graduated from William College in 1837 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1841. He was the minister of the Free Street Congregational Church in Portland, Maine, from 1855 to 1865.

Nathaniel Bouton (June 29, 1797-June 6, 1878) graduated from Yale College in 1821 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1824. He was minister of the First Congregational Church in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1825 to 1867,

George Francis Boynton was a private in the 44^th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia). He died on January 19, 1863 of cerebro-spinal meningitis.

John Quincy Adams Brackett (June 8, 1842-Apr. 6, 1918) graduated from Harvard College in 1865 and from Harvard Law School in 1868. He was a lawyer and held public office in Massachusetts, including being Governor from 1890 to 1891.

George Ware Briggs (Apr. 8, 1810-Sept. 10, 1895) graduated from Brown in 1825 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1834. He was minister of the First Church in Salem from 1853 to 1867.

Thomas Brainerd (June 17, 1804-Aug. 21, 1866) graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1831. He was the minister of the Third Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1837 until his death.

Phillips Brooks (Dec. 13, 1835-Jan. 23, 1893) graduated from Harvard College in1855 and from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1859. He was a Harvard Overseer (1870-89) and a Preacher to the University (1886-91). He was rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia from 1862 to 1869.

Edgar Buckingham (Aug. 29, 1812-Apr. 30, 1894) graduated from Harvard College in 1831 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1835. He was the minister of the Unitarian Church in Troy, N.Y., from 1853 to 1867.

William Ives Budington (Apr. 21, 1815-Nov. 29, 1879) graduated from Yale College in 1834 and Yale Divinity School in 1838. He was minister of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church in Brooklyn from 1855 to 1878.

Samuel Dickinson Burchard (Sept. 6, 1812-Sept. 25, 1891) graduated from Centre College (Kentucky) in 1837. He became minister of the Houston Street Presbyterian Church in New York in 1839; in 1846 this congregation became the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church and he served there until 1879.

George Burgess (Oct. 31, 1809-Apr. 23, 1866) graduated from Brown in 1826. In 1847 he became the first Episcopal Bishop of Maine.

Joseph Perrin Burrage (May 4, 1842-October 29, 1863) graduated from Harvard College in 1862. He was a sergeant (from July 18, 1862) and second lieutenant (from May 18, 1863) in the 33^rd Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry. He died in the Third Battle of Chattanooga at age 21.

Horace Bushnell (Apr. 14, 1802-Feb. 17, 1876) graduated from Yale College in 1827 and from Yale Divinity School in 1833. He was the minister of the North Congregational Church in Hartford, Conn., from 1833 to 1859. After his resignation from the pastorate, he continued to speak, preach, and write.