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.

William Lloyd Garrison (Dec. 10, 1805-May 24, 1879) was the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

William Thomas Gibson (Sept. 8, 1822-Nov. 23, 1896) graduated from Hobart College in 1842. He was the assistant rector of Grace Church in Utica, New York (1858-62) and the rector of St. George’s in Utica (1862-66; 1873-83).

John Gierlow (May 22, 1821-Mar. 6, 1895) was the rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Augusta, Maine, in 1863.

Chauncey Giles (May 11, 1813-Nov. 6, 1893) was the minister of the New Church in Cincinnati (1852-64) and in New York City (1864-78).

Thomas Lovett Gorman (Sept. 29, 1832-July 29, 1891) studied at Norwich University (1852-54) and Lombard College (1857-58). He was the minister of the First Parish (Universalist) in Malden, Massachusetts, from 1864 to 1865.

Edwin H. Gray was the minister of the E Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.D., and Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

Alfred Greenough (Feb. 27, 1844-June 6, 1884) graduated from Harvard College in 1865 and studied at Harvard Law School. He also studied architecture at l'École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He died on a trip to Japan and South Asia in Rangoon.

Francis William Pitt Greenwood (Feb. 5, 1797-Aug. 2, 1843) graduated from Harvard College in 1814 and From Harvard Divinity School in 1817. He was the minister of King's Chapel in Boston from 1824 to 1843. His Sermons of Consolation was first published in 1842.

Phineas Densmore Gurley (Nov. 12, 1816-Sept. 30, 1868) graduated from Union College in 1837 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1840. He was the minister of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., from 1854 to 1868 and was appointed Chaplain in the U.S. Senate in 1858.

William Hague (Jan. 4, 1829-Aug. 1, 1887) graduated from Hamilton College in 1826, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1827-28, and graduated from the Newton Theological Institute in 1829. He was minister of the Shawmut Avenue Baptist Church in Boston from 1865? to 1869.

Edward Everett Hale (Apr. 3, 1822-June 10, 1909) graduated from Harvard College in 1839. He was the minister of the South Congregational Church in Boston from 1856 to 1899.

Charles Henry Hall (Nov. 7, 1820-Sept. 12, 1895) graduated from Yale College in 1842 and studied at Andover Theological Seminary (1842-43) and at General Theological Seminary. He was rector of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., from 1857 to 1869.

Henry Ware Hall (Mar. 21, 1839-June 27, 1864) was the son of Nathaniel Hall. He entered Harvard College in 1856 and spent two years there before transferring to Antioch, where he graduated with honors in 1860. In 1861, he moved to Chicago to study law; when the war broke out he joined the 51^st Regiment, Illinois Infantry as a lieutenant. He was soon made a captain but resigned that rank to become an adjutant. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga (Sept. 19-20, 1863), taken prisoner and then paroled, and returned with his father to Dorchester to recover. He returned to his post in late May of 1864. He was killed while rallying the troops on June 27, in the assault on Kennesaw Mountain at age 24. His body was recovered and his grave is now in the Marietta National Cemetery.

Nathaniel Hall (Aug. 13, 1805-Oct. 21, 1875) graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1834. He was minister of the First Church in Dorchester from 1835 until his death.

Charles Hammond (June 15, 1813-Nov. 7, 1878) graduated from Yale College in 1839 and studied at Yale Divinity School and Andover Theological Seminary; he was ordained in 1855. He was the principal of Monson (Mass.) Academy (1839-41; 1845-52; 1863-78) and Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass. (1852-63).

Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (May 6, 1829-June 2, 1921) was, during the Civil War, raising her children and writing in Beverly and Reading, Massachusetts. Her Life of Abraham Lincoln (1865) was the first biography of the President published after his assassination and sold 20,000 copies.

Isaac William Ker Handy (Dec. 14, 1815-June 14, 1878) graduated from Jefferson College (Pennsylvania) in 1834 and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1835 to 1837. He was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, Virginia, from 1857 to 1865.

Augustus Mellen Haskell (Jan. 24, 1832-Feb. 24, 1893) graduated from Harvard College in 1856 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1861. He was the minister of the Independent Congregational Church in Barton Square in Salem, Massachusetts, from 1862 to 1866. He was a chaplain in the 40th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, Sept. 11 (or Oct. 9), 1863-Mar. 6, 1864.

Gilbert Haven (Sept. 19, 1821-Jan. 3, 1880) graduated from Wesleyan University in 1846. He was the minister of the Harvard Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Cambridge from 1861 to 1862.

Silas Hawley (Aug. 15, 1815-Nov. 3, 1888) studied in the Oneida Institute. He was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Lockland (Hamilton County), Ohio from 1865 to 1872.

Frederic Henry Hedge (Dec. 12, 1805-Aug. 21, 1890) graduated from Harvard College in 1825 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1828. He was the minister of the First Parish in Brookline, Massachusetts, from 1856 to 1872 and non-resident Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard from 1857 to 1876.

George Hughes Hepworth (Feb. 4, 1833-June 7, 1902) graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1855. He was the minister of the Church of the Unity in Boston from 1858 to 1869 and was a Chaplain in the 47^th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia) (Nov. 6, 1862-Feb. 11, 1863).

[Photo: George Hughes Hepworth, UUA MInister file]

Henry P. Herrick (Mar. 2, 1839-Dec. 13, 1862), a resident of North Yarmouth, Maine, was a second lieutenant in the 16th Regiment, Maine Infantry. He was killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg at age twenty-three.

Alonzo Hill (June 20, 1800-Feb. 1, 1871) graduated from Harvard College in 1822 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1826. He was the minister of the Second Parish in Worcester (Unitarian), Massachusetts, from 1827 until his death.

David Kimball Hobart (May 26, 1835-Apr. 14, 1863) enlisted in the 44th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia) on August 29, 1862. He rose through the ranks, becoming a First Sergeant on January 1, 1863. On March 30, he was wounded, captured, and taken to Confederate hospitals—first to Greenville and then to Wilson (both in North Carolina), where he died.

Mark Hopkins (Feb. 4, 1802-June 17, 1887) graduated from Williams College in 1824 and was its President from 1836 to 1872.

William Jones Hoppin (Apr. 21, 1813-Sept. 3, 1895) graduated from Middlebury College in 1832 and from Harvard Law School in 1835. A prominent lawyer in New York City, he was associated with several artistic, literary, and charitable organizations and was one of the founders of the Century Club in 1846. In 1876, he was appointed first secretary of the United States legation in London and spent 10 years in that role.

James Kendall Hosmer (Jan. 29, 1834-May 11, 1927) graduated from Harvard College in 1855 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1859. He was the minister of the Unitarian Church in Deerfield, Massachusetts, from 1860 to 1866. He was a private, rising to corporal, in the 52nd Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia).

Horace Carter Hovey (Jan. 28, 1833-July 27, 1915) graduated from Wabash College in 1853 and from Lane Theological Seminary in 1857. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Madison in 1858 and served as a home missionary in Indiana (1857-59) and Michigan (1849-60). He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Florence (Northampton), Mass. from 1863 to 1866.

William Bell White Howe (Mar. 21, 1823-Nov. 25, 1894) graduated from the University of Vermont in 1844. He was the assistant rector at St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1860 to 1863 and rector from 1863 to 1871 when he was elected Bishop of South Carolina.

Henry Norman Hudson (Jan. 28, 1814-Jan. 16, 1886) graduated from Middlebury College in 1840. He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1850 and was rector of St. Michael's Church in Litchfield, Connecticut, from 1858 until 1860. He was a chaplain in the 1st Regiment, New York Engineers from 1862 to 1865.

Heman Humphrey (Mar. 26, 1779-Apr. 3, 1861) graduated from Yale College in 1805. He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Pittsfield, Mass., from 1817 to 1823 and the President of Amherst College from 1823 to 1845.

Albert Sanford Hunt (July 3, 1827- Sept. 11, 1898) graduated from Wesleyan University in 1851. From 1859 to 1877, he was the minister of various Methodist churches in Brooklyn; from 1863 to 1865, he was the minister of the First Place Methodist Episcopal Church.

Frederic Dan Huntington (May 28, 1819-July 11, 1904) graduated from Amherst College in 1839 and Harvard Divinity School in 1842. He was the rector of Emmanuel Church in Boston from 1860 to 1869.

John Walker Jackson (1824-1902) was the minister of the Locust Street Methodist Episcopal (now Grace United Methodist) Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 1863 to 1866.

Herrick Johnson (Sept. 22, 1832-Nov. 20, 1913) graduated from Hamilton College in 1857 and from Auburn Seminary in 1860. He was the minister of the Third Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh from 1862 to 1867.

Thomas Starr King (December 17, 1824-March 4, 1864) became the minister of the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco, in 1860. During the Civil War, he lectured relentlessly in favor of the Union, organized the Pacific Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, and raised money for the Sanitary Commission headquarters in New York. He died in San Francisco on March 4, 1864, of diphtheria.

Edward Norris Kirk (Aug. 14, 1802-Mar. 27, 1874) graduated from Princeton in 1820 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1825. He was the minister of the Mount Vernon Congregational Church in Boston from 1842 to 1874.