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 Lamson (Feb. 22, 1813-Nov. 29, 1882) graduated from Williams College in 1835 and studied at the Newton Theological Institution for two years ending in 1842. He was the minister of the Baptist Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, from 1859 to 1875

Thomas Laurie (May 19, 1821-Oct. 10, 1897) graduated from Illinois College in 1838 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1841. He was minister of the Congregational Church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, from 1851 to 1867.

William Solomon Leavitt (Jan. 26, 1822-April 5, 1910) graduated from Yale College in 1840 and studied at Union Theological Seminary (1842-44). He was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Hudson, New York, from 1853 to 1867.

Henry Washington Lee (July 29, 1815-Sept. 26, 1874) became the first Episcopal Bishop of Iowa in 1854. Lee secured the charter for Griswold College in 1859; it closed in the 1890s.

Roland Crocker Lincoln (Feb. 17, 1843-Apr. 7, 1926) graduated from Harvard College in 1865 and from Harvard Law School in 1870. He was a lawyer in Boston.

Abram Newkirk Littlejohn (Dec. 13, 1824-Aug. 3, 1901) graduated from Union College in 1845. He was rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn from 1860 to 1869.

Leonard Jarvis Livermore (Dec. 8, 1882-May 30, 1886) graduated from Harvard College in 1842 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1846. He was the minister of the First Parish in Lexington, Massachusetts, from 1857 to 1866.

Charles Eliphalet Lord (Feb. 11, 1817-Feb. 19, 1902) graduated from Dartmouth College in 1838, studied at Union Theological Seminary (1839-41) and Yale Divinity School (1841-42), and graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1843. He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, from 1857 to 1861.

John Chase Lord (Aug. 9, 1805-Jan. 21, 1877) studied at Hamilton College and graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1833. He was the minister of the Central (originally Pearl Street) Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York, from 1835 to 1873.

Samuel Kirkland Lothrop (Oct. 13, 1804-June 12, 1886) graduated from Harvard College in 1825 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1828, He was minister of the Church in Brattle Square (Boston) from 1834 to 1876.

Charles Lowe (Nov. 18, 1828-June 20, 1874) graduated from Harvard College in 1847 and Harvard Divinity School in 1851. He was minister of the Unitarian Church in Somerville from 1859 to June 19, 1865. He became the secretary of the American Unitarian Association on June 12, 1865, and served in that capacity until June 3, 1871.

Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., (Jan. 2, 1835-Oct. 19, 1864) was the son of Charles Russell, Sr., and Anna Cabot Jackson Lowell; the grandson of Rev. Charles Lowell, Unitarian minister of the West Church in Boston from 1806 until his death on January 20, 1861; and the cousin of William Lowell Putnam. Lowell entered the Union Army in June 1861, and was commissioned as a captain in the 3^rd Regiment, US Cavalry (Regular Army), transferring to the 6^th Regiment, US Cavalry (Regular Army) in August, serving as an aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. In 1863 Lowell helped to recruit and organize the 2^nd Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry and was appointed its colonel. He died of wounds received in the Battle of Cedar Creek at age 29.

Robert Lowry (Mar. 12, 1826-Nov. 25, 1899) graduated from the University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell University) in 1854. He was the minister of the Han­son Place Bap­tist Church in Brooklyn from 1861 to 1869.

Jacob Merrill Manning (Dec. 31, 1824-Nov. 29, 1882) graduated from Amherst College in 1850 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1853. He was the minister of the Old South Church in Boston from 1857 until his death. He was a chaplain in the 43rd Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia) (1862-63) and a Harvard Overseer (1860-66).

Javan Knapp Mason (Sept. 20, 1817-Aug. 18, 1900) graduated from Bowdoin College in 1845 and from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1848. He was the minister of the Congregational Church in Hampden, Maine, from 1849 to 1864.

Hiram Mattison (Feb. 8, 1811-Nov. 24, 1868) was an author, editor, antislavery activist, and a Methodist minister in several churches in New York and New Jersey.

Samuel Joseph May (Sept. 12, 1797-July 1, 1871) graduated from Harvard College in 1817 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1820. He was the minister of the Unitarian Church in Syracuse, New York  from 1845 to 1867.

Amory Dwight Mayo (Jan. 31, 1823-Apr. 8, 1907) was ordained a Universalist minister in 1846. From 1863 to 1898 he was Professor (non-resident) of Church Polity and Administration at Meadville Theological School. He was the minister of the Unitarian Church of the Redeemer in Cincinnati from 1863 to 1872.

John McClintock (Oct. 27, 1814- Mar. 4, 1870) graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1835. He was minister of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City from 1857 to 1860. From 1860 to 1864 he ministered in the American chapel in Paris, and returned to St. Paul’s until his retirement from parish ministry in 1865. In 1867 became the first president of Drew Theological Seminary (later, Drew University) in Madison, New Jersey, and served in that role until his death.

Samuel Allen McCoskry (Nov. 9, 1804-Aug. 1, 1886) studied at the United States Military Academy and graduated from Dickinson College in 1825. He was consecrated as the first Bishop of Michigan in 1836. He was also the rector of St. Paul's Church in Detroit from 1836 to 1863.

Alexander Taggart McGill (Feb. 24, 1807-Jan. 13, 1889) graduated from Jefferson College in 1826 and studied at the Associate Presbyterian Seminary in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (1831-34). In 1854 he became the Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Seminary, the chair of which he held (under several titles) until his death (emeritus after 1883).

Alexander McKenzie (Dec. 14, 1830-Aug. 6, 1914) graduated from Harvard College in 1859 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1861. He was the minister of the South Congregational Church in Augusta, Maine, from 1861 to 1867 and of the First Church in Cambridge from 1867 until his death. He was the lecturer on the theology of the New Testament at Harvard Divinity School (1882-83), on the Board of University Preachers (1886-89). And a Harvard Overseer from 1872 to 1884.

James Howard Means (Dec. 13, 1823-Apr. 13, 1894) graduated from Harvard College in 1843 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1847. He was the minister of the Second Church in Dorchester (until 1990 a Congregational church) from 1848 to 1878.

John Oliver Means (Aug. 1, 1822-Dec. 8, 1883) graduated from Bowdoin College in 1843 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1849. He was the minister of the Vine Street Congregational Church in Roxbury from 1857 to 1877.

Alexander Gardiner Mercer (Jan. 4, 1817-Nov. 3, 1883) graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1837 and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary (1842-43). He was the assistant rector of Trinity Church in Boston from 1860 to 1861.

Alonzo Ames Miner (Aug. 17, 1814-June 14, 1895) was ordained to the Universalist ministry in 1839. From 1862 to 1875 he was the second president of Tufts College.

John Hopkins Morison (July 25, 1808-Apr. 26, 1896) graduated from Harvard College in 1831 and attended Harvard Divinity School for less than two years ending in 1835. He was minister of the First Parish in Milton, Massachusetts, from 1846 until his death.

James Ormsbee Murray (Nov. 27, 1827-Mar. 27, 1899) graduated from Brown in 1850 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1854. He was the minister of the Prospect Street Congregational Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1861 to 1865.