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Lyman Abbott

18 December 1835—22 October 1922

Born 18 December 1835 in Roxbury, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.1 Son of Jacob Abbott and Harriet Vaughan.2 Graduated from the University of the City of New York, 1853; studied law and was admitted to the bar, 1855.3 Practiced law with his brothers, 1856–1857.4 Married Abby Frances Hamlin, 14 October 1857, in Boston.5 Studied theology with his uncle John Abbott, 1857–1860.6 Served as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, 1860–1865; the New England Congregational Church in New York City, 1866–1869; and the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, 1888–1898.7 Secretary to the American Union Commission (later American Freedmen’s Union Commission), 1865–1868.8 Editor of the “Literary Record” in Harper’s Magazine, 1868–1879.9 Author of theological books, including Jesus of Nazareth (1869), 1869–1918.10 Coeditor with Henry Ward Beecher of the Christian Union, later the Outlook, 1876–1922.11 Awarded doctorates of sacred theology from the University of the City of New York and from Harvard; a doctorate of law from Western Reserve University; a doctorate of divinity from Yale; and a doctorate of letters from Miami University, 1877–1909.12 Died 22 October 1922 in New York City.13

Footnotes

  1. 1 U.S. Passport Application for Lyman Abbott, issued 23 June 1888, no. 20195, U.S., Passport Applications, 1795–1925, ancestry.com; Vital Records of Roxbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1, Births (Essex Institute, 1925), 7.

  2. 2 Vital Records of Roxbury Massachusetts, 1:7; George Thomas Little, ed., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine (Lewis Historical, 1909), 1:325.

  3. 3 James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (D. Appleton, 1888), 7; Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325.

  4. 4 Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.

  5. 5 Massachusetts Births, Marriages (1841–1895), and Deaths (1841–1899), microfilm 1433015, vol. 109, p. 211, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL); Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:326.

  6. 6 Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.

  7. 7 Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.

  8. 8 Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7; Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Ira V. Brown, “Lyman Abbott and Freedmen’s Aid, 1865–1869,” Journal of Southern History 15, no. 1 (Feb. 1949): 28.

  9. 9 “The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott: Sketch of Tomorrow’s Popular Sage Preacher,” Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca, NY), 19 Feb. 1898, [2]; Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325–326.

  10. 10 See Lyman Abbott, Jesus of Nazareth: His Life and Teachings; Founded on the Four Gospels [. . .] (Harper and Brothers, 1869); Lyman Abbott, The Evolution of Christianity (Houghton, Mifflin, 1892); and Lyman Abbott, The Last Days of Jesus Christ (E. P. Dutton, 1918).

  11. 11 “Special Announcement,” Christian Union, 13 Sept. 1876, 222; Lyman Abbott, Silhouettes of My Contemporaries (Doubleday, Page, 1921), v; “Dr. Lyman Abbott, ‘Outlook’ Editor, Dead at Age of 87,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 Oct. 1922, 1; Franklin H. Giddings, “Lyman Abbott,” Independent 109, no. 3829 (11 Nov. 1922): 262.

  12. 12 Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:326; “Lyman Abbott,” Harvard Alumni Bulletin 25, no. 6 (2 Nov. 1922): 133; “Commencement at Yale,” Outlook, 4 July 1903, 540; “Among Ohio Colleges,” Ohio Teacher 29, no. 12 (July 1909): 557.

  13. 13 Death Certificates (Manhattan, NY), 1919–1948, microfilm 2030377, certificate 25940, 22 Oct. 1922, FSL; “Dr. Lyman Abbott, ‘Outlook’ Editor,” 1; Giddings, “Lyman Abbott,” 262.