Lyman Abbott

18 December 1835–22 October 1922

Born 18 Dec. 1835 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.[1] Son of Jacob Abbot and Harriet Vaughn.[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, 1855–1857.[4] Married Abby Frances Hamlin, 14 Oct. 1857.[5] Studied ministry with his uncle John Abbott, 1857–1860.[6] Served as minister of the First Congregational Church in Terre Haute, Vigo Co., Indiana, 1860–1865; the New England Congregational Church in New York City, 1865–1869; and the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, Kings Co., New York, 1888–1898.[7] Secretary to the American Union Commission, 1865–1868.[8] Author and publisher of theological books, including Jesus of Nazareth (1869), 1868–1925.[9] Editor of the “Literary Record” in Harper’s Magazine, 1868–1879.[10] Coeditor with Henry Ward Beecher of the Christian Union, 1876.[11] Awarded doctorates of sacred theology from New York University and from Harvard; a doctorate of law from Howard University; a doctorate of divinity from Yale; and doctorates of letters from Western Reserve and Miami universities, 1877–1909.[12] Editor of the Outlook, 1899–1922.[13] Died 22 Oct. 1922 in New York City.[14]

 

 

[1] Vital Records of Roxbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925), 7. “U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/, accessed 11 Feb. 2020), Lyman Abbott. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 10 Feb. 2020), Lyman Abbott (LHCZ-HWG).

[2] Vital Records of Roxbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925), 7. George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325.

[3] James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600–1889, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (New York: D. Appleton, 1888), 7. George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325.

[4] George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325. James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600–1889, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (New York: D. Appleton, 1888), 7.

[5] Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Births, Marriages (1841–1895), and Deaths (1841–1899), Massachusetts Marriages, vol. 109, 1856–1857, p. 211, Lyman Abbott, microfilm 1433015, DGS 4279213, image 852/970, FHL.

[6] George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325. James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600–1889, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (New York: D. Appleton, 1888), 7.

[7] George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325. James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600–1889, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (New York: D. Appleton, 1888), 7.

[8] James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600–1889, vol. 1, Aaron–Crandall (New York: D. Appleton, 1888), 7. George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325.

[9] Lyman Abbott, Jesus of Nazareth (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1869). Lyman Abbott, Henry Ward Beecher (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1904). Lyman Abbott, The Evolution of Christianity (New York: Outlook, 1925).

[10] “The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott: Sketch of Tomorrow’s Popular Sage Preacher,” Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca, NY), 19 Feb. 1898, 2.

[11] “Special Announcement,” Christian Union (New York), 13 Sept. 1876, 222. Lyman Abbott, Silhouettes of My Contemporaries (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1922), preface.

[12] George Thomas Little, Henry S. Burrage, and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, eds., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1909), 325. “The First Commencement,” Outlook, 4 July 1903, 540. “Editorials,” Ohio Teacher (Columbus), July 1909, 557. “Albert Henry Buck, B.A. 1864,” in Obituary of Yale Graduates, 1919–1920 (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1920), 635. “News and Views,” Harvard Alumni Bulletin, 2 Nov. 1922, 1.

[13] “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 (July–Dec. 1922): 262.

[14] Manhattan, NY, Death Certificates, 1919–1948, vols. 52–53, cert no. 25940, Lyman Abbott, microfilm 2030377, DGS 4191169, FHL. “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 (July–Dec. 1922): 262.