Lyman Abbott
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]
[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] 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] 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] Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.
[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] Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.
[7] Little, Genealogical and Family History, 1:325; Wilson and Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopaedia, 1:7.
[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] “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] 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] “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] 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] Death Certificates (Manhattan, NY), 1919–1948, microfilm 2030377, certificate 25940, 22 Oct. 1922, FSL; “Dr. Lyman Abbott, ‘Outlook’ Editor,” 1; Giddings, “Lyman Abbott,” 262.