Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811-November 29, 1872), Universalist journalist, reformer, and politician, is best known as the longtime, innovative publisher and editor of the New York Tribune. In 1872 he campaigned unsuccessfully for the United States presidency as the candidate of the Liberal Republicans and Democrats, running against incumbent Republican Ulysses S.
Quillen Hamilton Shinn (January 1, 1845-September 6, 1907), Universalist minister and well-traveled missionary, is known as the “St. Paul of the Universalist Church.” He has been credited with starting at least 40 churches and inspiring nearly 30 persons to enter the ministry.…
Eliza Tupper Wilkes (October 8, 1844-February 5, 1917) was a circuit-riding preacher who started eleven Universalist and Unitarian churches in the American West. Among the first women ordained into the ministry, Wilkes worked with and mentored other liberal women ministers in the West.…
Dolphus Skinner (May 18, 1800-October 2, 1869), a Universalist minister and editor, served the Universalist church in Utica, New York for over 40 years. His long ministry in provided stability during the rapid growth of Universalism in central New York. At the time of his death he was, according to his obituary, “undoubtedly the most popular [Universalist] preacher ever in Central New York.”…
In 1969 the Universalist Historical Society (UHS) engaged Russell E. Miller, University Archivist and Dickson Professor of English and American History at Tufts University, a United Church of Christ layperson, to write a modern history of Universalism in America.
Judith Sargent Murray (May 5, 1751-June 9, 1820), essayist, poet, and playwright, was the most prominent woman essayist of her day. She argued forcefully for improved female education and for women to be allowed a public voice. She was among the first Universalists in New England, a pioneer religious educator, and the wife of the distinguished Universalist preacher John Murray.
James Shrigley (April 5, 1813-July 24, 1905) was a Universalist minister, a United States Army chaplain during the Civil War, a leader in the Pennsylvania Universalist Convention; a supporter of the Murray Grove site (at Good Luck, New Jersey), a librarian, and a historian.
John Albert Cousens (November 17, 1874-July 2, 1937), a Universalist businessman and educator, was for eighteen years the president of Tufts College.
John was born to Sarah Catherine Wiggen and John Emmons Cousens in Brookline, Massachusetts, members of the Shawmut Universalist Society in Boston (after 1905 it relocated and became the Beacon Universalist Parish in Brookline).
John Holmes (January 6, 1904-June 22, 1962), a poet and critic, was a teacher of literature and modern poetry at Tufts University for 28 years. He wrote seven volumes of poetry and the lyrics to several Unitarian Universalist hymns.
John Moses Ratcliff (June 6, 1892-February 22, 1953), a Universalist minister, was Professor of Education and Religious Education at Tufts College, Dean of Tufts School of Religion, Secretary of the Universalist General Convention, and President of the General Sunday School Association.
Roger Frederick Etz (April 30, 1886-December 19, 1950) was a parish minister and a major figure in the Universalist denomination for forty years. He was Executive Secretary and General Superintendent of the Universalist General Convention, 1919-37. During a period of rapid denominational decline, and the Great Depression of the 1930s, he kept American Universalism a functioning organization, which made possible consolidation with the American Unitarian Association in 1961.…
Thomas Jefferson Sawyer (January 9, 1804-July 24, 1899), Universalist minister and educator, is best known for successfully promoting the establishment of Universalist colleges and seminaries. Tufts College and its Divinity School, and St. Lawrence University and Theological School, were largely established as a result of his persistent efforts.…