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Christopher Pearce Cranch was born March 9, 1813, at
Alexandria, Virginia, and was the son of
Judge William Cranch, of the United States Circuit Court.
His father came originally from
Weymouth, Massachusetts, and had been appointed to his position through the influence of
John Quancy Adams.
His mother,
Anna Greenleaf, belonged to a well known
Boston family.
Pearce, as he was always called by his relatives, indicated a talent for the fine arts, as commonly happens, at an early age, and united with this a lively interest in music, singing and playing on the flute.
These side issues may have prevented him from entering college so early as he might otherwise have done.
He graduated at Columbia College, in 1832, after a three-year course.
He wished to make a profession of painting, but
Judge Cranch was aware how precarious this would be as a means of livelihood, and advised him to study for the ministry,--for which his quiet ways and grave demeanor seemed to have adapted him. He accordingly entered the Harvard Divinity-School, and was ordained as a Unitarian clergyman.
For the next six years
Cranch lived the life of an itinerant preacher.
He preached all over