Clergyman; born in
Boston, June 4, 1744; was graduated at Harvard College in 1762; studied theology; taught school four years; was pastor of a church in
Dover.
N. H., from 1767 to 1786, and of the Federal Street Church, in
Boston, from April 4, 1787, until his death.
June 20, 1798.
He founded the Massachusetts Historical Society; was an overseer of Harvard College; was a patriot during the war for independence, an opponent of
African slavery, and a promoter of literature and science.
He published a
History of New Hampshire, 3 volumes (1784-92); a collection of
Psalms and hymns (1795);
The Foresters, a work of wit and humor (1792);
American biography, 2 volumes (1794-98), besides sermons and other religious-writings.