William Henry Channing | |
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| Born | (1810-05-25)May 25, 1810 Boston, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | December 23, 1884(1884-12-23) (aged 74) London, England |
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| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Harvard College, Harvard Divinity School |
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William Henry Channing (May 25, 1810 – December 23, 1884) was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher.
William Henry Channing was born inBoston, Massachusetts. Channing's father, Francis Dana Channing, died when he was an infant,[citation needed] and responsibility for the young man's education was assumed by his uncle,William Ellery Channing, the pre-eminentUnitarian theologian of the early nineteenth century. His other uncles included physician and Harvard professorWalter Channing, and Harvard professor of rhetoricEdward Tyrrel Channing. His grandfather was William Channing,Attorney General of Rhode Island.
Channing graduated fromHarvard College in 1829 and fromHarvard Divinity School in 1833.
Channing was ordained and installed over the Unitarian church inCincinnati in 1835. He became warmly interested in the schemes ofCharles Fourier and others for social reorganization. He moved to Boston about 1847, afterward toRochester, New York and to New York City, where, both as preacher and editor, he became a leader in a movement ofChristian socialism.[1] As an early supporter of thesocialistic movement in the United States, he was editor of thePresent, theSpirit of the Age and theHarbinger. In 1848 he presided over The Religious Union of Associationists in Boston, a socialist group which included many members of theBrook Farm commune.
Channing took active part in the early years of the woman’s rights movement. He signed the call for and attended the firstNational Woman's Rights Convention in 1850, where he was appointed to the National Women’s Rights Central Committee.[2] As minister of theFirst Unitarian Church of Rochester in 1852, he influencedSusan B. Anthony, a member of his congregation who was a young schoolteacher on the threshold of her career as a women's rights activist.Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony's close friend and co-worker, said in her autobiography that, "She [Anthony] first found words to express her convictions in listening to Rev. William Henry Channing, whose teaching had a lasting spiritual influence upon her."[3] Channing wrote the call for and played a leading role in the Women's Rights Convention that Anthony organized in Rochester in 1853.[4] The convention launched a petition campaign for equal legal and voting rights for women, for which Channing wrote the petitions and, withErnestine Rose, addressed a select committee of the New York Senate in February 1854.[2]
Between 1854-1857, Channing was minister atRenshaw Street Unitarian Chapel inLiverpool, England.[5] In 1857, he succeededJames Martineau as minister of theHope Street Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool, England. At the commencement of the American Civil War, he returned (1862) and took charge of the Unitarian church inWashington, D. C. William Henry Channing, along with the youngerEllery Channing, was aTranscendentalist. He was a prolific writer, contributing to theNorth American Review, theDial, theChristian Examiner, and other serials, a member of theTranscendental Club, a close friend ofHenry David Thoreau and corresponded withRalph Waldo Emerson.
Among his inspirational writings, one piece, his "Symphony", is well-known:[6]
Channing was, in 1863 and 1864, theChaplain of the United States House of Representatives. He died in London.
Channing was married to Julia Maria Allen. Their children include the author and poet,Blanche Mary Channing, andFrancis Channing, 1st Baron Channing of Wellingborough. He died in London.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Channing, William Henry".New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.| Religious titles | ||
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| Preceded by | 43rd US House Chaplain December 7, 1863 – December 4, 1865 | Succeeded by |
