Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell (April 14, 1802 – February 17, 1876) was an American Congregational minister and theologian. He had a marked influence upon theology in America, and wrote various books on religion. He was also a graduate from Yale Divinity School.
Life[edit]
Bushnell was born in the village of Bantam, township of Litchfield, Connecticut. He attended Yale College where he roomed with future magazinist Nathaniel Parker Willis.[1] Willis credited Bushnell with teaching him the proper technique for sharpening a razor.[2] After graduating in 1827, he was literary editor of the New York Journal of Commerce from 1828–1829, and in 1829 became a tutor at Yale. Here he initially studied law, but in 1831 he entered the theology department of Yale College.
In May, 1833 Bushnell was ordained pastor of the North Congregational church in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Mary Apthorp in 1833 and the couple had three children.[3] Bushnell remained in Hartford until 1859 when, due to extended poor health he resigned his pastorate. Thereafter he held no appointed office, but, until his death at Hartford in 1876, he was a prolific author and occasionally preached.[4]
Memorials[edit]
Bushnell was greatly interested in the civic interests of Hartford, and was the chief agent in procuring the establishment of the first public park in the United States. It was named Bushnell Park in his honor by that city.
The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and a residence hall at the University of Hartford are also named for him.
