John G. Palfrey
| John Gorham Palfrey | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district |
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In office March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849 |
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| Preceded by | Benjamin Thompson |
| Succeeded by |
Benjamin Thompson, from March 4, 1851. |
| 10th Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth | |
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In office 1844–1848 |
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| Preceded by | John A. Bolles |
| Succeeded by | William B. Calhoun |
| Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
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In office 1842–1843 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | May 2, 1796 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | April 26, 1881 (aged 84) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Resting place | Mount Auburn Cemetery |
| Political party | Whig, Free-Soil, Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Hammond |
| Alma mater | Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School. |
| Religion | Unitarian |
John Gorham Palfrey (May 2, 1796 – April 26, 1881) was an American clergyman and historian who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. A Unitarian minister, he played a leading role in the early history of Harvard Divinity School, and he later became involved in politics as a State Representative and U.S. Congressman.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Mary Sturgis Gorham and John Palfrey, a son of the merchant and Patriot William Palfrey. In 1803, his mother died soon after giving birth, and in 1804 his father moved to Baltimore. Palfrey began school at the Berry Street Academy in Boston and studied Greek and Latin with William Ellery Channing. He completed preparatory studies as a "charity student" at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Harvard University in 1815. He studied theology at Harvard Divinity School, graduating in its second class.
Palfrey was ordained minister of Boston's Brattle Square Unitarian Church on June 17, 1818. He held the usual duties of preaching two sermons every Sunday (with a substitute every fourth Sunday), calling on all his parishioners at least once a year, teaching Sunday school, and visiting the sick and poor. He was a member of the American Unitarian Association.
When the Society for the Promotion of Theological Education, which controlled Harvard Divinity School at the time, appealed to alumni for funds to build Divinity Hall, Palfrey preached two sermons to raise $2,000. He became the society's secretary in 1827 and a Harvard Overseer in 1828, when he also began teaching part-time. In 1831, after Andrews Norton retired in 1830, he became a Professor of Biblical Literature and Dean of Faculty at the Divinity School and removed to Cambridge. In this position, in addition to teaching the Bible, Hebrew, and other semitic languages, he was in charge of the building, organized faculty meetings, and was the chief disciplinarian. He made changes, including instituting a new set of rules for the school, reorganizing the curriculum, and dealing with complaints from faculty members about their salaries.
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