Whittemore, Thomas. The Early Days of Thomas Whittemore, An Autobiography: Extending from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1825. Boston: James M. Usher, 1859. [10651]
Black publisher's cloth with pebble & blind design, gilt to spine, 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches, a few small pin pricks to the cloth, binding is clean, tight. Lacks the first free end paper (blank). Steel-engraved portrait of Whittemore byA. B. Walter of Philadelphia, with printed signature & tissue guard. 348 clean pp., some foxing to the portrait, folding facsimile letter from Thomas Jefferson, short tear near the hinge. Good. Hardcover.
An interesting account of Whittemore's early life, including reminiscences of the War of 1812, his two apprenticeships, his time in the public schools, experiences in the Baptist and in the Universalist churches, his friendship with Hosea Ballou, and his first decade as a Universalist minister.
Thomas Whittemore, (1800-1861), a Universalist minister, a member of the Massachusetts legislature (1831-1836), and the president of both the Cambridge Bank and the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad. He was editor and founder of The Trumpet and Universalist Magazine and one of the founders of the Universalist Historical Society. He compiled five different hymnals for his denomination, as well as tracts and several books, including a four-volume biography of his mentor, Life of Rev. Hosea Ballou.
Whittemore's direct, controversial and often strident manner attracted a great following among the Universalist church members.
