Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D.D.

Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D.D. is a posthumous collection that gathers Dewey’s autobiographical writings and selected correspondence from his long career as a leading American Unitarian minister. Dewey (1794-1882) served congregations in New Bedford, New York, and various other American cities across the middle decades of the nineteenth century and was one of the prominent voices of the American Unitarian movement.

The autobiography records Dewey’s early life in western Massachusetts, his education at Williams College and Andover Theological Seminary, his gradual movement from Congregational orthodoxy into Unitarianism, his various pastoral positions, his international travels including extensive time in Europe, and his engagement with the various religious and social reform questions of his time.

The selected letters supplement the autobiography with correspondence that touches on theological, political, social, and personal subjects across the decades of his career. For readers of nineteenth century American Unitarian and broader liberal Protestant history, the volume is essential primary material.