Parker, Theodore

Theodore (1810-1860), a Massachusetts clergyman. He was born in Lexington. He took his degree at Harvard College, studying chiefly at home. In 1837 he accepted the pastorate of the Roxbury Unitarian church. His discourses were of so radical a nature that even the Unitarians, then recently separated from the Congregationalists, looked askance at him. He was never formally expelled from the Unitarian church. He always claimed to be a member of it, but, as a matter of fact, he was for twenty years an independent clergyman and lecturer. His first independent charge was what was known as the Twenty-eighth Congregational Society of Boston. It met in the Melodeon and in the Music Hall. He was one of the most popular preachers in the city. An audience of 3,000 gathered frequently to hear him of a Sunday morning. He was also a favorite public lecturer. He took an active part in the anti-slavery agitation of the day. His name is connected with those of Garrison and Wendell Phillips. He took a personal interest in runaway slaves and openly aided their escape. He was hated thoroughly by the people of the South. He was for a number of years editor of the Massachusetts Quarterly Review. He left several volumes of his sermons and other works, including Historic America and Views of Religion.