Benjamin Colman

Background

Benjamin Colman was born on October 19, 1673 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He was the second son of William and Elizabeth Colman who emigrated from England and settled in Boston shortly before his birth.

Education

Colman attended school under Ezekiel Cheever, entered Harvard in 1688, and graduated with high honors in 1692. After having supplied the pulpit at Medford for six months, he returned to Harvard to continue his theological studies and remained there until he received his degree of Master of Arts in 1695. In 1731 he was given the degree of Divinity by Glasgow University.

Career

In July 1695 Colman sailed for England, having en route the diverting experiences of capture by a French privateer and incarceration for a short time in a French prison. In England he became acquainted with many prominent non-conformist divines and preached regularly at Bath. Meanwhile at home in Boston a somewhat radical religious movement had been begun under the leadership of certain laymen such as the Brattles. They decided to organize a new church differing from the three already in existence in certain points of worship. Among other points, they advocated doing away with the public relation of personal religious experience, and instituting the reading of the Bible and the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer.

William Brattle, John Leverett, Simon Bradstreet, and others in the movement sent urgent letters to Colman in England inviting him to become the minister of the new Brattle Street Church. He accepted, and, knowing that the ministers of the other three churches in Boston would not welcome him into fellowship, he had himself ordained by the London Presbytery on August 4, 1699, as suggested by his Boston correspondents. He sailed soon after and by November 01 was in Boston, a clergyman in good standing according to Presbyterian ideas but not in the eyes of the stricter Congregationalists.

On November 17 the associates of the Brattle Street Church issued a manifesto proclaiming their firm adherence to the doctrines of the Westminster Confession and stating that they were desirous of fellowship with the other Boston churches. The Mathers and others of the conservative group were bitterly opposed to the innovators, but by January 31, 1700 a partial reconciliation was effected and Colman himself soon became a conservative, though the controversy continued. In itself the episode amounted to little and the various churches became indistinguishable in doctrine but the later effects were important, for the movement was the apparent cause of the attempt on the part of the Mathers and others to secure a stricter ecclesiastical government in Massachusetts, an attempt later checked by John Wise.

Colman was a Fellow of Harvard from 1717 to 1728 and an Overseer until his death, was offered and refused the presidency in 1724, and was the main instrument in securing for the college the Hollis, Holden, and other benefactions. He also assisted Yale College, was much interested in the mission among the Housatonic Indians and other charities, was a defender of inoculation, and a strong believer in the evangelistic movement known as the Great Awakening. He was well known in England where his correspondents included such men as Isaac Watts.

Achievements

• Benjamin Colman has been listed as a noteworthy clergyman by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

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  • The Merchandise of a People Holiness to the Lord: A Sermon, Preached in Part at the Publick Lecture in Boston, July 1, 1725, in Part at a Private ... to the Poor, March 6, 1726 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Merchandise of a People Holiness to the ...)

  • The Vanity of Man as Mortal (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Vanity of Man as Mortal New-england And...)

  • A humble discourse of the incomprehensibleness of God. In four sermons, preached at the lecture in Boston. 1714. By Benjamin Colman, M.A. Pastor of a church in Boston.

    ( The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration...)

  • The peaceful end of a perfect and upright life: remark'd and contemplated in a sermon after the death of the universally esteemed Thomas Steel, Esq., ... on Thursday, January 8th, 1735/6, aetat 71.

    (Title: The peaceful end of a perfect and upright life : r...)

  • The Master Taken Up from the Sons of the Prophets: A Sermon Preached at Cambridge Upon the Sudden Death of the Reverend & Learned John Leverett, President of Harvard College (Classic Reprint)

    (The Majler taken up From the Sons of the Prophets. IL KIN...)

Connections

On June 5, 1700 Colman married Jane, daughter of Thomas and Jane Clark, who died October 26, 1731; on May 6, 1732 he married the thrice widowed Sarah (Crisp) Clark who died April 24, 1744; and on August 12, 1745, he married another widow, Mary Frost, who survived him.

Father:

William Colman

Mother:

Elizabeth Colman

Spouse:

Jane Clark

Spouse:

Sarah

References

• The life and character of the Reverend Benjamin Colman, D.D. electronic resource : late Pastor of a church in Boston New-England. Who deceased August 29th 1747.
• A discourse had in the College-Hall at Cambridge, March 27. 1722. Before the baptism of R. Judah Monis. By Benj. Colman, V.D.M.