John Sylvester John Gardiner was born in June 1765, at Haverfordwest, Wales. He was the son of John and Margaret (Harries) Gardiner. His father was a native of Boston, Massachusets, but having studied law in London at the Inner Temple, was admitted to the English bar and in 1768 accepted the appointment of attorney-general of the island of St. Christopher in the British West Indies. There he settled with his wife and infant son.
From his fifth to his ninth year the younger John lived in Boston with his grandfather, Silvester Gardiner, one of the most eminent physicians of his day and the founder of the town of Gardiner, Maine.
At this time, he attended Master Lovell’s school. He then studied in England under the famous educator, Dr. Samuel Parr, whose strict discipline and thorough classical training helped form the leading traits of Gardiner’s character and mind.
Returning to St. Christopher in 1782, Gardiner came to Boston the following year with his father, who even when holding office under the Crown had openly and warmly defended the principles of the Revolution, and there took up the study of law with his father and with Judge William Tudor.
John's interest turned to divinity, and after serving as lay reader at Pownalboro, Maine, he was ordained deacon in New York City on October 18, 1787, and priest on December 4, 1791, by Bishop Provoost.
His first church was in the parish of St. Helena, Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1792, he was elected assistant to Dr. Samuel Parker of Trinity Church, Boston, on the Greene Foundation.
Finding his income insufficient for his needs, he taught a large classical school in conjunction with his parish work.
Becoming the rector of Trinity Church upon the death of Dr. Parker in 1805, he dispensed with an assistant for twenty years in order that the capital of the Greene Foundation might accumulate. At the same time, he continued to teach a select class of boys in his own house, although he gave up his large school.
In April 1830, he sailed for England, hoping to restore his health which was failing under his unceasing devotion to duty. After a stormy voyage, he arrived at Liverpool much exhausted and died peacefully in the presence of his wife and daughter at Harrowgate on July 29, 1830.
Gardiner was president of the famous Anthology Club from its foundation October 3, 1803, until his withdrawal in 1810, and as such helped to conduct the Monthly Anthology and Boston Review, the forerunner of the North American Review. He was also one of the founders of the Boston Athenseum. Many of his sermons and addresses delivered between 1802 and 1824 have been published.
As a clergyman, John was a devoted adherent of the Church of England doctrines and was contemptuous of those who worshipped without liturgy. As a preacher he sought to win rather than alarm his hearers to the attainment of virtue and faith.
In politics, John was a friend of England and a bitter enemy of France, his opinion of the French revolutionists being vigorously expressed in his pamphlet, Remarks on the Jacobiniad.
John's knowledge of the Greek and Latin classics was profound and he also read Italian and French. The hospitality and kindness of his nature counteracted a somewhat blunt and uncompromising manner and a decided frankness in his likes and dislikes, which might otherwise have made him enemies.
Quotes from others about the person
“From the establishment of his school the revival, in this community, of classical learning may be dated. ” - Dr. Doane.
“The events of Dr. Gardiner’s ministry melt together into one smooth and even flow of prosperous life, ” says Bishop Phillips Brooks.
On September 24, 1794, John married Mary Howard.
