Lyman Coleman

Background

Lyman Coleman was born on June 14, 1796 in Middlefield, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Dr. William Coleman and his wife Achsah Lyman.

Education

Coleman prepared himself for college with only a common-school foundation while working on his father’s farm and entered Yale against strong paternal opposition. While studying, he maintained himself there largely by his own exertions, and graduated in 1817. In 1847 Princeton University gave him the degree of Doctor of Theological Studies.

Career

From 1817 to 1820 Lyman was principal of the Latin Grammar School in Hartford, and for the next four years tutor and student of theology at Yale. His contact during these years with eminent scholars and theologians did much to overcome his shyness and to shape his life purposes. On October 19, 1825, he was ordained at the Congregational Church at Belchertown, Massachusetts, where he remained till September 4, 1832. This, his only pastorate, under which the church prospered greatly, was marked by activities on behalf of the Sunday-school (then a new institution), the cause of missions, and temperance reform.

Returning to what he considered his true vocation, Coleman was for five years principal of Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vermont, and for five years the head of the English department, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. In 1842-1843 he spent nearly two years in Europe, studying for seven months under Neander in Berlin. He then became instructor in the classics at Amherst for three years, professor of German in the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) for two years, and then principal of the Presbyterian Academy in Philadelphia for nine.

In 1856 he paid his second visit to Palestine and Egypt, and in 1861 he became professor of the classics at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, where he remained till his death.

Achievements

• Lyman Coleman was mainly remembered as a prolific writer. His principal publications were: "The Antiquities of the Christian Church" (1841); "The Apostolic and Primitive Church" (1844), "An Historical Geography of the Bible" (1849). He also contributed many articles on miscellaneous subjects to the leading quarterlies and his Wall Map of Palestine issued in the latter fifties was long a standard authority.

Works

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  • Ancient Christianity Exemplified in the ... Life of the Primitive Christians

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • An historical geography of the Bible

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Genealogy Of The Lyman Family In Great Britain And America: The Ancestors & Descendants Of Richard Lyman, From High Ongar In England, 1631

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Antiquities of the Christian Church

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Apostolic and Primitive Church: Popular in its Government and Simple in its Worship

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

Personality

Coleman was a man of commanding presence, courteous demeanor, warm sympathies, and strong convictions. Firmly grounded in the old faith, he was nevertheless hospitable to new ideas in theology.

Connections

Coleman was married twice: on September 21, 1826, to Maria Flynt of Monson, Massachusetts, who died on January, 1871; and in October 1873 to Marion B. Philleo, who survived him.

Father:

William Coleman

Mother:

Achsah Lyman

Spouse:

Maria Flynt

Spouse:

Marion B. Philleo