Noah Worcester

Education

Young Noah received a little schooling each winter until he was sixteen, when he became a fifer in the Revolutionary War, serving for eleven months and barely escaping capture at the battle of Bunker Hill.

Career

Again, in 1777, he was a fifer for two months, taking part in the battle of Bennington.

In 1782 they removed to Thornton, N. H.

This action caused him to write A Respectful Address to the Trinitarian Clergy Relating to Their Manner of Treating Opponents (1812) and several other pamphlets.

He accepted the position, removing to Brighton, Massachussets, and for five years conducted the paper successfully, writing much of its contents himself.

The last part of his life was devoted to the promotion of peace, and to this cause he made his most important and lasting contribution.

At the close of 1818 he turned over the editorship of the Christian Disciple to the younger Henry Ware [q. v. ], and the following year established The Friend of Peace, which he conducted until 1828.

In addition to the works already mentioned he published a number of sermons and pamphlets.

[S. A. Worcester, The Descendants of Rev. William Worcester (1914); Henry Ware, Jr. , Memoirs of the Rev. Noah Worcester, D. D. (1844); W. E. Channing, A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. Noah Worcester, D. D. (1837); W. B. Sprague, Annals of the Am.

Unitarian Pulpit (1865); William Ware, Am.

Unitarian Biog. , vol.

I (1850); S. A. Eliot, Heralds of a Liberal Faith, vol.

II (1910); Christian Examiner, Jan. 1838. ]

Religion

Late that same year his own pastor recommended him as his successor, and on Oct. 18, 1787, he was ordained minister of the Congregational church at Thornton, a position which he held for some twenty-two years.

For some time he had been making a thorough study of the doctrine of the Trinity and in 1810 he published Bible News of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in a Series of Letters, setting forth conclusions which were essentially Unitarian.

It gave impetus to the founding of peace societies, among them the Massachusetts Peace Society, formed in 1815, of which he became secretary.

Personality

By nature he was gentle and irenic; controversy was repugnant to him; and in time he came to regard war, whether offensive or defensive, as unjustifiable, accepting the doctrine of non-resistance as applied both to individuals and nations, and believing that love is the surest weapon for subduing all foes.

Connections

married:

Hannah

In November 1797 his wife died, leaving him with eight children, and in May 1798 he married Hannah Huntington, a native of Norwich, Connecticut When the New Hampshire Missionary Society was formed in 1802, he became its first missionary and traveled the northern part of the state in its interests as well as ministering to his own parish.

Wife:

Lydia

They were the sons of Noah Worcester by his first wife, Lydia (Taylor), grandsons of Francis Worcester, a Congregational clergyman, and descendants of Rev. William Worcester, who emigrated from England and was the first pastor of the church at Salisbury, Massachussets, established in 1638.

Wife:

Hannah

In November 1797 his wife died, leaving him with eight children, and in May 1798 he married Hannah Huntington, a native of Norwich, Connecticut When the New Hampshire Missionary Society was formed in 1802, he became its first missionary and traveled the northern part of the state in its interests as well as ministering to his own parish.

children:

Hannah

In November 1797 his wife died, leaving him with eight children, and in May 1798 he married Hannah Huntington, a native of Norwich, Connecticut When the New Hampshire Missionary Society was formed in 1802, he became its first missionary and traveled the northern part of the state in its interests as well as ministering to his own parish.

Brother:

N.

Because of the illness of his brother Thomas, pastor at Salisbury, N. H., he left Thornton in February 1810 and for the next three years was associated with him in caring for the Salisbury church.