Buckminster, Joseph Stevens

BUCKMINSTER, JOSEPH STEVENS: New England clergyman; b. at Portsmouth, N. H., May 26, 1784; d. in Boston June 9, 1812. He was graduated at Harvard, 1800; studied theology while teacher at (Phillips) Exeter Academy and private tutor at Waltham; was called to the Brattle Street Church, Boston, 1804; appointed lecturer on Biblical criticism at Harvard, 1811. In theology he was liberal, a forerunner of the Unitarian movement; he belonged to the "Anthology Club," was a frequent contributor to the Monthly Anthology, and one of the founders of the literary reputation of Boston. He superintended the publication of the American edition of Griesbach's Greek Testament (1808); two volumes of sermons, with memoir by Rev. S. C. Thacher, were published after his death (Boston, 1814; 1829), and his Works appeared in two volumes in 1839.

Bibliography: His Memoir (together with that of his father, Rev. Joseph Buckminster of Portsmouth, N. H.; b. 1751; d. 1812) was published by his sister, Eliza B. Lee, Boston, 1851.