Dwight was a man for all sea­sons: an or­dained Con­gre­ga­tion­al min­is­ter, grand­son of preach­er Jon­a­than Ed­wards, per­son­al friend of Amer­i­can Pres­i­dent George Wash­ing­ton, and Ar­my chap­lain. He be­gan read­ing the Bi­ble at age four, and se­cret­ly learned La­tin de­spite his fa­ther’s pro­hi­bi­tion. In 1785, he pub­lished the 11-vol­ume Con­quest of Ca­naan. In 1787, he rec­eived a Doc­tor of Di­vin­i­ty de­gree from Prince­ton Un­i­ver­si­ty. In 1795, he be­came pres­i­dent of Yale Un­i­ver­si­ty (where, like his grand­fa­ther Jon­a­than Ed­wards, he ma­tric­u­lat­ed at age 13). He helped found the An­do­ver The­o­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary—the first sem­in­ary in New En­gland—in 1809. Dwight died of canc­er af­ter serv­ing as pres­i­dent of Yale Un­i­ver­si­ty for 22 years.

Sources

Hymns

1. As Down a Lone Valley
2. I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord
3. In Zion’s Sacred Gates
4. Shall Man, O God of Love and Light
5. While Life Prolongs Its Precious Light