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Bray, John Evans

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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Bray, Nathan H.

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a Congregational minister, son of Reverend Thomas Wells Bray, was born at North Guilford, Connecticut, November 28, 1787. In 1806 he went to Portland, Maine, and the next year entered the Fryeburg Academy. The death of his father, in 1808, compelled him to abandon a collegiate course. Until 1816 he was engaged in various kinds of business, part of the time teaching school and then he began the study of theology at Portland. In 1818 he was licensed to preach by the Cumberland Association, and for several months was employed as a missionary in and about Newfield. In 1821 he taught "a select school in North Guilford, and in 1823 became a missionary in northern Vermont. The next year he received a call to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, which he accepted, but owing to difficulties in the Church declined ordination. On May 16, 1827, he was ordained and installed in Columbia (now Prospect), Connecticut, where he had already preached two years as a supply. In August 1832, he was dismissed, and for two years following preached at Westfield, where he was the means of organizing a Church. From 1834 to 1842 he was acting pastor in Humphreysville (now Seymour), Connecticut. On account of impaired health, he withdrew from the active duties of the ministry, and settled on a small farm at Clinton, in the hope of regaining his health; but he was never able to resume regular labor. In 1855 he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., residing there until 1867, when he went to Newburyport, Massachusetts. This was his residence, with the exception of two years at Elizabeth, N.J., until his death, April 30, 1873. See Cong. Quarterly, 1873, page 442.