author
James Morris Whiton
1833–1920
A scholar-preacher with an unusually wide range, he moved from classics and dictionaries to sermons and social thought. His life touched early American higher education, church leadership, and even the beginnings of the Harvard–Yale Regatta.
1 Audiobook
Miracles and Supernatural Religion
by James Morris Whiton
About the author
Born in Boston in 1833, James Morris Whiton Jr. became known as an educator, linguist, lexicographer, and Congregational clergyman. He studied at Yale, where he later earned a PhD in classics in 1861, placing him among the first small group to receive that degree from an American university.
Whiton taught and wrote on classical language study, producing textbooks and reference works, and he also served in church and school leadership. Over time he became especially active as a minister and religious writer, with work that engaged theology, ethics, and the social questions of his day.
He is also remembered for an unexpected piece of college history: he is credited with creating the first Harvard–Yale Regatta in 1853. Whiton died in 1920, leaving behind a career that joined scholarship, teaching, and public-minded religious writing.