Octavius Brooks Frothingham

Born in Boston in 1822, he was the son of the prominent Unitarian minister Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham and was educated at Harvard. He began his career in the ministry, serving Unitarian congregations before moving in a more openly radical and independent direction.

Over time, he became closely associated with the Free Religious movement and with the later circle of American Transcendentalists. He is especially remembered for explaining and preserving that tradition in books and essays, including studies of Transcendentalism and of figures such as Theodore Parker.

His work joined religion, philosophy, and reform, and he remained an active lecturer and writer well into the late 19th century. He died in 1895, leaving behind a useful record of liberal religion and intellectual life in America.