author
Samuel Osgood
1812–1880
A 19th-century American minister and essayist, he wrote with warmth about religion, culture, and public life. His work moved between the pulpit and the page, reflecting the lively intellectual world of his time.
1 Audiobook
The Hearth-Stone: Thoughts Upon Home-Life in Our Cities
by Samuel Osgood
About the author
Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1812, Samuel Osgood became an American clergyman, editor, and author whose career connected religion with literature. He is associated with the Unitarian tradition and is remembered for sermons, essays, addresses, and reflective prose published across the mid-1800s.
Osgood served in Louisville, Kentucky, where he helped edit The Western Messenger, an important magazine in the Transcendentalist circle. Later he became pastor of the Church of the Messiah in New York City, serving there from 1849 to 1869. After resigning, he entered the Episcopal ministry, though sources indicate he did not take on regular parish duties afterward.
His books include American Leaves, Mile-Stones in Our Life-Journey, and a biography of Evert Augustus Duyckinck. Across his writing, he blended religious thought, literary appreciation, and a conversational style that helped make serious ideas feel approachable. He died in New York City on April 14, 1880.