David Kimball Diary, 1803-1804

A journal kept by noted Ipswich, Massachusetts minister David T. Kimball during his final year of studies at Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School, and a year of teaching at Phillips Academy. Rev. David Tenney Kimball (1782–1860) was a prominent abolitionist and Pastor of the First Parish in Ipswich, Mass., a ministry he held for over fifty years, from 1806 until his death. As this journal chronicles, Kimball graduated from Harvard in 1803 and taught during the 1803-1804 school year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. While at Harvard, Kimball studied with the notable American theologian David Tappan (1752–1803) who occupied the Hollis Chair at Harvard Divinity School until his death in 1803. Kimball often notes attending Dr. Tappan’s lectures, and following Tappan’s death he pens a powerful 3-page tribute to his teacher. The death of Tappan, who was a theological moderate, precipitated a rift between liberal and conservative Christians at the Harvard Divinity School, which centered on the issue of who should fill the vacancy.