Edmund Sears facts for kids
Edmund Hamilton Sears (born April 6, 1810 – died January 14, 1876) was an American minister and writer. He wrote many books about religion that were important to people in the 1800s. Today, Sears is best known for writing the words to the popular Christmas carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" in 1849. This song is sung to two different tunes. One was written by Richard Storrs Willis, and the other was changed by Arthur Sullivan from an old English song.
Sears first wrote "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" when he was a minister in Wayland, Massachusetts. He wrote it as a thoughtful song about the difficult times he lived in. However, it has since become a very popular Christmas carol sung around the world.
Who Was Edmund Sears?
Edmund Sears was born on April 6, 1810. He was the youngest of three sons. He grew up on a farm in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, near the Berkshire Hills. Sears went to Union College in Schenectady, New York. After graduating in 1834, he studied law for a short time.
He then went to Harvard Divinity School and finished in 1837. After that, he worked as a missionary preacher in Toledo, Ohio, for almost a year. He later served as a minister for Unitarian churches in Wayland, Massachusetts, and then in Lancaster, Massachusetts. After working very hard for seven years, he became unwell and returned to Wayland. He wrote his famous carol, "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," while he was a part-time preacher there.
His Writings
Besides his famous carol, Edmund Sears wrote several books. These include Fire-side Colloquies (1847), Regeneration (1853), and Athanasia (1858). He also wrote Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life (1875). For twelve years, he helped edit a magazine called The Monthly Religious Magazine.
Sears believed that the Gospel of John in the Bible best showed who Christ was. His book The Fourth Gospel the Heart of Christ (1872) was his most widely read work.
Standing Up for What's Right
Edmund Sears believed that women and men should be treated equally. He also spoke out strongly against slavery. When a law called the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, Sears said from his church that if human laws went against God's laws, people should always obey God's laws.
On June 16, 1856, Sears gave a sermon called "Discourse." In this sermon, he said that slavery was evil. He also spoke against those who supported slavery. This sermon was so powerful that people who wanted to end slavery in Massachusetts printed it as a pamphlet and shared it widely. Sears said that when wrong ideas become so strong that they control the government, then the government and its leaders do what is wrong. He believed that humanity would disappear from such a state, and evil would take over.
Edmund Sears died on January 14, 1876, in Weston, Massachusetts.
