James Freeman (clergyman)

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James Freeman (1759-1835) was an American Unitarian clergyman and writer. He was born in Charlestown, Mass., graduated at Harvard in 1777, and in 1782 became a reader in King's Chapel, Boston. Soon he became a Unitarian, and in 1785 the people of his church altered their prayer-book in accordance with his views and became the first Unitarian church in the United States. He was ordained (1787) by his own congregation, since the Bishop refused to ordain him, and remained rector of King's Chapel for 39 years. In 1811 he received the degree of D. D. from the University of Cambridge. He was a scholarly and philanthropic man and was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Consult a sketch of him in that Society's Collections, 3d series, volume v, (Boston, 1836).