Research Tools
Timeline
Compiled by Kenneth P. Minkema
Executive Editor, The Works of Jonathan Edwards
Copyright © 2003, 2008 The Works of Jonathan Edwards. All rights reserved.
A CHRONOLOGY OF EDWARDS’ LIFE AND WRITINGS
Compiled by Kenneth P. Minkema
This chronology of Edwards's life and times is
based on the dating of his early writings established by Thomas A. Schafer,
Wallace E. Anderson, and Wilson H. Kimnach, supplemented by volume
introductions in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, by primary sources dating from Edwards'
lifetime, and by secondary materials such as biographies. Attributed dates for
literary productions indicate the earliest or approximate points at which Edwards
probably started them. "Miscellanies" entries are listed
approximately in numerical groupings by year rather than chronologically; for
more exact dating and order, readers should consult relevant volumes in the
Edwards Works. Entries not preceded by a month indicates that the
event in question occurred sometime during the calendar year under which it
listed. Lack of a pronoun in a chronology entry indicates that it regards
Edwards.
1703 October
5: born at East Windsor, Connecticut
1710 January
9: Sarah Pierpont born at New Haven, Connecticut
1711 August-September:
Father Timothy serves as chaplain in Queen Anne's War; returns home early due
to illness
1712 March-May:
Awakening at East Windsor; builds prayer booth in swamp
1714 August:
Queen Anne dies; King George I crowned
November
22: Rev. James Pierpont, Sarah Pierpont's father, dies
1716 September:
begins undergraduate studies at Connecticut Collegiate School, Wethersfield
1718 February
17: travels from East Windsor to Wethersfield following school “vacancy”
October:
moves to New Haven to continue studies in newly built Yale College, but shortly
returns to Wethersfield upon dissatisfaction with tutor Samuel Johnson
November:
returns to New Haven after being in East Windsor
1719 June
24: returns to New Haven from East Windsor after Johnson's departure
Writes
"Of Insects"
Suffers
bout of pleurisy during last year of college
1720 May:
completes baccalaureate degree
September:
delivers Valedictory Oration
October
3: begins graduate studies at New Haven
1721 Summer:
conversion experience at East Windsor
Writes
"Of the Rainbow," "Of Light Rays"
Begins
"Natural Philosophy," "Of Atoms," "Of Being,"
"Prejudices of the Imagination"
1722 May:
completes graduate studies
June:
Father Râle's (or Graylock's) War begins
June
14: returns home from New Haven
August
2: leaves East Windsor for New Haven en route to New York City
August
10: arrives at New York City to begin preaching to English Presbyterian
congregation
September:
Yale College Rector Timothy Cutler and tutors make public their conversion to
Church of England
Begins
"Resolutions," "Diary," "Catalogue of Books," and
"Miscellanies"
1723 March
15: Rev. Samuel Pierpont, Sarah Pierpont's brother, drowns in Connecticut River
April:
New York City pastorate ends
May
1: returns to East Windsor
May
18: returns to East Windsor after a week's journey to Norwich, Connecticut, and
"towns thereabouts"
June
8-9: at Boston
June
15: back in East Windsor
June
23: at Boston
June
25: back in East Windsor
July-August:
prepares Master's Quaestio
September:
delivers Quaestio at New Haven, receives M.A.; begins
"The Mind"
October:
writes "Spider Letter," begins "Notes on the Apocalypse"
November
11: agrees to settle as pastor of Bolton, Connecticut
Writes
"Apostrophe to Sarah Pierpont"
"Miscellanies"
aa-94
1724 January:
begins "Notes on Scripture"
May
21: elected tutor at Yale College, leaves Bolton before end of May
First
week of June: journeys to New Haven to begin tutorship
"Miscellanies"
94-146
1725 May:
begins "Beauty of the World"
Summer:
at East Windsor
September-December:
illness, convalesces at North Haven and East Windsor
December
15: Father Râle's (or Graylock's) War ends
December:
begins "Table to the Miscellanies," "Christ's Example"
"Miscellanies"
152-195
1726 April-July:
preaches intermittently at Glastonbury, Connecticut
Mid-summer:
returns to New Haven
August
29: asked by Northampton church to assist Solomon Stoddard
September:
resigns tutorship
October
26: begins preaching as probationer at Northampton
November
21: Northampton votes to give £100 salary, £300 to build house, and 50 acres of
land
"Miscellanies"
196-237, 261-262, 267-274, 313-314
1727 February
15: ordained at Northampton as assistant pastor
July
28: marries Sarah Pierpont in New Haven
August:
King George I dies; King George II crowned
October
29: earthquake in evening
"Miscellanies"
238-55, 279-305, 315-317
1728 January:
begins "Faith"
August:
begins "Images of Divine Things," "Signs of Godliness"
August
25: daughter Sarah born
"Miscellanies"
256-260, 265-266, 275-278, 306-310, 318-384
1729 February
11: Solomon Stoddard dies; Edwards becomes senior pastor
Feb.
13: funeral for Stoddard, with William Williams preaching
April-May:
illness, travels to New Haven
June:
suffers physical collapse
July:
resumes preaching
August-early
September: people of Northampton build Edwards a "Good Large Barn"
December
22: sister Jerusha dies of "malignant fever"
"Miscellanies"
385-454
1730 January:
begins "Discourse on the Trinity"
April
26: daughter Jerusha born
October:
first entries in "Blank Bible"
"Miscellanies"
455-487
1731 January:
"Miscellanies" beginning at no. 488
March:
Hannah Graves names Northampton church member Eleazar King the father of her
child; King is fined; they marry in October
May
7: purchases "Negro girl named Venus" for £80 in Newport, R.I.
July
8: preaches Boston lecture, later published as God Glorified in the Work of
Redemption
First
Wednesday in October: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Westfield
Salary
increased to £140
1732 February
13: daughter Esther born
April
11: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hatfield
September
5: earthquake at noon
October
3: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
Salary
increased to £200
1733 January:
"Miscellanies" 612
April
11: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hadley
June:
preaches in Boston
October
9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
December:
preaches at East Windsor
"Miscellanies"
beginning at no. 625
1734 January
19: Ebenezer Hunt's hatshop burns
January:
journeys to Boston, accompanied by Deacon Allen's son
April
7: daughter Mary born
April
16: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Sunderland
August:
preaches A Divine and Supernatural Light, thereafter published
October
8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Suffield
November:
"Miscellanies" 668
December:
Connecticut Valley revivals begin
1735 March
24: in Boston to deliver public lecture; visits Timothy Cutler
March
25: Thomas Stebbins unsuccessfully attempts suicide by cutting his throat
April
8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
June
1: Joseph Hawley, Sr., commits suicide by slitting his throat
August:
joins opposition to Robert Breck's ordination at Springfield
Late
August: treaty with Indians signed at Deerfield establishing mission at
Stockbridge
September-October:
travels to New York City, New Jersey, and Long Island to improve health
November:
vote passed to build new meetinghouse
1736 January:
Bernard Bartlett is whipped and fined for slandering Edwards; Robert Breck is
ordained at Springfield
February:
preaches at Springfield
February
10: Grandmother Esther Warham Mather Stoddard dies
March
16: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Deerfield
January
26: salary £200 plus improvement of half of sequestered lands
August:
several members of Edwards family at Windsor afflicted with distemper, as well
as Sarah Pierpont Edwards; "Miscellanies" 698
August
21: sister Lucy dies of "throat distemper"
August
31: daughter Lucy born
September
16-27: new meetinghouse raised
October
12: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Enfield
November
6: completes short account of late
revivals, published as appendix to William Williams' Duty and Interest of a
People
November
17: preaches ordination at Lambstown
Fall-winter:
Joseph Bellamy comes to study with Edwards
1737 January:
Preaches in Portsmouth, N.H.
February
11: salary £300 plus use of half of sequestered land
February:
preaches at Springfield
March
13: Northampton meetinghouse gallery falls
March
21: visits Rev. Stephen Williams at Longmeadow to confer about printing reply
regarding Breck controversy
April
26: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northampton
Late
June-early July: preaches at Portsmouth, N.H.
July
11: visits Longmeadow
July
21: spire raised on new meetinghouse
August
23: in Springfield
October
8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hatfield
October:
visits New Haven
November:
visits William Diodate at New Haven
December
7: earthquake at 11 p.m.
December
25: new meetinghouse dedicated
Publishes
A Letter to the Author of the Pamphlet Called An Answer to the Hampshire
Narrative (co-authored with
brother-in-law Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield)
A
Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God published in London
1738 January
26: voted salary of £250 plus improvement of half of sequestered land
March:
Northampton votes to build a town house for precinct and court sessions
(completed 1739)
April
18: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Longmeadow
April-October:
preaches Charity and Its Fruits
(published 1852)
May
5: old meetinghouse pulled down
May:
Sarah Pierpont Edwards goes to Boston, stays at Benjamin Colman's
July:
Mrs. Bridgman admonished for drunkenness
July
25: son Timothy born
September
15-16: in New Haven to attend Yale commencement; dines at Rev. Joseph Noyes' on
15th, visits college library on 16th
September
19: Ebenezer Hunt's Northampton hatshop burglarized by Samuel West, who is caught
and branded
October
10: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Westfield
October:
"Miscellanies" 756
December
4: £50 added to salary
Publishes
Discourses on Various Important Subjects
Corrected
edition of Faithful Narrative
published in Boston
1739 February:
"Miscellanies" 788
March-August:
preaches History of the Work of Redemption (published 1774)
May
2: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northfield
May
24: preaches lecture in Boston
May
25: dines at Joshua Gee's in Boston
May
28: meets with Timothy Cutler in Boston; lodges at Rev. Ebenezer Parkman's of
Westborough
June
12: Noah Cook, Stephen Wright, and Ebenezer Pomeroy chosen deacons
July:
delivers lecture at New Haven
July
22: Mrs. Bridgman excommunicated at Northampton for drunkenness
August
19: three new deacons ordained at Northampton
August:
"Miscellanies" 807
October
9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northampton
November
26: voted salary of £220 plus improvement of half of sequestered land
Winter:
"Miscellanies" 832
1740 January:
"Miscellanies" 841
March:
measles epidemic; several Edwards children ill
April
1-2: Sarah Pierpont Edwards lodges at Parkman's of Westborough en route to
Boston
April
8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at West Springfield
April
14: preaches funeral sermon of Rev. Nehemiah Bull at Westfield
May
7: preaches ordination sermon of Edward Billing at Cold Spring
June
15: Fifteen-man Northampton church committee appointed to assist in
"matters of difficulty"
June
20: daughter Susannah born
July
20: Hannah Pomeroy admonished for breach of Ninth Commandment
August:
"Miscellanies" 847
September
3: travels to Longmeadow to see cousin Eunice Williams, the "unredeemed
captive"
September:
attends Yale commencement
October
17-19: George Whitefield preaches in Northampton; Edwards accompanies him as
far as East Windsor
October-November:
controversy over public access to Northampton "inner commons"
November:
Preaches at Hadley; "Miscellanies" 859-860
November
25: in New Haven to execute will of Mrs. Mary Pierpont, Sarah Pierpont Edwards'
step-mother
December:
writes "Personal Narrative" in reply to request from Rev. Aaron Burr
"Latter
end": all of the Edwards children have measles
1741 January
20: voted salary of £280 for previous year
January
21: preaches ordination sermon of Chester Williams at Hadley
April
7: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Deerfield
April
14: attends Ebenezer Devotion’s funeral at Suffield and delivers lecture at
West Suffield
April
15: delivers evening lecture at Second Church, Hartford
May:
"Miscellanies" 862
July
1: delivers mid-week lecture at Longmeadow
July
5: conducts sacrament service at Suffield, admits 97 to full communion
July
6: preaches in private home in Suffield to 200 people; rides to East Windsor to
hear Revs. Benjamin Pomeroy and Eleazar Wheelock preach
July
8: preaches Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God at Enfield, published shortly thereafter
August
1: preaches at Hadley in morning
August
24: Hannah Pomeroy excommunicated
August
26: preaches at Sunderland
August-September:
“Miscellanies” 874; awakening peaks in Northampton
September
2: preaches funeral sermon of William Williams of Hatfield, published as The
Resort and Remedy of Those That Are Bereaved by the Death of an Eminent
Minister
September
10: delivers Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God at Yale commencement, published shortly
thereafter
October
14: preaches at Enfield
November
23: Ebenezer Gay arrives prior to examination
November
24: participates in Hampshire Association meeting at Northampton that examines
Ebenezer Gay, who leaves afterwards for Deerfield
November
26:Ebenezer Gay returns to Northampton and leaves following day
Late
November-December: preaching tour
December
19: Samuel Hopkins arrives to study with JE; "Miscellanies" 903
1742 January
13: attends Ebenezer Gay’s ordination at Suffield
January
19-February 4: Sarah Pierpont Edwards experiences series of religious
ecstasies, afterwards undergoes treatment for "hysterical original"
January
25: leaves for eastern Massachusetts as visiting preacher
January
27: supply preacher Samuel Buel arrives at Northampton and renews awakening
until after Edwards returns home
January
28-29: preaches at Leicester
February
1: preaches in Sutton
February
2: preaches at Westborough
February
3: starts return to Northampton; preaches at Worcester
February
10: voted salary of £350 in "bills of credit" plus wood and
improvement of half of sequestered land
March
4: in South Hadley to confer about ordaining new minister
March
16: covenant renewal at Northampton
March
23: with Sarah Pierpont Edwards in Suffield; preaches p.m. at Ebenezer Smith’s
home
March
28: preaches in morning at Newington, Conn.
March
29: preaches in afternoon at Farmington, Conn.
March
30: preaches in morning at Waterbury, Conn.
Late
March: Hopkins leaves to be licensed
April
1: lodges with Sarah Pierpont Edwards at Suffield
April:
preaches in Boston (Sarah Gill Diary)
April
21: attends ordination of John Woodbridge at South Hadley
Late
April/early May: in New Haven
May-end
of summer: Hopkins comes back to study
May
11: Hampshire County church delegates meet at Northampton on “the present
religious Circumstances of the Land,” issues A Copy of the Resolves of a
Council of Churches (Boston,
1742)
May
17: Sarah Pierpont Edwards sets out for Boston
May
18-19: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and Yale freshman John Searle lodge at Parkman's
of Westborough en route to Boston
May
19: preaches “stated lecture”
May
26: Sarah Pierpont Edwards in Boston
May
29-31: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and Searle lodge at Parkman's of Westborough on
return to Northampton
June:
"Miscellanies" 991
June
20: preaches in morning, Jonathan Judd in afternoon
June
22: arrives at Suffield with other Hampshire County ministers
June
23: attends day of fasting and prayer at Suffield
June
24: returns to Northampton
June
25: “Mr Edwards preached again to Day in publick” (Hopkins Journal)
June
30: preaches “stated lecture” in afternoon; Job Strong preaches at night
June
31: preaches at Suffield
July
18: Samuel Hopkins supplies Northampton pulpit all day
August:
travels to eastern Massachusetts area, probably Boston; on return home, asked
to preach at Concord
August
22: at Suffield
August
31: at Suffield
Fall-Winter:
writes Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New
England
September
25: arrives at Ebenezer Gay’s house in Suffield
September
26: preaches in West Suffield
September
27: delivers lecture at Suffield
September
28: ill at Ebenezer Gay’s house in Suffield
September
29: leaves for Northampton
October
12: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Longmeadow
October
20-21: lodges at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
October
24: Samuel Hopkins preaches in afternoon at Northampton “wholly without notes”
October
27: at Shutesbury to attend ordination of Abraham Hill
December
8: John Lyman's house burns, two children killed
Begins
sermon series (apparently ending in 1743) eventually published as Treatise
Concerning Religious Affections
1743 January
11: salary £300 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
February
15-17: at Westfield to hear disciplinary case of exhorter Bathsheba Kingsley
March
6-7: James Davenport in New London
March
25: in Lebanon at sister Abigail Edwards Metcalf's
End
of March: Some Thoughts published; Edwards leads council of
ministers in New London to "reclaim" people incited by James
Davenport
Mar.
31: preaches lecture at New London “against ye prevailing disorders &
destractions”
April
5: lectures at Jeremiah Leavitt’s home in Suffield
&