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William Greenough Thayer Shedd

American theologian (1820–1894)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ8010175 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Greenough Thayer Shedd (June 21, 1820 – November 17, 1894) was an American Presbyterian theologian from Massachusetts. He also served as a professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York for over sixteen years.

Life

William Greenough Thayer Shedd was the son of the Reverend Marshall Shedd and Eliza Thayer and was born in Acton, Massachusetts on June 21, 1820.

In 1835, Shedd enrolled at the University of Vermont and became a protégé of UVM president James Marsh. Under the influence of his mentor, Shedd was deeply affected by the thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Transcendentalism. He graduated from UVM in 1839 and taught school for one year, during which time he began to attend the Presbyterian church. Being called to the ministry, Shedd entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1840 and studied under theologian Leonard Woods. He graduated in 1843.

After a short pastorate at Brandon, Vermont, he was successively professor of English literature at the University of Vermont (1845–1852), professor of sacred rhetoric in Auburn Theological Seminary (1852–1854), professor of church history in Andover Theological Seminary (1854–1862), and, after one year as associate pastor of the Brick Church of New York City (1862–1863), professor of sacred literature (1863–1874) and of systematic theology (1874–1890) in Union Theological Seminary. He died in New York City on November 17, 1894.

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This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William Greenough Thayer Shedd” as american theologian (1820–1894). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1820, 1894, 1835, 1839—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1820-06-21. The account is most persuasive where William, Greenough and Thayer can be independently traced.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american theologian (1820–1894). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8010175. VIAF identifies the subject as 18521965. The Library of Congress control number is n80070506. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1820, 1894, 1835 and 1839.

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This entry incorporates text from “William Greenough Thayer Shedd” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.