Benjamin Tappan
Benjamin Tappan [1]
a Congregational minister, tile son of the Rev. David Tappan, professor of divinity in Harvard College, and grandson of Benjamin Tappan, pastor in Manchester, Mass., was born at West Newbury, Mass., Nov. 7,1788. He graduated at Harvard College in 1805, spent some time teaching at Woburn and Salem, and in 1809 became tutor at Bowdoin College, Me., which position he held for two years. In 1811 he was ordained over the Church in Augusta, Me., and continued pastor until he assumed the secretaryship of the Maine Missionary Society in 1849. His death took place Dec. 22, 1863. His ministry was eminently useful, and few men occupy a more prominent place in the history of Congregationalism in Maine. He was vice-president of the board of Bowdoin College until his death, secretary of the Maine Missionary Society from 1849 to 1863, and trustee of Bangor Theological Seminary from 1825, of which he was a most liberal and steadfast friend, and a professorship in which he declined in 1829. Dr. Tappan was an immense worker, was noted for his hospitality and generosity, and his Christian character was one of beauty and strength. He was an effective preacher, and had a remarkable gift in prayer. Dr. Tappan was one of the pioneers in the temperance reform, preaching a sermon on the subject in 1813. Waterville College (now Colby University) conferred upon him the degree of D.D. in 1836, and Bowdoin in 1845. See Cong. Quarterly art. by his son Benjamin), 1865, p. 131-159.
