RARE "Harvard Divinity School" John G. Palfrey Cut Signature COA For Sale

Up for sale a RARE! "Harvard Divinity School" John G. Palfrey Cut Signature.

ES-8246

John Gorham Palfrey (May 2,

1796 – April 26, 1881) was an American clergyman and historian who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.

A Unitarian minister, he

played a leading role in the early history of Harvard Divinity School, and he later

became involved in politics as a State Representative and U.S. Congressman. He

was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Mary Sturgis Gorham and John Palfrey, a

son of the merchant and Patriot William

Palfrey. In 1803, his mother died soon after giving birth, and in

1804 his father moved to Baltimore. Palfrey began school at the Berry Street

Academy in Boston and studied Greek and Latin with William Ellery Channing. He completed

preparatory studies as a "charity student" at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Harvard University in 1815. He studied theology

at Harvard Divinity School, graduating in its

second class.