Edward Dorr Griffin

Edward Dorr Griffin (January 6, 1770 – November 8, 1837) was a Christian minister and an American educator who served as President of Williams College from 1821 to 1836 and served as the first pastor of Park Street Church from 1811 to 1815. Life and career Griffin was born in East Haddam, Connecticut. His brother was the theological author George Griffin. Griffin graduated from Yale College in 1790 as the school's first Phi Beta Kappa student. He was licensed in 1792 and began his ministry in New Salem, Massachusetts the next year. In 1795 he was ordained at the Congregational Church in New Hartford, Connecticut. He earned his Doctorate of Divinity from Union College in 1808 and became professor of rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary the next year. In 1811 he officially became the first pastor of Park Street Church in Boston where he preached a prominent series of sermons opposing New Divinity.