Jonathon Edwards (1716 – 1758)
Jonathan Edwards Born in Connecticut, Edwards entered Yale in 1716 at the age of thirteen, after receiving his early education from his father, who was a congregational minister. In 1729, he assumed full ministerial duties for his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, at Northampton, Massachusetts. Under the influence of Edward's preaching, Northampton and neighbouring parishes experienced a powerful spiritual awakening. During this time he made the acquaintance of George Whitefield, who was instrumental in promoting Edwards abroad. Edwards preached the most famous sermon during the Great Awakening, and likely the most famous sermon in all American history in 1741, "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God." In 1750 he was dismissed from his charge at Northampton and the following year resettled in Stockbridge, where he led the small church and served as teacher and missionary to the Indians who resided in the vicinity. In 1758 he assumed duties as president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) but died a month later of smallpox inoculation.
