Bates, Joshua Dd

Bates, Joshua D.D., an eminent Congregational minister, was born at Cohasset, Mass., March 20, 1776. Under the instruction of Rev. Josiah C. Shaw he prepared for Harvard College, teaching a select school meanwhile, and graduating in 1800, when he became assistant teacher in the Andover Phillips Academy for one year. At this time he began to study theology under Rev. Jonathan French. In 1802 he was licensed to preach, and was ordained pastor of the Church at Dedham, Mass., March 16, 1803, and in this connection he served fifteen years. In March, 1818, he became president of Middlebury College, from which position he retired at the age of sixty-four. Being in Washington, D. C., at that time, he was chosen chaplain to Congress. After a visit to South Carolina, he preached for two months at Portland, Me., and then for two years as supply at Northborough, Mass. On March 22, 1843, he was installed pastor of the Church at Dudley, Mass., and he died there Jan. 14, 1854. Dr. Bates published a large number of sermons, lectures, etc. As a college president, he was very popular and efficient. His elocution was remarkably distinct. A striking trait in his character was his punctuality. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 2, 465.