Rev. Edward Payson (1783-1827)
Senior Pastor of the Congregational Church at Portland, Maine
He was born into a well-known ecclesiastical family at Rindge, New Hampshire. In line with family tradition, he was educated at Harvard (1803) and became principal of an academy at Portland in Maine before returning to Rindge to study theology under his father. He returned to Portland in 1807 where in the same year he was appointed Junior Pastor in the Congregational Church and then Senior Pastor from 1811, a position he held until his death in 1827. During that time he became one of the best-known clergymen of his era, publishing several discourses and sermons. In 1811, he married Ann, daughter of Elias Shipman, of New Haven, Connecticut, and they had six children (listed above) who lived to adulthood. Their children included the hymn writer Mrs Elizabeth (Payson) Prentiss as well as the founder of the prominent firm of H.M. Payson & Co. that saw considerable success under their grandsons, Charles and Herbert.
