Ripley, Samuel, 1783-1847

Samuel Ripley was minister of the First Parish in Waltham, Mass. His father, Ezra Ripley lived in the Old Manse while he was minister in Concord and Samuel Ripley moved there in 1846.

Minister of the First Congregational Church in Waltham, Mass., and later (1839-1846) of the Independent Congregational Society in Waltham. Son of Rev. Ezra Ripley of Concord, Mass., and Phebe Bliss Emerson Ripley (widow of William Emerson, Ezra Ripley's predecessor as pastor of the First Parish in Concord). Born in the Old Manse, Concord, in 1783; died in Concord, Nov. 24, 1847. Graduate of Harvard College. In 1809, Ripley accepted the pastorate of the First Church in Waltham. In 1818, he married the learned Sarah Alden Bradford (daughter of Gamaliel Bradford.

(Cont.) and sister of George Partridge Bradford). While raising a large family together in Waltham, they ran a boarding school (established by Ripley prior to their marriage) to prepare boys for Harvard College. Among their pupils were Ralph Waldo Emerson (son of Samuel Ripley's half-brother William Emerson) and his brothers. Ripley's son-in-law George F. Simmons was installed as pastor of the Independent Congregational Society in 1841. Ripley remained as an (unpaid) associate pastor until 1846, when he retired to the Old Manse.