Laurens Perseus Hickok was born in Bethel, Connecticut, on December 29, 1798. After teaching school, he enrolled at Union College as a junior in 1819, and graduated the following year. He then decided he wanted to enter the ministry, and studied theology informally. He was ordained in the Congregational church in 1824. After pastorates in Kent and Litchfield, Connecticut, he became a professor of theology at Western Reserve College (now Case Western University) from 1836 to 1844, at Auburn Theological Seminary (1845-1853), and at Union College (1853-1866). He served as president of Union College between 1866 and 1868, and then retired to Amherst, Massachusetts, where he edited some of his works and occasionally accepted speaking engagements. He and his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, were married in 1822; they had no children. Laurens Perseus Hickok died on May 6, 1888.
From the guide to the Laurens Perseus Hickok lectures, Hickok, Laurens Perseus lectures, 1847-1848, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
