Stephen Rensselaer Smith

Stephen Rensselaer Smith (1788-1850) was an early Universalist minister in New York State. Born in Rhode Island and raised in Oneida County, New York, he was ordained in 1814 and served congregations in New Hartford, Clinton, Albany, and Buffalo while preaching widely across the region. He helped establish the Clinton Liberal Institute, an early Universalist school, and edited denominational periodicals. His Historical Sketches and Incidents (1843) is a firsthand account of the rise of Universalism in New York.

Central and western New York was Universalism's great growth region in the early republic — the same 'burned-over district' that bred so many American religious movements — and Stephen R. Smith was its pioneer preacher. His sketches record the founding of societies, the itinerant ministers, the debates and revivals, told largely from personal knowledge. The primary printed source for the denomination's expansion across New York.

(Note: this summary was automatically generated and may be inaccurate.)