Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Abbott, Lyman
ABBOTT, Lyman, D.D., son of the late Jacob Abbott, born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, Dec. 18, 1835. He graduated at the University of New York in 1853, was ordained a Congregational minister in 1860, and was pastor of various churches until 1865, when he became Secretary of the Freedmen's Commission until 1868. Subsequently he devoted himself mainly to literary pursuits. He had previously, in conjunction with his brothers, written two novels, "Conecut Corners," and "Matthew Carnaby," under the nom de guerre of "Benauly," formed from the initial syllables of their respective names (Benjamin, Austin, and Lyman). Besides several smaller works he has published "Jesus of Nazareth: His Life and Teachings," 1869; "Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths," 1870; "A Layman's Story," 1873; "Commentary on the New Testament," 1875–77; edited two volumes of Henry Ward Beecher's Sermons, 1868; a volume of his "Morning Exercises," 1870; and, with T. C. Conant, a "Dictionary of Religious Knowledge." Later he was one of the editors of Harper's Monthly Magazine, and principal editor of the Illustrated Christian Weekly. At present he is the editor of the Christian Union. Two of his brothers, Benjamin V. (born in 1830), and Austin (born in 1831), are prominent lawyers in New York, and have prepared several legal works.