Samuel M. Warren (1822–1908)

SAMUEL M WARREN (1822-1908) had a long and varied career. He started his working life as a farmer in Vermont, was a schoolteacher in New York State, and made his fortune working for a roofing company in Cincinnati, where he invented the ‘tar and gravel' style of roofing that is still in wide use today. He studied law for many years and passed the bar exam, but never practised, instead electing to become a minister in the New Church. His religious career led him to England, where he met his wife, Sarah. The two of them lived together in England for many years before returning to Massachusetts, where Warren had been born. He was the minister of a New Church society in Brookline, Massachusetts from 1864 until 1870, and then taught at the New Church Theological School. His later years were devoted to writing, editing and translating. In 1898 he bought a farm in Vermont, where he spent his summers until his death. [Swedenborg Society]