Amory Dwight Mayo

Amory Dwight Mayo (31 January 1823 - 8 April 1907) was a Unitarian clergyman and educator.

Biography

Mayo was born in Warwick, Massachusetts, the son of Amory Mayo and Sophronia Cobb. He enrolled at Amherst College in 1843. During his freshman year, illness forced him to leave school. For a short time he taught at district schools, but interest in the ministry led him to begin studying theology with Rev. Hosea Ballou II. By 1846, Mayo was an ordained Universalist minister.

Ministry

Mayo's first congregation was in Gloucester. His preaching style, according to his parishioners, was appealing, enlightening, and spiritually uplifting, and his popularity led to ever-increasing church attendance. Mayo's health, however, was unsteady, sometimes preventing him from delivering church services. Nevertheless, many of his sermons were collected in his works The Balance; or, Moral Arguments for Universalism (1847) and Graces and Powers of the Christian Life (1853). These books provided continued Christian growth and spiritual illumination both for his congregation and future Christians.