The Mischief-Maker turned Clergyman
Patrick Henry Greenleaf was born in Gray, Maine, in 1808. His mother, Hannah Kingsman, was the daughter of a Captain and his father Simon Greenleaf was a prestigious jurist and one of Bowdoin’s overseers. When Patrick was little his parents moved to Portland and soon become one of the city’s most prominent families. In Portland, Greenleaf likely became well acquainted with Edward Deering Preble, Frederic Mellen, John Dafforne Kinsman, and the Longfellow brothers. For high school, Greenleaf attended Portland Academy along with Preble. Greenleaf completed his studies there at a young age and matriculated at Bowdoin at just thirteen.
Greenleaf spent his first year in Brunswick boarding with Josiah Stover Little at Mrs. Greenleaf’s, who may have been his relation. Early on he joined the Athenean Society, which gave him social connections through his Bowdoin career and beyond. Sophomore year Greenleaf moved to Captain McLellan’s along with Thomas Ayer, James Ware Bradbury, and Gorham Deane. Around this time he also began to cement himself as one of the most pernicious troublemakers of his year. Greenleaf was constantly fined for missing prayers and neglecting his work, more than nearly anyone else in the class.
In a letter June 2, 1822 letter to classmate George Washington Pierce, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was then studying from Portland, expressed his concern that Greenleaf might be sullying the good name of the boys from Portland:
What do you think of Greenleaf? Is he not considered as a fellow of excellent natural abilities? That is my opinion and I think that he only needs application to give him a high standing in class. What I have heard of him since he has resided at Brunswick, rather inclines me to believe that he is not a very close applicant to his studies–and I am sorry for it, because I think that the “Representatives from our Western towns” should hold high rank in the Class.
The consequences for Greenleaf’s poor behavior went beyond just fines. In August of 1823, the Executive Government wrote to his father about his negligence.
Junior year, Greenleaf and Preble lived together in Winthrop Hall. The scholar kicked off another year of Bowdoin censure with a fine for sleeping at prayers. By January he had racked up so many fines, that the college had to send his father a revised bill. Greenleaf also got in trouble for not returning library books, for participating in a bonfire and then for “prevaricating” about the bonfire before the Government. In May of 1824, Greenleaf got cited for taking an unauthorized walk on the Sabbath with Horatio Bridge and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Considering that Bridge and Hawthorne were also members in the Athenean Society and regular targets of Bowdoin’s ire, it seems likely that Greenleaf was a friend of theirs.
Senior year Greenleaf repeated his freshman year living arrangements, boarding with Little at Mrs. Greenleaf’s. Though physically removed from campus, Greenleaf still found a way to get in his fair share of trouble. The Government had to write to his parents again in August and as late as May he and Preble were “admonished before the government.” Given his poor reputation among Bowdoin’s leaders and tendency to ignore his work, it is no surprise that Greenleaf was never asked to speak at a class exhibition nor given a rank at commencement. Still, the seventeen-year-old left Brunswick in 1825 as a graduate of Bowdoin College.
After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Greenleaf set his sights on a legal career. He spent three years in Portland studying and then practicing law under his father, Simon. He also obtained two masters’ degrees, one from Trinity College in 1827 and one from Bowdoin in 1828. In 1831 Greenleaf opened his own legal practice with former classmate John Dafforne Kinsman. The two practiced together until 1834. While Greenleaf was growing his legal career, he was also growing his family. In 1829, he married Margaret Johnson, the daughter of a Massachusetts Captain. The Greenleafs quickly welcomed six children: Henry, Henrietta, James, Charles, George, and Charlotte. Two other daughters passed away as children.
Greenleaf’s stable family life in Portland would drastically change in 1835. The lawyer had become an Episcopalian in 1830 and over time he became increasingly involved in the church. He started publishing religious pieces in a Portland newspaper called the Children’s Guide. These caught the eye of an Episcopal Bishop in Burlington, Vermont, who invited Greenleaf to study with him. Realizing that he would rather be a clergyman than an attorney, Greenleaf left his Portland life behind and moved to Vermont. There he ran a Sunday school and edited a religious magazine. However, a schism soon grew between Greenleaf and the bishop who recruited him, and the divinity student moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to finish his education. Though tempted by an offer from Bristol College in Pennsylvania to become a language professor, Greenleaf decided to fully commit his life to the church. He was ordained as a deacon and in the following years he took charge of many churches throughout the United States. He went from Massachusetts to Tennessee, back to Massachusetts and then to Indiana, Ohio and finally New York City. A report from the church he ran in Cincinnati states that Greenleaf took the initiative to open an industrial school for girls in 1857. Along with institutional work, Greenleaf also continued to write as a newspaper contributor. At various times he wrote for the Portland Magazine, the Portland. Gazette, the Maine Wesleyan Journal, the Episcopal Watchman, and the Missionary.
Greenleaf continued to support Bowdoin after he became an alumnus. Specifically, he was an active member of Athenean Society for Graduates of Bowdoin and became its President. In 1850, he returned to Bowdoin Commencement to serve as the Athenean Society’s chaplain. Greenleaf also continued to further his education, obtaining a Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Indiana in 1869. He died that same year of a cerebral hemorrhage. Greenleaf had gone into his study to work for the afternoon and when he did not emerge his family sent a messenger to check on him. The man found Greenleaf dead at his desk, peering over a diary that he was making extracts from. The young teen who racked up hundreds of dollars avoiding his work became a 60-year-old who passed away working on his passions. Greenleaf’s six children all went on to have successful lives. Henry, James, and George all became merchants in New Orleans and Boston. Charles studied medicine and Henrietta and Charlotte both had long-lasting marriages.