Henry Davenport Northrop


Henry Davenport Northrop also known as H. D. Northrop, was an American author, and Presbyterian minister. He was a prolific writer of compendiums of history in the late 19th-century and early 20th-century and wrote about unexpected facts which spanned various topics.

Life and career

Henry Davenport Northrop was born on March 10, 1836, in Pulteney, New York, to parents Sophia and Daniel Northrop. He attended Cortland Academy in Homer, New York.
He graduated with a B.A. degree in 1857, from Amherst College; followed by studies of theology at Union Theological Seminary from 1858 to 1859; and Yale Theological Seminary from 1859 to 1860.
He married Josephine Lucia Merrick in 1862, and had three children.
Northrop became an ordained pastor of the Congregational church in 1861. Northrop served as the pastor of the Fourth Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut from 1876 until 1879. Additionally he held pastorates in New York City, London, Philadelphia, and Seymour, Connecticut.

Late life and death

He started abundant publishing of books in his late life. His book, Earth, Sea And Sky Or, Marvels of the Universe explored weird facts about the ancient world, oceans and seas, sea creatures, and astronomy; and featured more than 300 engravings.
Northrop died of kidney disease on August 29, 1909, in Yonkers, New York. He was interred at Trinity Cemetery in Seymour, Connecticut.

Publications