Herman Daggett | |
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Born | Walpole, Massachusetts, U.S. | September 11, 1766
Died | May 19, 1832 | (aged 65)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Animal rights activist |
Herman Daggett (September 11, 1766 – May 19, 1832) was an American Presbyterian minister and early animal rights writer.
Daggett was born on September 11, 1766, at Walpole, Massachusetts.[1][2] He was the son of physician Ebenezer Daggett, brother of Naphtali Daggett.[1] He moved to Wrentham as a boy. Daggett attended Brown University in 1784 and graduated in 1788.[1] He studied theology under Nathanael Emmons.[3] Daggett became a licensed Congregational preacher in 1789.[1][4] He preached at Long Island and Southampton. He joined the pastoral office on April 12, 1792.[1] He married Sarah, daughter of Colonel Mathewson on September 3, 1792.[1] He resigned from Southampton and joined the pastoral care of the West Hampton church. He held this position from 1797 to 1801.[1] He became pastor of the church at Fire Place and Middle Island in Brookhaven until 1807.[1] After this he preached at New Canaan, Connecticut and North Salem, New York. Daggett was President (1818–1824) of the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut.[1][4] Daggett died on May 19, 1832.[2]
On September 7, 1791, Daggett gave a lecture at Providence College (now Brown University) entitled "The Rights of Animals: An Oration" which was one of the earliest calls for animal protection in the United States.[5][6][7] The lecture was his master's thesis and was printed in 1792 by David Frothingham.[5] It has been described as "the first known American treatise on animal rights".[8] It was re-printed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1926.[9]