Abbot, Francis

Abbot, Francis (Ellingwood)

(1836–1903) philosopher; born in Boston, Mass. Forced to resign as a Unitarian pastor because of his free-thinking views (1868), he devoted himself to aggressively promoting them: he was president of the National Liberal League (1876–78), editor of The Index: A Journal of Free Religion (1870–80), and author of such works as Scientific Theism (1885).