Ezra Palmer Gould

Ezra Palmer Gould (February 27, 1841 – August 22, 1900) was a Baptist and later, Episcopal, minister, He graduated Harvard University in 1861 and subsequently served in the Civil War. He entered the ministry in 1868. His commentary on the Gospel of Mark continued to be reprinted in the International Critical Commentary series.

Early life, family, and education


Ezra Palmer Gould was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 27, 1841, to S. L. Gould and Frances Ann Shelton Gould. He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1861, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was married September 1, 1868, to Jenny M. Stone, and had two children, Herbert Shelton and Edith Parker.

Military service
Shortly after his graduation, he enlisted as a private in the 24th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was soon promoted to the rank of corporal. His regiment participated in the Battle of New Bern, and was stationed near that community for nine months. During this time, he received news of his brother's death at Antietam. He was then commissioned as second lieutenant of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteers on October 15, 1863, and subsequently commissioned as a captain with the 59th Massachusetts Volunteers. While commanding the 55th Massachusetts during the Battle of the Wilderness, he was wounded in the left arm and hand, and ultimately lost the little finger on that hand.

Seminary education and work
Upon leaving his military service in 1865, he entered Newton Theological Institution, a Baptist seminary, graduating three years later, and immediately becoming professor of New Testament Literature and Interpretation, a position which he held until 1882. That year, he was "unseated" from his faculty position as his "theological views had become unsatisfactory." His dismissal was considered "a theological sensation in 1883."

In 1889, he assumed a similar position at the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School in Philadelphia, which he held for nine years, and was ordained into the Episcopal priesthood on February 18, 1891.

He died in White Lake, Sullivan County, New York, on August 22, 1900, and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

Pastorates

 * Old Cambridge Baptist Church – 1868–?
 * Berean Baptist Church (Burlington, Virginia) – 1884–1888
 * St. George's Episcopal Church, New York – 1898–1900