Mr. William Thurston, Esq.

The superintendent of the first Sunday School in the “orthodox” churches in Boston, Mr. Thurston was one of the founders of Park Street Church. In fact, the organizing meeting took place in his Beacon Hill home, where he was a neighbor of founder Daniel D. Rogers.

The Sunday School was not Mr. Thurston’s first experience with schools. He was born in Exeter, NH on September 29, 1772, and after graduating from Dartmouth in 1792, he took charge of a grammar school in Keene, NH the following year. He then went to Boston where he was admitted to the bar, but he continued working on committees for the primary schools in Boston along with founder Deacon Moses Grant. Mr. Thurston died on a foreign voyage in Naples, Italy on Aug. 25, 1822.