Henry Davenport Northrop (March 10, 1836 â August 29, 1909) 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.
Henry Davenport Northrop was born on March 10, 1836, in Pulteney, New York (sp. Poultney), to parents Sophia (née Williams) and Daniel Northrop. He attended Cortland Academy (now Homer Senior High School) 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 (now Yale Divinity School) 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.
He started abundant publishing of books in his late life. His book, Earth, Sea And Sky Or, Marvels of the Universe (1887) explored weird facts about the ancient world (before humans), 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.