Introduction

Biography

Oliver was the son of bu­si­ness­man Will­iam Sam­uel Huck­el and Ruth Ann Sprowles, and hus­band of Eli­za­beth John­son.

An 1887 gra­du­ate of the Uni­vers­ity of Penn­syl­van­ia, he was known as the class po­et, and spoke at the uni­vers­ity’s ce­le­bra­tion of the birth of Am­eri­can pre­si­dent George Wash­ing­ton, and at the 1887 gra­du­ation ce­re­mo­ny. He went on to stu­dy at Har­vard Uni­vers­ity and An­do­ver Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry, New­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts.

In 1890, he was or­dained a Con­gre­ga­tion­al mi­nis­ter, and re­ceived a Mas­ter of Arts de­gree from the Uni­vers­ity of Penn­syl­van­ia, and a Ba­che­lor of Sac­red Theo­lo­gy de­gree from Bos­ton Uni­vers­ity.

He then pas­tored in Wey­mouth, Mas­sa­chu­setts, un­til 1894, when he went abroad to stu­dy at the Uni­vers­ity of Ber­lin and Ox­ford Uni­vers­ity.

He re­turned to Am­eri­ca in 1896, serv­ing brief­ly in Am­herst, Mas­sa­chu­setts, then mov­ing to the As­so­ci­ate Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church, Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land, where he stayed the next two de­cades.

In 1917, he moved to the Se­cond Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Green­wich, Con­nec­ti­cut, and re­tired in 1905. He al­so served as chap­lain at Johns Hop­kins Uni­vers­ity, Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land; Cor­nell Uni­vers­ity; and the Uni­vers­ity of Vir­gin­ia.