Henry Jackson Van Dyke was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, to Henrietta Ashmead and Henry Jackson Van Dyke, a respected Presbyterian clergyman. The son was influenced by his father's role as minister, though the boy was not necessarily a model child. As his father said of his two sons, "Paul was born good, but Henry was saved by grace." In 1868 Van Dyke met Robert E. Lee, who gave him a ride on his horse, Traveller.He studied at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and received an M.A. from Princeton University in 1876. He was an ideal student, active in a myriad of extracurricular activities as well as his classes. Yet, not wishing to be considered a bookworm, Van Dyke often disguised how much he studied and was willing to involve himself in some youthful pranks. He included in his college scrapbook a poster offering a fifty-dollar "reward for the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons who took the gate and damaged the fences on the Seminary and Library grounds." In the margin is the note: "They didn't catch us. H.v.D.When he entered Princeton Theological Seminary in September 1874 it was with the understanding that he might not become a minister, since his real dream was to be a writer. However, in 1879 he entered the Presbyterian ministry and four years later became the pastor of the famous Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he gained a national reputation for his preaching. He had preached his first sermon on 21 October 1875 at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on "The Voice of God," about hearing God in nature, a theme that would resurface in much of his later writing. In fact, his love of the outdoors was a crucial part of his Christianity, and in the early twentieth century he became a conservationist speaking out for the preservation of Yellowstone. This dual belief in nature and religion colored his literary criticism as well as his other writing throughout his life. As he was beginning his career as a minister, Van Dyke was also launching his career as a writer. In September 1879 he went with his friend the artist W. S. Macy to the Red River Valley wheat farms where he saw the problems with large agricultural systems that were depleting the land and exploiting migrant labor. With Macy he did an illustrated article for Harper's Monthly Magazine; it was the lead article for the May 1880 issue.
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