George Barrell Cheever was born in Hallowell, Maine on April 17th, 1807. He graduated from Andover seminary in 1830 and was ordained pastor of Howard Street Congregational Church in Boston in 1832. He wrote pieces for many periodicals including many on the subject of Temperance. Cheever was tried for libel and imprisoned for thirty days. After this he resigned as a pastor and went to Europe for four years. He returned in 1839 and preached at the Allen Street Presbyterian Church in New York City. From 1846 to 1870, Cheever was the pastor at the Church of the Puritans in New York. After he retired, he moved to Englewood, New Jersey and contributed to many publications until his death.