# Benjamin Franklin DeCosta > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta > Source revision: 1330415473 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American novelist (1831–1904) This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Benjamin Franklin DeCosta" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) **Benjamin Franklin DeCosta** or **de Costa** (July 10, 1831 – November 4, 1904) was an American clergyman and historical writer. ## Biography He was born in [Charlestown, Massachusetts](/source/Charlestown%2C_Massachusetts), and graduated in 1856 at the Biblical Institute at [Concord, New Hampshire](/source/Concord%2C_New_Hampshire) (later part of [Boston University](/source/Boston_University)), became a minister in the [Episcopal Church](/source/Episcopal_Church_(United_States)) in 1857, and during the next three years was a rector first at [North Adams](/source/North_Adams%2C_Massachusetts), and then at [Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts](/source/Newton_Lower_Falls%2C_Massachusetts). After serving as chaplain in the [18th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry](/source/18th_Massachusetts_Volunteer_Infantry) and one other Massachusetts regiment during the first two years of the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), he became editor (1863) of *[The Christian Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Christian_Times&action=edit&redlink=1)* in New York City, and subsequently edited *[The Episcopalian](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Episcopalian&action=edit&redlink=1)* and *[The Magazine of American History](/source/The_Magazine_of_American_History)*. He was rector of the [Church of St John the Evangelist](/source/St._John_the_Evangelist's_Church_(Manhattan)) in New York City from 1881 to 1899, at which time he resigned while converting to [Roman Catholicism](/source/Roman_Catholicism).[1] He was one of the organizers and long the secretary of the Church Temperance Society, and founded and was the first president (1884–1899) of the American branch of the White Cross Society. He became a high authority on early American cartography and the history of the period of exploration. In addition to numerous monographs and valuable contributions to [Justin Winsor](/source/Justin_Winsor)'s *Narrative and Critical History of America*, he published *The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen* (1868); *The Northmen in Maine* (1870); *The Moabite Stone* (1871); *The Rector of Roxburgh* (1871), a novel under the *nom de plume* of William Hickling; and *Verrazano the Explorer; being a Vindication of his Letter and Voyage* (1880). He died in New York City in 1904.[1] ## See also - [Biography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography) - [American Civil War portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:American_Civil_War) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-1) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). "[De Costa, Benjamin Franklin](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/De_Costa,_Benjamin_Franklin)". *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 915. ## External links English [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has original works by or about: **[Benjamin Franklin DeCosta](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:Author:Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta)** - [Works by or about Benjamin Franklin DeCosta](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20Franklin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20F%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20B%2E%20F%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Benjamin%20Franklin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Benjamin%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22B%2E%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Benjamin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Benjamin%20Franklin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Benjamin%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22B%2E%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22B%2E%20Franklin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20Franklin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20F%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20B%2E%20F%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20B%2E%20Franklin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Benjamin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Benjamin%20Franklin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Benjamin%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20title%3A%22B%2E%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Benjamin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Benjamin%20Franklin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Benjamin%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20description%3A%22B%2E%20F%2E%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20description%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20Franklin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%20F%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Benjamin%20DeCosta%22%20OR%20description%3A%22DeCosta%2C%20Benjamin%22%29%20OR%20%28%221831-1904%22%20AND%20DeCosta%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) - [18th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Website](http://www.18thmass.com) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200807123455/https://www.18thmass.com/) August 7, 2020, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) - [Touch the Elbow – Blogging the Civil War by researchers of the 18th Massachusetts](http://www.touchtheelbow.com) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Italy Netherlands Israel People Trove Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Franklin DeCosta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_DeCosta?action=history)). 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