Born in western Massachusetts, in the town of Sandisfield, on April 6, 1810, Edmund Hamilton Sears attended Union College, Schenectady, New York, graduating in 1834. After graduation from Harvard Divinity School in 1837, he served Unitarian congregations in the vicinity of Boston: Wayland, Lancaster, and Weston, Massachusetts. He also helped edit the Monthly Religious Magazine. Among his publications were Regeneration, 1853; Pictures of the Olden Time, 1857; The Fourth Gospel, the Heart of Christ, 1872; and Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life, 1875. He died January 14 (or 16), 1876, at Weston.

His works include:

1. Regeneration (1854)
2. Pictures of the Olden Time (1857)
3. Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life (1875)

Hymns:

1. Calm on the Listening Ear of Night
2. It Came upon the Midnight Clear

Source: Notes from the Hymnuts and The Cyberhymnal