Rev Jonathan Blanchard Sr.

Advertisement

Rev Jonathan Blanchard Sr.

Birth
Rockingham, Windham County, Vermont, USA
Death
14 May 1892 (aged 81)
Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois, USA
Burial
Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Suggest Edits
Outspoken Christian social reformer, educator and pastor of the mid-nineteenth century; founder and first president of Wheaton College (Illinois). His staunch opposition to slavery and secret societies identified him as a radical activist and champion of evangelical gospel work in cooperation with social reform. Educated at Andover and Lane seminaries, he was ordained in 1838. He pastored the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati from then until becoming president of Knox College (Galesburg, Illinois) in 1845. It was during this time he became a prominent voice for abolition. In 1843, he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London where he was elected vice-president of the convention. His public challenge of Senator Stephen Douglas' politcal stance on slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act led to a public debate with Douglas at Galesburg in 1854. He left Knox College in 1858 and in 1859 took over an ailing little school in Wheaton, Illinois, called the Illinois Institute. He renamed the school and esentially founded it as Wheaton College in 1860. He was president of the school until 1882, when he ran for President of the United States on the Anti-Masonic Party ticket. After the election, he lived his remaining years in Wheaton. Wheaton College continues to thrive as an evangelical institution, producing such well known alumni as evangelist Billy Graham and Dan Coats, former US Senator and current Director of National Intelligence.
Outspoken Christian social reformer, educator and pastor of the mid-nineteenth century; founder and first president of Wheaton College (Illinois). His staunch opposition to slavery and secret societies identified him as a radical activist and champion of evangelical gospel work in cooperation with social reform. Educated at Andover and Lane seminaries, he was ordained in 1838. He pastored the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati from then until becoming president of Knox College (Galesburg, Illinois) in 1845. It was during this time he became a prominent voice for abolition. In 1843, he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London where he was elected vice-president of the convention. His public challenge of Senator Stephen Douglas' politcal stance on slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act led to a public debate with Douglas at Galesburg in 1854. He left Knox College in 1858 and in 1859 took over an ailing little school in Wheaton, Illinois, called the Illinois Institute. He renamed the school and esentially founded it as Wheaton College in 1860. He was president of the school until 1882, when he ran for President of the United States on the Anti-Masonic Party ticket. After the election, he lived his remaining years in Wheaton. Wheaton College continues to thrive as an evangelical institution, producing such well known alumni as evangelist Billy Graham and Dan Coats, former US Senator and current Director of National Intelligence.

Family Members

Parents
Spouse
Siblings
Children

See more Blanchard memorials in:

Flower Delivery