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Blanchard was born on January 19, 1811 in the town of Rockingham, Vermont. His mother, Polly Lovell, was from a family of early settlers in the town. His father, Jonathan Blanchard, Sr. emigrated to the region from Massachusetts in the 1790s and bought a farm near Saxtons River, Vermont in 1801. Fifteen children were born to their union, Jonathan Jr. being the eleventh. His formal education began at the age of 4 when he entered the local district school. His first experience as an educator came at the age of 14 (1825) when, following the death of his mother, he traveled across the state to Shaftsbury to assume the duties of teaching (1825-26). Using money saved from teaching in Shaftsbury and Rockingham (1826), Blanchard entered Chester Academy in Chester, Vermont (1826-28). Here he boarded with Uzziah Burnap, the school preceptor. Burnap and his brother, Asa, encouraged the young man to think deeply about his religious faith. Their tutelage was instrumental in Jonathan's decision to devote himself to a life of Christian service. Following his preparatory studies at Chester, Jonathan entered Uzziah Burnap's alma mater, Middlebury College (1828-32). Active in the Philomathesian Literary Society, Blanchard learned debate and parliamentary procedure. While at Middlebury, he began the first of the several newspapers he would eventually found, The Undergraduate. He took his degree on August 15, 1832, at the age of 21. Blanchard travelled to New York following his college graduation and assumed duties as preceptor of Plattsburg Academy. He often found his duties frustrating, but proposed resolutions for the improvement of the educational system. Here, also, Jonathan advocated the immediate abolition of slavery, a campaign which he would soon undertake with characteristic vigor. Jonathan Blanchard had originally begun his studies for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary . Having been introduced to abolitionist thought while an Academy principal in Plattsburgh, New York, he became frustrated with Andover’s equivocation on the issue of slavery. He left school in September of 1836 to become a lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society , as one of Theodore Dwight Weld ’s “Seventy”, working to expand the reach of abolitionist thought and action, for which Blanchard and others were scorned, mobbed, and physically injured. After a year’s worth of travel and working alone throughout Pennsylvania Blanchard decided to return to his theological studies, this time at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati. Cincinnati was a hotbed of abolitionist thought and action. Lane, headed by Lyman Beecher, had by the time Blanchard arrived worked through a difficult battle with Asa Mahan. Mahan, a trustee at Lane, left in 1835 with a contingent of students to head the struggling Oberlin College after students had been restricted in their abolitionist speech and activities at Lane (Meulder, p. 222). Mahan had been the only trustee to vote against those restrictions. The cultural and moral struggles in the North and South over slavery were heightened in the border city of Cincinnati and were reflected in the seminary. By the time that Blanchard enrolled the “gag” rule had been lifted. Upon completing his studies at Lane, Blanchard was ordained to the ministry. Calvin Stowe and Lyman Beecher conducted his ordination service. Afterwards he became the pastor of 6th Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, replacing Asa Mahan; though a pastor, Blanchard continued his abolitionist lecturing, particularly in Ohio. Through these lectures he clearly articulated the influence of leading minds upon the direction of churches, societies, and colleges. From his experiences at Andover and Lane seminaries he saw that colleges and seminaries were in a position to influence the culture. He called for a “martyr-age of colleges and seminaries” where the faculty would “lead their students, both by precept and example … into a zeal for reformation” (quoted in Meulder, p. 226; Public Men and Public Institutions repub. in Gale’s Brief history of Knox College, 1845). His thoughts on this subject were published in pamphlet form and reprinted widely in newspapers and tracts. Ultimately, Blanchard wholeheartedly believed that “society is perfect where what is right in theory exists in fact; where practice coincides with principle and the law of God is the law of the land” (“Perfect Society” Address, Oberlin, 1839). Blanchard dedicated his life to such a society. One of the biggest barriers to a perfect society was slavery. He saw slavery as exhibiting “all the worst principles of European despotism and Asiatic caste” (Sermons and Addresses, p. 116-117). One could not simply judge social ills to be wrong, but one must do something to change them and this could only be accomplished through changed hearts. Blanchard wrote, “An enlightened intellect with a corrupt heart is but a cold gas-light over a sepulcher, revealing, but not warming the dead” (Sermons and Addresses, p. 116-117). While pastoring in Cincinnati and lecturing against slavery, Blanchard was disinclined to support the abolitionist Liberty Party slate of 1840 because of the detrimental effects that it would have on the abolitionist cause in Ohio and could split eastern and western abolitionists. Instead he publicly supported William Henry Harrison against Martin Van Buren , for which he received the vitriol of Gerrit Smith. Blanchard’s rationale was that a vote for the Liberty Party’s James G. Birney , a member of Blanchard’s church, was one less vote that Van Buren needed to be elected (Meulder, p. 228). Harrison was a choice between the lesser of two evils. Birney eventually received three-tenths percent of the popular vote—by the 1844 election he garnered 2.3 percent. As Blanchard’s views on an abolitionist political party changed, he became more involved in helping to shape the direction of the Liberty Party in Ohio. He introduced Salmon P. Chase to Thaddeus Stevens and solicited Stevens to speak at a convention in Ohio with the hopes of him joining the Liberty Party. Stevens declined, but the introduction of Chase and Stevens was significant as both men later moved on to political careers at the national level (Meulder, p. 231). A zenith of Blanchard’s involvement in the abolitionist cause came as a delegate from the Ohio State Anti-Slavery Society to the 2nd World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1843. Blanchard assumed a prominent role and was elected a vice-president for the convention. As vice-president and a member of several committees Blanchard had many opportunities to address the convention—opportunities that some felt were exploited (Meulder, p. 232). Blanchard’s traveling companion to London was Hiram H. Kellogg, president of Knox College and a representative from the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. Through their interaction their friendship grew, so much so that Blanchard endorsed Kellogg’s fund-raising appeals while in England. Upon their return to the States Kellogg asked Blanchard to serve as an agent for Knox to raise needed funds that had not been secured. The financial problems at Knox became Kellogg’s undoing. While on a trip to explore the presidency of the Mission Institute in Quincy, Illinois , Blanchard visited Kellogg in Galesburg. This visit laid the foundation of Blanchard’s association with Knox College. Soon after Blanchard accepted his new role as President of Knox College he underscored his status as an abolitionist spokesperson. His speech, “Public Men and Public Institutions”, that so strongly called for a “martyr-age” of colleges, was republished along with a brief history of Knox College for distribution to potential benefactors. Additionally, in the fall of 1845 as his ministry at 6th Presbyterian was finished he debated the sinfulness of slavery with Rev. Nathan L. Rice, known nationally for his pro-slavery views. During his presidency of Knox, Blanchard remained a vocal champion of abolitionist thought. In 1850 he penned an open letter that spanned 7 newspaper columns to Stephen A. Douglas challenging the Fugitive Slave Law . Later, he openly opposed Douglas for his views on the Kansas-Nebraska Act . These challenges culminated in a public debate in Knoxville, Illinois on October 13, 1854 (Kilby, p. 118-9). Blanchard highlighted Douglas’ reversal of support for the Missouri Compromise , while Douglas painted Blanchard as an extremist willing to dissolve the Constitution, if needed, to eradicate slavery. After a frustrated finger-waving response from Douglas, Blanchard emerged the clear winner. During Jonathan Blanchard's presidency at Knox College the institution's debt was liquidated and the main building erected. However, with Blanchard nearing twenty years of outspoken opposition to slavery he found himself with more enemies than friends. Agitation for abolition caused friction and discord in Galesburg and many tired of the tensions of disunity seeking calm and tranquility. This left someone like Jonathan Blanchard isolated and alone. A rift began to develop between Blanchard and George Washington Gale, Galesburg founder and Knox professor. The rift swung between smoldering dissent and open hostility and culminated in Blanchard’s departure in 1858. Between 1858 and late 1859, Blanchard served as pastor of churches in Ottawa (January-April, 1859) and Galesburg, Illinois. Eight children were added to the Blanchard fold during their 15 year residency in Galesburg, bringing the total to twelve (a son, Williston, died in 1858). He was offered, but refused the presidency of Iowa College (now Grinnell) and a nomination to run for Congress during this period. He accepted the presidency of the Illinois Institute, a college and preparatory school founded by Wesleyan Methodists. As with Knox College, Jonathan Blanchard found the Illinois Institute a struggling school. He added new members to the Board of Trustees and gained a new charter for the institution, renaming it Wheaton College (after Trustee and benefactor Warren L. Wheaton). Through his efforts the college was brought out of debt and the west wing and tower of the main building were added. Plagued by weak health, Jonathan and his son Charles (later second president of Wheaton College) undertook a wagon journey to the gold fields of the Montana Territory in 1864. In 1868, Blanchard was a co founder of the National Christian Association, a reform body devoted to the cause of anti secretism. He became editor and a regular contributor to The Christian Cynosure, official organ of the NCA. The years 1878-79 saw a threat to the Blanchard presidency in an imbroglio involving Professor John Calvin Webster and the Congregational church in Wheaton. In 1882 Blanchard turned over the presidency to his son, Charles, but remained active in reform work. During his two-decade career as president, Blanchard shifted his focus from eradication of slavery to the elimination of secret societies. In a letter to Gerrit Smith Blanchard expressed his belief that the curse of secret societies was deeper than slavery, believing that Freemasonry played a role in advancing and maintaining slavery (April 1, 1869, Jonathan Blanchard Papers, Wheaton College Archives). In his retirement Blanchard became involved in politics in 1884 with the organization of the anti-secretist American Party. The following years saw Blanchard travelling: to Batavia, NY (1882), Washington D.C. (1882 and 1883-84), Saratoga Springs, NY (1885), the South (1885-86, 1888), and Vermont (with his wife and granddaughter Faith Fischer in 1888). During a trip to California in 1890, Mary Blanchard became ill and died in East Las Vegas, New Mexico. Blanchard spent his remaining years quietly in Wheaton where he died in his sleep on Saturday, May 14, 1892 at the home of Herman and Julia Fischer. Sources: Fischer, Raymond P. Four hazardous journeys of the Reverend Jonathan Blanchard: founder of Wheaton College. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1987. Kilby, Clyde S. Minority of one : the biography of Jonathan Blanchard. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959. Muelder, Hermann R. Fighters for freedom; the history of anti-slavery activities of men and women associated with Knox College. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959. References # Jonathan Blanchard: abolitionist (Wheaton College) # Wheaton College Heritage Page EXTERNAL LINKS |
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