author
E. (Erasmus) Manford
1815–1884
A 19th-century Universalist minister, editor, and debater, his writing brings together autobiography, religious argument, and the reform energy of the American West. His best-known work, Twenty-five Years in the West, offers a first-hand look at frontier preaching and public debate in a changing nation.
1 Audiobook
Twenty-five years in the West
by E. (Erasmus) Manford
About the author
Born in 1815 and dying in 1884, Erasmus Manford wrote and published under the name E. Manford. He is chiefly remembered as a Universalist minister and author whose work centered on theology, public religious debate, and the life of the church in the American Midwest.
His books include Twenty-five Years in the West, an autobiographical account of his years as a traveling minister, along with works such as One Hundred and Fifty Reasons for Believing in the Final Salvation of All Mankind and A Discussion on Universal Salvation and Future Punishment. These titles suggest the concerns that shaped much of his career: preaching, argument, and the defense of Universalist belief.
Available records also describe him as an editor and publisher, and as a speaker involved in major reform causes of his era, including antislavery and women’s rights. Taken together, his life and writing present the picture of an energetic religious voice who used both the pulpit and the printed page to reach a wide audience.