author
Jonathan Blanchard
1811–1892
A fiery 19th-century reformer, he used the pulpit, the lecture platform, and the classroom to argue against slavery and for a more active Christian public life. He is best remembered as the first president of Wheaton College in Illinois and as a relentless voice in the abolition movement.
1 Audiobook
Secret Societies: A Discussion of Their Character and Claims
by David Macdill, Edward Beecher, Jonathan Blanchard
About the author
Born in Vermont in 1811, Jonathan Blanchard became an American pastor, educator, and social reformer whose work was closely tied to the antislavery cause. He studied at Middlebury College and later at Andover Theological Seminary, but his strong abolitionist convictions quickly pushed him into public controversy as well as ministry.
Blanchard served as a college president, preacher, lecturer, and newspaper editor, building a reputation for direct speech and moral urgency. He led Knox College for a time and later became the first president of Wheaton College, where he helped shape the school’s early identity and linked education with evangelical reform.
He died in 1892, but his legacy remains tied to the reform energy of 19th-century Protestant America: abolitionism, education, and a belief that religious conviction should be brought into public life.