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Blanchard, Jonathan, 1811-1892.

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1811 - 1892

Biographical Statement

Jonathan 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 when, following the death of his mother, he traveled across the state to Shaftsbury to assume the duties of teaching in 1825.

Using money saved from teaching in Shaftsbury and Rockingham, Blanchard entered Chester Academy in Chester, Vermont. 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 from 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.

From 1834 to 1836 Blanchard was engaged in theological studies at Andover Seminary. While there he met Theodore Weld (a reformer and anti-slavery organizer) and left the school in September of 1836 to become a lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society. He was sent to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where an event occurred which would be of great importance in Blanchard's life; he met his future wife, Mary Avery Bent.

Blanchard continued his theological training in 1837 at Lane Seminary, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He preached in black churches and continued his work for abolition of slavery. Called to preach to the Sixth Presbyterian Church, he accepted the position as full-time minister after the completion of his studies. Mary Bent had taken a teaching position in Montgomery, Alabama and the two maintained a correspondence while separated. Jonathan proposed to her through the mail and they were married at the Samuel Bent home in Middlebury, Vermont on September 17, 1838.

Returning to Cincinnati, Blanchard was ordained a Presbyterian minister on October 31, 1838. In addition to his continued anti-slavery work, Blanchard and his new wife also promoted the causes of temperance and anti-secretism. The first four of twelve children were born during the Blanchards' residence in Ohio: two boys and two girls. Both of the boys died as infants and both girls preceded their parents in death. In 1843 Blanchard traveled to London as a delegate to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention. The following year he journeyed to Quincy, Illinois, to deliver the commencement address to the Adelphi Theopolis Mission Institute. He took the opportunity to visit Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, which had offered him its presidency. In November of 1845 the Blanchard family made the cold trek to Galesburg and Jonathan was installed as President of the college.

During Jonathan Blanchard's presidency at Knox College the institution's debt was liquidated and the main building erected. His presidency at Knox was terminated due to friction between himself and members of the Board of Trustees in 1858. Between 1858 and his assumption of the presidency of Wheaton College in 1860, Blanchard served as pastor of churches in Ottawa 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. He became involved in politics in 1884 with the organization of the American Party.

The following years saw Blanchard travelling to Batavia, NY, Washington, D.C., Saratoga Springs, NY, and Vermont. 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, Illinois where he died in his sleep on Saturday, May 14, 1892 at the home of Herman and Julia Fischer.

Found in 9 Collections and/or Records:

A Perfect State of Society

 Digital Record
Identifier: jb-perfectsociety
Dates: Digitized: 1839

Anson and Adelaide Hemingway Collection

 Collection
Identifier: SC-209
Scope and Contents

The Anson and Adelaide Hemingway Collection is composed of manuscripts, photographs, and secondary material. The bulk of the collection comprises eleven photographs of the Hemingway family from 1900-1920. Another item of note is an original letter dated 1867 from Wheaton College president, Jonathan Blanchard providing a character reference on behalf of Anson.

Dates: Created: 1866-2012; Other: Date acquired: 2008

Blanchard Libraries

 Collection
Identifier: SC-006
Scope and Contents The private libraries of Jonathan Blanchard and his son Charles Albert Blanchard, the first two presidents of Wheaton College, comprise this collection and includes volumes autographed by these men. This library reflects the interest and activities of their former owners and contains over 300 volumes. The collection contains numerous volumes on Freemasonry, slavery and the temperance movement. The library is an excellent source for the study of nineteenth century American culture and...
Dates: Created: 1734-1928; Other: Date acquired: 1962

Collection 089 Papers of Paul P. Stough

 Collection
Identifier: CN 089
Scope and Contents

Oral history interviews, films, videos relating to Paul P. Stough’s missionary service in the Belgian Congo with Africa Inland Mission. Materials contain information on Stough's father, Henry Stough, Wheaton College, Paul Stough's work as a missionary for Africa Inland Mission in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) and Kenya from the 1920s to the 1970s, and generally on the spread of Christianity in Africa.

Dates: Created: 1979-1992

Jonathan Blanchard Papers

 Collection — Box: microfilm
Identifier: RG-02-001
Abstract The Jonathan Blanchard Collection is a diverse gathering of items covering the family of Wheaton College's first president. Ranging from the scribblings of grandchildren to a petition for the abolition of slavery, they illuminate Blanchard in many roles: Minister, College President, Abolitionist, Anti Secretist, Reformer, lecturer, and head of a large family. Jonathan Blanchard's life in both the public and private realm is detailed. In addition to the biographical interest of the materials,...
Dates: Created: 1808-2018; Majority of material found within 1808 - 1893

MEM | Jonathan Blanchard's coffee pot {2021-0082}

 Unprocessed Material — Container: 1
Identifier: 2021-0082
Dates: Majority of material found within 1882 - 1883

MSS | Blanchard / Fischer correspondence, early Wheaton documents {2021-0033}

 Unprocessed Material — Container: 1-6
Identifier: 2021-0033
Dates: Majority of material found within 1870 - 1935

MSS | Jonathan Blanchard - Secondary

 Unprocessed Material
Identifier: 2010-1031
Dates: Other: 2007

Selima Blanchard Allen Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SC-101
Scope and Contents The Selima Blanchard Allen materials form a collateral collection to the papers of her brother, Jonathan Blanchard. Included are correspondence, diaries, account books, scrapbooks, and personal items ranging in time from 1836-1892.The correspondence spans the dates 1836-1892, with the greatest number of items dated between 1839 and 1853. Thus the main body of Selima's papers falls during a period which is often sparsely covered in the Jonathan Blanchard Papers. Since many of the...
Dates: Created: 1836-1892; Other: Majority of material found in 1848-1892

Additional filters:

Type
Collection 5
Unprocessed Material 3
Digital Record 1
 
Subject
Correspondence 3
Abolitionists. 2
Catholic Church. 2
Diaries 2
Evangelistic work. 2
∨ more
Prohibition 2
Abolitionists -- Illinois. 1
Abolitionists -- Ohio. 1
Abolitionists -- United States -- Biography. 1
Africa, East. 1
Africa, East. -- Religion 1
African Americans. 1
Alcoholism. 1
Amusements -- Religious aspects. 1
Animism -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Animism. 1
Belgium. 1
Belgium. -- Colonies 1
Belgium. -- Colonies -- Africa. 1
Bible -- Translating. 1
Bible. 1
Catholic Church -- Missions. 1
Catholic Church -- Protestant churches. 1
Catholic Church. -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Catholic Church. -- Missions -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Children of missionaries. 1
Christian biography -- United States. 1
Christian education -- Africa, East. 1
Christian education -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Christian education -- Kenya. 1
Christian education. 1
Christian leadership. 1
Christian life. 1
Christian literature -- Publication and distribution -- Africa. 1
Christian literature -- Publication and distribution -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Christian literature -- Publication and distribution. 1
Christian literature. 1
Christian sociology. 1
Christianity and culture. 1
Church and social problems -- Africa, East. 1
Church and social problems. 1
Church and state -- Africa, East. 1
Church and state -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Church and state -- Kenya. 1
Church and state. 1
Communism -- Africa, East. 1
Communism -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Communism. 1
Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History -- Civil War, 1960-1965. 1
Congregationalism. 1
Education 1
Education -- Africa, East. 1
Education -- Africa. 1
Education -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Essays 1
Evangelistic work -- Africa, East. 1
Evangelistic work -- Altoona. 1
Evangelistic work -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Evangelistic work -- Kenya. 1
Evangelistic work -- North America. 1
Evangelistic work -- United States. 1
Financial Records 1
Freedmen 1
Freemasonry 1
Freemasonry -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. 1
Freemasons. 1
Fund raising. 1
Great Britain 1
Great Britain -- Colonies -- Africa. 1
Great Britain -- Colonies. 1
Independent churches -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Indigenous church administration 1
Indigenous church administration -- Africa, East. 1
Indigenous church administration -- Kenya. 1
Kingwana language. 1
Language in missionary work. 1
Literature -- Societies, etc. 1
Marriage. 1
Mass media in missionary work -- Africa. 1
Mass media in missionary work. 1
Medical care 1
Medical care -- Africa, East. 1
Medical care -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Memorabilia 1
Methodism 1
Missionaries -- Training of. 1
Missionaries -- Appointment, call, and election. 1
Missionaries -- North America. 1
Missionaries -- Training of -- United States. 1
Missionaries -- United States. 1
Missionaries. 1
Missions -- 19th century. 1
Missions -- Africa, East. 1
Missions -- Congo (Democratic Republic). 1
Missions -- Educational work. 1
Missions -- Interdenominational cooperation. 1
Missions -- Kenya. 1
Missions, Medical -- Africa, East. 1
Missions, Medical -- Congo (Democratic Republic) 1
Missions, Medical. 1
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