Daniel McBride Graham (1817–1888) was a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

pastor, abolitionist, writer, and inventor who served as the first president of Hillsdale College, serving from 1844 to 1848 and the fourth president from 1871 to 1874. Graham was born in 1817 in

Milan, Ohio Milan ( ) is a village in Erie and Huron counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 1,367 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of Thomas Edison. The Erie County portion of Milan is part of the ...

and worked on his family's farm."Obituary Rev. Daniel M. Graham D.D." ''The Student's Journal'' Volume 18 (1889) pp. 8–9, https://books.google.com/books?id=WZbnAAAAMAAJ In 1843 he graduated from Oberlin College. He served as the first president of Michigan Central College (later to become Hillsdale College) in Spring Arbor, Michigan when it was established in 1844 with five students. Graham left the presidency in 1848 to a pastor a Baptist church in

Saco, Maine Saco is a city in York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,381 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General ...

. After a year and six months he left to serve as pastor of the First Free Will Baptist Church of New York City for twelve years. In 1861 he became pastor of a Free Will Baptist church in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

for six years. Graham served a founding trustee of

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in Maine in 1864 when it incorporated as a college affiliated with the Free Will Baptists.Laws of Bates College: With the Legislative Acts Having Relation to ...(1864), p. 15 https://books.google.com/books?id=aDpAAAAAYAAJ In 1867 he moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the request of family and served a Free Will Baptist church there for two years. After that, Graham worked in the real estate business until 1870 when he briefly pastored a church in

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 cen ...

before accepting a second term as president of Hillsdale College in 1871 serving until 1875 when he moved back to Chicago to work in real estate until 1879. He then moved to Philadelphia. He was an active writer for the Morning Star, The Free Baptist, and the Baptist Quarterly Review for most of his life. Graham also studied chemistry and received eleven patents, including patents for a steam generator, steam boiler, heating device and device for vaporizing and burning petroleum. He was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

before the Civil War and strong supporter of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and women's education and suffrage. Graham was survived by a widow and three children. He died in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1888 and was interred in Mount Moriah Cemetery.

Writings

*
The Life of Clement Phinney
' (1851)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Daniel McBride 1817 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American inventors American abolitionists American suffragists American temperance activists Baptist abolitionists Bates College people Burials at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia) Free Will Baptists Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Hillsdale College faculty Oberlin College alumni People from Milan, Ohio