Elon Galusha (June 18, 1790 – January 6, 1856) was a lawyer and

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

who was active in reform activities of the early 19th century in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He was the son of Jonas Galusha, the 6th and 8th governor of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. He also adopted and promoted the teachings of William Miller.

Biography

Galusha was born June 18, 1790, in Shaftsbury, Vermont.William B. Sprague, ''Annals of the American Pulpit, or, Commemorative notices of distinguished American clergymen of various denominations : from the early settlement of the country to the close of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five : with historical introductions'', vol. 6 (Baptist) (New York : R. Carter and Brothers, 1860)
p. 669
/ref> His father was Jonas Galusha, the governor of Vermont. Galusha received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of M. A. from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

in 1816, and an honorary M. A. from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1820. Galusha died January 6, 1856, in

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, United States. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census figures, and an estimated population of 20,305 as of 20 ...

Abolitionist activities

Galusha took a firm stance against slavery. In 1836 he, along with other men of New York, including Obadiah N. Bush of Rochester, was named to represent New York at the third anniversary of th
American Anti-Slavery Society
meeting. He served as the first president of the Baptist Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted the Liberty Party and preached about the evils of slavery. Following his withdrawal from the Baptist denomination, he hosted

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

meetings at his church in Lockport.

Millerite connection

Galusha leaned toward a

premillennial Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the Earth (the Second Coming) before the Millennium, heralding a literal thousand-year messianic age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a liter ...

understanding of

Bible prophecy Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations fr ...

. After personal deliberation, and having read William Miller's ''Lectures'', Galusha joined the

Millerite movement The Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller, who in 1831 first shared publicly his belief that the Second Advent of Jesus Christ would occur in roughly the year 1843–1844. Coming during the Second Great Awakening, hi ...

wholeheartedly under the influence of a fellow preacher, Nathaniel N. Whiting. Galusha served as president of the Albany Conference on April 29, 1845, following the

Great Disappointment The Great Disappointment in the Millerite movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller's proclamation that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 ...

.Isaac Wellcome, ''History of the Second Advent Message and Mission, Doctrine and People'', (Yarmouth, ME:I. C. Wellcome, 1874)
p. 415
/ref>

References

External links

Grosvenor, Cyrus Pitt, Richard Fuller, and Elon Galusha. ''Baptist Anti-Slavery Correspondent''. Worcester, Mass: Executive Committee of the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, 1841

Elon Galusha, ''Address, of Elder Elon Galusha, with Reasons for Believing Christ’s Second Coming, at Hand''. Rochester: Erastus Shepard, 1844

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galusha, Elon 1790 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Activists from Vermont Adventism in the United States Abolitionists from New York (state) Baptist abolitionists Baptists from Vermont Millerites People from Shaftsbury, Vermont Religious leaders from Vermont