Elon Galusha (June 18, 1790 – January 6, 1856) was a lawyer and Baptist preacher who was active in reform activities of the early 19th century in New York. He was the son of Jonas Galusha, the 6th and 8th governor of Vermont. He also adopted and promoted the teachings of William Miller.

From 1874's History of the Second Advent Message and Mission, Doctrine and People

Biography

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Galusha was born June 18, 1790, in Shaftsbury, Vermont.[1] His father was Jonas Galusha, the governor of Vermont. Galusha received the honorary degree of M. A. from the University of Vermont in 1816, and an honorary M. A. from Brown University in 1820.[1]

Galusha died January 6, 1856, in Lockport, New York.[2]

Abolitionist activities

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 Isaac Crewdson (Beaconite) writerSamuel Jackman Prescod - Barbadian JournalistWilliam Morgan from BirminghamWilliam Forster - Quaker leaderGeorge Stacey - Quaker leaderWilliam Forster - Anti-Slavery ambassadorJohn Burnet -Abolitionist SpeakerWilliam Knibb -Missionary to JamaicaJoseph Ketley from GuyanaGeorge Thompson - UK & US abolitionistJ. Harfield Tredgold - British South African (secretary)Josiah Forster - Quaker leaderSamuel Gurney - the Banker's BankerSir John Eardley-WilmotDr Stephen Lushington - MP and JudgeSir Thomas Fowell BuxtonJames Gillespie Birney - AmericanJohn BeaumontGeorge Bradburn - Massachusetts politicianGeorge William Alexander - Banker and TreasurerBenjamin Godwin - Baptist activistVice Admiral MoorsonWilliam TaylorWilliam TaylorJohn MorrisonGK PrinceJosiah ConderJoseph SoulJames Dean (abolitionist)John Keep - Ohio fund raiserJoseph EatonJoseph Sturge - Organiser from BirminghamJames WhitehorneJoseph MarriageGeorge BennettRichard AllenStafford AllenWilliam Leatham, bankerWilliam BeaumontSir Edward Baines - JournalistSamuel LucasFrancis Augustus CoxAbraham BeaumontSamuel Fox, Nottingham grocerLouis Celeste LecesneJonathan BackhouseSamuel BowlyWilliam Dawes - Ohio fund raiserRobert Kaye Greville - BotanistJoseph Pease - reformer in India)W.T.BlairM.M. Isambert (sic)Mary Clarkson -Thomas Clarkson's daughter in lawWilliam TatumSaxe Bannister - PamphleteerRichard Davis Webb - IrishNathaniel Colver - Americannot knownJohn Cropper - Most generous LiverpudlianThomas ScalesWilliam JamesWilliam WilsonThomas SwanEdward Steane from CamberwellWilliam BrockEdward BaldwinJonathon MillerCapt. Charles Stuart from JamaicaSir John Jeremie - JudgeCharles Stovel - BaptistRichard Peek, ex-Sheriff of LondonJohn SturgeElon GalushaCyrus Pitt GrosvenorRev. Isaac BassHenry SterryPeter Clare -; sec. of Literary & Phil. Soc. ManchesterJ.H. JohnsonThomas PriceJoseph ReynoldsSamuel WheelerWilliam BoultbeeDaniel O'Connell - "The Liberator"William FairbankJohn WoodmarkWilliam Smeal from GlasgowJames Carlile - Irish Minister and educationalistRev. Dr. Thomas BinneyEdward Barrett - Freed slaveJohn Howard Hinton - Baptist ministerJohn Angell James - clergymanJoseph CooperDr. Richard Robert Madden - IrishThomas BulleyIsaac HodgsonEdward SmithSir John Bowring - diplomat and linguistJohn EllisC. Edwards Lester - American writerTapper Cadbury - Businessmannot knownThomas PinchesDavid Turnbull - Cuban linkEdward AdeyRichard BarrettJohn SteerHenry TuckettJames Mott - American on honeymoonRobert Forster (brother of William and Josiah)Richard RathboneJohn BirtWendell Phillips - AmericanJean-Baptiste Symphor Linstant de Pradine from HaitiHenry Stanton - AmericanProf William AdamMrs Elizabeth Tredgold - British South AfricanT.M. McDonnellMrs John BeaumontAnne Knight - FeministElizabeth Pease - SuffragistJacob Post - Religious writerAnne Isabella, Lady Byron - mathematician and estranged wifeAmelia Opie - Novelist and poetMrs Rawson - Sheffield campaignerThomas Clarkson's grandson Thomas ClarksonThomas MorganThomas Clarkson - main speakerGeorge Head Head - Banker from CarlisleWilliam AllenJohn ScobleHenry Beckford - emancipated slave and abolitionistUse your cursor to explore (or Click "i" to enlarge)
Galusha is in the centre of the right front group third row back in this painting which shows him at the 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention.[3] Move your cursor to identify Galusha or click icon to enlarge

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 the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting. He served as the first president of the Baptist Anti-Slavery Society.[4] He promoted the Liberty Party and preached about the evils of slavery.[5] Following his withdrawal from the Baptist denomination, he hosted abolitionist meetings at his church in Lockport.[6]

Millerite connection

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Galusha leaned toward a premillennial understanding of Bible prophecy. After personal deliberation, and having read William Miller's Lectures, Galusha joined the Millerite movement wholeheartedly under the influence of a fellow preacher, Nathaniel N. Whiting.[7]

Galusha served as president of the Albany Conference on April 29, 1845, following the Great Disappointment.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b 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
  2. ^ William Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Paris, AK: The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc., 2001), p. 432
  3. ^ The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1841, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG599, Given by British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1880
  4. ^ Grosvenor, Cyrus Pitt, Richard Fuller, and Elon Galusha. Baptist Anti-Slavery Correspondent. Worcester, Mass: Executive Committee of the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, 1841. p. 2
  5. ^ Douglas M. Strong, Perfectionist Politics: Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2001), p. 111
  6. ^ Douglas M. Strong, Perfectionist Politics: Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2001), p. 113
  7. ^ Elon Galusha, Address, of Elder Elon Galusha, with Reasons for Believing Christ’s Second Coming, at Hand (Rochester: Erastus Shepard, 1844) p. 4
  8. ^ Isaac Wellcome, History of the Second Advent Message and Mission, Doctrine and People, (Yarmouth, ME:I. C. Wellcome, 1874), p. 415
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Grosvenor, Cyrus Pitt, Richard Fuller, and Elon Galusha. Baptist Anti-Slavery Correspondent. Worcester, Mass: Executive Committee of the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, 1841. [1]

Elon Galusha, Address, of Elder Elon Galusha, with Reasons for Believing Christ’s Second Coming, at Hand. Rochester: Erastus Shepard, 1844. [2]