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

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

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

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

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

. He was the son of

Jonas Galusha Jonas Galusha (February 11, 1753September 24, 1834) was the sixth and eighth governor of Vermont for two terms in the early 19th century. Biography Galusha, born in Norwich in the Colony of Connecticut, moved with his siblings and his parents, ...

, the 6th and 8th governor of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

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

Biography

Galusha was born June 18, 1790, in

Shaftsbury, Vermont Shaftsbury is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,598 at the 2020 census. History The town was chartered on August 20, 1761. It was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury. In June 1843, escaped slaves hid at ...

.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

, 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 hono ...

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1816, and an honorary M. A. from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1820. Galusha died January 6, 1856, in

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the Lockport (town), New York, town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, Niagara County, New York (state), New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census ...

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 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 ...

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, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpreta ...

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 from G ...

. 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, his ...

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 proclamations that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 p ...

.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 American abolitionists Baptist abolitionists Baptists from Vermont Millerites People from Shaftsbury, Vermont Religious leaders from Vermont