John Leland (May 14, 1754 – January 14, 1841) was an American Baptist minister who preached in Massachusetts and Virginia, as well as an outspoken abolitionist. He was an important figure in the struggle for religious liberty in the United States. Leland also later opposed the rise of missionary societies among Baptists.
Early life
Leland was born on May 14, 1754, in Grafton, Massachusetts.
His parents were Congregationalists. He married Sally Devine and they had nine children, Betsy, Hannah, Polly, John, Sally, Lucy, Fanny, Nancy, & Lemuel. His daughter Polly married Isaac Ford the son of revolutionary militia officer and New York federalist politician Jacob Ford.
Public life and views
thumb|left|Leland's letter to James Madison
He was baptized in June 1774 by Elder Noah Alden. Leland joined the Baptist Church in Bellingham, Massachusetts, in 1775. He first visited Virginia from October 1775 till May 1776. He married Sally Devine on September 30th, 1776, and returned to Virginia with her shortly thereafter to become the pastor of Mt. Poney Baptist Church in Culpeper, Virginia, where he stayed till 1778. He then moved to Orange County and began acting as an itinerant preacher, ranging between Orange and York county. The unincorporated community of Grafton, Virginia is believed to be named based on Leland's influence in the church there.
During the 1788-89 election while still living in Virginia, Leland met with James Madison (at the modern day location of the Leland–Madison Memorial Park). There, Leland agreed not to oppose Madison in exchange for guarantees for religious freedom in the new Constitution. Madison was seated in the first Congress that same year and secured religious liberty in what became the First Amendment to the Constitution. Leland returned to Massachusetts in the winter of 1791, the same year the Bill of Rights was ratified, leaving Virginia after an anti-slavery sermon.
Back in New England, Leland helped to found several Baptist congregations in Connecticut, to which President Jefferson later wrote his famous letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut in 1802 regarding religious freedom.
A well-known incident in Leland's life was the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese. The people of Cheshire, Massachusetts made and sent a giant block of cheese to President Thomas Jefferson. Leland took the block from Cheshire to Washington, D. C., and presented it to Jefferson on January 1, 1802. While there, Leland was even invited to preach to the Congress and the President. Of this incident he wrote, "In November, 1801 I journeyed to the south, as far as Washington, in charge of a cheese, sent to President Jefferson. Notwithstanding my trust, I preached all the way there and on my return. I had large congregations; let in part by curiosity to hear the Mammoth Priest, as I was called." He was invited to preach a message of religious liberty in Congress upon his arrival.
For Michael I. Meyerson, Leland was the most prominent religious figure of the founding era to champion universal religious freedom. John M. Cobin says that Leland held, in seminal form, to the "liberty of conscience" position on public policy theology.
Leland was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and represented Cheshire in 1812.
Leland died on January 14, 1841, in North Adams, Massachusetts.
He was known as a hymn writer; "The Day Is Past and Gone, The Evening Shades Appear" has been included in 391 hymnals. Several of his hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp.
Leland opposed theological seminaries.