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{{short description|American minister (1803–1890)}} {{short description|American minister (1803–1890)}}
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⚫ ]
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'''Adin Ballou''' (April 23, 1803 – August 5, 1890) was an American proponent of ], ] and ], ], and the founder of the ]. Through his long career as a ] and ] minister, he tirelessly advocated for the immediate abolition of slavery, the principles of Christian ], and promoted the nonviolent theory of praxis (or ]) in his prolific writings. Such writings drew the admiration of ],<ref name="Tolstoy1894">{{cite book|first=Leo |last=Tolstoy |title=] |year=1894 |publisher=Cassell Publishing Company |pages=8–21}}</ref> who frequently cited Ballou as a major influence on his theological and political ideology in his non-fiction texts like ] along with sponsoring Russian translations of some of Ballou's works. As well as heavily inspiring Tolstoy, Ballou's Christian anarchist and nonresistance ideals in texts like '''' were passed down from Tolstoy to ], contributing not only to the ] movement in the ] led by the ], but also Gandhi's early thinkings on the nonviolent theory of praxis and the development of his first ], the ]. In a recent publication, American philosopher and anarchist ] wrote that the works by Ballou and his other Christian anarchist contemporaries like ] directly influenced Gandhi and ], as well.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sartwell|first=Crispin|date=2018-01-01|title=Anarchism and Nineteenth-Century American Political Thought|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004356894/B9789004356894_018.xml|journal=Brill's Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy|language=en|pages=454–483|doi=10.1163/9789004356894_018|isbn=9789004356887}}</ref>
{{Infobox person
| name = Adin Ballou
⚫ | image = Adin Ballou cph.3b02632.jpg
| alt = Adin Ballou
| caption = Adin Ballou
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1803|04|23}}
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| spouse = {{ubl|
{{Marriage|Abigail Sayles|1822|1829|reason=died}}
{{Marriage|Lucy Hunter|1829|reason=<!--earliest-->}}
}}
| children = Abbie Ballou Heywood
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1890|08|05|1803|04|23}}
| death_place =
| nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per ] -->
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for = {{hlist|]| ]| ]|]}}
| notable_works =
}}
'''Adin Ballou''' (April 23, 1803 – August 5, 1890) was an American proponent of ], ], and ]. He was also an ] and the founder of the ].


Through his long career as a ] and ] minister, he tirelessly advocated for the immediate abolition of slavery and the principles of Christian ], and promoted the nonviolent theory of praxis (or ]) in his prolific writings.
== Biography ==
Ballou was born in 1803 on a farm in ], to Ariel and Elida (née Tower) Ballou. He was raised a ] until 1813 when his family was converted in a ] ].


==Life and works==
Ballou married Abigail Sayles in early 1822, the same year he converted to Universalism and became a preacher. His wife died in 1829, shortly after giving birth to a daughter. Later that year, Ballou suffered a life-threatening illness. He was nursed back to health by Lucy Hunt, whom he married a few months later. ] performed the ceremony. Of four children born to Ballou, only Abbie Ballou reached adulthood.


Ballou was born on a small farm in ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pawtucket |first=Mailing Address: 67 Roosevelt Ave |last2=Us |first2=RI 02860 Phone: 401-725-8638 Contact |title=adinBallou - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/blrv/learn/historyculture/adinballou.htm |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> Ballou's father was a farmer, and while Ballou craved a school and college education, his father didn't have the means to send him. At the time of the Christian 'reformation' sweeping through northern Rhode Island, his father became a deacon within the community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mace |first=Emily |title=Ballou, Adin (1803-1890) {{!}} Harvard Square Library |url=https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/adin-ballou-1803-1890/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |language=en-US}}</ref>
⚫ Ballou was a prominent local historian for ], writing one of the earliest complete histories of the town in 1882, "History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |date=1882 |title=History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881 |location=Boston |publisher=Rand, Avery, & co. |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028816184}} (2 vols)</ref>


In early 1822 Adin Ballou married Abigail Sayles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Master |first=Web |date=2000-12-13 |title=Ballou, Adin |url=https://www.uudb.org/ballou-adin/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography |language=en-US}}</ref> Abigail Ballou died in early 1829, soon after the birth of a daughter, Abbie Ballou Heywood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pawtucket |first=Mailing Address: 67 Roosevelt Ave |last2=Us |first2=RI 02860 Phone: 401-725-8638 Contact |title=adinBallou - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/blrv/learn/historyculture/adinballou.htm |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> Of Ballou’s four children only Abbie Ballou lived to adulthood. After his first wife Abigail had deceased, Ballou became very unwell. Lucy Hunt nursed him back to health, and after his sickness had passed, Lucy and Ballou married and remained married for the rest of his life.
Ballou died in Hopedale in 1890. Lucy Ballou died the following year.


⚫ Ballou became a advocate of Christian pacifism by 1838. '']'' was composed in 1839 by Ballou and a few ministerial colleagues and laymen. The signatories announced their withdrawal from "the governments of the world." They believed the dependence on force to maintain order was unjust and vowed to not participate in such government. While they did not acknowledge the earthly rule of man, they also did not rebel or "resist any of their ordinances by physical force." "We cannot employ carnal weapons nor any physical violence whatsoever," they proclaimed, "not even for the preservation of our lives. We cannot render evil for evil... nor do otherwise than 'love our enemies.'"<ref name="iov">{{cite book|last1=Weinberg|first1=Arthur|title=Instead of violence|last2=Weinberg|first2=Lila Shaffer|publisher=Grossman Publishers|year=1963|location=New York|page=375}}</ref>
== Religious ideology and social issues ==
Ballou was a ] who opposed all methods of violence against the state, as per the main principle of Christian anarchism taken from the Gospel of Matthew, verse 26:52, “].” Ballou and other Christian anarchists centered their intentions for socio-political revolution on ], or cultivating compassion, forgiveness, and reconciliation towards others. Ballou remained a life-long advocate of Christian nonresistance and, despite being an abolitionists, was opposed to the Civil War and the armed struggle for black liberation, fearing the retaliation of former white slave owners against freed black Americans. However, his advocation of nonviolence became unpopular at the outbreak of the Civil War and eventually lost its relevancy in American discourse by the end of the war.


In 1843, he began to serve as president of the ].<ref name="iov" />
=== Restorationist ===
In 1830, Ballou aligned himself with the ], who were upset with the views among some Universalists, that complete salvation and no punishment would follow death. The Restorationists longed to return to the kind of Christianity as espoused by the ] and ] himself in the ], specifically before the ] and the subsequent establishment of the Christian church in the ]. Although Ballou served the Unitarian church between 1831–1842, Ballou continued to identify himself as a Restorationist. The Restorationists also believed that the spiritual growth of sinners could be acclaimed only through God's justice, in the afterlife, before they could be restored to God's grace. As a Restorationist, Ballou agreed to edit and publish the '']''. Ballou's views led to the loss of his pulpit in ]. In 1831, Ballou, along with seven other ministers, established the ].


⚫ Ballou was a prominent local historian for ] and wrote one of the earliest complete histories of the town in 1882, "History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |date=1882 |title=History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881 |location=Boston |publisher=Rand, Avery, & co. |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028816184}} (2 vols)</ref> Ballou also wrote a 1323 page genealogy on the descendants of his immigrant ancestor Mathurin Ballou of Providence, Island, "An Elaborate History and Genealogy of the Ballous in America".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |date=1888 |title=An Elaborate History and Genealogy of the Ballous in America |location=Providence |publisher=Ariel Ballou and Latimer W. Ballou |url=https://archive.org/details/elaboratehistory00ball}}</ref>
=== Abolitionism ===
In 1837, Ballou publicly announced he was an abolitionist. He made anti-slavery lecture tours in ] in 1846 and in New York in 1848.


] remains true to what Ballou stood for, in keeping of the street names - “Peace,” “Hope,” “Freedom,” and “Union.” A statue of Ballou is located in Adin Ballou Park in Hopedale, Massachusetts. The park also contains a small weathered front doorstep and a boot-scraper, the only surviving remains of the original farmhouse the first Hopedale Settlers built.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adin Ballou Park |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/adin-ballou-park.htm |access-date=1 March 2024 |website=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Adin Ballou Memorial Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1618 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>
Ballou's antislavery sentiments are exemplified in his 1843 ] address entitled "The Voice of Duty," in which he called on Americans to honor the foundations of the country by not being selective or hypocritical in their judgment of who should be free: "We honor liberty only when we make her impartial--the same for and to all men." Ballou also responded to those who claimed that abolitionists dishonor the ], saying that he stood "on a higher moral platform than any human compact." Of the ] Ballou stated: "I honor them with all my heart for their devotion to right principles, for all the truly noble traits in their character, for their fidelity to their own highest light. But because I honor their love of liberty, must I honor their compromises with slavery?"


==Influence==
=== Christian nonresistance ===
⚫ Ballou became a life-long advocate of ] by 1838. '']'' was composed in 1839 by Ballou and a few ministerial colleagues and laymen. The signatories announced their withdrawal from "the governments of the world." They believed the dependence on force to maintain order was unjust, and vowed to not participate in such government. While they did not acknowledge the earthly rule of man, they also did not rebel or "resist any of their ordinances by physical force." "We cannot employ carnal weapons nor any physical violence whatsoever," they proclaimed, "not even for the preservation of our lives. We cannot render evil for evil... nor do otherwise than 'love our enemies.'"<ref name="iov">{{cite book|last1=Weinberg|first1=Arthur|title=Instead of violence|last2=Weinberg|first2=Lila Shaffer|publisher=Grossman Publishers|year=1963|location=New York|page=375}}</ref>


Ballou's writings drew the admiration of ],<ref name="Tolstoy1894">{{cite book|first=Leo |last=Tolstoy |title=] |year=1894 |publisher=Cassell Publishing Company |pages=8–21}}</ref> who frequently cited Ballou as a major influence on his theological and political ideology in his nonfiction texts like ] along with sponsoring Russian translations of some of Ballou's works.
Starting in 1843, he served as president of the ].<ref name="iov" /> He worked with his friend ] until they broke over Garrison's support for violence in fighting slavery. In 1846 Ballou published his principal work on Christian pacifism, '']''. Ballou was also involved with the ] founded in 1866.


Ballou's Christian anarchist and nonresistance ideals in texts like '''' were passed down from Tolstoy to ], contributing not only to the ] movement in the ] led by the ] but also Gandhi's early thinkings on the nonviolent theory of praxis and the development of his first ], the ].
=== Practical Christianity ===
''Practical Christianity'' was published in 1854 and served as a comprehensive text on the fundamental principles of practical Christianity (or the application of Christian ethics into daily life), with subsections like “Christianity and Socialism,” “Principles of Theological Truth,” “Principles of Personal Righteousness,” and “Principles of Social Order.” In addition, Ballou also discusses the “Constitution of the Practical Christian Republic,” which functions as a “how-to” guide to creating a Christian anarchist-socialist society like Hopedale.


In a recent publication, the American philosopher and anarchist ] wrote that the works by Ballou and his other Christian anarchist contemporaries like ] directly influenced Gandhi and ]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sartwell|first=Crispin|date=2018-01-01|title=Anarchism and Nineteenth-Century American Political Thought|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004356894/B9789004356894_018.xml|journal=Brill's Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy|language=en|pages=454–483|doi=10.1163/9789004356894_018|isbn=9789004356887}}</ref>
== Hopedale Community ==
By 1840, Ballou wanted to create a Christian anarcho-socialist utopia that peacefully resisted government coercion and provided refuge for other white Christian anarchists but especially for freed enslaved people. In 1841, he and other Christian anarchists purchased a farm west of ] and named it ]. The community was settled in 1842. The early commune regularly hosted progressive seminars on the topics like free love and proto-feminism and had black abolitionists like ] give talks on the plight of enslaved people. As per the request of Douglass, the Hopedale Community harbored and protected a ] for some time.
The practical end of the Community came in 1856 when two of Ballou's closest supporters, Ebenezer and George Draper, withdrew their 75% share of the community's stock to form the successful Hopedale Manufacturing Company. George claimed the community was not using sound business practices. The community, however, continued on as a religious group until 1867, when it became the Hopedale Parish and rejoined mainstream Unitarianism. December 15, 1873, the Trustees of the Community conveyed all right, title, interest and control over to Community Square. Ballou remained as Hopedale's pastor throughout its transformation and finally retired in 1880. ''Adin Street'' and ''Ballou Road'' in the town of ], are named after him.


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]


== Citations == == References ==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}


== References == == Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |year=1854 |title=Practical Christian Socialism: A Conversational Exposition of the True |publisher=Fowlers and Wells |isbn=9780524016404 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9T-t9_9oIUC}} * {{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |year=1854 |title=Practical Christian Socialism: A Conversational Exposition of the True |publisher=Fowlers and Wells |isbn=9780524016404 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9T-t9_9oIUC}}
* {{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |title=The Voice of Duty: An Address at the Anti-Slavery Picnic at Westminster, Massachusetts July 4, 1843 |publisher=Community Press |location=Hopedale, Milford, Mass. |year=2008 |url=http://antislavery.eserver.org/tracts/ballouvoiceofduty/ballouvoiceofduty.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325184750/http://antislavery.eserver.org/tracts/ballouvoiceofduty/ballouvoiceofduty.html |archive-date=25 March 2014}} * {{cite book |last=Ballou |first=Adin |title=The Voice of Duty: An Address at the Anti-Slavery Picnic at Westminster, Massachusetts July 4, 1843 |publisher=Community Press |location=Hopedale, Milford, Mass. |year=2008 |url=http://antislavery.eserver.org/tracts/ballouvoiceofduty/ballouvoiceofduty.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325184750/http://antislavery.eserver.org/tracts/ballouvoiceofduty/ballouvoiceofduty.html |archive-date=25 March 2014}}
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* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Adin Ballou}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Adin Ballou}}
* {{Librivox author |id=5036}} * {{Librivox author |id=5036}}
* Adin Ballou and the Hopedale Community
* *
* (his principal work on pacifism) * (his principal work on pacifism)
* Section on Ballou.


{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}
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Latest revision as of 14:24, 5 December 2024

American minister (1803–1890)

Adin Ballou
Adin BallouAdin Ballou
Born(1803-04-23)April 23, 1803
Cumberland, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedAugust 5, 1890(1890-08-05) (aged 87)
Known for
Spouse
  • Abigail Sayles ​ ​(m. 1822; died 1829)​ Lucy Hunter ​(after 1829)​
ChildrenAbbie Ballou Heywood

Adin Ballou (April 23, 1803 – August 5, 1890) was an American proponent of Christian nonresistance, Christian anarchism, and Christian socialism. He was also an abolitionist and the founder of the Hopedale Community.

Through his long career as a Universalist and Unitarian minister, he tirelessly advocated for the immediate abolition of slavery and the principles of Christian anarcho-socialism, and promoted the nonviolent theory of praxis (or moral suasion) in his prolific writings.

Life and works

Ballou was born on a small farm in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Ballou's father was a farmer, and while Ballou craved a school and college education, his father didn't have the means to send him. At the time of the Christian 'reformation' sweeping through northern Rhode Island, his father became a deacon within the community.

In early 1822 Adin Ballou married Abigail Sayles. Abigail Ballou died in early 1829, soon after the birth of a daughter, Abbie Ballou Heywood. Of Ballou’s four children only Abbie Ballou lived to adulthood. After his first wife Abigail had deceased, Ballou became very unwell. Lucy Hunt nursed him back to health, and after his sickness had passed, Lucy and Ballou married and remained married for the rest of his life.

Ballou became a advocate of Christian pacifism by 1838. Standard of Practical Christianity was composed in 1839 by Ballou and a few ministerial colleagues and laymen. The signatories announced their withdrawal from "the governments of the world." They believed the dependence on force to maintain order was unjust and vowed to not participate in such government. While they did not acknowledge the earthly rule of man, they also did not rebel or "resist any of their ordinances by physical force." "We cannot employ carnal weapons nor any physical violence whatsoever," they proclaimed, "not even for the preservation of our lives. We cannot render evil for evil... nor do otherwise than 'love our enemies.'"

In 1843, he began to serve as president of the New England Non-Resistance Society.

Ballou was a prominent local historian for Milford and wrote one of the earliest complete histories of the town in 1882, "History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881". Ballou also wrote a 1323 page genealogy on the descendants of his immigrant ancestor Mathurin Ballou of Providence, Island, "An Elaborate History and Genealogy of the Ballous in America".

Hopedale, Massachusetts remains true to what Ballou stood for, in keeping of the street names - “Peace,” “Hope,” “Freedom,” and “Union.” A statue of Ballou is located in Adin Ballou Park in Hopedale, Massachusetts. The park also contains a small weathered front doorstep and a boot-scraper, the only surviving remains of the original farmhouse the first Hopedale Settlers built.

Influence

Ballou's writings drew the admiration of Leo Tolstoy, who frequently cited Ballou as a major influence on his theological and political ideology in his nonfiction texts like The Kingdom of God is Within You, along with sponsoring Russian translations of some of Ballou's works.

Ballou's Christian anarchist and nonresistance ideals in texts like Practical Christianity were passed down from Tolstoy to Mahatma Gandhi, contributing not only to the nonviolent resistance movement in the Russian Revolution led by the Tolstoyans but also Gandhi's early thinkings on the nonviolent theory of praxis and the development of his first ashram, the Tolstoy Farm.

In a recent publication, the American philosopher and anarchist Crispin Sartwell wrote that the works by Ballou and his other Christian anarchist contemporaries like William Lloyd Garrison directly influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

See also

References

  1. Pawtucket, Mailing Address: 67 Roosevelt Ave; Us, RI 02860 Phone: 401-725-8638 Contact. "adinBallou - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. Mace, Emily. "Ballou, Adin (1803-1890) | Harvard Square Library". Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  3. Master, Web (December 13, 2000). "Ballou, Adin". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  4. Pawtucket, Mailing Address: 67 Roosevelt Ave; Us, RI 02860 Phone: 401-725-8638 Contact. "adinBallou - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Weinberg, Arthur; Weinberg, Lila Shaffer (1963). Instead of violence. New York: Grossman Publishers. p. 375.
  6. Ballou, Adin (1882). History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881. Boston: Rand, Avery, & co. (2 vols)
  7. Ballou, Adin (1888). An Elaborate History and Genealogy of the Ballous in America. Providence: Ariel Ballou and Latimer W. Ballou.
  8. "Adin Ballou Park". National Park Service. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  9. "Adin Ballou Memorial Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  10. Tolstoy, Leo (1894). "The Kingdom of God is Within You": Christianity Not as a Mystic Religion But as a New Theory of Life . Cassell Publishing Company. pp. 8–21.
  11. Sartwell, Crispin (January 1, 2018). "Anarchism and Nineteenth-Century American Political Thought". Brill's Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy: 454–483. doi:10.1163/9789004356894_018. ISBN 9789004356887.

Further reading

External links

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