Biography
Hosea Ballou was born in Richmond, New Hampshire, to a family of Huguenot origin. The family was disputed to be of Anglo-Norman heritage, but this has no foundation, and due to his ancestor being named Mathurin (Maturin) Ballou (Bellou), a French given name not found anywhere in England or any such English versions of the name, an Anglo-Norman origin is highly unlikely. The son of Maturin Ballou, a Baptist minister, Hosea Ballou was self-educated, and devoted himself early on to the ministry. In 1789 he converted to Universalism, and in 1794 became a pastor of a congregation in Dana, Massachusetts. Ballou was also a high-ranking freemason, and he attained the position of Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire in 1811.
Ballou preached at Barnard, Vermont and surrounding towns in 1801—1807; at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1807—1815; at Salem, Massachusetts in 1815—1817; and, as pastor of the Second Universalist Church in Boston, from December 1817 until his death there.
He founded and edited The Universalist Magazine (1819—later called The Trumpet), and The Universalist Expositor (1831—later The Universalist Quarterly Review), and wrote about 10,000 sermons as well as many hymns, essays and polemic theological works. He is best known for Notes on the Parables (1804), A Treatise on Atonement (1805) and Examination of the Doctrine of a Future Retribution (1834). These works mark him as the principal American expositor of Universalism.
Ballou married Ruth Washburn; children included Maturin Murray Ballou.
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