Joseph Bellamy - Estimations of Bellamy

Estimations of Bellamy

The day Bellamy died, the Reverend Ezra Stiles, an Old Light minister and a longtime critic of Bellamy, gave this negative assessment of the man:

He was of a haughty domineering temper and till of late years uncensorious of his brethren in the ministry and others who opposed him ... he was ... of a dogmatical and overbearing disposition ... his numerous noisy writings have blazed their day, and one generation more will put them to sleep.

According to an article in the Boston Evening Transcript in 1935, Bellamy contributed quite a lot to the town of Bethlehem:

Dr. Bellamy not only named the town, but he virtually founded it, guided it through its first early years, became its wealthiest resident, owned the biggest house in it, put the town on the map through his own reputation as a scholar and a divine, attracted many theological students to it who spent money on board and room, and left it at his death a well established and flourishing community.