John C. Lord

Early life John Chase Lord was born in Washington, New Hampshire on 9 August 1805 to parents Reverend John Way Lord, a Congregational minister and Sarah Chase. Born in Cornish, New Hampshire, his mother was a cousin of Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

When he was five, his family moved to the small Town of Burlington in Otsego County, New York. It was there that Lord began his education, at a local public elementary school. At age 12, he transferred to Union Academy, a boarding school in Plainfield, New Hampshire. The eloped with only the Lord parents present, as the Johnson's opposed their daughter's marriage. They later changed their minds and became great friends with Lord. ).

Also in 1852 was the completion of the new Central Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, which housed the congregation of the former Pearl Street Presbyterian Church, and the construction of which began in 1848. The Sisters of Charity (now known as the Daughters of Charity) agreed to the task, and on 3 June 1848, eight Sisters of Charity, Sisters Ursula Mattingly, Ann de Sales Farren, Hieronimo O'Brien, Anacaria Hoey, Clare McDurby, Mary Aloysia Lilly, Mary Eliza Dougherty, and Agatha O'Keefe, arrived in Buffalo. ).

Later life and death During the American Civil War, he served as Chaplain of the Union Continentals from 1861 to 1865.

According to his biography, from 1868 on he began to feel overburdened by his pastorate, as his church was very large with only a single minister. This led to the 1870 hiring of Rev. A. L. Benton from Lima, New York. However, the co-pastor was lost in 1872, when Benton accepted a new position ministering at the Fredonia Presbyterian Church of Fredonia, New York. By now an older man, and with the difficult task on ministering to a large church without any help, Lord felt the need to leave the position of pastor to someone else. In September 1873, his resignation was reluctantly accepted by the Central Presbyterian Church, after 38 years as pastor.

Following his retirement, Lord had the honor of traveling to Cleveland, Ohio as Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. He cofounded a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and spent much time and money on the organization. He continued attending Central Presbyterian Church when his health permitted. In the fall of 1876, Lord's health began to fail, and he acknowledged that his time was near. For two days he was unconscious, and on the evening of Sunday, 21 January 1877, he died, surrounded by his parishioners. The Revs. A. T. Chester and D. R. Frazer spoke at his funeral, with Rev. Charles Wood officiating the service.

Beliefs Addressing Hamilton College students, Lord spoke of the necessity of the inclusion of the supernatural in Christian theology:

A strong critic of Islam, in his lecture "The Romance of History," Lord defended the Crusades and harshly condemned the control of the Holy Land by Muslims, and also encouraged the conversion of the Jews:

Lord publicized his view opposing slavery during the early 1850s, with a sermon published in newspapers in which he concludes that although God does not condone the practice, citizens have no right to oppose it as a legal and constitutional institution. The sermon caused a national controversy, as some incorrectly interpreted Lord's view as being that the government can essentially make any sinful action legal or mandatory, including murder and theft, among others. He was called a Judas and a Benedict Arnold, although the controversy simmered out fairly quickly as his true views became clarified. Indeed, he was eventually commended by fellow clerics, and by President Millard Fillmore, who sent him the following letter: