John Leland (Baptist)

John Leland (May 14, 1754 – January 14, 1841) was an American Baptist minister who preached in Massachusetts and Virginia, as well 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.

Leland was born on May 14, 1754, in Grafton, Massachusetts. His parents were Congregationalists

He was baptized in June 1774 by Elder Noah Alden. Leland joined the Baptist Church in Bellingham, Massachusetts in 1775. He left for Virginia in 1775 or 1776, and ministered there until 1791, when he returned to Massachusetts.

During the 1788-89 election while still living in Virginia, Leland threw his support behind James Madison due to Madison's support for religious liberty in what became the First Amendment to the Constitution, and Madison was seated in the first Congress that same year. Leland returned to Massachusetts in 1791 the 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.

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