{{Short description|American Episcopal minister (1740–1821)}} {{Infobox Christian leader |honorific_prefix = Reverend |birth_date = 1740 |birth_place = Scotland |death_date = {{Death date and age|1821|06|10|1740|mf=yes}} |death_place = Winchester, Virginia |church = Episcopal |diocese = Virginia |denomination = Presbyterian-Anglican |alma_mater = St. Andrew's }} '''Alexander Balmain''' (1740 – June 10, 1821) was an American Episcopal minister and teacher in Winchester, Virginia. He ministered Christ Episcopal Church, as well as serving as rector of Frederick Parish, for four decades, the longest of any rector in the parish. He was married to a cousin of President James Madison, whose marriage to Dolley Payne Todd he would also go on to consecrate.
Originally from Scotland, and trained as a Presbyterian, Balmain traveled to Virginia to become teacher to the children of Richard Henry Lee. He was later ordained as a minister and served under the rector of Augusta Parish at Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton. On the eve of the American Revolutionary War, he chaired the local Committee of Safety and drafted the Augusta Resolves. During the war, he served as a chaplain under Peter Muhlenberg. After the war, he settled in Winchester where he became rector of Frederick Parish, with William Meade as his understudy.
Apart from his duties in the clergy, Balmain also helped George Washington map the most convenient route from the Potomac to the Ohio.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TR31VE5FHE4C&pg=PA185|title=Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic|first=Stuart|last=Leibiger|date=30 April 2018|page=185|publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=9780813920894|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Balmain's ledger still exists and contains genealogical information from his time, such as marriage and funeral records.
==Early years== [[File:Charles Willson Peale - Richard Henry Lee - NPG.74.5 - National Portrait Gallery (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Balmain traveled to America to tutor the children of Richard Henry Lee ''(pictured)'']]
Born and raised in Scotland, Balmain went on to study to be a Presbyterian minister at the University of St Andrews, receiving a Master of Arts in 1758.<ref name=":0">Katherine L. Brown, Nancy T. Sorrells, J. Susanne Simmons, The History of Christ Church, Frederick Parish, Winchester, 1745-2000 (Staunton: Lot's Wife Publishing 2001) hence Parish History, p. 286-287</ref> He also studied theology with Dr. Robert Hamilton at the University of Edinburgh.<ref name=":0" />
===Traveling to America=== During the Stamp Act controversy in 1765, Balmain and his brother sided with the American colonists leading to difficulties, for Balmain, in obtaining employment,<ref name=":0" /> and as a result, he moved to London, England.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=019CAAAAIAAJ|title=Great Valley Patriots: Western Virginia in the Struggle for Liberty : a Bicentennial Project Sponsored by Augusta County Historical Society, Staunton, Virginia|first=Howard McKnight|last=Wilson|date=30 April 1976|publisher=McClure Press|page=34|via=Google Books}}</ref> There he met Arthur Lee, who recommended him as a tutor for the children of his brother, Richard Henry Lee in Westmoreland County, Virginia; Balmain accepted the position and departed for America in 1767.<ref name=parish42>Parish History, p. 42</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1772, after a brief return to England, he was ordained as a minister,<ref name=":0"/><ref name=ledger/> and, in 1773, had become curate to Rev. John Jones, the "seriously incapacitated" rector of Augusta Parish in Staunton, earning 100 pounds a year.<ref name="ledger" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://trinitystaunton.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Trinity-Grave-Guide.pdf|title=The History of the Trinity Churchyard|page=8|author=Elizabeth C. Hullihen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rP8fMnFBWoC&pg=PA387|title=A Blessed Company: Parishes, Parsons, and Parishioners in Anglican Virginia, 1690-1776|last=Nelson|first=John K.|date=2003-01-14|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807875100|pages=387|language=en}}</ref>
===American Revolution=== thumb|upright|Balmain served as Peter Muhlenberg's ''(pictured)'' chaplain during the American Revolution.
On the eve of the American Revolutionary War, Balmain was chair of the Augusta County Committee of Safety.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1914928|title=The County Committees of 1774-'75 in Virginia: II|first=Charles Washington|last=Coleman|date=1 May 1897|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume=5|issue=4|pages=245–255|doi=10.2307/1914928}}</ref><ref>Parish History, p. 43</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/birthofrepublic00goodrich|page=[https://archive.org/details/birthofrepublic00goodrich/page/284 284]|title=The Birth of the Republic: Compiled from the National and Colonial Histories and Historical Collections, from the American Archives and from Memoirs, and from the Journals and Proceedings of the British Parliament|first=Daniel Reaves|last=Goodloe|date=5 May 1889|publisher=Belford, Clarke|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In "the first patriotic meeting of the people of Augusta County" on February 22, 1775, Balmain likely wrote the instructions to the delegates of the Colony Convention in Richmond, known as the Augusta freeholders statement or the Augusta Resolves:<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VOk-oNOnFEC&pg=PA144|title=Ulster to America: The Scots-Irish Migration Experience, 1680–1830|last=Hofstra|first=Warren R.|date=2011-12-09|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=9781572338326|pages=144|language=en}}</ref> <blockquote>"Many of us and our forefathers left our native land and explored this once savage wilderness to enjoy the free exercise of the rights of conscience and of human nature. These rights we are fully resolved, with our lives and fortunes, inviolably to preserve, nor will we surrender such inestimable blessings, the purchase of toil and danger, to any Ministry, to any Parliament, or any body of men upon earth, by whom we are not represented, and in whose decisions, therefore, we have no voice."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/annalsaugustaco00waddgoog|title=Annals of Augusta County, Virginia: With Reminiscences Illustrative of the Vicissitudes of Its Pioneer Settlers ; Biographical Sketches of Citizens Locally Prominent, and of Those who Have Founded Families in the Southern and Western States ; a Diary of the War, 1861-'5, and a Chapter on Reconstruction|first=Joseph Addison|last=Waddell|date=5 May 1886|publisher=Wm. Ellis Jones|page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsaugustaco00waddgoog/page/n163 149]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref></blockquote>
In June 1775, Balmain served on a diplomatic mission to negotiate with Indians at Fort Dunmore (Pittsburgh).<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=4242781|title=Virginia Legislative Papers (Continued)|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|year=1906|volume=14|issue=1|pages=50–79}}</ref>
By 1777, he was chaplain to the 13th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army and, on May 22, 1778, became chaplain to Gen. Muhlenberg's Brigade, serving until at least June 1780.<ref>Gwathmey, John H. Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution: Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, 1775-1783. Genealogical Pub. Co., 2010. p. 37</ref><ref name=meade>William Meade, [https://archive.org/stream/oldchurchesminis02meaduoft#page/284/mode/2up Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, Vol.2] pp. 285-286 (1857)(pages in Genealogical Publishing Company reprint of 1966 compiled by Jennings Cropper Wise</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljUSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA523|title=Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789|first1=United States Continental|last1=Congress|first2=Gaillard|last2=Hunt|first3=John Clement|last3=Fitzpatrick|first4=Roscoe R.|last4=Hill|first5=Kenneth E.|last5=Harris|first6=Steven D.|last6=Tilley|date=6 May 2018|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=523|via=Google Books}}</ref> One consequence of the revolution was that his salary no longer came from tax proceeds, but from voluntary donations given by parishioners. "This revolution, however important in its effects, has been fatal to the Clergy of Virginia." wrote Balmain to his brother in Scotland.<ref>Alexander Balmain to John Balmain 8 May 1783</ref><ref>Parish History, p. 44</ref>
During the war, Balmain came into contact with James Wood, who would later become governor of Virginia.<ref name="ledger" /> Shortly after the end of the war, on September 6, 1784, George Washington met with Balmain and noted his account of the distance from Staunton to the Sweet Springs.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-04-02-0001-0001-0006|title=Founders Online: [Diary entry: 6 September 1784]|website=founders.archives.gov}}</ref>
==Winchester== thumb|left|220px|Christ Episcopal Church as it looks today. After end of the war in 1783, Rev. Balmain settled in Winchester, Virginia, where he served Christ Episcopal Church, as its minister, and also as rector of Frederick Parish.<ref name=ledger/> He mentored several clergymen, including parishioner William Meade, who also become a priest and later served as rector of Cunningham Chapel Parish for 27 years as well as becoming the third Episcopal Bishop of Virginia.<ref name="meade" /> Balmain also attended the organizational convention of the Diocese of Virginia presided over by Rev. (later Bishop) James Madison.<ref>Parish History, p. 48</ref>
The state of Virginia later disestablished the Anglican church, although it was re-established as the Episcopal Church at the post war conference but would nonetheless lose its lands. Frederick Parish was one of about a dozen parishes, including outlying ones such as Berryville, to survive disestablishment relatively intact.<ref name=parish42/>
{{Multiple image | align = right | total_width = 300 | upright = scaling factor | image1 =Original 1792 version by Peale.jpg | width1 = | height1 = | alt1 = | image2 = DolleyPayneMadison.jpg | width2 = | height2 = | alt2 = | footer = Balmain married James and Dolley Madison ''(pictured)''. }}
Balmain lived a frugal life as his primary source of income was a meager military pension for his service during the war supplemented by subscriptions from his parishioners and rent from leases of the glebe lands, which were generally donated to the poor.<ref>Meade, Old Families, Vol.I, pp. 36-37</ref> Apart from his religious duties, Balmain also taught,<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Doncaster Races in 1825|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|volume=36|issue=2|page=186|jstor=4244210}}</ref> and performed marriages, notably the marriage of James and Dolley Madison at Harewood on September 15, 1794.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NyqePxwLkVoC&pg=PA128|title=Winchester, Virginia and Its Beginnings, 1743-1814|last=Greene|first=Katherine Glass|date=1 May 2009|publisher=Heritage Books|page=128|isbn=9780788420627|via=Google Books}}</ref>
An unusual exercise of his faith was Balmain's attempt to exorcise the Wizard Clip ghost of Middleway.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19796694/the_akron_beacon_journal/|title=Scaring the Devil out of West Virginia|date=October 26, 1980|work=The Akron Beacon Journal|access-date=May 4, 2018|page=120|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>
===Family=== According to one account, Balmain came to Winchester "in debt and in love".<ref name=ledger>{{Cite journal|last=Meade|first=Everard Kidder|date=1949|title=The Journal of Alexander Balmain, D. D.|url=https://www.clarkehistory.org/media/CCHA%20Proceedings%20Volume%209%20(1949).pdf|journal=The Clarke County Historical Association|volume=9|pages=5–24}}</ref> In 1786, he married Lucy Taylor (1757–1841), a relative of future presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_b9oBAAAAMAAJ|title=Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia|date=1900|publisher=R.T. Green|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_b9oBAAAAMAAJ/page/n97 74]|language=en}}</ref> from Orange County.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=4243670|title=A List of Marriages Recorded in the Back Part of Deed-Book No. 17, Orange County|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|year=1918|volume=26|issue=2|pages=190–200}}</ref>
Alexander Balmain Bruce was a relative by marriage. Balmain's sister Margaret married George Bruce. Balmain convinced his nephew John Bruce to immigrate from Scotland. Vestryman Bruce also established the Winchester Academy and helped bring a railroad to Winchester before his death in 1855.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEL-bI-QNmYC&pg=RA2-PA101|title=Some Prominent Virginia Families|first=Louise Pecquet du|last=Bellet|date=6 May 1976|page=101|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=9780806307220|via=Google Books}}</ref> John's son was the artist Edward Calledon Bruce.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1915049|title=The Smiths of Virginia: I. Family of John Smith of Purton|page=100|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume=4|number=2|year=1895|doi=10.2307/1915049 }}</ref>
===Death and legacy=== {{Multiple image | align = right | total_width = 350 | upright = scaling factor | image1 = Rev._alexander_balmain_memorial.jpg | width1 = | height1 = | alt1 = | image2 = Lucy_balmain_memorial_1841.jpg | width2 = | height2 = | alt2 = | footer = Balmain and wife's tombstone, in the wall of the church. }} Balmain served Frederick Parish for over four decades, the longest of any rector to date, until his much-mourned death in 1821. One of Rev. Balmain's last acts was to help form the Episcopal Society of the Valley, a missionary society for the Shenandoah Valley, in 1820.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirrevbenjam00bedegoog|title=Memoir of the Rev. Benjamin Allen|year=1832|first=Benjamin|last=Allen|publisher=Latimer & Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirrevbenjam00bedegoog/page/n201 188]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
Rev. Balmain, like his protege Bishop Meade, was highly active in the American Colonization Society. Balmain's last will and testament gave his wife Lucy the power to emancipate their slaves, whom Meade remembered them treating as their children, during her life or as part of her last will.<ref name=meade/><ref name="auto">Parish History, pp.70-75</ref>
He was buried in the cemetery of the old stone church. When the present brick church was built in 1828, the headstones were installed in the west wall of the nave, where they remain.<ref name=":0" />
Balmain kept a large manuscript journal, which still survives, providing much information about the life of a rector in that period. It includes personal and household accounts, those who subscribed to his salary from 1787 to 1797, paid mostly in wood, wool, and beef, the marriages and funerals he conducted, a list of his books, information about his Revolutionary land warrants, prayers, and copied newspaper articles from the politics of the day.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=ledger/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00012.xml A Guide To The Ledger Of Reverend Alexander Balmain] *[https://handley.pastperfectonline.com/photo/FB0C5DEB-EB76-4753-AE6D-110529482542 Painting of Alexander Balmain] *[https://founders.archives.gov/search/Correspondent%3A%22Madison%2C%20James%22%20Correspondent%3A%22Balmain%2C%20Alexander%22 All correspondence between James Madison and Balmain] {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmain, Alexander}} Category:1740 births Category:1821 deaths Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews Category:People from colonial Virginia Category:People from Winchester, Virginia Category:People from Staunton, Virginia Category:18th-century American Episcopal priests Category:19th-century American Episcopal priests Category:Anglican chaplains Category:People of Virginia in the American Revolution Category:Slave owners from Virginia