Background
Erastus Blakeslee was born on September 2, 1838, in Plymouth, Connecticut, United States, the son of Joel and Sarah Maria (Mansfield) Blakeslee.
Businessman clergyman educator
Erastus Blakeslee was born on September 2, 1838, in Plymouth, Connecticut, United States, the son of Joel and Sarah Maria (Mansfield) Blakeslee.
In his boyhood Blakeslee attended the district school. Deciding to enter the ministry, he prepared for college at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachussets, and entered Yale in the class of 1863. In 1864 he obtained his degree at Yale and was enrolled with his class. In the fall of 1876 he entered Andover Seminary and graduated in 1879.
On October 9, 1861, Blakeslee joined Company A, 16t Connecticut Cavalry, and received rapid promotion for bravery and distinguished service. On March 13, 1865, he was commissioned brevet brigadier-general for gallant conduct at Ashland, Virginia, June 1, 1864. He was the only brigadier-general from Connecticut who had enlisted as a private and had held every rank from second lieutenant up. From 1865 to 1876 he engaged in business in New Haven and in Boston. While a graduate student at Andover, Blakeslee was called to the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, Massachussets, and was ordained there, February 11, 1880. In July 1883 he became pastor of the Second Church, Fair Haven, Connecticut (now the Pilgrim Church, New Haven). In the fall of 1887 he declined the presidency of Atlanta University, but accepted a call to the First Congregational Church of Spencer, Massachussets.
As a business man he was successful, and patented a number of valuable inventions. As a pastor he was far-seeing and resourceful. In New Haven he became a prominent promoter of the Christian Endeavor movement, then in its infancy, and wrote the Christian Endeavor constitution of Connecticut. Realizing the inadequacy of the Sunday school "helps" of the time, he devised for his own school in Spencer, in 1888, a system of lessons designed to impart a more comprehensive knowledge of the Bible, and graded to meet the needs of pupils of various ages. These lessons were so successful that in 1891 he began their publication for wider use, and in 1892 resigned at Spencer and organized in Boston the Bible Study Publishing Company. He wrote a history of his regiment, and originated the scheme of the Harmony of the Gospels, later worked out by Stevens and Burton. From 1892 until his death he made his home at Brookline, Massachussets.
Blakeslee was a founding member of the Connecticut Valley Congregational Club, Greenfield. He was a member of the Council of the Religious Education Association, of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, and of the Victoria Institute of London.
Blakeslee was an able speaker, a strong and positive character, and a gentle and lovable personality.
Blakeslee was married on March 30, 1865, to Mary Goodrich North of New Haven.