Jeremy Belknap (1744 - 1798)

Jeremy Belknap

Jeremy Belknap is an American clergyman, historian, and author.

Belknap was educated at Harvard College and has devoted his life to the Congregationalist Church. In addition, he served for many years as secretary to the New Hampshire Ministerial Convention. He traveled throughout the state in his service and at the same time collected information on New Hampshire history. The result of these years of work was The History of New Hampshire, published in three volumes between 1784 and 1792. This work is the first modern history written by an American.

Belknap also wrote and published American Biographies in two volumes (1794 and 1798), which brought him to the attention of intellectuals across the country. He became a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Belknap was also a founding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first such society in America.