The Biographical Dictionary of America/Backus, Isaac

BACKUS, Isaac, clergyman, was born at Norwich, Conn., Jan. 9, 1724; son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Tracy) Backus. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Middleborough in 1748, and continued as pastor and evangelist until 1756, when he assumed charge of a newly formed Baptist church in the same town. From 1765 to 1799 he was a trustee of Rhode Island college. In 1774 he was chosen agent of the Baptist churches of Massachusetts, and in this capacity was sent to Philadelphia to enlist in behalf of the Baptists the protection of the Continental Congress. President Manning of R. I. college presented a memorial, petitioning for relief from the persecution and oppression to which the Baptists were at that time subjected, and Mr. Backus made several addresses in behalf of religious freedom. In 1789 he made a tour through Virginia and North Carolina for the purpose of strengthening the Baptist denomination in that section. He published: "History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists" (1777, 2d ed., 2 vols., 1871); "An Abridgement of the Church History of New England, 1602-1804" (1804), and "Church History of New England from 1620 to 1804" (1844). He died Nov. 20, 1806