Hosea Ballou II (October 18, 1796 – May 27, 1861) was an American Universalist minister and the first president of Tufts University from 1853 to 1861. Ballou was named after his uncle and went by the name "Hosea Ballou 2d. " Publishers, friends, editors, Tufts College staff, and others generally followed this example. The title of this article reflects the more recent generational suffix usage of the Roman numeral II for those named for an uncle. Ballou used the ordinal number suffix "2d" rather than "2nd."

Life and career

Ballou was born in Guilford, Vermont, the son of Asahel Ballou and Martha Starr, a descendant of Comfort Starr, one of the original incorporators of Harvard College. Hosea Ballou II was also the grand-nephew of Hosea Ballou, and was associated with him in editing The Universalist Quarterly Review. He married Clarissa Hatch in 1820, and they had seven children. Ballou promoted the establishment of seminaries for religious training, something which was at that time opposed by a number of influential Universalists, including his uncle Hosea. He edited or wrote for a number of Universalist publications. In 1843, he replaced Ellery Channing as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, and retained this position until 1858. Privately educated, Ballou was awarded two honorary degrees from Harvard University - the Master of Arts (AM) in 1844, then the Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1845.

Writings