Blackstone was born in
Adams, New York and became an
Evangelical Christian when he was 11 during revival meetings at a local
Methodist church. He enlisted for military service during the
American Civil War but was not accepted due to "frailness of body". Instead he joined the
United States Christian Commission (similar to the modern
Red Cross) and was stationed much of the time at General
Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters as coordinator of medical services for injured combatants. On June 5, 1866, Blackstone married Sarah Lee Smith, daughter of
Philander Smith, and settled in
Oak Park, Illinois in 1870, where he very successfully engaged in the "business of building and property investments". Blackstone, in a single night of personal spiritual struggle, decided to dedicate his life to God. Renouncing material pursuits, he proclaimed for the balance of his long life, in his preaching as well as in his writing, the
premillennial return and
rapture of the
Christian Church. As he ministered across the United States, Blackstone spoke with increasing fervor in support of Jewish restorationism. In 1878, Blackstone published his work titled
Jesus is Coming under his initials W.E.B., which was widely received and remains a classic
premillennial work. Translated into over 40 languages at the time, Blackstone's writing helped to give momentum to the resurgence in
Rapture theology. He initially focused on the
restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land as a prelude to their
conversion to Christianity, out of a pious wish to
hasten the return of Jesus Christ; but he increasingly became concerned with the
Russian government-instigated pogroms in
Eastern Europe and believed that it was necessary to
create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. He was, furthermore, persuaded that neither the European nations nor the United States would accept as many Jews as needed to escape from Europe. Sparked by the rise in
Jewish immigration to Chicago from Eastern Europe, Blackstone met with a group of men at the offices of Mr. Benjamin Douglass on November 4, 1887, to discuss the possibility of beginning an evangelistic work among Jewish people in the city. As a result of that meeting, a committee was appointed to find both a missionary and quarters. Representing a cross section of evangelical churches and seminaries in Chicago, the organization's interdenominational character was a core aspect of the ministry. Because of Blackstone's passion for Israel and the Jewish people, he would serve as the first Superintendent and come to be known as the "founder" of The Chicago Committee for Hebrew Christian Work, which was renamed two years later as
The Chicago Hebrew Mission, which is still in operation today as
Life in Messiah. Also in 1891, Blackstone stated that, the general "law of dereliction" did not apply to the Jews in regard to Palestine: :for they never abandoned the land. They made no treaty; they did not even surrender. They simply succumbed, after the most desperate conflict, to the overwhelming power of the
Romans. Learning of the rise of the
modern Zionist movement, led by
Theodor Herzl, Blackstone became an outspoken and ardent
Christian supporter of Zionism. When Herzlian Zionists considered the offer by the
British government of an interim Jewish state in
"Uganda" (actually parts of
British East Africa), he campaigned against it. He sent to Herzl a personal
Bible outlined with the specific
biblical prophecies transmitted through the
Old Testament referring to the
restoration of Jews to the Holy Land. In 1904, Blackstone began preaching that the world has already been evangelized, citing
Acts ,
Mark , and
Colossians . As one of the most popular evangelists in the United States, he traveled extensively continuing to spread the gospel until his death 31 years later. Supreme Court Justice
Louis D. Brandeis rediscovered the Blackstone Memorial in 1916 during the period of his raucous, at times anti-Semitic, Congressional appointment hearings. Brandeis, as head of the American Zionist movement, using the intercession of
Nathan Straus who first brought Brandeis's attention to the potential significance of the Blackstone Memorial of 1891, sought out and formed an alliance with Blackstone.
Nathan Straus wrote to Blackstone on May 16, 1916, on behalf of Brandeis: “Mr. Brandeis is perfectly infatuated with the work that you have done along the lines of Zionism. It would have done your heart good to have heard him assert what a valuable contribution to the cause your document is. In fact he agrees with me that you are the Father of Zionism, as your work antedates Herzl". Brandeis requested that Blackstone reissue a modern Blackstone Memorial to U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson. Brandeis understood the fundamentals of power politics and grassroots American Christian and American political support. Brandeis understood the support that Blackstone would raise for the Memorial would enable President Wilson to accept and endorse American Zionism and the later British
Balfour Declaration, which set the course for the
establishment of the State of Israel. Though 75 years of age, Reverend Blackstone energetically undertook the strenuous project. Of particular note, Blackstone secured the endorsement of his Memorial to President Wilson from the
Presbyterian Church in the United States, since the latter was a religiously observant
Presbyterian. The Memorial, though presented to President Wilson only privately, was very effective in garnering his support and in turn reassuring the British of American support for the Balfour Declaration. The Blackstone Memorial of 1916, unlike the Memorial of 1891, was never publicly presented. Blackstone remained committed to Jewish restorationism and Christian Zionism for the balance of his long life. As a believing Evangelical Christian, he witnessed the seeming fulfillment of biblical prophecy as the
Jewish state came back to life after 1,900 years. Blackstone died on November 7, 1935, thirteen years before
Israel was founded in 1948. He was buried in a modest grave at the
Forest Lawn Cemetery in
Glendale,
California. ==References==