The Changemakers Series is designed to inform and inspire you with stories of ordinary people who dedicated their lives to spreading God’s Word around the world. Today, meet Elias Boudinot, an American Founder whose great love for Scripture inspired him to establish American Bible Society and organize a global Bible movement that is still changing lives today.

When you think of America’s founding, you probably think of names like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. Alongside these influential figures is a man you won’t find on a coin or starring in a Broadway musical: Elias Boudinot.

This Founder witnessed—and impacted—the most formative years in American history. He lived through two wars, watched the first five United States presidents take office, and had close friendships with dozens of early American Changemakers. Boudinot’s legacy also includes the founding of American Bible Society, which has remained faithful to his vision of God’s Word for every person for more than two centuries.

Growing Up with a Nation

Elias Boudinot was born on May 2, 1740, in Philadelphia. The fourth of nine children, Boudinot was descended from French Huguenots who fled persecution and settled in the United States in 1687.

Boudinot spent his early years in Philadelphia. His next-door neighbor was Benjamin Franklin, already an prominent figure in colonial America. Franklin, though influenced by the emerging Enlightenment thought, was also the friend and host of British preacher George Whitefield, one of the leaders of the Great Awakening that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. Boudinot was baptized by Whitefield and heard the famous preacher speak many times. Whitefield’s example of working with many different denominational leaders for the cause of the gospel was an inspiration to young Boudinot, who developed a high view of the Bible thanks largely to teachings he absorbed during his childhood.

While Boudinot’s dream was to go into ministry, the family’s limited finances led him to take an apprenticeship in law with his brother-in-law, Richard Stockton (a future signer of the Declaration of Independence). Boudinot thrived in his apprenticeship and established a successful law practice in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1762. He married Hannah Stockton, Richard’s sister, the same year.

During their 46-year marriage, the Boudinots would become known for following Scripture’s command to care for the poor and needy (Matthew 25:40). Only one of their children survived childhood, but they also hosted many foster children who needed a safe place to live during their formative years—including Alexander Hamilton, who became a lifelong friend of Boudinot’s. They also invited enslaved men and women to stay with them while awaiting court rulings that could secure their freedom.

By his mid-twenties, Boudinot was recognized as a leader in his church and community. He served on the founding board of Elizabethtown Academy, where a young Alexander Hamilton attended. He continued to practice law and worked alongside Quaker abolitionists to advocate for the legal rights of enslaved people in the colonies.

As an early patriot, Boudinot supported the colonies’ fight for independence. But in 1777, General George Washington called Boudinot to act on his convictions with an invitation to serve in the Continental Army.

Guiding a Revolution

As the Revolutionary War continued, the number of prisoners of war captured by the Continental and British armies began to grow. Washington, preoccupied with fending off the advances of the larger, more skillful, and better-equipped British Army, asked Boudinot to oversee the issue of prisoners. Boudinot was given the rank of colonel, reporting directly to Washington.

Boudinot witnessed firsthand the dismal conditions in prisoner of war camps on both sides. As winter approached, the situation of American prisoners in British-occupied New York grew dire. When Congress failed to provide the resources he needed, Boudinot financed support for the prisoners from his own estate. He spent approximately 40,000 pounds, much of his fortune, to provide supplies and keep prisoners alive. He also negotiated the release of hundreds of prisoners with British officials in New York.

In addition to his work with prisoners of war, Boudinot served as an intelligence officer for Washington, spending the winter of 1778 in Valley Forge. His military career was cut short when he was elected to the Continental Congress. In 1782, Boudinot was named president of the Continental Congress. He oversaw the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the war in 1783.

Several years after his term as president, Boudinot would return to serve as a congressman in the First Congress. Later, he would once again answer Washington’s call when the president asked him to become director of the United States Mint in 1795. Boudinot and his family remained close friends with the Washingtons until the first president’s death in 1799.

Ensuring Rights and Confronting Injustices

As the United States shifted focus from winning a war to building a nation, Congressman Boudinot worked alongside his contemporaries to shape a government they hoped would ensure the rights of Americans for generations to come.

One of the most pressing tasks facing the First Congress was the promised amendments to the Constitution. Boudinot served as Chair of the Committee of the Whole during passage of what would become the First Amendment, recognizing Americans’ freedom of speech and religious expression.

The day after Congress adopted the First Amendment, Boudinot introduced a resolution to establish a national day of thanksgiving and prayer for the American people. He saw this as a fitting response to the peaceful establishment of a government designed to protect the people’s safety and happiness. The motion passed, and on October 3, 1789, President Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation.

While Boudinot was encouraged by the amendments made to the Constitution, he remained troubled by the issue of slavery. This lingering injustice divided Congress and the young nation into slave states and free states.

Among the Founders, Boudinot was unique in the consistency of his attitude toward slavery. He was staunchly abolitionist, often citing the Bible to argue against enslaving fellow human beings made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). He represented free and enslaved African Americans in court and was instrumental in expanding the legal rights of African Americans in New Jersey.

However, compromises made to pass the same Constitution that ensured American rights had prohibited legislative action on the slave trade until 1807. This meant that abolitionists like Boudinot were powerless to even attempt dismantling the institution until more than 25 years after the American people won their independence. Despite this, Boudinot continued to speak against the evil of slavery. In an opinion he delivered to Congress in 1790, he leaned on his legal expertise and deep knowledge of God’s Word to deconstruct common pro-slavery arguments.

As he grew older, Boudinot worried about the future of the United States, especially as it related to slavery. He reached the point where, he said, he would “prefer a quick and peaceable division of the Union” rather than see slavery continue to spread throughout the states. While he would not live to see the end of slavery in the nation he helped build, Boudinot’s commitment to proclaiming Scripture’s truth paved the way for other abolitionists and Civil Rights leaders who would come after him.

Boudinot’s Greatest Honor

In 1815, two young men named Samuel J. Mills and John Schermerhorn returned from an expedition throughout the United States. Their goal was to collect data on the spiritual state of the young nation, and their findings were concerning. In most states, Americans lacked access to God’s Word. While many small and independent Bible societies existed, they were not able to meet the spiritual need Mills and Schermerhorn witnessed. While these findings were alarming to many, to Boudinot, they represented a priceless opportunity.

Upon hearing the report, Boudinot began advocating for a unified Bible society that could effectively serve the entire United States. In his own words, it was “highly desirable to obtain . . . a co-operation of the efforts of the Christian community throughout the United States, for the efficient distribution of the Holy Scriptures.”

In January of 1816, Boudinot wrote to Bible societies throughout the United States, calling on them to unify their efforts around the common cause of reaching all Americans with God’s Word. Four months later, American Bible Society was founded in New York City. Boudinot was named its first president. In response, he said, “I am not ashamed to confess that I accept of the appointment as the greatest honor that could have been conferred on me this side of the grave.”

For the next five years, an aging Boudinot faced the challenges of a quickly growing nation head-on. During his tenure, 301 auxiliary Bible societies worked together to serve communities across the United States. He also oversaw several of American Bible Society’s first milestones, including the use of stereotype plates and steam-powered presses to print Bibles, the first Bible distribution to United States military members in 1817, and the first Scripture translation published in 1819. Boudinot also helped start American Bible Society’s expansive Scripture library by donating a 1595 Bible to the collection. Now, the Scripture library is one of the largest in the world.

Boudinot served as the organization’s president for five years. During that time, he lived in Burlington, New Jersey and regularly supported charity efforts that cared for war veterans, orphans of the Revolution, and those unreached by the gospel. On October 24, 1821, Boudinot died at the age of 81. His gravestone offered a brief but accurate summary of his life and his eternal hope:

His life was an exhibition of fervent piety, of useful talent, and of extensive benevolence. His death was the triumph of Christian faith, the consummation of hope, the dawn and the pledge of endless felicity.

Boudinot’s prayer for American Bible Society was that it would be “a society, which, with the blessing of God, . . . will in time . . . shed an unfading lustre on our Christian community, and prove a blessing to our country and the world.” Today, more than 200 years later, people around the world continue to experience God’s love through the Bible thanks to the faithful legacy of Elias Boudinot.

As we look back on the life of Elias Boudinot and other Changemakers who have guided our history, we thank God for the people who champion the Bible cause around the world. Today, ask yourself how you can share the transformative message of God’s Word with the people in your life and become a Changemaker for our own time!

Continue exploring the life and legacy of Elias Boudinot in Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot, a new biography by Andrew Farmer.

Blog Sources:

• Farmer, Andrew. Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot. American Bible Society. 2022.
• “Working Together for the Cause of the Gospel.”