Badger, Joseph, 1708-1765

Joseph Badger (1757-1846) was the first Christian missionary sent to the Western Reserve by the Connecticut Missionary Society. He founded the first Congregational church in the Western Reserve in Austinburg, Ohio. He is believed to be the first minister to deliver a sermon in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Yale University and was ordained in 1786. After serving as a minister in Massachusetts, he arrived in the Western Reserve in 1800 to minister to both Congregationalists and Presbyterians. He traveled the Western Reserve wilderness extensively, and served as an army chaplain during the War of 1812. He died in Perrysburg, Ohio and is buried in Fort Meigs Cemetery.

View the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Joseph Badger

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