BLACKBURN, William Maxwell, clergyman, born in Carlisle, Indiana, 30 December 1828. He was graduated at Hanover College, Indiana, in 1850, and at Princeton theological seminary in 1854. He was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1856 till 1863, and at Trenton, New Jersey, from 1854 till 1868, in which year he was called to the chair of biblical and ecclesiastical history in the Presbyterian theological seminary of the northwest at Chicago, Illinois, which he held until 1881, when he became pastor of the Central Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1884 he was called to the presidency of the territorial University of North Dakota, and in 1886 became president of Pierre University at East Pierre, Dak. He published special studies in religious history and biography and numerous story-books for the young, and has contributed to the "Princeton Review" and the "American Presbyterian Review." His principal published works are "Exiles of Madeira" (Philadelphia, 1862) ; "Judas the Maccabee and the Asmonean Princes" (1864); "The Rebel Prince" (1864): "William Farel and his Times" (1866); "The College Days of Calvin" (1866); "Young Calvin in Paris" (1866); " Ulrich Zwingli, the Patriotic Reformer" (1868) ; "Geneva's Shield" (New York, 1868) ; "St. Patrick and the Early Irish Church" (Philadelphia, 1869); "Admiral Coligny and the Rise of the Huguenots" (1869) ; "The Theban Legion" (1871); and a comprehensive "History of the Christian Church from its Origin to the Present Time." He also wrote "Ancient Schoohnaster"; "A Curious Chapter and how its Prophecies were Fulfilled "; "The Benefit of Christ's Death," and the "Uncle Aleck " series of books for the young, including "Cherry Bounce," ..... Early Watermelons," "The Nevers," "Blind Annie Lorrimer," and "Blood on the Doorposts."