Francis Bellamy, "Pledge of Allegiance" Author

Francis Julius Bellamy (May 18, 1855 – August 28, 1931) was an American socialist, minister, and author, best known for authoring the American Pledge of Allegiance.

Francis Julius Bellamy was born in Mount Morris, NY. His family was deeply involved in the Baptist church and they moved to Rome, NY when Bellamy was only 5. Here, Bellamy became an active member of the the First Baptist Church; which his father was minister of until his death in 1864. He attended college at the University of Rochester, in Rochester, NY and studied theology.

As a young man, he became a minister, and wrapped up in the ferver of the Second Great Awakening, began to travel to promote his faith and help his community. Bellamy's travels brought him to Massachusetts. It was there that he penned the "Pledge of Allegiance" for a campaign by the "Youth's Companion;" a patriotic circular of the day.

Bellamy married a Harriet Benton in Newark, NY in 1881. They had two sons, John who lived in California and David who lived in Rochester. His wife died in 1918 and he later married a Marie Morin (1920).

Bellamy was a Freemason and a member of the Little Falls Lodge No. 181, Little Falls, NY.

Bellamy once ran for Governor of New York, but lost. His daughter-in-law Rachel (David's wife) lived in Rochester until Feb/Mar of 1989 when she died at the age of 93. No information is readily available on son John or his family in California or of any other relatives. David and Rachel were reportedly childless.

Francis Bellamy spent most of the last years of his life living and working in Tampa, FL. He died there on August 28, 1931 at the age of 76. His cremated remains were brought back to New York where they were buried in a family plot in a cemetery in Rome.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy
• http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/bellamy_f/bellamy_f.html
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4557&ref=wvr