Belknap, a Har­vard Un­i­ver­si­ty grad­u­ate (1762), was a Uni­tar­i­an min­is­ter, his­tor­i­an, au­thor, and one of the found­ers of the Mass­a­chu­setts His­tor­ic­al So­ci­e­ty. He served pas­tor­ates in Do­ver, New Hamp­shire, and Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts. His works in­clude:

• History of New Hamp­shire, 1784-92
• A Discourse In­tend­ed to Com­mem­o­rate the Dis­cov­e­ry of Amer­i­ca by Co­lum­bus
• Amer­i­can Bi­o­graphy
• The For­est­ers, an Amer­i­can Tale: Be­ing a Se­quel to the His­to­ry of John Bull the Clo­thier, cir­ca 1787
• Sac­red Po­et­ry: Con­sist­ing of Psalms and Hymns Adapt­ed to Christ­ian De­vo­tion in Pub­lic and Pri­vate, 1795

• Hughes, p. 311

1. O’er Mount­ain Tops, the Mount of God