Henry Whitney Bellows

Under his leadership, the USSC became the largest and most effective organization dedicated to supporting the health and efficiency of the Union army.

He graduated at Harvard College in 1832, and at the Harvard Divinity School in 1837, held a brief pastorate (1837–1838) at Mobile, Alabama, and in 1839 became pastor of the First Congregational (Unitarian) church in New York City (afterwards the Unitarian Church of All Souls, in charge of which he remained until his death.

[1] Here Bellows acquired a high reputation as a pulpit orator and lyceum lecturer, and was a recognized leader in the Unitarian Church in America.

[1] At the outbreak of the Civil War, he planned the United States Sanitary Commission, of which he was the only president (1861 to 1878).

He inspired the organization of chapters of the USSC in cities across the country, and the recruiting of thousands of volunteers to help Union soldiers.

Picture from the Brady-Handy Collection misidentified in one source as the "New York Police" Commissioners. [ 2 ] In fact it is of the United States Sanitary Commission. [ 2 ] From left to right: Dr. William Van Buren, George T. Strong, Commission President Henry Whitney Bellows, Dr. Cornelius R. Agnew, and Dr. Oliver Wolcott Gibbs. [ 3 ]