Millard Fillmore

Religious Affiliation: Unitarian

(From: http://user.ksni.net/~uuquincy/projects/stamps/6millardfillmore.htm) We know nothing of Millard Fillmore's religious life as a child. He and Abigail Powers were married by the Reverend H. H. Smith in Moravia, New York. They lived in East Aurora, New York where Millard practiced law.

Sometime after they moved to Buffalo, they joined the First Unitarian Society (they were actually charter members). The pew rental assignment from the original church shows the pew which belonged to the Fillmore family. The church building, where they worshipped was burned around the year 1870, and most of the church records were burned too.

While Mr. Fillmore was in Washington, D. C. he attended the Unitarian Church. One minister, the Rev. Joseph Henry Allen, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, was minister here from 1847-1850. Allen's sermons dealt with many of the perplexing problems of the time. Foremost among them was, of course, slavery. Though many preachers were avoiding discussion of this matter, he, like Longfellow and Channing, never hesitated to express himself on the side of freedom. However, his ministry lasted only three years.

It has been written, that the years between 1827-1854 were "Years of Struggle" for the Unitarian Society in Washington, D.C. "It was misunderstood and misrepresented in the community and at times political dissensions threatened its existence. But the families of .... John Adams .... John Quincy Adams....and Millard Fillmore during his presidency stood together in the old church edifice as in a strong fortress. It was important to them and to those who were to come after that a Unitarian Church in the capital of the nation be maintained. And thanks to them, it was."

Abraham Lincoln attended the Unitarian Church in Buffalo with Millard Fillmore on Lincoln's way to the inauguration. Lincoln was Fillmore's overnight guest. Former president (and fellow Unitarian) John Quincy Adams attended the Buffalo church with Fillmore in 1843)

Fillmore showed his interest in education by helping to found the University of Buffalo, now the State University of New York.

Summary of Religious Views:

    Fillmore had no formal religious ties, and indeed had shown relatively little interest in religion, until he joined the Unitarian church in about 1831.

Views on Religion & Politics:

    Fillmore strongly supported the separation of church and state. In the early 1830s, he labored to overturn the New York test law that required all witnesses in New York courts to swear an oath affirming their belief in God and the hereafter. Among other actions, Fillmore wrote a series of public letters opposing the the test law.

Quotations:

    "In my opinion, Church and State should be separate, not only in form, but fact -- religion and politics should not be mingled." -- from a series of campaign speeches, Summer of 1856

I had not the advantage of a classical education and no man should, in my judgement, accept a degree he cannot read. (on why Fillmore declined an honorary degree from Oxford University)