By the time of his death, at age twenty-seven, John Blair Linn had earned a B.A., two M.A. degrees, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity. Minister of a prestigious Philadelphia church, he was hailed as a superb pulpit orator, had had a play produced on the New York stage, had written five volumes of poetry, three of prose, and contributed regularly to New York and Philadelphia periodicals.

Linn was born in Big Spring (now Newville), Pennsylvania, the son of Rebecca Blair Linn, the daughter of the Reverend John Blair, and William Linn, a liberal Presbyterian clergyman, who, as his boy was growing up, served as pastor of two important churches, became president of Washington College, regent of the University of the State of New York, acting president of Queens College (now Rutgers University), president of Union College, and chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives...