BELKNAP, JEREMY (1744–1798), American author and clergyman, was born at Boston on the 4th of June 1744, and was educated at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1762. In 1767 he became minister of a Congregational church at Dover, New Hampshire, remaining there until 1787, when he removed to Federal Street church, Boston. He is recognized as the founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and in 1792 became an overseer of Harvard. He died at Boston on the 20th of June 1798. Belknap’s chief works are: History of New Hampshire (1784–1792); An Historical Account of those persons who have been distinguished in America, generally known as American Biography (1792–1794); The Foresters (1792), &c.