Blasphemy Trial of Charles B. Reynolds Morristown, New Jersey May 19-20, 1887

It will probably come as a surprise to most readers that a citizen of the United States was placed on trial and convicted of blasphemy. It may be even more of a surprise to learn that the trial did not take place during Colonial times (like the Salem witch trials) but in 1887 – less than twenty years before the Wright brothers discovered heavier-than-air flight.

The blasphemy trial was held in Morristown, New Jersey near New York City. The defendant was an ex-minister named Charles B. Reynolds who stood accused of violating New Jersey state blasphemy law by ridiculing the Christian God and the Bible in a pamphlet he wrote and distributed to the public. Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, one of the most famous attorneys of his day and a popular lecturer, defended Reynolds.

Col. Ingersoll argued that Reynolds had engaged in free speech protected under the United States constitution. Col. Ingersoll put religion on trial in his closing statement to the jury which lasted two days. Clarence Darrow, the attorney who defended a school teacher accused of teaching evolution in the famous “Monkey Trial” of 1925, modeled his speaking style after Col. Ingersoll whom he greatly admired. This short history is an account of the events that led up to the blasphemy trial and the trial itself in the words of the participants.