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Balch, William S

(1806-1887) US minister, politician journalist and author, mostly of nonfiction; of sf interest is A Peculiar People; Or, Reality in Romance (1881), in which a visitor to the secluded land of Nussara in the Middle East (see Lost Race) discovers there a successful Utopia run on religious lines. Balch was a minister in the Universalist Church, a faith which espouses the doctrine that God did not create humans to damn them. [JC]

William Stevens Balch

born Andover, Vermont: 13 April 1806

died Elgin, Illinois: 25 December 1887

works (selected)

• A Peculiar People; Or, Reality in Romance (Chicago, Illinois: Henry A Sumner and Company, 1881) [hb/uncredited]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Project Gutenberg
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 05:15 am on 17 June 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/balch_william_s>