(May 1, 1789), was elected Chaplain of U.S. House of Representatives and given a salary of $500 from the Federal Treasury. He was a respected minister in New York City, and the father of the poet John Blair Linn (1777–1804). Reverend William Linn stated:1986
Let my neighbor once persuade himself that there is no God, and he will soon pick my pocket, and break not only my leg but my neck. If there be no God, there is no law, no future account; government then is the ordinance of man only, and we cannot be subject for conscience sake.1987