The next year, Blanchard moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to attend Lane Seminary, where he graduated in 1838. He assisted with the publication of abolitionist newspaper "The Philanthropist" until it was forced to close in the aftermath of the Cincinnati riots of 1836. Blanchard was ordained in that city to preach at Sixth Presbyterian Church, a New School congregation. The church provided Blanchard with an opportunity to spread abolitionist ideals without eschewing mainstream Christianity. Calvin Ellis Stowe and Lyman Beecher attended Blanchard's ordination; Blanchard's wife was a close friend of Beecher's daughter Harriet.