- John Bachman
Infobox clergy
name =
image_size =
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birth_date =February 4 ,1790
birth_place =New York
death_date =February 24 ,1874
death_place =
church =Pennsylvania Ministerium
Lutheran Synod of South Carolina
other_names =
education =
writings =
congregations = St. John's Lutheran church inCharleston, South Carolina
offices_held =
title = Ordained pastor
spouse =
children =
parents =
footnotes =The Rev. John Bachman (
February 4 ,1790 -February 24 ,1874 ) was an American naturalist.He served the same
Charleston, South Carolina church as pastor for 56 years but still found time to conduct natural history studies that caught the attention of noted bird artistJohn James Audubon and eminent scientists inEngland ,Europe , and beyond. He was a proponent of secular and religious education and helped foundNewberry College and theLutheran Theological Southern Seminary , as well as theSouth Carolina Lutheran Synod .Bachman was a social reformer who ministered to
African-American slaves and freemen alike, and he used his natural history knowledge to become one of the first writers to argue scientifically that blacks and whites are the same species. His accomplishments span a lifetime punctuated by the unrest of theAmerican Civil War -- a conflict that caused him great consternation and may have brought about his premature death due to injuries suffered at the hands of Union soldiers.Despite his seminal achievements, Bachman is usually overlooked in accounts of important figures from the 19th century, and he is seldom mentioned in history courses--even in South Carolina schools.
To enhance public understanding of John Bachman's accomplishments, the Newberry College Alumni Association held a major international John Bachman Symposium in April 2006, the beginning of the College's 150th anniversary celebration. "Nature, God, and Social Reform in the Old South: The Life and Work of the Rev. John Bachman" was attended by academics, students, and the general public.
Bachman's Sparrow andBachman's Warbler are named in his honor.References
* [http://www.johnbachman.org John Bachman Website]
* John Bachman: A Life of Service, a short biographical sketch written in the late 1970s by Mary Bachman Hoover, Bachman's granddaughter
* [http://www.ltss.edu/ Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary]
* [http://www.stjohnscharleston.org/ St. John's Lutheran Church]
* [http://www.sclutheran.org/ South Carolina Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]ee also
* [http://www.newberry.edu Newberry College] website. This school was founded by John Bachman.
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