Sam Higginbottom

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Sam Higginbottom (October 27, 1874 – 1958) was an English-born Christian missionary in Allahabad, India, where he founded the Allahabad Agricultural Institute.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Higginbottom was born October 27, 1874, in Greenheyes, Manchester, England.[1] He grew up in poverty, leaving school early and working at different times as a butcher's boy, cab driver, and milk deliverer.[1] However, he had a strong youthful interest in the Christian gospel, and resolved to become a preacher or missionary. [1]

An introduction to evangelist Dwight L. Moody led to Higginbottom's attending Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, which was founded by Moody, from 1894 to 1899. [1] [2] Higginbottom continued his education at Amherst College and Princeton University in the United States, receiving a bachelor's degree from Princeton.[1][3]

[edit] Work in India

Higginbottom arrived in India in 1903 as part of the North India Mission of the Presbyterian Church.[4] From 1903 to 1909 he taught economics and science in the Allahabad Christian College (now Ewing Christian College).[4] In 1904 he married former Ethelind Cody, an American, who joined him in his work. [3]

In 1909 he embarked on a project of teaching farming methods.[4] He returned to the United States and spent three years studying agriculture at Ohio State University, after which he went back to Allahabad to teach scientific methods of farming.[3] His educational programs grew into the founding of Allahabad Agricultural Institute in 1919.[2]

Higginbottom wrote two books: a book about his work published in 1921 and an autobiography published in 1949.[3][2]

Higginbottom retired in Florida in 1945.[2]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Sam Higginbottom. The Gospel and the Plow, Or, The Old Gospel and Modern Farming in Ancient India. 1921. London: Central Board of Missions and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Republished in 2006: ISBN 1425486657
  • Sam Higginbottom. Sam Higginbottom, Farmer: An Autobiography. 1949. Republished in 2007: ISBN 9780548442005

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Founder, Allahabad Agricultural Institute website
  2. ^ a b c d Charles W. Forman, Higginbottom, Sam, in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions (Gerald H. Anderson, editor), pages 292-293
  3. ^ a b c d Padre Sahib, [[Time magazine]], September 19, 1949
  4. ^ a b c Dr. Sam Higginbottom (1874-1958), Allahabad Agricultural Institute website.
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