George B. Bacon

George Blagden Bacon (1836–1876) was a United States clergyman and author of texts on religious issues. Bacon was a congregational pastor[1] in Orange, New Jersey.[2] The ministry ran in the Bacons' blood: George B. Bacon was the son of Leonard Bacon[3] and the brother of Leonard Woolsey Bacon,[4] both Congregationalist pastors; two other brothers were also preachers, Thomas Rutherford Bacon of New Haven,[5][6] and Edward Woolsey Bacon of New London, Connecticut.[7][8]

Career and work

Letter from abolitionist Joshua Leavitt and Bacon to Abraham Lincoln, forwarding resolutions of General Association of New York, 1864

Bacon graduated from Yale University in 1856.[9] He became minister of the Congregational Church in Orange, New Jersey, in 1861,[10] and became a trustee of the American Congregational Union in 1866.[11] In 1875, he was again nominated as trustee of the board of regents of the Congregational Union, but publicly stated that he declined to serve on the board with Henry C. Bowen;[1] Bacon's father, Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon, felt misrepresented enough by remarks made by Bowen that he wrote a letter to the Chicago Tribune publicly disavowing any friendship with Bowen.[12] In the same year, George Bacon delivered the commencement address at the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women.[13]

Bacon, whom The Nation called a "lively" writer,[14] was a regular contributor to Scribner’s Monthly, writing on religious[15] as well as social topics (such as Chinese immigration to the United States[16]). He also wrote on the Sabbath question, an important subject in late-nineteenth century America when a debate was waged between those who saw the day of rest as a legal obligation and those, including Bacon, who considered it a Christian privilege.[17] He died at age 40, on 15 September 1876, after a "lingering illness". In a eulogy, Scribner’s Monthly called him a "model literary clergyman": "His contributions to the body of the magazine were always marked by broad views, intense dislike of sham and cant, by high moral purpose, and by a style as simple and direct as it was elegant and attractive."[15]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "A Sequel to the Trial: Annual Business Meeting of the Congregational Union" (PDF). The New York Times. 1875-05-14. p. 7. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  2. ↑ "Rev. of Leonard Woolsey Bacon, Church Papers". New Englander and Yale Review 37 (142): 133–35. January 1878. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  3. ↑ "American Congregational Union". The Congregational Quarterly 10: 299–309. July 1868. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  4. ↑ General Council of the Congregational and Christian Churches of the United States, Executive Committee (1908). The Year book of the Congregational Christian churches of the United States of America. p. 12. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Bacon's Unexpected Resignation.a New-haven Congregational Church Losing its Pastor on Account of the Dissatisfaction of a Few Members". The New York Times. 24 March 1884. p. 1. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  6. ↑ "Some Hit and Miss Chat; Stray Bits of Gossip from an Observer's Note Book. A Dream's Strange Sequel--one of Leonard Bacon's Sons--Clevelands of the Last Century". The New York Times. 7 September 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  7. ↑ National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States. Publishing Committee (1880). The Congregational year-book 2. Congregational Pub. Society. p. 62. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  8. ↑ Memorial biographies of New England historic genealogical society, 1853–1855, Volume 8. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1907. p. 83.
  9. ↑ "Closing Days at College: The Presentation Exercises at Yale" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 June 1881. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  10. ↑ The Congregational Quarterly 8. 1866. p. 82. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  11. ↑ The Congregational Quarterly 8. 1866. p. 315. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  12. ↑ Bacon, Leonard Woolsey (22 May 1875). "Bowen and the Scandal Suite: A Letter from the Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon". Chicago Tribune. p. 12. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "A Women's Medical College Commencement; Nine Ladies Graduated, Address by Rev. George B. Bacon, of New Jersey. The Work of the College". The New York Times. 1 April 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "The Magazines for February". The Nation. 1872. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Topics of the Time: A Word for the Departed". Scribner’s Monthly 13 (2): 267–68. December 1876. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "The Old Cabinet". Scribner's Monthly 13 (2): 272. December 1876. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "Rev. of George B. Bacon, The Sabbath Question". New Englander and Yale Review 27: 804–805. October 1868. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  18. ↑ "Books of the Month: Religious". The Dial 3: 44. June 1882. Retrieved 2009-12-04.

External links