Henry Bidleman Bascom
Encyclopedia
Henry Bidleman Bascom (1796–1850) was an American
Bishop
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
, elected in 1850. He also distinguished himself as a Circuit rider
, pastor
and Christian
preacher; as chaplain
to the U.S. House of Representatives; and as an editor
, a college academic, and a denominational
leader.
and Basque
ancestry, Henry was born 27 May 1796 in Hancock
, Delaware County
, New York
. He was a descendant of Windsor, Connecticut
founder, Thomas Bascom, who came to America in 1634. The name Bidleman came from the family of Henry's maternal grandmother Rosanna Bidleman. Henry married Eliza Van Antwerp 7 March 1839 in New York City
. Henry united with the Methodist Episcopal Church
in Western Pennsylvania
in 1811.
Annual Conference
of the M.E. Church. Rev. Bascom worked hard as a frontier
Circuit Rider
. For example, one year he preached 400 times, receiving a salary of just $12.10. Nevertheless, he soon became famous
as a pulpit orator.
Yet, Rev. Bascom's style being too florid to suit many to whom he preached in Ohio, in 1816 he was transferred to Tennessee
. He served appointments there and in Kentucky
until 1822, when he returned to Ohio.
The Rev. Henry Bidleman Bascom was awarded the Honorary Degree
Doctor of Divinity
.
, in his Cyclopaedia of Methodism, wrote this about the Rev. Dr. Henry Bidleman Bascom's pulpit
ministry:
obtained for him the appointment of Chaplain
of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving 1824–26. At one time he visited Baltimore
, where his fervid oratory
made a great sensation. He was known as a powerful speaker, fond of strong epithets and rather extravagant metaphors.
of Madison College, Uniontown, Pennsylvania
(1827–29). He then became the Agent of the American Colonization Society
(1829–31). In 1832 he was elected Professor
of Moral Science and Belles-lettres
at Augusta College, an early Methodist school in Kentucky
, serving until 1842.
Rev. Bascom then was elected President
of Transylvania University
in Lexington, Kentucky
(1842–1849), having previously declined the presidency of two other colleges. A portrait of Rev. Bascom http://inside.transy.edu/library/portraitsmorrison.shtm, painted circa 1826 by the artist John Neagle
, hangs in the University
Board Room.
From 1846 until 1850 Rev. Bascom edited the Southern Methodist Quarterly Review. He was a delegate to every M.E.
General Conference
from 1828 until 1844.
. The Church suspended Bishop James Osgood Andrew
because he refused to manumit his slaves. Dr. Bascom wrote the famous "protest of the minority" of the southern members against this action by the majority. He was also a member of the convention held the next year at Louisville
, at which the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
was organized, also serving as author
of its report. He then became chairman of the commission
appointed to settle the differences between the two branches of the Church. He also published an elaborate volume in defense of the Southern Church, entitled "Methodism and Slavery."
. He was consecrated a Bishop in May 1850, just a few short months before his death.
. He is buried in Louisville's Eastern Cemetery. Photos of the grave stone can be seen on FindAGrave: Henry Bidleman Bascom
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...
, elected in 1850. He also distinguished himself as a Circuit rider
Circuit rider (Religious)
Circuit rider is a popular term referring to clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations...
, pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
preacher; as chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to the U.S. House of Representatives; and as an editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, a college academic, and a denominational
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
leader.
Birth and family
Of HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
and Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
ancestry, Henry was born 27 May 1796 in Hancock
Hancock (town), New York
Hancock is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The town contains a village, also named Hancock. The town is in the southwest part of the county...
, Delaware County
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was a descendant of Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population was estimated at 28,778 in 2005....
founder, Thomas Bascom, who came to America in 1634. The name Bidleman came from the family of Henry's maternal grandmother Rosanna Bidleman. Henry married Eliza Van Antwerp 7 March 1839 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Henry united with the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
in Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
in 1811.
Ordained ministry
Henry had but little education, but was Licensed to Preach in 1813 at the age of seventeen and was received on trial by the OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Annual Conference
Annual Conference
An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "Connectional Church." Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge . Each conference is a geographical division...
of the M.E. Church. Rev. Bascom worked hard as a frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
Circuit Rider
Circuit rider (Religious)
Circuit rider is a popular term referring to clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations...
. For example, one year he preached 400 times, receiving a salary of just $12.10. Nevertheless, he soon became famous
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
as a pulpit orator.
Yet, Rev. Bascom's style being too florid to suit many to whom he preached in Ohio, in 1816 he was transferred to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. He served appointments there and in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
until 1822, when he returned to Ohio.
The Rev. Henry Bidleman Bascom was awarded the Honorary Degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
.
Bascom the Pulpit Orator
M.E. Bishop Matthew SimpsonMatthew Simpson
Matthew Simpson , was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1852.-Early life and family:...
, in his Cyclopaedia of Methodism, wrote this about the Rev. Dr. Henry Bidleman Bascom's pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
ministry:
- At one point, he was perhaps the most popular pulpit orator in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His sermons, though long, did not weary the people. They were evidently prepared with great care As is often the case, in reading his sermons we miss the brilliancy and vivacity of the living speaker. He was a man of remarkably fine personal appearance, and had a voice of great compass and power.
Congressional Chaplain
In 1823 Henry ClayHenry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
obtained for him the appointment of Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving 1824–26. At one time he visited Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, where his fervid oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
made a great sensation. He was known as a powerful speaker, fond of strong epithets and rather extravagant metaphors.
Academic and Editorial Ministry
Rev. Bascom served as the first PresidentPresident
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Madison College, Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. Population in 1900, 7,344; in 1910, 13,344; in 1920, 15,692; and in 1940, 21,819. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census...
(1827–29). He then became the Agent of the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
(1829–31). In 1832 he was elected Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Moral Science and Belles-lettres
Belles-lettres
Belles-lettres or belles lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. However, the boundaries of that category vary in different usages....
at Augusta College, an early Methodist school in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, serving until 1842.
Rev. Bascom then was elected President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Transylvania University
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
(1842–1849), having previously declined the presidency of two other colleges. A portrait of Rev. Bascom http://inside.transy.edu/library/portraitsmorrison.shtm, painted circa 1826 by the artist John Neagle
John Neagle
John Neagle was a fashionable American painter, primarily of portraits, during the first half of the 19th century in Philadelphia.-Biography:Neagle was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
, hangs in the University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
Board Room.
From 1846 until 1850 Rev. Bascom edited the Southern Methodist Quarterly Review. He was a delegate to every M.E.
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
General Conference
General conference (United Methodist Church)
The General Conference of The United Methodist Church is the denomination's top legislative body for all matters affecting the United Methodist connection...
from 1828 until 1844.
Methodist Schism
Rev. Bascom played an important role at the M.E. General Conference of 1844, when the denomination divided over the question of slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. The Church suspended Bishop James Osgood Andrew
James Osgood Andrew
James Osgood Andrew was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1832. He was born in the township of Washington in Wilkes County, Georgia, a son of the Rev. John and Mary Cosby Andrew. Rev...
because he refused to manumit his slaves. Dr. Bascom wrote the famous "protest of the minority" of the southern members against this action by the majority. He was also a member of the convention held the next year at Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, at which the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...
was organized, also serving as author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of its report. He then became chairman of the commission
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
appointed to settle the differences between the two branches of the Church. He also published an elaborate volume in defense of the Southern Church, entitled "Methodism and Slavery."
Episcopal ministry
The Re. Dr. Bascom was elected to the Episcopacy by the General Conference of the M.E. Church, South in 1850 at St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. He was consecrated a Bishop in May 1850, just a few short months before his death.
Death and Burial
Bishop Bascom died 8 September 1850 in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. He is buried in Louisville's Eastern Cemetery. Photos of the grave stone can be seen on FindAGrave: Henry Bidleman Bascom
Selected writings
- Methodism and Slavery (1847)
- Sermons from the Pulpit
- Lectures on Infidelity
- Lectures on Moral and Mental Science
- his collected works (4 volumes) were edited by Rev. T.N. Ralston and printed at Nashville (1850 and 1856).