George Blagden Bacon (May 22, 1836 in New Haven, Connecticut[1] – September 15, 1876[2]) was a United States clergyman and author of texts on religious issues. Bacon was a congregational pastor[3] in Orange, New Jersey.[4] The ministry ran in the Bacons' blood: George B. Bacon was the son of Leonard Bacon[5] and the brother of Leonard Woolsey Bacon,[6] both Congregationalist pastors; two other brothers were also preachers, Thomas Rutherford Bacon of New Haven,[7][8] and Edward Woolsey Bacon of New London, Connecticut.[9][10]
George B. Bacon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 22 May 1836  |
| Died | 15 September 1876 (aged 40) |
| Alma mater | |
| Family | Francis Bacon |
Career and work
Bacon graduated from Yale University in 1856.[11] He became minister of the Congregational Church in Orange, New Jersey, in 1861,[12] and became a trustee of the American Congregational Union in 1866.[13] 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;[3] 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.[14] In the same year, George Bacon delivered the commencement address at the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women.[15]
Bacon, whom The Nation called a "lively" writer,[16] was a regular contributor to Scribner’s Monthly, writing on religious[17] as well as social topics (such as Chinese immigration to the United States[18]). 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.[19] 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."[17]
Bibliography
- The Sabbath Question: Sermons Preached to the Valley Church, Orange, N.J. New York: Charles Scribner. 1868.
- The Sabbath Question: Sunday Observance and Sunday Laws. A Sermon and Two Speeches by Leonard W. Bacon. Six Sermons on the Sabbath Question by the late George B. Bacon. 1882.[20]