Henry Bidleman Bascom (1796–1850) was an AmericanBishop of theMethodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1850. He also distinguished himself as acircuit rider,pastor andChristian preacher; aschaplain to theU.S. House of Representatives; and as aneditor, a college academic, and adenominational leader.
OfFrenchHuguenot andBasque ancestry, Henry Bidleman Bascom was born 27 May 1796 inHancock,Delaware County,New York. He was a descendant of Thomas Bascom, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634 and who later foundedWindsor, Connecticut. The name Bidleman came from the family of Henry'smaternalgrandmother, Rosanna Bidleman.
Henry Bascom joined theMethodist Episcopal Church inwestern Pennsylvania in 1811 after his family migrated to the frontier area.
Bascommarried Eliza Van Antwerp on 7 March 1839 inNew York City.
At a time of expansion of the Methodist Church on the frontier during theSecond Great Awakening, new men were accepted into preaching. Although with little formal education, Bascom was found to be a good speaker with knowledge of the Bible; he was licensed to preach in 1813 at the age of seventeen and was received on trial by theOhioAnnual Conference of theMethodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Bascom worked hard as afrontiercircuit rider, traveling to scattered settlements across a wide territory. For example, one year he preached 400 times, receiving a salary of $12.10. He soon became noted as apulpit orator.
His style was considered too florid to suit many in Ohio, so in 1816 he was transferred toTennessee. He served appointments there and inKentucky until 1822, when he returned to Ohio.
The Rev. Henry Bidleman Bascom was awarded thehonorary degreeDoctor of Divinity.
The BishopMatthew Simpson, in hisCyclopaedia of Methodism (1880), wrote about Rev. Henry Bidleman Bascom'spulpit ministry:
In 1823 the CongressmanHenry Clay from Kentucky, thenSpeaker of the House, obtained for Bascom the appointment ofChaplain of theU.S. House of Representatives, where he served 1824–26.[1] At one time Bascom visitedBaltimore, where his fervidoratory made a great sensation. He was known as a powerful speaker, fond of strongepithets and extravagantmetaphors.
Rev. Bascom was selected as the first president ofMadison College,Uniontown, Pennsylvania (1827–29). He became an agent of theAmerican Colonization Society (1829–31), working to help resettle Americanfree blacks inLiberia,Africa.
In 1832 Bascom was hired asprofessor of moral science andbelles-lettres atAugusta College, an early Methodist school inKentucky. He taught there until 1842.
Rev. Bascom was selected as president ofTransylvania University inLexington, Kentucky (1842–49; he had declined two other offers).
From 1846 until 1850, Rev. Bascomedited theSouthern Methodist Quarterly Review. He was a delegate to everyM.E.General Conference from 1828 until 1844.
Rev. Bascom played an important role at theM.E. General Conference of 1844, when the denomination divided over the question ofslavery. The Church suspended BishopJames Osgood Andrew because he refused tomanumit his slaves.
Dr. Bascom wrote the "protest of the minority" of the Southern members against this action by the majority, which became known as the denomination split. He was a member of the convention held the next year atLouisville, at which theM.E. Church, South, was organized. Bascom wrote its report.
Bascom was selected aschairman of thecommission appointed to settle the differences between the two branches of the Church, but it did notreunite until 1939, long after the end of theAmerican Civil War. He published a book in defense of the Southern church, entitledMethodism and Slavery; with Other Matters in Controversy between the North and the South; Being a Review of the Manifesto of the Majority, in Reply to the Protest of the Minority, of the Late General Conference of the Methodist E. Church, in the Case of Bishop Andrew (1845; available free on line at Google Books).
Bascom was elected to theepiscopacy by the General Conference of theMethodist Episcopal Church, South in 1850 atSt. Louis. He wasconsecrated a Bishop in May 1850, a few months before his death.
Bishop Bascom died 8 September 1850 inLouisville, Kentucky.[citation needed]
The communities ofBascom, Florida, andBascom, Texas, were named in his honor.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J., eds. (1891).Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
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| Preceded by | Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives December 8, 1823 – December 6, 1824 | Succeeded by |
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