John Bachman

Bachman (1790-1874) was a Lutheran pastor who taught blacks to read when that was criminal in the slave south. He seems to have been an interesting character. Although he educated blacks and they made up a substantial part of his congregation, he supported secession and even served as chaplain at the secession convention in South Carolina. His support for secession and slavery was ironic in view of the fact that Bachman published several papers and a book - "The Doctrine of the Unity of the Human Race" - in which he argued that blacks were not a separate and inferior race. Regrettably, he suffered a serious beating at the hands of Union soldiers as the Civil War drew to close.

His ties to Audubon were quite close. Both of his daughters married into Audubon's family. Audubon's "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America" was assembled by Bachman and Audubon and his sons.

Bachman was a founder of Newberry College and the school is hosting a symposium on his life and worrk in April 2006. More information on Bachman is available at www.johnbachman.org.