The Professors of the Radical University: Edward Brenton Otheman

Edward Brenton Otheman (b. October 11, 1835; d. August 23, 1888)
Massachusetts.  White.
Education: Wesleyan University (M.A.), Andover Theological Seminary (no degree).
Occupation: minister, teacher.

Edward B. Otheman was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts (near Boston) in 1835 to Emarancy Thompson and Edward Otheman. The father Edward was a Methodist pastor.

Otheman began his education in the college preparatory program at Wilbraham Academy, a Massachusetts school affiliated with the Methodist Church.  His family has a close relationship with the academy.  His father had studied there and then served on the Board of Trustees for more than thirty years (from 1848 to 1880) with a decade of service as the board president.

In 1850, after attending Wilbraham Acedemy, Otheman enrolled as a student at Wesleyan University.  He graduated from the university with honors four years later (in 1854).

After graduation Otheman taught at the Amenia Seminary (in New York state) for six years. He then taught at Wilbraham Academy. While teaching, he continued his studies by attending the Andover Theological Seminary during the 1858-59 academic year.

In 1860, Otheman began to work as a Methodist minster.  He joined the New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was stationed in the New York City, at Hillside and Riverside, West Harlem, and St. Paul's Church.

Around 1860, Otheman began to experience ill health. On account of this, he was stationed outside of New York City, in Whitlockville (now Katonah in Westchester County). Health problems would trouble him for the remainder of his life and limit his activities within the Methodist church.

In 1867, Otheman left the U.S. to travel and study in Europe.  He stayed there for a year, and when he returned, he was stationed as a minister in Lenox, Massachusetts.  That year he also worked at Wesleyan University as an instructor in Greek and Modern Languages, replacing a professor (Van Benschoten) who had fallen sick.

In 1870, Otheman returned to working as a minister in New York State.  He was stationed in White Plains for a few years and then moved to Rhinebeck, where he served from 1871-73.  Around 1873, he contributed several entries to The Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature.  During this time, his health problems became severe enough that, in 1874, he was temporarily relieved of church duties (superannuated).

By Fall 1874. Otheman had moved to the South.  There he experienced hostility because of his political beliefs. Otheman lived for a time in Atlanta, Georgia, staying in hotel Kimball House.  While staying there, he spoke freely with other guests about his political views. While his political views clashed with those of many guests, initially this did not provoke major controversy. However, this changed after the election of 1874. A committee, claiming to act on behalf of the hotel's guests, told Otheman that he needed to leave as men with his political beliefs were unwelcome in the area. Otheman was further told to send a warning message to Gilbert Haven, a Methodist bishop and abolitionist who had recently moved to Atlanta. They told Otheman to inform Haven that he was risking personal violence by staying in Atlanta. The landlord of the hotel asked Otheman to obey the committee, saying that otherwise he would lose all his customers. This incident was reported by several northern newspapers. Newspapers emphasized that Otheman was a quiet, peaceable scholar and pointed to his treatment as evidence of unreasonable behavior of southerners.

In January 1875, Otheman was elected Professor Modern Languages and Literature at the University of South Carolina.  He was elected to replace Dr. Vampill, who had resigned the professorship.

Otheman's time working at the University of South Carolina is surprisingly omitted from all existing accounts of his life.  Some accounts, such as a 1888 obituary, state that Otheman worked at Claflin University around this time, but this is likely an error due to UofSC being confused with Claflin.

Otheman's former student C. C. Scott wrote that he was "a good scholar, and a competent teacher."  Scott says that Otheman resigned and was replaced by E. Von Fingerlin.  Otheman likely resigned around Spring 1877 since financial records indicate that Von Fingerlin was working during the last few quarters.

By 1879, Otheman had returned to New England and was working as a minister in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  After 2 years (in 1881), he moved to New York City and worked as an assistant in the Mission Rooms of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During this period, he published several articles in the Methodist Quarterly Review.  From 1879-80, he published a series of articles on the French Reformed Church.  The next year (in 1881), he published the article "Baird's 'Rise of the Huguenots'."

Otheman's life was tragically cut short in 1888.  While in Scollay Square in Boston, he was injured by a runaway horse.  He died of his injuries later that day. He was buried in Woodlawn cemetery. 

In an obituary, the Methodist Church described Otheman as 

a man of rare purity and sweetness of life and character. Naturally retiring in his habits, he became more so on account of his disease, and yet he continued to do his work with a faithfulness and persistency that make his life seem heroic. His literary taste and ability were marked and had he possessed good health he would have achieved great success as a scholar and writer. He was an excellent preacher, a very faithful pastor, and did much to build up the material interests of the churches he served. He was consecrated to his duty as a minister, and he did his work in the most thorough and painstaking style.

Publications

1) "The French Reformed Church, Its Synold of 1872 and Subsequent Events [First Article]." Methodist Quarterly Review. Vol. LXI–Fourth Series. October, 1879. pp. 660–684.

2) "The French Reformed Church, Its Synold of 1872 and Subsequent Events [Second Article]." Methodist Quarterly Review. Vol. LXII–Fourth Series. July, 1880. pp. 455–486.

3) "Baird's 'Rise of the Hugenots'." Methodist Quarterly Review. Vol. LXIII–Fourth Series. January, 1881. pp. 103–128.

Sources
1).  The Worthington Advance [Minnesota], January 22, 1875, p. 2.

2) The Daily Evening Express [Lancaster, PA], February 13, 1875. p. 3.

3) Harrisburg Telegraph [Harrisburg, PA], January 12, 1865. p. 2.

2). Green, Edwin Luther.  A History of the University of South Carolina.  Columbia, SC.  State Company, 1916.

3). General Catalogue of the Theological Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts, 1808-1908.  Thomas Todd, Printer, Boston, Mass  p. 309.

4). Hazen, Henry A.  Andover Theological Seminary.  Necrology, 1888-9.  Number 9.  Beacon Press, Boston, MA (1889).

5). Obituary Record of Alumni of the Wesleyan University for the Academic Years ending July, 1836 and July, 1864.  Published by Wesleyan University.

6). The Daily Phoenix, January 31, 1875, p. 2.

7). 1850; Census Place: Chelsea, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 339; Page: 419A

8). Alumni Record of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., Third Edition, 1881-03.  Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, Hartford, Conn. (1883).

9) "Edward B. Otheman" in Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church: Spring Conferences of 1889. New York: Hunt & Eaton, Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe (1889). p. 107