The professors of the Radical University: Benjamin B. Babbitt

Benjamin B. Babbitt
From The Babbitt family history, 1643-1900

Benjamin Bosworth Babbitt (b. September 6, 1827; d. December 20, 1888)
Bristol, RI.  White.
Education: Brown University (A.B), Trinity College (A.M.)
Occupation: clergyman, teacher.

Benjamin B. Babbitt was born in Bristol, RI in 1827 to Jacob and Abby Eliza Babbitt. The father Jacob worked as a trade merchant and a cotton manufacturer. He built the first cotton mill in Bristol. He was elected to represent the town in the state General Assembly from 1843-45 and in 1846. In politics, Jacob was a Jacksonian Democat, and served as a delegate to the party's 1860 national convention held in Charleston, South Carolina.

The paternal grandfather, Jacob Sr., was involved in the slave trade. He worked as a sea-merchant and engaged in trade with the West Indies. He worked heavily with the owners of slave-run plantations in Cuba, shipping sugar and selling provisions for enslaved workers. There is also evidence that the grandfather was personally engaged in the slave trade as late as 1820, although by then the practice had been illegal for two decades. The grandfather's household included at least one enslaved worker, a woman named Quashe (or Quashey) Babbitt.

Benjamin matriculated to Brown University in 1842 and received his A.B. from the university in 1846. Four years later Benjamin was ordained as an Episcopal minister. Benjamin would spend much of the remainder of his life working as a clergyman in the Episcopal church. He first served as rector of Christ Church in Plymouth, MA. He was transferred to Rhode Island in 1855. In Rhode Island, Benjamin founded the Church of Messiah in Olneyville (in greater Providence). Olneyville was a center for textile manufacturing, and the church was founded to serve textile workers. Benjamin left Rhode Island for Massachusetts in 1860. He served at rector for Christ Church in Andover, MA. 

Members of Benjamin's family served with distinction in the Civil War. Even though he was in his fifties, Benjamin's father Jacob fought for the Union army. He enrolled in the 10th Regiment Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry on June 9, 1862. He was given the rank of major. He was mustered out of the regiment on September 1, 1862, and on the same day, he was appointed a major in the 7th Rhode Island Regiment. Jacob first was sent to Washington D.C. to take charge of Rhode Island troops that had been sent there. However, he entered active service in June 1862. 

Jacob's regiment first saw action in December 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg. On the third day of battle (December 13), Jacob's regiment was ordered to attack entrenched Confederate troops across an open plain. The regiment was repulsed and halted in front of the entrenchments. Jacob was ordered to request that Union troops to the rear of the regiment cease fire so that the regiment could organize a second attack. While attempting to reach the rear, Jacob was shot and wounded. His wound was not initially deemed fatal, but it did require hospitalization. While in the hospital, Jacob's health worsened, and he died about a week later (on December 23). Benjamin was at his father's bedside when he died.

Benjamin's brother-in-law Samuel D. Greene also fought for the Union. Samuel was a career Naval officer. He had joined the Navy before the war, after attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. When the war broke out, he was stationed on the sloop Hartford, transporting a U.S. ambassador around China. He was ordered home and assigned to the ironclad the USS Monitor.

Samuel was serving on the Monitor during its historic fight against the CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Road in March 1862. Samuel took command of the Monitor after the commanding officer was wounded. The battle was indecisive. Although the two ships exchanged fire for hours, neither was able to sink the other, and the battle ended when the Virginia withdrew. While not militarily decisive, the battle was a historic event as it marked the first time that two ironclad ships fought each other.

After the Battle of Hampton Road, Samuel remained assigned to the Monitor and participated in the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. Samuel's service on the Monitor came to an end in 1863 when the ironclad foundered in a storm. Samuel was reassigned to the gunboat Florida and helped enforce a blockade of North Carolina. During the last years of the war (1864-65), Samuel served on the sloop Iroquois and participated in the search for the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah.

 

Benjamin did not serve in the military during the Civil War. Instead, he remained in Andover at Christ Church. During the first year of the war, the Episcopal Church began publishing the periodical The Church Monthly. Babbitt contributed several articles. Most of these focused purely on religious matters. However, in his 1861 article "Loyalty in the United States," Benjamin lays out a religious argument for supporting the Union during the Civil War. 

In the article, Benjamin begins by explaining that Scripture says little explicitly about civil government. It simply directs Christians to support "the powers that be." God has allowed "the powers that be" to take many forms. For example, in the past, God changed his people's government from a Republic (presumably Benjamin means the Roman Republic) to a monarchy. However, Benjamin says that a Christian's relation to civil government should also be guided by a second principle. God, he says, intends that Christian men be self-governed and thus a government should be evaluated by how well it facilitates self-governance. The ideal is a government "where all shall be governed by the gentle sway of inner principle, recognizing with overflowing joy the constraints of outer law."

Having provided a religious basis by which self-governance should be the criteria used to evaluate a government, Benjamin then proceeds with a political analysis. He first analyzes the concept of self-governance and then discusses how self-governance is achieved by the United States government. He concludes by explaining when rebellion against a government is just. Benjamin says that forceful rebellion against the United States government is never justified because its structure allows slow and steady progress again tyranny.

Benjamin offered further insight into his views on the Civil War in an 1865 sermon. His sermon was about Walter L. Raymond, a Union infantryman from Andover who had died while imprisoned by Confederate forces. Benjamin knew Walter well as he had been a member of Benjamin's Bible class. 

Benjamin delivered his sermon on April 3. This was shortly before the end of the war. On the day of the sermon, Richmond was captured by federal forces, and about a week later, Confederate General Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House, traditionally marking the end of the war. 

In his sermon, Benjamin expounded upon Revelations 2:10: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Benjamin described Walter's military service as a test of religious faith that Walter had met successfully. He emphasized Walter's simple Christian nature. In his letters home, Benjamin said, Walter never complained about military life and never said a harsh word about his follow soldiers or even the opposing Confederates. While in the field and despite the pressures of military life, he upheld promises he made to his mother that he would reject bad habits like smoking.

Benjamin approvingly describes how Walter turned to Christianity in times of difficulty: Walter read scripture and prayed before a battle. Benjamin extolls Walter for displaying courage in battle, but he is careful to connect this courage to religiosity: "his courage was not brutal recklessness. His courage was inspired by the cause – a courage for which he had prayed to God." Benjamin explained to his audience that this courage stemming from religious faith should be valued above courage of a purely martial origin. Away from the battlefield, martial courage can fail a man, but religious courage, says Benjamin, will serve him at all times, for example when ill or imprisoned.

Benjamin presents Walter's imprisonment as an ultimate challenge of faith. For example, he recalls Jesus's prediction to his followers that: "Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried." According to Benjamin, Walter fully met this trial. When Walter's health began to fail because of his poor diet in prison, his friends advised him to steal food. However, Walter refused to do so, saying "I was not brought up to that." Walter not only upheld Christian values until his death, but in death, he acted as an inspiration to others. According to Benjamin, his last words were, "I am going to die. Go tell my father I am ready to die; for I die for God and my country." Benjamin says that "In the glory of those words" the prison was transformed into

the gate of heaven. Those starving and naked companions, startled, saw a vision of angelic beauty. They went down so close to paradise as to hear its whispers and to snuff the fragrance of its spicy groves.

A striking aspect of Benjamin's sermon is how little he discusses politics. He says that Walter joined army out of a sense of duty to his county. Benjamin connected Walter's duty to his country to his duty to God, noting that his last words were "I die for God and my country," but he simply points out the connection without explaining it. Benjamin speaks harshly of the Confederates for their treatment of Walter, but he does not explore the meaning of their behavior in the context of their presumed Christian faith. Rather, he presents them simply as a force that challenged Walter's faith. 

A topic wholly ignored in Benjamin's extent writing during the war is abolition, and more generally African Americans. This omission is striking as Benjamin would spend much the next twenty years doing missionary work within the African American community.

Benjamin remained at Christ Church in Andover after the Civil War. In 1867 and 1868, he served as editor for The Church Monthly. He was awarded an A.M. degree from Trinity College in 1868, although the degree was honorary. 

In 1868, Benjamin left Christ Church and began to work in education. He moved to East Medway, MA and served as Head Master for St. Clement's School for Boys. He also published the book Easy Questions on the Various Sundays in the Year: Both Elementary and Progressive, for Larger and Smaller Classes. This book collected questions that had been posed in The Church Monthly.

Benjamin left Massachusetts for South Carolina in 1871. He arrived in Columbia on March 18. In Columbia, he was made Professor of Natural and Mechanical Philosophy and Astronomy at the University of South Carolina. This was a prestigious position that had previously been held by John LeConte. LeConte had left South Carolina around Fall, 1869, and his professorship had been given to Thomas E. Hart, a South Carolina native who had been teaching at Furman University. Professor Hart held both LeConte's former professorship and the Professorship in Mathematics and Civil and Military Engineering and Construction. After Benjamin arrived at the university, Professor Hart remained in the second professorship.

Benjamin was the first professor from the North to teach at the University of South Carolina. At least initially, South Carolina newspapers reported positively on Benjamin's hire. They noted approvingly that Benjamin's father had been a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Committee held in Charleston. A January 1872 article in the Daily Phoenix acknowledged that Benjamin was the only professor unknown to the community, but it also reported that he was "without reproach and worthy of acceptation."

In addition to his work at the university, Benjamin was very active in the Episcopal Church. He created several associate missions that focused on missionary work to African Americans. A few months after he arrived (in May 1871), he began holding church services, first in a private home and then in the chapel of an inactive Episcopal church (Christ Church). However, services were largely discontinued in October, when Benjamin's first term teaching at the university started. 

The reason for discontinuing religious services was a major controversy. The Daily Phoenix reported that the African American politician Henry E. Hayne attended a September 24, 1871 church service over which Benjamin presided. According to the newspaper, Henry tried to take a position at the sacrament table next to a White Republican. The Republican took offense and left the church in protest. His departure provoked a major argument between congregants, and the congregation was declared disbanded. The newspapers cited this incident as evidence of the hypocrisy of White Republicans. Benjamin denied these reports in strong terms: he published a notice stating that "each particular sentence [in the article] is false." Furthermore, he stated that his religious position was of no political significance. The Daily Phoenix responded with an article in which it admitted the "general statement [that was reported] appears to have been incorrect" However, they stood by their assertion that Henry's presence was a source of disagreement.

Babbitt was again the center of political controversy in April 1873. That month some USC professors, including Benjamin, gave public lectures. Benjamin delivered a lecture on galvanism. While the lecture itself was uncontroversial, Associate Justice J. J. Wright attended the lecture and was upset with his treatment. Wright, an African American, was seated incorrectly, and he wrote a lengthy letter, published in the Columbia Evening Herald, in which he claimed students had arranged seating so as to enforce racial segregation. Conservative newspapers responded by citing Wright's statement as evidence of Republicans desire to force race issues onto the university.

The controversy over Wright's treatment at Babbitt's lecture took place in a climate of increasing political tensions at USC. Tensions culminated in October when the first African American matriculated at the university. The student was Henry E. Hayne, the politician at the center of the earlier controversy concerning Babbitt's congregation.

The matriculation of Hayne caused the departure of most of the students and antebellum faculty. Conservative newspapers condemned the university's decision to admit African Americans and recalled the alleged mistreatment of Hayne by Babbitt's congregation as evidence of Babbitt's hypocrisy.

After October 1873, Babbitt largely fell out of the public eye. However, he seems to have been well-regarded as faculty. He served as Chairman of the Faculty (a position similar to University President) from 1873 to 1875. Writing in the 1910s, Babbitt's former student C. C. Scott wrote that he was "not only a Christian gentleman but a scholar and philanthropist." White Conservatives, on the other hand, recalled Babbitt in very negative terms. In his history on Reconstruction, John S. Reynolds writes that Babbitt's election as professor was "distasteful to the white people" and says that "He was of unattractive appearance and small abilities and was generally accounted a carpetbagger on the lookout for a job."

Around this time, Benjamin became more active in the Episcopal church. In August 1873, the Bishop formally organized St. Luke's as a mission and Benjamin became the church's minister. Benjamin regularly held worship services in various halls and lodges within the city. By 1876, St. Luke's congregation had grown to about 20 families and the church was incorporated. To help manage the growing congregation, Benjamin's student Thaddeus Saltus began to help with church services. 

Babbitt lost his professorship after the University of South Carolina closed in 1877. However, he remained in Columbia, working as a clergyman. Despite the difficulties caused by the end of Reconstruction, Babbitt's congregation continued to grow. In 1883, he was able to begin constructing his own chapel, and he began holding services there in 1884.

Benjamin last appears in the news in March 1884. Newspapers reported that his (largely African American) congregants had asked that he be removed from his position as they preferred having an African American pastor. Despite the requests, Benjamin remained rector until 1886. He duties were taken over by Thomas Boston Clarkson, a White clergyman.

After stepping down from St. Luke's, Benjamin stayed in Columbia and continued to do missionary work among African Americans in the area until his death in 1888. He is buried in Juniper Hill Cemetery in Bristol, RI.

Publications by Babbitt

1) "Popular Objections to the Liturgy." The Church Monthly, Vol. 1, April, 1861. p. 105.

2) "The Word and Works of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ." The Church Monthly, Vol. 1, August, 1861. p. 37–41.

3) "Loyalty in the United States." The Church Monthly, Vol. 2., December, 1861. pp. 176–182.

4) "Exceptional Salvation out of the Church." The Church Monthly, Vol. 2., December, 1861. p. 183.

5) "Constitutional Episcopate." The Church Monthly, February, 1863. pp. 118-119.

6) A Sermon on the Death of Walter L. Raymond, a Union Soldier, delivered on Sunday, April 3, 1865. Andover: Printed by Warren F. Draper. 1865. 16mo. pp. 32.

7) "A Sermon Before the First Annual Convention of the Church Union" in Abbott, Edward, The Blade, the Ear, and the Full Corn. Printed by Vote of Convocation, Boston 1906.

8) Easy Questions on the Various Sundays in the Year: Both Elementary and Progressive, for Larger and Smaller Classes

 

Sources Cited

1) Historical Catalogue of Brown University, 1764-1904. Brown University, Providence, RI (1905). p. 205.

2). Browne, William Bradford, The Babbitt family history, 1643-1900.  Taunton, Mass. : C. A. Hack, 1912. p. 611-612.

3) 1850; Census Place: Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Roll: 333; Page: 121b

4) 1860; Census Place: Andover, Essex, Massachusetts; Page: 165; Family History Library Film: 803496

5) 1870; Census Place: Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island; Roll: M593_1471; Page: 45B; Family History Library Film: 552970

6) Journal of the Proceedings of the Sixty-Third Annual Convention of Diocese of Massachusetts, James B, Dow, Office of the Christian Witness and Church Advocate, Boston, MA (1853). pp. 79-80.

7) Journal of the Proceedings of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Convention of Diocese of Massachusetts, James B, Dow, Office of the Christian Witness and Church Advocate, Boston, MA (1855). p.18.

8) Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island, Volume 2. J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago (1908). pp. 1406-1407.

9) "Hotel Arrivals." The daily phoenix, March 19, 1871, p. 2.

10) "The State Capitol." The Charleston daily news, March 25, 1871, Image 1

11) "The State Capitol." The Charleston daily news, March 30, 1871, p. 1.

12)  "The Colored People and Their Radical Friends." The daily phoenix, September 26, 1871, p. 2.

13) The daily phoenix, September 27, 1871, p. 2.

14) The daily phoenix, September 28, 1871, p. 2.

15) "Our Correspondent and the South Carolina University" The daily phoenix, January 17, 1872, p. 2.

16) "Prof. Babbitt's Lectures." The daily phoenix, April 3, 1873, p. 2.

16) "Religious Intelligence." Charleston Daily News [SC]. May 25, 1872. p. 4.

17) "Judge Wright (as He Says) in the Wrong Place." The daily phoenix, April 6, 1873, p. 2.

18) "Refused to Take Their Own Pills." The daily phoenix, October 12, 1873, p. 3.

19) "What Broke Up Rev. Mr. Babbitt's Mission Church in 1871" The daily phoenix, October 17, 1873, p. 2.

20) Reynolds, John S. Reconstruction in South Carolina, 1865–1877. The State Co. Publishers, Columbia, SC. 1905 pp. 232–233.

21) "More Church Trouble." The times and democrat, March 18, 1886, p. 4.

An 1868 Advertisement for St. Clement's School for Boys
The Church Monthly