Benjamin Morgan Palmer (January 25, 1818 – May 28, 1902) was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister,

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He served as first Moderator of the

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

(PCUS) in

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...

Life

Palmer was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1818 and became a minister in the

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

church. He served in Georgia (1841–42), South Carolina (1843-55) and New Orleans (1856-1902). He received his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1852. The PCUS was formed by secession from the

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...

in 1861 as a result of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Dr Palmer was appointed Moderator of its first General Assembly in 1861. He advocated heavily for the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

of Louisiana from the

to join the Confederacy, with his infamous "Thanksgiving Sermon" serving as a major catalyst for the Confederate movement. He died in 1902 after an accident in New Orleans.

Legacy

Palmer Park in New Orleans was named after him during

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

, but due to his

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

background was renamed after

Ellis Marsalis Jr. Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (November 14, 1934 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the musical Marsalis family, whe ...

on July 1, 2021.

Publications

*1875 ''The Life and Letters of

James Henley Thornwell James Henley Thornwell (December 9, 1812 – August 1, 1862) was an American Presbyterian preacher, slaveowner, and religious writer from the U.S. state of South Carolina during the 19th century. During the American Civil War, Thornwell support ...

'', B.M. Palmer. *1894 ''The Theology of Prayer'', B.M. Palmer. *1906 ''The Life and Letters of Benjamin Morgan Palmer'' by T.C. Johnson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Benjamin Morgan 1818 births 1902 deaths 19th-century Presbyterian ministers Accidental deaths in Louisiana Columbia Theological Seminary alumni People from Charleston, South Carolina Presbyterian Church in the United States ministers Pro-Confederate clergy Southern Historical Society University of Georgia alumni