Samuel Higginbottom (27 October 1874 – 11 June 1958) was an English-born Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the admin ...

(now

Prayagraj Allahabad (), List of renamed Indian cities and states, officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut ...

), India, where he founded the Allahabad Agricultural Institute. Higginbottom was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, England.History
Allahabad Agricultural Institute website

Early life

Higginbottom was born in Wales and the family moved to America. He left school early and working at different times as a butcher's boy,

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, and milk deliverer. However, he had a strong youthful interest in the Christian gospel, and resolved to become a preacher or missionary. Higginbottom attended Mount Hermon School in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

from 1894 to 1899. Higginbottom continued his education at Amherst College and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

in the United States, receiving a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Princeton in 1903.

Work in India

On the recommendation of Henry Forman, Higginbottom arrived in India in 1903 as part of the North India Mission of the

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 na ...

Church.Dr. Sam Higginbottom (1874-1958)
Allahabad Agricultural Institute website. From then until 1909 he taught economics and science in Allahabad Christian College (now

Ewing Christian College Ewing Christian College (ECC), formerly Allahabad Christian College, is an autonomous constituent college of University of Allahabad, located in Allahabad, India. The college was established in 1902 by Arthur Henry Ewing, a prominent Presbyter ...

). In 1904 he married Jane Ethelind Cody, of Cleveland, Ohio, who joined him in his work.Padre Sahib
''

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

'', 19 September 1949 They had five children together. In 1909, he returned to the United States and spent three years studying agriculture at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

, after which he went back to Allahabad, to teach scientific methods of farming. His educational programs grew into the founding of Allahabad Agricultural Institute in 1919. In 2009, Allahabad Agricultural Institute was rechristened as Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences ( SHUATS) in honour of the founder.http://www.shiats.edu.in/notice_chName.asp Higginbottom wrote two books: a book about his work published in 1921 and an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

published in 1949. While being in India, he developed close friendship with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

He retired in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in 1945. Higginbottom died in Frostproof, Florida at the home of his daughter, Mrs Charles Coates.

Collections

Higginbottom's papers are housed at the

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the University ...

at the University of Virginia.

Bibliography

*Sam Higginbottom. ''The Gospel and the Plough, Or, The Old Gospel and Modern Farming in Ancient India''. 1921. London: Central Board of Missions and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Republished in 2006: *Sam Higginbottom. ''Sam Higginbottom, Farmer: An Autobiography''. 1949. Republished in 2007:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higginbottom, Sam English Presbyterian missionaries English emigrants to the United States Scholars from Allahabad 1874 births 1958 deaths Clergy from Manchester Presbyterian missionaries in India Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni Princeton University alumni Ohio State University alumni Amherst College alumni