Aaron Bancroft

Who was Aaron Bancroft?

Aaron Bancroft was an American clergyman. He was born in Reading, Massachusetts to Samuel Bancroft and Lydia Parker.

He began his studies during the American Revolution, and served as a minuteman, and was present, at the battles of both Lexington and Bunker Hill. He graduated from Harvard in 1778 and subsequently taught, studied theology and spent three years as a missionary in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. In 1785 he settled in Worcester, Massachusetts as pastor of the Congregational church, and remained in the same post until his death in 1839. During the middle of his life his theological views leaned toward Arminianism and by his advocacy of liberalism he became a noted leader in the early period of the Unitarian schism. He published a eulogy of George Washington in, 1800 and wrote a subsequent biography of Washington in 1807. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1805. Although president of the American Unitarian Association, he adhered to the name and system of Congregationalism until his death in Worcester, Massachusetts.

His son was George Bancroft, American historian, United States Secretary of the Navy and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.