Aaron Bancroft

Aaron Bancroft (10 November 1755 – 19 August 1839) 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 as pastor of the Congregational church, and remained in the same post until his death. During the middle of his life his theological views leant 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. This first edition was published under the title of An essay on the life of George Washington. and in following editions the title was changed to Life of George Washington Commander in Chief of the American Army Through the Revolutionary War, and the First President of the United States. 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.
==Works==
*Bancroft, Aaron. Life of George Washington Commander in Chief of the American Army Through the Revolutionary War, and the First President of the United States. London: Printed for J. Stockdale, 1808.
==Notes==
==References==
*Christie, Francis Albert. "Bancroft, Aaron." Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928
*worldcat Accessed December 25, 2009
Category:1755 births
Category:1839 deaths
Category:Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
Category:American Congregationalist clergy
Category:18th-century Congregationalist clergy
Category:19th-century Congregationalist clergy
Category:Calvinist ministers and theologians
Category:Christian theologians
Category:Arminianism
Category:Congregationalist missionaries
Category:American Christian missionaries