Robert A. Bakeman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert A. Bakeman | |
|---|---|
 Bakeman c. 1926 | |
| Mayor of Peabody, Massachusetts | |
| In office 1925–1929 | |
| Preceded by | William A. Shea |
| Succeeded by | J. Leo Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 16, 1879 Auburn, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 1950 (aged 71) Peabody, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Party | Socialist |
| Alma mater | Colby College Newton Theological Institution Harvard University |
| Occupation | Minister, teacher |
Robert Atherton Bakeman (August 16, 1879 – September 29, 1950) was an American clergyman and socialist activist who served as mayor of Peabody, Massachusetts.
Bakeman was born in Auburn, Maine and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where his father, Francis W. Bakeman, was the pastor of the First Baptist Church for several years.[1][2][3] Bakeman graduated from Colby College in 1901. After graduating he enrolled in the Newton Theological Institution and preached at churches in Maine during the summer.[4] In November 1905, he married June Dunn of Houlton, Maine. They had two children.[5]
East Jaffrey
Bakeman graduated from the Newton Theological Institution in 1905.[6] On October 9, 1905, he was ordained to the ministry at his father's church.[3] On October 28, 1905, he accepted a call from the Baptist church in East Jaffrey, New Hampshire and became its pastor on November 5, 1905.[7] In 1906, he was elected to the Jaffrey school board. One of his first acts was to remove 11 children who were illegally working in cotton mill. He gained notoriety at the 1909 New England Baptist Conference for asserting that the Baptist church could not reach the workingman until it refused to accept gifts from John D. Rockefeller and others who profited from the slavery of the common people. At the following year's conference he attempted to introduce a resolution declaring the Baptist denomination to be against such gifts but the presiding officer refused to receive it. In 1910, Bakeman joined the Socialist Party of America and was offered the part's nomination for the United States House of Representatives seat in New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district, but declined on the ground that he had not been a member of the party long enough.[5] His socialist beliefs caused his more conservative parishioners to leave the church and Bakeman worked as a weaver in a Fitchburg, Massachusetts mill on weekdays to help make ends meet.[2]
Schenectady
In 1912, Bakeman became an associate pastor under George R. Lunn at the United People's Church of Schenectady, New York.[5] He left the church later that year for a job with the city's department of cleaning. He declared in his farewell address that there was no need for professional ministers and that it was "time ministers get off the people's back's and went to work".[8] In 1912, Bakeman was arrested five times for his involvement in a strike in Little Falls, New York.[2][9] Bakeman was found guilty of violating a city ordinance with prohibited blocking a city street. He was fined $50 and sentenced to 50 days in jail.[10]