On April 14, 1802, Horace Bushnell was born in Bantam. Bushnell, who became a Congregational minister, author and theologian, is recognized for his influence on American Protestant thought and is often called the “father of American religious liberalism.” Bushnell strove to bring religion in closer harmony with the human experience and nature through his writings, and was famous for the compassion he embedded in his approach. In a sermon preached the Sunday after the Union Army was defeated in 1861 at the Battle of Bull Run, he said, sympathizing with the suffering of both Connecticut soldiers and their families, “There must be reverses and losses, and times of deep concern. There must be tears in the houses, as well as blood in the fields.”
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