Samuel B. Fairbank

Samuel Bacon Fairbank (December 14, 1822 – May 31, 1898) D.D. was an American evangelist, writer, translator, and amateur naturalist who worked in India with the American Marathi Mission in western India, mainly in Wadala Bahiroba (Wadale), near Ahmednagar. Fairbank was responsible for some of the earliest translations of hymns into Marathi. He also worked on a number of initiatives to improve agriculture. His children and several relatives continued to work as missionaries in India. A bird species, Montecincla fairbanki, and the molluscs Fairbankia and Achatina fairbanki are named after him. Biography Samuel was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the eldest son of John Barnard Fairbank, principal of a school. The family later moved to Massachusetts where they manufactured straw hats. Fairbank studied at Illinois earning an A.B. in 1842 and an A.M. in 1845 followed by studies at the Andover Theological Seminary. He was ordained D.D. in 1845. Shortly after marrying Abby Allen (died 1852), the couple moved to India to join the American Marathi Mission in western India. His work was mainly at Ahmednagar (1846 to 1850 and again from 1871 to 1879), Bombay (1850 to 1857), Wadala (1857 to 1871 with a break in the US from 1869-71) and from 1889 at Kodaikanai in South India. Fairbank had a camp on the ridge at Prospect Point in Kodaikanal. He visited the United States on three furloughs. Fairbank spent much of his time on evangelism through working with the local people. A deputation in 1854 led by Rufus Anderson of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) came up with the suggestion that all missionaries needed to focus on evangelization rather than improving the lives of people. Despite this, Fairbank, went about his evangelization through attempts at improving the life of the people. He taught agriculture and attempted to introduce more efficient practices and implements. He had an ox-cart fitted out with a bedroom, kitchen, study and bath that he called as a tent-on-wheels. He travelled from village to village and found that having a spectacle helped attract people. He used projectors in the evening (Magic Lantern / Sciopticon) to give talks on the scriptures with visuals and made use of traditional "kirtans" for his evangelism. He translated hymns and transcribing them to make it suitable for local use with traditional tunes and singing styles.