Benjamin Morgan Palmer

1818-1902. Presbyterian minister. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he received degrees from the University of Georgia and Columbia Theological Seminary, served as pastor from 1841 to 1853, then became professor of ecclesiastical history and polity at Columbia Seminary. He preferred the pastorate, however, and in 1856 accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, where he remained until his death. Regarded as one of the great ministers of the Southern Presbyterian Church, he was the first Presbyterian moderator under the Confederacy in 1861, and defended slavery.