Higginbottom was born in Wales and the family moved to America. He left school early and working at different times as a butcher's boy, cab driver, and milk deliverer.[1] However, he had a strong youthful interest in the Christian gospel, and resolved to become a preacher or missionary.[1] Higginbottom attended Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts from 1894 to 1899.[1] Higginbottom continued his education at Amherst College and Princeton University in the United States, receiving a bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1903.[1][2][3][4]
Work in India
On the recommendation of Henry Forman, Higginbottom arrived in India in 1903 as part of the North India Mission of the Presbyterian Church.[5] From then until 1909 he taught economics and science in Allahabad Christian College (now Ewing Christian College).[2][5] In 1904 he married Jane Ethelind Cody, of Cleveland, Ohio, who joined him in his work.[3] They had five children together.[2]
Higginbottom wrote two books: a book about his work published in 1921 and an autobiography published in 1949. While being in India, he developed close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru[2] He retired in Florida in 1945. Higginbottom died in Frostproof, Florida at the home of his daughter, Mrs Charles Coates.[7]
Sam Higginbottom. The Gospel and the Plough, Or, The Old Gospel and Modern Farming in Ancient India. 1921. London: Central Board of Missions and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Republished in 2006: ISBN1-4254-8665-7
Sam Higginbottom. Sam Higginbottom, Farmer: An Autobiography. 1949. Republished in 2007: ISBN978-0-548-44200-5
References
^ abcdeHistory, Allahabad Agricultural Institute website