Dr. Samuel Bard

Dr. Samuel Bard (1742–1821), the founder of St. James’ Church, was both a pioneering colonial physician and a prominent slave owner, reflecting the deep entanglements between early  Episcopal Diocese of New York benefactors and the slave economy. Alongside his father, Dr. John Bard, and Philadelphia’s Dr. Benjamin Rush, he was recognized as one of the leading medical minds of the colonial and early federal periods. Beyond his medical contributions, Bard harbored a deep passion for horticulture and agriculture on his Hyde Park estate. Driven to improve regional farming, he helped introduce Merino sheep to the Hudson Valley and founded the Dutchess County Agricultural Society in 1806, serving as its longtime president. He spent his later years landscaping his estate with exotic flora, including a massive Ginkgo tree planted in 1799—believed to be the oldest in North America—and constructing Dutchess County’s first greenhouse in 1820. Crucially, the wealth and land generated by Bard’s estate directly funded the establishment of St. James’ Church, binding its origin to the system of chattel slavery.

[Published Winter 2019]