Robert G. Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 - July 21, 1899) was an American lawyer, writer, and orator who campaigned in support of agnosticism during the Golden Age of Free Thought. Robert Ingersoll was born in the town of Dresden, New York. His father, John Ingersoll, was an abolitionist-friendly Congregationalist pastor whose radical views prompted him and his family to move frequently. While American revivalist Charles G. Finney was on tour in Europe, Rev. John Ingersoll filled in as preacher for a while. Rev. Ingersoll continued as co-pastor/associate pastor with Finney for a few months after his return. However, as The Elmira Telegram reported in 1890, the elder Ingersoll's subsequent pastoral experiences had a bad impact on young Robert. Colonel Ingersoll was born and raised in a devoutly Christian family, despite being the most well-known of American unbelievers for many years. His father, John Ingersoll, was a Congregationalist preacher and a man of note in his day, a keen thinker, a logical and eloquent speaker, broad-minded and generously accepting of other people's points of view. The prevalent perception that attributes Ingersoll's infidelity mostly to his father's strict orthodoxy and the austere and dreary conditions in which he grew up is completely incorrect.