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Glittering_Cricket38 t1_ix14jiq wrote

Reply to comment by umrdyldo in TIL of John R. Baylor the self-proclaimed 'governor' of Arizona who was a Confederate Colonel whose self-appointment was later approved by Jefferson Davis. Baylor gave orders to exterminate the indigenous Apache and when Davis got wind of it he rescinded the orders as well as Baylor's governorship. by ChronosBlitz

It was named after John’s uncle

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BlueSkyToday t1_ix1mhhl wrote

And what a fine specimen he was,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Emmett_Bledsoe_Baylor

> During the Civil War, Baylor supported the Confederacy and the grounds of Baylor University, then in Independence, were used as a training and staging ground for the Confederate Army.[8][9] Baylor's nephew, John R. Baylor, was a prominent leader in the Confederacy serving as both a governor and later as a member of the Confederate Congress. > >

> In his role as a judge, he once punished an abolitionist harboring an escaped slave. Another man was punished for not returning a borrowed slave promptly. In 1854, Judge Baylor sentenced a slave to hang for arson. In 1856, he ordered the execution of yet another slave. In 1857, he levied a heavy fine on a white person who bought some bacon from a slave. And in 1862, as the Civil War raged, he ordered the execution of a slave for “intent to rape a white female.”[8]

Baylor was a slave owner. A report commissioned by Baylor University found that of 1856, he owned four slaves; the 1860 Census records him as owning 33 slaves.[10]

In addition to the disgusting aspect of his history, there's the odd reference,

> In 1839, he converted to Christianity and was ordained a Baptist minister.[1]

'Converted'?

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zstandig t1_ix28lvx wrote

He was probably a different Christian sect till he switched over

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BlueSkyToday t1_ix4845w wrote

'Converted to Christianity' means that he wasn't a Christian before becoming a Baptist. I know that some Christians believe that if you're not a member of their church then you're not a Christian. But that doesn't fit with the standards that Wiki is supposed to be applying.

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