Bachmeyer, Albert (born c. 1872)

Canvasser pioneer, Albert Bachmeyer¹ was born in Germany,² c. 1872.³ He learned the gospel message near the end of 1893 while in the city of Liverpool, England. Leaving England, he became a crew member on a ship headed to South America. The ship attendant was an abusive man who exploited those under his command, so Albert decided to escape as soon as possible. His opportunity came when the ship neared the Brazilian coast. As the ship approached Rio de Janeiro, Albert jumped into the water and swam to the nearest beach. It was in Brazil that he first learned of the Adventist message.⁴

In 1893, E. W. Snyder, one of the first canvassers to go as a missionary to South America, was working in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Since there were few missionaries and the need was great, he had been praying for some time to have more workers who were capable of canvassing among the German immigrants. In response to his prayers, he met Bachmeyer in a house of sailors. Synder taught him about the Adventist faith, but he did not accept it immediately. Bachmeyer first spent some time meditating on what he had learned before deciding to keep the Sabbath. When he was finally convinced that the Sabbath was God’s holy day, he said he felt inner peace.⁵

Although he was not yet baptized,⁶ Bachmeyer began his career as the first canvasser known to be recruited in Brazil.⁷ Together with Albert Stauffer, he worked in the German colonies of several cities in the state of São Paulo.⁸ It was through the efforts of these two missionaries that Adventist publications reached the family of Guilherme Stein, Jr. in 1894.⁹  In April of that year Guilherme Stein, Jr. became the first person to be baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist in the city of Piracicaba, state of Sao Paulo.¹⁰

Bachmeyer went to the state of Santa Catarina where he discovered the first group of Sabbath keepers near the city of Brusque. These included the families of Belz, Olm, Look, and Thrun. As soon as he learned of them in August 1894, he contacted W. H. Thurston, an Adventist missionary who had recently arrived in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Soon after, Pastor Frank Westphal, the first ordained minister assigned to work in South America, was requested to come to Brazil in order to perform several baptisms. In response to this call, Westphal left Argentina and headed to Brazil. After performing several baptisms in the state of Sao Paulo, Westphal went to the city of Brusque, state of Santa Catarina, on May 30, 1895. There he baptized the first group of believers on June 8, in the Itajaí-Mirim River, about five kilometers from the city. Three days later he went to Gaspar Alto to baptize the second group, which included Guilherme Belz and family and Bachmeyer,¹¹ in the Gaspar Alto creek.¹² Bachmeyer’s spirit was renewed when he sealed his commitment to Christ through baptism.¹³ Until this moment, Bachmeyer had never heard a sermon from an Adventist minister.¹⁴

After his baptism Bachmeyer continued canvassing in the states of Santa Catarina and São Paulo until August 1895 when he went to the state of Espírito Santo. He worked in this region for some time and then went canvassing in the state of Rio de Janeiro.¹⁵ It is known that he participated in the conversion of the first group of Adventists in the state of Espírito Santo, near the city of Santa Maria de Jetibá. This group included Guilherme Denz, Carlos Kloss, and the Storch family.¹⁶ Despite the scarce historical information about his ministry and later years, Bachmeyer was a man whose love and commitment helped to spread the gospel in different regions of Brazil.

Sources

Berger, Albert J. “In the Book Work.” The Missionary Magazine, vol. 11, n. 6, June 1899, 259-260. Accessed February 16, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/TMM/TMM18990601-V11-06__B.pdf#view=fit.

“Brazil.” In Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, second edition, v. 1, edited by Don F. Neufeld, 228-241. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996.

Greenleaf, Floyd. Terra de Esperança: o crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul. 1. ed., Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2011. For the English version, see http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Books/ALOH2011.pdf

Kloss, Paulino Carlos. “Um valoroso exército.” Revista Adventista, year 98, n. 5, May 2002, 20. Accessed February 16, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Meyers, E. H. “Uma Recapitulação dos Começos na América do Sul.” Revista Mensal, vol. 23, n. 10, October 1928, 4-5. Accessed February 15, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

“New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1952,” published 2010, accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.ancestry.com/.

Nigri, M. S. “Gaspar Alto: o marco inicial dum grande movimento.” Revista Adventista, year 53, n. 2, February 1958, 29-30. Accessed February 15, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Sarli, Wilson. “Para Deus não há nuvens Negras.” Revista Adventista, year 89, n. 3, May 1993, 10-11. Accessed February 16, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Snyder, E. W. “Experiences and progress in Brazil.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 70, n. 42, October 24, 1893, 5-6. Accessed in 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH18931024-V70-42__B.pdf#view=fit.

Snyder, E. W. “The Present Situation in Brazil.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, v. 70, n. 38, September 19, 1893, 4. Accessed June 6, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH18930919-V70-38__B.pdf#view=fit.

“Stein, Guilherme, III.” In Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, second edition, v. 2, edited by Don F. Neufeld, 703. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. W. H. Thurston. “Brazil.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 72, n. 33, August 13, 1895, 11. Accessed February 16, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH18950813-V72-33__B.pdf#view=fit.

Streithorst, Germano. “O início de nossa Obra.” Revista Adventista, year 53, n. 3, May 1958, 29-30. Accessed February 15, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Vieira, Ruy C.. Vida e Obra de Guilherme Stein Jr.: Raízes da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia no Brasil. 1. ed., Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 1995.

Westphal, F. H. “Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 72, n. 40, October 1, 1895, 12. Accessed February 16, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH18951001-V72-40__B.pdf#view=fit..

Notes

1. Also spelled as Bachmeier, Backmeyer.↩

2. Snyder, E. W., “Experiences and progress in Brazil,” ARH, v. 70, n.

   42, October 24, 1893, 5.↩

3. “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1952,” published 2010. Accessed March 14, 2019. https://www.ancestry.com/.↩

4. Ibid., 5.↩

5. E. W. Snyder, “Experiences and progress in Brazil,” ARH, v. 70, n. 42, October 24, 1893, 5; and Snyder, E. W., “The Present Situation in Brazil,” ARH, v. 70, n. 38, September 19, 1893, 4.↩

6. “Brazil,” in Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, v. 1, ed. by Don F. Neufeld (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 233.↩

7. Wilson Sarli, “Para Deus não há nuvens Negras,” Revista Adventista, year 89, n. 3, March 1993, 11.↩

8. “Brazil,” in Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, v. 1, ed. by Don F. Neufeld (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 233; and Ruy C. Vieira, Vida e Obra de Guilherme Stein Jr.: Raízes da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia no Brasil (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 1995), 135.↩

9. Floyd Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança: o crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2011), 33.↩

10. “Stein, Guilherme, III,” in Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, v. 2, ed. by Don F. Neufeld (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 703; and Ruy C. Vieira, Vida e Obra de Guilherme Stein Jr.: Raízes da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia no Brasil (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 1995), 135.↩

11. E. H. Meyers, “Uma Recapitulação dos Começos na América do Sul,” Revista Mensal, v. 23, n. 10, October 1928, 5; and Streithorst, Germano, “O início de nossa Obra,” Revista Adventista, year 53, n. 3, March 1958, 29.↩

12. M. S. Nigri, “Gaspar Alto: o marco inicial dum grande movimento,” Revista Adventista, year 53, n. 2, February 1958, 30.↩

13. W. H. Thurston, “Brazil,” ARH, v. 72, n. 33, August 13, 1895, 11.↩

14. F. H. Westphal, “Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina,” ARH, v. 72, n. 40, October 1, 1895, 12.↩

15. Albert J. Berger, “In the Book Work,” The Missionary Magazine, v. 11, n. 6, June 1899, 259-260.↩

16. Paulino Carlos Kloss, “Um valoroso exército,” Revista Adventista, year 98, n. 05, May 2002, 20.↩