Richard B. (Richard Brodhead) Westbrook

Born in Pennsylvania in 1820, Richard Brodhead Westbrook was licensed to preach by 1839 and spent his early adult life as a Methodist Episcopal minister. Archival records from the Wagner Free Institute say he left the Methodist Church in 1852, a turning point that set him on a very different intellectual path.

Westbrook later became known for outspoken freethought and anti-dogmatic religious writing. He wrote works including Man--Whence and Whither? and The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets, books that challenged established Christian doctrine and explored religion, history, and human origins from a skeptical point of view.

He was also active in wider reform and debate circles. Sources connected with the Wagner Free Institute note that he served as a trustee there from 1884 until his death in 1899, and that his will funded the Richard B. Westbrook Free Lectureship to encourage open discussion of scientific questions, especially evolution. He was also listed as an early officer of the Theosophical Society, showing how closely he moved among the era's religious and philosophical debates.