Thomas Bramwell Welch
| Thomas Bramwell Welch | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
December 31, 1825 Glastonbury, England |
| Died | December 29, 1903 (aged 77) Vineland, New Jersey |
| Resting place | Siloam Cemetery |
| Spouse(s) | Victoria C. Sherbume (m. 1895) |
| Children | Charles E. Welch, dentist Emma C. Welch Slade (1854-1928) dentist |
| Parent(s) | Abraham Welch Mary Fussel |
Thomas Bramwell Welch (December 31, 1825 – December 29, 1903) was the inventor of the pasteurization process for the prevention of the fermentation of grape juice.
Welch was born in Glastonbury, England on December 31, 1825.
He moved to the United States when his father emigrated in 1834. He attended public schools in Watertown, New York.
At age 17, Thomas Welch joined the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, founded the same year (1843). From its beginning, the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion strongly opposed (1) the "manufacturing, buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors", and (2) "slaveholding, buying, or selling" of slaves.
With the first edition of their Discipline, the Wesleyan Methodists expressly required for the Lord's Supper that "unfermented wine only should be used at the sacrament." This requirement was about 25 years before Welch used pasteurization. So it is clearly evident that pasteurization was not the only method used to prepare it unfermented. There were traditional methods to prepare unfermented wine (juice) for use at any time during the year, e.g. to reconstitute concentrated grape juice, or to boil raisins, or to add preservatives that prevent juice from fermenting and souring.
Throughout his late teens, Welch was active in the Underground Railroad that transported escaped slaves from the south into Canada. He was one of many Wesleyan Methodist connected to the "Underground Railroad."
By age 19, he graduated from Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary and became an ordained Wesleyan Methodist minister. He ministered first in Poundridge, in Westchester County, New York, then in Herkimer County, New York.
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