Lately, I have become captivated by the history of the early circuit riders and missionaries of the churches that refused to be part of the established church of England. It’s important to understand that before the American Revolution, the English church, even in America, was regulated by the English government. The colonists were obligated by law to help support Anglican ministers. My ancestor John Robertson Jefferson (cousin of a future President) got into a bit of trouble because of that.
At FamilySearch.org, you can read on page 47 in The Story of Cumberland County, Virginia, by Garland Evans Hopkins, how John Jefferson was prosecuted in August of 1777 for not paying his assessed levy to the parish because the minister, Rev. Christopher McRae, was a Loyalist. Many others of those wanting independence also refused to pay.1
As you know, thousands upon thousands of early colonists chose to leave areas in which the Anglican church held sway. Thomas Condit Miller says:2
The restrictions under the laws of Virginia in favor of the established church,
the Church of England, had driven some settlers across the mountains where
there was more freedom and less persecution, and so this western part of
Virginia was peopled largely by a liberty-loving class of citizens. A little later
there came many who had served in the Revolutionary War, and they were
fully committed to the doctrine that there should be no connection between
church and state. Then when in 1785 Jefferson’s statutes for religious freedom
in Virginia were enacted by the Legislature, there was almost a rivalry on the
part of the different denominations to occupy the new field.
Those different denominations included Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists primarily, but also Lutherans and Quakers, among many other smaller groups. Thomas Condit Miller discusses some of these in his book, and I recommend it, as it is an easy read, yet covers the most important concepts.
BAPTIST MISSIONARY, ALLEN WOOD
My own great-great-great-grandfather, Allen Wood, preached regularly in the Ansted area. The Fayette County, (W) Virginia, court records show that Allen Wood, a minister of the Baptist Church, presented his credentials of ordination, took the oath of allegiance, and was granted a testimonial before the Fayette County Court, in January 1850.
However, Allen Wood did not just stay in one place. The Virginia Baptist Historical Society in Richmond, Virginia, has verified that Allen Wood was a missionary serving in the territory of the Western Virginia Baptist Association as early as 1846, with his address as Mountain Cove, Fayette County, Virginia. In 1859 he is listed as serving in Fayette and Nicholas counties.
The Minutes of the Western Virginia Baptist Association of 1860 published Allen Wood’s report:
A. Wood - preached 220 sermons, travelled 1,185 miles, visited 350 families, baptized 16 persons, organized 2 Sunday Schools, and delivered several S.S. and Temperance lectures. Brother Wood writes: 'I have lately held a two days' meeting in a section of the country where not a single sermon from a Baptist minister up to that time had been preached. So strong was the prejudice against the denomination, that it was supposed not more than ten persons would attend the meetings, but contrary to our expectation, a large congregation was in attendance. And under the power of divine truth, many wept like children. At the close of the meetings, several persons came forward and urged me to come back again and preach for them. There are many such sections in this and the adjoining counties, where the people are, to a great extent, ignorant of Baptists and Baptist principles. Should I be permitted to continue in the employment of the Board, I want to devote much of my time to such places.'
This is not exactly the same as what the circuit riders did, but there are some similarities. It should be noted that Allen Wood’s ministry was relatively late; hundreds of pioneer preachers had come and gone by the time he arrived on the scene.
METHODIST CIRCUIT RIDERS
Whereas a Baptist missionary of the 1800s in western Virginia apparently had some freedom to choose where he would go, ministers of the Methodist-affiliated denominations were assigned several congregations in a “circuit” to which they would preach on a regular basis. Francis Asbury was probably the most famous.
This is explained in the Wikipedia entry “Circuit rider (religious)”: 3
Circuit riders were clergy in the Methodist Episcopal Church and related denominations . . . [I]n the early days of the United States, as the population developed, Methodist clergy could be appointed to circuits wherever people were settling. A circuit . . . was a geographic area that encompassed two or more local churches. Pastors met each year at Annual Conference where their bishops would appoint them either to a new circuit or to remain at the same one. . . Once a pastor was assigned a circuit, it was his responsibility to conduct worship and visit members of each church in his charge on a regular basis in addition to possibly establishing new churches. He was supervised by a Presiding Elder. . .
FOR FURTHER READING
The Wikipedia article lists names of specific people and sources that you may want to consider researching. I wrote about Presbyterians here. Previously, I recommended the book Virginians Reborn: Anglican Monopoly, Evangelical Dissent, and the Rise of the Baptists in the Late Eighteenth Century. In addition, I came across this book that I hope to read: James Craig: Patriot Parson, by Cynthia Mattson. After skimming through the book and reading parts of it, I can confidently say that this is well-written and academically sound. I think anyone interested in the history of Virginia would benefit from reading it.
The inside of the book jacket says:
CIRCUIT RIDER CLIPART
The truth now comes out: my main interest is in circuit rider clipart. I’ve collected a few that appear to be public domain, and I’ll share them here. Perhaps they will be instructive and help us appreciate the travails of this calling. I colorized as many as I could, but some did not lend themselves to that.
Feel free to share about your own ancestors or relatives who have been involved in similar ministry.
Hopkins, Garland Evans. The Story of Cumberland County, Virginia. Privately issued in 1942. Digitally published by Family Search Library.
Miller, Thomas Condit. Sketches and reminiscences of the Methodist Protestant Church of Fairmont, West Virginia: locally known as the People's Temple. Stockton Press: Baltimore, Maryland. 1927. Digitally published by the Internet Archive.
“Circuit rider (religious)”. Wikipedia. Accessed 5 Feb 2024.