Peter Cartwright (1785–1872), a Methodist missionary, was possibly the most famous circuit rider in the United States.
Born on Sept. 1, 1785, in Amherst County, Virginia, he was the son of Peter Cartwright Sr. and Christiana Garvin Cartwright. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Kentucky.
At the age of 15, Cartwright was converted at a camp meeting, which was part of the Revival of 1800, also known as the Red River Revival. In his “Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher,” he described his conversion: “To this meeting I repaired, a guilty wretched sinner. …I went, with weeping multitudes, and bowed before the stand, and earnestly prayed for mercy. …a voice said to me, ‘Thy sins are all forgiven thee.’ Divine light flashed all round me; unspeakable joy sprung up in my soul. I rose to my feet, opened my eyes, and it really seemed as if I was in heaven; the trees, the leaves on them, and everything seemed, and I really thought were, praising God.”
Early ministry
Cartwright joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and became a circuit preacher in 1802. Two years later he was ordained by Francis Asbury and William McKendree, the two Methodist bishops in America. He married Frances Gaines in 1808. They had two sons and seven daughters.
He called himself “God’s plowman.” He experienced a divine calling to spread the gospel. As a Methodist circuit rider, he sought out people in remote frontier locations. He preached mostly in Kentucky and Illinois, but also in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio.
Cartwright required only a few necessities for his vocation. On his horse were his saddlebags containing his belongings and books. His library was a Bible, a hymnbook and the Methodist Book of Discipline. While preaching and visiting, he wore a black broadcloth suit.
Defeated by Lincoln
In the 19th century, presiding elders were the most important officers in the Methodist Church. Cartwright served as a presiding elder for 50 years. He received 10,000 members into the Methodist Church, personally baptized 12,000 people and preached more than 15,000 sermons during his 60 years as a frontier minister.
Because he opposed slavery, he moved his family from Kentucky to Illinois in 1824. He was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly in 1828 and 1832. In 1846, Abraham Lincoln defeated him for a seat in the U.S. Congress.
Cartwright’s autobiography, published in 1856, made him nationally prominent.
“God’s plowman” died near Pleasant Plains, Illinois, on Sept. 25, 1872. He was 87 years old.
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