Freeborn Garrettson
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Freeborn Garrettson (August 15, 1752 – September 26, 1827) was an American
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
man, and one of the first American-born Methodist preachers. He entered the
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
ministry in 1775 and travelled extensively to evangelize in several states. He was called Methodism's "
Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...
"."Freeborn Garrettson: Methodism’s Paul Revere", UMC
/ref> Garrettson was an outspoken
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
.


Early life

Born in 1752 on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River in Maryland, what is known today as Bush River Neck, Freeborn Garrettson was the third generation in his family to live there. The Garrettson family owned a large amount of land which included a farm, a general store, and a blacksmith shop. The Garrettson estate was a prosperous property made more valuable by the numerous slave families who ran the various businesses of the estate. Growing up in a wealthy Anglican family allowed young Garrettson to receive a proper education for the offspring of well-to-do farmers by the standards of the time. The curriculum was rich in religious and social principles. The instruction focused on basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also included bookkeeping, surveying and astronomy. He later inherited his parents' plantation and a large number of slaves.


Career


Conversion experience

"'Do you know what a saint is? A saint is one who is wholly given up to God.' The voice is so real as if someone is talking to me face to face. The question stirs my heart." This is the beginning of the conversion experience of Freeborn Garrettson. This audible encounter is not the first divine event for Freeborn Garrettson. Just prior to the question of knowing what a saint is, he experiences another audible event. The statement which Freeborn Garrettson heard clearly was, "Ask and it shall be given you." Who was asking? According to the nine-year-old Freeborn Garrettson, these were audible requests from God. Yes, Freeborn Garrettson expressed hearing an audible voice in each of these instances. Much like the Old Testament character of
Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, the inspirational events cause him to race home and tell his siblings, even going as far as to predict from an additional encounter that he is going to be a wealthy man someday. After his "knowing what a saint is" episode, he writes in a journal that he "saw such a person, the most beautiful of any I had ever beheld, I...prayed to the Lord to make me a saint." Shortly after these supernatural happenings at the age of 10, Freeborn Garrettson faced tragedy. In a series of events, he lost his mother, his sister Sally, and two family servants. This ushered in a sensitivity to depression and melancholy, causing his spiritual yearnings to lie dormant for nearly ten years. Almost a decade later, the preaching of Methodist itinerants
Robert Strawbridge Robert Strawbridge (born 1732 - died 1781) was a Methodist preacher born in Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland. Early life and ancestral history Information detailing the early life of Robert Strawbridge is somewhat limited. One article, Robe ...
and Joseph Pilmoor serve to awaken the spiritual yearnings in Freeborn Garrettson. Despite the stellar efforts of these traveling preachers, the completion of the conversion to Christianity of Freeborn Garrettson would not be complete until the active mentoring of the British itinerant,
Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...
. By 1776, Freeborn Garrettson became one of Asbury's traveling itinerants.


Anti-slavery stance

Not long after Garrettson inherited several slaves, he freed them. Garrettson wrote that a "voice" moved him to do so. His journals divulge an anti-slavery stance, but do not reveal the extent of his activism. His preaching against slavery resulted in his being thrown in jail in
Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Mary ...
. A wave of voluntary emancipation mirrored and followed Garrettson's time on the
Delmarva The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...
peninsula. By 1810, 76% of African Americans in Delaware were free, though slavery remained legal in Delaware. Garrettson wrote on the issue of slavery, including a published work, "A Dialogue Between Do-Justice and Professing Christian." Garrettson's preaching on the Delmarva led directly to the emancipation of Richard Allen, who upon his return to Philadelphia founded the Bethel Church and then the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) denomination.


Role in American Methodism

Kenneth E. Rowe's foreword to the book ''American Methodist Pioneer'', which presents Garrettson's journals, begins,"Freeborn Garrettson was unquestionably the most competent native born Methodist preacher in the American colonies in the founding period." Garrettson first became a Methodist preacher in 1775. Early in his career, he served the faithful of the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. ...
. Although he favored the revolutionary cause, he refused to fight in the American Revolution and was placed in jail for a time in Maryland. Most of the Methodist preachers who had come from England before the outbreak of the war returned there once the war began. He traveled so often and so regularly in the service of Methodism that some came to call him the Methodist Paul Revere.


Missionary in Nova Scotia

In 1784, Garrettson went as a
missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
to
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, which led to the founding of Methodist congregations in Cape Negro and the free black settlement of
Birchtown, Nova Scotia Birchtown is a community and National Historic Site in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located near Shelburne in the Municipal District of Shelburne County. Founded in 1783, the village was the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and t ...
. He followed in the wake of
Henry Alline Henry Alline (pronounced Allen) (June 14, 1748 – February 2, 1784) was a minister, evangelist, and writer who became known as "the Apostle of Nova Scotia." Born at Newport, Rhode Island. He became a New England Planter and served as an itinera ...
and focused much of his work on the areas where Alline had previously spread Methodism. Garrettson ranged widely throughout Nova Scotia and preached in almost every settlement in the colony. Among other areas that he opened to Methodism was
Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine in the United States. The Mi'kmaq call the large and well-sheltered h ...
. Among those he brought into the Methodist fold while in Nova Scotia was
James Man James Man (1755–1823) was the founder of Man Group. Biography Born in Whitechapel and apprenticed to a William Humphrey as a barrel maker, James Man decided to establish his own business as a sugar-broker in 1783. In 1784, he secured a contra ...
.Dictionary of Canadian biography entry on Garrettson
/ref>


Movement to New York

In the late 1780s, Garrettson settled in the village of Rhinebeck, New York, to bring Methodism to its inhabitants. He held the first Methodist church services in the
Benner House The Benner House is located on Mill Street in the village of Rhinebeck, New York, United States, just off U.S. Route 9. It was built by a German immigrant, Johannes Benner, in the 1730s. It is the oldest house in the Village of Rhinebeck. I ...
on Mill Street. During Garrettson's time as a minister, Methodism rose from obscurity to a place of importance among American religions. He married Catherine Livingston in 1793, and they had one daughter.


Methodist leader

Garrettson was ordained a Methodist elder at the 1784 conference in Baltimore where the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. Garrettson's preaching ranged from North Carolina to Nova Scotia. He was a firm supporter of centralized control of the Church. After settling in New York Garrettson continued to be a Methodist circuit rider. He and his wife made their home a regular place for other circuit riders to stop and recuperate. He died at his estate, Wildercliff, in the village of Rhinebeck, on September 26, 1827.


References


External links


Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrettson, Freeborn 1752 births 1827 deaths American abolitionists People from Harford County, Maryland American slave owners American Methodist clergy People from Rhinebeck, New York Methodist abolitionists