John Newland Maffitt Sr. (December 28, 1795,

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

– May 28, 1850,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

), was an Irish-born, nationally recognized American

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 b ...

clergyman and itinerant preacher.

Career

Maffitt emigrated from Ireland in 1819 and in 1822 began preaching in the New England conference of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

. He won fame as a charismatic orator with an unconventionally dramatic preaching style which attracted large crowds in cities up and down the Eastern seaboard and as far west as New Orleans. Though Maffit's showmanship brought suspicion from religious leaders and others, he gained national recognition after he was reported to have converted President-elect

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

in the winter of 1840-41.Maffitt, Emma (Martin) Mrs
''The life and services of John Newland Maffitt'', Chapter 1.
New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1906. In 1841 he served as chaplain in the House of Representatives. Maffitt's preaching career suffered following a divorce and accusations of sexual impropriety.

Family

Maffitt's son, John Newland Maffitt, the "Prince of Privateers," was a famous officer in the Confederate Navy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffitt, John Newland 1795 births 1850 deaths Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives American magazine editors Methodist ministers Irish emigrants to the United States 19th-century American clergy