The New International Encyclopædia/Asbury, Francis

ASBURY, az1)er-i. Francis (1745-1816). The first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ordained in the United States. He was born at Hamstead Bridge, 4 miles northwest of Birmingham, Eng., August 20 or 21, 1745. He obtained rudimentary education in a village school; at 18 became a local preacher; at 21 was received by Wesley into the itinerant ministry; and on October 27, 1771, landed in Philadelphia as a missionary in America. It was but three years after the building of the first Methodist church in the country, and there were only about 600 persons of the faith, chiefly in Phila- delphia and New York. When the Revolution began, Asbury sympathized with the people, and while Mr. Rankin, who was the ecclesiastical superior, returned to England, Asbury remained; though, like many other nonjurors, he was sub- jected to suspicion, and at one time to imprison- ment. After about two years of surveillance, the authorities concluded that the scruples of Asbury were not political, but religious, and he was permitted to go free. He improved his op- portunity, and when the war closed there were 83 Methodist ministers at work, and the member- ship reached 14,000. In 1784 the several societies were organized into an Episcopal Church, and Asbury and Thomas Coke were elected, by the conference in Baltimore, Md., 1784, joint superin- tendents. The title bishop was substituted later, which called out a rebuke from Wesley, who, however, approved of Asbury's superintendence. Thenceforward his life was devoted to preaching and the supervision and extension of churches. His labors were incessant, and his biography is itself a good history of the growth of Methodism 'in America. He never married, lest a wife should distract attention from his great work. He was always poor and always generous. In 1785 he laid the foundation for the first Methodist col- lege, and afterwards formed an educational plan for the whole country, by making districts with at least one classical academy in each. He was rather stout, of medium height, with a fresh countenance and a penetrating eye. Wesley alone was his superior as a practical worker and organizer, and the two were alike in zeal and spirit. During his ministry it is estimated that Asbury traveled more than 270,000 miles, visit- ing every part of the country: preached more than 16,000 sermons; ordained over 4000 minis- ters, and presided at 224 conferences. It is largely due to the labors of this indefatigable apostle that Methodism in America owes its excellent organization and wonderful growth. He died at Spottsylvania, Va., March 31, 1816. His only written works were his journals (New York, 1852), which are personally and his- torically of great value. For his biography, con- sult W. P. Strickland (New York, 1858), and Smith (Nashville, 1896).