
Circuit rider clergy, in the earliest years of the United States, were clergy assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations. Circuit riders were clergy in 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 ...
and related denominations, although similar itinerant preachers could be found in other faiths as well, particularly among minority faith groups.
History
In sparsely populated areas of the United States it always has been common for clergy in many denominations to serve more than one congregation at a time, a form of church organization sometimes called a "
preaching circuit". In the contemporary
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...
, a minister serving more than one church has a "(number of churches) point charge". However, in the rough frontier days of the early United States, the pattern of organization in the
Methodist Episcopal denomination and its successors worked especially well in the service of rural villages and unorganized settlements. In the Methodist denominations, congregations do not "call" (or employ) a pastor of their own choice. Instead, a bishop "appoints" (assigns) a pastor to a congregation or a group of congregations, and until late in the 20th century, neither pastor nor congregation had any say in the appointment. This meant that in the early days of the United States, as the population developed, Methodist clergy could be appointed to circuits wherever people were settling.
A "circuit" (nowadays referred to as a ''charge'') was a geographic area that encompassed two or more local
churches.
Pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s met each year at "Annual Conference" where their
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
s would appoint them either to a new circuit or to remain at the same one. Most often they were moved to another appointment every year. (In 1804, the Methodist Episcopal General Conference decreed that no pastor was to serve the same appointment for more than two consecutive years.) 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 (now called a District Superintendent) who would visit each charge four times a year (the "Quarterly Conference").
Rural locations
Riding on
horseback
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
between distant churches, these preachers were popularly called "circuit riders" or "saddlebag preachers" although their official role was "traveling clergy" (a term still used in Methodist denominations). Carrying only what could fit in their
saddlebags
Saddlebags are bags that are attached to saddles.
Horse riding
In horse riding, saddlebags sit in various positions, on the back, side, or front of the saddle. Most attach to the saddle by straps and ties. They can be made from various material ...
, they traveled through wilderness and villages, preaching every day at any place available (peoples' cabins, courthouses, fields, meeting houses, even basements and street corners). Unlike clergy in urban areas, Methodist circuit riders were always on the move, needing five to six weeks to cover the longest routes. Their ministerial activity boosted Methodism into the largest
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
denomination at the time, with 14,986 members and 83 traveling preachers in 1784 and by 1839, 749,216 members served by 3,557 traveling preachers and 5,856 local preachers.
The early frontier ministry was often lonely and dangerous. Samuel Wakefield's hymn describes a circuit rider's family anxiously waiting for the preacher's return; the final stanza reads
:Yet still they look with glistening eye,
:Till lo! a herald hastens nigh;
:He comes the tale of woe to tell,
:How he, their prop and glory fell;
:How died he in a stranger’s room,
:How strangers laid him in the tomb,
:How spoke he with his latest breath,
:And loved and blessed them all in death.
Bishop Francis Asbury
Francis Asbury (1745–1816), the founding bishop of American Methodism, established the precedent for circuit riding. Together with his driver and partner "
Black Harry
Harry Hosier ( – May 1806Finkelman, Paul. ''Encyclopedia of African American History 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass'', Vol. 2pp. 176–177 "Hosier, Harry 'Black Harry'". Oxford Univ. Press (Oxford), 2006.), ...
" Hosier, he traveled 270,000 miles and preached 16,000 sermons as he made his way up and down early America supervising clergy. He brought the concept of the circuit from English Methodism, where it still exists:
British Methodist churches are grouped in circuits, which typically include a dozen or more churches, and ministers are appointed ("stationed") to the circuit, not to the local church. A typical English circuit has two or three times as many churches as ministers, the balance of the services being led by lay Methodist local preachers or retired ("supernumerary") ministers. The title ''circuit rider'', however, was an American coinage born of American necessities. Although
John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
, covered enormous distances on horseback during his career, and early British Methodist preachers also rode around their circuits, in general they had far less formidable traveling commitments than their American counterparts.
Modern Methodist practices
As well as being constantly on the move between the churches in their charge, Methodist ministers were regularly moved between charges, a principal known as ''itinerancy''. Although most charges in the United States now consist of a single church, the tradition of itinerancy is still alive and functioning today in American Methodism, as it is in most Methodist Churches worldwide. Although not moving as frequently as in the past, the average U.S.
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...
pastor will stay at a local church for 2–5 years before being appointed to another charge at the Annual Conference (although technically, every pastor is assigned to a charge every year, it is just usually the same one). In British Methodism, ministers are normally appointed to a circuit for five years (again, they are stationed there annually by the Conference); the Conference may not station someone beyond this period without an invitation from the Circuit Meeting for that minister to remain in the circuit, but it is unusual for a minister to stay for longer than seven or eight years in one circuit.
Examples
Possibly the most famous circuit rider was
Peter Cartwright, who wrote two autobiographies.
John B. Matthias John B. Matthias (January 1, 1767 – May 27, 1848) is known as the writer of the words and music for the gospel song, “Palms of Victory” (also known as “Deliverance Will Come” or “I Saw a Way-worn Traveler”), for which he is general ...
was an early circuit rider from
New York state
New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...
who is credited with having written a gospel hymn, "
Palms of Victory."
Wilbur Fisk, who became an educator, served as a circuit rider for three years. It was not uncommon for clergy to serve on circuits for a few years and then go to other work.
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...
native
Eli P. Farmer
Eli P. Farmer (February 15, 1794 – February 5, 1881)Sources indicate his date of death was either February 5 or February 6, 1881. See: and was an American pioneer preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church and a circuit rider on the Indiana ...
, a circuit rider for 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 ...
on the
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
frontier from 1825 to 1839, became a
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...
, farmer, newspaper editor, and businessman. He later served in the
Indiana Senate (1843 to 1845) and as a self-appointed
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
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 state ...
. Joseph Tarkington, another circuit rider in Indiana, was the grandfather of novelist
Booth Tarkington.
William G. "Parson" Brownlow, Tennessee's radical newspaper publisher, noted book author,
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 state ...
-
Reconstruction Era Tennessee governor, and U.S. Senator, began his career as a circuit rider in the 1820s and 1830s. Brownlow gained wide notoriety for his wild clashes --- both in person and in print --- with rival Baptist and Presbyterian missionaries and Christian sectarian authors across the Southern Appalachian region of the United States. Brownlow's books detailing the Confederate States of America military occupation of his hometown of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...
, and his own time briefly spent in a Confederate prison during the American Civil War gained Brownlow a greatly expanded audience across the northern United States who were eager to purchase both his books and admission tickets for his northern U.S. speaking tour during the later years of the American Civil War.
The father of outlaw
John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming ...
, James "Gip" Hardin, was a Methodist preacher and circuit rider in the mid-1800s. Hardin's father traveled over much of central
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
on his preaching circuit until 1869 when he and his family settled in Sumpter,
Trinity County, Texas where he established a school – also named for John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
Thomas S. Hinde
Thomas Spottswood Hinde (April 19, 1785 – February 9, 1846) was an American newspaper editor, opponent of slavery, author, historian, real estate investor, Methodist minister and a founder of the city of Mount Carmel, Illinois. Members of the ...
was a Methodist circuit rider in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri from the early 1800s until about 1825. He eventually settled in
Mount Carmel, Illinois, the town he had earlier founded. Hinde was a notable minister, newspaper publisher, attorney, real estate entrepreneur and clerk for the
Ohio House of Representatives. More than 47 volumes of his personal and business documents are among the
Lyman Draper collection at the
Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...
, since they were donated after his death by his son in law
Charles H. Constable
Charles H. Constable (July 17, 1817 – October 9, 1865) was an American attorney, Illinois State Senator, judge, and real estate entrepreneur. He was raised in Maryland and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Law. Aft ...
.
Father
Pierre Yves Kéralum was a Catholic priest who ministered to ranchers in the
Lower Rio Grande Valley from 1853 to 1872. He was one of about thirty Catholic priests known as the
Cavalry of Christ
The Cavalry of Christ were Oblate fathers (Catholic priests belonging to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate) who traveled long distances on horseback to minister to Catholics living on isolated ranches in the Rio Grande region from 1849 to ...
because they traveled on horseback. Kéralum was also an architect who designed and helped build churches such as the
Immaculate Conception Cathedral in
Brownsville, Texas, as well as chapels, rectories, and other buildings in the region.
In culture
In retrospect, the circuit rider became a romantic figure and was featured in a number of novels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two of the better known novels are
Edward Eggleston's ''The Circuit Rider.'' and
Ernest Thompson Seton's ''Preacher of Cedar Mountain.''
A circuit rider is also a character in the
Newbery Award–winning novel for children, "
Caddie Woodlawn", set in western
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
in the 1860s.
During the 1970s, prior to its
sign-off message,
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
television station
WWBT broadcast "Justice and The Circuit Rider", a rural preacher appearing on his mount, Justice, and presenting a brief parable using props from his
saddlebag. These spots also appeared on the Richmond ABC affiliate WXEX, now operating as
WRIC-TV just after the end of "Shock Theater". In these short films, the host was identified only as the Circuit Rider from
Cobbs Creek, Virginia
Cobbs Creek is an unincorporated community in Mathews County, Virginia, United States. Cobbs Creek is located on Virginia Route 198
State Route 198 (SR 198) is a primary state highway in the Middle Peninsula region of the U.S. state of ...
at the end of the three-minute segment. The preacher was William B. Livermon Sr., who served several Virginia churches during his lifetime before passing away in 1992.
Inspired by the story of Catholic circuit rider Pierre Yves Kéralum, author
Paul Horgan wrote a fictionalized account of the priest's last days titled ''The Devil in the Desert'' (1952).
Autobiographies
The first-person accounts of pioneer circuit riders give insight to the culture of the early United States as well as the theology and sociology of religion (and especially Methodism) in the young nation. Quite a few circuit riders published memoirs. These are generally available in the collections of United Methodist seminary libraries. The United Library of
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...
) seems to have the largest collection of these writings, including over 70 items.
Through his role as chairman of the United Methodist editorial committee in
Shreveport,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
in the latter 1970s, the historian
Walter M. Lowrey spearheaded a project, ''A History of Louisiana Methodism'', which includes material on the church's extensive network of circuit riders.
References
Further reading
With the advent of
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
, several memoirs became available on-line. Here is a list of some circuit rider memoirs available through Google Books:
*
Bangs, Nathan. ''The life of the Rev.
Freeborn Garrettson''
752–1827
75 may refer to:
* 75 (number)
* one of the years 75 BC, AD 75, 1875 CE, 1975 CE, 2075 CE
* ''75'' (album), an album by Joe Zawinul
* M75 (disambiguation), including "Model 75"
* Highway 75, see List of highways numbered 75
* Alfa Romeo 7 ...
184
*
John Lewis Dyer, Dyer, John Lewis, 1812–1901. ''The Snow-shoe Itinerant : An Autobiography of the Rev. John L. Dyer, Familiarly Known as "Father Dyer" of the Colorado Conference'', 189
*Richardson, Simon Peter, 1818–1899. ''The Lights and Shadows of Itinerant Life'', 190
*Finley, James Bradley, 1781–1856 (W. P. Stricklkand, Ed.). ''Autobiography of Rev. James B. Finley, or, Pioneer Life in the West'', 185
*
Caughey, James, 1810?–1891. ''Earnest Christianity Illustrated'', 185
*Hibbard, Billy, 1771–1844. ''Memoirs of the Life and Travels of B. Hibbard'', 184
(Someone wrote “Good Circuit Riding” on one of the unnumbered front pages of the Google copy.)
*Peterson, Daniel H. ''The looking-glass: being a true report and narrative of the life, travels and labors of the Rev. Daniel H. Peterson, a colored clergyman; embracing a period of time from the year 1812 to 1854, and including his visit to western Africa'', 185
*Zersen, Frederick. ''The Second Circuit Rider on the Soo Line''. Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, Summer 1990, Vol. 63, No. 2.
In addition, St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia recently digitize
the diaries of circuit rider David Dailey
{{Authority control
Methodist ecclesiastical offices