Peter Cartwright, (born Peter Cartwright Jr.), also known as "Uncle Peter", " Backwoods Preacher", "Lord's Plowman", "Lord's Breaking-Plow", and "The Kentucky Boy" (September 1, 1785 – September 25, 1872), was an American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, revivalist, preacher, in the Midwest, as well as twice an elected legislator in Illinois. Cartwright, a

missionary, helped start America's

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a k ...

, personally baptizing twelve thousand converts. Opposed to slavery, Cartwright moved from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly in 1828 and 1832. In 1846

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

defeated Cartwright for a seat in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. As a

circuit rider, Cartwright rode circuits in Kentucky and Illinois, as well as

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. His ''Autobiography'' (1856) made him nationally prominent.

Early life

Peter Cartwright Jr., the son of Peter Cartwright Sr., and Christiana Garvin, was born in

Amherst County, Virginia Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is also named Amhers ...

, present-day

Nelson County, Virginia Nelson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,775. Its county seat is Lovingston. Nelson County is part of the Charlottesville, VA, Metropolitan Statist ...

, between Findlay Mountain and Purgatory Swamp. Soon after his birth, Cartwright's family moved to what was then Kentucky County, now

Logan County, Kentucky Logan County is a county in the southwest Pennyroyal Plateau area of Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,432. Its county seat is Russellville. History The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who had been s ...

Preacher

In 1801, at the age of 15, Cartwright was converted, at a

camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...

, associated with the Revival of 1800, a series of sacrament meetings conducted by Presbyterian James McGready and other Presbyterian and Methodist ministers. He subsequently joined 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 nationally. In 1939, th ...

. He became a preacher in 1802 and was ordained in 1806 by

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was a British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishop (Methodist), bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the col ...

and William McKendree. In 1812, Cartwright was appointed a presiding elder (now District Superintendent), and he served in that office for the next thirty-five years.

Marriage and children

In 1808, Cartwright married Frances Gaines. Together they had two sons and seven daughters, one of whom, Cynthia, died on the journey to Illinois.

Military service in War of 1812

Cartwright served as a military chaplain during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Ministry

Cartwright called himself "God's Plowman." As a circuit rider, he explained in his ''Autobiography,'' "My district was four hundred miles long, and covered all the west side of the Grand Prairie, fully two-thirds of the geographical boundaries of the state." Cartwright was a founding member of the Illinois Annual Conference in 1824, and remained in Illinois for the rest of his life. He was a towering figure of frontier Methodism and one of the most colorful and energetic preachers Methodism has produced. During his five decades of ministry, he was elected to 13 General Conferences (1816 through 1856, missing only 1832). Cartwright was charismatic; he pursued a divine calling, not a profession. His conversion of others to Methodism, rather than his own education, gained him admission to the ministry and verified his methods. His sermons were always extemporaneous, anecdotal, and participatory. He was a master of charismatic domination and used it effectively to create the ecstatic conversion required to be reborn. He opposed the routinization and institutionalization of religion and favored the more democratic, egalitarian, and associational form of the frontier circuits. Theologically he was an

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

, and was convinced that all people could be saved, especially through the

revival. In the Methodist church, the presiding elder oversaw the works of preachers and churches to which he was assigned, and was below the bishop in the denomination's chain of command. In the 19th-century presiding elders were the most important officers in the Methodist "army" that sought to "conquer the land for Christ." Cartwright, who served as a presiding elder for 50 years, demonstrated that the office was that of a sub-bishop who was not always popular with his subordinates. Cartwright was strong-willed in his office and was often accused of being dictatorial, but he eventually earned notoriety as the father of Illinois Methodism.

Colleges

Cartwright had little formal education and was skeptical of its value at first, but reversed course and promoted Methodist education. He helped found McKendree College (Lebanon),

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

(Bloomington); and Illinois Conference Female Academy in Jacksonville (which became MacMurray College).

Politics and anti-slavery views

Cartwright jumped into politics as a Democrat. In the 1832 election for what became his second term in the Illinois legislature, Cartwright was one of four candidates elected (in a field of thirteen including a Kentucky store clerk and rail splitter named Abraham Lincoln, who came in eighth). "I was beaten",

later wrote, "the only time I have even been beaten by the people." Cartwright had first met Lincoln in 1830, during his own unsuccessful run for governor. In 1846, the Springfield Whig, Lincoln, defeated Cartwright to represent the area in the United States Congress, some constituents being offended by Cartwright's mixing of religion and politics, others by his vehemence against alcohol. Politically, Cartwright was a Jacksonian Democrat who trusted in the ability of the common man. Unlike Jackson, Cartwright opposed slavery. He advocated

moral suasion Moral suasion is an appeal to morality, in order to influence or change behavior. A famous example is the attempt by William Lloyd Garrison and his American Anti-Slavery Society to end slavery in the United States by arguing that the practice w ...

to end it, fearing that political action would threaten the federal union, another core element of national identity. Cartwright also supported expansionism—both to spread American values and to increase economic opportunity. To him, manhood was demonstrated by singleness of purpose despite all obstacles and by economic independence. Cartwright's hatred of slavery in Kentucky, and his failure to convince the slaveholders to free their slaves, led him to move to Illinois in 1824, where slavery was illegal. In his ''Autobiography'' he said that in Illinois he,

Author of ''Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher''

From his ''Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher'', published in 1857, Cartwright described his conversion in his own words:

Death

Cartwright died, near Pleasant Plains,

Sangamon County, Illinois Sangamon County is a county located near the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 196,343. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital. Sangamon County is inclu ...

, on September 25, 1872.

Memory

A Virginia Historical marker honors Cartwright, near his birthplace. Kentucky's Adairville marks his boyhood home. An Illinois Historical marker honors Cartwright in Sangamon County, near his home and grave. The present Cartwright Church began in 1824, as a class in the Cartwright home. In 1838, Cartwright donated land and $300 toward the construction of a log chapel where the congregation worshipped until 1853. By that time, the church had grown so much that it had to divide into two congregations. One moved two miles west and built the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church (which was torn down in 1953). The other moved into the new village of Pleasant Plains, Illinois and constructed the current building in 1857. Two additions have been made, but the sanctuary is nearly the same as during Cartwright's time.

Notes and references

External links

Auto-biography from Illinois Historical Digitization Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Peter 1785 births 1873 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American non-fiction writers Abraham Lincoln American autobiographers American evangelicals American male non-fiction writers American Methodist clergy American military personnel of the War of 1812 American Christian religious leaders Arminian ministers Arminian writers

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Christian revivalists Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois Wesleyan University McKendree University faculty Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist circuit riders Methodist writers People from Logan County, Kentucky People from Nelson County, Virginia War of 1812 chaplains Writers from Illinois Writers from Virginia 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly