[September 26, 1800] — to John Page
ASB_VOL3.PDF, PDF page 237
John Page was the pastor on the Cumberland Circuit in Tennessee in 1799 Asbury did not get to the Holston Conference of 1800, and Page was moved. Asbury evidently thought it was a mistake and rectified it.
[VAN PELT’S, TENN.]1
[September 26, 1800]2
[TO JOHN PAGE]
My dear Page:
I have only time to write a few lines. * * * Had I attended at the last Holston Conference, you should have returned immediately to Cumberland. I should have had the petition that was sent for your return. Had I known what had taken place, I would have dismissed you when I passed by you. I hope you will now hasten to that charge as soon as possible: the eternal God be your refuge and strength. To save time, I hope Brother Watson will take your place, and Brother Hunter, Brother Watson’s. Green must be left. If I can send help from South Carolina,3 I will. When you come to Cumberland, you will see if Brother Young or Grenade will be best spared to come to Green. We borrowed two jackets of yours, we will leave at Van Pelt’s. I purpose riding half the year, upon horseback, upon the frontiers of the work. We shall always attend the Western Conferences, while able.
I am, with great affection, thine,
FRANCIS ASBURY
Albert H. Redford, History of Methodism in Kentucky, I, 140
Notes (3)
- Benjamin Van Pelt was a local preacher who lived on Licking Creek in East Tennessee. The letter is not placed except for the reference in the letter to Van Pelt. ↩
- It has been suggested that the letter was written in 1799, but there is no evidence from the Journal that Asbury was at Van Pelt’s in 1799. He was at Van Pelt’s on September 26, 1800. Page is shown by the Minutes of 1799 and 1801 to be on Cumberland Circuit. In 1800 he was on the Holston Circuit with John Watson. (See Minutes.) Hunter and Watson fit into the appointments of 1800 and 1801. ↩
- Samuel Douthet and Ezekiel Burdine were transferred from Little Pee Dee and Anson Circuit, South Carolina, to Green. Benjamin Young was put on the Cumberland Circuit, Kentucky, with John Page. (See Minutes.) ↩