September 7, 1812 — to Mrs. Ann Willis
ASB_VOL3.PDF, PDF page 577
Henry Willis had been one of the faithful preachers of early Methodism, and at one time he had traveled with Asbury. He was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, and died in Pipe Creek, Maryland, in 1808. There is an interesting memoir of Willis in the Minutes of that year. He left a widow, Mrs. Ann Willis, and six children. Mrs. Willis was an accomplished woman and did some work on Asbury’s Journal.
UNION CAMPMEETING, [PENNSYLVANIA]1
September 7, 1812
[TO MRS. ANN WILLIS]2
My dear Sister:
Grace, peace, prudence, courage be with thee. As I feel a Christian confidence and partiality for you three, I hope, widows indeed in Israel; I have written a line to each, so to thee also. Be a mother in Israel; pray on this coming, as well as the past winter. May you have souls not only justified, but sanctified in your house, this fall, and winter. Camp meeting has been blest to my mind, preaching every day. I am paid for the desperate roads and 5000 miles riding this year; but hope it will be 6000 next. Only let me retreat at night and I am ready by grace for duty every day, 2 campmeetings, all and conference in less than a month; help me sister by your prayers.
I live for millions of sons and daughters of Adam, and of God. I fear you will slack your hands, watch on, pray and suffer on, believe on, fight on, like a woman! Like a man for God. When I saw you stemming the weather up the hill like an heroine or shining mite riding on, stop not to get to the ——; be Frank’s3 sister and his mother and prompter to all good. The borough of Pipe Creek shall be ours, we will not, if God is with us leave a hoop behind. I shall keep the campmeeting in mind. If the Lord spares us we will settle at conference, if not we, our spiritual children, by these campmeetings. We Bishops are seen by thousands that only wish to see, and hear us a little.
I am most sincerely to you, mother and children
ASBURY
P.S. Take my Soul, and ——, and some of your paperbark. If I recommend you to read any Book but the Bible it will be Fletcher’s Life by Joseph Benson which I have nearly read during this campmeeting. Drew University Library
Notes (3)
- This camp meeting was near the Pennsylvania-Maryland line in Pennsylvania. Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, p. 291, says: “Before I went to the above conference I was requested to meet Bishop Asbury near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, at a Mrs. Henthorn’s. [See Asbury’s Journal, 1852 ed., September 3, 1812.] Here I found a campmeeting in successful operation under the pious labours of Jacob Gruber, John Meek and Joshua Monroe…” Young gives four full pages of description of this camp meeting, of Asbury’s sermon to the soldiers, and so on. There seems no doubt that this was in Pennsylvania. (Lawrence Sherwood.) ↩
- Mrs. Ann Willis lived at Pipe Creek, Maryland. ↩
- Evidently her son. ↩