Experience and Gospel Labours of the Rev. Benjamin Abbott; To Which Is Annexed a Narrative of His Life and Death
Harrisonburg, VA: Printed by A. Davisson for James A. Dillworth, 1820. First Printing. Hardcover. 7 x 4.25 inches, old dark brown calf, good copy with rubbing, discoloration and slight warping of boards, text tanned and with some gatherings slightly out of true, front flyleaf with old writing, rear flyleaf excised, text collated complete. Very scarce in the trade; OCLC locates 12 holdings. The work is thrown into two parts. Part First, contains his experience and gospel labours, previous to his entering the itinerant connexion of Methodist preachers; during which time, he visited various parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Part Second, contains his travels and gospel labors. He was born in the Province of Pennsylvania in 1732 to Mr. Benjamin Abbott and his wife, a daughter of John Burroughs, sheriff of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. His parents died, when he was a lad. He started out as a hatter's apprentice in Philadelphia, later leaving that position to work on his brother's farm in New Jersey. He is said to have been addicted to card-playing, cockfighting, drinking, and brawling. In 1772, he converted to Christianity because of the Methodist preacher, Abraham Whitworth, and became a local preacher himself. In 1790, he was ordained a deacon, and later, in 1793, he became an elder of the church and a circuit preacher. In Abel Stevens History of American Methodism, 1867 Stevens writes, " He had a temperament deeply mystic and subject to marvelous experiences which baffle all scientific explanation". Stevens also noted, "His whole soul seemed pervaded by a certain magnetic power that thrilled his discourses and radiated from his person, drawing, melting and frequently prostrating the stoutest opposers in his congregation. It is probable that no Methodist laborer of his day reclaimed more men from abject vice. He seldom preached without visible results, and his prayers were overwhelming". He died in Salem, New Jersey, in 1796. Some of this information from wikipedia. Good. Item #H32491
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