Methodist Episcopal Bishop Francis Asbury’s Connection to Northcentral Pennsylvania

Methodism moved into central Pennsylvania in the 1770s. The circuit riding preacher was assigned to an area after several classes were established. The Methodist system, as devised by John Wesley, was based on classes and circuits. Half a dozen people could band together into a class, which met weekly under a class leader. This was an occasion for spiritual growth and was the foundation of Methodism. When there were several classes in an area, a circuit was set up and a preacher appointed. In America, a circuit was typically two weeks (12 preaching points) with one preacher, four weeks (24 preaching points) with two preachers, or six weeks (36 preaching points) with three preachers.

It may be a surprise to many readers that Francis Asbury, the British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, preached in Northumberland and Sunbury in Northumberland County. Asbury was no stranger to circuit-riding preaching. He served as an itinerant preacher in England for several years and volunteered to come to North America in 1771.

Asbury crossed the Alleghenies 60 times and traveled an average of 5,000 miles a year on horseback. The early growth of the church was largely the result of his strenuous efforts; when he arrived in America there were only three Methodist meetinghouses and about 300 communicants.

It must also be noted that in the year 1773, one of many methodists, part of a Society in Philadelphia, moved to Mahoning Township, in what is now Montour County, a part of Northumberland County at that time. His name was Daniel Montgomery, a glasier (someone who works with glass), the brother of Colonel (Later General) William Montgomery. His nephew was Daniel, who laid out the town of Danville.

The Daniel Montgomery who settled in Mahoning Township, was one of the nine original trustees who took title to St. George’s Church in in Philadelphia in 1770. He and his wife, the former Mollie Wallace, lived in Northumberland in the year 1791. She and her family from New Jersey were friends of Bishop Asbury. He visited Mrs. Montgomery in Danville in 1813 when she was 80 years old.

On Bishop Asbury’s first visit to Northumberland County, he preached in Northumberland and the courthouse in Sunbury. He found a large number of German-speaking residents living in this part of Pennsylvania and very few ministers who spoke the language. Among them was Peter Beaver, the father of Danville philanthropist Thomas Beaver. Beaver Memorial Church in Lewisburg is named in Peter Beaver’s honor.

Bishop Asbury appointed a man by the name of Valentine Cook, reported to be one of the best educated of the early native-born preachers, to be the elder in charge of the district, in which the Northumberland Circuit was a part.

The Northumberland Circuit was established by Robert Parrott in 1791. William Corbett took over the territory as a circuit riding preacher in 1792. His journal is among the collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. We will share parts of his journal in a future posting.