Nicholas Snethen
Nicholas Snethen (1769-1845)
You can hear an audio recording of this post on Episode 52 of the Methodical Methodist Podcast!
He was a powerful voice in the early days of American Methodism—so powerful, in fact, that Francis Asbury once referred to him as his “silver trumpet.” Nicholas Snethen was a farmer, an itinerant preacher, a gifted orator, and a devoted church leader. He served as chaplain to the United States House of Representatives, bringing the gospel into the heart of American government. And he played a pivotal role in the formation of the Methodist Protestant Church, advocating for greater lay representation and a more democratic structure within Methodism. From his days riding the circuit to his influence in shaping the future of the denomination, Snethen’s life was marked by conviction, courage, and a deep commitment to both preaching and reform.
Nicholas Snethen was born on November 15, 1769, in Fresh Pond, which was a settlement in what was then the British Providence of Long Island, New York. He was the son of Barak Snethen and Ann Weeks. They had one daughter, Deborah; and five sons, John Nair, John, Nicholas, Carlton, and Gregory. Nicholas was the oldest of the six children.[i]
Nicholas’ father, Barak, was an officer in the British Colonial Army during the French and Indian War, and he took part in the capture of Montreal in 1760. He came from a family in the Dutch Reformed Church tradition.
After the army, Barak became a farmer and miller. He also operated a schooner and transported goods around New York harbor. Nicholas, being the oldest, worked alongside his father and grandfather. He learned how to farm, work in the mill, and sail the schooner.
So already, Nicholas was learning the value of hard work, discipline, and responsibility — lessons that would shape his ministry.
Nicholas’ mother, Ann, who came from a Quaker family, taught Nicholas the Prayer Book and instructed him in religious matters. He went to a country school and learned a lot from the older men around the farm, the mill, and the schooner.
At 18 years old, Nicholas first came to faith under the influence of the rector of St. Andrews Church, Dr. Richard Channing Moore, who later became the Bishop of Virginia in the Episcopal Church. A year later, the Snethen family moved to Belleville, New Jersey, and Nicholas was converted under the preaching of the Methodists. He joined the class of John Dow, and he began preaching and praying in public to the point where he became a pretty good speaker.[ii] Snethen then served as the first Methodist class leader in the Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, New York.
It’s amazing to think — by his early twenties, this farm boy from Long Island was already becoming a respected voice in the Methodist movement.
And then, at the age of almost twenty-five, he became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in September 1794. His first year, he was appointed to New Jersey and served the Fairfield Circuit in Connecticut. His second year he served Tolland Connecticut. His third year he served the Vershire Circuit in Vermont. And his fourth year he served the Portland Circuit in Maine. He returned to New York in 1798.
It turns out, Nicholas was able to adjust well to the fast-paced life of a circuit rider. He came back after those four years looking much stronger than when he first left. In addition to preaching, he spent these four years reading and studying at every opportunity. He studied poets and the classics, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French. He also studied science, history, and specifically church history.
This is something worth noticing — Snethen wasn’t just preaching; he was sharpening his mind, diving into theology, languages, and history. He wanted to be ready for whatever God called him to do next.
By the age of 30, Snethen had grown into a physically large person. He had grayish-blue eyes and dark, curly brown hair. He had a friendly, yet commanding countenance. But he would also go on to struggle with sickness, asthma, and arthritis at certain points in his life later on.
After his return to New York, Snethen was appointed to Charleston, South Carolina from 1798 to 1800. This was one of the most prominent appointments in the church at the time. And then, in 1800, he was ordained an Elder at a Regional Methodist Conference in Charleston at the age of 31. Then, in Baltimore Maryland, he was elected Secretary of the General Conference of 1800.
It was during this Conference that he was also asked to serve on the Committee selected by members of the Conference to address James O’Kelly’s letter of “Apology” which was producing schism in the church.
So, just to give some background, in 1798 O'Kelly published a tract entitled The Author's Apology for Protesting against the Methodist Episcopal Government. In this article O'Kelly claims that the Methodist Bishops Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were not elected to the episcopacy by the Conference.
So, Nicholas Snethen is elected to a committee to respond to O’Kelly’s tract. Snethen was the youngest member of this committee which also included Philip Bruce and George Roberts. Nicholas ended up being the one who was appointed to make the “Reply” to O’Kelly which he entitled: A Reply to An Apology for Protesting Against the Methodist Episcopal Government for Asbury. In this address, Snethen accuses O'Kelly of propagating "notorious falsehoods."
Then that same year, O'Kelly, not one to let the argument rest, responds with another tract entitled A Vindication of an Apology. Asbury, again through Snethen, replied in 1802 with An Answer to James O’Kelly’s Vindication of his Apology. So, back and forth they go.[iii]
But following that General Conference in 1800, Nicholas was stationed there in Baltimore for a year. Then, in the early fall, while he was in Philadelphia, Nicholas became very sick and nearly died of yellow fever while staying at the home of Dr. Thomas Dunn. The doctor attended to him, with the help of his wife Mrs. Dunn. And it is likely because of their care, he survived. He was even able to preach by Thanksgiving.
Snethen still struggled with his health. That winter he began a course of lectures on preaching the Gospel, but he wasn’t able to finish them until 1822 because of his poor health. He traveled again with Asbury who then sent him to Winchester, Virginia to preach – thinking the climate might help him recover. He was able to get better and asked to continue in that appointment. But Bishop Asbury had other plans. He took him with him on a preaching journey through East Tennessee, to Augusta, Georgia, and then to Baltimore. They became very close, and Asbury even called Nicholas his “silver trumpet.” It was his way of recognizing his preaching skills and advocacy for Methodism. Then, after visiting his father Barak, in New Jersey, he rejoined Bishop Asbury on Staten Island.
It was during this time when he met Susannah Hood Worthington, the daughter of the late Charles and Elizabeth Worthington. Nicholas and Susannah filed for their marriage license in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Frederick County, Maryland on May 1, 1804. And the two were married in the home of Susannah’s sister. He was 35 years old, and she was about 26.
And here’s where the story shifts. Nicholas wasn’t just a preacher anymore — he was a husband, a landowner, and eventually a father.”
Together, the couple went to New York City where he was stationed as a senior preacher. With this marriage, he inherited a 280-acre farm outside the town of Liberty in Frederick County along with some slaves. The historian Harlan Feeman writes the following explanation: “He would have freed the slaves immediately but was legally hindered. He is known to have treated them with considerateness, and years later obtained their emancipation.”[iv]
I have no idea what legal laws hindered him from freeing these slaves. But most historians describe Snethen as being against slavery and preaching in favor or emancipation. That being said, there are not a ton of details subscribing the reasonings behind Snethen’s decision on his farm.
Nicholas and Susannah served in New York City for two years. Then Bishop Asbury, who had no sympathy for preachers who were married, sent Nicholas to Fell’s Point Station in Baltimore. Nicholas was against this appointment and decided to live on the farm where his management was needed. He started working the farm, but he continued to preach when he was asked. In fact, in August 1807 he held a camp meeting on his own farm which is believed to be the first one held in Frederick County. Imagine that — one of the very first camp meetings in Frederick County happening right there on his land.
In the summer of 1808, he was offered a position as assistant pastor in an Episcopal church in New York City under Thomas Lyell, but Nicholas declined. The following spring he was sent to Fell’s Point with the understanding that he could leave his family at the farm and make a day’s commute on horseback to his charge from week to week.
The next year, in 1811, he moved to Baltimore with his family and served as the pastor of Georgetown in Washington D.C. During this appointment he also served as the Chaplain of the House of Representatives where he became friends with Henry Clay, John Randolph, and other leaders in the nation.
In 1812 he was appointed to Alexandria, Virginia and moved his family with him. He served as the pastor of the Liberty Circuit near Frederick, Maryland in 1813. Then in March 1814, he moved permanently to his farm in order to spend time with his children and educate them. His children received a good education from their father, extending as far as university courses.
Two years after moving to the farm, Bishop Francis Asbury passed away. Nicholas Snethen delivered a notable funeral address in May which was published in a pamphlet. Following this address, Nicholas was named as a candidate for the House of Representatives by the Federalist Party of his district. He was defeated after his opponent argued that no man with such ability should be taken from the ministry and sent to Congress.
He then ran for the Maryland House of Delegates but was defeated in that race as well. During this time, Nicholas’ health started to decline. He spent more time on his farm and reflecting on some of the issues concerning the Methodist Church.
In April 1821 W.S. Stockton invited him to become a contributor to the Wesleyan Repository which was being published in Trenton, New Jersey. Nicholas took this opportunity to speak out against the discussion of lay rights. He felt like there needed to be some changes in how Methodism was structured. He believed that the episcopacy (the bishops) wielded too much power. And they were marginalizing both local clergy and lay members. So Nicholas and others called for three changes to Methodist polity:
They called for a Democratic election of presiding elders (which were like district superintendents). So they would be selected by their peers instead of by bishops
They called for full status for local pastors as elders. At this time itinerant pastors traveled among parishes and were granted full rights as elders. But local pastors were excluded from voting and leadership roles in annual and general conferences.
They called for lay representation at annual and general conferences. Only clergy were voting members of annual and general conference. They wanted to give lay people a voice in church decisions.
Think about how bold this was — giving laypeople a voice, challenging bishops’ power, and reshaping church leadership. It was risky, but Nicholas believed the church had to change. Nicholas helped lead this group of what would be referred to as “Reformers.” And he was given the title, “Father of Lay Representation.” This is a cause he argued really for the rest of his life.
These Reformer ideas were rejected at General Conference and reform-minded clergy faced suspension unless they recanted. So, in response, Snethen and his supporters decided to organize their own conference in Baltimore in 1828. In other words, Snethen and his fellow reformers decided: if the system won’t change, we’ll start fresh.
And so, they formed a new denomination called The Methodist Protestant Church. The church was able to make these changes. They embraced lay representation, elected presiding elders and eliminated the office of bishop altogether. Pastoral appointments were made by the assembled annual conference. (Side note: The Methodist Episcopal Church, The Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the Methodist Protestant Church came back together in the 1939 merger which eventually turned into the United Methodist Church in 1968. Still, today there are some Methodist Protestant Church that exist primarily in Mississippi and Alabama.)
Snethen served as editor of the denomination’s first publication, The Methodist Protestant, and as the first president of Dearborn College.[v]
In 1829, Nicholas and Susannah sold their farm in Maryland and moved to Merom, Indiana where they settled at Corn Hill Farm in Sullivan County. A year and a half later, Nicholas’ daughter Annabella, the youngest, died on October 30, 1830. Then, two weeks later, Nicholas’ wife Susannah passed away on November 10, 1830, at the age of 53. This was a season of deep grief for Nicholas, but even in sorrow, he pressed on in ministry
While in Indiana, Snethen re-entered itinerant ministry. He was past sixty years old and united with the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church. He served in Cincinnati, Louisville, Kentucky, and Zanesville, Ohio
Then, in 1834 he was made president of the General Conference of the church, and he was elected a co-editor of the church publication along with Asa Shinn. He continued to preach and published his famous “Essays” on the rights of the laity. He taught a course of biblical lectures for young candidates for the ministry in the Broom Street Church in New York City. He wrote a volume of twenty-two sermons which were published after his death.
In 1844 Snethen was called to preside over the new Snethen School for Young Ministers in Iowa City, Iowa. It was to be named the Snethen Seminary. While there, he officiated as Chaplain to the Iowa State Territorial Legislature during its session that year. He was then named headmaster of the school. He prepared a lecture course and traveled around to raise support for the school.
While on his way to Iowa City in the spring of 1845 he stopped to visit his daughter and her husband, the Penningtons, in Princeton, Indiana. While there he became sick and died on May 30, 1845, at the age of 76. He was buried among the evergreens on a hill in the Warnok Cemetery of Princeton beside his wife and three of their deceased children.
His grave monument is six feet high and twenty-six inches square. It has an open Bible on the top chiseled into the marble. And there is a scriptural reference from Romans: “I have fully preached the Gospel.” His graveside is now a recognized United Methodist Historic Site.
So why does Nicholas Snethen matter today? Because every time laypeople have a voice in the Methodist Church, they’re standing in his legacy
Even though Nicholas Snethen stepped away from the Methodist Episcopal Church to form a new movement, his voice still echoes in our tradition today. His willingness to challenge the system left a mark that outlasted his own ministry. Every time laypeople are given a voice in Methodist conferences, we see the fruit of reformers like Snethen, who believed the church could be more open, more inclusive, and more accountable. We may not always recognize his name, but we continue to live in the legacy he helped create.
He may not be a household name, but Nicholas Snethen’s story reminds us that sometimes the most powerful voices are the ones that refuse to be silenced. His ‘silver trumpet’ still echoes today.
NOTES
[i] Harlan L. Feeman, Francis Asbury’s Silver Trumpet (Nashville, TN: Parthenon Press, 1950), 21.
[ii] Letter to Sprague’s Annals of the American Pulpit, Baltimore, November 15, 1860, Worthington G. Snethen.
[iii] J. Timothy Allen, “James O’Kelly (1736-1826) - North Carolina History,” North Carolina History Project, May 4, 2024, accessed September 30, 2025.
[iv] Harlan L. Feeman, Francis Asbury’s Silver Trumpet (Nashville, TN: Parthenon Press, 1950), 25.
[v] Philip J. Brooks, “Unsung Heroes of Methodism: Nicholas Snethen,” The United Methodist Church, accessed October 1, 2025.
