Robert Strawbridge

Freeborn Garrettson (1732 - 1781)

You can hear an audio recording of this post on Episode 49 of the Methodical Methodist Podcast!


He has been called the “Maverick of Methodism” and “the First Apostle of American Methodism.” Robert Strawbridge was a Pioneer of American Methodism and the first Methodist Circuit Rider in the United States. Strawbridge immigrated from his home in Ireland and traveled to Maryland where he is credited for establishing the first Methodist Society in American history. He did this without an official appointment, without a formal ordination, and without waiting for permission. His passion and vigor helped lay the groundwork for what would become a nationwide movement. The contribution of Robert Strawbridge to the Methodist Movement cannot be denied, and his legacy is woven into the very foundation of American Methodism.

Robert Strawbridge was born in 1732, in the town of Drumsna in Ireland. The town’s name literally means, “the ridge over the swimming place.” The Strawbridge family had a small farm near the village. They were not affluent, but they lived fairly comfortable lives. Robert is supposedly named after his maternal grandfather. According to his article, “Robert Strawbridge: Some Additional Irish Perspectives,” JR Wesley Weir claims that the long-held Irish tradition is to name the oldest son after the paternal grandfather and the next son after the maternal grandfather.”[i] So, it is believed that Robert is the second son born to his parents.

In 1866, years after Strawbridge’s passing, William Crook, a leader in Irish Methodism, visited the Strawbridge homestead. He describes it by saying: “The Strawbridge family had a noble farm within a short distance of the village, and lived in considerable comfort if not affluence. A famous spa well was on their property, which attracted visitors from all over the land… a more charming site for a home could not be found in all Ireland.”[ii]

Methodist preachers probably came to Drumsna in 1753, and John Wesley himself visited there in 1758 and 1760. Strawbridge had a conversion experience that changed his life, and he started preaching in the community where he was born which was predominately Catholic. He preached a straightforward message which led to persecution and forced him to go to the County of Sligo. He later moved to the Country of Cavan. And then later, in the County of Armagh, he started working in construction, but he continued his work as a preacher. He eventually made is way to Terryhugan. This is where he met Elizabeth Piper who was a Methodist in the community. The two were married – although it’s unclear what year. But we do know that the two immigrated to America – possibly with a nephew and a niece, and settled in Sam’s Creek, Frederick County, Maryland.

Map of Ireland

We also know that the couple had six children – Jane and Betsy who died in infancy. And Robert, George, Theophelus, and Jesse.

So… We don’t know when Strawbridge arrived in America, and we don’t know why Strawbridge chose to go to America. Most historians believe he immigrated around 1760, or shortly after.

Unfortunately, Strawbridge left no journal, we have no letters from him, and he published no sermons. So, everything that we know about him is gleaned from the writing of others. According to Mrs. Sarah Porter, who knew him well, Strawbridge was a strong, muscular, black-haired man of medium height and a lean face. He had a pleasant voice, was an eloquent speaker, had a beautiful singing voice, and was great with children.[iii]

Freeborn Garrettson gives us a glimpse into the preaching and personality of Strawbridge. Garrettson was only seventeen years old when he met Strawbridge, and this is what he writes about this encounter:

“Mr. Strawbridge came to the house of a gentleman near where I lived to stay all night. I had never heard him preach, but as I had a great desire to be in company with a person who had caused so much talk in the country I went over and sat and heard him converse till near midnight, and when I retired it was with these thoughts ‘I have never spent a few hours so agreeably in my life.’ He spent most of the time in explaining Scripture and giving interesting anecdotes.”[iv]

Samuel Merryman gives another picture of Strawbridge describing an occasion in Pipe Creek, where he heard a marvelous preacher, Strawbridge, who could pray without a book, and preach without the aid of manuscript or preaching press.[v]

Since we don’t have any of his own writing, Strawbridge is a bit of a mystery. Although we don’t know why or when… We do know that Strawbridge traveled to America. And we also know that soon after his arrival, Strawbridge began preaching to his neighbors in his own home – which was a two-story log cabin south of New Windsor, which he rented from John England. On March 8, 1773, Strawbridge purchased this home along with fifty acres of land from John England for the price of fifty pounds.[vi]

Log Meetinghouse

Around 1763, Strawbridge and his wife Elizabeth organized what many believe to be America’s first permanent Methodist meeting, and they also established an enduring Methodist society in America. Some say that it was Philip Embury up in New York who was the first to establish Methodism in America. However, Francis Asbury once noted in his journal, “Here Mr. Strawbridge formed the first society in Maryland – and America.”[vii]

Robert Strawbridge was such an enthusiastic and vibrant preacher that his Methodist services drew a large crowd and attracted neighbors, and his ministry resulted in many Christian conversions. Many of these new converts became class leaders and preachers which allowed the multiplication of new societies.

He preached in the home of Samuel Merryman, he organized a new society in what is now called Roland Park, Baltimore. And he was eventually joined by Captain Thomas Webb who had formed the first Methodist society in Philadelphia in 1767. Strawbridge may be responsible for introducing Methodism into Leesburg, Virginia when a society was formed there in 1766. He planted Methodism in Georgetown on the Potomac River as well as several placed in Fairfax County, Virginia. He also started a society in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Under the ministry and leadership of Robert and Elizabeth Strawbridge, a man named John Evans became their first convert in American Methodism. Robert was such a powerful preacher that he started to receive invitations to preach in other places, and his ministry expanded to other places. His neighbors supported him by caring for his farm and providing for the needs of his wife and children.

One day, while Strawbridge was away, John Evans had a serious conversation with Elizabeth Strawbridge and became converted. So, the credit for the first known Wesleyan Methodist convert in America goes to Mrs. Elizabeth Strawbridge.

But Robert Strawbridge is responsible for converting the likes of Freeborn Garrettson, Richard Owings, Sater Stephenson, Daniel Ruff, Richard Webster, Joseph Presbury, and many more.

When Strawbridge started to engage in itinerant preaching, Evans began leading the class meeting. That meeting soon moved to the home of John and Eleanor Evans which was built in 1764 and is still in existence. It is located about a mile south of the present town of New Windsor, Maryland. This was American Methodism’s first Preaching Station.

Home of John Evans

This Methodist class continued to meet for 41 years. From 1768 to 1809, sixty-eight Methodist itinerant ministers preached here, including Bishop Francis Asbury. In fact, Francis Asbury preached there on October 8, 1777 where he says, “The power of God was present while I feelingly urged the people from Hebrews 4:16, ‘Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’”

And then in 1783, Strawbridge’s growing Methodist society replaced the log meetinghouse with a stone chapel called, “The Old Hive.” The land was donated by Andrew Paulson. It was a two-story structure that had galleries on three sides. After seventeen years, the walls began to crumble, and the congregation disassembled the structure. Then, in 1800, the congregation rebuilt a new structure on the same foundation, and the floor and galleries were rebuilt in their original positions. Then, again in 1883, the church was rebuilt, removing the galleries and lowering the ceiling.

The Old Hive

The pulpit that Strawbridge preached from was constructed by Strawbridge himself, and it may be the oldest Methodist pulpit in America. In 1868, it was recovered from the home of John Evans, brought to Baltimore, and was placed in the Lovely Lane Museum. According to Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam, who was photographed standing next to this pulpit at its dedication in 1955, “Many evaluations have been made of Strawbridge, but if he built this pulpit, he was a good carpenter, for to-night there’s a lot of weight in it.”[viii]

Robert Strawbridge was considered a lay preacher. During this time, John Wesley insisted that Methodism was a religious society under the umbrella of the Church of England. Therefore, the sacraments could only be administered by ordained Anglican priests. The problem was that Strawbridge wasn’t ordained, but he realized that the congregation under his spiritual care needed the sacraments.

And so, in 1762 or 1763 he baptized a five-year-old boy named Henry Maynard at the home of John Maynard in Frederick County where Strawbridge often preached. He baptized him at the spring at the house, dipped up water with his hands, and poured it on the head of the boy in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This made Strawbridge the first Methodist in America to administer a sacrament.

This went against the Methodist rules and principles. But Strawbridge argued that Wesley’s policy failed to consider that the Anglican sacraments were hardly ever available in most areas throughout America. So, Strawbridge took matters into his own hands and offered the sacraments anyway.

At a Quarterly Meeting conducted by Asbury, he questioned Strawbridge’s administration of the sacraments. Afterward, Asbury wrote the following in his Journal: “Brother Strawbridge pleaded much for the ordinances and so did the people, who appeared to be much biased by him. I told them I would not agree to it at that time, and insisted on our abiding by our rules.”

Because of Strawbridge’s sacramental activity, Francis Asbury withheld his full approval of Strawbridge. After 1775, Strawbridge’s name no longer appears in the official roster of Methodist preachers – likely due to his violation of Methodist policy.

But this did not stop Strawbridge in his efforts toward evangelism and establishing new Methodist congregations. Nor did it stop Strawbridge from administering the sacraments. Strawbridge became the permanent pastor of the Sam’s Creek and Bush Forest Methodist Societies until the end of his life.

From 1776 to 1781, Captain Charles Ridgely and his wife Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely provided the Strawbridge family with a rent-free farm known as the “Hampton Estate.” And because of their generosity, Strawbridge was able to focus on traveling and preaching in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In all, he founded thirty preaching stations, with at least six chapels. Francis Asbury writes in his journal that Maryland was a “veritable beehive” of activity. There is no question that this would not be the case had it not been for Robert Strawbridge.

Captain Charles Ridgely and Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely

Strawbridge continued his ministry until his death in 1781. He was buried in Wheeler’s orchard near Baltimore. Neighbors, friends, and converts carried his coffin to his burial site. They sang hymns written by Charles Wesley that spoke of victory over death. One of his converts, Richard Owen, preached the funeral sermon on the text, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”

The Funeral of Robert Strawbridge

NOTES
[i]. J. R. Wesley Weir, Robert Strawbridge: Some Irish Views, 2011.
[ii]. William Crook, Ireland and 100 Years of American Methodism, London, 1866, pp. 150-151.
[iii]. John Bowen, Growth of Methodism on Sam’s and Pipe Creek, Maryland, from 1764, Lexington, 1856, p. 8.
[iv]. Nathan Bangs, Life of Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, New York, 1830, p. 21.
[v]. Henry Smith, Memories of an Old Traveling Preacher, New York, 1849, pp. 204-205.
[vi]. Frederick E. Maser, Robert Strawbridge, First American Methodist Circuit Rider, Rutland, 1983, p. 17.
[vii]. Francis Asbury, The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, edited by Elmer T. Clark, Nashville, 1958, vol. II, p. 294.
[viii]. Frederick E. Maser, Robert Strawbridge, First American Methodist Circuit Rider, Rutland, 1983, p. 29.

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