In a Presbyterian meeting house in Hanover County, Virginia,
a bright young boy listened intently to the preacher, trying his best to absorb
every word. He had too. For he knew that his mother and older sister would quiz
him on the sermon during the carriage ride home. That boy would grow up to be
the eloquent American patriot Patrick Henry, who would credit that influential
preacher for much of his oratorical skill, as well as his view of liberty. That
preacher was Samuel Davies, acclaimed as “the outstanding preacher of Colonial
America” and “the animating soul of the whole dissenting interest in Virginia
and North Carolina” (Sweet, 65).
In the
struggle for religious liberty in the American colonies, two Welshmen stand
out: Roger Williams in New England (see Ninnau
July-August 2015) and Samuel Davies in Virginia and North Carolina.
Samuel
Davies was born November 3, 1723, to David and Martha Davies, Welsh Baptists of
New Castle County, Delaware. The Davieses were deeply religious, and Martha
named her son after the prophet Samuel with the hope that he would enter the
ministry. Yet when Samuel was of age, the Davieses lacked the finances for a
university education, so they sent him to be tutored by the Rev. Samuel Blair
in Blair’s academy in Faggs Manor, Pennsylvania. Blair’s institution was one of
several disparagingly dubbed “log colleges.” The first so-called Log College
was founded in 1735 by the Rev. William Tennent to educate his younger sons and
other promising young men for the ministry, one of whom was Samuel Blair. After
Blair assumed a pastorate in Chester County, Pennsylvania, he opened an academy
similar to Tennent’s. Samuel Davies was to be his most renowned graduate and
leader of The Great Awakening in the Southern Colonies, particularly in
Virginia.
The Anglican
Church had held official status in Virginia since its founding, receiving tax
support from the colonial legislature. Dissenting religious groups were
tolerated, but their right to formal worship was effectively denied. In 1743,
the colonial legislature of Virginia licensed Presbyterian “reading rooms” in
Polegreen and three communities in and around Hanover County. Samuel Davies was
commissioned as an evangelist to Virginia in February of 1747, and at age twenty-three
he set out for the South with his bride of four months, Sarah (Kirkpatrick).
Davies was determined to minister to folk of any denomination, preaching in dissenting
communities and evangelizing wherever the opportunity arose.
In September
of 1747, tragedy struck: Sarah Davies died in childbirth only a month before
their first anniversary. The loss hit Samuel so hard that he began to believe
that he, too, always of frail health, might not have long to live. That thought
drove Davies to redouble his evangelistic efforts. By 1748, Davies had set up
his base of ministry in Hanover County, Virginia. In October of that year, he
married Jane Holt from a prominent Williamsburg family. They would have six
children together, one dying at birth.
In the 1740’s,
Davies was the only revivalistic – “New-light” or “New Side” – Presbyterian preacher
in the county. There were, however, a few traditional – “Old Side” –
Presbyterians, who presented little threat to the Established Church. Davies
was determined to avoid conflict with the Established Church clergy, so his
sermons were free of rancorous rhetoric or attacks on other denominations. He
focused, instead, on careful exposition of Scripture and clear presentation of
the Gospel. The strategy worked, much to the chagrin of the same Established
clergy Davies had studiously avoided attacking. In 1752, Commissary William
Dawson wrote the following to the Bishop of London:
The Dissenters were but
an inconsiderable number before the late arrival of certain teachers from the
northern colonies. . . . But since Mr. Davies has been allowed to officiate in
so many places . . . there has been a great defection from our religious
assemblies. The generality of his followers, I believe, were born and bred in
our communion. (Cited in Sweet, 66)
Davies would
eventually establish seven Presbyterian congregations in five counties and win
greater religious freedom for dissenters of all denominations. Through his legal astuteness, he was able to
secure in Virginia the application of England’s Toleration Act of 1689. His
advocacy of the principles of the “free-born mind” or “liberty of conscience,”
after the model of Roger Williams, eventually led to the establishment, after
Davies’ death, of Virginia’s Declaration of Religious Rights (1776) and Statute
for Religious Freedom (1786).
Few
colonialists, especially in the South, questioned the propriety of that
“peculiar institution” of slavery, nor did Samuel Davies oppose it. He did,
however, conduct a vigorous and extensive ministry to the slave population.
Unlike the Baptist and Methodist missionaries who focused on a personal
experience of salvation alone, Davies insisted that slaves be taught to read
since an understanding and application of the Bible was essential to the
Christian life. Davies himself estimated that he had ministered to over a
thousand African slaves and had baptized hundreds. African converts were
admitted into his congregations and were permitted to preach. He even wrote
specific hymns for African ministry. The Negro spiritual, “Lord, I Want to Be a
Christian in My Heart,” is believed to have been inspired, if not composed, by
Samuel Davies.
In 1753,
Davies accompanied fellow Presbyterian minister Gilbert Tennent on an
eleven-month fundraising tour of England and Scotland on behalf of the College
of New Jersey, an outgrowth of Tennent’s Log College, during which Davies preached
sixty-three times. The mission raised six thousand pounds, including a large
contribution from the grandson of Oliver Cromwell.
In 1759, Davies
was offered the presidency of the College of New Jersey (which became Princeton
University in 1898), succeeding Jonathan Edwards, who had died after only six
weeks in office. At first Davies demurred, believing someone else more
qualified, but he eventually accepted. Davies’s own tenure was also to be
short. He died on February 4, 1761, at the age of 37.
Few American
ministers have had as much impact on the formation of the yet-to-be-founded
United States of America as Samuel Davies. Davies influenced not only the
eloquence, but also the principles of the noted orator and patriot Patrick
Henry. Davies’ fight for religious liberty in the middle and southern colonies,
formed the groundwork for the First Amendment of the United States
Constitution.
As for Davies’
spiritual contribution, historian William Sweet sums it up well:
“Among the many prolific eighteenth-century preachers, few if
any can be read more profitably today than Samuel Davies.” (Sweet, 70)
Resources
Sweet, William Warren. Revivalism
in America. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1965.
First published in Ninnau, Sept-Oct 2016. Copyright 2016 by Thomas L. Jones.
