Lorenzo Dow

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Lorenzo Dow

Lorenzo Dow first ventured into Louisiana in 1803 to hold services.
He is the first minister associated with the Methodist Church
to preach on Louisiana soil.

Lorenzo Dow was born in Coventry, Connecticut on Oct.16, 1777. He was the son of Humphrey B. and Tabitha Dow. In 1796 he applied for admission to the Connecticut conference of the Methodist Church. Although they turned him down, he was accepted two years later and was sent to Cambridge, N.Y. in 1799. Within the year he was sent to Pittsfield, MA and then to Essex, VT.

Towards the end of the year, he journeyed to Ireland to preach to the Catholics. Although persecuted, he continued to preach the Word. He returned to the US in 1800 and preached in New York. His poor health made him head to the deep South to preach. Although "Crazy Dow" (as he was called) left the official Methodist Church and became an independent evangelist, he continued to preach Methodist doctrine.
In 1803, he found himself in the Natchez, MS area. He later wrote that he "crossed the Mississippi into Louisiana and visited several settlements, holding religious meetings."

He married his first wife Peggy in 1804. After she passed away in 1820, he married Lucy Dolbeare. Among his written works are Polemical Works (1814); A Stranger in Charleston, or The Trial and Confession of Lorenzo Dow (1822); A Short Account of a Long Travel With Beauties of Wesley (1823); Journal and Miscellaneous Writings, edited by John Dowling (1836); and History of a Cosmopolite, or Writings of the Rev. Lorenzo Dow Containing His Experience and Travels in Europe and America up to Near His Fiftieth Year; and His Polemic Writings (1851).
Rev. Dow passed away in Georgetown, D.C. on Feb. 2, 1834. His remains were later removed and re-buried in Oakhill Cemetery, near Georgetown.

• Denton Family Genealogy - has information and images of Lorenzo Dow
• Engraving: Lorenzo Dow and the Jerking Exercise. by Lossing-Barrett, from Samuel G. Goodrich, Recollections of a Lifetime. New York: 1856

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