John Wesley (1703-1791)

John Wesley set sail for Georgia with his brother, Charles, in 1735. After arriving in early 1736, John saw the venture as a key to the rebirth of what he termed ‘Primitive Christianity.’ He would carry the Gospel to a new land, encounter hardships, and thereby experience a new understanding of what the Christian faith entailed. He was stationed in Savannah while Charles was sent to Frederica to serve as James Oglethorpe’s secretary and Frederica’s minister. Early on ill health forced Charles to leave and John assumed some of Charles’ duties as minister to Frederica. John made five separate visits to Frederica from April 1736 to January 1737. In all, he spent roughly three months at Frederica.

Life as a colonial preacher offered many challenges to John. His congegration was symbolic of the early diversity of Georgia’s settlers containing Anglicans, Dissenters, Highland Scots, French Hugenots, Spanish (Italian) Jews and French Swiss. In particular, John was impressed with the piety of a group of Moravians who settled in Georgia.

In addition to his duties as a minister at Savannah, John hoped to perform missionary work amongst the Creek and Cherokee of the region. He never was an effective missionary and wrote in his journal, “I came to convert the Indians, but, oh, who will convert me?”

Controversy eventually forced John from the colony. He became embroiled in court proceedings brought against him when he refused communion to Sophia Hopkey Williamson – a woman he had courted before her marriage to William Williamson. He claimed it was because she did not communicate that she would attend communion at least one day before; many, however, felt that he was being vindictive towards a woman that he had courted who had married another man. Convinced that he would not receive a fair trial John left the colony of Georgia on December 2, 1737 noting in his journal, “about eight o’clock, the tide then serving, I shook off the dust of my feet and left Georgia, after having preached the gospel there (not as I ought, but as I was able)".