(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
John Berry McFerrin was an American Methodist preacher and editor.
Background
John Berry McFerrin was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and throughout his entire life was a citizen of that state. Emigrating to America from Ireland about 1750, the McFerrins were a family of fighters. The grandfather of John served during the American Revolution; his father, James, saw service under General Jackson in the War of 1812, and attained the rank of colonel in the Indian wars; through his mother, Jane Campbell Berry, he was directly related to the Col. William Campbell of King's Mountain celebrity. Their militant characteristics John McFerrin manifested throughout his long career as a leader in the affairs of his denomination. Never was he more at home than when under the fire of criticism or questions on the floor of public assemblies. Of large frame, heavy features, standing square on his feet, he was a typical son of the W. Although of Presbyterian stock, with his father he was converted under the preaching of a Methodist circuit rider and, also with his father, entered the Methodist ministry.
Education
John was never enrolled in an institution of higher learning, being of that group of pioneers who felt that a call to preach did not mean a call to go to school to get ready to preach.
Career
In 1825 McFerrin was admitted to the Tennessee Conference on trial and spent two years as a circuit rider. Ordained deacon in 1827, he was appointed missionary to the Cherokee Indians in the territory where Chattanooga and Fort Oglethorpe now stand. He was ordained elder in 1829, and was a stationed preacher and presiding elder until 1840, when he became editor of the Southwestern Christian Advocate, Nashville. This paper he conducted with ability for eighteen years. In the meantime the Methodist Church divided over the question of slavery and McFerrin, who had been a delegate to the General Conference of 1844, was also a delegate to the Louisville Convention of 1845 at which the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized. In 1858 he reluctantly relinquished his editorship to take charge, as book agent, of the publishing interests of his denomination, continuing in this office until 1866, though during the Civil War he also had charge of all the Methodist missionary work in the Army of the Tennessee. At the General Conference of 1866 he was elected secretary of the board of domestic missions; four years later the domestic and foreign boards were consolidated, and McFerrin directed the work of both until 1878. During his term of service he cleared away a depressing indebtedness, yet, because he lacked the faculties and sympathies necessary for successful missionary propagation, this period gave him less satisfaction than others in his long official career. The nine years from 1878 to 1887, when he again served as book agent, proved the climax of his labors. As a result of the war and bad management, the Methodist publishing house was in an almost hopeless struggle with debt. Shaping a plan of bond sales similar to that in use at the time by the federal government, he raised within a remarkably short time $350, 000, and before his death saw every obligation met, every bond refunded, and the publishing house flourishing again.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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Personality
His business ability is indicated by the fact that he owned real estate and bank stock, and was at one time president of a street railway company. In the midst of his many activities he found time to write History of Methodism in Tennessee (1869 - 73), a three-volume work which gives a first-hand account of life in Tennessee during the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
Connections
McFerrin was twice married: first, in 1833, to Almyra Avery Probart; second, in 1855, to Cynthia Tennessee McGavock. The second wife and four children survived his death.