Bishop Francis Asbury
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Francis Asbury. Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1784-1816, often visited and preached at the home of Daniel Killian which was one mile east.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Francis Asbury was one of the two founding bishops of American Methodism, and for more than three decades he rode a punishing circuit across the young nation's frontier, preaching wherever settlers gathered. On his travels through the North Carolina mountains he stopped at the nearby home of Daniel Killian, one of countless farmhouse pulpits from which he spread the faith. By his death in 1816 he had helped grow Methodism from a tiny sect into one of America's largest denominations.
Why it matters
Asbury's tireless circuit-riding carried religious and social institutions into remote frontier communities, shaping the spiritual life of the expanding republic.
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Related people
- · Francis Asbury
- · Daniel Killian
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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