University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY A New Promised Land? Denominations, Local Congregations, Camp Meetings, and the Creation of Community in Early Kentucky, c.1780-1830 De Vries, Jonathan Peter Award date: 2016 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 03. Oct. 2021 UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE A New Promised Land? Denominations, Local Congregations, Camp Meetings, and the Creation of Community in Early Kentucky, c.1780-1830 Jonathan Peter De Vries PhD Thesis University of Dundee June, 2016 Table of Contents: List of Illustrations i Acknowledgment ii Author’s declaration v Abstract vi Introduction 1 Forms of ministry 16 Definitions 19 Conclusion: The Denominations and the Creation of Community 25 Chapter One: The Kentucky Backcountry: The Denominations, Settlers, and Settlement 31 Part 1: The Settlers 33 Part 2: The Denominations On The Frontier 47 Conclusion 57 Chapter Two: Kentucky's camp meetings 61 Camp Meetings; A New Definition 65 New Form of Religious Service 74 Camp Meetings As Small Events 82 Camp Meetings As Local Events 86 Camp Meetings As Communal 89 Conclusion: Camp Meetings As Events 94 Chapter Three: The Congregations 97 Membership 99 The Congregation as Community 105 The Congregation as Local 115 Education 124 Conclusion 132 Chapter Four: The Church 133 Church Buildings 134 Church Internal Design 151 Presbyterian Church 159 Conclusion 166 Chapter Five: Ordering the Backcountry 168 Congregations As A Basic Unit of Governance 172 A Democratic System 176 Ecclesiastical Courts Versus Civil Courts 181 Conclusion 192 Chapter Six: Challenges to Community 195 Watt's Hymnal Controversy 196 The Cumberland Schism 200 Slavery and the Denominations 209 Conclusion 219 Bibliography 224 Appendix 242 i List of Illustrations and Tables Map 1: Kentucky 1 Table 1: Camp Meeting Table 62-63 Table 2: Christ Church Episcopalian Membership List 138 Table 3: Elkhorn Association Records: Bryant's Station Ministers List 143 Table 4: Bryant Station Baptist Church Membership Data 145 Table 5: Elkhorn Association Records: Tates Creek Membership Data 146 Table 6: Elkhorn Association Records: Boone's Creek Membership Data 149 Image 1: Top down drawing of a typical Baptist meetinghouse 151 Image 2: Elk Creek Baptist Church, Series S-108-S23 Elk Creek (Ky), KHS. 152 Image 3: First Presbyterian Church records (Lexington KY) 1807-1976, UKSC. 164 Image 4: First Presbyterian Church records (Lexington KY) 1807-1976, UKSC. 165 All images have been reproduced with the permission of the Kentucky Historical Society and the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library. ii Acknowledgments Throughout this thesis project I have been reminded of the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. So to, I have found, does a project such as this Ph.D. thesis. There are an incredible number of individuals and institutions that have offered me advice, guidance, and encouragement throughout this entire project that I would like to both acknowledgment and thank. Without these individuals and institutions this thesis that follows would not exist. Their help and encouragement has been invaluable throughout. Firstly I would like to start by thanking my primary advisor Dr. Matthew C Ward, who throughout both my Masters work and my Ph.D. thesis offered guidance and encouragement where needed. Dr. Ward also deserves special recognition and thanks for giving me the freedom to research my own particular interests. Without his support this thesis on Kentucky's denominations and their role in society would not have come about. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the two individuals who acted as my secondary advisors on this project, Professors James Livesey and Callum Brown. Professor Brown deserves acknowledgement and thanks in particular for directing me towards considering the role denominations played within the larger society. Without such a timely direction from him much of this thesis would not exist. Professor Livesey deserves thanks for consistently reminding me to think in more broader terms and relate this thesis on a more transatlantic basis. This Ph.D. thesis would not have been possible without the financial support of several institutions. Firstly I would like to thank the Peter J. Parish Memorial fund for the Postgraduate Research Grant (2012) which help fund my research trip to archives in Kentucky. I would also like to thank the School of Humanities at University of Dundee in particular for a travel bursary (2012) that funded a significant portion of costs for that same research trip. Without either of these two institutions the research of this project would not have been possible. There are several institutions and organisation that I would also like to thank personally and without which this project would not have been possible. I would like to start with the University of Dundee and the History Programme at the University of Dundee. Many of the staff acted throughout the course of this project as members of my Thesis Monitoring Committee, offering useful suggestions and more importantly asking iii insightful questions as I worked on this project. In particular I would like to thank Dr. Chris Storrs, Dr. John Regan, Dr. Billy Kenefick, and Dr. Martine Van Ittersum each of whom at various stages took interest in my project, offering helpful direction when needed. I would also like to thank those individuals, both postgraduate and academic staff, who were part of the Scottish Association for the Study of America, the British Group of Early American Historians, and Historical Perspectives, for the feedback and guidance on conference papers I gave over the years. Each of these conferences were welcoming and receptive to an unsure postgraduate student and his ideas on the roles denominations played. Their feedback on those papers I put forward help me refine and clarify my arguments. Thank you. Along similar lines there are three institutions in particular from the other side of the pond whos help throughout this project was invaluable. Firstly, I would like to thank the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, Kentucky. In particular I would like to thank the staff of the Special Collections library at the KHS for their openness and help in locating and accessing material needed for this project. As well as point out sources that were of interest and that I may not have noticed. Similar thanks and acknowledgement goes to the staff of the Special collections library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and at the Filson Historical Society. The staff and students at both of these institutions were invaluable, helping locate material and information used throughout this thesis. To the staff and students of Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Francis, Wisconsin, I would like to say thank you as well. The earliest seeds of this project had its roots in this community. In particular I would like to thank Fr. Mel Michalski for instilling in me the importance of language and logic. As well as Fr. Steve Malkiewicz, OFM for reminding me to pay attention to human stories buried within theological debates and arguments. I would also like to thank several of my classmates during my time at Saint Francis. Fr. Brad Krawczyk, Fr. Ryan Pruss, Fr. Enrique Hernandez, John Paul Shimeck, Bryan Van Meter, Fr. Kevin Barnkow, and Luis Carrasco. The genesis of this project had its roots in many of the late night philosophical and theological conversations we had and without which I would not have had the understanding and grounding to make this project possible. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Postgraduate community at Dundee. Whilst research and writing are individual activities, the community that existed iv within our research room helped both inspire me and pull me along throughout. In particular I would like to thank Blair M Smith, Darren Reid, and Catriona Paul, my fellow Kentucky historians who walked the fields of eighteenth century Kentucky with me. Each of these three offered encouragement and insights throughout this project in particular when I strayed into their particular fields of interest. Along with these three I would like to mention Kirk Hansen, a fellow Postgraduate student and ex-pat at Dundee. Being an ex-pat can be a daunting prospect at the best of times, our wide ranging conversations from books and games to who had the better NFL team in a given year helped immensely. Lastly there are a few personal acknowledgements and thanks that must be given. Firstly are the consultants, doctors, nurses and staff of Ninewells Hospital and in particular Professor Nabi's team, the staff of Ward 9, and those within the Endoscopy Unit at Ninewells. Without these individuals I would not have been able to complete my project let alone write this thesis. They worked long hours putting me back together so that I could return and finish this work. Thank you. I also want to thank my family. My parents Mary and Peter De Vries for their unconditional support throughout this project. I also want to say thank you to my mother who proofread many versions of this thesis without complaint.