John and Molly: a Methodist Mismarriage
The Asbury Journal 75/1: 46-70 © 2020 Asbury Theological Seminary DOI: 10.7252/Journal.01.2020S.04 Samuel J. Rogal John and Molly: A Methodist Mismarriage Abstract: While not much is known about Mary (Molly) Goldhawk Vazeille, the wife of John Wesley, her story has been interpreted in many ways, and often incorrectly over time. This article explores the historical evidence of her life as a wealthy widow with children who married the founder of Methodism later in life. This contentious relationship is often little understood because of the lack of solid documentation and the multiple interpretations often overlaying the story, which were added by writers with other agendas. It does seem clear that John’s brother Charles was especially unhappy with this marriage in the beginning, and the subsequent events in the relationship led to divisions between the couple that have been open to numerous interpretations. Keywords: Mary (Molly) Goldhawk Vazeille, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Methodism, marriage Samuel J. Rogal has served in the faculty and administration of Waynesburg College, Iowa State University, SUNY College at Oswego, Mary Holmes College, and Illinois State University before retiring from the chair of the Division of Humanities and Fine arts at Illinois Valley Community College in 1998. He has been a lifelong scholar of the Wesleys, their hymnody, and 18th century British literature. 46 rogal: John and molly 47 the long life of John Wesley (1703-1791) occurred on Monday or Tuesday, February 18 or 19, 1751. A week earlier, Sunday, February 10, on his way, forty-eight-year-old Wesley proceeded to cross London Bridge, where he suffered a hard fall on the ice, “the bone of my ankle lighting on the top of managed to endure through the delivery of a sermon, after which a surgeon bound his leg and “made a shift,“1 enabling him to stumble to the Methodist chapel in West Street, Seven Dials, where he preached again.
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