Peter Cartwright

Methodist Clergyman - Circuit Rider - Illinois State Representative

• Methodist clergyman
• Circuit Rider (minister who traveled a circuit)
• Founder of Illinois Conference Female Academy (now MacMurray College) in Jacksonville in 1846
• strong opponent of slavery
• served for 16 years as a member of the Illinois state legislature (State Representative in 6th and 8th General Assemblies)
• only political defeat was by Abraham Lincoln in a race for the U.S. Congress in 1846
• The Autobiography of Peter Cartwright was published in 1856.
• buried near Pleasant Plains, Illinois

Comments or suggestions to: Contact me