The Backwoods Boy Who Became a Minister 1859 John Henry Pitezel ~ Autobiography ~ Michigan Conference Methodist Episcopal Church

Title: The Backwoods Boy Who Became a Minister; or, The Family and Personal History of Henry Adolf

Author: Rev. J. H. [John Henry] Pitezel

Description: Publishers brown cloth over boards; covers decoratively stamped in blind and gilt on spine. Light soiling on rear cover. Some foxing to pages. Unmarked. Seven illustrations on plates, including frontispiece. 8vo. pp. 163, plus 9 advertising. 14.5 x 9.5 cm. Scarce.

The lightly fictionalized autobiography of the Methodist minister John Henry Pitezel (1814-1906). In the preface, he states that this is a factual story, written from memory and from conversations with those involved, but in telling it has mostly used fictional names for persons and places. The autobiographical nature of this work is revealed through the author and the subject sharing the same birthday and birth location (April 18, 1814 and fifty miles outside of Baltimore) as well as by other biographical details.

The story begins with the family background of ''Henry Adolph,'' including the family's move west in 1823 when they made their way over the Allegheny Mountains and settled in what was at the time referred to as the Backwoods--''the new country was then an unbroken forest.'' His youth is laid out, including his attendance in a log schoolhouse, family hardships and death, the influence of circuit ministers and camp meetings, his going to a seminary, pastoral assignments, and missionary work among the Indians.

The author, Rev. John Henry Pitezel, was one of the original members of the Michigan Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At one time was the presiding elder of the Indian mission in upper Michigan and traveled by dog sled with Indian guides. In 1857 he published a historical account of the missionaries in the Great Lakes region (Lights and Shades of Missionary Life [...] during Nine Years Spent in the Region of Lade Superior). He is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Three Rivers, Michigan.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: None

Publisher: Carlton & Porter
Place: New York
Year: 1859

Keywords: autobiography, Methodist, circuit rider, Methodist Episcopal, preachers, Michigan, Michigan Conference, 1840s, 1850s, Ohio,