Whitefield

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

GEORGE an lish clergyman; born in Gloucester, Eng- , England, Dec. 16, 1714. At the age of 18 he entered as servitor at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he became acquainted with the Wesleys, and joined the small society which procured them the name of Methodists. He was ordained deacon in 1736, and soon became very popular as a preacher. In 1738 he went to the American settlement of Georgia, where his ministrations gave great satisfaction to the colonists. In the following year he returned to England to procure subscriptions for building_an orphan house in the settlement. Having taken priest's orders, he repaired to London, where the churches in which he preached proved incapable of holding the crowds who assembled to hear him. He now adopted preaching in the open air, and visited various parts of the country, addressing vast audiences. In 1739 he again embarked for America, and made a tour through several of the provinces, preaching with great effect to immense crowds. He returned to England in the following year, where for a time differences between him and Wesley deprived him of many followers. After visiting many parts of England, Scotland, Wales he again returned to America, and remained there nearly four years. Soon after his return he was introduced to the Countess of Huntingdon, who made him one of her chaplains. A visit to Ireland and two more voyages to America followed, and for several years his labors were unremitting. He was the founder of the Calvinistic Methodists. At length, on his seventh visit to America, he died in Newburyport, Mass., Sept. 30, 1770. See METHODISM: WES- LEY.