Samuel Davies (November 3, 1723 – February 4, 1761) was an evangelist and Presbyterian minister who was born into a family of English Dissenters from the Church of England. Davies ministered in Hanover County, the center of the Christian revival movement, from 1748 to 1759. He was a central figure who played a critical role in the early years of the Great Awakening, fomenting a religious revival among the colonies that advocated religious independence from England's established church, which inspired the cause for complete independence that ultimately lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England as Virginia’s official church. Davies was a dynamic and inspirational orator whose sermons were filled with pointed language that advocated for religious conversion. He followed serving a term as the fourth President of Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, from 1759 to 1761. Davies was a strong advocate for religious freedom, and helped to institute significant religious reforms in the colony. He was one of the first non-Anglican preachers in Virginia, and one of earliest missionaries to slaves in the Thirteen Colonies. He voyaged to England, in 1753 where he met George Whitefield and John Wesley, also central figures in the Great Awakening. During the French and Indian War he served recruiting men by appealing to their sense of patriotism ans religion through his sermons, which were widely publicized throughout the colonies. Davies was also a prolific writer, authoring several hymns and publishing works of poetry and sermons. He was a strong voice for religious freedom and advocated humane treatment for slaves, and for providing them with religious education.
Early life Davies was born in New Castle County, Delaware, to David Davies and Martha Thomas Davies, Baptists of Welsh descent. Davies's mother eventually became a follower of Presbyterian doctrine, which led to his earliest exposure to Calvinist theology.Pomfret, Dictionary of American Biography,1932, pp. 102-103Maxson, 1958, pp. 29, 97 A child of deeply religious parents, his mother named him after the prophet Samuel.Ellis, April 1983, Journal essay Davies lived the life of a typical farm boy, helping his father in the fields and tending to chores about the farm. His father taught him how to hunt deer and squirrels, and fishing in the nearby Atlantic Ocean.Institute for Basic Life Principle, Essay
The Davies family could not afford to send their son to college, so they instead sent him to rceive his early education under the tutelage of Rev. Samuel Blair at the academy he conducted in Faggs Manor, Pennsylvania in 1739. The expenses of this promising student were borne by William Robinson, a frontier missionary and Davies' tutor.Maxson, 1958, p. 97Davies; Pilcher (ed), 1967, p. 1 By the Spring of 1746, Davies, had completed his studies and was now, at the age of twenty-four, ready to assume a role preaching the Evangelical doctrines.Pilcher, 1971, pp. 8-9, 12 Among his classmates was the future Reverend John Rodgers.Miller, 1813, p. 19 Later in his ministry Davies would declare that in all his travels he never had any teacher that would measure up to Blair.
Ministry
Virginia Evangelist
After Davies completed his studies with Blair, the Presbytery of New Castle licensed him to preach on July 30, 1746. He joined the New Side synod of New York, and married Sarah Kirkpatrick on October 23, 1746. While he was preaching in Pennsylvania and Delaware, Sarah died from a miscarriage on September 15, 1747, shortly before their first anniversary.Encyclopedia Virginia: Samuel Davies (1723-1761) Her death inclined Davies to believe that he too was near death, and he therefore threw himself wholeheartedly into his preaching ministry.Davies; Pilcher (ed), 1967, p. 3
Davies was ordained as an evangelist on February. 19, 1747, and was promptly sent to Virginia on evangelical missionary service to minister to religious dissenters against the Anglican Church. Dissenters who broke from the established Church of England were scorned by Church clergy and many Virginians, often incited by clergy, while their ministry efforts were always under persistent surveillance. At the time, when Davies settled in Hanover County, Virginia in 1748 there were already many lawsuits filed against Presbyterians for holding forbidden assemblies and preaching without a license from the General Court. The Church of England as the established Church in colonial Virginia, no colony was more protective of its authority, nor more hostile towards religious dissenters, than Virginia.Ragosta, 2010, p. 3
George Whitefield, who brought the revivalist movement to a head in Hanover County, had recently departed, and subsequently the enthusiasm behind the revivalist movement in Hanover gradually began to diminish. However, the calm did not last very long, for Whitefield and other such evangelists of the early 1740s had paved the way for an even greater revivalist thrust, and Davies was the leader in that advent. However, this provoked a renewed confrontation which emerged between the New Light Presbyterians and the colonial authorities who stood behind the established Church in Williamsburg. Because of the persistent efforts of William Tennent, Samuel Blair and especially Samuel Davies, Hanover soon became the center of the Great Awakening in the South and the "hotbed" of radical New Light Presbyterianism in Virginia. Their presence and activities was deemed a serious threat to the authority and supremacy of the Church of England in Virginia, whose preeminence had always been unabated.Hockman, 1990, pp. 152, 160
Virginia's colonial legislature in 1743 had licensed Polegreen reading room and three others in and near Hanover County. Davies eventually led seven congregations in five counties, fulfilling his duties despite frail health from tuberculosis.Leitch, 1978
Davies eventually recovered his health and continued to preach. Young Patrick Henry attended many of Davies' sermons with his mother and acknowledged that as the source of his own oratorical skills; others called Davies without peer in the pulpit during his lifetime.Polegreen Church Foundation< Essay Davies returned to Virginia in May 1748, and on October 4, 1748, married Jane Holt, from a prominent Williamsburg family. He fathered six children with Jane, including one child who died at birth and William.VictorianVilla, article
As one of the first non-Anglican ministers licensed to preach in Virginia (with the now-dead Francis Makemie), Davies advanced the cause of religious and civil liberty in his era. Davies' strong religious convictions led him to value the "freeborn mind" and the inalienable "liberty of conscience" that the established Anglican Church in Virginia often failed to respect. Davies helped found the Presbytery of Hanover, encompassing all Presbyterian ministers in Virginia and North Carolina. He served as its first moderator and was considered the region's leading voice for religious dissenters. By appealing to British law and notions of British liberty, Davies agitated in an agreeable and effective manner for greater religious tolerance and laid the groundwork for the ultimate separation of church and state in Virginia that was consummated after his departure by the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 and the Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. Rev. Davies also served as the first minister at Providence Presbyterian Church in Louisa County, Virginia until his departure for New Jersey in 1759.National Register of Historic Places
Evangelism of slaves
Davies advocated educating slaves, including teaching them to read and write. Unlike Baptist and Methodist evangelists, who based conversion solely on an outpouring of the spirit, Davies believed that no one, regardless of race or social status, can have true religion without both hearing and reading the Word of God. To this end he employed the Holy Bible. Although personally not opposed to slavery, Davies believed that slaves deserved humane treatment and direct access to the word of God, the same as their masters. He was a strong believer in the spiritual equality of slaves, although he is known to have owned at least two slaves during his time in Virginia, believing that simply turning them free in an unfamiliar world with no means of self support would be a fate worse than slavery.Princeton University project, Essay He justified this activity by functioning as a benevolent master who provided well for their livelihood. Such reasoning was consistent with Presbyterian doctrine at the time, which stated that slavery was a political matter, not a church matter.Waugh, 2015.
During a 1755 sermon Davies made the following statement to the slaves in attendance at the worship service:
You know I have shewn a tender concern for your welfare, ever since I have been in the colony: and you may ask my own negroes whether I treat them kindly or no.
Davies noted that the slaves owned by non-dissenters were often treated poorly in terms of their living situation, while those owned by Presbyterians and other dissenters were not over-worked and well provided for.Davies, 1761, pp. 8-9 Slaves became a particular focus of his ministry, and several contemporaries noted how Davies converted African slaves at unusually high numbers.Richards, 2003, pp. 333-378 Davies used the educational materials he received from his sponsors in London to instruct slaves, and also composed his own hymns. The classic spiritual "Lord, I want to be a Christian" reportedly originated at Polegreen. Rev. Davies eventually baptized hundreds of slaves as Christians, and they joined other members of the congregation at the communion table. His congregations allowed slaves to preach in the Church. Davies estimated that he ministered to over a thousand black people during his time in Virginia.Thomson, 2005, Chapter:Samuel Davies
Voyage to Great Britain As Davies began his ministry in Virginia, six students began studies in Elizabeth, N.J., at the College of New Jersey, which had been established in 1746 to educate "those of every Religious Denomination." In 1753 the college's trustees persuaded Davies, famed for his work in Virginia, to make the dangerous voyage to Great Britain to raise money for the fledgling school. Davies and Tennent reached London on Christmas Day, December 25, 1753. While in Great Britain he met various prominent religious leaders, including George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, along with many prominent political figures.Hockman, 1990, pp.151-152, 154-155Ellis, 1983, Journal essay Whitefield was an itinerant preacher and a central figure in the Great Awakening in the American colonies. He invited Davies and Tennent to his home for the duration of their stay. Davies was thoroughly impressed with Whitefield and also recorded his encounter in his diary:
While in England Davies and Tennent made efforts to obtain donations for a new college, founded by Governor Jonathan Belcher at Princeton. This college was to train ministers for the Presbyterian Churches of six colonies. Inspired by their effort, Whitefield wholeheartedly used his influence and connections to help Davies and Tennent in their effort, to which Davies entered an account of the affair in his diary, Wednesday, December 26, 1753, where he commended Whitefield for offering his home to them during their stay in England. Davies was also successful in his appeal in getting the [Religious] Toleration Act extended to Virginia, while also securing the appointment of a new and more sympathetic Governor, to which Whitefield was equally influential in achieving.Belden, 1930, pp. 208-210