LETTER: ALS to "Beloved Sister" (Mrs. Julia E. Brewer).
Early Months of the American Female Reform Society. (REVIVALISM). (WOMEN). BURCHARD, FRANCES M. (EMERSON). 3-1/2 pp. ALS (signed F.M.B.) to "Beloved Sister," Regarding Evangelistic Travels. Utica, (New York) Sept. 27, 1839. Sheets 7.75 x 10 inches. Folded with Integral address and postmark to Mrs. Julia E. Brewer, McIndoc Falls, Vermont. Legible ink.
Married to the controversial evangelistic Presbyterian preacher, Rev. Jedediah Burchard, Frances was an enthusiastic evangelist in her own right. She writes: "Since we left our field of labor in Clinton Co. we have visited Massena, Sackett, Bellville & for the last 3 weeks we have been in Clinton & this city (Utica). Last week I attended the semi annual meeting of the American Female Moral Reform Society. It continued two whole days and the interest was very great. The officers from the city of N. York (all my friends) were present & ladies from most of the villages of Western N.York. I hope you will read the Advocate which will contain a full account."
The New York Female Moral Reform Society was established in 1834 under the female leadership of Lydia A. Finney, wife of revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, and was created for the fundamental purpose of preventing prostitution in early nineteenth century New York. Five years after its establishment, it already had 445 auxiliaries, and thus changed its name in 1839 to the American Female Moral Reform Society in the hopes that membership would expand even further.
The Burchards were part of a group of fervent religionists who could be described as follows: "Midway between the cold Calvinists and the maudlin 'Arminians' stood that famous revivalist, Charles G. Finney. Finney, and his colleagues such as Jedediah Burchard, Horatio Foote, 'Father' Nash, and dozens of others, were ordained by the Congregational/Presbyterian orthodoxy, but adopted the methods of the Methodists and Free-Will Baptists. Starting out in the 1820s in the 'burned-over district' in New York state, Finney and others conducted revivals in several New England cities as well by the 1830s. Finney tried to avoid the sticky issue of predestination, and brought evangelism to the Calvinist fold. Asahel Nettleton and Lyman Beecher, two champions of Congregationalist revivals, at first condemned Finney's methods." [Religious Revivals and Revivalism in 1830s New England].
Jedediah Burchard was one of the most famous of the itinerant revivalists. He had the gift of saving souls and was paid to conduct revival meetings. These revivals were tremendously successful and church membership flourished. The great revival encouraged interdenominational cooperation among the Protestants and led to broad social reform movements, such as abolition of slavery, temperance, educational institutions and emancipation of women. "Jedediah Burchard.” [Can Faith Change the World. November 29, 2003. www.vermonthistory.org/journal/69/t69_s02.pdf].
Frances M. Emerson was born May 3, 1802, in Windsor, Vermont, to William and Submit (Drake) Emerson. She took part in many revivals and her speciality was teaching her brand of religion to children. She died in April of 1892. Her sister Julia (1794-1882), to whom she wrote, married Ebenezer Brewer. The letter mentions much family news including commentary about the sister's parents "father is childish and mother is failing...", and news of other siblings.
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