circuit rider

1. (formerly) a minister who rode horseback from place to place to preach and perform religious ceremonies.

2. someone, as a public official or a nurse, who travels throughout a given territory to provide services.

[1830-40, Amer.]

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▪ religion

      Methodist ministerial role that was originated in England by John Wesley (Wesley, John). The first of the American circuit riders was Robert Strawbridge, who arrived in the colonies in 1764. A few years later Wesley sent missionaries to the American colonies, but most of them departed when revolution threatened. One who remained was Francis Asbury, who, as Wesley's general assistant, was responsible for organizing the circuits.

      Each circuit of congregations—sometimes comprising as many as 25 or 30 meeting places—was under the supervision of a Methodist conference preacher who might have several lay assistants. Any young man who could preach and was willing to ride a horse for weeks over wild country might become an assistant and finally a circuit rider. Circuit riders numbered about 100 by the end of the American Revolution. The salary was $64 a year until 1800, when it was raised to $100, with the horse furnished. There were few actual meetinghouses; church services usually were held in cabins, in barrooms, or outdoors.

      Circuit riders were a religious and moral force along the frontier and in rural areas of the South, and they were largely responsible for the propagation of Methodism throughout the United States. The practice was soon adopted by other denominations, too.

Additional Reading

Peter Cartwright, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright (1856, reissued 1986), is a good source on the circuit rider's life.

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