Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1849 (Creation)
Extent
1-10000
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of America emerged in response to the Methodist Episcopal Church's support of slavery and its centralized, authoritarian governance. In November 1842, leaders O. Scott, J. Horton, and L. R. Sunderland withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church and launched The True Wesleyan, a weekly publication explaining their reasons for separation. In December, Luther Lee and L. C. Matlack also withdrew, marking the formal beginning of the Wesleyan movement. Although earlier separations had occurred—particularly in Michigan, where a conference was established—these events laid the foundation for the official organization. The first church of the new denomination was founded in Providence, Rhode Island. In February 1843, a preliminary convention was held in Andover, Massachusetts, which led to a General Convention in Utica, New York, on May 31, 1843. There, the Wesleyan Methodist Church was officially organized and adopted a governing Discipline. The first General Conference convened in October 1844 to revise this Discipline, followed by a second in October 1848, which produced a more comprehensive and clearly organized version.
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Scope and content
This series comprises records from the Zanesville conference. They capture the district’s role as a vital regional hub within the wider church. The materials include minutes from district conferences, correspondence between local pastors and district leaders, reports from area churches, pastoral appointments, membership and financial statistics, and policy documents specific to the region.
These records reveal how the district guided and supported local congregations and clergy, implemented denominational policies on a regional level, and fostered church growth and ministry within the community.
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Finding aids
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Accruals
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Notes element
General note
The Zanesville Conference began its corporate existence in a session held in Senecaville, Ohio, commencing September 12, 1849, with Rev. George Richey as the first president. The membership reported was 1,885, with eighteen pastoral charges. The conference took its name from the city of Zanesville, Ohio, which was near the geographical center; the territory of the conference was taken from the western part of what was originally the Allegheny Conference. In 1864, the name was changed to the Central Ohio Conference.
General note
The presidents of this conference between the years
1849 and 1864 were as follows:
George Richey, 1849-51
Austin N. Hamlin, 1851-53, 1854-55
Asa W. Sanders, 1853-54
Robert McCune, 1855-57
Adam Crooks, 1857-59
S. D. Jones, 1859-60
W . H . Brewster, 1860-62
Benjamin Tressenrider, 1862-64