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Rev. Samuel Edney |
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| "...was born in Pasquotank County in 1768. At
an early age he became a convert to Christianity, under the preaching of
the then despised and persecuted Methodists. His first serious
impressions were from a dream in which he found himself and all his
brothers exposed to a raging fire from which he alone escaped.
This led him to serious reflections on his future state, and 'to flee
the wrath to come.' In 1790 he received license to exhort and
preach. In 1791 and 1792 he travelled and preached. In the
latter year, he and Jonathan Bird were sent to Wilmington, and from
thence to the 'far west,' or what was called the 'Black Mountain
Circuit,' including all the western part of the State and a portion of
Tennessee, where he formed the acquaintance of Eleanor, daughter of
William Mills, to whom he was married in 1793. He located in 1794 [at
Edneyville, NC], but continued to preach up to the last week of his
life. He died Sept. 17, 1844. he was ordained elder by
Bishop Ashbury [sic] in 1813. He was the father of twelve
children, eleven of whom grew up to maturity, and eight are still
living. (1858. Bennett, D. K. Chronology of North Carolina,
pp. 97, 98.)
"...he unintentionally gave great offense while preaching the funeral sermon of one of a numerous family by the name of Stepp, during which, while in the height of his sermon, with great emphasis, he exclaimed, 'Yes! and after all these warnings from God, you will go on, step by step, till you all go down to hell!' An explanation afterwards was necessary to redeem them from so terrible an end. He maintained his Christian walk for fifty-six years and his ministerial for fifty-four. It was his custom to supply some appointment on Sabbath all through life. He preached monthly for a number of years at the 'Newton Academy' near Asheville, a distance of twenty miles from his residence; was a regular attendant of camp meetings; the first one ever held in the County was upon his possessions, and his house was always the preacher's home....He was an acting magistrate for forty years, and perhaps tried and disposed of more cases than any other man in his County or State. He was the first, and continued postmaster at Edneyville for twelve years. He inherited and raised a number of slaves, but not being able to govern them without chastisement, he parted with them, and shared the common toils of his neighbors in the support of a large family, whom he loved and cherished till death. "He fought a good fight,"...often exclaiming with a holy triumph in his old age, 'I have served God over fifty years, and have never seen the moment that I regretted it, or was willing to look or turn back to the beggarly elements of the world.' " (1858. Bennett, D. K. Chronology of North Carolina, pp. 98, 99.) |
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