{"id":798,"date":"2017-05-11T05:26:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T09:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/?p=798"},"modified":"2019-02-17T15:06:46","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T20:06:46","slug":"early1807-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/2017\/05\/11\/early1807-01\/","title":{"rendered":"Extracts from the Diary of John Early (November 18\u2013December 21 1807)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Assigned to the Cumberland Circuit in the Virginia piedmont, Methodist minister John Early recorded several encounters with jerkers during the fall of 1807. Early\u2019s diary entries feature a valuable description of a young Baptist woman who violently opposed his ministry but converted to Methodism after experiencing the jerking exercise. Conjectural readings and textual defects appear in square brackets.<\/h3>\n

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Wednesday [November] 18th [1807]. To Patersons & Back 6 miles. There I Saw a young Woman (P. D. By name) Who had had the Jirks 2 years & was Very Wicked (her parents were Baptists). I told her I Believ\u2019d the Jirks would never Leave her until she prayed in Earnest to GOD. She Said it would be time enough for her Several years hence & said the Jirks came from the Devil & wou’d go Back to him again. I told her to pray or [I] Did not know But the Jirks wou\u2019d Kill her & she’d go to hell & she said she wished I might to go Hell above all people & she told me afterwards for She got converted. In meeting she Looked Very serious & Cry’d & Believ\u2019d she had home shot as a nail in a Sure place. Yet she persecuted me.<\/p>\n

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Next Day I preach’d Old father Brothers\u2019s funeral 7 miles & the Lord came Down In awful Power. Some shouted some Cry’d & the place Look’d awful On account of the presence of my King. Glory to GOD in the highest. After I preach’d we went to the grave. I gave a exortation in the rain & had a serious time Indeed. I felt my lungs shattered & My Body Very weak But I felt like fighting for my Jesus Forever. The people invited me to come again. The above young Woman Was there & Cry’d Powerfully & told some Body she was sorry for What She had Said about me the Day Before for She now liked me Very well. (She had no more rest in sin.) I went that evening through the rain 6 miles & had meeting at J. Taylors & the Lord was with us. After meeting I asked a young Woman (who staid all night there) to give me a strand of Beads she had around her neck. She to try me what I wou’d Do with them throw’d to me. I Opened the fire & put them in to let [her] know I wanted to Burn old Sam up [i.e. the devil]. She hardly understood me, though she Profesed religion & I hope had religion.<\/p>\n

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Friday 20. We had meeting there again & a moving time & some shouted Some Cry’d.<\/p>\n

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Saturday 21. To Mount Comfort to a two Days meeting & Brother W. Pinnell with me 9 miles & met Brother J. Pinnell the Elder. He preached & the Lord come Down & all had a glorious time. The above young Woman Was again [at] meeting at W. Christians at night & God was with us in a Wonderful Awful manner.<\/p>\n

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Sunday (22). Morning we had the Lord Supper Administered By the Elder & the God of Israel Gave Sanction to it By coming Down among us. Some Spoke the Language of Canaan Indeed [Is. 19:18]. At 12 O\u2019Clock the Elder preach\u2019d, & the Lord Continued his Blessings & Several mourners came forward & Kneeled Down for us to pray for us & meeting lasted until late in the evening. At night we had meeting at M. Thompsons. I tried to preach\u2019d But Before I was Done Jesus preach’d to[o] in a Wonderful manner to the hearts of the Dear people so that I had to stop. Christians shouted & Jump\u2019d and Jirk’d & roll\u2019d & for 3 or 4 hours my eyes or Ears hardly ever saw or heard such a time among Christians & the Lord Of all mercies came to the Deliverance Of the above young Woman who only the Wednesday Before wish’d I might go to hell. She had the most Powerful manafestation I ever saw. She leaped from the floor & Jump\u2019d & Shouted & Jirk\u2019d all night & untill I left her next Day 10 O\u2019Clock. I hardly think Besides many Others I ever saw the like Before. She praised GOD that She ever saw the Methodist preacher & asked In public my Pardon for What she had said to & about me. She said she had heard it said that he that Believeth & Was Baptised was sure of heaven. But if she never again saw Water she had the substance & not the shadow & wou’d be saved. She said She Saw a rich fulness in Christ for all mankind Which caused me to tell the people I never Saw a Predestinarian When they Were first converted to God\u2026.<\/p>\n

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Wednesday [December] 16. Tried to preach & had a Great time. Glory to King Jesus. At night preached again though unwell & the Lord came Down in Power. Converted a young woman who had been seeking a long time & such before & Jumping & smacking of hands I never saw shouting praising praying & Jirking. Glory to God. I heard the Language of [Canaan] & it was music to my happy soul. Hallalujah & 2 join\u2019d [the] Society. Good times a coming & better\u2026.<\/p>\n

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Monday, [December] 21st. To J. Pattersons 4 miles. I tried to preach on James 2:5 Verse & the Lord Jehovah helped us & some Jirked & Others shouted Glory to King Jesus. O how sweet the Language of Canaan is to the Christian. Among others [present was] the young woman mention\u2019d 4 weeks ago (that go[t] converted). She had Baptist relations & her father and mother was Baptist. She wanted to Be a Methodist & her relations wou’d not agree to it & she told me if her sorrow was as great for 4 weeks to come she did [not] know how she shou’d bear it. I commended her to Jesus & told her to Join the Methodists through every opposition if she thought it was the will of GOD. She said she had often wished she cou’d be reconciled to Be a Baptist so that her friends might be Satisfied but she cou’d not be reconciled to Be a Baptist so that her friends might be Satisfied but she cou\u2019d not be reconciled to Be a Baptist. I thought it was Just like some of the Baptist Doings with their Children. I thought the Consequence wou\u2019d be serious in this circumstance either one way or the Other. That is she wou’d either leave them & Join or else she wou’d loose religion. Or GOD wou’d send some Judgment upon them for the abominable crime. O ungrateful parents. Lord pity the Baptists Indeed. At night a precious meeting again.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/h3>\n

John Early, Diary, 1807, John Early Papers, 1800\u20131856, Flavia Reed Owen Special Collections and Archives, McGraw-Page Library, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.<\/p>\n

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“She…said the Jirks came from the Devil & wou’d go Back to him again. I told her to pray or [I] Did not know But the Jirks wou\u2019d Kill her & she’d go to hell & she said she wished I might to go Hell above all people….”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86415,86456,86485,86383,86450,95974,13410],"tags":[86369,86486,86493,86487,86488,86353,86485,86491,86355,86490,86494,86340,86495,86492,86482,13410],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1805-1809","category-diaries-journals","category-john-early","category-methodists-denominations","category-other-bodily-exercises-general-references","category-randolph-macon-college","category-virginia","tag-baptists","tag-buckingham-county-va","tag-clapping-hands","tag-crying","tag-exhorting","tag-jerking","tag-john-early","tag-jumping","tag-methodists","tag-mount-comfort-va","tag-praying","tag-preaching","tag-prince-edward-county-va","tag-rolling","tag-shouting","tag-virginia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/files\/2019\/01\/Early1807-1080.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}