Thank you, Pete. Sorry for the delayed response, busy writing and working. Your words are spot on!

Thank you, Dr. Kinghorn. I will inform the artist, Tyler Fegley, that you plan to use his carriage drawing in class lectures. He will love that!

Hello, Suzanne. I’m glad to hear you are drawn to this amazing woman. In the second book of the Asbury Triptych Series trilogy, Beggar Bishop, the following appears in reference to the first Methodist meeting led by Philip Embury: “The initial meeting from his home on Barrack Street, had six attendees, Barbara went out and gathered four individuals. One of which was her African maid, Betty. For the first few months, these five individuals along with Philip made up the Wesleyan society in Manhattan. Not much of a beginning, but a solid foundation for sure.
The little congregation of six gained a beneficial advantage when Philip started preaching in the local almshouse. The almshouse was set up like those in England, a place where people out of work or in need of food or medical treatment could go for help. The houses were mostly run by thoughtful Christians who practiced Jesus’ teachings of the good Samaritan while at all times maintaining the Bible’s admonition ‘if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.’ In addition to the downtrodden, several local, recently released prisoners would attend the meetings. The meetings soon grew beyond capacity. The scene was chaotic, many of the participants had to stand outdoors to hear Philip preach. The overcrowding reduced some as several of the prisoners who were receiving benefits from the almshouse became convinced that they should be working to earn an honest living.
Philip and the leaders of this new Wesleyan church moved the meetings to a sail loft on William Street. Here, the large open room used to work on the canvases which captured the winds aloft, pushing the large ships across the Atlantic ocean became the perfect location for many of the Manhattan Methodists to meet.
By 1767, the sail loft was becoming obsolete. The crowd of people soon filled the open space, flowing out of doors. Philip and the rest had to make a decision. In February of 1767, a strange looking fellow walked into the prayer meeting that night in the sail loft. His odd appearance startled several in the room. Their alarm of this uniformed British soldier, wearing an eye patch and with a large sword hanging at his side was not without just cause. Since the repealing of the Stamp Act one year before, the sight of a British soldier in full uniform led many to believe that further troubles were on the horizon. The increasing numbers of British soldiers showing up in the colonial city put many on watch. The gathering of the faithful was soon relieved to see the soldier bow in prayer with them.
This British soldier was Captain Thomas Webb. Captain Webb soon helped to engineer the leasing of the land and building of the Wesleyan chapel at 44 John Street. In 1768, the Manhattan Wesleyan society broke ground on the structure. As per the advice of Captain Webb, the structure was to be called a chapel and was to receive a large stone fireplace and chimney. These two measures were to ensure that the British colonial government would not consider the structure a church to compete with the Church of England. For by colonial law, dissenters like the Methodists were not allowed to construct places of worship. Also by English colonial law, the Methodists, along with every other citizen in the colonies were forced to financially support the Church of England. The ruling frustrated many. Disguised as a place of residence, the inside of the structure remained unfinished for some time. Eventually, the talented carpenter, Philip Embury, constructed the pews and pulpit for this new house of Wesleyan worship.
On October 30, 1768, Philip Embury preached his first sermon inside of Wesley’s chapel. In his simple manner, he urged the two hundred and fifty present to ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.’ From this hand-crafted pulpit, the Irish carpenter turned preacher ministered to many of the Manhattan citizens. Several of which who were prominent members of the colonial government and several of which who were local artisans of African descent. Philip Embury preached without income until the arrival of Joseph Pilmoor and Richard Boardman in the autumn of 1769. He was thankful to give up the pulpit to the authorized and qualified preachers. Soon afterwards, Philip and his wife, along with Paul Heck and his wife, Barbara, departed Manhattan for upstate New York, but not before ensuring that an itinerant’s apartment be constructed on the premises. In 1770, an adjacent parsonage was constructed and put into use for John Wesley’s missionaries, Pilmoor, and Boardman.