Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834) was the forerunner of that archetype of American frontier lore, the wandering preacher.
Born in Connecticut, his early years were plagued by religious controversy, but by 1798 he had joined the Methodists. He started out as a lay preacher in New England, but broke with the Methodist Episcopal Church to go to Ireland to attempt to convert Catholics. Despite his losing formal connection with Wesley’s church, he remained a Methodist in doctrine, more or less, preaching against Catholicism, atheism, deism, Calvinism, Unitarianism and Universalism.
