Dempster, James
d.1803

Born in Scotland, he studied at Edinburgh University before entering the itinerancy c.1764. In 1774 he accompanied Martin Rodda to America, held the New York society together during the early months of the Revolutionary War, but retired in 1776 when his health broke down . He was the only British itinerant beside Asbury to remain in America and may have continued to work in New York for a time, before becoming pastor of a Presbyterian church at Florida, Montgomery County, New York, while continuing his itinerant evangelical preaching.

His son John Dempster (1794-1863), missioner and educator, was a pioneer of Methodism in Argentina and Uruguay and was involved in the founding of what became Garrett Theological Seminary at Evanston, Illinois.

Sources
  • E.S. Bucke (ed.), The History of American Methodism (1964) vol. 1 p.141
  • Frank Baker, From Wesley to Asbury (Durham NC, 1976) p.119 etc.
  • Frederick E. Maser, in Methodist History, 34:4 (July 1996) pp.260-62

See also

Entry written by: JAV
Category: Person
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