James Dempster (1740–1804) was a Methodist clergyman who ministered to members of the Methodist Societies in the American colonies before and during the American Revolution.

He was born in Edon, Scotland on 21 September 1740, the third son of William and Violet Dempster of Newton, West Lothian.[1] His grandfather, James Ker, had been a member of the British Parliament, serving the Edinburgh constituency. He studied at Edinburgh University.

Between 1768 and 1774, John Wesley sent Francis Asbury and seven other Methodist lay preachers to the colonies, Dempster being one of them. It is thought his arrival would have been in 1774.[2] On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Dempster and Asbury chose to remain in America while the others returned to England.[3] Asbury remained active as a minister, but due to the hostility shown towards British ministers, Dempster elected to withdraw from prominent ministry and settled on a farm in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York, where he remained for the rest of his life. He established a log meeting house church at Warrensbush (now Florida Township), southwest of Amsterdam in Montgomery County, believed to have been erected in 1778,[4] and acted as an itinerant preacher and minister in the Tryon, Schenectady, Albany, Saratoga, Washington and Rensselaer sections of Upstate New York.[5] He maintained a record of the marriages and baptisms which he performed, which has since been published.[6]

Dempster married and had three sons, James, John, Joel, and a daughter Pamelia.[7] John Dempster became a Methodist missionary in Argentina[8] and later helped to found Boston University School of Theology and Garrett Biblical Institute (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) in Evanston, Illinois.[9]

James Dempster died in Florida, New York on 10 May 1804.

References

  1. ↑ The Dempster Records, http://www.newyorkroots.org/bookarchive/dempster_records/intro.html accessed 11 September 2015
  2. ↑ Clark E.T., (ed.), The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury in Three Volumes, Epworth, quoted in Smith, W. P. An Assessment of the Life, Theology and Influence of the First American and American Methodist: Mr. William Watters http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1816/thesis.pdf?sequence=1 accessed 10 October 2015
  3. ↑ The Story of Barratt's Chapel, "Barratt's Chapel and Museum - the Story of Barratt's". Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. accessed 11 September 2015
  4. ↑ There is now a New York State historic marker there, see New York State Museum, Historic Markers "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) accessed 10 October 2015
  5. ↑ The Dempster Records, http://www.newyorkroots.org/bookarchive/dempster_records/intro.html accessed 11 September 2015
  6. ↑ James Dempster's Record of Marriages and Baptisms in Vicinity of Tryon County, 1778-1803, HardPress Publishing 2013 ISBN 1314683705
  7. ↑ Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Dempster http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/hmgfm/dempster.html accessed 10 October 2015
  8. ↑ Iglesia Evangélica Metodista Argentina—Introducción http://www.argbrit.org/Methodist/Introduction.htm accessed 16 October 2015
  9. ↑ Overview of the Dempster Graduate Fellowship http://www.gbhem.org/loans-and-scholarships/scholarships/list-scholarships/dempster-fellowship accessed 16 October 2015
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