Beverly Waugh
Encyclopedia
Beverly Waugh was an American
who distinguished himself as a Methodist Pastor
, Book Agent, and Bishop
of the Methodist Episcopal Church
, elected in 1836.
, U.S.A., the son of a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
. At the age of fifteen, he was converted to the Christian faith and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Alexandria, Virginia
. It is believed that he was employed as a clerk in a government
office or in business
for three or four years, given the excellent penmanship
and accuracy of his accounts throughout his life. From the time he was eighteen until shortly before his death
, he kept a journal
which, in the end, amounted to several manuscript
volumes.
ministry of the Baltimore Annual Conference
. After three years he was stationed in the city of Washington
. Indeed, for eighteen years he filled a number of the most prominent appointments in the Baltimore Conference.
The Rev. Beverly Waugh was elected by his peers
a delegate
to the General Conferences of 1816 and 1820, representing the Baltimore Conference. For the 1824 General Conference, because he was in favor of an elected Presiding Eldership (which the majority
of his conference did not approve), he was not elected a delegate.
In 1828, he was again elected a member of General Conference, and was, at that time, chosen Assistant Editor
and Agent
of the Book Concern of the M.E. Church
, resulting in his restationing to New York City
. This also necessitated his transfer to the New York Annual Conference, as the rule in force at that time constituted the Assistant Book Agent a member of that body. In his work with the Book Concern, the Rev. Waugh was closely associated with John Emory
, later Bishop. In 1832, Beverly was made the principal agent, through not a member of the General Conference that year. He was again a member of the 1836 General Conference, at which he also was elected a Bishop.
in 1852, Bishop Waugh was the Senior Bishop of his denomination.
Bishop Waugh traveled almost constantly. He was never absent from one of his conferences. He organized the , Texas
Annual Conference, with only nine members, as well as other Annual Conferences. Long before the time of railroads
, Bishop Waugh's routes ranged from Michigan
to Georgia
, and Maine
to Texas. He shared with his colleagues the responsibility of presiding over five sessions of the General Conference, some of which were the most laborious and difficult known in the history of the M.E. Church. It is supposed that the average number of preachers appointed by him per annum was probably 550, or about 12,000 altogether.
, Bishop Edmund Storer Janes remarked of Bishop Waugh:
Bishop Simpson, in his own voice, wrote this of Bishop Waugh:
for several days in January 1858 to assist in an interesting revival of religion. On his return home, he was seized with erysipelas
, but recovering was able to sit up in the evening before he died, and to converse a little with his friends. That night he died, 9 February 1858 in Baltimore. The immediate cause of his death is supposed to have been an affection of the heart, as he expired in a moment and without a struggle. He was buried
in the Mount Olivet Cemetery
in Baltimore, near the graves of Bishops Francis Asbury
, Enoch George
and John Emory
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who distinguished himself as a Methodist Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
, Book Agent, and Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
, elected in 1836.
Birth and early years
He was born on 28 October 1789 in Fairfax County, VirginiaFairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, U.S.A., the son of a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. At the age of fifteen, he was converted to the Christian faith and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. It is believed that he was employed as a clerk in a government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
office or in business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
for three or four years, given the excellent penmanship
Penmanship
Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. The various generic and formal historical styles of writing are called hands, whilst an individual personal style of penmanship is referred to as handwriting....
and accuracy of his accounts throughout his life. From the time he was eighteen until shortly before his death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, he kept a journal
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
which, in the end, amounted to several manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
volumes.
Ordained Ministry
In his twentieth year, in 1809, Beverly entered the itinerantItinerant
An itinerant is a person who travels from place to place with no fixed home. The term comes from the late 16th century: from late Latin itinerant , from the verb itinerari, from Latin iter, itiner ....
ministry of the Baltimore Annual Conference
Annual Conference
An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "Connectional Church." Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge . Each conference is a geographical division...
. After three years he was stationed in the city of Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Indeed, for eighteen years he filled a number of the most prominent appointments in the Baltimore Conference.
The Rev. Beverly Waugh was elected by his peers
Peer group
A peer group is a social group consisting of humans. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have...
a delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
to the General Conferences of 1816 and 1820, representing the Baltimore Conference. For the 1824 General Conference, because he was in favor of an elected Presiding Eldership (which the majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
of his conference did not approve), he was not elected a delegate.
In 1828, he was again elected a member of General Conference, and was, at that time, chosen Assistant Editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and Agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
of the Book Concern of the M.E. Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
, resulting in his restationing to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. This also necessitated his transfer to the New York Annual Conference, as the rule in force at that time constituted the Assistant Book Agent a member of that body. In his work with the Book Concern, the Rev. Waugh was closely associated with John Emory
John Emory
John Emory was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1832.-Early life and family:John was born at Spaniard's Neck, Queen Anne's County, Maryland. His parents were Methodists, his father a jurist who designed him for the law. His mother, however, who had been converted...
, later Bishop. In 1832, Beverly was made the principal agent, through not a member of the General Conference that year. He was again a member of the 1836 General Conference, at which he also was elected a Bishop.
Episcopal Ministry
The Rev. Beverly Waugh was elected to the Episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the 1836 General Conference. He filled this highest office in the ordained ministry for nearly twenty-two years. After the death of Bishop HeddingElijah Hedding
Elijah Hedding was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1824.-Birth and Rebirth:...
in 1852, Bishop Waugh was the Senior Bishop of his denomination.
Bishop Waugh traveled almost constantly. He was never absent from one of his conferences. He organized the , Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Annual Conference, with only nine members, as well as other Annual Conferences. Long before the time of railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
, Bishop Waugh's routes ranged from Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
to Texas. He shared with his colleagues the responsibility of presiding over five sessions of the General Conference, some of which were the most laborious and difficult known in the history of the M.E. Church. It is supposed that the average number of preachers appointed by him per annum was probably 550, or about 12,000 altogether.
Colleagial Summations of Bishop Waugh
Quoted by Bishop Matthew SimpsonMatthew Simpson
Matthew Simpson , was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1852.-Early life and family:...
, Bishop Edmund Storer Janes remarked of Bishop Waugh:
- During his whole term of episcopal service it is believed he traveled about 100,000 miles by all sorts of conveyances, preached 2,000 sermons, presided over 150 Conferences, and ordained from 2,500 to 3,000 Deacons and Elders, besides services rendered on various special occasions.
Bishop Simpson, in his own voice, wrote this of Bishop Waugh:
- He was a pure specimen of a ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
gentlemanGentlemanThe term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
, combining ministerial dignity with the simplicity and sweetness of a child. He was a good theologian, and as an administrator adhered most scrupulously to every part of the economy of the church. As a presiding officer, he was dignified and courteous, always repectful and respected, evincing nothing of the prelatePrelateA prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
but much of the fatherFatherA father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
in ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, and always had the confidence and respect of his Brethren. The whole term of his ministry was nearly forty-nine years, during which he never was disqualified from labor.
Illness, death and burial
Bishop Waugh visited Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
for several days in January 1858 to assist in an interesting revival of religion. On his return home, he was seized with erysipelas
Erysipelas
Erysipelas is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the deep epidermis with lymphatic spread.-Risk factors:...
, but recovering was able to sit up in the evening before he died, and to converse a little with his friends. That night he died, 9 February 1858 in Baltimore. The immediate cause of his death is supposed to have been an affection of the heart, as he expired in a moment and without a struggle. He was buried
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in the Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery (Baltimore)
Mount Olivet Cemetery is an old cemetery in western Baltimore, Maryland, on Frederick Avenue. It is known as "The Resting Place of Methodist Bishops."...
in Baltimore, near the graves of Bishops Francis Asbury
Francis Asbury
Bishop Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States...
, Enoch George
Enoch George
Enoch George was an American who distinguished himself as a Methodist Circuit Rider and Pastor, as a Presiding Elder, and as a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1816.-Birth and spiritual re-birth:...
and John Emory
John Emory
John Emory was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1832.-Early life and family:John was born at Spaniard's Neck, Queen Anne's County, Maryland. His parents were Methodists, his father a jurist who designed him for the law. His mother, however, who had been converted...
.
Selected writings
- Beverly Waugh's Journal. Mss. from 1807. Continued with gaps for many years.
- A Series of Questions for Bible Classes, with J. Emory, 1828.
- Wesley's Works, Editor (with John EmoryJohn EmoryJohn Emory was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1832.-Early life and family:John was born at Spaniard's Neck, Queen Anne's County, Maryland. His parents were Methodists, his father a jurist who designed him for the law. His mother, however, who had been converted...
), 1831. - Nature and Objects of the Methodist Book Concern, a statement in Emory's Life and Works, R. Emory, 1841.
- Funeral discourse on Bishop Roberts, in Sermons on Miscellaneous Subjects, Cincinnati, 1847.
Biographies
- Discourse on, delivered by Bishop T.A. Morris, General Conference, published by its order, 1860.
- Sketch: Western Cavaliers, A.H. Redford, 1876.
- Sketch: Lives of Methodist Bishops, H.B. Ridgaway, Flood and Hamilton, 1882.