EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH TONNA P/26

                                                             Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna. She lived from 1790 - 1846.

She was a popular Victorian English writer and novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Charlotte Elizabeth. Her work focused on promoting women's rights. She was the daughter of Reverend Michael Browne, rector of St Giles's Church and minor canon of Norwich Cathedral, who contributed greatly to the development of Charlotte's strong faith and devotion to God. 

In her early youth, she displayed a very ardent temperament and lively imagination. She was so eager to learn that she accepted an offer from her uncle to teach her the French language before she was six years old. During this time of learning she strained her eyes so hard that she was deprived of sight for some months. After this period of temporary vision impairment, she suffered permanent loss of hearing at the age of ten due to medication she was taking for other ailments.

In 1813 she married Captain George Phelan and spent two years with him while he served with his regiment in Nova Scotia. They then returned to Ireland, where Phelan owned a small estate. The marriage was not a happy one, and it was reported that Captain Phelan abused his wife during their marriage. She was very patient toward him and refused to seek help from her friends, but as the abuse continued she was forced to separate from him in 1824. 

P.S. I will continue my story on Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna in my next post. 

Read Part Twenty-seven HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JENNIFER FOWLER WILLING P/25

                                                           Read Part One HERE

In this post I will coninue to focus on a woman named Jennifer Fowler Willing. She lived from 1834 - 1916.

Jennie also had a missionary heart. She served as an officer in both the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society (WFMS) and the Woman's Home Missionary Society (WHMS) of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

She believed that every woman whether single or married, is a missionary. She had no patience for lazzy or self-indulgent women. Every woman should dedicate her time to working for the Lord. There was certainly plenty to do starting at home.

Evangelism was very important for Jennie. She wrote a monthly column entitled, "Women and Gospel Evangelism." Her book "How To win Souls" is a collection of the lectures that she gave at her evangelistic training school. The school was closed in 1910 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company so they could build tunnels. She was so concerned about the need to train more evangelists and so she put her lectures into this book.Her book was published in 1909 - over one hundred years ago. 

Jennie served as an evangelist until her death. When she died in 1916 she was still serving in the WCTU. She was at the time president emiritus of the 18th Street Methodist Episcopal  Church Woman's Foreign Society. Truly Jenny embodied her motto - "plus extra" - more beyond.

Read Part Twenty-Six HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMAN IN EARLY 1800: JENNIFER FOWLER WILLING P/24

                                                           Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Jennifer Fowler Willing. She lived from 1834 - 1916.

Like many of her nineteenth century Christian sisters Jennie chose to work in evangelising and missions and social work. The growing temperance movement provided a way for women to reach out to people with needs. Women wanted to apply Christian principles to every day life for the betterment of society, and takling the enormour problem of alcoholism was one way to do it.

Alcoholism caused much poverty especially for the women and children who were abandoned when the husband lost everything to drink. There were no laws protecting women. A woman had no right to her husband's paycheck.

Jennie preached against the sin of alcoholism. She was instrumental in founding the Woman's Christian Temperane Union. She served as the chairperson of the Illinois chapter and vice-president of the national Organisation. Eventually Jennie moved to New York where she organised the New York State chapter of the WCTU and was president of the New York City chapter of the WCTU when she died.

While serving with the WCTU Jennie was able to fulfill her desire to be an evangelist. Thousands of women took the opportunity to join the WCTU in order to witness for the Lord Jesus while doing temperance work. She also founded the New York Evangelistic Training School and Settlement House in 1895. 

Students at the Evangelistic Training School were expected to put hands and feet with the Gospel. They spent an hour every day in neighbourhood visitation, help with Bible Studies, chapel services, teaching and preaching.

P.S. I will continue Jennifer Fowler Willing's stoy in my next post.  

Read Part Twenty-Five HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JENNIFER FOWLER WILLING P/23

                                                          Read Part One HERE

In this post I will begin to focus on a woman named Jennifer Fowler Willing. She lived from 1834 - 1916.

No one would expect little Jennie Fowler to grow up into the amazing woman that she did after she tumbled into a well on her family's Illinois farm at the age of two and a half. She struck her head severely and sustained lasting nerve damage. This made it very difficult for her to study for more than a few minutes at a time.

But Jennie longed to be educated and tried to teach herself by maintaining the strict discipline of studying for fifteen minutes every day no matter what else was happening. She taught herself so well with God's help, that she was hired as a teacher. Her motto was "plus extra" - more beyond."

Jennie was converted while young. She remained a lifelong Methodist. She was part of the "Holiness Movement." This movement placed much importance on a person's sanctification. Phoebe Palmer and Evangeline Booth were several of the female evangelists that were also prominent during this amazing time when women were starting schools, missions, and other outreaches for the Lord Jesus.

Jennie married a Methodist minister, William Willing in 1853. They spent much of their married life in Illinois. While William preached, Jennie taught at Illinois Wesleyan University. Though women's ordination was frowned on, William issued Jennie a license to preach. They supported each other's work. When a small church in William's district needed a pastor, he sent Jennie.

Jennie also preached in camp meetings, and poor parts of cities. She shared the love of Christ in factories and tenements. She encouraged Christians to live a disciplined, sober life. Her life was an example of what a person can do who is determined to serve Christ even with physical limitations. 

P.S. I will continue Jennifer Fowler Willing's story in my next blog posts. 

Read Part Twenty-Four HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: DOROTHEA TRUDEL P/22

                                                       Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue my story of a woman named Dorothea Trudel. She lived from 1813 - 1862.

Dorethea was not a physically strong person. There was pressure on her to leave her flower work. She was hesitant to do this, as she felt that God had provided for her through it. She was also a normally shy woman who did not like public attention. So many people were showing up at her door, however, that finally she began to take some of them in. When her home filled up she bought another, and then another. Her time was now spent supervising the homes and praying for the sick. Hundreds of people were healed through prayer. The stories quickly spread and people came from all over Europe to receive prayer, including France, Germany, and Great Britain. There were so many people coming that her homes were considered a hospital.

A physician in the area became concerned that so many people were coming and there was no medical oversight. He went to the Town Council of Zurich and an order was issued for Dorothea to stop her work. She did not know what to do. Her homes were filled with the sick. She decided to continue her work and appeal the ruling. The appeal was defeated and she was told that it was illegal to heal without the help of a physician. She continued to appeal to higher courts. In November 1861, a Higher Court ruling reversed all Lower Courts decisions and she was allowed to continue to pray for the sick.

Typhus broke out in Mannedorf in the fall of 1862. Dorothea was in the thick of the nursing work. She wore herself out caring for the sick, and she herself became ill. She felt that she would not recover. She continued to pray with faith in the goodness of God, and passed away on September 6, 1862. 

Read Part Twenty-Three HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: DOROTHEA TRUDEL P/21

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Dorothea Trudel. She lived from 1813 - 1862.

Dorothea was brought up in a very poor family in Mannedorf, Switzerland. She was one of eleven children. Her father was an angry man who drank and could not support his family financially. At one point he sold one of their two cows, a source of income, and then disappeared for several years. But Dorothea had a very Godly mother who prayed continually. They could not afford doctors so normally when they were sick they relied on God and prayer. Dorothea say many amazing answers to those prayers, which set a foundation of faith in the goodness of God, in her heart.

Dorothea earned her living by working with flowers. She was a hard worker and eventually came to have several people working under her. When she was thirty-seven years old four or five of her workers became sick. She nursed them but the disease grew worse and the situation seemed hopeless. She had heard stories of God moving to bring healing and deliverance so she prayed for her workers and searched the Scriptures. While doing that she says that "like a sudden light, the well-known passage from the Epistle of James 5:14-15 flashed upon her." 

Although her childhood had been filled with the necessity for prayer, it now dawned on her that this was something God wanted her to do. She went to her workers, brought anointing oil and prayed for them. They recovered. Her intitial experiment became a settled conviction. God heals through prayer! A wave of sickness broke out in her village. In her free time she nursed, prayed and taught about God's ability to heal using prayer. Many people in the village recovered due to her prayers. Soon people from all around her area began to come to her, and all her spare time was spent praying for the sick.

P.S. In will continue my story on Dorothea Trudel in my next post. 

Read Part Twenty-Two HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JULIA A.J. FOOTE P/20

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Julia A.J. Foote. She lived from 1823 - 1901.

Through her autobiography "A Brand plucked from the Fire" and her preachings, Julia shed light on the discrimination that African American people faced in the US, and also the prejudices against women that existed. She used her religious voice and impact to spread far-reaching messages about these major societal issues. She felt that if women read, heard, and grasped the power of the gospel they would be free from prejudices and discrimination, and she actively sought for women to be able to preach in churches. During her travels where she preached across the US, she brought along other women, including sister Ann M. Johnson with whom she preached and travelled with for about seven years. Julia also spoke a lot about the issues that African Americans face in society, and discussed their spirituality and argued that people strive to achieve holiness. In her autobiography, she stressed slavery's impact on African American families, the financial hardship that African Americans face, and the evils of lynching.

She was the first woman to be ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the second to be ordained as an elder. She died in November 1901. She was living with Bishop Walter's family when she died. and was buried on his family plot in Brooklyn. She was as Bishop Walters wrote, "a renowned woman evangelist."

Read Part Twenty-One HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JULIA A.J. FOOTE P/19

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Julia A.J. Foote. She lived from 1823 -  1901.

 Julia was born in Schenectady, New York, to parents who were both former slaves. At the age of ten Julia was sent to work for a farm family, and for just under two years she lived and worked for the Prime family as a domestic servant. It was under their employment that she received an education, despite having to eventually leave the family. Her family moved to Albany, New York, in 1836. This is where Julia first experienced an increased interest and passion for religion, as her family attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church upon arrival.

Around 1841, Julie married George Foot, who worked in Chelsea. They spent a significant amount of time apart as George's job as a sailor required him to travel back and forth from Chelsea to Boston, where she and her husband moved to at that time.Time apart from her husband, gave Julia the space to explore her passion for religion and she sought to preach at the local African Methodist Episcopal church to which she belonged. Her husband was not supportive of her desire to preach, as it was not common for women to be preachers. However, her husband's expostulations did not stop her from pursuing what she believed was God's calling for her to preach. Some time in the late 1840's her husband died and Julia ended up travelling and preaching across the United States. 

P.S. I will continue my story on Julia A.J Foote in my next post.

Read Part Twenty HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: ZILPHA ELAW P/18

                           Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Zilpha Elaw. She lived from 1790 - 1873.

After nearly twenty years of preaching in America, Zilpha relocated to the United Kingdom in 1840 to continue her ministry. Although the British had abolished slavery in 1833, Zilpha did not explicitly preach an abolitionist message. Nonetheless, her presense in England was often seen through the lens of her race. In 1846 she published "Memoirs of an American Female of Colour" which contains most of the information known about her life and was one of the first autobiographical works published by a black woman.

Though accounts of her British ministry are scarce, records indicate that Zilpha was settled in London by 1850 with her second husband, a white man, Ralph Bressey Shum, who died four years after their marriage. Continuing to preach across rural England in the 1860s, she even had a chapel built in London to further her ministry. By the early 1870s, census records indicated that Zilpha was suffering from partial paralysis and dementia, requiring a caretaker to accomplish daily tasks. Still living in Londoin, and after a career of service spanning half a century, Zilpha passed away on August 20, 873 at 83 years of age.

Read Part Nineteen HERE