EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800; CLARISSA DANFORTH P/ 132

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Clarissa Danforth. She lived from 1792 - 1855. Clarissa was born in Weathersfield, Vermont. She heard Rev. John Colby preach in 1809 on his way to Ohio and had a conversion experience. After her ordination in 1815, Clarissa became an itinerant preacher throughout nothern New England.

She began preaching in Chepachet, Rhode Island and the surrounding area in 1818 after taking over as pastor of the Chepachet Baptist Church when Rev. Colby died. She was apparently very popular, so much so that in fact there was difficulty in finding large buildings that could hold all the people

Clarissa spent most of her career in Rhode Island and helped lead the revival in Smithfield emanating from the Greenville Baptist Church. She, in fact, led many revivals, and one of them drew in a large crowd when about 3000 people were converted, old and young.The relevance of this is that regardless of any harrassment she could have received in her position, she held her ground and did the Lord's work.

 She also preached for periods in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1822 she married Danford Richmond, a Baptist minister from Pomfret, Connecticut, and they moved to New York, where she preached only occasionally.

Clarissa died around 1855.

Read Part One Hundred And Thirty-Three HERE