14
April 1747 A.D. (Presbyterian)
Rev. Samuel Davies, Williamsburg, VA asks and gets permission from the (Royalist
Anglican) VA Governor for permission to preach.
As usual, the excellent PCA
historians tell it at: http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/04/april-14-rev-samuel-davies-2/
Samuel
Davies was born in Delaware in 1723. His Welsh mother had named him after the
prophet Samuel. Ever afterwards, he considered himself to be a son of prayer,
as the biblical name Samuel inferred. His early dedication to God induced him
to devote himself to God personally. Joining the church at age 15, he
entered Samuel Blair’s classical and theological school at Faggs Manor
Presbyterian Church, in Pennsylvania. He was ordained as a Presbyterian
evangelist in February 1747 by the New Castle Presbytery.
On April 14, 1747, Samuel
Davies stood before Governor Gooch and his council at Williamsburg, to ask
permission to preach at four meeting houses in Hanover Country in Virginia.
Readers need to know that Virginia in the pre-revolutionary days was officially
Anglican in religion. Anyone outside of that denomination needed permission to
minister. Later this law would be changed with a separation between church and
state. But at this time, permission had to be sought. Receiving it, Davies
preached faithfully and sacrificially at these four preaching points, some
twelve miles north of Richmond, Virginia.
![Rev. Samuel Davies [3 November 1723 - 4 February 1761]](http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DaviesSamuel.jpg)
Suddenly, he wife was taken from him by illness which
resulted in death. It was said of him at the time that, despite his sorrow, he
was determined to spend what little remained of his exhausted lifestyle to
advance his Master’s glory to the good of countless souls in need of the
gospel. This dedication brought people from a wide circumference to hear the
preaching of the Word of God, including a mother and her young son Patrick
Henry.
On
November 1, 1748, he returned to the Governor to ask that seven more places of
preaching be granted to him. While there was some opposition to the increased
number, he presented his case with such clarity and forcefulness of argument,
his request was granted.
For
eleven more years, he preached the Word of God in the county of Hanover, as
well as four other counties of Virginia. He was, as one put it, the ambassador
of a mighty king. All, upon hearing his weekly sermons, knew that king to
be no one except King Jesus.
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