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| Richard Whatcoat's grave marker Special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church |
What interested me in this piece of stone wasn't what was written on it, but the explanation across the hallway that accompanied the stone.
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| A brief history of Richard Whatcoat Special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church |
For those in Protestant churches, John Wesley is a recognizable name from 1700 and 1800's. Wesley was known for his preaching and founding Methodist Societies, starting in England and then spreading to the Amereican colonies. The men who helped John Wesley spread Methodism in colonies are not as well-known. Francis Asbury, Thomas Coke, and Richard Whatcoat were three of those men. They also served as the first three bishops of the Methodist Church in America. Whatcoat and Asbury were also traveling companions as they spread the Christian Gospel throughout the colonies and the new western frontier.
At the end of Whatcoat's life, he became ill and stayed with a friend of his in Dover, DE. When he died, he was buried under the pulpit of Wesley Church in Dover where he had preached many times. The grave marker was put on Whatcoat's grave. When the church moved several years later, they grave marker was moved also, but Whatcoat's body remained. A monument was later erected in the graveyard near the old church.
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| The graveyard at North Street near Slaughter Street |
A special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church in Dover, DE for allowing me to photograph Richard Whatcoat's grave marker located inside their church.
For further reading about Richard Whatcoat...
Whatcoat United Methodist Church - Who Was Whatcoat?
Richard Whatcoat - www.FrancisAsbury.org
