Cartwright, Peter (1785-1872), Methodist circuit rider of the American frontier, was born September. 1, 1785 in Amherest county, Va. His father, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, took his family to Kentucky in 1790. There Cartwright had little oppertunity for schooling, but was exposed to the rude surrounding of the frontier, becoming a gambler at cards and horse racing. This ended abruptly when he was converted during the great western revival in 1801. He was received into the Methodist Episcopal Church in June. And in less than a year was licensed as an exhorter. In the autumn of 1802, he was commissioned to form a new circuit of preaching points in an unchurched wilderness around the mouth of the Cumberland river. In 1806 he was ordained deacon by Bishop Francis Asbury, and in 1808 he was ordained by Bishop William McKendree, under whose guidance he had done some studying. In the later year he married Frances Gains. An able and vigorous speaker, Cartwright preached thousands of times in his more than 60 years as frontier minister. He faced many difficult situations with courage, at times relying on his great physical strength. A forceful debater, he defended Methodism and vehemently denounced all other denominations.

Though he was no abolitionist, he hated slavery; to be on free soil, he moved to Sangamon county, Ill, in 1824. 

He entered politics to oppose slavery, and was several times elected to the lower house of the Illinois general Assembly.

Cartwright recounted his colorful life in a famous Autobiography (1856), which has been often reprinted.

He died near Pleasant Plains, Ill., September.

25, 1872.

^{[[1]](Peter Cartwright | American minister. (2019). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 October 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Cartwright)}