AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PETER CARTWRIGHT: THE BACKWOODS PREACHER

Peter Cartwright (September 1, 1785 – September 25, 1872) was an American Methodist revivalist in the Midwest, as well as twice an elected legislator in Illinois. Cartwright, a Methodist missionary, helped start the Second Great Awakening, personally baptizing twelve thousand converts. Opposed to slavery, Cartwright moved from Kentucky to Illinois, and was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly in 1828 and 1832. In 1846 Abraham Lincoln defeated Cartwright for a seat in the United States Congress. As a Methodist circuit rider, Cartwright rode circuits in Kentucky and Illinois, as well as Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio. His Autobiography (1856) made him nationally prominent.