Without a formal education, equipped only with a Bible, hymnbook & a copy of the "Methodist Discipline" the outspoken, hellfire-brimstone preacher covered circuits on horseback through Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, & Illinois for over 50 years, preaching more than 15 thousand sermons & personally baptizing over 12,000 converts. He became a member of the Illinois Legislature but lost to Abraham Lincoln in a race for Congress. He founded Illinois Wesleyan University. He knew God & understood men & issues. Many of his statements on the church, evangelism, slavery, cults, & theology were profound & some were prophetic. He had a burning heart for souls that drove him on often against incredible forces. He took on infidels, cultists, slave-owners, modernists, ruffians, Indians, heretics, tavern owners, & Jesuits with equal fervor & boldness.-Print ed.