Pioneer Peter Cartwright, (Early Circuit Rider), was credited as the early circuit preacher, who more than anyone else, brought order out of chaos. He was a huge influence on the organization and development of Bethel. For over half a century he rode wilderness circuits from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River.

Not long after his birth, September 1, 1785 in Amherst County, Virginia, his parents decided to move to Kentucky. They joined a large caravan for protection from the Indians and went to Logan County near the Tennessee border. Near the turn of the century Cartwright attended the "Great Western Revival" at Logan County, Kentucky. At the height of this revival the 15 year old was converted. In the fall of 1802 his family moved two or three coun­ties further west. Peter Cartwright applied by letter for a transfer of his church membership. He received instead a letter commissioning him to create a new circuit in the unchurched wilderness. Through a personal reading pro­gram he acquired a substantial background. He was given permission by Rev. Jesse Walker to be an exhorter. In 1803 he started riding circuits in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Often distances between preach­ing appointments were hundreds of miles.

By September, 1806 Cartwright was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Francis Asbury. On October 4, 1808, he was ordained Elder by Bishop McKendree and at the Summer Conference of 1813 he was appointed Presiding Elder, an office he held for more than fifty years. It was in 1823 he left Kentucky on horseback to seek a home further west in Illinois for his family. He decided to purchase land one-fourth mile north of Pleasant Plains. He moved his family there on November 15, 1824, and lived there the remainder of his life. He served the area from Galena to St. Louis. As one might imagine, life as a circuit rider in the frontier areas was not an easy task. One must contend with backwoods robbers and rowdies. Great crowds thronged at camp meetings, and they included not only the devout and curious but also the lawless. Often scoffers and other ruffians tried to break up the services. Cartwright was a muscular Christianity, forced to battle for survival amid a circumstances that called for militant spirit. He was able to win many battles through verbal debate.

Peter Cartwright was uncompromising in his hatred for slavery and he despised the abolition approach as he thought it would lead to war. He believed moral persuasion in a moderate approach was better. It was the slavery issue that propelled him into politics. In 1828 and 1832 he was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The election in 1832 brought him more votes than another Kentuckian, a New Salem store clerk, railsplitter and surveyor who had recently returned from the Black Hawk War,named Abraham Lincoln. His last political venture came in 1846 when Lincoln won the run for Congress with 6,340 votes to Cartwrights 4,829. In later years Peter Cartwright championed Lincoln as the only hope against slavery.

He became a supporter of education, realizing the importance of knowledge. He was a founder for Illinois Wesleyan University and McKendree College. He was in various capacities associated with Jacksonville Female Academy (now McMurray College) and Garrett Biblical Institute. During his last years Cartwright lived in retirement on his farm near Pleasant Plains, Illinois. He and his wife, the former Francis Gaines, had nine children. Before his death on September 25, 1872 his descendants included fifty grandchildren, thirty seven great grandchildren and seven great great grandchildren. The Methodist Church in Pleasant Plains, which is now called Peter Cartwright United Methodist Church, was built in 1857. An addition in back of the sanctuary houses many of the personal efforts of Rev. and Mrs. Cartwright.

From the 1998 Bethel Church Reunion Program