Talk:John Stark Ravenscroft

Baptists' dog not in this hunt, it seems
I researched the older second-sentence reference to Ravenscroft's "opposition to the American Bible Society and the theology of baptism promoted by Baptists in particular." I found references (cited) describing in great detail his big fight with the Bible Society of North Carolina, and about his belief that performing baptisms required the authority of an established church (he was a bull in a china shop, it seems), but nothing about opposition to the Baptist denomination in particular. His most public foe in the controversy was John Rice, a Presbyterian. I leaned pretty hard on Google Books to find these sources, but got zero hits on anything linking Baptists to the controversy. If anyone finds specific references to the contrary, by all means, add them to the reference list and update the article appropriately. Bridgman 06:26, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Ravenscroft and slavery
I don't have time for further research on/sorting out of Ravenscroft's views concerning slavery, which may well have evolved; plus he died just before a major slave rebellion. The Lunenberg historical society book I cited doesn't mention Ravenscroft at all, though it does say an Episcopal Chapel was built around Bricktown around 1813, and possibly rebuilt in 1839 as St. John Episcopal. It also says that Henderson Lee of Charlotte County, after service in the War of 1812, joined the Republican Movement in the Methodist Church which preached against social vices and against slavery and which didn't survive in Lunenburg County, its members eventually joining with the Presbyterians. It also says the area Baptists allowed whites and blacks to mingle, which I know in other areas caused more controversy than baptismal practices. According to Jeffrey and Kathryn St. John's Brief history of Mecklenburg County, at p. 48-50) Boydton (founded in 1814) had become known for its horse-racing, although I thought I read somewhere it was also known for slave trading (losing gamblers selling slaves to pay their debts, presumably). By 1830 the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church bought the racetrack and on it constructed Randolph-Macon College (named after U.S. Rep. John Randolph of Roanoke who in his will freed his slaves, and U.S. House Speaker Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina). The NRIS for Ravenscroft's former home in Virginia gives the "mad Jack" moniker, as well as says the Republican Methodists were a small sect led by James O'Kelly which believed in the equality of all members of the ministry and was absorbed in the United Church of Christ. It also says that by 1820 Lunenberg had one of the highest proportion of slaves within its borders.Jweaver28 (talk) 23:46, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

I don't mean to imply by the prior post that Ravenscroft opposed slavery or freed slaves, especially since the priests he mentored were later avid Confederates. The Spring Bank NRIS I cited concerning the plantation acreage also said on p. 17 that Ravenscroft and his wife owned 30 slaves in the 1810 census but that he lived in Mecklenburg county by 1820 without mentioning a number of slaves, only that the deed foreclosed upon in 1824 dated from 1819. To me, that indicates Ravenscroft could have been caught in the Panic of 1819, having overextended himself or returned to his prior addictions. Furthermore, the therein referenced deed of November 1824, which I have not looked at, reportedly has the property as being bought by Alexander and Ebenezer Hepburn, who were Rev. Ravenscroft's wards since their father's death in 1794. Apparently, the 1840 census shows 37 slaves on the Hepburn plantation, and the 1850 slave schedule lists 42 slaves as being owned by the surviving Hepburn brother. Also, part of the Sketch concerning Ravenscroft (which I have trouble moving from the references section into the text because for whatever reason I can't edit the article as a whole) identifies the criticized Lutherans with Moravians, who elsewhere in the south were criticized for their racial equality ideals.Jweaver28 (talk) 22:42, 13 April 2016 (UTC)

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