User:WilyD/William Case/Philander Smith

Philander Smith was a circuit rider in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Smith converted to Methodism during a revival in Elizabethtown, Upper Canada in 1817.

He was accepted on trial as a circuit rider at the 1820 Genesee conference, which was held in Niagara Falls, having already done some preaching on the Hallowell circuit. He was assigned to the Smith's Creek circuit, where he rode alongside George Farr. The pair were assisted by the local preacher Moses Blackstock. He received a reprimand at the quarterly meeting after forcibly giving a sermon at a newly constructed church in Cobourg, which the building committee refused to let him preach at until it was opened by the district's presiding elder. In 1821, he was assigned to the Cornwall circuit. In Cornwall, he was assisted locally by Joseph Sawyer and Joseph Easton. He oversaw an increase in church membership from 142 to 176 that year. In 1822, he was assigned to the Kingston circuit. Franklin Metcalf had been assigned to replace Smith on the Cornwall circuit, but owing to a surgery, was unable to travel to Cornwall, so Smith remained on the Kingston circuit until three months into the year. Smith did spend the last nine months of the year on the Kingston circuit, where church membership increased by nine. In 1823, Smith was assigned to the Hallowell circuit, where he rode alongside David Wright.