Re: New Hampshire compared to Vermont, it's worth noting that New Hampshire was widely settled by the period in question (my ancestors founded the town of Peterborough c. 1730, for example). Vermont, by contrast, wasn't settled until the latter half of the period covered by the dataset, which explains the dearth of clergy.
Interesting that Vermont was in the dataset at all when it was not one of the 13 colonies. One could make as strong a case for West Virginia (if the data could be separated from Virginia, but they did that for Massachusetts/Maine) or even Kentucky.
I note as an addendum that some of the old German Reformed churches here in Pennsylvania are still around, they've just been folded into the United Church of Christ. I attend one that was founded GR in the 1700s, joined the Evangelical & Reformed in the 1800s, then merged with the Congregationalists to become UCC in the 1950s. That seems to be a common story around here, and I assume it's why Pennsylvania has more UCC churches than any other state.
One surprise was the absence of Catholics, particularly in Maryland which was founded as a haven for Catholics. While the English had won the French and Indian Wars not long before, I might have still expected a Catholic presence in the colonies that bordered Quebec, as people of French ancestry are still pretty common today in parts of northern Maine and Vermont.
And the geographic borders of Virginia were quite different before West Virginia staye with the Union in the Civil War and became its own state. I assume the person who compiled the data included modern West Virginia as part of Colonial Virginia.
And our synagogues were a non-entity. They existed in Newport, New York, and Charleston and perhaps the first in Philadelphia was started in Colonial times. The paid Rabbis came later.
Fascinating data as always. You often speak about the current number of polled adherents to various religions and sub-groups. It'd be really interesting to hear about the numbers / geographic spread of pastors / rabbis / imams / etc in the US today. Also, I'm sure it'd be a whole chunk of work but it would be fascinating to see related data loaded into an animated time-series in GapMinder as a way to simultaneously show the number of adherents vs number of clergy across the different states across time.
Let’s not forget the Unitarians and Universalists. The Unitarians were and are still Congregationalists. The Universalists had a somewhat different polity. But both dominated in their day and spread westward, leaving churches still in operation today. Great post.
Wait. Didn’t the Unitarians come after this 1763-1783 period? “In the late 18th century, conflict grew within some Congregational churches between Unitarian and Trinitarian factions. In 1805, Unitarians gained key faculty positions at Harvard. In 1819 William Ellery Channing preached the ordination sermon for Jared Sparks in Baltimore, outlining the Unitarian position. The American Unitarian Association was founded as a separate denomination in 1825.”
Thanks for that clarification. It may be that “Unitarian” ideas were in process through these crucial decades, with developing views on the second person of the trinity. From the article: “The traditional view among scholars has been that Chauncy deviated from orthodox Trinitarian theology and that his Christology was Arian. Norman and Lee Gibbs, however, argue that Chauncy's views have been misunderstood and misrepresented. They argue Chauncy's theology was Trinitarian, not Arian, and that he had a kenotic theology in regards to the Incarnation.”
Interesting. Just read Chauncey’s speech from 1752, “The idle-poor secluded from the bread of charity by the Christian law.” The attitude toward the poor which is still present today in this nation. Double predestination ethos in a more secular form (Weber).
Very interesting info on religious early American western history. I wonder why early immigration was so dominated by Protestants with very few Catholics?
I learned in school that Maryland was founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore, and that it had some of the earliest laws regarding religious tolerance (for Christians). But as far as I recall they didn't cover that there was a 1689 Protestant rebellion in the colony in the wake of the Glorious Revolution, which outlawed Catholicism in Maryland for the next century-plus.
Quakers are the nonbarking dog. They were common, rich and prominent in PA, but not mentioned in the data. Did they make a point of avoiding written records?
Likely more a matter of not having clergy--programmed Quaker worship doesn't really emerge until the 1850s (which might not align exactly with the emergence of Quaker pastors, but probably pretty close).
Also, maybe they just didn't have a lot to do with "politics," being Quakers, and didn't go around, like pols, beating their chests/sounding their cymbals/etc. about what they were doing....just doing the do.
The answers to this are in David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed, about the four waves of migration from Britain to America. 1625-1640 East Anglian Puritans to New England; 1640-1660 Wessex Episcopalians to Virginia; 1660-1700 West Midlands (and Welsh) Quakers to Mid-Atlantic; 1710-1760 Scots-Irish/English Borderer Presbyterians and nonconfomists to Appalachia and the New England rivers
Came out in the 80s, cult classic. You will never look at Colonial America the same way again.
Not many people in VT, BTW. It was not one of the original 13 because people were just getting there. Maine was similarly just getting rolling with Scots-Irish. NH had those but also a foundation of Congregationalists.
A most informative "peek" and comments on the "peek," too.
Question 1: Huge German presence in PA in early US history and huge number of clergy/ministers/preachers/whatever they are called there too. Anyone care to posit a guess/reason for said huge number. (Me? I'm thinking ML's influence on the immigrants/newcomers...but that's my thinking.)
Question 2: About those early clergy/ministers/preachers/whatever they were called and their long tenures: My gut tells me that is possibly/probably due to the fact that many were (what we'd call today) charismatic leaders. But that's just my gut. Any data to support my supposition/debunk it appreciated.
Re: New Hampshire compared to Vermont, it's worth noting that New Hampshire was widely settled by the period in question (my ancestors founded the town of Peterborough c. 1730, for example). Vermont, by contrast, wasn't settled until the latter half of the period covered by the dataset, which explains the dearth of clergy.
Interesting that Vermont was in the dataset at all when it was not one of the 13 colonies. One could make as strong a case for West Virginia (if the data could be separated from Virginia, but they did that for Massachusetts/Maine) or even Kentucky.
I note as an addendum that some of the old German Reformed churches here in Pennsylvania are still around, they've just been folded into the United Church of Christ. I attend one that was founded GR in the 1700s, joined the Evangelical & Reformed in the 1800s, then merged with the Congregationalists to become UCC in the 1950s. That seems to be a common story around here, and I assume it's why Pennsylvania has more UCC churches than any other state.
One surprise was the absence of Catholics, particularly in Maryland which was founded as a haven for Catholics. While the English had won the French and Indian Wars not long before, I might have still expected a Catholic presence in the colonies that bordered Quebec, as people of French ancestry are still pretty common today in parts of northern Maine and Vermont.
And the geographic borders of Virginia were quite different before West Virginia staye with the Union in the Civil War and became its own state. I assume the person who compiled the data included modern West Virginia as part of Colonial Virginia.
And our synagogues were a non-entity. They existed in Newport, New York, and Charleston and perhaps the first in Philadelphia was started in Colonial times. The paid Rabbis came later.
Fascinating data as always. You often speak about the current number of polled adherents to various religions and sub-groups. It'd be really interesting to hear about the numbers / geographic spread of pastors / rabbis / imams / etc in the US today. Also, I'm sure it'd be a whole chunk of work but it would be fascinating to see related data loaded into an animated time-series in GapMinder as a way to simultaneously show the number of adherents vs number of clergy across the different states across time.
Let’s not forget the Unitarians and Universalists. The Unitarians were and are still Congregationalists. The Universalists had a somewhat different polity. But both dominated in their day and spread westward, leaving churches still in operation today. Great post.
Wait. Didn’t the Unitarians come after this 1763-1783 period? “In the late 18th century, conflict grew within some Congregational churches between Unitarian and Trinitarian factions. In 1805, Unitarians gained key faculty positions at Harvard. In 1819 William Ellery Channing preached the ordination sermon for Jared Sparks in Baltimore, outlining the Unitarian position. The American Unitarian Association was founded as a separate denomination in 1825.”
Thanks for that clarification. It may be that “Unitarian” ideas were in process through these crucial decades, with developing views on the second person of the trinity. From the article: “The traditional view among scholars has been that Chauncy deviated from orthodox Trinitarian theology and that his Christology was Arian. Norman and Lee Gibbs, however, argue that Chauncy's views have been misunderstood and misrepresented. They argue Chauncy's theology was Trinitarian, not Arian, and that he had a kenotic theology in regards to the Incarnation.”
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-2545075R-bk
Interesting. Just read Chauncey’s speech from 1752, “The idle-poor secluded from the bread of charity by the Christian law.” The attitude toward the poor which is still present today in this nation. Double predestination ethos in a more secular form (Weber).
The Puritans believed in the two books, the Bible and the Book of Nature. This had a lot to do with the eventual split
Very interesting info on religious early American western history. I wonder why early immigration was so dominated by Protestants with very few Catholics?
I learned in school that Maryland was founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore, and that it had some of the earliest laws regarding religious tolerance (for Christians). But as far as I recall they didn't cover that there was a 1689 Protestant rebellion in the colony in the wake of the Glorious Revolution, which outlawed Catholicism in Maryland for the next century-plus.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Revolution_(Maryland)
Legal religious toleration didn't return to Maryland till after the American Revolution.
Quakers are the nonbarking dog. They were common, rich and prominent in PA, but not mentioned in the data. Did they make a point of avoiding written records?
Likely more a matter of not having clergy--programmed Quaker worship doesn't really emerge until the 1850s (which might not align exactly with the emergence of Quaker pastors, but probably pretty close).
One option might have been to count the recorded ministers within the Friends Societies. That would have been their version of ordination.
There were also strong Quaker presences in NY, RI, NJ, and NC as well.
Also, maybe they just didn't have a lot to do with "politics," being Quakers, and didn't go around, like pols, beating their chests/sounding their cymbals/etc. about what they were doing....just doing the do.
The answers to this are in David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed, about the four waves of migration from Britain to America. 1625-1640 East Anglian Puritans to New England; 1640-1660 Wessex Episcopalians to Virginia; 1660-1700 West Midlands (and Welsh) Quakers to Mid-Atlantic; 1710-1760 Scots-Irish/English Borderer Presbyterians and nonconfomists to Appalachia and the New England rivers
Came out in the 80s, cult classic. You will never look at Colonial America the same way again.
Not many people in VT, BTW. It was not one of the original 13 because people were just getting there. Maine was similarly just getting rolling with Scots-Irish. NH had those but also a foundation of Congregationalists.
Any books out there on American religious history?
This one is always top of this list:
https://www.amazon.com/Churching-America-1776-2005-Winners-Religious/dp/0813535530
Thanks, ordered!
Thank you! May I please receive the 40 dollar offer for subscription? I am a Deacon Postulant (student) in the Episcopal church. Thanks Ryan.
I just DM'ed it to you.
A most informative "peek" and comments on the "peek," too.
Question 1: Huge German presence in PA in early US history and huge number of clergy/ministers/preachers/whatever they are called there too. Anyone care to posit a guess/reason for said huge number. (Me? I'm thinking ML's influence on the immigrants/newcomers...but that's my thinking.)
Question 2: About those early clergy/ministers/preachers/whatever they were called and their long tenures: My gut tells me that is possibly/probably due to the fact that many were (what we'd call today) charismatic leaders. But that's just my gut. Any data to support my supposition/debunk it appreciated.
By the way, any theories on why the unusual compound name "John George" was so popular?