This past week I was driving on a road, out in the middle of nowhere, just north of Monticello, Georgia, and passed a big rock on the side of the road. My mother, who spent the last couple of years of her life in Monticello, had told me the rock was called Preacher's Rock by the locals. I have driven by that rock for over 20 YEARS, and this week I finally stopped to read the plaque on the rock.
As you can see, it is actually called Dow's Pulpit, named for an itinerant evangelist, Lorenzo Dow. The plaque was put here in 1938 by the Daughter's of the American Revolution in memory of Lorenzo Dow preaching at this spot 135 years earlier.
WHO WAS LORENZO DOW? my mind wondered. Never heard of him. Well, in today's "Internet Google World" I learned a lot of things of which I think most of them are true!
First, there was indeed a man named Lorenzo Dow. He was born on October 16, 1777 in Coventry, Connecticut. Secondly, he eventually came to the Lord and went to a Methodist College and when he tried to be become a Methodist minister, they told him no because of his eccentric methods of evangelism. He became an evangelist (never referring to himself as "reverend") and traveled by foot or horseback all over the nation proclaiming Jesus Christ as the way of Salvation. In 1803 he made his way to Jasper County, GA just north of Madison and preached on this rock.
Although he was "crazy" (his words) in his approach and was run out of many towns for preaching the Gospel of Jesus, his name became the most popular name to name your son in America -- Lorenzo Dow (Lorenzo Dow Jones, for example). His autobiography became the most purchased book in America (not sure of the year) behind the Bible.
More to come on Lorenzo.....
Great story, encouraging, can't wait for more.
ReplyDeleteMy father-in-law was named Lorenzo Dow Bean were every other generation before him. His ancestors were from upstate NY where Lorenzo Dow had a home with his wife. The tradition of naming male children after Dow started there. Not only my in-laws but thousands of other baby boys across the country were named after Dow. My husband and I traveled to upstate NY and I got the personal journal of Lorenzo Dow to read. According to his journal, the Methodists would not ordain him because of his frailty due to asthma. He was a slight man weighing only 90 lbs at one time. The Methodists believed the calling of a "circuit rider" too dangerous for a sickly man such as Dow. BTW, my in-laws did not know why every other generation up to their dad was named Lorenzo Dow. Not even he knew until curiosity got the best of me and we began to investigate starting with the family history book and then the ancestor's home in upstate NY. Also, they are all Methodists. My husband wanted to follow the tradition and put this name on our 1st son before either of us knew anything about Lorenzo Dow. My father-in-law (who always went by L.D. Bean) also discouraged us from doing so as neither of us are from Latin decent like the name Lorenzo suggests. Wish we had known beforehand, would loved to have passed on this legacy to our son. Dow sounds like our kind of preacher.
ReplyDeleteAlso love your blog. Learned some things I didn't know about L. Dow.
ReplyDeleteMary, fascinating! I was very surprised to learn about him. If you are ever in Georgia, the plaque is on a big stone south of Social Circle almost to Monticello, It is on the left side of the road out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for writing. +foley
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