The Great Awakening P13

The Rev. Davies (1723-1761) was an influential Presbyterian pastor in Virginia who also served as a lawyer and became a noted educator. He was well known both in America and Europe, and his sermons were published on both continents. Some have claimed that he was the greatest pulpit orator in American history. In his last years, he was president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

Much of Davies’ adult life was spent in Virginia, where he preached across the state, organizing numerous churches. One of his famous sermons was for a military deployment in 1755. In it, he called the nation’s attention to a very young Colonel George Washington. He pointed out the miraculous Divine intervention that had just saved Washington’s life during General Edward Bradock’s devastating defeat in Pennsylvania when Washington was serving with the British during the French and Indian War. Davies’ remarkable sermon, with its reference to a largely unknown George Washington, was published both in America and England, drawing attention to the young man, George Washington.

Content sourced from The American Story, The Beginnings by Dave Barton & Tim Barton