Description
Book SynopsisThe memoir of Daniel Parker (1781–1861) is an invaluable primary source for post-revolutionary and antebellum American history, an itinerant preacher’s account of the frontier’s diverse and evolving religious landscape, and an engaging human story.
Trade Review“David Torbett has mined nearly every piece of historical ore out of The Autobiography of Daniel Parker. His research is flawless, his interpretation insightful. This book is an important read for anyone wishing to understand the development of abolitionist thought in the Midwest.”
“David Torbett’s research for this project has been nothing short of staggeringly impressive. He has immersed himself in the major currents of religious history, especially the history of Universalism, but also topics such as the Mormon church and sectarianism. He shows broad knowledge on the background of colonization, anti-slavery and abolitionism, other reform movements including temperance and women’s rights as well as the ‘cult of true womanhood,’ Native American history, the history of the War of 1812, aspects of travel, frontier, and the history of inventions. His astoundingly extensive notes bear witness to a scholar determined to complete thorough and meticulous research and thus give proper context to the autobiography.”
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Editor’s Introduction
Note on Text
Chapter 1: On Our Arrival West of the Mountains
Chapter 2: This Cross-Bearing Company
Chapter 3: It Might Be a Benefit to Travel
Chapter 4: A Kind of Agreeable Dread
Chapter 5: The Whole Race of Adam Would Be Restored
Chapter 6: My Best Earthly Friend
Chapter 7: A Great and Growing Evil
Epilogue
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
