Kersey, Jesse

Kersey, Jesse, a minister of the Society of Friends, was born at York, Pa., in 1768. In his early youth his heart was given to God. In his seventeenth year he experienced a call to the Gospel ministry, but still re, mained an apprentice to the trade of a potter about four years, and afterwards taught school. In 1804 he embarked for England on a Gospel mission. In 1805 he returned to America, and in' 1814 went on a religious mission to the Southern States, afterwards returning to his home, and continuing to labor and preach. He died near Kennet, Pa., in 1845. As a minister, Mr. Kersey's affability of manners, his grave and dignified deportment, the soundness of his principles, the beauty and simplicity of his style of address, heightened in their effect by the depth of his devotional feelings, gave an interest and a charm which gained him many admirers. See Janney, Hist. of the Friends, 4:116. (J. L. S.)