Owen, Anning

Owen, Anning a Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in the State of New York in 1751. He is said to have been a member of the Congregational Church in early life; but he dated his conversion from the Indian battle in Wyoming in 1778. His account of this event was as follows: When the retreat commenced on the battle-field he expected to be killed, and determined that, should he be shot, his last breath should be spent in calling upon God for mercy. Having secreted himself under a grape-vine on the margin of the river, he there gave his heart to God, and found peace to his soul. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was soon licensed to preach; was ordained deacon in 1791; joined the traveling connection in 1795; and in 1797 received elder's orders. He was three years presiding elder on the Susquehanna District; continued in the itinerancy nineteen or twenty years; traveled extensively in the north-western part of New York, and was one of the first Methodist laborers in many parts: of the old Genesee Conference. In 1813, in consequence of bodily infirmities. he received a superannuated relation. He died at Ulysses, Cayuga County, N. Y., in April, 1814. He is described as a zealous, good man, very eccentric, and at times quite eloquent. Possessed of little learning, he nevertheless was ready in thought, shrewd and witty, and never at a loss for adequate means of communication with the people. He labored with all his might, and when he was convinced that he was right nothing could turn him aside. Of great religious sympathy, of mighty faith, and tremendous power, the labors of Anning Owen were eminently successful. See Connable, Hist. of the Genesee Conference (N. Y. 1876), chap. i.