Peal, James G

Peal, James G., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a native of England; was converted while young; and enlisted as a soldier in May, 1805, and afterwards served in Spain, Portugal, and Germany. During nine years' service he preached much to the soldiers, and formed a considerable society. In 1815 the royal staff corps, to which he belonged, came to Halifax, and thence to Coteau-du-Lac, Lower Canada. Here he was discharged by the governor with honor, that he might enter the itinerant ministry, which he did in 1818, as a member of the Genesee Conference, and labored with much acceptability and usefulness until his death, Dec. 25, 1822. He was a faithful and devoted man, and died from exposure undergone in the duties of his work. The most prominent traits of his character were zeal, firmness, and perseverance in the discharge of his duties. See Minutes of Conferences, 1:405; Conable, Hist. of the Genesee Conference (N.Y. 1875, 8vo), p. 201, 202.