page_title: Jesse Lee (Methodist)
section_title: Speech at Norwalk
hierarchical_section_title: Jesse Lee (Methodist) / Speech at Norwalk
caption_attribution_description: English: Rock with plaque attached
context_page_description: Jesse Lee was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman and pioneer, born in Prince George's County, Virginia. A preacher after 1783, in 1789 he visited New England and established Methodism from the Connecticut River to the farthest settlement in Maine. He formed the first Methodist class in New England, at Stratford, Connecticut, September 26, 1787. He preached his first sermon on June 7 or 17, 1789 in Norwalk, Connecticut. He held the first Methodist class in Boston, Massachusetts on July 13, 1792. For his pioneer work in New England he was often called the Apostle of Methodism. He was a friend of Francis Asbury, and served as his assistant from 1797 to 1800. He lacked only one vote of being elected Bishop by the General Conference of 1800, but was appointed to be a presiding elder of the south district of Virginia in 1801. He wrote A Short Account of the Life and Death of the Rev. John Lee and a History of Methodism in America, which has value for the early period. On May 22, 1809 Lee was appointed Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives He was reappointed on November 2, 1812 and served for two sessions.
context_section_description: In June 1789, Lee, came to Norwalk to preach his first sermon in Connecticut. He had some reason to believe that the Hezekiah Rogers house on Cross Street would be available for the meeting, and word had been sent around among those interested to assemble there. When Lee arrived, Hezekiah was not at home, and his wife hesitated to open  the house to a public meeting. A neighbor refused to let Lee use her orchard for concern that the gathering would trample down the grass. Finally, Lee assembled his audience under an apple tree by the roadside and preached his sermon from the text "Ye must be born again." Such was the beginning of Methodism in Norwalk. Today, there is a stone marker at the location.
caption: Stone marker at the intersection of North Avenue and Main Street in Norwalk, Connecticut.
exif: {"Image Make": "Nokia", "Image Model": "E73", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "2152", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "4997/500000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:01:08 10:00:49", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:01:08 10:00:49", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1661/250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "193/100", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "27/5", "EXIF SubSecTime": "120", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "12", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "12", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4168"}