Three notable 19th century religious and education figures started their paths to national fame in Westernville, Oneida County, NY: Rev. Charles Grandison Finney, Rev. George Washington Gale and Theodore Dwight Weld.
Rev. Charles Finney, the nation’s preeminent evangelist during the Second Great Awakening, began his revivals by preaching in the Westernville Presbyterian Church in 1825.
Rev. George Washington Gale started a new movement of educational reform – the Manual Labor movement – on his farm in Westernville. This mode of higher education spread across the country. Gale founded the Oneida Institute of Science and Industry in Whitestown, NY and later, the Knox College in Galesburg, IL.
Theodore Dwight Weld attended Gale’s farm academy and the Oneida Institute. He was the principal agent for the Society for Promoting Manual Labor in Literary Institutions. Weld became one of the country’s most well-known lecturers on abolition and a national leader in the anti-slavery movement.
Finney, Gale, and Weld were friends and colleagues whose work intersected throughout their careers.
The Rome Historical Society will host “Revivalism and Educational Reform: Roots in Oneida County,” a program with Steve Smits set for Wednesday, February 15th. Smits is retired from the New York State Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities where he served as Associate Commissioner.
He was formerly the Director of the Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office. Steve is Vice-President of the Town of Western Historical Society, and resides in Westernville.
This program will begin at 5:30 pm. The Rome Historical Society is located at 200 Church Street, Rome. For more information, call (315) 336-5870 or visit their website.
Illustration: Charles Finney’s conversion in the woods of the town of Adams, Jefferson County, NY.
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