Post by Albert Collver

New post and podcast episode from the Collver Family History Project: “Pull Down All Other Persuasions.” When Rev. Jabez Colver was tried for seditious words in 1777 — he had warned that a victorious America would let the Presbyterians “pull down all other Persuasions” — the obvious question is whether his judges proved his point. The answer is more interesting than a yes or no: the accusing side was largely Presbyterian, but the bench was mixed, and the sharpest evidence was already in the family record — the fining and flogging of his Rogerene kinsmen at two Presbyterian meetinghouses seven years earlier. The post also walks through the method: reading religious affiliation from burial grounds, family networks, and college rolls when no membership list survives, and counting names in the primary record rather than trusting the county history. Read or listen (34 min): https://lnkd.in/gq4ASvVe