McGready, James

McGready, James

(məgrā`dē), c.1758–1817, American Presbyterian minister and evangelist, b. Pennsylvania. His preaching (1797–99) in Logan co., Ky., began the great religious revival which in 1800 swept over the South and the West. Gatherings encamped for McGready's revivals were the forerunners of later camp meetingscamp meeting,
outdoor religious meeting, usually held in the summer and lasting for several days. The camp meeting was a prominent institution of the American frontier. It originated under the preaching of James McGready in Kentucky early in the course of a religious revival (c.
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. Some of his methods were questioned by the Presbyterian Church; in the division that resulted, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established. Later McGready was received back into his presbytery and sent (1811) to Indiana to found churches.