The grandfather of
Methodism. The father of
John &
Charles Wesley.
Samuels father was a
preacher and so was his grandfather and so were three of his sons. Samuel was himself a
clergyman known for his hard sermons, calling sinners to repentance. He served as
pastor of Epworth in
Lincolnshire. Most of the parishioners hated him for his
uncompromising attitude aginst sin. They stabbed his cattle and many belive that they burnt down the Wesley rectory. In that fire many of the poems and hymns he wrote were destroyed. Young John Wesley was nearly killed in that same fire.
Samuel and the later vary famous author
Daniel Defoe were good friends since thier days together at school. Samuel himself wrote an exhaustive commentary on
Job which was published by John after Samuels death. Samuel didn´t live long enough to see the fruits of his ministry nor the great success
the Kingdom of Heaven had trough his two most notorious sons. When John was banned from the pulpits of
the Anglican church he held a fiery sermon from top of his fathers
gravestone which brought many sinners to repentance. Samuel would have
rejoiced.