Son of Rev. John G. Bewley and Catherine Hunter.
Married to Jane Winton on May 24, 1834.
The following story is taken from the Methodist Episcopal Church History:
"Anthony Bewley was an abolitionist Methodist minister, the son of John Bewley, a Methodist preacher. From 1829 to 1834 he served the Methodist Church as a circuit riding member of the Holston Conference of Virginia. In 1834 he married Jane Winton of Roane County, Tennessee. In 1837 the Bewleys moved to Polk County, Missouri, and six years later Bewley resumed his circuit riding ministry and joined the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"When the church divided over the issue of slavery in 1845, the Missouri Conference voted to join the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Bewley was among the antislavery members of the conference who refused to accept this decision and chose instead to remain in what they considered to be the true Methodist Church. By 1848 these Methodists had reorganized into the Missouri Conference of the Northern Church, though many still referred to themselves simply as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"By 1858, after serving for ten years in Northern Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri, Bewley had moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, and established a mission sixteen miles south of Fort Worth. Although he was considered to be weak on the slavery issue by some northern Methodists, his antislavery views were threatening to southerners. Thus, when vigilance committees alleged in the summer of 1860 that there was a widespread abolitionist plot to burn Texas towns and murder their citizens, suspicion immediately fell upon Bewley and other outspoken critics of slavery.
"Special attention was focused on Bewley because of an incendiary letter, dated 3 July 1860, addressed to a Rev. William Bewley and supposedly written by a fellow abolitionist, William H. Bailey. Many argued that the letter, which urged Bewley to continue with his work in helping to free Texas from slavery, was a forgery. The letter was widely published, however, and taken by others as evidence of Bewley's involvement with the John Brownites in Texas.
"Recognizing the danger, Bewley left for Kansas in mid July with part of his family. En route he stopped for eleven days in Indian Territory to wait for the remainder of his family and later visited with his wife's relatives in Benton County, Arkansas. On 3 Sep 1860, a Texas posse caught up with him near Cassville, Missouri. His captors returned him to Fort Worth on September 13. Late that night vigilantes seized Bewley and delivered him into the hands of a waiting lynch mob.
"His body was allowed to hang until the next day, when he was buried in a shallow grave. Three weeks later his bones were unearthed, stripped of their remaining flesh, and placed on top of Ephraim Daggett's storehouse, where children made a habit of playing with them. After Bewley's death the Northern Methodists ended their activities in Texas."
Anthony and Jane (Winton) Bewley are my ggggrandparents.
Bio by Wanda (Hendricks) Blackwell.
Married to Jane Winton on May 24, 1834.
The following story is taken from the Methodist Episcopal Church History:
"Anthony Bewley was an abolitionist Methodist minister, the son of John Bewley, a Methodist preacher. From 1829 to 1834 he served the Methodist Church as a circuit riding member of the Holston Conference of Virginia. In 1834 he married Jane Winton of Roane County, Tennessee. In 1837 the Bewleys moved to Polk County, Missouri, and six years later Bewley resumed his circuit riding ministry and joined the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"When the church divided over the issue of slavery in 1845, the Missouri Conference voted to join the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Bewley was among the antislavery members of the conference who refused to accept this decision and chose instead to remain in what they considered to be the true Methodist Church. By 1848 these Methodists had reorganized into the Missouri Conference of the Northern Church, though many still referred to themselves simply as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"By 1858, after serving for ten years in Northern Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri, Bewley had moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, and established a mission sixteen miles south of Fort Worth. Although he was considered to be weak on the slavery issue by some northern Methodists, his antislavery views were threatening to southerners. Thus, when vigilance committees alleged in the summer of 1860 that there was a widespread abolitionist plot to burn Texas towns and murder their citizens, suspicion immediately fell upon Bewley and other outspoken critics of slavery.
"Special attention was focused on Bewley because of an incendiary letter, dated 3 July 1860, addressed to a Rev. William Bewley and supposedly written by a fellow abolitionist, William H. Bailey. Many argued that the letter, which urged Bewley to continue with his work in helping to free Texas from slavery, was a forgery. The letter was widely published, however, and taken by others as evidence of Bewley's involvement with the John Brownites in Texas.
"Recognizing the danger, Bewley left for Kansas in mid July with part of his family. En route he stopped for eleven days in Indian Territory to wait for the remainder of his family and later visited with his wife's relatives in Benton County, Arkansas. On 3 Sep 1860, a Texas posse caught up with him near Cassville, Missouri. His captors returned him to Fort Worth on September 13. Late that night vigilantes seized Bewley and delivered him into the hands of a waiting lynch mob.
"His body was allowed to hang until the next day, when he was buried in a shallow grave. Three weeks later his bones were unearthed, stripped of their remaining flesh, and placed on top of Ephraim Daggett's storehouse, where children made a habit of playing with them. After Bewley's death the Northern Methodists ended their activities in Texas."
Anthony and Jane (Winton) Bewley are my ggggrandparents.
Bio by Wanda (Hendricks) Blackwell.
Son of Rev. John G. Bewley and Catherine Hunter.
Married to Jane Winton on May 24, 1834.
The following story is taken from the Methodist Episcopal Church History:
"Anthony Bewley was an abolitionist Methodist minister, the son of John Bewley, a Methodist preacher. From 1829 to 1834 he served the Methodist Church as a circuit riding member of the Holston Conference of Virginia. In 1834 he married Jane Winton of Roane County, Tennessee. In 1837 the Bewleys moved to Polk County, Missouri, and six years later Bewley resumed his circuit riding ministry and joined the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"When the church divided over the issue of slavery in 1845, the Missouri Conference voted to join the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Bewley was among the antislavery members of the conference who refused to accept this decision and chose instead to remain in what they considered to be the true Methodist Church. By 1848 these Methodists had reorganized into the Missouri Conference of the Northern Church, though many still referred to themselves simply as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"By 1858, after serving for ten years in Northern Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri, Bewley had moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, and established a mission sixteen miles south of Fort Worth. Although he was considered to be weak on the slavery issue by some northern Methodists, his antislavery views were threatening to southerners. Thus, when vigilance committees alleged in the summer of 1860 that there was a widespread abolitionist plot to burn Texas towns and murder their citizens, suspicion immediately fell upon Bewley and other outspoken critics of slavery.
"Special attention was focused on Bewley because of an incendiary letter, dated 3 July 1860, addressed to a Rev. William Bewley and supposedly written by a fellow abolitionist, William H. Bailey. Many argued that the letter, which urged Bewley to continue with his work in helping to free Texas from slavery, was a forgery. The letter was widely published, however, and taken by others as evidence of Bewley's involvement with the John Brownites in Texas.
"Recognizing the danger, Bewley left for Kansas in mid July with part of his family. En route he stopped for eleven days in Indian Territory to wait for the remainder of his family and later visited with his wife's relatives in Benton County, Arkansas. On 3 Sep 1860, a Texas posse caught up with him near Cassville, Missouri. His captors returned him to Fort Worth on September 13. Late that night vigilantes seized Bewley and delivered him into the hands of a waiting lynch mob.
"His body was allowed to hang until the next day, when he was buried in a shallow grave. Three weeks later his bones were unearthed, stripped of their remaining flesh, and placed on top of Ephraim Daggett's storehouse, where children made a habit of playing with them. After Bewley's death the Northern Methodists ended their activities in Texas."
Anthony and Jane (Winton) Bewley are my ggggrandparents.
Bio by Wanda (Hendricks) Blackwell.
Married to Jane Winton on May 24, 1834.
The following story is taken from the Methodist Episcopal Church History:
"Anthony Bewley was an abolitionist Methodist minister, the son of John Bewley, a Methodist preacher. From 1829 to 1834 he served the Methodist Church as a circuit riding member of the Holston Conference of Virginia. In 1834 he married Jane Winton of Roane County, Tennessee. In 1837 the Bewleys moved to Polk County, Missouri, and six years later Bewley resumed his circuit riding ministry and joined the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"When the church divided over the issue of slavery in 1845, the Missouri Conference voted to join the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Bewley was among the antislavery members of the conference who refused to accept this decision and chose instead to remain in what they considered to be the true Methodist Church. By 1848 these Methodists had reorganized into the Missouri Conference of the Northern Church, though many still referred to themselves simply as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"By 1858, after serving for ten years in Northern Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri, Bewley had moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, and established a mission sixteen miles south of Fort Worth. Although he was considered to be weak on the slavery issue by some northern Methodists, his antislavery views were threatening to southerners. Thus, when vigilance committees alleged in the summer of 1860 that there was a widespread abolitionist plot to burn Texas towns and murder their citizens, suspicion immediately fell upon Bewley and other outspoken critics of slavery.
"Special attention was focused on Bewley because of an incendiary letter, dated 3 July 1860, addressed to a Rev. William Bewley and supposedly written by a fellow abolitionist, William H. Bailey. Many argued that the letter, which urged Bewley to continue with his work in helping to free Texas from slavery, was a forgery. The letter was widely published, however, and taken by others as evidence of Bewley's involvement with the John Brownites in Texas.
"Recognizing the danger, Bewley left for Kansas in mid July with part of his family. En route he stopped for eleven days in Indian Territory to wait for the remainder of his family and later visited with his wife's relatives in Benton County, Arkansas. On 3 Sep 1860, a Texas posse caught up with him near Cassville, Missouri. His captors returned him to Fort Worth on September 13. Late that night vigilantes seized Bewley and delivered him into the hands of a waiting lynch mob.
"His body was allowed to hang until the next day, when he was buried in a shallow grave. Three weeks later his bones were unearthed, stripped of their remaining flesh, and placed on top of Ephraim Daggett's storehouse, where children made a habit of playing with them. After Bewley's death the Northern Methodists ended their activities in Texas."
Anthony and Jane (Winton) Bewley are my ggggrandparents.
Bio by Wanda (Hendricks) Blackwell.
Inscription
In Memory Of
Rev. Anthony Bewley
May 22, 1804 - Sept. 14, 1860
Methodist Minister dedicated to working for the Lord, and son of Rev. John Bewley and Catherine Hunter Bewley.
Served Holton Washington in Northern Missouri Conferences.
Missionary to Texas and there martyred for his belief in freedom for all men.
Erected by members of the Bewley family, June 1993
Gravesite Details
This is NOT the burial location! He was buried or otherwise disposed of in an unknown location in Texas.
