Phoebe Palmer (1807–1874)

Abstract

Phoebe Worrall is unusual in this anthology because she was raised in a prosperous family and lived her entire life in a large, urban center. Her father, Henry Worrall, owned an iron foundry and machine shop in New York City Both of her parents, Henry and Dorothea Wade Worrall, were active members of a Methodist Episcopal church in the city Religious activities saturated the daily regimen of her childhood home. The family gathered both morning and evening, when the bell sounded, to read the Bible, sing a hymn, and pray and grace was said before and after meals. At the age of thirteen, Phoebe experienced her conversion and joined the Methodist church. Her third person account of her conversion is noteworthy for its brevity “When about thirteen, she acknowledged herself before the world as a seeker of salvation, and united herself with the people of God.”¹ Shortly after this event, she expressed dissatisfaction with her religious experience, and she longed “for the full assurance of faith.”²