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Though a school dropout, Asbury launched five schools. He also promoted "Sunday schools," in which children were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Asbury didn't limit his work to administration and preaching. Asbury hated slavery and petitioned George Washington to enact antislavery legislation. "My spirit was grieved at the conduct of some Methodists," wrote Asbury, "that hire slaves at public places to the highest bidder, to cut skin, and starve them."

Asbury pushed himself to the end. After preaching what was to be his last sermon, he was so weak he had to be carried to his carriage. By then, though, Methodism had grown under his leadership to 200,000 strong. His legacy continued with the 4,000 Methodist preachers he had ordained: by the Civil War, American Methodists numbered 1.5 million.

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