Asa Shinn

Asa Shinn, b. 3 May 1781, in New Jersey; married to Phebe Barnes and Mary Bennington Gibson; died in Brattleboro, Vermont,  Feb 1853.

The son of Quaker parents was born in New Jersey and brought as a child to the wilds of Western Virginia. He was admitted on trial in the Baltimore Conference in 1801. Almost his entire ministry was on the headwaters of the Ohio. In 1802 he rode the pioneer Shenango Circuit.

Asa Shinn had no opportunities for formal schooling, but by self- education, he made himself a master of English. He was president of the first western Conference held in Cincinnati, October 15-21, 1859. He wielded a strong and sharp pen, and became a champion of the secession which led to the organization of the Methodist Protestant Church. Four times he suffered mental derangement, and died in an insane asylum in 1853. (“Methodism on the Headwaters of the Ohio” and “History of Erie Conference,” Vol. I.)