George W. Pilcher did his PhD dissertation on Samuel Davies back in the 1960’s. His dissertation was published as “Samuel Davies; Apostle of Dissent in Colonial Virginia.” Along with that work, Pilcher gathered up the pieces of Samuel Davies’ journal written in 1754, when Gilbert Tennent and he traveled to the United Kingdom to raise funds for the fledgling College of New Jersey {now Princeton University}. The journal was originally two separate bound items, which had been divided over the years. One is resident in the archives at Princeton, the other is now at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond.

The volume in Richmond had been further broken up, and Pilcher was able to recover almost all the pieces and produce a single volume of the original two, “The Rev. Samuel Davies Abroad.” This must have been a labor of love for Pilcher, as the handwriting of Davies is very small, and the condition of the journals would have been a great challenge too. The incredible thing about the journal is Pilcher’s additional footnoting throughout the journal. Davies mentions the name and location of almost every church and place where he spoke. He also mentions who the current pastor was when he visited, and on occasion he lists previous pastors.

For example, he preached from the pulpit where Isaac Watts and John Owen had preached. His entry from January 27, 1754; “Preached for Mr. Price A.M. in Berry Street; and when I entered the pulpit, it filled me with reverence to reflect that I stood in the place where Mr. Clerkson, Dr. Owen, Dr. Watts, etc. had once officiated. My subject was Jer. 31:18-20 and I found favor with some freedom. Blessed, be God, I have not been disturbed with the fear of man, since I have been in this city.”

Pilcher adds much more in the footnotes as he lists the dates of each man’s ministry and other information as he discovered it. This makes the footnotes as interesting to read as the text of the journal itself. One absolutely hilarious entry reads like this:

Davies writes: Friday, January 11, 1754. Visited Dr. Earle, an old Presbyterian Minister of a good Character, but of a stern uncomplaisant Behavior. He received us drily, and would not so much as read, or hear our Recommendations; but after all, cordially promised he would enquire of Mr. Stennet or Mr. Chandler about the Affair of our Mission, and if they approved of it, he would concur with them in proper Measures to promote it.”

The footnote for this entry reads: Jabez Earle 1676 – 1768 was the Presbyterian minister to an Independent congregation in Hanover Street, Long Acre. In the course of his lifetime he had three wives, whom he referred to as “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” {Ah, the Prayer of Jabez for sure?!} We can only imagine how many hours George Pilcher put in to researching the footnotes. Almost every page of the journal has biographical and historical footnotes.

If you ever have the opportunity to purchase either one of Pilcher’s books do so {both are out of print}. The journal provides great insight into the heart of Davies as he wrote out his reflections from most days of the journey. Pilcher’s book on Davies is the standard by which any other works would be measured.