The Methodist Minister They Called "Fightin' Jack"

by Tom Goodman 

Before Texas communities had pastors and church buildings, many depended on circuit riders: preachers who traveled on horseback from settlement to settlement, conducting services wherever people gathered.

Few fit the frontier image better than Andrew Jackson Potter--or “Fightin’ Jack,” as friends and enemies alike called him. 

Potter had hauled freight, driven cattle, prospected for gold, and fought in the army before becoming a Methodist preacher. Beginning in 1866, he served circuits across West and South Texas, preaching in homes, churches, military forts, camp meetings, and even saloons.

His routes reportedly covered about 2,500 miles each year.

Potter made a point of going to rough communities where other ministers hesitated to serve. He frequently carried a gun, sometimes propping it beside the pulpit while he preached to crowds that included drunkards, cowboys, trail drivers, and hecklers. 

A weapon might seem an odd tool for a pastor, but it caused men to think twice before interfering with Potter's meetings or accosting him on a remote road. In the language of his day, he once wrote:

"When God calls me to travel in a region of country infested with lurking savages, my Winchester gun and a full belt of cartridges shall ever prevent distressing alarms about my safety when meeting a savage foe, feeling that in the fearful struggle for life I have some safe means to preserve my God-given manhood."

He spent twelve years riding the Kerrville circuit and later established a Methodist circuit at Fort Concho, where he preached the first Methodist sermon at the future site of San Angelo. He continued circuit riding until 1895, when he died while preaching in a Caldwell County chapel.

By the turn of the century, Texas pastors were more likely to receive an appointment centered on one town or a small group of established churches. But stories of armed circuit riders who braved lawless settlements still lingered. 

Such stories may have fortified the resolve of the real-life preacher behind my forthcoming novel when he faced dangers of his own.

My new novel is called Through Many Dangers. It's based on the remarkable true story of Jesse Lee, whom I renamed Rick Burleson for the novel. In 1905, Lee faced down a violent bootlegging syndicate in Groveton, Texas, to become known as the pistol-packing preacher. 

When I first ran across the tale, it was like someone had taken one of my favorite films, The Untouchables, and dropped it in the remote Piney Woods of East Texas.

Read the back cover copy here. To keep up with the launch, sign up for my newsletter at this page and get a free copy of Ten Texas Tales.

I need some advance reviewers who will read the book before the October 1 pub date and be ready to drop a review at online stores and review sites the first week it's out. 

Members of the Review Team will get a free copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review. Apply to join the Review Team by clicking on the deputy badge below:

Photo of Jack Potter: H. A. Graves, Andrew Jackson Potter, the Fighting Parson of the Texan Frontier (1881). Courtesy of the Library of Congress and Internet Archive. Public domain. The Houston Chronicle adapted the engraving.
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