Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D 1792- 1869

Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D
1792- 1869.

In 1810 a youthful parochial schoolmaster in Pettigo, Charles Elliott from Ardara, acquired a friendship here which had important repercussions for American Methodism. Charles Elliott had heard the Methodist message preached at his mother’s house and arrived in Pettigo imbued with enthusiasm. In Pettigo he was befriended by the Rev. William Ingram of Pettigo Church of Ireland, the father of John Kells Ingram who wrote the famous poem “Who fears to speak of ’98”.
Ingram took a great interest in him and directed him in his studies. He would also have to resign Methodism if he wished to go to Trinity College, Dublin and so he emigrated to America in July, 1816, with his widowed mother and her eight other children. Here he gained a great reputation as the Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D. and became a major writer on Methodism and became the first editor of the Pittsburgh Christian Advocate. He spent some time as a missionary to the Wyandot tribe and wrote about this experience. He was stricken with paralysis in 1866 and died in 1869.