A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815–1837

In Chapter 6, Johnson describes the different strategies Finney’s newly converted followers used to persuade workingmen to join the church. At the same time that Finney’s congregants aggressively stamped out alcoholism, they also sought to establish a number of Christian institutions aimed at the betterment of the working class, using “their wealth and social position to help poor but deserving brethren” (116).

The primary means through which these wealthy evangelicals reached out to Rochester’s working class was through the establishment of missions. These churches were nicknamed “free” churches as they did not require their congregants to pay fees in order to attend services (116). Such free churches’ services were often attended both by Rochester’s working- and upper-class residents. At the same time, Rochester’s wealthy evangelicals would also donate funds to assist struggling working-class churches. In one instance, donations helped to rebuild the First Methodist church after it had been destroyed by a fire. Many of these missions also served as schools that taught “reading, writing, and proper thoughts to poor children” (118). Some wealthy Rochesterians also founded the Rochester Savings Bank in 1831, hoping to encourage workingmen to practice better spending habits.

These evangelical Rochesterians’ efforts were by-and-large successful, and spurred a series of revivals in the 1830s which “dwarfed Finney’s earlier triumph” (119).