Rice Haggard (1769–1819)
Rice Haggard was born in Norfolk, Virginia in the year 1769. Virginia was still a British colony. By the time that Rice reached the age of ten the Virginians were at war with their colonial masters as to who exactly was going to be in control of Virginia. When he reached the age of eighteen, the war was over and the post-colonial period was well under way. The young nation was very grateful to God for victory in their hard-fought-for freedom. Haggard had become a member of the Methodist Church in 1787. In 1789 he was ordained a minister and given a circuit which consisted of several churches of similar, if not the same, faith. He was “on trial” as it was called, serving under James O’Kelly. This was very common for that day. The year 1790 saw him stationed in Bedford and Cumberland counties, riding a circuit. In 1791 he was ordained as a bishop by Francis Asbury. He resided at St. Bride’s Parish, Norfolk County, Virginia.
On December 25, 1792, the “Christmas Conference” was held by Thomas Coke. Coke sought to appoint Francis Asbury as the head of the American church and as a Bishop, he would appoint ministers and assign circuits to whomsoever he would. This move drew the ire of a young minister by the name of James O’Kelly and so incensed him that he actually resigned from the church. He took a large number of ministers with him, among them, Rice Haggard. This division was not a small one. Around 1000 left the Methodist Church. These independents initially started calling themselves as “Republican” or “Free Methodists.” A meeting was held on August 4, 1794 among these members. When discussion began about a proper name for this new group, Rice Haggard suggested that the group take the simple, yet biblical name “Christian” to identify themselves. This could be seen as the birth of the “Christian Church” in the then young, United States.
The next time we see or hear of Rice Haggard was during the Cane Ridge Revival of 1801. It cannot be verified that he had actually attended the event but he did show a great deal of interest in and had a great deal of knowledge of the efforts to bring union based solely upon the Bible. He did attend a meeting in June of 1804 of the Springfield Presbytery. This meeting was of a group of former Presbyterians who were no longer a part of that denomination. Again, he found himself suggesting that the name “Christian” be applied to the group. It was not only considered but it was agreed upon and applied to that group. The following year Haggard wrote a work entitled “An Address to the Different Religious Societies on the Sacred Import of the Christian name.” This tremendous work was then published in the first gospel journal known as The Herald of Gospel Liberty. In 1807, Thomas Reeves with Joseph Thom¬as visited Elder Rice Haggard, who then resided about twelve miles from Norfolk out toward the Great Bridge. It was in December about Christmas time. Joseph Thomas says, “He was a man of a sound, deep, penetra¬ting mind, capable of looking over and excusing youth¬ful imperfections, and of judging their probable abil¬ities. Though it is was supposed by some he was an austere, lordly disposed man, yet I found him pos¬sessed of every necessary qualification to make him a great, a good man, a Christian.” For the following year, he made an engage¬ment with Joseph Thomas to travel in the western country, but owing to the sickness of the latter the en¬gagement was broken. They had arranged to meet at the home of one of the brothers of Joseph Thomas on New River in Virginia. The time appointed for the meeting was the first day of June, 1810. It is more than probable that this visit was planned to return the visit of Reuben Dooly, who had visited Elder Haggard during this year at his home in Norfolk county, or to vis¬it his brother David Haggard and to make a prospecting tour with reference to his moving to Kentucky. Also, in the year 1807, he had married a young widow named Nancy Grimes. The two then moved to Cumberland County, Kentucky in 1812 and settled in what became known as Haggard’s Branch. From here, as his base of operations, he continued preaching among the Christians of those areas. He was always a very busy man. In the year 1815, he produced a hymnal called “A Selection of Christian Hymns.” The book was 440 pages in length and was widely circulated among the churches of that day.
In around the year 1817 Rice Haggard purchased some land located on Kettle’s Creek in Cumberland County, Kentucky. He built a large log cabin there. This was where his family was to reside up until his death in 1819. Since his death, this cabin was purchased and moved to a new location. The important thing is that it is preserved.
Rice Haggard was traveling on evangelistic business in 1819. He was in Champaign, Ohio when he was struck down by some sort of serious illness which ultimately resulted in his death. He was buried in Xenia, Ohio. The location of the grave has been lost