Andrew Longacre

Andrew Longacre in clerical robes (Paris, 1860)

Andrew Longacre was a young Methodist minister from Philadelphia who, from 1860-1862, served as the assistant pastor at the American Chapel in Paris. The letters that he wrote during this time to his younger brother, James Madison Longacre, were acquired by Bridwell Library in 1956 as a part of the Bishop Frederick D. Leete Methodist Historical Library and formed the basis of this exhibition. A gifted and observant writer, these letters open a window onto another world and another time. Longacre was also an artist of merit, and some of his sketches and watercolors were also be exhibited.

Andrew Longacre was born June 12, 1831, into a devout Methodist home. Converted at age twelve, he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1851. In 1854 he was ordained deacon and, in 1856, received his elder’s orders in the Philadelphia Conference. During these years, he served various churches, but a serious illness in the latter part of 1856 prevented his accepting an appointment for the next three years.

In 1860, with health somewhat improved, Andrew Longacre was invited by Dr. John McClintock to go to Paris as the assistant pastor at the newly built non-denoninational American Chapel in that city. To Andrew, this opportunity was providential, "the Lord’s doing." In accepting the invitation, he felt confident he was "following the divine ordering," firmly aware that his intent was to do God’s will and that his mission was "to do good" in a foreign land.

In addition to being an inveterate letter writer, Andrew Longacre kept a diary from 1851 until almost the end of his life. A trunk filled with Andrew’s manuscript diaries, letters, sermons, souvenirs, and a portfolio of his sketches and watercolors was inherited by his great-grandson, Dr. Andrew Longacre, Jr., of Skaneateles, New York. Dr. Longacre, with great generosity, made these materials available to Bridwell Library and loaned many of them for this exhibition. Other members of the Longacre family also inherited family treasures and they, too, graciously loaned some of these for this exhibition.