“Hull, March 5, 1841”
DEAR SISTER IN CHRIST,
“We received your letter of the 27th, and in answer to it, will give you all the information which we can. Mr Kitchen says, that he has been acquainted with my aunt, for above thirty years, but that it is impossible for him to speak to the extent of her usefulness; for in all her visits to Hull, whenever she unfurled the banner of the cross and proclaimed a Saviour’s love to a perishing world, she was always listened to by hundreds, and that with the greatest of attention and respect; but for the number that the Lord made her the honoured instrument of “plucking as brands from the burning,” it is impossible for him to say, but that he has seen them brought to God by a dozen, in a night, and sometimes more; and that he has heard of a person of the name of Isaac Johnson, who was brought to God in one of her visits to Hull, about twenty-six years ago, and that he was one of the wickedest men in Hull, but he still holds on his way and is now a local preacher in St. John’s, in America. For myself, all that I can say, is, that from being quite a child, I can remember her in her visits to Hull, and was in the habit of going to the different meetings with my mother, that she was at; and I have seen souls in distress in all parts of the place, for it was before the chapel was built; and I well remember her laying the foundation-stone of the Ranters’ Chapel in Hull, and preaching upon the stone, with her trowel in her hand, where she was listened to by hundreds. But for the extent of her usefulness or the number of souls brought to God, eternity must reveal the secret.”
It was in the year 1820 that I first had the pleasure of seeing the face of this devoted woman, and enjoying the privilege of spiritual converse with her. I had before heard much of her Christian charity, and her devoted labours; but I soon found that “the half had not been told me.” And after having known her intimately for more than twenty years, I can honestly testify, that during the whole of that period, whether at home or abroad, she was one of the most active, and influentially benevolent persons, with whom it was ever my lot to be acquainted. There was a sincerity of purpose, as well as an humility of deportment, in all that she did, in the cause of Christ, which were sure and infallible indications, that her heart was right with God, whilst it was kindly affectioned towards her fellow-creatures.
From ‘Memoirs of the Life and Character of Ann Carr, by Martha Williams, published in 1841
Location - various.