Forty years of pioneer life

John Mason Peck, Rufus Babcock

John Mason Peck (1789-1858) was a Baptist missionary on the Illinois frontier who evangelized; established numerous churches, Sunday schools and Bible societies; and established institutions for training preachers and teachers. The editor wrote that he drew upon fifty years of Peck’s collected correspondence (1808 -1858) as well as 53 volumes of his journals to write this memoir.