Christian Newcomer (1749–1830) was an American farmer and preacher,[1] who was elected on 5 May 1813 as the third bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
Peculiarly, Newcomer was elected Bishop by the Church before he was even ordained to the ministry (though he did hold the status of a full minister).
The Miami Annual Conference, therefore, in August 1813 addressed a letter to Otterbein asking him to ordain by the laying on of hands "one or more ministers who afterwards may perform the same for others."
Accordingly, on 2 October 1813, after a solemn period of worship and meditation, with the assistance of an elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev.
He seems to have had little romantic feeling toward her, writing in his Journal "I had to seek a housekeeper, which I found in Miss Elizabeth Baer, and entered with her into a state of matrimony."
When she died thirty-nine years later, however, he showed his affection had matured, as he wrote "This evening at 6 o'clock my dear companion departed this life, and resigned her immortal spirit into the arms of Jesus her Savior.
John Hildt (who was a member of the Baltimore Church) began work on Newcomer's journal in preparation for publishing.
Hildt was asked to undertake the task of transcribing, translating into English, and editing the personally written biography and journal of his close friend.
A copy of this Journal resides in the Library of Congress, where it has even served to establish definite dates and events of early U.S. history.