Finis Ewing

Originally ordained by Transylvania Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1803, Ewing became one of the leading ministers in the Second Great Awakening or Great Revival that took place on the American frontier in the early 19th century.

When Kentucky Synod turned against the revival movement and moved to discipline what it considered to be rebellious presbyteries, in 1805, Ewing found himself with the outcasts.

The synod believed that it was protecting the integrity of the ministry by requiring a classical education prior to ordination.

Ewing was among several Protestant ministers who in 1831 helped to inspire the mobs that drove the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri.

He wrote in a local newspaper, "The Mormons are the common enemies of mankind and ought to be destroyed."