[1] Although The Character and Death can be considered as a book unto itself, Vicki Tolar Collins, Associate Professor of English at Oregon State University and expert on the works of Hester Ann Rogers, considers it “the most lengthy male text accreted to The [Short] Account” (Hester Rogers' original book).
The Character and Death is a wholly Methodist work; the author(s), printer, subject matter, and rhetorical context are all products of early Wesleyan Methodism.
Thomas Coke, the author, was born in Wales in 1747 and died sixty-seven years later on a voyage to India where he had hoped to fund his own Methodist missions.
Coke’s most memorable works include his Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, A History of the West Indies, and the Life of John Wesley; he also published several volumes of his own sermons.
Despite the fact that these books were certainly brought on missions to help convert natives, the Wesleyan Conference office published exclusively in English.
George Whitfield, listed as the book's agent, was a minister in the Church of England and one of the leaders of the Methodist movement.
John Wesley's revolutionary approach was to send his ministers on circuits to the masses, laden with books that were small, cheap and written in a popular style.
Wesley was also revolutionary in that he encouraged journal-keeping, not only by preachers but also by ordinary Methodist society members, both men and women.
Under this new institutional strategy, Hester Ann Rogers was subsequently idealized and promoted as a nonpreaching woman and model Methodist.
Rogers' original A Short Account was focused purely on her daily dealings with God and she barely mentioned her marriage, children, or leadership of Methodist groups.
The group of post-Wesley authorities, with their new agenda, accreted texts to Roger's original work which would highlight her non-preaching religiousness and expand on her maternal and wifely role.
Though she devoted much of her time to religious duties in public and private, yet nothing seemed to be left undone which could maker her children comfortable and happy.
And yet, she never, on that account, or, indeed, on any other, once neglected any part of her domestic duty.” James Rogers' appendix to Coke's sermon follows the same model: he describes her Bible study, her visits to the sick, her public prayer, and her small group leadership.