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He felt the calling and was licensed
to exhort in the fall of 1848. He received the license
to preach in January 1849. Rev JH Davis, Presiding Elder
of the Methodist Church, hired young Rowe to work on the
Westmoreland Circuit under Rev HH Gary, preacher in charge.
However, JG Rowe had to take a leave of absence in the
spring of 1849, due to severe indigestion. By November
7, 1849, he felt well enough to join the Virginia Annual
Confernce in Petersburg and received an appointment as
junior preacher in Mechlenburg.
John Gallatin Rowe married Margaret PURCELL
on 11/21/1850 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County,
Virginia.
In 1851 & 1852, an appointment in
Middlesex was available - consisted of 5 circuits; but
it called for a single man, not a married man. By 1852,
John & Margaret had at least one child - Mary
or Mollie Rowe. Capt Robert Healey offered to
board Rev Rowe and his family. John Gallatin Rowe considered
the Middlesex appointments the happiest of his life, and
attained 83 conversions. 1853 finds him in Cumberland
with 64 converts. In 1854, he was in Pasquotank, to which
he made the following statement
 "As
my health was bad last year, I concluded at one time not
to take work this year; but was persuaded to do so by
some of the preachers, and one of the presiding Elders
promising I should be provided with work suitable to my
case. When the appointments were made, the work was so
unsuitable - 16 appointments in 4 weeks - one of the Presiding
Elders advised me not to go. I was engaged in merchandise
for a living, and preached at appointments near and in
Fredericksburg. I preached in Fredericksburg a good deal
the latter part of this year, as Brother Christian, the
pastor, had to leave on account of ill health."
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