James Gwin (Methodist minister)

Rev. James Gwin (January 10, 1769 – August 3, 1841) was an American frontier soldier and Methodist camp-meeting preacher who worked throughout the west, originally in Tennessee and Kentucky, then in Missouri and Illinois, finally retiring to Mississippi to be closer to his sons. In 1843 he was described as "the Indian fighter, and war chaplain to chieftain [Andrew] Jackson—one of the best Christians in the world, but believing it to be a religious duty never to forgive an enemy until he had first given him a sound thrashing—who believed both in prayer and battle—the battle first and the prayer afterwards." One of Gwin's sons, William McKendree Gwin, became one of the first U.S. Senators from California. Another son, Samuel Gwin, died from wounds received in a duel in Mississippi over an appointment made by Jackson to a U.S. government land office. The last letter Jackson ever wrote was addressed to W. K. Gwin; Jackson expressed his deep fondness for Gwin as well as his regard for Gwin's "venerated father and brother."