James Blythe became a supply minister to Pisgah Church [Kentucky] one Sabbath each month, ministering to the flock for forty years. He was honored with a Doctor of Divinity by Princeton University in 1815 and was a director of Princeton Seminary, 1815-1819.

James was born to James and Elizabeth Blythe in recently established Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, October 28, 1765. According to W.B. Sprague in Annals of the American Pulpit, young James was receiving a classical education in a local school at his father’s behest when he decided he did not care for some of the curriculum.

“His father seems to have designed him from his youth for one of the liberal professions, and hence he was early placed in a grammar school in his native county to learn Latin and Greek. The study of Latin, however, proved so distasteful to him, that he begged to be permitted to lay it aside; his father gravely assented, but, at the same time, directed him to be ready to drive one of his wagons to Charleston. The boy, knowing that he had no alternative, submitted to the task, but on his return assured his father that the journey had cured him of his aversion to Latin, and that he was more than willing to return to his studies.”

It seems that a lengthy journey on rutted roads with a view of the backend of a horse convinced James that the paradigms and intricacies of Latin were more agreeable than the challenges of teamstering.

James ended up doing well with his school work. For professional studies he attended Hampden-Sydney College where his term of study included the era of revival that occurred during the presidency of John Blair Smith. Among the numerous students and village residents influenced by the revival was Nash Le Grand. Blythe made a profession of faith during his youth but since arriving on campus his zeal had waned due to influences from other students and the growing influence of Enlightenment thought in education. However, through the Christian testimony of a fellow student young Blythe recommitted himself to Christ and purposed to become a minister. When he graduated college in 1788 he returned to North Carolina for ministerial studies where he chose for his tutor James Hall who was the minister of Bethany Presbyterian Church near Statesville. Hall would spend his entire life not only pastoring but also teaching youth and ministerial candidates while serving on institutional boards including Princeton University and Princeton Seminary. He also founded Ebenezer Academy in a log building which still stands today across the road from Bethany Church. Blythe completed his theological training with Hall and was licensed to preach by Orange Presbytery.

He moved to Kentucky for his ministry. The district of Kentucky, it would not be a state until June 1792, was a rough and rugged place but nevertheless ministers from the eastern states often chose to work in what could be challenging calls. During a meeting of Transylvania Presbytery in April 1791, the Pisgah Church petitioned the presbytery to be relieved of their minister but presbytery responded that it did not have sufficient information to grant the request. Also processed during the meeting was the examination of Licentiate James Blythe who was seeking transfer to supply churches in Transylvania Presbytery. He delivered his trial sermon from Ezekiel 34:11,

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

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