Bishop Francis Asbury (1745-1816) was the first great leader of American Methodism and one of the most prominent religious figures in American history. Asbury was born at Handsworth, near Birmingham, England of Methodist parents. He became a local preacher at 18 and was ordained at 22. In 1771 he volunteered to travel to America. When the American Revolution broke out in 1776 he was the only Methodist minister to remain in America.