"Crowds flocked to hear him. Throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois, Cartwright preached to hosts of men and women, speaking three hours at a stretch, several times a week. The conviction in his booming voice could make women weep and strong men tremble..."

"Running for Congress in 1846, Peter Cartwright lost to none other than Abraham Lincoln. In 1832, over a decade earlier, however, Cartwright had defeated Lincoln in a race for the Illinois legislature..."
http://www.forgottenword.org/cartwright.html

"In over 50 years of traveling circuits in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Cartwright received 10,000 members into the Methodist Church, personally baptized 12,000, conducted over 500 funerals, and preached more than 15,000 sermons. He was strongly opposed to comfort in religion, education, and culture in the ministry; his equipment consisted of a black broadcloth suit and a horse with saddlebags, while his library was composed of his Bible, hymnbook, and Methodist discipline..."
http://www.fbbc.com/messages/Cartwright.htm