Born in
Lynn, Mass. to Enoch and Lydia (Ingalls) Mudge, he was converted under
Jesse Lee, the pioneer of
Methodism in New England, and entered the ministry in 1793. He labored as an itinerant preacher in
Maine until 1799, when his health gave way and he was forced to retire. He settled in
Orrington, Maine, and was twice chosen Representative to the
General Court of Massachusetts, in 1811-12 and 1815–16. In 1811 he had much to do with passing the "Religious Freedom Bill," which repealed a law requiring
Massachusetts taxpayers of any denomination to pay taxes to support the
Congregational Church. In 1814 he was chaplain to a Maine militia regiment that participated in the
Battle of Hampden during the
War of 1812. In 1816 he moved back to Massachusetts and resumed preaching. From 1832 to 1844 he was
pastor of the
Seamen's Bethel in
New Bedford. There
Herman Melville heard him preach, and Mudge was one of the models for the character of
Father Mapple in
Moby-Dick. == Publications ==