Abstract:
The Reverend Patrick W. Dowd was one of the leading figures amongst Baptists in North Carolina, but is practically ignored or presented in a negative light in Baptist histories. His treatment is blamed on his involvement in sexual misconduct and sermon plagiarism controversies in 1852. Upon closer examinations, those charges against Reverend Dowd, had less to do with ethics and more to do with theological differences and religious power struggles amongst North Carolina Baptists at the time.