Elijah Coffey
Elijah Coffey was what was known as a "flatboat preacher"; he worked on the flatboats during the week and acted as notoriously as his peers, but when the boat landed, he preached.
Having been a cobbler in Illinois, Coffey (sometimes spelled Coffee) ran out on his second family in search of wider pastures large enough for his expansive presence. Per James Davis Coffey landed in Memphis on a Springtime Sunday morning in 1822. At this time Memphis was "laid out" and owned by the proprietors, but was not a city proper.
Coffey announced right away that he was a Freewill Baptist and took to preaching. He changed his denomination regularly and that didn't matter much since no established church wanted him around anyway. Coffey sometimes called himself a Holy Roller, sometimes a Foot Washer and even a Jew. The catholic church was the only church that did not officially disown him, but they wouldn't let him preach either.
That was not a problem and Elijah Coffey took to holding forth outdoors. With one hand cocked behind his left ear and the other flailing in the air Coffey called down the spirit or hellfire as the situation warranted. People came from miles to see the wild Memphis preacher. When he preached it was necessary to have a fenced section filled with hay so those overcome with the spirit would have a place to lay. It is said that having a place to lay was important in more ways than one at a Coffey revival. Many young couples took advantage of their parents rapt attention to Coffey to pay rapt attention to one another in the nearby woods and bushes.
The most famous story of Elijah Coffey is, no doubt, his "preaching contest" with a certain "Parson Smith" from New Orleans. Smith who was said to have run a "gospel mill" in New Orleans was insulted by the growing reputation of Coffey and put forth that he could outpray and outpreach him any day of the week. The gauntlet was taken up and Smith met Coffey at the banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis for a praying duel. The prize was a barrel of apples.
Parson Smith prayed first and by all accounts acquitted himself nicely in the ears of the audience. When it came time for Elijah Coffey to pray he began to loudly use his prayer as a method of berating the "most unmitigated scamp, rascal and sinner" Parson Smith. Smith listened to this long enough to realize it may go on all day then charged Coffey, headbutting him into the river. After the scuffle in the muddy water ended Coffey was declared the winner and walked away with the apples.
By the time Coffey left Memphis he had served as both mayor and alderman. He told the Methodist church that if they would present him with a bona fide license to preach he would disappear into the wilds of Arkansas where "the souls of men were unsalvageable anyway". They did, and so did he.