Asbury, az'bur y, FRANCIS (1745-1816), the first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ordained in this country, born in Handsworth, England. He came as a missionary from England in 1771 and was made general assistant to John Wesley. In 1777 the ministers of his Church, at a conference in Maryland, decided that they should return to Europe; Asbury, alone, chose to remain. He was unanimously elected bishop and consecrated by Doctor Coke in 1784, with a fixed salary of $64 per year. His annual travels extended from Canada to the Mississippi River, and in his biography it is stated that he traveled 270,000 miles during his life, mostly on horseback.