John Waller was such a wicked man that he was given the nickname “Swearing Jack”. He was notorious for his profanity, gambling and other “unbridled inclinations to vice”. He was the leader among ungodly men and had earned his title as the “devil’s adjutant”. One day John was called upon as a juryman for the trial of a Baptist preacher, who had been charged with “worshipping God contrary to the laws of the land”. The year was 1767.
As a result of the trial John Waller trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour and was baptized. He then began to proclaim the gospel throughout his state of Virginia. In June of 1768 John Waller was arrested in Spotsylvania, VA along with two other preachers. The fanciful statement made against them was “these men are great disturbers of the peace, for they cannot meet a man upon the road, but they must ram a text of scripture down his throat”. Waller and the others were imprisoned for 43 days.
In November 1770, Waller was preaching in Middlesex, VA when a magistrate attempted to pull him off of a stage, leaving him (Waller) bloodied. In August 1771 Waller, along with three other preachers, was arrested while preaching and was imprisoned a second time, in Urbanna, VA. In Essex County, VA on March 21, 1774 Waller was arrested for “preaching and expounding the Scriptures contrary to law” and fined. In all, Waller spent 113 days in four different jails in Virginia. These things happened because the State was united with the Established Church (in this case Anglican/Episcopalian) in opposing Christian denominations other than their own.
It is because of men like John Waller that we have the religious liberty we have experienced in this great nation. Though Jefferson and Madison (and others) put down on paper the tenants of our religious freedom, the “footwork” was done by John Waller, James Ireland, Joseph Criag and a number of others. It was their suffering, because of their faith, that has given us religious liberty.