J. H. Dorsett: First Church of God Contact?

Was J. H. Dorsett the first Church of God contact in New England?

In 1990 while researching the history of the Church of God in Maine, I came across a letter published in the Evangel that J. H. Dorsett had written in 1922 to A. J. Tomlinson, General Overseer. Writing from Portland, Maine, Dorsett requested,

“Pray that there will be a way opened for the Church of God to be established in this part of the country for it is much needed. The people are blind to the truth and are running after the things of the world.”

[Source: J. H. Dorsett, “Requests,” The Church of God Evangel, August 12, 1922, 2.]

By the 1925 General Assembly at Cleveland, Tennessee, H. W. Poteat was serving as overseer of Maine as well as Pennsylvania. At the Assembly he indicated that Brother and Sister Dorsett were in charge of a mission in Portland, Maine. (Two representatives from Maine were with Brother Poteat at the General Assembly.)

Poteat reported, “Maine is a ripe field, and laborers are few.”

[Source: H. L. Trim, “Monday Night, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of 20th Annual Assembly,” The Church of God Evangel, November 7, 1925, 1-2. This issue of the Evangel also indicated that H. W. Poteat was the overseer of Maine at this time.]

I would love to hear from anyone who may have additional information on J. H. Dorsett or other early Church of God contacts in New England.