Societies association, formed in 1785, was no longer active. However, the Second Religious Society of Oxford continued to hold an annual meeting with local Universalist societies. Some historical accounts refer to these meetings as the General Convention of Universalists, that term, however, does not appear in the Oxford meeting minutes. At the Oxford meeting, Winchester, now in the closing years of his ministry, ordained the 23 year-old Hosea Ballou. Ballou had only been preaching for three years and had not sought ordination. After Ballou finished his sermon, Winchester rose and, without warning, held the Bible against Ballou's chest, crying out, "Brother Ballou, I press to your heart the written Jehovah!" Ironically, Ballou's teachings of Universalism would eclipse those of Winchester and Murray. Death In February 1796, Winchester returned to Philadelphia, where his health sharply declined. Dr. Benjamin Rush attended to him and successfully arrested the hemorrhaging in Winchester's lungs. By June he was sufficiently recovered to travel to New York and then onto Hartford, where the Winchesters had purchased a small farm. They arrived in Hartford in October 1796. Although in failing health, Winchester raised his last congregation in Hartford. The gathering of his flock followed a funeral oration that Winchester spontaneously preached at the graveside of a total stranger. Clothed in his cleric garb, he approached the graveside and spoke from John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die." Those at the gravesite, rather than respond negatively to what could have been deemed an intrusion on the sacred burial ritual, welcomed Winchester. This event was the start of Winchester gathering a small flock. Over time, a theater was secured and a respectable congregation gathered. In early April, he delivered what would be his last sermon. Fittingly, that sermon was based on Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian church. On the day he died he asked those around him to sing with him, "Farewell Friends in Christ." He died on April 18, 1797. He was 46 years and five months old. Rev. Nathan Strong conducted the funeral service at the Hartford Center Presbyterian Church. Winchester was buried in the Old Burying Ground in the rear of the church. His memorial stone, erected in 1803, includes an inscription by Rev. George Richards, a devoted Restorationist. Two months later in London, Rev. William Vilder preached a funeral sermon honoring