People, Locations, Episodes

The Hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ is Published

This date in 1779 marks the first publication of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” John Newton a White British man was responsible for writing one of the most beloved hymns of all times.

He was a British naval midshipman and a slave trader, who became a hymn writer and clergyman. He was on a homeward voyage while sailing his slave ship through a violent storm when he experienced what he referred to later as his “great deliverance.” Newton awoke in the middle of the night and prayed to God as the ship filled with water.

Catherine Ferguson, Minister, and Child Advocate born

*The birth of Catherine Ferguson in 1779 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black minister and advocate of childcare.

Daniel Coker, Minister and Publisher, born.

*Daniel Coker’s birth is celebrated on this date, c-1780.  He was a Black minister and publisher.   He was enslaved as Isaac Wright in Baltimore, or Frederick County, Maryland, to Susan Coker, a white woman, and Daniel Wright, a Black slave.  Under a 1664 Maryland slave law, Wright was considered a slave as his father was a slave. During the […]

Peter Spencer, Religious Leader born

*The birth of Peter Spencer is celebrated on this date in 1782. He was a religious leader and the father of the Independent Black Church Movement. Born a slave in Kent County, Maryland, Spencer was manumitted upon the death of his master and moved to Wilmington. A mechanic with some knowledge of the law, Spencer […]

Jarena Lee, Spiritual Abolitionist born

*The birth of Jarena Lee in 1783 is marked on this date. She was a Black preacher and abolitionist.

Mary Lange, Oblate Sisters of Providence Founder born

*On this date in 1784, we celebrate the birth of Mary Lange, O.S.P. She was a Black religious sister and the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the religious congregation established to allow African American women to enter religious life in the Catholic Church. The cause for her beatification has been opened, and thus, the […]

Peter Williams Jr., Priest and Abolitionist born.

*The birth of Peter Williams Jr. is celebrated on this date in 1786.  He was a Black Episcopal priest and abolitionist. Williams was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Peter Williams Sr., a Revolutionary War veteran, and his wife, Mary “Molly” Durham, an indentured servant from St. Kitts. After his family moved […]

Jehu Jones, Minister born.

*The birth of Jehu Jones, Jr. in 1786 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black slave and minister.

Quakers, and American Abolition, a story

*Quakers and American abolition are affirmed on this date in 1787.  Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends) were the only large religious American denomination to make it a requirement of membership to refuse to enslave people.  Quakers struggled internally for a century to come to this place.    Quakers such as John Woolman and Benjamin Lay […]

William P. Quinn, Spiritual Leader born

William Paul Quinn was born on this date in 1788. He was a Black religious leader and the fourth Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

John B. Meachum, Minister born

*John B. Meachum was born on this date in 1789.  He was a Black minister, businessman, and educator. John Berry Meachum was born into slavery in Goochland County, Virginia. His master took him to North Carolina and then Kentucky. Meachum learned several trades, including carpentry. At 21, he earned enough money from carpentry to purchase […]

John Mason Peck, Missionary, and Abolitionist born

*John Mason Peck was born on this date in 1789. He was a white-American Baptist abolitionist, teacher, and missionary. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, to a farming family, Peck received little formal education but, in 1807, began to teach school. He was converted to Christianity at a revival at his Congregational Church. On May 8, 1809, […]

Richard Preston, Canadian Religious Leader, born

*The birth of Richard Preston is celebrated on this date, c. 1791. He was a Black Canadian religious leader and abolitionist. Richard Preston is believed to have been born into slavery in Virginia but gained an education and saved enough to buy his freedom in 1816. He went to Nova Scotia in search of his […]

Bethel AME Church (Philadelphia) is Formed

On this date in 1791, the groundbreaking for the Bethel AME Church of Philadelphia occurred. Mother Bethel Church (as it is called) was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Bethel AME is the second-oldest Black congregation (after St. Thomas in Philadelphia) in the country.

Charles Grandison Finney, Minister born

*Charles Grandison Finney was born on this date in 1792. He was a white-American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist.   Born in Warren, Connecticut, Finney was the youngest of nine children. Finney, the son of farmers who moved to the upstate frontier of Jefferson County, New York, never attended college after the American Revolutionary War. His leadership abilities, musical skills, six-foot-three-inch […]