People, Locations, Episodes

The First African Methodist Episcopal Church in America is Founded

On this date in 1816, representatives of five Methodist congregations assembled at the Bethel church in Philadelphia.

Emanuel AME Church (Charleston, S.C.) Opens

*The opening of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816 is celebrated on this date.

The First Baptist Church of St. Louis is Founded

*On this date in 1817, The First Baptist Church of St. Louis was founded.  Founded by a free slave named John Berry Meachum and John Mason Peck, a white-American Baptist missionary.  The First Baptist of St. Louis is the oldest African American church west of the Mississippi River.  The First African Baptist Church, now First […]

Elijah Gammon, Minister, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Elijah H. Gammon in 1819 is celebrated on this date. He was an White American minister, businessman and abolitionist.

Alex Crummell, Nationalist, and Missionary born

*Alexander Crummell was born on this date in 1819. He was a Black nationalist and missionary.

Benjamin F. Randolph, Chaplain, and Community Leader born

*The birth of Benjamin Franklin Randolph is celebrated on this date in 1820. He was a Black educator, an army chaplain, a minister, a newspaper editor, a politician,  Early life Benjamin Franklin Randolph was born in Kentucky, the child of free Blacks. He moved with his family to Ohio as a child, where he attended […]

Julia A. J. Foote, Evangelist born

*The birth of Julia A. J. Foote in 1823 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black evangelist and author.

The Sisterhood Of The Good Death is Formed

*The Sisterhood of the Good Death is celebrated on this date in 1823. The Sisterhood of Our Lady of the Good Death is a small but renowned Afro-Catholic religious group in Bahia, Brazil. The history of the “Sisterhood of the Good Death” is part of the history of the Middle Passage of blacks from the African coast to […]

The American Baptist Home Mission Society is Founded

*On this date, 1824, The American Baptist Home Mission Society was founded. This Christian missionary society was established during the Antebellum South era of America. Its main predecessor, the Home Mission Society, was established in New York City in 1832 to operate on the American frontier. Its mission was “to preach the Gospel, establish churches, and give support and ministry to the unchurched and destitute.” […]

Moses Dickson, Minister, and Soldier born

Moses Dickson was born on this date in 1824. He was a Black abolitionist, soldier, and minister.

Born free in Cincinnati, he worked on steamboats during the Civil War and saw first hand the horrors of slavery. In 1846, the Reverend Moses Dickson met with eleven other black men in St. Louis and founded the Twelve Knights of Tabor. (They were also called the Knights of Liberty.) This group was a secret society for blacks who wanted to fight for freedom from slavery. That organization used St. Louis as its headquarters and aided hundreds of slaves to freedom.

Paschal Randolph, Doctor and Occultist born

*Paschal Randolph was born on this date in 1825.  He was a Black medical doctor, occultist, Spiritualist, trance medium, and writer.   Born and raised in New York City, Paschal Beverly Randolph was a free man of mixed race.  His father was William Randolph, and his mother, Flora Beverly, whom he later described as having mixed English, French, German, Native American, and Malagasy ancestry.  During his […]

William Howard Day, Editor, and Minister born

*On this date in 1825, William Day was born. He was a Black abolitionist, editor, educator and a minister.

John R. Bowles, Teacher, and Chaplain born

*John R. Bowles was born on this date in 1826. He was a Black teacher and minister. John R. Bowles was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. Little is known of his youth. By 1848, he had relocated to Ross County, Ohio, where he married Sarah Bryant. Records show they had at least two children. Bowles was […]

Mansfield Tyler, Administrator and Minister born

*On this date in 1826 Mansfield Tyler was born. He was an African American minister and administrator.

Tyler was born a slave near Augusta, GA., owned by a Baptist preacher, he learned to read and write, and became a preacher himself while still in slavery. He was taken to Alabama by his owner in 1854 and after the Civil War (1867), Tyler established a Baptist church in Lowndeboro, Ala.

James H. Holmes, Minister born

*James H. Holmes was born on this date in 1826. He was a Black minister in Richmond, Virginia. James Henry Holmes was born a slave in King and Queen County, Virginia, to Delphia and Claiborne Holmes, slaves on the plantation of Judge James M. Jefferies. Holmes had 15 siblings and worked as a cowboy on […]