People, Locations, Episodes

Rufus Perry, Minister, and Journalist born

*Rufus Perry was born on this date in 1834. He was a Black educator, journalist, and Baptist minister. Rufus L. Perry was born a slave on a plantation in Smith County, Tennessee, to Lewis Perry and Maria. Archibald W. Overton owned the family. His father was a talented mechanic, carpenter, and cabinet maker and secured […]

Anthony Burns, Preacher, and Fugitive Slave born

*Anthony Burns was born on this date in 1834. He was a Black Preacher and fugitive slave. Anthony Burns was born enslaved in Stafford County, Virginia. His mother, also enslaved by John Suttle, died shortly after his birth. His mother was a cook for the Suttle family and had 13 children, with him as her […]

Theodore Miller, Minister born.

*Theodore Miller was born on this date in 1835.  He was a Black Baptist preacher and abolitionist.  Theodore Doughty Miller was born in New York City. His parents were Henry and Sarah Miller.  His father died as an infant, and his mother died when he was about sixteen. He had an older brother who went to California […]

Benjamin T. Tanner, Bishop born

Benjamin Tucker Tanner was born on this date in 1835. He was a Black minister and bishop.

He was born in Pittsburgh. After studying at Avery Institute and Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny City, PA, he officiated at the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. He organized the first school for freedmen in the United States navy yard, by permission of an Admiral Dahlgren. At the end of 18, months he returned to his own church, the African Methodist Episcopal, entering the Baltimore conference in April 1862.

Asbury United Methodist Church is Founded.

*The founding of Asbury United Methodist Church is celebrated on this date in 1836. Asbury Chapel is the oldest black United Methodist church in Washington, D.C. The church pioneered Black Methodism in Washington, D.C., and of social history through Slavery, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and the American Civil Rights movement. It is the city’s oldest Black church […]

Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church is Founded

*Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, located in Princeton, New Jersey, was founded on this date in 1836. The church was formed after the Nassau Presbyterian Church allowed former Black members to form their church after a fire devastated the Nassau church. It is among New Jersey’s oldest African American Presbyterian congregations. The sanctuary was built in […]

Thomas Lewis Johnson, Minister born

*Thomas Johnson was born on this date in 1836. He was a Black slave, minister and author.

Thomas Lewis Johnson was from Rock Raymon, Virginia; his grandfather had been brought to America from Guinea, Africa. His mother was also a slave but his father was a freeman. At the age of three, his father attempted to buy his wife and son but they were sent to Alexandria, VA. When Johnson was 12 years old he was separated from his mother by being sent to work in Fredericksburg, VA.

Amanda Smith, Missionary born

*Amanda Smith was born on this date in 1837. She was a Black evangelist and missionary who opened an orphanage for African American girls.

Born a slave in Long Green, Md., she grew up in York County, Pennsylvania, after her father bought the freedom of most of the family. Smith was educated mainly at home and at an early age began working as a domestic. An unhappy first marriage ended with the disappearance of her husband in the American Civil War. In 1863 she married James Smith and eventually moved with him to New York City.

The Michigan Street Baptist Church (Buffalo, NY), is Founded

The Michigan Street Baptist Church was founded on this date in 1837 in Buffalo, NY, one of the oldest Black Baptist Churches in the United States.

Benjamin W. Arnett, Minister, and Politician born

*Benjamin W. Arnett was born on this date in 1838. He was a Black administrator, politician, and minister.

Bethel Institutional Baptist Church is Founded

*This date in 1838 celebrates the founding of the Bethel Church. Originally Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, it was founded in Jacksonville, Florida, and is the city’s oldest Baptist congregation.   Established under co-pastors James McDonald and Ryan Frier, it had only six charter members, four whites and two Blacks; the latter were held as slaves by white members.  Membership quickly grew, […]

Maria Fearing, Missionary born

Maria Fearing, a Black teacher and missionary, was born on this date in 1838.

Fearing, born a slave near Gainesville, AL, completed the ninth grade, learning to read and write at age 33. As a house servant, she spent much of her time with her mistress and the other children. Mrs. Amanda Winston taught her children and young Maria the Presbyterian catechism and told them Bible stories and tales about missionaries in Africa. These stories about Africa left a deep impression on Fearing.

The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, (Washington D.C.) is Founded

*This date in 1839 marks the founding of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church of Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest Black Baptist Churches in the Nation’s Capital.

Elijah Marrs, Soldier, and Minister born

*This date in 1840 is celebrated as the birth date of Elijah Marrs, a Black soldier, minister, and educator. Elijah P. Marrs was born into slavery in Shelby County, Kentucky, to Andrews and Frances Marrs. His father, Andrew, had been granted his freedom by his master before Elijah was born, but his mother was still […]

The Twelfth Baptist Church (Boston) is Founded

*The Twelfth Baptist Church, a historic church in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, was dedicated on this date in 1840. It was established when 36 dissenters broke with the First Independent Baptist Church, which met in what is now known as the African Meeting House. The exact reason for the split is not apparent. […]