Harry Hosier
The birth of Harry Hosier in 1750 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black preacher and an evangelist.
Born a slave in North Carolina following the Revolutionary War, he gained his freedom and was converted to Methodism. His sermon, "The Barren Fig Tree," preached at Adam's Chapel in Fairfax County, Virginia, in May 1781, was the first recorded Methodist sermon by a Black person in the United States.
Hosier became famous as a traveling evangelist throughout the Atlantic seaboard. He was a companion on evangelistic trips with Asbury, Coke, Jesse Lee, and Freeborn Garrettson and was heralded as one of the greatest preachers of his time.
His influence was among the most critical factors in the early spread of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. At the time, he was the best of his race at what he dedicated himself to preaching, but not organizing.
Harry Hosier died in 1806.
