John Gloucester (1776 – 1822) was the first

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to become an ordained

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minister in the

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, and the founder of The First African Presbyterian Church at Girard Avenue and 42nd Street in Philadelphia, which had 123 members by 1811.

Biography

The story of John Gloucester was extracted from

Octavius Catto Octavius Valentine Catto (February 22, 1839 – October 10, 1871) was an American educator, intellectual, and civil rights activist. He became principal of male students at the Institute for Colored Youth, where he had also been educated. Born ...

's book ''A Semi-Centenary Discourse''. Gloucester was born with the first name Jack in 1776 as a slave in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. At an early age, he converted other slaves to Christianity. He was taught theology by the Reverend Gideon Blackburn, who "purchased" Jack and freed him in 1806. At 30 years old, Jack took the name John Gloucester. Following his freedom, he requested a licence to preach to Africans to the Presbyter of the Union in East Tennessee. He was sent to Greeneville College where he was the first African-American to attend the school. In 1807, based on Gloucester's ambitions, the Presbytery of the Union Synod of Tennessee recognized that a "slave should be licensed to preach among colored people". John Gloucester arrived with Gideon Blackburn in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1807. He began preaching at a house on Gaskill Street. His congregation grew and eventually moved to the corner of 7th and Shippen (now Bainbridge) Streets. The First African Presbyterian Church was founded in 1807 and built on this spot in May 1811. Gloucester preached his first official sermons to a congregation of 123 people. He then spent two years in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, and came back to Philadelphia as a missionary in 1809. He was sent back to Tennessee and was ordained on 13 April 1810 at Baker's Creek Presbyterian Church. From 1815 to 1822, he was the mentor of

Samuel Cornish Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – November 6, 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small Free Negro, free black community, where ...

who spent his formative years in Philadelphia. He served the First African Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia until he died of pneumonia in 1822.

Personal life

John Gloucester was married to Rhoda. They had 5 children: John Jr., Jeremiah,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

, Mary, and James. The first four children all became Presbyterian ministers, 3 formed their own congregations. His family was enslaved up until 1810, when he was able to gather $1500 to buy them and bring them to Tennessee.

Memorials

The Presbytery of Boston, Massachusetts manages the John Gloucester Memorial Scholarships for Presbyterian college students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloucester, John 1776 births 1822 deaths American Presbyterian ministers African-American Presbyterian ministers Clergy from Philadelphia

Biography

Personal life

Memorials

See also

References