London Ferrill, also spelled Ferrell, (1789–October 12, 1854) was a former
enslaved man and carpenter from Virginia who became the second preacher of the
First African Baptist Church in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, serving from 1823 to 1854. During his 31 years of service, Ferrill attracted and baptized many new members in the growing region; by 1850, the church had 1,820 members and was the largest of any congregation in the state, black or white.
Of
mixed race
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
, Ferrill had been apprenticed as a carpenter when young. His wife, a
free person of color, purchased his freedom and moved to Kentucky by 1812. In Lexington, Ferrill successfully worked with the city's black and white leaders and became highly respected. His funeral procession numbered 5,000 people, the largest in the city after that of the white statesman
Henry Clay
Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
. Ferrill led the first black church west of the
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...
; it was the third oldest black Baptist congregation in the United States and had been founded in 1790 by enslaved preacher
Peter Durrett, also from Virginia.
Early life and education
London was born into slavery in 1789 in
Hanover County, Virginia
Hanover County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover, Virginia, Hanover.
Hanove ...
, where Richard Ferrill, an English immigrant, enslaved his mother. The unmarried enslaver died soon after. Ferrill's estate, including enslaved persons, was inherited by his sister, Ann (Ferrill) Winston. She named the
mixed-race
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
enslaved boy London Ferrill after her brother, who was likely his father.
[A.W. Elder, "Biography of London Ferrill, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Colored Persons, Lexington, KY."](_blank)
A.W. Elder, printer, 1854, 12 pgs, online edition, ''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina, accessed 6 May 2011
''Lexington Herald-Leader'', 21 February 2010, accessed 28 August 2010 As noted by
Edward Ball, author of ''Slaves in the Family'' (1999), a study of the interracial relationships among his ancestors, mixed-race enslaved people were frequently given names that distinguished them from the others. London Ferrill is an example of such naming.
Ann Winston died when London Ferrill was eight or nine years old. When her estate was settled, London was sold away from his mother to Colonel Samuel Overton. Soon, the enslaver
apprenticed Ferrill to learn carpentry, a skilled trade. This was often the pattern for children of white enslavers, giving them an artisan skill to support themselves as adults.
Ferrill was baptized in 1809 at the age of 20 and had a conversion experience with the
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
s. The minister and congregation approved his preaching and singing, and he began to preach more widely in the community.
Marriage and family
As a young man, Ferrill married a free black woman named Rodah Hood, who was also of mixed race.
She bought her husband's freedom from Overton's estate after his death. (Townsend records her first name as Rhoda.)
At that time, Ferrill and Rodah migrated to Kentucky; they settled in Lexington about 1812.
A few years after Rodah died in 1833 during a major
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
in Lexington, Ferrill adopted two orphaned children, siblings Eleazer and Elizabeth Jackson.
He never remarried.
Career
As an enslaved man, Ferrill was not permitted to be ordained. Still, local people asked him to preach, and about fifty people converted under his preaching before he moved to Kentucky. He moved to Lexington, where another preacher, Peter Durrett (known as Old Captain), was preaching at what is known as the First African Baptist Church of Lexington. Durrett was quite old, and the people desired Ferrill to begin preaching. In 1817, he joined the First Baptist Church, a white congregation. The local leaders of the white Baptist community were uncertain whether or not the people Durrett had baptized should be accepted into the church, as Durrett had not been regularly ordained.
[Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p321-326]
Ferrill was ordained in 1822, and leaders of the First Baptist Church helped the
First African Baptist Church be covenanted in "fellowship" in 1822; this allowed it to be independent.
[J. H. Spencer, "Colored Baptists in Early Kentucky"]
in ''A History of Kentucky Baptists'', 1885, Volume 2; rpt. 1988, pp. 653–669, accessed 6 May 2011 In 1823, the Trustees of Lexington formally appointed Ferrill as the preacher for the First African Baptist Church to succeed the aging founder, Peter Durrett. It was the oldest black Baptist church west of the Allegheny Mountains and the third oldest in the United States.
Ferrill worked well with both blacks and whites in the growing city. In 1824, his church was received into the Elkhorn Association, the local Baptist association consisted mostly of white churches.
[ After several years, Ferrill had created considerable goodwill. White leaders initiated a legislative petition to permit him to remain in the state in response to a threat from rivals competing for control of the black church. They had threatened to force Ferrill from the state, using the law that required free blacks from other states to leave Kentucky after 90 days.][
In 1833, Ferrill was notable as among the few clergy to stay in Lexington during the ]cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
, when he cared for the sick, dying, and bereaved. Five hundred of the city's total 7,000 population died, including his wife Rodah and nearly one-third of the congregation of Christ Church Episcopal. Other ministers who stayed were Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith of Christ Church, whose wife died in the epidemic, and Father Ed McMahon of the Catholic Church.[''The Advocate'', The Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, Summer 2008, p. 5]
With the growth of Lexington and the region, Ferrill baptized many new converts, including those in outlying areas. He continued to attract members to his growing congregation. By 1850, the First African Baptist Church had 1,820 members, both enslaved and free peoples, and was the largest congregation, black or white, in the state. Ferrill was said to have baptized 5,000 persons during his years of service in the region.[H. E. Nutter, "A Brief History of the First Baptist Church (Black) Lexington, Kentucky"]
in ''Souvenir, Sesqui-Centennial Celebration, 1790–1940'', Lexington, KY: 1940, accessed 22 August 2010
Death and legacy
Ferrill died of a heart attack October 12, 1854. His funeral procession numbered nearly 5,000, the largest in the city after that two years before for the white planter and statesman Henry Clay
Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
. Because of his high reputation and long service in the city, Ferrill was buried in the Old Episcopal Burying Ground, the only African American so honored.
In 2010, Christ Church Cathedral held a special joint service with First African Baptist to commemorate Ferrill, at which both choirs sang. Christ Church parishioner Robert Voll, who has worked on the monument and community garden projects (see below), said, "London Ferrill was a force for unity, a force for connecting the black and white communities of Lexington."
Legacy and honors
*1854, Ferrill was the only person of color buried in the Old Episcopal Burying Ground.
*2008, Christ Church Cathedral dedicated its community garden in Ferrill's honor.
*2010, Christ Church Cathedral helped gain approval for a city monument installed in Ferrill's honor at the Old Episcopal Burying Ground. The state has also memorialized the site with a highway marker. Christ Church held a joint service with First African Baptist to commemorate Ferrill and the monument.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrill, London
1789 births
1854 deaths
African-American Baptist ministers
People from Hanover County, Virginia
People from Lexington, Kentucky
18th-century American slaves
Free Negroes
19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptists from Virginia
Baptists from Kentucky
19th-century American slaves
People enslaved in Virginia