Sarah Allen (also known as Sara Allen and Mother Allen; née Bass; 1764 – July 16, 1849) was an American abolitionist and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

. She is known within the AME Church as ''The Founding Mother''.

Early life

Sarah Bass was born in 1764 in

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Isle of Wight County is a county (United States), county in the Hampton Roads region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is named after the Isle of Wight, England, south of the Solent, from where many of its early colonists had come. As of the ...

, as a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. When she was eight she was sent to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

. She was no longer enslaved as of 1800. That year she met

Richard Allen Richard, Rick, or Dick Allen may refer to: Artists *Dick Allen (poet) (1939–2017), American poet, literary critic and academic *Richard Allen (abstract artist) (1933–1999), British painter *James Moffat (author) (1922–1993), Canadian-Britis ...

. They married by 1802. They had six children: Richard Jr., James, John, Peter, Sara, and Ann. Allen maintained the family finances and general

homemaking Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

tasks.

Life in Philadelphia and founding of the AME Church

The family purchased property for $35 in Philadelphia. The property housed a

blacksmith shop A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. The shop was planning to relocate and the Allens used their team of

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s to transport the shop to its new location. The property was eventually renovated and made into a church, which would become the founding African Methodist Episcopal Church. Allen was highly involved in the AME Church, which Richard Allen founded. The family hid and cared for

runaway slave ''Runaway Slave'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Showbiz and A.G. It was released on September 22, 1992, via Payday/London Records. The album was produced by Showbiz and fellow D.I.T.C. crew member Diamond D. It features g ...

s and their home was a part of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. The couple used their home and the church to house enslaved people. By 1827, she had founded the Daughters of the Conference. The Daughters supported the male ministers of the AME Church. The women fed and cared for the generally poor and untidy ministers. The women also had a

sewing circle A sewing circle is a group of people who meet regularly for the purpose of sewing, often for charitable causes. Application to sewing Sewing circle participants, usually women, typically meet regularly for the purpose of sewing. They often als ...

to help mend and make clothes for the ministers.

Later life

Allen died on July 16, 1849, at the house of her younger sister in Philadelphia. She is buried alongside Richard Allen at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. The Daughters of the Conference was renamed Sarah Allen Women's Missionary Society.

Early life

Life in Philadelphia and founding of the AME Church

Later life

References

Further reading