African Methodist Episcopal Church Historic Timeline 1703-1987
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African Methodist Episcopal Church Historic Timeline 1703-1987 Transcription of The A.M.E. Church Review, The Book Shelf 1997 Columns 1703 John Wesley born in Epworth, England. 1758 First black was baptized by John Wesley. 1760 Richard Allen was born in Philadelphia. Father, mother, and four children property of William Chew; family sold to a Mr. Stokely in 1767 near Dover, Delaware. 1775 First lodge of black Masons organized by Prince Hall; chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in 1784 as the African Lodge No. 459. Charter delivered to Prince Hall at Boston, May 2, 1787. 1776 Declaration of Independence signed at Philadelphia (July 4). 1777 Richard Allen converted near Dover at the age of 17. He joined St. George Methodist Church after moving to Philadelphia. 1778 Richard Allen, assisted by Absalom Jones, organized the Mutual Aid Society, first mutual insurance group by and for blacks in the world (April 12). 1782 Richard Allen licensed to preach. 1784 Methodist Episcopal Church organized at Baltimore. 1787 United States Constitution ratified. Richard Allen founded the Free African Society. 1788 Andrew Bryan ordained the first pastor of Savannah’s First African Baptist Church (January). 1789 Josiah Henson, model for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was born a slave in Maryland. 1790 First census showed black population of 757,181, with 59,557 free born. 1791 Benjamin Banneker appointed as a member of commission to lay out plans for the District of Columbia. 1793 Dr. Benjamin Rush sought help of Richard Allen to administer care for sick during yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. 1794 Richard Allen and associates adopted a declaration of independence (June 10). Bethel Church organized in Philadelphia. (June 10). Bishop Francis Asbury dedicated the new church built by the “Allenites,” Bethel church located at Sixth and Lombard Street (July 29). St. Thomas Church, Philadelphia, first black Episcopal Church; Absalom Jones, first priest. 1796 African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) organized in New York City. Application for Articles of Association for Bethel Church set forth (August 23). 1797 Sojourner Truth born a slave in Hurley, New York. 1798 Levi Coffin, organizer of the Underground Railroad, born (October 25). 1799 Richard Allen was ordained a deacon by Bishop Asbury, first Afro- American ordained in American Methodism. 1800 Free blacks of Philadelphia presented a petition to Congress opposing the slave trade, the Fugitive Act of 1793, and slavery itself. 1807 Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided in favor of Bethel Church concerning the ownership and governance of the church in dispute with St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. British Parliament abolished slave trade (March 25). 1808 Federal law barring the African slave trade went into effect. 1809 Abyssinian Baptist Church organized in New York City (July 5). 1811 Daniel Alexander Payne born in South Carolina (February 24). 1812 Richard Allen and Absalom Jones requested to help organize defenses for Philadelphia against the British. 1813 Reverends Peter Spencer and William Anderson founded the Union American Methodist Episcopal Church, the first church in the United States organized and entirely controlled by blacks. Withdrew from Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware. 1816 African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) took on organic form at its first General Conference in Bethel Church. Richard Allen, Jr., was elected secretary. Delegation included Daniel Coker, Richard Allen, Richard Williams, Peter Spencer, Jacob Marsh, William Anderson, Henry Harden, Edward Jackson, Edward Williamson, Stephen Hill, Nicholas Gilliard and Reuben Cuff (April 9). Richard Allen was elected and consecrated bishop of the AME Church. Daniel Coker had been elected first but declined. Church Extension Society established at organizational General Conference. 1817 First AME Discipline and Hymnal published. James Forten, black abolitionist, was chairman of the First Negro Convention held in Bethel called by Allen (January 23). Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland (February 14). 1818 AME Book Concern established in Philadelphia by Allen. 1820 Harriet Tubman born a slave in Maryland. First General Conference convened at Philadelphia; Richard Allen, Jr., was secretary (July 9). Richard Allen delivered first Episcopal Address. 1821 Daniel A. Coker, representing the AME Church, left the United States for West Africa under the auspices of the American Colonization Society. 1822 Denmark Vesey planned one of the most extensive slave revolts ever recorded. 1824 Reverend Boggs was the first AME minister to go to West Africa, as a missionary to Liberia. General Conference convened in Philadelphia, Jacob Matthews, secretary (May1-11). 1827 Baltimore Conference dispatched Scipio Bean as a missionary to Haiti. 1828 General Conference convened at Philadelphia; Joseph M. Corr, secretary (May 12-27). Morris Brown (1770-1849) was consecrated bishop. A South Carolinian he served as Allen’s assistant and business manager. 1831 Richard Allen died March 26 in Philadelphia. His widow, Sarah, died July 16, 1849. Six children survived Allen: Richard, Jr., Peter, John, Sarah, Ann and James. Nat Turner led slave revolt in Virginia (August 21-23). Turner executed (November 11). 1832 General Conference convened in Baltimore, Maryland; Joseph M. Corr, secretary (May 10-21). 1833 The Philadelphia Negro Library was organized. 1836 General Conference convened at Philadelphia; George Hogarth, secretary (May 2-11). Edward Waters (1780-1847) consecrated as bishop; pastor from Baltimore. 1839 Amistad affair, famous slave revolt aboard a slave ship. Cinque was the leader. 1840 General Conference convened a Philadelphia; George Hogarth, secretary (May 4-14). 1841 First number of the AME Magazine was published; George Hogarth, editor. First AME Church choir organized in Bethel Church, Philadelphia. 1842 Daniel A. Payne introduced first of his educational resolutions at Baltimore. 1843 Sojouner Truth began her fight against slavery. 1844 General Conference convened at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; M. M. Clark, secretary (May 6-20). William Paul Quinn (1788-1873) consecrated bishop. Born in India, Quinn was general missionary of Western United States. General Conference gave lay membership in the Conference. Missionary Department established. Philadelphia Conference authorized establishment of a high school in Philadelphia. Methodist Episcopal Church, South, split from the Methodist Episcopal Church on the slavery question. Ohio Conference established Union seminary as the first direct effort made toward the establishment of schools for Afro-Americans (September 21). 1846 AME and AMEZ churches considered organic union. 1848 General Conference convened at Philadelphia; M. M. Clark, secretary (May 1-23). Bishop Quinn delivered first written Episcopal Address. Purchase of The Mystery, edited by Martin R. Delaney; by the AME Church. General Book Steward A. R. Green changed the title of newspaper to the Christian Herald. 1852 General Conference convened at New York City; M. M. Clark, secretary (May 3-20). Willis Nazrey (1808-1874) consecrated bishop, pastor of Bethel Church, Philadelphia. Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893) a South Carolinian; apostle of education; founder of Wilberforce University; consecrated bishop. Church divided into episcopal districts, sanctioned by General Conference of 1876. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published. 1853 William Wells Brown wrote Clotel, first novel by a black. 1855 Black troops mustered into Confederate service (March 24). 1856 General Conference convened at Cincinnati, Ohio; Alexander W. Wayman, secretary (May 5-20). Denominational seal ordered, with “God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, and Man our Brother,” inscribed on it. Canadian churches request to be separated from their American colleagues. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) born in Virginia. Wilberforce University founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio (August 30). 1857 Dred Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court opened federal territory to slavery and denied blacks citizenship (May 6). 1858 William Wells Brown published The Escape, first play written by an American black. 1859 The last slave ship, Clothilde, landed its cargo of slaves at Mobile, Alabama. John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry (October 16). 1860 Abraham Lincoln elected President (November 6) General Conference convened at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Alexander W. Wayman, secretary (May 7-25). 1861 Fort Sumter fired upon (April 12). 1862 Daniel A. Payne visited Abraham Lincoln in the interest of emancipation of the slaves (April). 1863 Daniel A. Payne purchased Wilberforce University from the Methodist Episcopal Church for $10,000 and merged with Union Seminary. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1). 1864 General Conference convened at Philadelphia; Alexander W. Wayman, secretary (May 22-27). Alexander W. Wayman (1821-1895) consecrated; Maryland born pastor of Bethel Church, Baltimore. Jabez Pitt Campbell (1815-1891) consecrated bishop; pastor of Ebenezer Church, Baltimore. General Conference elected first Secretary of Missions: John M. Brown. AME and AMEZ churches consider organic union at Philadelphia. Henry M. Turner proposed union with AMEZ Church. 1865 Wilberforce University was a victim of arson on the same night that President Lincoln was assassinated (April 14). Abraham Lincoln died in Washington, D. C. (April 15). Daniel A. Payne organized the South Carolina Conference,