"Peter William Jr." (1780-1840)

Clergyman,abolitionist,and opponent of colonization was born in New Brunswick New Jersey around 1780.His family moved to New York City,where he first attended the New York African Free School operated by the Manumission Society.He was also taught privately by Episcopal Church leader,the Reverend Thomas Lyell.He joined a group of black Episcopalians who worshiped at New York's Trinity Church on Sunday afternoons.There lay leader John Henry Hobart confirmed and tutored Peter as well as other future Episcopal clergymen John elected by the congregation as a lay reader and licensed by the bishop.In 1818 Peter led other African American Episcopalians in creating their own church,st.Philip's African Church.The new church was recognized by the Episcopal Church on July 3,1819 as one of the earliest predominately black Episcopal Churches in the United States.On July 10,1826 Peter  Williams Jr.was advanced to the priesthood,becoming becoming the second African American ordained.St. Philip's Church grew rapidly under William's leadership.When the original building burned down in 1820,Peter who had made the rare effort to insure the building,led the effort to replace it with a brick building worth $10,000.The congregation of st.Philip's eventually included a number of prominent black new yorkers including James Mcune Smith the first black physician,Alexander Crummell,a leading educator and supporter of Libera,Charles L. Reason,the first black college professor,and George Thomas Downing,a prominent black businessman.Many of the congregants were attracted by Peter well-known vocal opposition to slavery and his leadership in New York City's African American community.On January 1,1808 he was chosen to give the oration in New York City on the first anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.In 1827,Peter was a co-founder of the first black newspaper Freedoms Journal.He was also a founder in 1833 of the Phoenix Society which provided assistance for impoverished black New Yorkers.Peter focused on the importantance of education and personally financed and encouraged black girls and boys to continue their schooling.After the anti-black race riot in Cincinnati,Ohio in 1829 where white mobs expelled most of the African American population of the city,Peter began to publicly support emigration to Canada and helped raise money for the resettlement of African Americans in Wilberforce, Ortario.One year later he and other black leaders organized the first national convention of African American leaders.The convention met in Philadelphia in 1831 where Peter,a member of the executive  committee,led the the unsuccessful effort to establish a manual training college in New Haven,Connecticut.In December 1833,when the American Anti-Slavery Society was organized,Peter was named as one of six African Americans managers of the interracial organization.On July 7,1834 white New Yorkers,angry over abolitionist activity,and calls for black civil rights, and Job competion,launched a three day rioted against the city's small African American population.Peter and St.Philips were especially targeted because a false rumor claimed that he peformed an interracial marriage in the church.An angry mob destroyed St. Philip's Church.Peter fled to the home of Episcopal Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk who asked him to resign from the American Anti-Slavery Society.After his resignation Peter lost some support among black New Yorkers but still remained an influential figure.