Absalom Jones (1746-February 13,1818)

Was an African- American abolitionist and clergyman.After founding a black congregation in

in 1804 he was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States.He is listed on the Episcopal Calendar of saints and blessed under the date of his death,in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer as "Absalom Jones,Priest,1818."Absalom was born into slavery in Sussex Delaware.When he was sixteen, he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.One of  the store's clerks taught him to write.While still a slave of Mr.Wynkoop, he married Mary King,another slave on January 4,1770.By 1778 he had purchased his wife's freedom so that their children would be free,and in another seven years he was able to purchase his own.He became a lay minister for black members in the interracial congregation of St.George's Methodist Church.Together with Richard Allen,he was one of the first African American licensed to to preach by the Methodist Church.In 1787 He and Richard,together with other black members,left St.George's as they were tired of being segregated to a gallery and given second-class status in the congregation.They founded the Free African Society (fas),first conceived as a nondenominational mutual aid society,to help newly freed slaves in Philadelphia.He and Allen separated over their different directions in religion,but they remained lifelong friends and collaborators.At the beginning of 1791,Absalom started holding religious services at FAS.This became the core of his congregation for a new church.Wanting to establish a black congregation independent of white control.In 1792 he founded the congregation of the African Church in Philadelphia.It petitioned to become an Episcopal Church.He was ordained as a deacon in 1795 and a priest in 1804,the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church.He was a well-known orator and helped establish in the tradition of anti-slavery sermons on New Year's Day.A month after the church opened,the Founders and Trustees published "The causes and Motives for establishing St.Thomas's African Church of Philadelphia." clearly stating their intent."to arise out of the dust and shake ourselves,and throw of that servile fear,that the habit of oppression and bondage trained us up in.It was rumored that Absalom possessed supernatural abilities to influence the minds of assembled congregations.White observers failed to recognize his oratory skills and believed rhetoric to be beyond the capabilities of black people.Numerous other African-Americans leaders were similarly implicated in supernatural activities due to these beliefs.After he was said to be the first slave to be a priest in the 19 century,he took part of the first group of African-Americans to petition the U.S. Congress.Their petition related to the 1793 Fugiitive Slave Act which was criticized for encouraging cruelty and brutality,and noted the danger which free blacks risked of being kidnapped and sold into slaverly.While U.S. Representatives George Thatcher of Massachusetts responded with the desire to amend the Fugitive Slave Act,other representatives'resistance to changing the law forced his proposal to fail.