"Jehu Jones jr."{1786-1852]

He was named after his daddy,a tailor who gained his freedom in 1798 and later owned exclusive hotel in Charleston.Originally connected with the Episcopal Church,Jehu jr became a member of St.John's Lutherian Church in Charleston in the 1820s.Twelve years later,Jehu was ordained in 1832.This was peformed though the New York Synod of the Lutherian Church.He then became a

missionary to Liberia to accompany freed slaves to that African nation.Jehu came back to Charleston after his ordination,and was jailed briefly for violating South Carolina's law prohibiting the immigration of free African Americans.

He eventually settle in Philadelphia the largest city in the country at that time.In June,1833,the Pennsylvania Ministry determined that Jehu be appointed "to as a Missionary...among the colored people in Philadelphia under the direction of our Ministers."On February 16,1834,the St.Paul's congregation he had founded in Philadelphia decided to build a church and to solict support from other Lutheran congregations.In June of that year,he purchased two lots on Quince Street in
Philadelphia for the church.Assisted by Pastors Philip Mayer of Philadelphia and Benjamin Keller of St.Michael's Church in Germantown,Jehu laid the cornerstone for the buildingThe congregation paid nearly 40 percent of the costs by the time the building was dedicated in 1836.Because the rest of the funding (about $1,300) wasn't obtained,the building was sold at a sheriff's auction in 1839.Jehu continued to serve the congregation until 1851.
Throughout his Philadelphia career,Jehu was active in the social and political life of the city. In 1845,he organized a convention at Temperance Hall with the intent of uniting free African Americans to petition local authorities for civil rights.He and members of St. Paul's were active in the Moral Reform and Improvement Society,an association of African Americans Churches in the city dedicated to improving the social conditions of the African American Community.