"Peter-Williams Jr."(1780-October 1840)

Clergyman,abolitionist,and opponent of colonization was born in New Bruswick,New Jersey.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 Rev.Thomas Lynell.Peter joined a group of African American Episcopalians who worshipped  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 also officiated at Peter wedding.When John died peter was elected by the congregation as lay reader and licensed by the bishop.


In 1818 Peter  led other African American Episcopalians in 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 African American Episcopal churches in the United States.On July 10,1826,Peter was advanced to the priesthood,becoming the second African American ordained.


St.Philip's Church grew rapidly under Peter's leadership.When the original structure burned down in 1820 Peter,who had made the rare effort to insure the structure,led the effort to replace it with a brick building worth $10,000.The congregation of St.Phillips eventually included a number of prominent African Americans New Yorkers including James McCune Smith,the first African American doctor,Alexander Crummell,a leading educator and supporter of Liberia,Charles Lewis Reason,the first African American college professor,and George Thomas Downing,a prominent African American businessman.


Many of the congregants were attracted by Peter's 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 African American newspaper Freedom's Journal.He was also a founder in 1833 the Phoenix Society which provided assistance for improverished African American New Yorkers.Peter focused on the importance of education personally financed and encouraged African American girls and boys to continue their schooling.


After the antiAfrican American 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,Ontaario.One year later he and other African American 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 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 American managers of the interracial organization.On July 7,1834 white New Yorkers,angry over abolitionist activity,and calls for African American civil rights,and job competition,launched a three day rioted against the city's small African American population.Peter and St.Phillips were especially targeted because a false rumor claimed that he had peformed an interracial marriage in the church.An angry mob destroyed the St.Phillip'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 African American New Yorkers but still remained an influential figure.