MORGAN'S HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY CONFERENCE Page 226
Deacon in 1799 by Rt. Rev. Francis Asbury, of the Methodist Church. At the organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, he was elected and ordained a bishop for said church by their first general conference, and was the first African Bishop in America, which office he filled for upwards of fourteen years with uncommon zeal, fidelity, perseverance and sound judgment. He was an affectionate husband, a tender father and a sincere christian. He finished his course in this city, after a tedious illness, which he bore with christian fortitude, until the 26th day of March, 1831, in the seventy-second year of his age, gloriously triumphing over death, and in the hope of a better resurrection through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Was born at Charleston, S. C. Soon after his conversion he entered the M. E. Church and was licensed to preach. He remained there until the organization of the A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia, Pa. He was delegated by the colored members of the M. E. Church to visit Philadelphia and see Bishop Allen, and if approved by the conference he was to be ordained and returned to Charleston to organize an A. M. E. Church. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia he was gladly received by Bishop Allen, and the conference elected and ordained him Deacon and Elder. When he returned to Charleston he organized the A. M. E. Church and in a short time had fifteen hundred members. About this time an insurrection broke out in South Carolina, headed by a man by the name of Denmark Vessey. The ministers of Morris Brown's church were suspected of being particeps criminis, and the white friends of Morris Brown advised him to leave Charleston. He was therefore placed on board a ship and sent to Philadelphia, Pa., and engaged in the business of boot and shoe making. In 1828 he was elected and ordained Bishop. He used to cross over the Alleghany mountains on horseback to attend the Western Conference. While attending the annual conference in Canada, in 1844, he was paralyzed, and was brought home by his old friend and brother, Rev. N. C. W. Cannon. He died in 1850.
Previous Page in Book ****************************** Next Page in Book
|