EARLY DEVELOPMENT
The Negro church continued to go forward. Eight years after the
organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church the membership
easily reached 9,888, including 14 elders, 26 deacons, and 101
licentiates, itinerant and local. Its expansion had been so rapid that
it was soon necessary to establish a western conference to administer
the affairs of the many churches then rising in Ohio. Wishing further to
extend its operations, the church ordained the Rev. Scipio Bean in 1827
to do mission work in the Island of Haiti. The church established there
had as many as 72 members in 1828, and in 1830 it had extended its
operations into the Spanish port of the Island and gained a foothold in
the peninsula of Samana. That same year the Rev. R. Roberts was ordained
a deacon and afterward an elder for missionary work in the same island,
then under the successful administration of President Boyer. Although he
met with some success in the beginning in answering this cry for help in
a distant land, the work undertaken there was not finally successful.
There was an apparent falling off in the membership of certain
conferences after 1830, but this did not indicate any step backward.
Practically the whole membership in South Carolina was by the public
opinion, custom, and laws of that commonwealth, cut off from the church.
There was during this same period extensive progress in the west,
especially in Cincinnati. Great efforts were made to put the church on a
firm foundation. During the conferences of the thirties much attention
was given to the preparation of the ministry through education,
cleanliness in dress, high character, and loyalty to the church. The
work suffered a loss, however, in that Bishop Allen, who had for years
led this flock, passed away in 1831. Bishop Morris Brown, who had been
ordained to the episcopacy in 1828, became then the sole bishop and
continued so until 1836 when Edward Waters was ordained as his
assistant.
Proceeding on a sound basis, the church could not but succeed. The
membership rapidly grew, as is evidenced by the necessity for the
organization of two other conferences in the year 1840. This was the
conference of Canada, which was organized by Bishop Brown at Toronto,
and then came the conference of Indianapolis as a culmination of the
successful missionary labors of William Paul Quinn who was later honored
as the fourth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. There
was an improvement in church literature such as the _Book of Discipline_
and the conference of the year 1836 decreed the publication of a
quarterly magazine for the use and benefit of the connection, appointing
George Hogarth of the city of Brooklyn as General Book Steward.
The denomination had much difficulty in maintaining the Book Concern.
The problem of publication has always been a perplexing one and the
experience of this church was no exception to that rule. The business
seemed to follow the Book Steward from one city to another. In 1847 it
was moved from Pittsburgh to New York. That same year it was decided to
publish a weekly to be called _The Christian Herald_. The first copy of
this publication was issued by the Rev. A. R. Green, in 1848, then in
charge of the Book Concern. In 1852, however, the name of this
publication was changed to _The Christian Recorder_. Its editor declared
that it would be devoted to religion, morality, science, and literature.
Some of the papers published therein show an intelligent insight into
conditions, a deep interest in intellectual forces effective in the
uplift of the people, and a general knowledge of the great factors which
have made the history of the world.
[Illustration: BISHOP CHRISTOPHER RUSH.]
The development of African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was equally
encouraging. After serving his people successfully for some time Bishop
James Varick passed away in 1827. The following year the office was
filled by the election of Christopher Rush, a man who had figured in the
organization of the Zion Church in New York in 1796. Because of his
good foundation in education, his equipoise, reliable judgment, and
Christian piety, Christopher Rush made such a favorable impression upon
those with whom he came in contact that he is often spoken of by the
Zionites as the ablest preacher of his time. He lived throughout the
crisis through which this church had to go, enabling it to extend its
territory so as to compete favorably with the more extensive work then
being accomplished by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Rush
served the connection from 1828 to 1840, a period during which the
membership of the sect increased, new churches easily developed, and the
denomination realized strength and influence. Associated with Bishop
Rush in this effort were Elders Edward Johnson, Durham Stevens, George
Stevenson, David Crosby, Jonathan Gibbs, Arthur Langford, Tower Hill,
John Marshall, Richard Phillips, David Smith, Jacob Richardson, Samuel
Johnson, Abraham Green, and David Stevens. In the New York conference at
this time there were such men as Timothy Eato, Abraham Thompson, Charles
Anderson, William Carmen, George Tredwell, William Miller, Levin Smith,
Jacob Matthews, Peter Van Hass, and Jehiel Beaman.[7]
While the outstanding members of this group were those who became
bishops of the Zionites, several others who did not attain the
episcopacy, frequently showed exceptional power which materially aided
the development of the church. Among these may be mentioned the Rev. S.
T. Fray, a remarkable natural orator noted for his ability to rouse
enthusiasm. He was a man of unusual acumen, easily triumphed in debate,
and as a logician and parliamentarian could vanquish his opponent. There
was also Rev. Henry Johnson who passed among his fellows as "Old
Hickory" because of his strong force of character. Unusually great work
for the church was accomplished by Rev. John A. Williams as a
revivalist. Rev. Leonard Collins was one of the reliable pillars in the
church for a number of years but lost his standing by yielding to the
temptation of strong drink. Honorable mention may be given Basil McKall,
Abraham Cole, and especially David Stevens for their forceful preaching
which moved multitudes to come into the church.
It does not appear that some of the bishops left very much of an
impression, although they were men of extraordinary following. Bishop
Spywood, for example, was retired from his office because there were
more bishops than were needed for that service in the church. Bishop
Moore, who was an inspiring preacher, drawing large crowds and moving
all classes to repentance, was not at ease as a bishop and he too was
retired in 1860.
It was unfortunate, however, that in 1840 a very disturbing factor
appeared so as to arrest the progress of this church. There arose in
this connection an element desiring an assistant superintendent. It
seemed that this desire came from the friends of Rev. William Miller, a
man of changing tendencies. Although a preacher of unusual intellect and
a man of general ability, he did not show much stability of character.
When he was a deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1813,
it appeared that he used his position to do the Zion Church an injury.
At a later period he, with the Asbury Church, joined the Zionites. Yet
with this same church about 1820 he united with Bishop Allen so as to
form the nucleus of the Bethel Church in New York City in 1830; but
returned later to the Zion Church with a fragment of the Asbury
congregation. In spite of this changing record, however, his friends
felt that he should be made superintendent and it was finally done; but
although an assistant superintendent, he never held a conference nor
performed an ordination. It seemed that it was a position of honor
rather than one of usefulness, but he was known as bishop until he died
in 1846.
Two years later when Rev. George Galbreth was elected to this office,
some dispute arose as to whether he should be a full bishop or a mere
assistant, but it was finally decided that he should be an assistant
only. As this did not satisfy all concerned, the friends of Mr. Galbreth
continued the fight and in the conference of 1852 they carried the point
of placing all bishops on equality. Part of their program too was the
retirement of Bishop Rush, who, being feeble and blind, could no longer
serve efficiently. The conference thereupon proceeded to elect Galbreth,
Bishop, and Spywood. Bishop Spywood was retired from this office in 1856
because there were too many bishops for the work to be accomplished in
the field, and during the remainder of his life he was employed as an
agent of the New England Mission Board in which he served successfully.
It happened that soon after the election of the three superintendents,
that is, in 1853, Bishop Galbreth died, leaving two bishops in the
field. How were these bishops then to stand? Was there such a thing as a
senior bishop or were they on equality? Bishop Bishop insisted that he
was the General Superintendent and above and beyond his coworker. As
this did not satisfy both parties he was called to trial; but, insisting
that he was right, he evaded the inquiry and caused a schism in the Zion
Church. Those adhering to the suspended bishop held the territory north
to Philadelphia, south to Charleston and west to Pittsburgh, and called
themselves the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church. The others held
most of New York, New England, and Nova Scotia, and retained the
original name of the body, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
These two factions tended to drift in different directions. In the west
there was a tendency toward Episcopalianism, whereas the east drifted
toward Congregationalism. The question of the church property was
finally taken into the courts, which decided in favor of those who
remained with the denomination. Steps were thereafter taken to heal the
breach which had been produced by the stubbornness of one man and the
haste of a few others in dealing with him. In 1860 the schism was
finally ended by an agreement of the two factions to bury their
differences and unite for the good of the common church.
During these years some smaller movements were in progress. A division
of the Union Church of Africans incorporated at Wilmington, Delaware, in
1807, resulted in the organization of the African Union Church and the
Union American Methodist Episcopal Church in 1850. From the Methodist
Protestant Church a sufficient number of Negroes finally withdrew to
form, in 1860, the First Colored Methodist Protestant Church. These
denominations, however, have not been able to compete in numbers and
influence with the Allenites and Zionites.
These activities of the African Methodist denominations mentioned above
would seem to indicate that the large majority of the Negroes became
members of these new sects, leaving merely a few for the Baptists. As a
matter of fact, however, the contrary was true. The Negro Methodists had
national organization and in most cases intelligent men making a
systematic effort to extend their work. The Baptists, on the other hand,
had both the disadvantages and the advantages of local self-government.
In their undeveloped state this unusual liberty sometimes proved to be a
handicap to the Baptists in that the standard of the ministry and the
moral tone of the churches were not so high as in the case of the
Methodist bodies, whose conferences had power to make local churches do
the right when they were not so inclined. This local self-government of
the Baptists, on the other hand, made possible a more rapid increase in
the number of churches established and the large influx of members in
quest of the liberty wherewith they believed Christ had made them free.
What then was this peculiar feature of Baptist policy which explains the
unusual growth? In the first place, the local Baptist Church is
thoroughly independent of any other organization or church. It may
become associated with other churches in bodies meeting periodically to
devise plans for the common good of the denomination; but it is in no
sense bound by the rules and regulations of such bodies. And should an
association, moreover, exclude a church from its group, that church is
still legally constituted a Baptist church and may join another
association or form one of its own in cooperation with other churches
similarly disposed. Any group of baptized believers of not less than
four, moreover, may exercise the liberty of organizing a church under
the direction of a regularly ordained minister of the denomination and
ordination in the Baptist Church is not a difficulty. With the tendency
of so many members to find fault, to disagree, to follow the advice of
ill-designing persons seeking personal ends, it was a decidedly easy
matter for Negro Baptist churches under these circumstances to split and
thus multiply. While the Methodists might hesitate to establish an
additional church so close to another as to hinder its growth, the
Baptists in the heat of controversial excitement often established two
or three churches where there were not at first enough people to sustain
one; but in the course of time these churches, because of their unusual
liberty in the evangelical effort, would attract so many more than the
other liberal churches that they would all be filled. The Baptists
finally aggregated about as many as all other Negro members of the
various independent Negro churches. It soon happened in the South,
moreover, that where the blacks were freely permitted to embrace
religion the Negro Baptists outnumbered the whites in mixed churches two
to one and sometimes three to one or four to one.
Detailed records of these achievements from a national point of view are
lacking for the reason that the Negro Baptists prior to the
organization of the National Baptist Convention had no national body of
their own. During the antebellum period they belonged largely to the
white churches in the South, occupying certain seats, the Negro pew, or
meeting in the basement of the same edifice for worship at a special
hour on the Sabbath day. In most cities in the North the independent
movement among Negroes brought about the establishment of their own
local churches; but, when associated, they generally belonged to the
white bodies, used their literature, and followed their doctrines. As
many of the white churches and organizations took little account of what
these Negro communicants were doing but rather considered them as an
undesirable but inevitable adjunct, no complete records of their
achievements are extant. Here and there a writer of the history of the
Baptists gave them honorable mention and now and then a Negro Baptist
preacher in a locality had sufficient appreciation of the value of
records to leave an account.
The location and the status of some of these Baptist churches will be
interesting, especially in the South where their development was
retarded by the restrictions of a slaveholding section living in dread
of servile insurrection. During the thirties and forties a number of
Negro Baptist churches were established in the District of Columbia, the
first one being organized by Sampson White in 1839 and reaching its
position of permanence some years later under William Williams, whose
flock was the largest of this sect in the city. As it could not be
associated with Negro churches in the South, then dominated by white men
in the interest of slaveholders, it connected itself with the
Philadelphia Baptist Association. The first Negro Baptist Church in
Baltimore was organized in 1836 and was making unusual progress under
the direction of M. C. Clayton, with a membership of 150 in 1846. A
number of other Baptist churches in the city were soon organized
thereafter, furnishing opportunity for development to its several useful
Negro ministers, among whom was Rev. Noah Davis of the Saratoga Street
Baptist Church.
[Illustration: NOAH DAVIS
A Baptist preacher in Baltimore almost a century ago.]
These places in Maryland, however, were not strictly of the slaveholding
attitude and so were parts of Virginia. An extensive account of the
African Baptist Church of Richmond, established from the white church of
that faith and placed in charge of Rev. Robert Ryland, a white man,
serving at the same time as President of Richmond College, appears
elsewhere. There had been for some years a Negro Baptist congregation in
Portsmouth, mentioned above. There were elsewhere in the State other
Baptist and Methodist churches and some of them almost entirely under
the direction of Negroes. The first African Baptist Church in Petersburg
had 664 communicants, the largest membership in the Middle District
Baptist Association. The largest Baptist Church in Manchester (now
South Richmond) in 1846 was the African Baptist Church with a membership
of 487.
In South Carolina the Negroes were not permitted to separate from the
whites, but they so decidedly outnumbered the latter that the churches
had the aspect of Negro congregations. Of the 1,643 members belonging to
the First Baptist Church in Charleston in 1846 all but 261 were persons
of color. In the Second Baptist Church there were 200 white people and
312 Negroes; in the Georgetown Baptist Church 33 white persons and 298
Negroes. The Welsh Neck Church had 477 Negroes and only 83 whites. In
the Association to which these churches belonged the blacks outnumbered
the whites two to one. No distinction was made between the members of
the two races in the minutes of the Association. The Bethel Association
of this State, however, had for a number of years prior to 1838 reported
the Negro members. It then had 1,502 whites and 637 blacks; but in 1843
the whites were 1,804 and the blacks 1,000.
The main interest in the Negro Baptists of Georgia during this period
centered around the church established in Savannah by Andrew Bryan. For
about two years after the death of the founder in 1812 the church
remained without a pastor, having its pulpit supplied during this period
by Rev. Evans Great. At the end of this interregnum the church set apart
a Sabbath day to pray that the great head of the church would direct
their choice to a worthy successor. Although Andrew Marshall had
served as an assistant pastor under his uncle he had upon his death
become largely engaged in business. The church, however, by a majority
vote chose Andrew Marshall in preference to Evans Great, and the former
entered upon the service with exercises auguring well for success. Being
prosperous in his ministry as well as in his business, Andrew Marshall
was respected not only by his own people but also by the most desirable
whites.
His prosperity and his influence, however, led to a supposed violation
of the laws. After having accumulated a goodly portion of money, he
purchased from certain Negroes who had no permit to trade or sell, some
bricks with which he constructed his two-story brick house. As this was
a violation of the law, his traducers seized upon this opportunity to
humiliate him, and, although his former master interceded in his behalf
and enlisted the sympathy of the best white citizens, he was
administered a whipping as a punishment for this so-called high crime.
This crippled him in his ministry for a while, but he soon recovered
therefrom, having the assistance of Henry Cunningham and Evans Great,
who, in spite of the fact that the latter was defeated by Andrew
Marshall for the pastorate of the church, served under him thereafter as
an assistant pastor and cooperated with him loyally.
Andrew Marshall emerged from these trials but another of more
consequence awaited him. He alienated the affection of the white people
of this denomination by preaching what they considered false doctrines.
Further trouble was caused when he permitted Alexander Campbell, then
called the new light preacher, to speak in the African Baptist Church.
The orthodox Baptist of the city disapproved of Marshall's admitting Dr.
Campbell to his pulpit and disputes in the church immediately followed.
The church became hopelessly divided and its strife was the topic of the
town. Marshall withdrew from the building with one portion of the
church, the other remaining under the leadership of Adam Johnson. As
Andrew Marshall was much more powerful than any other man of his
connection, he carried with him then out of this church a large
majority.
The association to which this church belonged, however, took action in
his case, recommending that Marshall be silenced indefinitely, that the
African Church be dissolved, and that measures be taken to constitute a
new body as a branch of the white Baptist church. The Negro members in
the country, then members of the African Baptist Church in Savannah,
were to take letters of dismission and either unite themselves with the
neighboring churches of the Baptist faith or be constituted as separate
churches. The association also gave its approval of the Christian
deportment of the Second African Church. This, of course, made all of
the Negro churches wards of the white and according to the law no Negro
could exercise the gift of preaching in those churches unless he was
endorsed by two or more white Baptist ministers. As the property of the
First African Church was under the trusteeship of the association, its
will had to be respected. There is no evidence, however, that these
orders of the association were ever carried out. As most of the members
of the churches lived in the country rather than in the city of
Savannah, moreover, the dispute was one in which the minority rather
than the majority of the members were concerned.
Marshall, however, solved his own problems with the assistance of
certain influential white men who enabled him to purchase the old
building of the white Baptists, out of which they moved into a new
church edifice on Chippewa Square. As this was a much larger building
than the old meeting house constructed by Andrew Bryan and Marshall
could preach with more power than any other minister in that vicinity,
he had little difficulty in attracting a larger following, although most
of the official class of the First African Baptist Church deserted him.
Upon the withdrawal of Andrew Marshall and his supporters from the
edifice of the First African Baptist Church and their taking over of a
new edifice, there arose a serious question which even to-day has not
been really settled. This question was whether or not Marshall and his
followers continued the church established by Andrew Bryan or abandoned
it to the control of those who remained and were later accepted in the
Sunbury Association of Georgia as the Third African Baptist Church,
still later known as the First Bryan Baptist Church. The officers in the
control of this church contended that they rather than the followers of
Marshall represented the church as it was established by Bryan. They
insist that, although in being received in the Sunbury Association they
were designated as the Third African Baptist Church, they, nevertheless,
represented the church as it was originally established by Andrew Bryan.
All of the actual officers of the original church and all of the persons
who had represented the church as it originally was in the Sunbury
Association remained to carry on the work as it had been theretofore
without any special organization of a new church and succeeded at the
same time to the possession of this property. They emphasized also the
fact that Andrew Marshall had never represented the church in this
association and that he himself was a member of the Second African
Church rather than of the church of which he was pastor.
This Third African Church, later the First Bryan Baptist Church, then
extended a call to Thomas Anderson, who served them until 1835, when the
congregation secured the services of Steven McQueen. In 1841 the church
was again without a regular pastor but accepted the services of John
Devous, a former deacon of the Second African Church. Soon thereafter
we hear of the resignation of Mr. Devous and the installation of Isaac
Roberts, also a member of the Second African Church. Mr. Roberts proved
to be the most energetic of all pastors in the city after the rise of
Andrew Marshall. He improved the building, inspired the members, and
edified their souls. But upon the death of Thomas Anderson, the pastor
of the Second African Church, Mr. Roberts resigned to accept that
pastorate, in 1849. The church then extended a call to Bristol Lawton of
Beaufort, South Carolina, who preached for just one year and was
succeeded by Garrison Frazer, a Baptist from the State of Virginia. Mr.
Frazer was a man of high church principles and was a good worker in the
ranks. About the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, he resigned and
the church then had ordained for its leadership Rev. Ulysses L. Houston,
who developed much power as a preacher. In this position he extended the
influence of the church and made himself a great factor even among the
white Baptists of the community. He served in this capacity for some
years, laboring through the war into freedom. Andrew Marshall continued
in charge of his church, maintaining himself with the same prestige and
retaining a large following until he passed away in 1856, when he was
succeeded by Rev. William J. Campbell. Andrew Marshall was mourned by
thousands unto whom he had ministered and by tens of thousands who had
observed his good work in delivering the poor that cry and in directing
the wanderer in the right way.
Alabama also had a large number of Negro Baptists although there did not
develop as many independent churches as there were in Georgia. The Negro
membership in the mixed churches was a little more than one-half of the
number. In the city of Montgomery the Negroes were almost three to one.
Probably the most flourishing center was the African Baptist Church at
Mobile. This congregation had once been a part of the First Baptist
Church (white), but in 1839 the congregation was dissolved to form two.
That year the Negro church was admitted to the Bethel Association. The
Negroes had a fine house of worship built by themselves and had
developed among them some intelligent local preachers, among whom were
certain gentlemen known as Heard, Hunton, Hale, Stowe, Collins,
Schroebel, and Grant.
The center of interest among the Negro Baptists in Florida was
Jacksonville. There the First Bethel Baptist Church was organized in
1838 with four whites and two Negroes as charter members. These were
Rev. J. Jaudan and wife, Deacon James McDonald and wife and two slaves
belonging to Jaudan. They held their first meetings in the Government
Block House near the County Court House but later purchased on Church
Street, between Hogan and Julia Streets, a lot on which was built the
first edifice. When later the whites decided to separate from the
Negroes and undertook to dispossess them altogether the court decided
that the property belonged to the Negroes in as much as they were in the
majority. Later, however, the Bethel Baptist Church sold out this
property to the whites and purchased property on the corner of Main and
Union Streets. In our day we have seen the Bethel Baptist Church
incorporated by the State as an institutional church which figures as an
important factor in the life of the Negroes of Jacksonville.
In the western slave States, where the Negroes were few, they were,
nevertheless, found in considerable numbers in the Baptist Church.
One-fourth of the Baptists in Tennessee were Negroes. The membership in
Kentucky was of a much larger proportion. The African Baptist Church of
Lexington was founded by a thrifty Negro who, in spite of the law, was
permitted to remain in the State as a worthy free Negro and as such not
only preached but as early as the thirties had accumulated a fortune
valued at $20,000. In 1846 this church under the leadership of L.
Terrell was the largest in the Elkhorn Association and was considered
"orderly and flourishing." During these years the First African Baptist
Church of Louisville had been developing along the same line and was the
largest in its association, having 644 members. Under the pastorate of
Rev. Henry Adams, a man of considerable education and ability to lead,
it attained a position of much usefulness. The Negro Baptist Church of
St. Louis, founded in 1827, was, in 1848, the largest in its connection
and with the impetus given the work by its pastor, J. B. Meacham, it
became still more influential.
In the North the development of the Negro Baptists did not proceed so
smoothly. In the first place, neither the majority of the Negroes nor a
large percentage of the whites in that section belonged to the Baptist
Church. The northern Negroes, moreover, had something to conjure with.
Methodism among them was a radical independent movement offering liberty
in a sphere in which the Negro had never freely moved. Many Negroes,
therefore, heeded the call of the African Methodists to "come ye out
from among them and work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling." Independent Methodists in the South, however, were more of
an exception to the rule than was the case of the Baptists in the North,
for the Negro Baptists had every opportunity so to worship God in the
North, if they desired, whereas the independent Negro Methodists were
actually prohibited from invading most of the South.
As a matter of fact the Baptist churches were among the first separate
organizations established in the North for Negroes, and as the free
Negroes and fugitives were in the course of time driven out of the South
by the intolerable conditions obtaining there during the reactionary
period, the northern Negro Baptist churches multiplied and their
membership increased. Practically all large urban communities of the
North had some Negro Baptists. Philadelphia was especially well
supplied. There was the First African Church founded by Negroes in 1809,
with a membership of 257, under Richard Vaughn in 1846. The Union
Colored Church, with a membership of 200, was in charge of Daniel Scott.
J. Henderson was the pastor of the Third African Baptist Church, with a
membership of only 61, and William Jackson ministered to a similar
number in the so-called African Church.
Farther north the Baptists were also making progress. The Abyssinian
Baptist Church of New York City was, in 1846, doing well under the
direction of Rev. Sampson White, with a membership of 424. In Boston the
African Baptist Church had held its own, but in New England, where the
abolition sentiment was developing and there resulted a more healthy
sentiment in behalf of fairness for the Negro, the independent movement
among Negro Methodists and Baptists was not generally considered
necessary. Negroes were accepted in white churches and heard preached
and saw practiced the principles of the brotherhood of man and the
fatherhood of God. Only in centers of large Negro population then, as in
Boston, Providence, Newport, New Haven and Hartford, did the Negroes
tend largely to separate from the whites.
To the west, however, where came Negroes fleeing from the persecution of
the southern whites, independent churches flourished much better.
Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, and
Chicago soon found Baptist as well as Methodist churches common. Some of
the pioneers in the group of Baptists were Richard DeBaptiste of Detroit
and later of Chicago, and James Poindexter of Columbus. These in the
course of time so rapidly increased that the Negro Baptists finally
established an independent connection, the Providence Baptist
Association, the first Negro body of the kind in the United States,
organized in Ohio in 1836. Such was the case in Illinois where the
Baptist churches of St. Clair and Madison counties, of Shawneetown,
Vandalia, Jacksonville, Springfield, Galena, and Chicago, representing
about twelve churches, organized in 1838 the Wood River Baptist
Association. Feeling that there was a need for a still larger body, the
churches of these parts organized in 1853 the Western Colored Baptist
Convention.
The progress of these independent churches in the west suffered no
interruption until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, when
many Negroes who had escaped from the South and settled in these cities
had to flee to Canada for safety. In Canada West, the various
settlements saw the influence of the Baptists and Methodists extended,
but for a long time there had been a Baptist church in Toronto which
under Rev. W. Christian was flourishing in 1846, and the Methodists soon
made there a more systematic effort.