Richard Allen (1760-1831) · CatalogRichard AllenRichard Allen (1760-1831) · CatalogFormerly enslaved preacher who founded Bethel Church and became first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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Richard Allen
1760-1831 · Formerly enslaved preacher who founded Bethel Church and became first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
About Richard Allen
Richard Allen (1760–1831) was born enslaved, probably in Philadelphia, and grew up on a farm near Dover, Delaware, owned by Stokley Sturgis. Converted under Methodist preaching as a teenager, he was allowed by Sturgis, who also became a Methodist, to buy his freedom, which he completed around 1780. He worked as a wagon driver and laborer while preaching widely, and settled in Philadelphia in 1786. With Absalom Jones he founded the Free African Society in 1787. He established Bethel Church, dedicated in 1794, and in 1816 became the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was also active in the convention movement and opposed colonization schemes.
The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen is the autobiography of the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, published in Philadelphia in 1833, two years after his death, together with several shorter writings.