The AME Church and Kentucky Underground Railroad

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and its Kentucky relationships.

The AME Church, originally founded by people of African descent, has always been a religious denomination inclusive of people of all races. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) was founded after several Black members left St. George Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in protest of the lack of freedom to worship without racial discrimination. Mother Bethel AME Church was founded in 1794 and later became a center for Underground Railroad activity among AMEs in the tristate area of north central Kentucky and southern Indiana and Ohio together with their Quaker allies.

The AME Church’s Itinerancy is a system of traveling missionaries and clergy assigned to multiple stations, missions, or circuits. The church used this system to create a support system between the Allied support against Slavery in the Free States and the States that supported Slavery.

In the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an affiliated local organization would classify as one of the following:

A Mission church is a small dependent local congregation or church.

A Circuit church is when two or more churches are under the supervision of a single pastor.

The Station is one church that has one Pastor assigned.

In 1824 the AME Church consisted of five (5) churches in Western Pennsylvania and six (6) in Ohio. AME missionaries and clergy were traveling through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Rev. William Paul Quinn reported that missions were started in Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky to oppose the institution of slavery.

Source: “1824GeneralConference”,TheRightReverendTaylorT.Thompson,“TheLegacyof AfricanMethodismintheThirdEpiscopalDistrict”,DigitalEdition:pp.3rd_DistrictLegacy AME_033,https://digitalcollections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/26046/rec/1,July3,2023.

Oral tradition spoke about how early African Methodist Episcopal local congregations were “Stops” on the Underground Railroad network in Kentucky. There were also stories of how early congregations were raided, destroyed, or burned to the ground. Free or enslaved Black

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

individuals could not organize or meet without permission or the illusion of permission from a White person. The permission or the illusion of permission allowed congregations to meet away from their enslavers at other locations. The meeting locations for these congregations were normally purchased by Free Blacks or land designated for them to meet by sympathetic White people. Pre-Civil War records for the Kentucky AME Churches are limited due to the brutality of slavery and Jim Crow.

It is our hope that this brief publication will help us in the retrieval of crucial aspects of our history by enabling us to compare names, dates, people, and places that may have links via our local congregations and communities. The AME Church 1824 General Conference documents confirm that there were mission churches. Our current emphasis has been on Kentucky. Following are some of the stories of Enslaved Emancipated and Freeborn and the ministers who left Kentucky or who have traveled within Kentucky and affiliated with the AME Church.

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William Paul Quinn was born free on April 10, 1788, in Hindustan, near Calcutta, India, and was introduced to Christianity by an Englishwoman, Mary Wilder from England. His family was wealthy from mahogany trading from which he was ostracized after adopting Christianity. He then sought refuge in England where he adopted an anglicized name. He later arrived in New York around 1806 and became a member of the Hicksites, a Quaker sect founded by Elias Hicks. The sect was known for its activist role in antislavery movements. He was introduced to Methodism in 1808 and later became one of the Horseman of the AME Church. His equestrian skills allowed him to travel faster and greater distances.

Rev. William Paul Quinn was arrested in Louisville when he arrived to meet the congregation of Quinn Chapel for the first time at the Bethel House of God in 1838. The local enslavers did not approve of independent Black churches. Rev Quinn was elected a Bishop in the AME Church in 1844.

Source:

"William Paul Quinn," Dennis C. Dickerson, "The African Methodist Episcopal Church: A History,"Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2020.Kindlepages67 – 68 & 85.

“William Paul Quinn,” https://www.facebook.com/ame7th/posts/bishop-william-paul-quinnwas-the-fourth-bishop-of-the-african-methodist-episcop/1066238786905260/

Rev. Dandridge F. Davis was born free in Virginia in 1807 and moved with his parents to Kentucky. His ministry started with the White Methodist Episcopal Church. He traveled through the states of Kentucky, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia preaching to all races. While enrolled at Augusta College in Kentucky during 1834, Davis continued to preach in Kentucky and Ohio. In 1835 Rev Dandridge was ordained in the AME Church under Morris Brown (1770-1849) and assigned to the Ohio Columbus Circuit which, at that time, included Kentucky.

Source:

A.R.Green,“TheLifeoftheRev.DandridgeF.DavisoftheAfricanM.E.Church,” (Pittsburgh,PA,BenjaminF.Peterson,1850),6–7,20–23,25–26.

Rev. Turner W. Roberts, born into slavery in North Carolina, escaped to Indiana and entered the AME itinerancy. He served as a pastor in Salem, Indiana, in 1847 and 1848, he transferred to Kentucky. Rev. Roberts was arrested and placed on the auction blocks. A benevolent Enslaver bought his freedom and Rev. Roberts left Kentucky vowing to refuse any other appointments in a slave state.

Source:

“Reverend Turner W. Roberts,” Cory D. Robbins, “Reclaiming (The) African Heritage at Salem,”Indiana(BerwynHeights,MD,HeritageBooks,1995),p.77.

Allen Temple A.M.E. Church in Cincinnati, Ohio can trace its early beginnings to Methodist members of the Deer Creek Church. Deer Creek Church was organized among the people of color in Cincinnati around 1815. The original church building was designed by a Black carpenter, Joseph Dorcus, who became their first (1st) minister but could only serve part-time because of his job as a carpenter. The members wanted a full-time minister, so they leased an enslaved minister from Lexington, Kentucky named James King. The Reverend James King served the congregation for several years with his owner's permission to travel until he was arrested by Jack Chambers. Rev King had to appear before the local magistrate named Squire Mahard, who declared him a free man. Reverend King never returned to Lexington, Kentucky, and hid for two years until his Kentucky slaveholder gave up the search. The Black members were disappointed with how

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

they were treated, they left Deer Creek Church around 1823. They began to meet in the homes and organized on Feb 4, 1824, by Rev. Moses Freeman into the AME Church. This church was on the Underground Network circuit.

Source:

“AfricanMethodistEpiscopalChurchofCincinnati,BenjaminWilliamArnett,andDanielMurray PamphletCollection.Proceedingsofthesemi-centenarycelebrationoftheAfricanMethodist Episcopal Church of Cincinnati, held in Allen Temple, February 8th, 9th, and 10th, with an account of the rise and progress of the colored schools, also a list of the charitable and benevolent societies of the city. Cincinnati": H. Watkin, Printer, 1874. Pdf., p15., https://www.loc.gov/item/91898101/.

Warren A.M.E. Church in Toledo, Ohio was founded by eight (8) persons and runaways from slavery in 1847 to have a place of their own to worship. "During the revolutionary period, Rev. Henry J. Young migrated from Kentucky via the underground railroad and became the leader."

Source:

“WarrenChapel,”TheRightReverendTaylorT.Thompson,“TheLegacyofAfricanMethodism intheThirdEpiscopalDistrict,”DigitalEdition:3rd_DistrictLegacyAME_159, https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/26169, p. July 6, 2023.

Bishop John Mifflin Brown was born September 8, 1817, in Odessa, New Castle County, Delaware, and died March 16, 1893. His grandfather was a Methodist minister. He joined the AME Church at Bethel in Philadelphia in 1836 and in 1846 he became a deacon. He was ordained a Bishop in May of 1868 and at the time of his death, he was the Presiding Bishop of the Eleventh (11)Episcopal District. The Eleventh (11) Episcopal District included Kentucky and Tennessee.

He attended several schools in Massachusetts and New York. He enrolled at Oberlin College in the fall of 1846 and remained there for four (4) years. While at Oberlin College he met Calvin Fairbanks and Delia Webster. They also worked together to aid runaways across the Ohio River to freedom.

At the request of Rev. Brown and Gilson Barry, Calvin Fairbanks traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1844 with the aim of retrieving Gilson Barry's enslaved family. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, Gilson Barry's family could not be located and rescued. Instead, Clavin Fairbanks along with the aid of Delia Webster left Lexington with Lewis Hayden and his family.

Rev. Calvin Fairbank and Delia Webster were arrested in Kentucky for assisting the runaways. Webster was sentenced to two (2) years in December 1844 but was pardoned by the Governor after serving 2 months. Fairbank was sentenced in 1845 to a 15-year term. He served five years. He was pardoned in 1849 with the assistance of his father. In 1852, he was sentenced again to fifteen (15) years in the state penitentiary. It has been an oral tradition that the AME Church with Lewis Hayden assisted monetary towards his litigation fees.

Lewis Hayden, known before his freedom as Lewis Grant, was born a slave on December 2, 1811, in Lexington, KY, into the house of Rev. Adam Rankin, a Presbyterian minister. His previous marriage and family ended in tragedy because his family was sold. In 1840 he married a fellow slave, Harriet Bell (c.1811-1893). At the time of escape, his owner had leased him to the Phoenix Hotel located in Lexington, KY.

Lewis Hayden openly exhibited his attachment to the A.M.E. Church and the Reverend John Mifflin Brown along with his work in the Underground Railroad. His funeral was held at Charles-Street African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is very plausible that Lewis Hayden, born within one-half (0.5) miles of Historic St. Paul AME in Lexington, knew members of the church. He escaped Lexington with his family in 1844.

Source:

Runyon, Randolph Paul. Delia Webster and the Underground Railroad (p. 33, 39,). The UniversityPressofKentucky.KindleEdition

"Lewis Hayden's funeral held at Charles-Street African Methodist Episcopal Church." Newspapers.com,TheBostonGlobe,April11,1889, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-lewis-hayden-funeralhe/120015025/;June29,2023.

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

The Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Oberlin, OH, now called Oberlin College, in 1835 became the first white institution to admit African American male students. Oberlin Collegiate Institute was an educational resource for the AME Church missionaries and clergy.

In 1853, Rev. John Gregg Fee founded the town of Berea, Kentucky with a donation of land from wealthy landowner Cassius Clay. Rev Fee was an abolitionist, educator, and minister. In 1855, Rev. Fee founded Berea College which was modeled after Oberlin College in many respects. Berea College

Historic St. Paul AME Church (HSPAME)

In 1820 some members of the Hill Street Methodist Society Church left to rent a brick horse stable located at 251 North Upper Street from a banker named Charles Wilkins. A local Black preacher named William Smith served as the church's first pastor. Today, HSPAME remains active in the same location in which it was founded and is recognized as being the oldest continuously used existing house of worship in Lexington.

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

The city of Lexington had residents with opposing political views on the institution of slavery. It is important to note the historical significance of the proximity of HSPAME and its Underground Railroad to the Antebellum Enslaved Auction Block, then called Cheapside Park (just fourteenth (0.4) of a mile, about a seven (7) -minute walk). Cheapside was Kentucky's largest slave market, not only among Kentucky slave owners but the deep South slave markets of New Orleans, Mississippi, and more. Ironically Cheapside Park is now Henry A. Tandy Centennial Park, renamed in July 2020 after emancipated slave and Black entrepreneur, and HSPAME member and Trustee Henry A. Tandy.

The current church building was built in 1826, as evidenced by the cornerstone. The church building features traditional Federal style factors with a low-pitched roof over the whole historic structure except the bell tower. The smooth brick façade with delicate joints is reminiscent of the Federal style. The rafters and ceiling joists in the historic church are made of mahogany wood that originated from Michigan. It was rare to see this type of wood in the Lexington area in the 1820s. The building also includes approximately twenty (20) floor-to-ceiling stain-glass windows in the sanctuary. Each historic window has a biblical significance and story.

In addition, a hidden, narrow staircase behind the pulpit rises steeply and twists until it comes to the door of a small room above the sanctuary, a hidden Underground Railroad Station (UGRR).

The church membership consisted of Enslaved as well as Emancipated and Freeborn people of Lexington of which some were successful entrepreneurs in the community and were able to financially support the UGRR operations. There have been several previous writings that spoke of our affiliation with Methodist or Methodist South, however, we have been unable to identify significant evidence to substantiate this affiliation to our satisfaction. The current evidence supports the fact that the church was aided by the other abolitionists and benevolent enslavers in the city.

Operating a UGRR station or UGRR safe house location was extremely dangerous in Kentucky. The church membership would hide the freedom-seeking slaves, sometimes for several days, in the hidden areas of the church above the sanctuary and/or in members' homes. They would be housed in place until it was safe for the horse-driven carriage to pull into the alleyway behind the church.

Once the carriage arrived, a bell was rung, and the runaways had only five minutes to get out. As for being tracked by slave catchers, the fugitives had a clever way of masking their scent. The city stray dog pound and cattle pen was right next to the church. The fugitive slaves walked through the dung, etc. at the pound. The stench hid their scent from the overseers seeking to find them. If someone couldn’t make it out, members of the church would take them in for about three weeks until the next group came.

A major strength of HSPAME’s UGRR was the dedication of the church’s members who served as “UGRR stationmasters,” and the ability to hide in plain sight. In spite of some members being emancipated or freeborn, not lost to them was their firsthand experience and/or keen knowledge of the painful inhuman life of Kentucky's slavery.

The SPAME hidden "station" continued operations through the end of the Civil War, reaching its peak between 1850 and 1860 after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. "Believe it or not" it remains in our church today.

Available records and recordings for church members who were free and able to purchase land have enabled us to get a glimpse of some of the members who operated this UGRR station. However, this is not the case for other Deed signers as well as some of the traveling AME Ministers who were also free and able to purchase land.

In May 1827, Deed Records tell us that Charles Wilkins sold the property to church members for $280.00 and the lot size was 33 x 95 feet. The Trustees who signed the HSPAME Deed were Daniel Francis (who later became one of our pastors, John Skinker, Benjamin Tibbs, William Dolan, and Peter Lewis.

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

Benjamin Tibbs – Father and Son were members of HSPAME. The business location of the Tibbs was on Water St which was just a block from the Phoenix Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. It is highly probable that Tibbs and Lewis Hayden were acquainted, particularly due to Hayden’s tenure at the Phoenix Hotel. Available information allowing us a better glimpse of the father Benjamin Tibbs includes the HSPAME deed, the 1838 City Directory listing his business on Water St., and the 1830 census data report of him listed as an enslaver in Lexington. He would have been considered a Benevolent Enslaver.

Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830, compiled and edited by C. G. Woodson, pp. 47]. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2713436; July 5, 2023.

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7jsx645r2f?f%5Bsource_s%5D%5B%5D=Lexington+Ci ty+Directories&per_page=20#page/1/mode/1up - “DirectoryoftheCityofLexingtonand CountyofFayettefor1838and'39”

"BenjaminTibbsdeathnotice"Newspapers.com, LexingtonHerald-Leader,January18, 1898, https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexingtonherald-leader-benjamin-tibbs-d/117572570/.

Benjamin F. Tibbs (1825 - 1898), his son’s death notice in the newspaper stated, “He was reputed to be one of the wealthiest colored men in the state.

Benjamin Tibbs married Mary Laugfort in 1864,

A glimpse of the son Benjamin Tibbs

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

calculated using a newspaper article reporting them celebrating their silver wedding anniversary on December 27, 1889.

Tibbs was elected Treasurer at the First (1st) Convention of Colored Men in Kentucky held in March 1866 at Historic St Paul AME Church, Lexington. He along with others ventured into a business enterprise named Intelligent Publishing Co in 1891. His funeral was held at St. James AME Church in Danville, KY on Jan 19, 1898, and his age was reported as seventy-three (73) years old.

"BenjaminTibbsfuneralatSt.JamesAMEDanville,KY."Newspapers.com,Kentucky Advocate,January19,1898,https://www.newspapers.com/article/kentucky-advocatebenjamin-tibbs-funeral/127655490/.

"BenjaminTibbs&MaryLangfordSilverWeddingAnniversaryinDanville"Newspapers.com, KentuckyAdvocate,December27,1889, https://www.newspapers.com/article/kentucky-advocate-benjamin-tibbs-mary/126953347/.

Charles Wilkins, an enslaver was a local banker, a Trustee at Lexington’s Transylvania University, and a saltpeter dealer. He was also an officer in the first bank established in the State of Kentucky, which was in Lexington, incorporated by the Legislature on December 16, 1802, under the name Kentucky Insurance Company. He had a partnership with his brother John, producing saltpeter from the Great Saltpeter Cave (Mammoth Cave), and other caves in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. We can assume that sometime in 1827 Charles Wilkins passed away due to the paper notice of his estate sale on December 8, 1827.

Source:

"SalesnoticeofSlavesofCharlesWilkinsandsettlinghisestate"Newspapers.com,Kentucky Reporter, December 8, 1827, https://www.newspapers.com/article/kentucky-reporter-salesnotice-of-slaves/117105845/

We found one (1) newspaper article from the Kentucky Reporter on May 26, 1830, that John Skinker's house was under quarantine due to a child or family member visiting from Cincinnati, Ohio had contracted smallpox. His home was located off Limestone outside the city limits.

Source: "John Skinker Free smallpox infection 1830" Newspapers.com, Kentucky Reporter, May 26, 1830, https://www.newspapers.com/article/kentucky-reporter-john-skinker-freesmal/117581762/.

In 1830, much of the stable was removed, and the remaining structure of the original stable is still in the foundation of the HSPAME church basement.

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

The City Directory of Lexington and County of Fayette for 1838 and '39

Published date 1838

by MacCabe, Julius P. Bolivar lists HSPAME as "African Church Methodist Episcopal North Upper St." It was also written "in the care of the Reverend Isaiah Whitaker missionary to the people of colour" on page 86. ” Divine services at 11 o'clock and candle-light every Sunday. This church is under the care of the Rev'nd. Isaiah Whitaker, missionary to the people of colour.”

The book also lists the following census information:

Whites 517,587

Free 4,917

Slaves 687,917

Source:

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7jsx645r2f?f%5Bsource_s%5D%5B%5D=Lexington+Ci ty+Directories&per_page=20#page/1/mode/1up

In 1850, on March 15, an additional lot was bought, 7 feet front x 95 feet back for $1. Charles Buckner, James Turner, Robert Dolan, Liberty Ross, and Moses Spencer.

Reverend James Turner (1818-1885) purchased his freedom in 1842 and married Arena Harvey in 1855. They had three (3) daughters named Susie, Betty, and Louisa. They all are buried in the Lexington African Cemetery #2. Reverend Turner pastored several AME churches along with serving HSPAME when he was enslaved and after his emancipation.

Reverend Turner was elected Treasurer of the Lexington Colored Agricultural and Mechanical Association which was established on August 11, 1869, and he served until 1874. Other recognizable church members names of this association were Henry Britton, JC Jackson served as President in 1873, Jupiter Lewis had served 2 terms by the year 1897, and Robert Robinson was listed in a list of memorials to the Association.

This association created an annual Emancipation Day event held called the Lexington Colored Fair. The annual fair was so financially successful that the organizers were able to reinvest in other projects.

Source:

“BiographicalsketchesofprominentNegromenandwomenofKentucky” Johnson,W.D.[WilliamDecker],1897,Page79-85

TimTalbott,“LexingtonColoredFairAssociation,”ExploreKYHistory,accessedJune29,2023, https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/304.

Charles Buckner had a business listed as "Buckner Chas., Cooper shop, e s Upper b High and Maxwell."

Source:

FreePersonsofColorinLexington,FayetteCounty,Kentucky,1859

Source:Williams'Lexington[KentuckyDirectory,CityGuide,andBusinessMirror,VolumeI - 1859-60,CompiledbyC.S.Williams,Lexington[Kentucky]:Hitchcock&Searles,1859, https://www.kykinfolk.org/fayette/free_persons_1859.htm,July8,2023.

On July 8, 1862, the Church purchased a lot size 125 front x 100 feet back for $400.00, The lot is listed as being a part of a stray pen (a hold place for animals), Trustees on the deed are Moses Spencer, Henry Britton, Andrew Bryant, Henry Bryce, and John W Bell.

Regarding being tracked by slave catchers, the purchase of the city stray dog pound and cattle pen was right next to the church. Oral history recited that the runaways walked through the dung, etc., at the pound before leaving the alley. The stench hid their scent from trackers seeking to find them. If someone could not make it out, members of the church would take them in for about three weeks until the next group came. Not only did our church help freedom seekers, but their actions also served to undermine the institution of slavery.

John W. Bell is listed on page 41 in the 1838 City Directory as a “livery stable keeper at 41 W.Water St.”

Source:

“DirectoryoftheCityofLexingtonandCountyofFayettefor1838and'39”;1838;MacCabe, Julius P. Bolivar; Collection Lexington City Directories (“1838-39 City Directory AppendixLexington(Fayette)KY - KYKinFolk.org”)

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7jsx645r2f?f%5Bsource_s%5D%5B%5D=Lexington+Ci ty+Directories&per_page=20#page/77/mode/1up/search/bell; July8,2023.

Andrew Bryant's business entry was boots and shoes, e s Upper b High and Maxwell

Source:

William's Lexington [Kentucky] Directory, City Guide, and Business Mirror, Volume I, 185960",compiledbyC.S.Williams,Lexington,[Kentucky]:Hitchcock&Searles,1859, https://www.kykinfolk.org/fayette/free_persons_1859.htm;June29,2023.

Moses Spencer (died: 8-20-1877) was a second-hand furniture dealer whose business was located on Main Street. He would be considered a Benevolent Enslaver. “He began building his fortune before the Civil War, and by the 1870s he possessed personal and real property valued at about twenty thousand dollars.” After the Civil War, he sold the furniture business and opened a new store on Short and Market Streets. At one time, he was considered Lexington’s most successful African American businessman. He is buried in African Cemetery No. 2 in Lexington.

Source: Lucas,MarionB.AHistoryof BlackPeoplein Kentucky:From SlaverytoSegregation,1760-

1891. University Press of Kentucky, 2003, p.280, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1w76tk3, July 5,2023.

Henry Bryce, business was located at “s Main b Lower and Cox.”

Source:

“William's Lexington [Kentucky]Directory,City Guide,andBusiness Mirror,Volume I,185960”,compiledbyC.S.Williams,Lexington,[Kentucky]:Hitchcock&Searles,1859, https://www.kykinfolk.org/fayette/free_persons_1859.htm;June29,2023.

Henry Harrison Britton (1825 – 1874) was a freeborn carpenter of Spanish/Indian heritage who earned his living as a carpenter and barber. He lived in Lexington and later moved to Bera around 1870.

His wife Laura Trigg Marshall Britton (1832 – 1874), was the daughter of Thomas Francis Marshall, a prominent Kentucky Representative in the statehouse. Thomas Francis Marshall was also the nephew of John Marshall, the 4th Chief Justice of the United States. Laura's mother, Mary, was named Representative Marshall’s enslaved mistress. She married Henry Britton on October 19, 1854, in Fayette County.

Due to her parentage, Laura received special advantages and education from the best schools, which helped in developing her extraordinary musical talent. In 1848, at the age of 16, Laura was emancipated, likely because of her light complexion, which allowed her to travel freely without fear.

The Britton children and information about them that was available.

Susan J. Britton Franklin (1850 – 1914) was born in Frankfort and married Benjamin (18491935) Franklin on September 18, 1879, who was born enslaved in Lexington on May 18, 1849. Franklin enlisted in the Civil War at an early age and traveled overseas. After the war he returned to Kentucky as a free man, the Chief Justice Robertson of the Appellate Court had suffered a paralyzing stroke. He went to work for the Chief Justice in Frankfort before returning permanently back to Lexington.

Source:

“Biographical sketches of prominent Negro men and women of Kentucky,” Johnson, W. D. [WilliamDecker],1897,Page43-44.

"ObituaryforBenjaminFranklin"Newspapers.com.LexingtonHerald-Leader,March19,1935. https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader-obituary-for-ben/129785779/.

Julia Ann Amanda Moorhead Britton Hooks was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on May 4, 1852, and died in Memphis on March 10, 1942. She moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1876 and

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

the same year married her second (2nd) husband Charles Hooks. She was nicknamed “Angel of Beale Street" and she was the grandmother to Benjamin.

Hooks.https://libraryguides.berea.edu/juliabrittonhooks.Julia(1852)"AngelofBealeStreet" grandmothertoBenjaminHooks.

Dr. Mary Ellen Britton (1855-1925) was born in Lexington She was a graduate of Berea College and later returned to Lexington. She was an activist and a journalist who authored many articles against segregation laws. Britton was also a schoolteacher. She would later become the first African American woman physician in Lexington and one of the founders of the Colored Orphan Industrial Home. She is buried in the Cove Haven Cemetery in Lexington and in 1893 she became a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Source:

"Lauretta Flynn Byars, “Mary Elizabeth Britton,” in Jesse Carney Smith, ed., Notable BlackAmericanWomen,Book2(Gale,1996), 55-57."(“(PDF)HiddenFigures- MaryBritton - Academia.edu”)

“Biographical sketches of prominent Negro men and women of Kentucky”, Johnson, W. D.[WilliamDecker],1897,Page19.

“Window on the War: Frances Dallam Peter's LexingtonCivilWarDiary”,FrancesDallam Peter,(1976)

https://www.amazon.com/Window-warFrances-Dallam-Lexington/dp/B0006D0U3I

Karen Cotton McDaniel’s article “Mary Ellen Britton: A Potent Agent for Public Reform,” PublishedinTheGriot:TheJournalofAfricanAmericanStudies(vol.32,no.1Spring2013, pp.52-61), https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/contributed-files/maryellenbrittongriotarticlebymcdaniel2013.pdf.

The Britton children continued.

Joseph Josiah Britton (1856)

Robert H. Britton (1857) Not much information except for the following newspaper article: "Britton siblings wants brother Robert Britton declared deceased."

Source: Newspapers.com,TheLexingtonHerald,January25,1901, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lexington-herald-britton-siblings-wa/125954990/.

William Britton (1867)

Hattie Britton (1868)

Thomas M. Britton (Sr.) (1873) “Thomas "Tom" Britton, Sr. He was the husband of Pearl Jackson Britton (1873-1904, born in KY), and they had a son named Thomas Britton, Jr. Tom Britton, Sr. rode in the 1892 Kentucky Derby aboard Huron, owned by Ed Corrigan, and came in second place, six inches behind Alonzo Clayton riding Azra. Britton had won the Tennessee Derby in 1891 aboard Valera, and the Kentucky Oaks aboard Miss Hawkins." He had a lot of troubles in the racing industry and the loss of his Thomas Britton Jr., he committed and is buried in the African Cemetery #2 in Lexington.

Source:https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2626

Lucy Britton 1872

Indeed, the Britton family's involvement in a diverse range of fields such as education, activism, journalism, and horse racing make for a fascinating and multifaceted story. Their connection to prominent historical figures adds even more depth to their narrative.

In 1863, on February 28, HSPAME, the 80 feet of lot addition was sold for $242, leaving the present frontage of the stray pen lot addition reduced to 85 feet. The Trustees were James Turner, John W. Bell, and Robert Robinson.

Robert Robinson was listed in a list of memorials to the Association on the publication date of WD. Johnson's book.

The AME Church Kentucky Underground Railroad Network

On September 8, 1865, HSPAME became a Station and Bishop Daniel Payne of the AME Church assigned Reverend David Smith, the oldest minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who had been working in Kentucky as a missionary.

Reverend David Smith was assigned in 1865 as a pastor to HSPAME. He along with “Dandridge F. Davis, and Richard Robinson, this first generation of AME ministers.” Smith competed with William Paul Quinn for the designation of “first itinerant preacher in the AME Church. Quinn would travel by horseback and Smith walked to his assignments.

Reverend. David Smith was born into slavery in Maryland in 1782. His slaveholder was Catholic and his conversion to Christianity led him to try to sell him to a Georgia buyer but was aborted by a benevolent enslaver.

Smith’s ministry started in Baltimore where he preached to Black people in slavery. He served congregations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington DC. He did switch to AME Zion Church for a brief period and then returned to the AME Church in 1831 in Ohio. He encountered hostile Whites in the Enslaved cities.

In 1866, Historic St. Paul AME Church was received into the Ohio Conference and Rev. Grafton H. Graham was assigned. His previous appointment was at Warren Chapel in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We became aware of Lewis George Clarke's, (1815-1897) a notable figure in the abolitionist movement, return to Lexington when the author Carver Clark Gayton of “When Owing a Shilling Costs a Dollar: The Saga of Lewis G. Clarke, Born a "White" Slave” and “Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke”, stopped by the church after a speaking engagement at Transylvania University. Carver Clark Gayton the book’s author is the great-grandson of Clarke who was last known to be a member of First A.M.E. Church in Seattle, Washington.

Clarke and his brother Cyrus escaped from Lexington when it was discovered that they would have to be sold further south in the settling of their current enslaver’s estate who had died. After his escape, Lewis G. Clarke became an ardent abolitionist and orator of his enslaved life in Kentucky. He was born in Madison County, Kentucky, one of ten children. Clarke had a white father and was owned by his grandfather, Samuel Campbell, who made unfulfilled promises to free Clarke's slave family.

In July 1842, Cyrus was captured when he traveled back to visit his sister. He was trying to maintain his family connections despite the risks. Upon his return to Lexington, Lewis George Clarke discovered that his brother, Cyrus, had managed to escape once again from enslavement.

January 1897, George Lewis Clarke (1815-1897): Clarke returned to Historic St. Paul AME Church in Lexington and remained until his death on Dec 17, 1897, at age 82. His body was laid in state at Transylvania University Auditorium for well-wishers to pay their respects, the highest honor ever given to a Black person at that time. In addition, he was eulogized by newspapers around the country. His funeral was held at HSPAME, after which his body was returned to Oberlin, OH for burial by his wife.

Source:

“BiographicalsketchesofprominentNegromenandwomenofKentucky,”Johnson,W.D. [WilliamDecker],1897,Page74-76.

HarrietBeecherStowebasedthecharacterofGeorgeHarrisinUncleTom'sCabinon Clarke.https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-andmaps/Clarke-lewis-g

"LewisGeorgeClarkefuneralritesathspame"Newspapers.com.TheLexingtonHerald, December19,1897.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lexington-herald-lewisgeorge-clarke/127305961/.

"LewisG.Clarkewasreposedinthestatenosuchhonorisevergivenbeforethistime."

Newspapers.com.TheIndependent-Record,December20,1897. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-record-lewis-g-clarke-w/129771763/.

“Lewis Clarke: Hero in his own right,” RonGorman,OberlinHeritageCenterBlog, https://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/blog/2013/04/lewis-clarke-hero-in-his-own-right/

The history of Historic St. Paul AME Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and its members' dedication to helping enslaved individuals find freedom is a testament to their bravery and commitment to justice. The church's strategic location next to the stray pen and its use of the stench to hide the scent of freedom seekers from trackers is a powerful example of the ingenious methods used by those involved in the Underground Railroad.

Overall, this historical account provides valuable insights into the people of Historic St Paul AME and the AME Church's role in the fight against slavery and its impact on the African American community in Kentucky. It is important to continue building on this history and by doing so, enhance our understanding of the struggles and sacrifices of those involved in the fight of our enslaved for freedom and equality.