Absalom Jones
| Absalom Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 7, 1746 Sussex County, Delaware, United States |
| Died | February 13, 1818 (aged 71) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation | Clergyman |
| Known for | Anti-slavery petitioner |
| Spouse(s) | Mary King |
| Relatives | Julian Abele (architect) |
Absalom Jones (November 7, 1746 – February 13, 1818) was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. After founding a black congregation in 1794, he was the first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, in 1804. He is listed on the Episcopal calendar of saints and remembered liturgically on the date of his death, February 13, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer as "Absalom Jones, Priest, 1818".
Jones was born into slavery in Sussex County, Delaware in 1746. When he was sixteen, his owner sold him along with his mother and siblings to a neighboring farmer, who in 1762 kept Absalom, but sold his mother and siblings and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he became a merchant. Jones attended a school and learned to write. While still a slave of Mr. Wynkoop (also a vestryman of Christ Church and later St. Peter's), Absalom married Mary King (slave to S. King who was a neighbor to the Wynkoops), on January 4, 1770. Rev. Jacob Duché performed the wedding ceremony. By 1778 Jones had purchased his wife's freedom so that their children would be free; creating an appeal for donations and loans. He also wrote asking for his freedom, but was initially denied. In 1784, however, Wynkoop manumitted him, and he took the surname "Jones" as an indication of his American identity.
Around 1780, a Methodist movement was sweeping through the colonies. The movement was especially popular in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Methodists were Evangelicals within the Church of England. In December 1784, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury established the Methodist Church as a new denomination, separate from the Church of England.
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