John Marrant

John Marrant (June 15, 1755 – April 15, 1791) was one of the first African-American preachers and missionaries. He wrote three books about his experiences as a preacher.

Marrant was born in New York City in 1755. Following the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Florida, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. He was able to read and spell by the age of 11. Marrant was taught how to play the French horn and violin, and was tasked with entertaining the local gentry at balls.

At the age of 13 Marrant was taken to hear Methodist preacher George Whitefield and was converted. After disagreements with his family about this, he wandered in the wilderness, relying on God to feed and protect him. He was found by a Cherokee hunter and taken to a Cherokee town, where he was sentenced to death. However, he was spared, allegedly due to the miraculous conversion of the executioner.

Marrant lived with the Cherokee for two years before returning to Charleston, where his own family did not recognize him. He conducted missionary work with slaves, although some owners objected, until the start of the American Revolution.

Marrant claimed that he was impressed into the Royal Navy for six years before being discharged in 1782, but official records do not show him as having served with the Navy. In 1782 Marrant started training as a Methodist minister with the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. He is shown on the New York City Inspection Roll of Negroes as the owner of Melia Marrant and two children, although Devona Mallory in African American Lives claims that these people were his family.

He was ordained in 1785 and sent to Nova Scotia to minister to several thousand African Americans who had fled north during the fighting. He lived at Birchtown, Nova Scotia.

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