Richard DeBaptiste

Richard DeBaptiste
Image of DeBaptiste from 1887
Born	(1831-11-11)November 11, 1831 Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	April 21, 1901(1901-04-21) (aged 69) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	minister
Religion	Baptist
Born	Fredericksburg
Died	Chicago

Richard DeBaptiste (November 11, 1831 - April 21, 1901) was a Baptist minister in Chicago, Illinois. Before the abolition of slavery, he was an abolitionist and worked with his close relative, George DeBaptiste in the underground railroad mainly in Detroit, Michigan. His ministry brought him to Ohio, and in 1863, to Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago. He was a leader in the local and national Baptist community. He also was a journalist, serving as editor or correspondent to various newspapers and journals.

Richard DeBaptist was born free in Fredericksburg, Virginia on November 11, 1831 to William and Eliza DeBaptiste. His grandfather, John DeBaptiste, was in the American Revolutionary War and was born on the Island of St. Kitt's and his uncle, George DeBaptiste, was in the War of 1812. Two brothers, George and Benjamin, took part in the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was educated in secret, first by a black man and then by a Scots-Irish man who had been a teacher in Scotland. In 1846, he and his family moved from Virginia to Detroit, Michigan in a pilgrimage of free blacks led by William DeBaptiste and Marie Louis More, where he continued his education under Richard Dillingham, a Quaker, Reverend Samuel H. Davis, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Detroit. His father and uncle were builders and general contractors and Richard received education in brick manufacturing, brick building, and plastering. In the west, his father worked in the grocery business, and Richard assisted. When this business failed, they resumed contracting work, with Richard as a partner. In Detroit and later in Ohio and Chicago, he worked with his George DeBaptiste, possibly his brother, who was a noted conductor of the underground railroad in Detroit, in freeing fugitive slaves. In Chicago, he also worked with noted abolitionists John and Mary Jones.