Thomas Paul

Thomas Paul (1773–1831) was a Baptist minister in Boston, Massachusetts, affiliated with the African Meeting House and the Education Society for the People of Colour. His contributions are more palpable today through his work as an abolitionist, his leadership in the black community, and his support for Haiti. He helped establish a long line of black leaders, many of whom came from his own family. Paul lived in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. His children included activist Susan Paul.

He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire; the eldest of six brothers, three including Nathaniel Paul, Benjamin Paul became Baptist preachers. His sister Nancy married James Monroe Whitfield. Nathaniel was a minister at Albany, NY, and founder of the Providence's United African Society in the 1820s. Benjamin was minister of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. In 1805 he married Catherine Waterhouse and had three children, Ann Catherine, Susan, and Thomas, Jr. Shortly they moved to Boston.

Paul (most documents preferred to call him by his last name) was educated for the ministry in Hollis, New Hampshire, at the Free Will Baptist church. He was then instrumental in founding the first African Baptist Church in Joy Street, Boston in 1805, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York in 1808. Paul was known for his oratory and organizational skills. Together with other black leaders, he contributed to the development of Black Liberation Theology by tying biblical teachings to social justice and the quest for African American equal acceptance in society. Paul also played a key role in Boston black community as a Prince Hall Mason and opposing integrated education.

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