William J. Seymour
| William Joseph Seymour | |
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Leader of the Azusa Street Revival
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| Born |
May 2, 1870 Centerville, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | September 28, 1922 (aged 52) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Evangelist |
| Spouse(s) | Jenny Evans Moore, 1906–1922, (his death) |
William Joseph Seymour (May 2, 1870 – September 28, 1922) was an American minister, and an initiator of the Azusa Street Revival. Seymour was one of the most influential individuals in the revival movement that grew into the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, along with other figures such as Charles Parham, Howard A. Goss, and Frank Bartleman. Seymour's emphasis on racial equality drew many historically disenfranchised people to the movement, and due to his influence the revival grew very quickly.
Seymour was born to former slaves Simon and Phyllis Salabar Seymour in Centerville, Louisiana. He was baptized at the Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption in Franklin, and attended the New Providence Baptist Church in Centerville with his family. The racial violence in the American South at this time — Louisiana had one of the highest rates of lynchings in the nation — would have a huge effect on Seymour's later emphasis on racial equality at the Azusa mission.
In the 1890s, Seymour left the South in order to travel north, to places such as Memphis, St. Louis, and Indianapolis. By doing this, he escaped the horrific violence aimed at African Americans in the south during this period. Though he would continue to face racial prejudice in the north, it was not at the violent level that he faced in the South. In 1895, Seymour moved to Indianapolis, where he attended the Simpson Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. It was at this church where Seymour became a born-again Christian.
During Seymour's travels, he was influenced by Daniel S. Warner's Evening Light Saints, a Holiness group dedicated to racial equality. Their view of a racially egalitarian church would influence his theology for the rest of his life. In 1901, Seymour moved to Cincinnati, where his views on holiness and racial integration were shaped by a Bible school he attended. During this time, he contracted smallpox and subsequently went blind in his left eye. After overcoming the smallpox Seymour was ordained by the Evening Light Saints. Seymour then traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, where he visited Charles Price Jones, and left the South with a very firm commitment to his beliefs.
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