William Paul Quinn

William Paul Quinn (10 April 1788–3 February 1873) was born in India and immigrated to the United States, where he became the fourth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States when founded in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1836 Quinn was assigned as a missionary to what was known as the Northwest, specifically Indiana and Ohio, although he also traveled to Illinois and Missouri. He settled in Richmond, Indiana as his base, founding an AME Church there and several throughout these states. In 1844 he was elected as bishop and in 1849 as Senior Bishop of the church.

By his own account, Quinn was said to have been born in Calcutta, India to an Indian family. An 1851 affidavit said his mother was Egyptian and his father was Spanish, who were involved in the mahogany trade. He was introduced to Christianity by a Quaker missionary in India and went to England, where he took an English name. He immigrated to the United States as a young man by 1808 and became active with an AME Church in New Jersey. He was part of its founding as a denomination in 1816.

Quinn came to the US by 1808, when he became involved in the AME Church in New Jersey. He was among the founders of the denomination in 1816, the first black independent denomination in the United States. According to that account, he was ordained a deacon in 1818. His wife was Mary Jane Quinn.

In 1836 Quinn was assigned as a missionary to the Northwest Territory, and traveled throughout Indiana and Ohio to plant congregations. He is also credited with helping found the Brooklyn AME Church in Brooklyn, Illinois. Now called the Quinn's Chapel AME Church, it is thought to be the earliest AME Church west of the Appalachian Mountains. Brooklyn was an early black village founded on the Mississippi River across from St. Louis, Missouri.

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