Jones, Absalom
1746-1818 · Contribution: 1792-1802
Episcopal priest
First African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church; founded the first Black Episcopal congregation in the United States
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1746, Sussex County, Delaware
- Active since
- 1792
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- First African American ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church
Impact on the world
Jones opened the Episcopal priesthood to Black Americans and, with Richard Allen, built the mutual-aid and congregational institutions, and nursed Philadelphia's sick during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, that anchored free Black life in the early republic.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Primary recordFind
National Archives
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Related visionaries
Allen, Richard
1760-1831
Founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black religious denomination in the United States; became its first bishop
Crummell, Alexander
1819-1898
Became one of the first Black Americans ordained an Episcopal priest, founded St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., the first independent Black Episcopal congregation in the city, and in 1897 co-founded the American Negro Academy, the first major organization supporting Black scholarship in America
Harris, Barbara Clementine
1930-2020
Became the first woman consecrated a bishop in the 500-year history of the worldwide Anglican Communion when she was ordained suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in 1989, breaking a barrier that had stood across the Communion's more than 165 member countries
Haynes, Lemuel
1753-1833
Became the first Black American ordained by a mainstream Protestant denomination when the Congregational church ordained him in 1785, and went on to lead a mostly white Vermont congregation for 30 years while authoring some of the earliest antislavery writings by an African American author