John Ball (clergyman) facts for kids
John Ball was an African-American Methodist preacher. He lived in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. John Ball is listed in the Book of Negroes, a record of about 3,000 African Americans who found freedom with the British during the American Revolution.
Life in Nova Scotia and Moving to Sierra Leone
John Ball was likely the preacher that John Marrant met in Nova Scotia. John Ball traveled around, sharing the Methodist faith with other African Americans who had moved there. He himself learned about Methodism from another Black preacher named Moses 'Daddy' Wilkinson, who was from South Carolina.
Later, John Ball and other African-American preachers like Boston King, David George, Moses Wilkinson, and Cato Perkins moved to Sierra Leone. They became some of the first settlers there.
About 1,200 African Americans moved to Sierra Leone and created a new town called Settler Town, Sierra Leone. Before them, about 400 other Black settlers had arrived. These earlier settlers included African Americans, Black British people, and people from the West Indian islands. They were the first Black people to return to Africa as part of a movement to go back to Africa. These 400 people were known as the Black Poor, and they started a place called Cline Town, Sierra Leone.
