Joseph Harden facts for kids

Joseph Harden (born 1824, died 1864) was an African American missionary. He worked to spread Christianity in West Africa. Harden started the First Baptist Church in Lagos. He also helped create the Baptist Academy in Lagos.

Early Life and Faith

Joseph Harden was born free. His parents had experienced slavery. His father followed the Methodist faith. Joseph was first baptized as a Methodist. Later, he joined the Southern Baptist Church. He became a member of the Saratoga Street African Baptist Church in Baltimore.

Missionary Work in West Africa

The Southern Baptist Convention created a Foreign Mission Board. This board supported missionary work. They wanted to set up mission stations. One station was planned for China. Another was for West Africa. Many former enslaved people lived in Liberia. Baptists thought this was a good place to share Christianity.

Joseph Harden was chosen for this important work. He was a member of a Baptist church in Maryland. The mission board asked him to move to Liberia. He would serve there as a missionary.

Challenges in Liberia

Harden faced many difficulties in West Africa. His first wife and child passed away. This happened within a year of his arrival in Liberia. He married a second time to a Liberian woman. She also passed away during childbirth. Despite these sad events, Harden was determined to continue his work.

In Liberia, he met John Day. John Day was in charge of the Baptist Mission. Harden also spent time with William Clark. Clark was another young American preacher. He was traveling to Ijaye. Harden also met James Churchill Vaughan. Vaughan later helped the church grow in Lagos.

Moving to Lagos

In 1855, Harden moved his work to Lagos. Before he arrived, two other Southern Baptist missionaries were already there. Thomas Bowen and William H. Clark were in Oyo. They were trying to reach the people of Ijaye.

Harden set up his mission station in Lagos. He built a house from bamboo. He used an interpreter to share his message. This was the first mission station in Lagos. Harden later started a tutoring class. This class grew into the Baptist Academy. He married Sarah Marsh. She was a "saro," a person of Yoruba descent who had returned from Sierra Leone. Sarah played a big role in supporting the Baptist church in Lagos.