Moses Wilkinson facts for kids

Moses "Daddy Moses" Wilkinson (born around 1746 or 1747) was an important American preacher. He was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and a Black Loyalist. This means he was an African American who supported the British during the American Revolutionary War. Moses Wilkinson was born into slavery but gained his freedom during the war. He became a preacher in New York and later in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1791, he moved to Sierra Leone in Africa. There, he started the first Methodist church in Settler Town.

Early Life

Moses Wilkinson was born around 1746. He was born into slavery on a large farm in Nansemond County, Virginia. He was enslaved by a person named Miles Wilkinson.

Moses Wilkinson was blind and had trouble walking. He might have gotten sick with smallpox, which could have caused these problems. He needed help to move around.

Gaining Freedom

In 1775, during the American Revolutionary War, the British governor, Lord Dunmore, made a promise. His promise, called Dunmore's Proclamation, said that enslaved people who joined the British army would get their freedom. The next year, Moses Wilkinson led a group of enslaved people to freedom. He freed himself and others. They traveled to New York City, which the British army controlled during the war.

His Ministry

Preaching in New York

In New York, Moses Wilkinson became a preacher. He was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, even though he had not gone to school to learn how to read or write. He started a church group there. People said he was a very energetic preacher. Some people even worried about his health because of how much passion he put into his sermons.

Congregants of the Shelburne Methodist Episcopal Church (1873-1940s). This church was a later version of Moses Wilkinson's first church group.

Moving to Nova Scotia

When the British lost the war in 1783, they kept their promise to thousands of formerly enslaved people. They helped them move to other British colonies or to England. Moses Wilkinson joined about 3,000 other Black Loyalists. They sailed on a ship called L'Abondance to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. His name is written in the Book of Negroes, which listed the names of Black Loyalists who left America.

Many Black Loyalists settled in Birchtown. But the weather was very cold, and life was hard. The British government was also slow to give them land.

In 1784, a Methodist leader named William Black visited Shelburne. He reported that Moses Wilkinson had helped 60 people become Methodists in Birchtown. One of his first followers was Violet "Peggy" King. She was a freedwoman from North Carolina whom he had met on the ship to Nova Scotia.

By July 1786, Moses Wilkinson and others had officially started a Methodist church. It had 78 members, and 66 of them were Black.

Life in Sierra Leone

On October 26, 1791, 350 people gathered at Wilkinson's church. They came to hear John Clarkson from England. He explained a plan from the Sierra Leone Company. They wanted to start a new colony in West Africa, in what is now Sierra Leone. Many Black Loyalists were unhappy with the cold weather and unfair treatment in Nova Scotia. So, Moses Wilkinson, his church members, and many other Black people decided to move. About 1,196 Nova Scotian Settlers sailed from Halifax on January 15, 1792.

The ships arrived in Sierra Leone on March 9, 1792. Moses Wilkinson started the first Methodist church in Settler Town. The leaders of the Sierra Leone Company sometimes disagreed with the independent Christian groups. In 1800, some Methodists led a rebellion, but it failed. After this, Moses Wilkinson's type of Methodism became less popular in the colony.

His Legacy

Moses Wilkinson's preaching inspired other religious leaders. One was Gowan Pamphlet, a freedman who started the Black Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

His work also led to the growth of the Black Methodist community in Halifax, Nova Scotia.