Peter Randolph (minister) facts for kids
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Peter Randolph (born around 1825 – died August 7, 1897) was an African-American minister and a strong supporter of ending slavery. He was born into slavery in Virginia. His owner's will said he should be freed, but it took three years and a court case for this wish to be granted. After gaining his freedom, Randolph moved to Boston, where he became a pastor, which is a leader in a church. He spent four years in Richmond, Virginia, after the American Civil War ended, before moving back to Boston. Randolph wrote a book about his own life story, and it was printed many times.
Contents
Peter Randolph's Story
Peter Randolph was born around 1825 in Prince George County, Virginia. He was born on a large farm called Brandon Plantation. His father was also enslaved on a nearby farm and passed away when Peter was about ten years old.
Early Life and Gaining Freedom
Peter Randolph's owner, a man named Edloe, wrote a will saying that when he died, his enslaved people should be freed. He also wanted some of his land sold to help pay his debts and to help his former enslaved people move to any state or colony they wanted. When Edloe died in 1844, the person in charge of his will first ignored these wishes.
However, Peter Randolph was the only enslaved person Edloe owned who could read. Peter read the will and started a legal fight to gain freedom for himself and the other enslaved people. Three years later, a judge ordered them to be freed. Edloe's will had promised them fifty dollars each, but they ended up receiving almost fifteen dollars. On September 5, 1847, sixty-six formerly enslaved people sailed to Boston. They arrived ten days later. Peter Randolph was twenty-seven years old at that time.
A New Life in Boston
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society helped Randolph and the others settle in Boston. Randolph first lived in Beacon Hill, Boston. He attended the Belknap Street Church, which was led by Leonard Grimes. Randolph was one of the first members of the Twelfth Baptist Church when it was formed, and he later became a preacher there. He also preached in other towns, including New Haven, Connecticut, and Newburgh, New York.
By 1861, Randolph was working at a newspaper in Boston and continuing his preaching. He became a strong voice against slavery as a member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. He gave money and helped people who had escaped slavery. For example, in 1852, Randolph visited Saint John, New Brunswick, where he did missionary work with people who had escaped slavery.
Fighting for Freedom and Sharing His Story
In 1855, Peter Randolph published a book about his experiences with slavery. It was called The Sketch of a Slave life, or, an illustration of the peculiar institution. His goal was to show "that slaves, when liberated, can take care of themselves, and need no master or overseer to drive them to their toil." This means he wanted to prove that formerly enslaved people could live independently and work hard without being forced.
He published the forty-page book himself. The editor of The Boston Transcript newspaper, Daniel Haskill, helped promote the book. A second, much longer edition of eighty-two pages was published that same year.
Helping After the Civil War
During the American Civil War, Randolph wanted to serve as a chaplain, which is a minister for soldiers, in the Union Army. However, his request was turned down because there were no open positions. About a month after the war ended in 1865, he traveled to Virginia. He first settled in City Point, Virginia, and then moved to Richmond, Virginia. There, he became the preacher of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was the church's first African-American pastor. Randolph made important changes, including giving women a bigger role in the church.
After four years, Randolph moved back to Boston. In 1871, he started the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Boston. This church was a place for African-Americans who had moved from the Southern United States to Boston to worship. In 1893, Randolph published From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit. The Autobiography of Rev. Peter Randolph: the Southern Question Illustrated and Sketches of Slave Life. This was a third edition of his earlier book, and it was much longer, with 220 pages. During this time, he worked at several churches in the Northeast region of the United States.
Peter Randolph passed away on August 7, 1897, in Boston. An article written after his death in The Boston Journal newspaper said that he had "founded and preached over more Baptist churches than any other Baptist clergyman in New England."
His Lasting Impact
An editor who helped publish a new edition of From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit mentioned that Peter Randolph's writings have often been overlooked by historians who study slavery. However, his works were studied in a paper published in 2003 in a journal called Religion & Literature.
