EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800; CLARISSA DANFORTH P/ 132

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Clarissa Danforth. She lived from 1792 - 1855. Clarissa was born in Weathersfield, Vermont. She heard Rev. John Colby preach in 1809 on his way to Ohio and had a conversion experience. After her ordination in 1815, Clarissa became an itinerant preacher throughout nothern New England.

She began preaching in Chepachet, Rhode Island and the surrounding area in 1818 after taking over as pastor of the Chepachet Baptist Church when Rev. Colby died. She was apparently very popular, so much so that in fact there was difficulty in finding large buildings that could hold all the people

Clarissa spent most of her career in Rhode Island and helped lead the revival in Smithfield emanating from the Greenville Baptist Church. She, in fact, led many revivals, and one of them drew in a large crowd when about 3000 people were converted, old and young.The relevance of this is that regardless of any harrassment she could have received in her position, she held her ground and did the Lord's work.

 She also preached for periods in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1822 she married Danford Richmond, a Baptist minister from Pomfret, Connecticut, and they moved to New York, where she preached only occasionally.

Clarissa died around 1855.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800; JARENA LEE P/131

                                                Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Jarena Lee. She lived from 1783 - 1855. Jarena began preaching in 1820 and preached throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Her first journey as a itinerant preacher was back to her birthplace in Cape May, New Jersey to visit her mother. She travelled to Ohio to preach, and made an extensive trip to preach her way through Canada.

She became a travelling minister, travelling thousands of miles on foot. In one year alone, she"travelled two thousand three hundred and twenty-five miles, and preached one hundred and seventy -eight sermons."

During all her travels, she always returned to her home in Philadelphia to rest and recuperate.

Jarena was also heavily involved in the abolitionist movement and joined the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1839. 

To share her experiences in ministry, Jarena decided to pen her autobiography titled, "The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee." She completed her autobiography in expanded form in 1849.

Jarena died in 1855. 

Read Part One Hundred And Thirty-Two HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800; JARENA LEE P/130

                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman  named Jarena Lee. She lived from 1783 - 1855. In 1811, Jarena married Pastor Joseph Lee. However, her husband died in 1818. Jarena's desire to proclaim the word of God grew even stronger. This caused her to renew her advocay for women in ministry.

In 1819, during a worship service at Bethel Church, a guest preacher began struggling with his message and abruptly stopped preaching. As he stared into the congregation at a loss for words, Jerena sprang to her feet and began preaching, picking up where the minister had left off. 

After her sermon, she was afraid that Bishop Allen would punish her for preaching without permission. On the contrary, he was so impressed by Jarena that he officially gave her authorisation to preach the gospel. He asserted that God had called her to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

She was granted permission first to preach on the itinerary circuit and then to hold prayer meetings in her home, both huge concessions to be given to a nineteenth century woman of any race. However, despite the bishop's blessings, Jarena faced hostility because she was black and a woman.

Read Part One Hundred And Thirty-One HERE

 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800; JARENA LEE P/129

                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Jarena Lee. She lived from   1783 -1864. She was born into a free black family, in Cape May, New, Jersey. However, from the age of 7, she began to work as a live-in servant with a white family. As a teenage, she moved from New Jersey to Phildelphia, Pennsylvania, where she continued in domestic service.

One afternoon Jarena attended a worship service at Bethel Church where Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was scheduled to preach. After hearing the powerful sermon delivered by Allen, Jarena became a believer. 

In 1807, Jarena sensed a calling to preach the Gospel. She was initially reluctant to pursue ministry, given the male-dominated nature of the church. However, she decided to confide in Bishop Allen and revealed to him her call to preach. Allen told Jarena that he could not grant her permission to preach because he was required to uphold the A.M.E Church's ban against female ministers.

Read Part One Hundred And Thirty HERE

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JANE JOHNSON P/128

                                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue to focus on a woman named Jane Johnson. She lived from 1814 - 1872. Jane emancipated herself and her children by walking away from her former "master," John Hill Wheeler, into the free city of Phildelphia, Pennsylvania. On 18 July, 1855, Jane passed a word to a black porter in Bloodgood's Hotel, where Wheeler had locked her in with her children, that she wanted to escape her master's custody. He got word to William Still, chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, who helped fugitive slaves. Later that day, as the full Wheeler party prepared to board the ferry, Still and abolitionist Passmore Williamsons, secretary of the Society reached the docks. Still told Jane that she could choose freedom according to Pennsylvania law. While Wheeler argued, offered her a promise of freedom, and tried to prevent Jane from leaving, five black dockworkers restrained him, and Williamson explained the state law to him.William Still quickly escorted Jane and her children away by a coach, later taking them secretely to his house.

Jane and her children were soon helped to get to Boston, where they were safeguarded by northern abolistionists, including Lecretia Mott. They continued to live free, settling in Boston. She sheltered fugitive slaves in Boston on at least two occasions. 

Jane died in 1872.

 Read Part One Hundred And Twenty Nine HERE

HAPPY EASTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   

                                                             HE IS RISEN!! 

 

                         HE IS RISEN INDEED!!

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN EARLY 1800: JANE JOHNSON P/127

                                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Jane Johnson. She lived from 1814 - 1872. Jane is believed to have been born into slavery under the name Jane Williams in or near Washington, D.C. Her parents were John Williams and Jane Williams. Little else is known of her early life. She married a man named Johnson and had children with him.

About 1853, Jane and her two children had been sold to John Hill Wheeler, a planter from Noth Carolina and politician then working in Washington, D.C. She worked as a domestic slave in his household. Her oldest son had been sold by a previous master to someone in Richmond, Virginia, and she never expected to see him again.

In 1855, Jane and her sons Daniel and Isaiah, accompanied their master Wheeler and his family by train from Washington, D.C. en route to New York. There Wheeler planned they would take a ship to Nicaragua where he had been appointed as the U.S. Minister. They stopped overnight in Philadelphia on the way. From there, they would proceed by steamboat to New York City to get the ship to Nicaragua.

Pennsylvania was a free state that did not recognise slavery. By its laws, slaves could choose freedom if brought to the state by their masters. At the end of the 18th Century, it had made compromises that enabled Southern members of the national government to keep their slaves in the city for up to six months; past that, they could choose freedom. At that time, the national capital was temporarily in Philadelphia.

Jane emancipated herself and her children by walking away from her former "master", John Wheeler, into the free city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Read Part One Hundred And Twenty-Eight HERE