Richard Allen
By Dianne Swann-Wright

Born in Philadelphia to an African father and mulatto mother on February 14, 1760, Allen followed his parents' status. That is, he became an enslaved person at birth.

As with so many African Americans who lived during the Colonial period, relatively little is known about Allen, even about how he acquired his surname. On his free papers and in the American Abolitionist Society free register (an official record), he is listed as "the Negro man, Richard."

Allen's parents worked as part of a lawyer's household staff, and he spent the first seven years of his life in the bustling city of Philadelphia. Life changed dramatically when his family was sold to a Delaware farmer in 1767. For ten years, Allen shared many of the work experiences of other enslaved African Americans who labored in fields and provided the basis of their owners' wealth. After his mother and three siblings were sold in 1777, Allen found comfort in Christianity, converted to the Methodist religion, and persuaded his owner to allow him to purchase his freedom. Hard work and discipline brought Allen his cherished freedom four years later; the same year the American Colonies won their independence. Once free, Allen traveled throughout Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, working to support himself and, at the same time, preaching the teachings of Christianity.

With his good friend Absalom Jones, a black man who had also purchased his freedom, Allen founded the Free African Society, a charitable organization for fellow African Americans. Jones and Allen ministered to the sick, buried the dead, and encouraged others to do the same during the 1798 yellow fever epidemic.

In 1794, Allen founded the Bethel Methodist Church, the first African-American church group in the United States. The congregation worshipped in a building Allen had purchased and on land he and his first wife, Flora, had purchased. A good businessman, his thriftiness allowed him to keep Bethel from being auctioned away from the congregation. His real estate holdings also provided homes and income to his family after he died.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the religious denomination that Allen founded, continues to flourish today and has members throughout the United States and in many foreign countries. In 1987, the church opened a museum named after Richard Allen, highlighting the life and achievements of this great American.

Dianne Swann-Wright is a historian and the director of African-American and special programs at Monticello, the museum home of Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia. This biography was originally published for Footsteps Magazine, a division of Cobblestone Publications.

Questions to Ponder

• Allen purchased his freedom in 1781, the same year the American colonies won their independence. What similarities exist between Allen and the American Colonies as both adjusted to their hard-won freedom?



• In 1794, Allen was able to purchase a building and land. What states had laws prohibiting African Americans from owning property? When and where was the law changed?



• Why would Allen travel and preach in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania instead of Southern states?



• What specific laws and local practices do you think may have influenced his decision?



• Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Then, as today, religion has provided comfort and support to many people. What aspects of religion were important in the daily life of slaves? How did the slaves intertwine their African beliefs with the beliefs found in the colonies? Research the history of AME, the denomination that Allen founded.

Questions to Ponder were created by Ann Gann, a teacher in Clinton, TN.