Richard Allen was a regular man whose contributions greatly impacted American society. A self educated man, he was not a visionary nor did he enter this world privileged. Rather he was a man who knew what he believed and stood by those beliefs no matter what the consequences. He was an exemplary man by any standard, and influential for both black and white Americans both in his day and for years to come.
BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
Richard Allen was born into slavery on February 14, 1760, in Philadelphia. Not much is known of his childhood, including the names and birthdates of his parents and siblings. However his father is said to have been of pure African descent while his mother was of mixed blood. At the time of Richard’s birth he and his family were owned by prominent local lawyer Benjamin Chew. However, poor economic conditions and increasing competition from younger lawyers brought about a decline in Chew’s law practice by the latter part of the decade. In order to prevent public embarrassment to his family he was forced to sell six members of the Allen family; father, mother, and four children including young Richard. The Allen family was sold as a unit which was untypical in those days, as families were usually broken apart and sold off as individuals. The new owner of the Allen family was a man named Stokeley Sturgis who farmed in Kent County near Dover, Delaware. Eventually Stokeley also ran into economic difficulties and sold Allen's parents and three of his younger siblings. He kept only the three older children: Richard, a brother, and a sister. Richard lived and worked on the Stokeley land until he was 20 years of age.
During the years of Allen’s youth Methodism had begun to attract a following in the middle colonies. It was especially popular among blacks due to its antislavery position as well as its emphasis on emotionalism in worship. It was at age 17 when he experienced his first dramatic religious experience and recognized himself as a sinner. He recounts this experience several years later in his autobiography “The Life Experience and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen:”
…I went with my head bowed down for many days. My sins were a heavy burden. I was tempted to believe there was no mercy for me. I cried to the Lord both day and night. One night I thought hell would be my portion. I cried unto him who delighteth to hear the prayers of a poor sinner, and all of a sudden my dungeon shook, my chains flew off, and, glory to God I cried. My soul was filled.

For the next several days after Allen’s conversion he travelled from door to door sharing the gospel and his experiences. He later joined the local Methodist Society and, with permission from his master, he and his brother began to attend classes held in the forest by Benjamin Wells and led by John Gray. Allen described his master as a kind man being more of a parental figure than a slave master by society’s standards. Masters on neighboring plantations were not as sympathetic and felt that slaves should not be granted the privilege of religious worship. They believed that such privileges made lazy slaves and would surely be the downfall of the Stokeley plantation. Desperate to prove them wrong, Richard and his brother would often voluntarily miss meetings to ensure the successful growth of their crops. During these times Stokeley would often ask the brothers if they were going to their meeting, but they replied that they would rather stay and continue to work. It must be noted that Allen’s formidable work ethic was not indicative of his true attitude toward slavery as an institution. Though quite fond of Stokeley as a master and father figure he leaves no doubt about his feelings in his autobiographical account in which he wrote, “I had it often impressed upon my mind that I should one day enjoy my freedom; for slavery is a bitter pill, notwithstanding we had a good master...”
Eventually, Richard asked his master if he would allow him to invite some of the Methodist preachers to his home. Stokeley gladly agreed, however would not give Richard a written note of his request, stating that Richard’s word should be sufficient. After preaching had been going on there for several months, the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson delivered a sermon at the Stokeley plantation. Garrettson was a celebrated white itinerant preacher and abolitionist who had freed his own slaves in 1775 and publicly condemned slavery in Virginia and North Carolina. His sermon on the sinfulness of owning slaves touched Stokeley deeply, and as a result he allowed both Richard and his brother to hold prayer meetings in the family parlor and in the neighborhood. He eventually proposed to the brothers that they could purchase their own freedom. Though he was convicted by Garrettson’s sermon, his conviction was not enough to lead him to free the brothers without monetary compensation. In January 1780 Sturgis signed a document allowing Allen to hire out his time and buy his freedom for the price of 60 pounds in gold or silver currency or $2,000 in continental money. Noting the old age of his master and driven by his desire for freedom and his fear that his master would not live to see their agreement come into fruition, Richard Allen worked vigorously to earn the funds that would secure his freedom. He paid his first installment of $150 early.
To support himself and earn money for his freedom, Allen worked at a variety of jobs. He was first employed as a wood cutter. Not accustomed to such work, Allen recalls the pain and blistering in his hands experienced after his first day. However, he soon healed and continued his work, cutting a cord and a half to two cords of wood daily. He was next employed by Robert Register as a brickyard laborer earning a monthly salary of $50 in continental money. Upon completion of this assignment he continued to work at odd jobs all the while preaching, praying and exhorting. A job as a salt-hauling wagoner during the final years of the Revolution allowed him to develop regular stops for preaching. As the Revolutionary War came to a close in 1783, he began to travel extensively determined to preach and spread the gospel.
In 1783 Allen made his first stop in Wilmington, Delaware. From there he went on to preach and work in New Jersey. In the spring of 1784 he became acquainted with Benjamin Abbott, a well known white preacher who became a father figure to the young Allen. He continued throughout New Jersey briefly living with Joseph Budd and later Jonathan Bunn. He then walked to Pennsylvania where he settled in Radnor for several weeks preaching and converting many in a congregation made up mostly of whites. Allen purchased a horse which was too small in stature to sufficiently carry him far. After trading it for a larger but blind horse, Allen went on to Lancaster and Little York before going to Maryland where he traveled the Hartford circuit with several other exhorters.
The first General Conference, held in Baltimore in December 1784, marked the beginning of Methodism as an organized denomination in the United States. Allen was certainly aware of the meeting, and speaks of it in his autobiography. However, there is no evidence of his attendance nor does he directly mention his presence at the meeting. In 1785 newly ordained and well known Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury invited Allen to join him as a travelling evangelist. They would travel to Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Asbury offered food and clothing as payment but warned Allen that he would have to spend many nights sleeping in his carriage. Feeling that he should have something to live on in case of sickness and old age, Allen declined Asbury’s offer, however the two formed a long lasting friendship. Allen continued to travel on various circuits with Methodist ministers, supporting himself by working odd jobs.
In February 1786 Allen accepted an invitation to preach in Philadelphia at the request of the elder in charge of the Methodist Church in the city. He decided to settle there to evangelize a growing but largely un-churched black population. Allen kept a rigorous Sunday schedule. He regularly preached at a meeting at five in the morning at St. George's Church and also held an additional two to three meetings on most occasions. In addition, he continued to support himself by working as a blacksmith, wagon driver, grocer, shoe merchant, chimney sweep, and landlord.
The Free African Society
Even though slavery, by this time, was declining in Pennsylvania, racial tensions towards blacks were very much evident even in the church. Noticing the plight of blacks in the Methodist church, Allen set his sights on improving the status of blacks in the church. He felt there was a need for blacks to have a separate place of worship. Allen found very few who supported his view. His main supporters were Absalom Jones, William White, and Dorus Ginnings; all of whom attended services together at the St. George’s Methodist Church.
In April of 1787 Absalom Jones joined Richard Allen to form a benefit organization which they called the Free African Society. The Free African Society was significant in that it was more than just a religious movement. Rather, it was the beginning of similar black organizations which began to form throughout the country by the end of the eighteenth century. Newman states in Freedom’s Prophet: “The (FAS) corresponded with groups in Boston and Newport, helping to establish the first national dialogue among free black leaders.” The purpose and goals of the society were to create and organization, unaffiliated with any particular denomination, that served the spiritual, economical, educational and social needs of African Americans. The Free African Society also promoted peaceful protesting as a means to fight off racism in America. Other leaders involved included Samuel Baston, Joseph Johnson, Cato Freedman, Caesar Cranchell, James Potter and William White. The treasurer and clerk of the FAS was Joseph Clarke. Meetings were held at Allen's home until May of 1788; however he stopped attending the Free African Society monthly meetings in November of the same year. On June 20, 1798 Allen was formally dismissed from the group however the reasons for this are unknown.
During these years Allen grew increasingly determined to accomplish his goal of establishing a black Methodist church. Independent black Baptist churches had already been established in Savannah, Georgia, and Petersburg, Virginia, and black Methodists in New York, Baltimore, Wilmington, and Charleston were also seeking their own churches. His determination was fueled by an incident at the St. George’s church in November 1787, when black members were pulled away from prayer and asked to leave their pews to alleviate overcrowding. Allen along with the other black members walked out of St. George’s Methodist church never to return again as members.
By 1790, without the leadership of Richard Allen, the Free African Society began forming into a nondenominationally affiliated church. By July 28, 1791, a group named Elders and Deacons had been named and the African Church came into being. Originally, Allen was a member of the committee set up to raise funds. However, Allen severed ties with the new church fairly soon, perhaps due to disagreements regarding denomination and location of the church. Allen desired a Methodist connection while others favored the Episcopal Church. Furthermore, Allen purchased a lot that was rejected in favor of a different location. In 1792 the St. Thomas African Episcopal Church was founded the nation’s first independent black church with Absalom Jones as the leader of the new congregation. In 1804 Jones was ordained the first black priest in the United States.
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 The year 1793 saw one of the worst yellow fever epidemics to date in Philadelphia killing 5,000 of its 50,000 inhabitants. Benjamin Rush and Mayor Matthew Clarkson called to mobilize the black community to serve during this time. Despite their fears both Richard Allen and Absalom Jones responded to the call and worked to help fight the disease. In the first house they visited they found two children huddled with their sick father. Their mother had already succumbed to the disease. Jones and Allen found people to care for the children and tried to aid the father. In the following weeks Allen organized dead-removal crews and continued to assist doctors. Allen was even taught by Dr. Rush how to "bleed" fever victims, as this was thought to be the most effective treatment.
Despite their best efforts, Jones and Allen were attacked by publisher Mathew Carey, who accused blacks of profiting financially from Yellow Fever. Carey accused Allen's crew of blacks of overcharging for body removal and stealing from the houses they entered. Allen and Jones published “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia in the Year 1793 and A Refutation of Some Censures Thrown upon them in some late Publications,” a document which sought to defend the black community and recount their experiences during the ordeal.
Bethel and the Formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Allen remained true to Methodism purchased an abandoned blacksmith shop and, with his own horses, hauled it to 6th and Lombard Street with plans to have it renovated. Allen was victorious in his campaign for an independent church when Bishop Asbury presided over the inauguration of Bethel Church in 1794. Though Allen was successful in building a black Methodist church, he still received considerable opposition. But despite opposition the church began to thrive. In its first two years, membership grew from 20 to 121 and in 1799 Richard Allen was ordained as a deacon.
The black Bethel Church and the white St. George's Church often clashed as trustees at St. George's attempted to control Mother Bethel's affairs. Allen and his supporters accepted the offer of the white assistant minister of St. George's help in drawing up a charter of incorporation, which was approved by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on September 12, 1792. Bethel continued under incorporation for ten years but later fought the charter. They believed that they had been deceived since the charter assigned control of the property to the Methodist Conference. The document specifically acknowledged that membership of the church and its board of trustees was restricted to persons of African descent, but also provided that the Methodist elder in charge of the Conference had the right to nominate Bethel's preacher. In 1807, members of Bethel secretly met and drew up what Allen called the African Supplement, in attempts to regain control of their church. The Supplement was an amendment to their charter which gave trustees, ‘the right to nominate and appoint one or more persons of the African race to exhort and preach in Bethel Church and any other church which may hereafter become the property of the corporation...”
The elders of St. George’s began to aggressively attack Bethel Church. A failed attempt was made to undermine Bethel by opening another church for blacks in the vicinity. Another elder was physically blocked from the pulpit when he attempted to preach at Bethel. In 1815 the elders of St. George’s managed to Bethel up for auction. Allen repurchased his church for $10,125 in the summer of 1815. Finally, on January 1, 1816, Allen turned to the courts who ruled in his favor gaining Bethel its independence. This event was a cause for celebration not only in Philadelphia, but for other black Methodists elsewhere including Baltimore where Daniel Coker had been leading black Methodists in a similar battle. Allen and Coker had been in contact and agreed to withdraw from the white Methodist connection at the same time.
The Baltimore and Philadelphia congregations were the largest of the five represented in a meeting held in Philadelphia on April 9, 1816. The first action of this meeting was to adopt the name African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the next to adopt the Discipline order of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The delegates then elected Daniel Coker as the first bishop of the new church. For reasons that are not clear, he declined the nomination the following day. Then Richard Allen was selected. He was ordained an elder, and on the next day, April 11, 1816, bishop. From that time on Allen served as both pastor of Bethel Church and bishop of the AME Church. Under Allen's leadership the AME church grew into a stable institution and the largest independent black denomination.
Other Endeavors and Later Life Allen led and participated in the formation of a number of organizations for the betterment of his people. His prominence a leader enabled him to assist both blacks and whites beyond the confines of the denomination. In 1794 Allen attempted to establish a school for blacks. He later became treasurer of the Second African Masonic Lodge, which was inaugurated in Philadelphia on June 24, 1797. He also took part in the founding of the Bethel Benevolent Society, a charitable women's group, being sympathetic to women’s rights long before many of his colleagues and members were. In 1800 Allen married a former slave named Sarah (maiden name unknown). The Allens had six children: Richard Jr., Peter, John, James, Ann, and Sarah.
Although the white Methodist church had weakened its once adamant antislavery position, Allen remained an abolitionist. In 1808 he escaped losing his freedom when a slave-catcher accused him of being a runaway slave. Fortunately the residents of Philadelphia testified that Allen had been living in the city for nearly 20 years and had not escaped from the South just a few years earlier as the speculator claimed. This experience caused Allen to make further efforts to fight against slavery. The basement of Bethel Church was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad where Allen and his wife, hid, fed and clothed escaping slaves. Allen led a movement in opposition of the American Colonization Society. The American Colonization Society was an all-white group which included Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson, which attempted to remove free blacks from America and relocate them to Africa either voluntarily or forcibly if, need be. Allen feared that if the black community supported this movement there would be no one left to aid slaves. He also felt blacks should be treated as American citizens and be given equal rights. Allen held a protest meeting of 3,000 free blacks at Bethel shortly after the formation of the society. This meeting was the first concentrated effort by blacks to defend their freedom, and helped lead to the dismemberment of the Colonization movement.
Although much of Allen's later life is intertwined with the history of the AME Church, he remained an influential figure until his death. Notable is The First National Negro Convention which was held in response to repressive legislations in Ohio in 1829. The meeting convened in Philadelphia on September 5, 1830, and Allen was elected its president. However, Richard Allen died in Philadelphia on March 26, 1831, three months before the second convention. Allen stated in his will that the salaries due to him from the church from 1807 on were revoked in 1821 and that his work since that date was not compensated. His estate was valued at $60,000, and the will left the use his property to his wife if she did not remarry and contained detailed disposition of his considerable real estate holdings in case of her marriage or death. His estate also included a $10,000 bond on the Bethel Church on which the trustees were to pay interest. Originally buried in Bethel Church's cemetery in Philadelphia, in 1901 both Richard and Sarah Allen were placed in a tomb underneath Mother Bethel AME Church.
Impact on Today’s Society Although Richard Allen died in Philadelphia, but his contributions to religion, education, and culture are still evident today. His efforts are reflected in institutions such as the Allen Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio; Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina; and the Richard Allen Center for Culture and Art opposite Lincoln Center, New York City. The AME Church is also responsible for founding the nation’s first Historically Black University, Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Litwick, Leon, and August Meier, eds. Black Leaders of the Nineteenth Century. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Logan, Rayford W., and Michael R. Winston, eds. Dictionary of American Negro Biography. New York: Norton, 1982.
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Smith, David. Biography of Rev. David Smith. Xenia, OH: Xenia Gazette Office, 1881.
Wesley, Charles H. Richard Allen: Apostle of Freedom. Washington, DC: Associated Publishers, 1935. Reissue 1969.
McMickle, Marvin A: An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage
Judson Press: Valley Forge, PA, 2002.

Newman, Richard. Freedom’s Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, The AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers. NYU Press: New York, NY, 2008.

Alexander, E. Curtis. Richard Allen: The First Exemplar of Afreican Methodist Education. ECA Assoc. 1985.

Bragg, George Freeman. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. Church Advocate Press, 1915.