Thomas Paul (1773–1831) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, who became the first pastor for the First African Baptist Church, currently known as the African Meeting House. He later helped found the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City. An abolitionist, he was a leader in the black community and was an active missionary in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Early life and career

Paul was born in the town of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in Rockingham County, New Hampshire on September 3, 1773, the son a freed slave named Caesar Nero Paul. He was educated at the Free Will Society Academy with two of his brothers.Mitchell, Marcus J. "The Paul Family ." ''Old-Time New England'', 1973. https://hne-rs.s3.amazonaws.com/filestore/1/2/8/3/3_a6d0a6bca8697fb/12833_a3f973761350ffc.pdf He then pursued higher-education for the ministry in Hollis, New Hampshire, at the Free Will Baptist Church.Nathan Aaseng, ''African-American Religious Leaders'' (2003), p. 168–9. Paul was baptized by Reverend S.F. Locke and ordained in

West Nottingham Meetinghouse The West Nottingham Meetinghouse, or Little Brick Meetinghouse, is a historic Friends meeting house located at Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is a brick one-story building built in 1811, rectangularly shaped, and measurin ...

by Reverend Thomas Baldwin in 1804. He married Catherine Waterhouse from

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

on December 5, 1805. Shortly after their marriage, they had three children and moved to

in 26 George Street.

First African Baptist Church

After moving to Boston, Paul and his family became members of the First Baptist Church. However, following various conflicts with the white members of the church, such as mistreatment of black members, and placing them in the worst seating sections hidden from the minister, Paul and fellow black members created their own body of the church: the First African Baptist Church. ''Old-Time New England'' correspondent J. Marcus Mitchell wrote regarding this conflict, "The black members were not being given an equal role in church activities.""African Meeting House - NPS History." Accessed October 16, 2021. http://www.npshistory.com/publications/boaf/nr-african-meeting-house.pdf. Paul met on August 8, 1805 with twenty other black congregational members in

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...

to discuss how to organize the new of the body church. The church was built with the help of Cato Gardner and the congregation. Shortly after its construction, on December 4, 1806, he became the first pastor for the First African Baptist Church. Paul oversaw the church become a charter member of the Boston Baptist Association, and baptized over a hundred people in his time as pastor."Thomas Paul." In ''American National Biography''. Vol. 17. Eds. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. From 1818 to 1828, the attendance of the church grew from 100 to 139. The lack of increase in attendants to the First African Baptist Church is argued to be due to Thomas Paul's abolitionist views at the time. After its foundation, the church went under various names: Independence Baptist Church, Belknap or Joy Street Baptist Church, and "The Abolition Church" following the founding of the

New England Anti-Slavery Society The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ...

in the church by

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...

on January 6, 1832.

Abyssinian Baptist Church

After the foundation of the First African Baptist Church in 1805, Paul also helped establish black baptist churches all across America. He traveled to New York in 1808 to help a movement of fellow black members of the First Baptist Church in creating another independent black Baptist church. He attended many congregations and preached to large groups regarding the possibility of founding this new independent church. In 1808, the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York was founded. His brother, Benjamin Paul, was also involved in the founding and later became a minister for the Abyssinian Baptist Church.Charles Eric Lincoln, Lawrence H. Mamiya, ''The Black Church in the African-American Experience'' (1990), p. 25
Google Books

Educational and missionary involvement

In 1815, Paul travelled with

Prince Saunders Prince Saunders (1775– January 22, 1839) was an African American teacher, scholar, diplomat, and author who different sources say was born in either Lebanon, Connecticut, or Thetford, Vermont. During his life, Saunders helped set up schools for ...

to England on a delegation to educate young children from the Massachusetts Baptist Society, meeting

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and Thomas Clarkson. A topic raised was black emigration to

. With the support of the white Massachusetts Baptist Society, in May 1817, Paul left for Cap-Haïtien, Haiti as a missionary. He discovered other Christian Protestants, but speaking no French, he made little impact on the Catholic population there. He forged relationships with the Haitian President, Jean-Pierre Boyer and his Secretary General,

Joseph Balthazar Inginac Joseph Balthazar Inginac (also known as Balthazar Inginac) (1775 in Leogane - 1847) in Leogane - was a Haitian diplomat and member of the presidential inner circle. He served as the secretary-general for the two longest-serving presidents, A ...

. In December 1817, he returned to Boston giving a favorable report of his work in Haiti. Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer asked Paul encourage the emigration of black Americans to Haiti. Paul returned to Haiti in July 1824 with black families from Boston, but ultimately failed as many of them could not adjust. After this experience, Thomas Paul became a strong opposer of colonization. Paul was affiliated with the

Education Society for the People of Colour Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

. Together with other black leaders, he contributed to the development of

black Liberation Theology Black theology, or black liberation theology, refers to a theological perspective which originated among African-American seminarians and scholars, and in some black churches in the United States and later in other parts of the world. It context ...

by tying biblical teachings to social justice and the quest for African American equal acceptance in society. He also played a key role in Boston black community as member of the African Grand Lodge no. 459 which later became known as Prince Hall Mason. Paul was opposed to integrated education as he believed that black children would receive better education from classrooms taught by black instructors with other black children. He earned a reputation of being an eloquent speaker, well-organized and educated. After attending one of his sermons, Boston resident William Bentley wrote " homas Paulimpressed the audience with a regard to his sincerity and many with a sense of his talents."

Final years

Paul served the African Baptist Church from 1805 to 1829. He died two years later on April 13, 1831 in Boston, Massachusetts from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Following his death, Garrison wrote an obituary on ''

The Liberator Liberator or The Liberators or ''variation'', may refer to: Literature * ''Liberators'' (novel), a 2009 novel by James Wesley Rawles * ''The Liberators'' (Suvorov book), a 1981 book by Victor Suvorov * ''The Liberators'' (comic book), a Britis ...

'': He also received various other mentions, such as by the dean of America's black historians Carter Woodson, who wrote "He frequently made preaching excursions into different parts of the country where his 'color' excited considerable curiosity, and being a person of very pleasing and fervid address, he attracted crowds to hear him."

Family and relatives

Paul was born in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

, the eldest of six brothers in what was to become a prominent family of early Black Americans. He married Catherine Waterhouse on December 5, 1805, and they had three children shortly after: Ann Catherine,

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

, and Thomas, Jr. Susan Paul became a prominent writer and published the first biography of an African American in the United States. Thomas, Jr. worked as a teacher at the

Abiel Smith School Abiel Smith School, founded in 1835, is a school located at 46 Joy Street in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, adjacent to the African Meeting House. It is named for Abiel Smith, a white philanthropist who left money (an estimated $4,000) in hi ...

after studying at the short-lived

Noyes Institute The Noyes Academy was a racially integrated school, which also admitted women, founded by New England abolitionists in 1835 in Canaan, New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College, whose then-abolitionist president, Nathan Lord, was "the only seated ...

. He was one of the first Black graduates of Dartmouth College, having been rejected from Brown on account of his race. Two of his brothers, Nathaniel Paul and Benjamin Paul, became Baptist preachers and proponents of black emigration to the

Wilberforce Colony Wilberforce Colony was a colony established in the year 1829 by free African American citizens, north of present-day London, Ontario, Canada. It was an effort by American Blacks to create a place where they could live in political freedom. When Am ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Nathaniel was a minister at

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the State capital (United States), capital of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, also the county seat, seat and largest city of Albany County, New York, Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, abo ...

, and founder of the Providence's United African Society in the 1820s. Benjamin was minister of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York along with Paul. Paul was the uncle of poet

James Monroe Whitfield James Monroe Whitfield (c. April 10, 1822 – April 23, 1871) was an African-American poet, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a notable writer and activist in abolitionism and African emigration during the antebellum era. He published th ...

through his sister Nancy. By his sister Rhoda, he was the brother-in-law of noted black

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

soldier,

Jude Hall Jude (Judas) Hall was an African-American soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He served from 1775 to 1783, thus earning his freedom from slavery. After the war, he married and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, where his homestead is still ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Thomas 1773 births 1831 deaths African-American Baptist ministers National Baptist Convention, USA ministers Baptist ministers from the United States Clergy from Boston Abolitionists from Boston 19th century in Boston People from Beacon Hill, Boston People from Exeter, New Hampshire Paul family of New England