Benjamin Franklin Lee (September 18, 1841 – March 12, 1926) was a religious leader and educator in the United States. He was the president of

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

from 1876 to 1884. He was editor of the ''Christian Recorder'' from 1884 to 1892. He was then elected a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, serving from 1892 until his resignation in 1921, becoming senior bishop in the church in 1915.

Early life

Benjamin F. Lee was born September 18, 1841 to Abel and Sarah Lee in

Bridgeton, New Jersey Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland CountySimmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner
''Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising''
GM Rewell & Company, 1887. pp. 922–927 Among Lee's relatives was Theophilus G. Steward a cousin who would also be an AME church leader. Abel died when Benjamin was about ten and he was raised by a relative, and his mother died April 1, 1852. As a youth he was employed on farms, attending schools in the winter. In November 1864 he enrolled in night classes at

, and he became a full student in 1865, graduating with an A. B. in 1872. He was noted for paying for school by manual labor work and teaching. He also received support from Hannah McDonald, a sister-in-law to Bishop

Daniel Payne Daniel Alexander Payne (February 24, 1811 – November 2, 1893) was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. A major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.), Payne stressed education and preparation of mi ...

, who was the university's president. Lee also had a religious calling, joining the African Methodist Episcopal church in 1862, licensed to preach in 1868, ordained deacon in 1870 and elder in 1872. In 1868 he was appointed pastor to the Salem Circuit between

Salem, Ohio Salem is the largest city in Columbiana County, Ohio, with a small district in southern Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 11,915. It is the principal city of the Salem micropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. It is 18 m ...

, and

Bridgewater, Pennsylvania Bridgewater is a borough in central Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio rivers. The population was 744 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough is best known ...

, and over the next few years he worked as a missionary in parts of Kentucky and Ohio. In 1872 he took a position as pastor of a church in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

Family

In 1873 he married Mary E. Ashe of

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. Mary also graduated from Wilberforce and was a celebrated writer, noted for her poem "Afmerica" and writings in the''A. M. E. Review''. Their children include noted writer

Effie Lee Newsome Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979), born Mary Effie Lee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a Harlem Renaissance writer. She mostly wrote children's poems, and was the first famous African-American poet whose work was mostly in this area. She edite ...

, Sarah Lee, Frances "Addie" Lee, Benjamin F. Lee Jr, and Consuelo Lee. Sarah and Addie also became teachers at Wilberforce.

Wilberforce

In 1873 he returned to Ohio where he was appointed chair of pastoral theology, homiletics, and ecclesiastical history at Wilberforce after the resignation of T. H. Jackson. In 1875, he moved to become pastor of the AME church in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. He returned to Wilberforce in 1876, taking the position of University president upon the resignation of Bishop Payne. He held the position for eight years, and in 1884 he resigned to take the position of editor of the AME Church's official paper, the ''Christian Recorder''. Lee was replaced at Wilberforce by Samuel T. Mitchell, after the first choice, John G. Mitchell refused. In this, he replaced

Benjamin Tucker Tanner Benjamin Tucker Tanner (December 25, 1835 – January 14, 1923) was an American clergyman and editor. He served as a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1886, and founded ''The Christian Recorder'' (see Early American Metho ...

, who went on to edit the then new ''A. M. E. Review''.

AME leadership

Lee was a prominent member of the AME church. He was a member of the AME general conference in 1876 and 1880 and a delegate elect to its session in 1884 in Baltimore. In 1880 he was elected by the AME general conference as a delegate to the Ecumenical Council of Methodists. In 1880, Lee was a candidate for the position of AME bishop. His candidacy was criticized by

John Wesley Cromwell John Wesley Cromwell (September 5, 1846 – April 14, 1927) was a lawyer, teacher, civil servant, journalist, historian, and civil rights activist in Washington, DC. He was among the founders of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society and the ...

as Cromwell felt Lee's candidacy was based on Lee's position and popularity and not on his merit. In 1890,

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

criticized the black church, stating that too many black preachers were unqualified, estimating that two-thirds of Baptist and Methodist clergy were mentally and morally unfit. Payne gave Washington his support, but many others opposed Washington, led by Lee and Theophilus G. Steward. Lee was again a delegate to the general conference in 1888 and 1892.Robinson, George F
''History of Greene County, Ohio''
S J Clarke Publishing Company (Chicago) 1902, pp. 568–571 In 1892, Bishops Richard Randolph Disney and

Jabez Pitt Campbell Jabez Pitt Campbell (February 5, 1815 – August 9, 1891)Campbell, Jabez Pitt. Ancestry.com. was an American minister, activist, philanthropist and the eighth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent African- ...

died and Lee, Moses B. Salter, and James A. Handy were elected to the position. H. T. Johnson replaced Lee as editor of the ''Recorder''. He was ordained bishop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

by Payne, Wesley John Gaines, and Abraham Grant, and was appointed to the tenth Episcopal district, which included parts of Texas, Louisiana, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Western Canada. At the general conference in 1896 he was transferred to the third Episcopal District including parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. This brought him back to Ohio. He would later be transferred to the twelfth, seventh, second, fourth, and ninth district. When Bishop

Benjamin W. Arnett Benjamin William Arnett (March 6, 1838 – October 7, 1906) was an American educator, minister, bishop and member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Early life He was born a free black man March 6, 1838 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, whe ...

died in 1906, he was elected secretary of the AME Bishops' Council. When Bishop Turner died in 1915, Lee became the senior bishop of the AME church.Wright, R. R., & Hawkins, J. R. (1916)
''Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: Containing Principally the Biographies of the Men and Women, Both Ministers and Laymen, Whose Labors. Helped Make the AME Church what it is: Also Short Historical Sketches''
p. 149 He also served as president of the Wilberforce University board of trustees, president of Payne's Theological Seminary, president of the Corresponding School of Theology of the Church, and president of the AME church board of education. B F Lee 1921

Lee retired from active work in the church in about 1921."Senior Bishop of AME Church Buried in Ohio"
''The New York Age'' (New York, New York) March 27, 1926, page 2, accessed March 5, 2021

Positions and influence

Lee advocated black southerners to remain in the south rather than take part in the Great Migration wherein blacks moved from the rural south to the urban North. Lee has been criticised for that position, with historian Milton Sernett stating that Lee's position as AME Church bishop gave him a conflict of interest since declining populations of blacks in the South would weaken the church there. In 1908, Lee ordained future AME bishop, John Henry Clayborn, elder in

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlooking the Ouachita River, the city developed ...

. He wrote numerous articles, books, and pamphlets, including "Wesley, the Worker" and "Causes of Success of Methodism".

Death and legacy

Lee died at his home in

Wilberforce, Ohio Wilberforce is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,271 at the 2010 census, up from 1,579 at the 2000 census. History After Wilberforce College was established in 1856, the community was a ...

, on March 12, 1926. He was buried March 9 in Wilberforce. The B. F. Lee Theological Seminary and B. F. Lee Theological Seminary Building at

Edward Waters College Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) as a school to educate freedmen and their children. I ...

was built from 1925 to 1927 to house the schools Theological Department. The building was designed by Seminary graduate George Edward Curry, who would later himself be an AME bishop.Murphy, Larry G., J. Gordon Melton, and Gary L. Ward
''Encyclopedia of African American Religions''
Vol. 721. Routledge, 2013. p. 220

References

Sources

*Seraile, William. ''Fire in His Heart: Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and the AME Church''. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Benjamin F. 1841 births 1926 deaths People from Bridgeton, New Jersey People from Wilberforce, Ohio Wilberforce University alumni Activists for African-American civil rights African-American educators African-American journalists American male journalists African Methodist Episcopal bishops Educators from Ohio Educators from New Jersey