Richard Allen, was born enslaved by Benjamin Chew in Philadelphia on February 14, 1760. Richard, his parents, and his three siblings were sold to Stokeley Sturgis, a Delaware planter. When Stokeley got into financial trouble, Richard's mother and three of his five siblings were sold.
In 1786, Allen purchased his freedom from Sturgis for a price of $2,000. Absalom Jones and Allen both worshipped at St. George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Allen was asked to preach at St. George’s. His preaching resulted in an increase in Black membership. So much so that they were asked to sit separately from the white congregants.
“One Sunday morning in 1792, Jones challenged St. George's segregated seating arrangement by sitting downstairs. In the middle of the opening prayer, two white trustees forced Jones to leave. Allen and other Black members who had been seated in the balcony then walked out of St. George's. Until this incident, few Black Methodists had been receptive to Allen's call for the establishment of an independent Black church. On August 12, 1794, members of the Free African Society founded The African Church of Philadelphia. Because of the Methodists' discriminatory treatment of Blacks, the church was consecrated as part of the Protestant Episcopal Church and Jones became the denomination's first Black priest.”
“Allen, however, remained faithful to Methodism and used his own savings to buy a former blacksmith's shop and transplant it onto a plot of land he had previously purchased in Philadelphia. After renovations, Bethel African Church opened on April 9, 1794, and Allen was ordained its deacon. After Bethel was officially initiated at the 1796 Methodist conference, white Methodist officials attempted to gain control over Allen's church, but a Pennsylvania Supreme court ruling in 1807 declared that the Black Methodist congregation owned the property on which they worshipped and that they could determine who would preach there. Following Allen's example, many Black Methodists formed African Methodist Churches in northeastern cities. Because all experienced similar challenges from white Methodists, Allen organized a convention of Black Methodists in 1816 to address their shared problems.” (An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage by Marvin Andrew McMickle)
Richard Allen passed away on March 26, 1831. His home was located in the middle of the block at Lawrence Court on Spruce St. between 4th and 5th.
