David George (Baptist)
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David George (c. 1742–1810) was an
Early life and escapes
David George was born in Essex County, Virginia, in 1742, to African-American parents John and Judith, enslaved by a man called 'Chapel'. George ran away after witnessing his mother's horrible whipping. He also personally experienced a traumatic severe whipping.[2] George received help to run away from some white travelers and worked for these men for some time. It was not until his enslaver offered a reward for George that he ran away and worked for another white man whom he encountered (this time for many years). Because his enslaver continued to pursue him, George migrated to South Carolina.
He was captured by a
George escaped and ran away again, this time encountering a Scottish trader named George Galphin (appears in some records as Gaulfin, Gaulphin), for whom he worked four years at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. Because of his close association with the Native Americans, Galphin enslaved many people who had intermarried with the Creek.
George received help to read and write from the children of Galphin. He primarily used the Bible while learning how to read and write.[3]
Marriage and family
During this time, George met and married Phyllis, who was part Creek.[4] Together they had four children born in what is now the United States. They had two more children born while in Nova Scotia and four more children born in Sierra Leone.
Baptism
In 1773, George met a formerly enslaved old childhood friend,
A somewhat different account of George during these years is presented by Mark A. Noll, American church historian:
"The first continuing black church was the Silver Bluff Church in Aiken County, South Carolina, where an African-American preacher, David George (1742-1810), established a congregation around 1773 or 1774. George's pilgrimage marked him as one of the most remarkable religious figures of his century. After serving as a slave, he was converted through the influence of an-other slave named Cyrus. Soon George began to exhort his fellow bondsmen, an activity that led to his becoming, in effect, the pastor of the Silver Bluff Church. ... American patriots were trying to throw off the "slavery" of Parliament, but for those in chattel bondage like David George, the British were the agents who combated racial, chattel slavery."[7]
Three years later, during the American Revolutionary War, the enslaved people escaped to Savannah, where they gained freedom behind British lines, as they had occupied the city. George continued to minister to a Baptist congregation.
Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone
As they had promised, in 1782, the British began transportation of
Several years later, the George family chose to migrate with other Black Loyalists to
William Gwinn, his wife and daughter also emigrated to Sierra Leone.[8] George founded the first Baptist church there. George was very influential; he was elected a tythingman, a position of power in the colony then. George wrote a memoir that is considered an important slave narrative. He died in Freetown in 1810.
His descendants are part of the
In August 2007, the African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Baptist Convention had a joint convention and liturgy to acknowledge earlier racism by the white convention and seek reconciliation. They had had separate associations since the 19th century.[9]
George in film
- George was portrayed by Joseph Marcell in the BBC television production of Rough Crossings (2007), based on the history of Black Loyalists and the formation of Freetown by Simon Schama.
See also
External links
- An Account of the Life of Mr. David George from S.L.A. given by himself.. Republished online by Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People
References and notes
- ^ "Black Loyalists", Atlantic Portal, University of New Brunswick, accessed 4 May 2010. Some historians criticize the term "Black Loyalist" because they believe there is not sufficient evidence to prove enslaved African Americans were loyal to the British.
- ^ "Biography – GEORGE, DAVID – Volume V (1801-1820) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ "Africans in America/Part 2/David George". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ Simon Schama, Rough Crossings, Toronto: Penguin Group, 2005)
- ISBN 9780312648831.
- ^ Gleile[permanent dead link]
- ^ Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. 56.
- ISBN 978-0-19-988079-9. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ a b c Wayne Adams, "Black, white Baptists bridge centuries-old racial divide"[permanent dead link], The Daily News, Halifax, Canada, 22 Aug 2007, reprinted on Amistad America, accessed 4 May 2010]
Further reading
- Walter H. Brooks, The Silver Bluff Church: A History of Negro Baptist Churches in America (Washington, D.C.: Press of R. L. Pendleton, 1910)
- James St G. Walker, The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783-1870 (New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1976)
- Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada: A History, 2nd ed. (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1997)
- Pearleen Oliver, A Brief History of the Coloured Baptists of Nova Scotia (Halifax, N.S.: s.n., 1953)
- Grant Gordon, From Slavery to Freedom: The Life of David George, Pioneer Black Baptist Minister (Hantaport, N.S.: Lancelot Press for Acadia Divinity College and The Baptist Historical Committee of the United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces, 1992).