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c 2 C A World Imagined During the nineteenth century, the church, the schools, and the clubs were places of refuge and stability for the free black community. The pastors and the teachers were often actively involved in the political arena and were considered to be part of the leadership, providing guidance and direction. These places were anchors that connected families and communities. Within the enslaved communities , the church was the place where families could gather and fellowship on Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings. Although plantation owners determined when or if the enslaved families could have a church meeting, some families would steal away for short periods of time to meet and worship in private. It was a place where they could imagine the chariot swinging low and coming forth to carry them home. For Emilie, the church was an important part of her life, and she spent a significant portion of her week either in service or at Bible study. Since it was so close, it was located at 915 Bainbridge within a five minute walk of her home, it is easy to see how she could have built her life around it. First African, which was also known as either Seventh Street Presbyterian Church or the First (Colored) Presbyterian Church, was that type of place and fostered that type of involvement and engagement. John Gloucester Sr. founded the church in 1807 with the encouragement and support of the white presbytery of Philadelphia for the purpose of training black Presbyterian missionaries. When it opened in 1811, it was the first black Presbyterian church organized in America, the fifth black church founded in the city, and it was a pillar in the Seventh Ward community. It was an uninterestinglooking building, built of plain brick, sixty feet long and thirty feet wide without any ornamentation either within the building or outside it. On the main floor, there were four rows of pews with a gallery on each side and one on the end, a high ceiling , and enough space to comfortably seat 370 people. On any given Sunday, every seat was filled, and there were people standing in the gallery area in the back. At once a legend and a mythical hero, Gloucester was known for being able to draw a large crowd. During the early days before the church was built, Gloucester used to hold services on the street corners and people would line up to hear and support him. Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Gloucester lived in Tennessee and was the body servant of Reverend Gideon Blackburn, who encouraged him to become a minister. Blackburn took Gloucester to Philadelphia to meet with the Evangelical A World Imagined 63 Society of Third Presbyterian Church and later freed him so that he could work unencumbered as a “missionary among colored people.”1 Although Gloucester was freed, his family was not, and he spent the next twelve years traveling through the North and throughout England to raise $1,200 to purchase his wife and his children.2 The church members were primarily middle class, living in and around the Seventh Ward, and had an annual income of $1,538.3 Prior to 1844, First African Presbyterian Church had over five hundred members and received an annual church income of $3,338 from the members. To put it in perspective, during the latter half of the nineteenth century, white working-class incomes fell below $900 per year, middle-class incomes fell between $900 and $3,500, and upper-class incomes were above $3,500 per year. In the free black communities of Philadelphia, where a majority of the families lived at or below the poverty line (which was approximately $650 per year), the annual income level of First African Presbyterian reflected both the social status and the color classification of the members (since mulattoes were typically educated, skilled, and had more disposable income).4 Even though he founded the church, Gloucester actually never served as their official pastor, working as their resident minister until he died of tuberculosis in 1822. Prior to his death, Gloucester had laid out a detailed succession plan, which included his oldest son, Jeremiah, stepping in to lead the church. It is not known whether Jeremiah grew up in the church or joined his father there after he graduated from Presbyterian Synod School of New York and New Jersey but what is known is that several members of the church rejected Gloucester’s plea. They submitted a petition asking...

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