Collect Day #17, THE THOMAS PAUL FAMILY
O God, you made us–all the peoples of the earth–of one blood and one breath. You sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near. Thomas Paul did this for you in Boston, in small towns in NH, in Jamaica, and New York. He went everywhere to encourage others to seek after you and find you. Thomas brought, especially, those of the forgotten nations into your fold. Pour out your Spirit upon us, and bring the day ever closer when we can all live together in your kin-dom, where there is neither slave nor free, male nor female, Jew nor Greek. Bless us when we breathe together as one and our common exhalation is the sound of Shalom. Amen
DAY #17, March 5, 2018
Exeter
THE THOMAS PAUL FAMILY
(1773–1831)
Rev. Deborah Knowlton
Before 1771, Caesar Paul was one of several enslaved men in Exeter freed by his owner, Maj. John Gilman. He married Lovey Rollins of Stratham. Caesar and Lovey had 10 children, including Thomas Paul, the eldest of six sons. He and his brothers, Nathaniel and Benjamin, pursued careers in the ministry.
Thomas must have been a dynamic preacher as many churches throughout New England requested him as a guest speaker. In 1804, he received ordination and the next year, he and Catherine Waterhouse were married. They had three children, Ann Catherine, Susan and Thomas, Jr.
Thomas moved his family to Boston where, in 1806, he led the construction and founding of First African Baptist Church, located on Joy Street on Beacon Hill. White people helped with fundraising for the new church, along with many Blacks, including Cato Gardner who donated $1500. Other Blacks did much of the actual construction. Thus, began Paul’s ministry career which was to last until his health gave out in 1829. The congregation “loaned Paul out” to assist in the founding of other faith communities such as the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. During his tenure Paul also pursued missionary work in Haiti. There, in 1815, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Baptist Society, he laid the groundwork for another church.
Back in Boston, Thomas resumed his ministry and is credited with some of the earliest Black liberation theological work. His adult children continued the family tradition of activism. His daughter, Susan Paul, became a leading member of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society and taught local school children, as did her mother. Thomas Jr., was the first Black graduate of Dartmouth College in 1841, then became a teacher and school principal in Boston.
Meanwhile, Thomas’ brothers Benjamin and Nathaniel, also Baptist ministers, were involved in abolitionist activities across the region, while another brother Shadrach Paul worked as an itinerant preacher for the New Hampshire Domestic Mission Society in the Epping area.
Thomas Paul died in 1831. Years later, his Joy Street church, known as the African Meetinghouse, was placed on the list of National Historic Landmarks, but not before it served the immigrant Jewish faith community of Anshei Lubavitch, for nearly 75 years until 1972. Thomas Paul would have been delighted!
