"Well done, good and faithful servant."
Matthew 25:23
Lemuel Haynes
July 18, 1753-September 28, 1833
The first black man in the United States of America to be
ordained as a minister, Lemuel Haynes was called by God
at an early age to preach His Word.
The son of a black father and a white mother, Lemuel was born
in West Hartford, Connecticut. Abandoned as an infant by
his parents, at only five months old, he was bound to
indentured service until the age of 21 to
Deacon David Rose of Middle Granville, Massachusetts.
As a little boy, Lemuel learned to read, and developed a love
of books, but he especially loved to read the Bible.
As an adolescent, he wrote his own sermons which he read
from the pulpit inside the town parish.
When his servitude ended in 1774, Lemuel enlisted as a
Minuteman in the local militia. During the Revolutionary War,
he wrote a ballad-sermon about the Battle of Lexington in April, 1775.
His poem reflected both the physical and spiritual conflict between slavery
and freedom, and how the courageous prefer death and the grave
to the shackles of tyranny and oppression.
After the war, Lemuel turned down an offer to attend
Dartmouth College. He instead chose to study Latin and Greek
with clergymen in Connecticut. He was licensed to preach in 1780,
and accepted a position as pastor in a white church in Middle Granville.
He later married a white schoolteacher named Elizabeth Babbitt.
In 1785, Lemuel was ordained as a Congregational minister.
During his years in the pulpit, Lemuel preached in all white churches.
He also led congregations of white and black people worshiping together,
which, according to historian David Barton, "is a circumstance
many are unaware existed in America" at that time.
In 1804, Lemuel received an honorary Master's degree from
Middlebury College. He was the first black American
to be awarded a degree of higher education.
However, I feel this man's great love of the Lord and serving Him
for the glory of His kingdom, surpassed any earthly accolades he
achieved during his lifetime, as evidenced from a passage
in a letter he wrote in 1803:
"Nor a day nor night in a week but people would crowd to meetings.
The great inquiry among the youth and others was,
"What shall we do to be saved?"
Children of eleven and twelve years of age seemed to
be more engaged about religion than they were before
about their play. The minds of people in general were attentive.
My house has been often thronged with people who desired
to discourse about religion...Thus it has pleased the Lord
to do wonders among us, to the praise of His glorious grace."
Lemuel Haynes died in 1833. His life of service to the Lord
and as an American hero should never be forgotten.
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will
exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garment
of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, as a a bride
adorns herself with her jewels.
For as surely as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a
garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so surely the
Lord God will cause righteousness and justice and praise to
spring forth before all nations through the self-fulfilling
power of His Word."
Isaiah 61:10-11
His poem reflected both the physical and spiritual conflict between slavery
and freedom, and how the courageous prefer death and the grave
to the shackles of tyranny and oppression.
After the war, Lemuel turned down an offer to attend
Dartmouth College. He instead chose to study Latin and Greek
with clergymen in Connecticut. He was licensed to preach in 1780,
and accepted a position as pastor in a white church in Middle Granville.
He later married a white schoolteacher named Elizabeth Babbitt.
In 1785, Lemuel was ordained as a Congregational minister.
During his years in the pulpit, Lemuel preached in all white churches.
He also led congregations of white and black people worshiping together,
which, according to historian David Barton, "is a circumstance
many are unaware existed in America" at that time.
In 1804, Lemuel received an honorary Master's degree from
Middlebury College. He was the first black American
to be awarded a degree of higher education.
However, I feel this man's great love of the Lord and serving Him
for the glory of His kingdom, surpassed any earthly accolades he
achieved during his lifetime, as evidenced from a passage
in a letter he wrote in 1803:
"Nor a day nor night in a week but people would crowd to meetings.
The great inquiry among the youth and others was,
"What shall we do to be saved?"
Children of eleven and twelve years of age seemed to
be more engaged about religion than they were before
about their play. The minds of people in general were attentive.
My house has been often thronged with people who desired
to discourse about religion...Thus it has pleased the Lord
to do wonders among us, to the praise of His glorious grace."
Lemuel Haynes died in 1833. His life of service to the Lord
and as an American hero should never be forgotten.
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will
exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garment
of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, as a a bride
adorns herself with her jewels.
For as surely as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a
garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so surely the
Lord God will cause righteousness and justice and praise to
spring forth before all nations through the self-fulfilling
power of His Word."
Isaiah 61:10-11
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