[RELIGION]. CAMPBELL, Jabez P. (1815-1891). AME Church document signed by formerly enslaved bishop.

10 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. partially printed document appointing J.W. Bowman a "Deacon" in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and recommending him as a proper person to administer baptism, marriage, and burial of the dead. Signed at bottom "Jabez P. Campbell" as Bishop of the AME Church. 11 November 1866. With embossed seal of the AME Church at lower left.

Jabez Pitt Campbell was the grandson of two Revolutionary War soldiers, and the son of a Methodist preacher. Though born to free persons of color in Sussex County, Delaware, Campbell's family was severely impoverished, and his father was forced to sell his child into servitude after his father used Jabez as collateral for a mortgage debt. He was enslaved for 4 1/2 years before ultimately purchasing his freedom at the age of 18. Campbell became an accomplished preacher and teacher in the years leading up the Civil War, being elected the eighth bishop of the AME church in 1864. Campbell held strong views on enslavement, emancipation, and the Civil War. He denounced John Brown's raid as reckless and criticized Lincoln for his slow approach to emancipation once the Civil War ended. He was, notably, elected vice president of the American Colonization Society in 1876, being a proponent of returning free African Americans to Africa. Over the course of his life, Campbell served as the President of the Trustee Board of Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, OH, and received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from Wilberforce. He also acquired an Honorary Doctor of Laws (L.L.D.) degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Property from a 35-Year Collection from the Southern United States

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Fold lines, some creasing, edge wear.

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American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

[RELIGION]. CAMPBELL, Jabez P. (1815-1891). AME Church document signed by formerly enslaved bishop.

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