Moses Wilkinson

Moses "Daddy Moses" Wilkinson or "Old Moses" (c. 1746/47 – ?) was an American Wesleyan Methodist preacher and Black Loyalist. His ministry combined Old Testament divination with African religious traditions such as conjuring and sorcery. He gained freedom from slavery in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War and was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher in New York and Nova Scotia. In 1791, he migrated to Sierra Leone, preaching alongside ministers Boston King and Henry Beverhout. There, he established the first Methodist church in Settler Town and survived a rebellion in 1800.

Early life Circa 1746, Moses Wilkinson was born enslaved on a plantation in Nansemond County, Virginia. He was enslaved by Miles Wilkinson.

Wilkinson was blind and unable to walk without assistance, possibly due to surviving smallpox.

Self-liberation The 1775 Dunmore's Proclamation promised slaves of American rebels their freedom if they would join the British forces fighting in the American Revolutionary War. The following year, Wilkinson led a band of slaves to freedom, also freeing himself. he is listed with them in the Book of Negroes. The officers of the Sierra Leone Company clashed with members of the independent-minded Christian denominations, and matters came to a head with a failed rebellion led by Methodists in 1800. minister and freedman who founded the Black Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

As detailed above, Wilkinson's preaching led to the creation of the Black Methodist community of Halifax.

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List of Black Loyalists