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John Gloucester Edit Profile

minister

John Gloucester was the first African American to become an ordained Presbyterian minister in the United States.

Background

Gloucester was born in 1776 as a slave in Tennessee.

Career

He arrived in Philadelphia in 1807. He began preaching at a house on Gaskill Street. His congregation grew and eventually moved to the corner of 7th and Shippen (now Bainbridge) Streets.

Gloucester preached his first official sermons to a congregation of 123 people.

He served the church until his death in 1822.