John M. Brown

For other people named John M. Brown, seeJohn M. Brown (disambiguation).

John M. Brown
Title	Minister
Personal
Born	(1817-09-08)September 8, 1817 Odessa, Delaware
Died	March 16, 1893(1893-03-16)(aged 75) Washington, DC
Religion	African Methodist Episcopal Church
Profession	educator,journalist
Signature
Senior posting
Profession	educator,journalist

John Mifflin Brown(September 8, 1817 – March 16, 1893) was a bishop in theAfrican Methodist Episcopal(AME) Church. He was a leader in theUnderground Railroad.He helped open a number of churches and schools, including the Payne Institute which becameAllen UniversityinColumbia, South Carolina,andPaul Quinn CollegeinWaco, Texas.He was also an early principal of Union Seminary which becameWilberforce University.

Early life

Brown was born September 8, 1817, in Odessa (then called Cantwell's Bridge), Delaware. His grandfather was a Methodist minister.At the age of ten he moved toWilmington, Delawarewhere he lived with William Seals, a Quaker. Even as a student, he was frustrated by segregation in education, and moved from a Presbyterian Sunday school to a Roman Catholic school to avoid the segregation. His mother was Methodist, though, so he did not convert to Catholicism. After two years in Wilmington he moved toPhiladelphiawhere his sister lived. He lived with Emerson and Henry Chester, a doctor and a lawyer, where he worked for them in exchange for secular and religious lessons. He attended St. Thomas' Colored Protestant Episcopal Church until January 1836 he joined Bethel AME church. In 1837 began to apprentice to be a barber with Frederick H. Hinton. He also attended an evening school taught by James N. Glouster. He also took time off from his apprenticeship to attend a manual labor school inAmherst, Massachusetts.Among his classmates from Philadelphia were Edward H. Ferris and A. G. Crippen. Shortly later he returned to Philadelphia, but did not remain, instead moving toPoughkeepsie, New Yorkwhere he attended a school led by Rev. Nathaniel Blount and working as a barber with Uriah Boston. In the summer he worked inNew York City.In the fall of 1838 he enrolled at Wesleyan Academy inWilbraham, Massachusettsto prepare for college. In 1840, he returned to Philadelphia where he studied Latin and Greek. He moved west and in the fall of 1844 he opened a school inDetroit, Michigan,and soon after became acting pastor of an AME church in Detroit, a position he held until 1847. In the fall of 1846 he enrolled atOberlin Collegein Ohio.

Underground Railroad

In Ohio and perhaps before, Brown was an important activist in theUnderground Railroad.He worked closely with local activists such asDelia WebsterandLaura Haviland.One noted action was sendingCalvin Fairbankto Lexington to retrieve the family ofGilson Berry.Another was the rescue ofLewis Haydenin 1844 and Alex Duvalls in 1851. In 1845, Brown joined theBoston Vigilance Committee.

Religious career

In September 1846 he became a deacon in the AME church and moved from Detroit toColumbus, Ohio.He also became principal at the Union Seminary, which becameWilberforce University.In August 1852 he moved toPittsburghto preach, and later that year or early in 1853 toNew Orleans.In New Orleans he helped raise the money for the Morris Brown chapel, but his work was generally opposed by local whites and he was imprisoned at least once for each of the five years he was in that cityfor allowing slaves to attend his sermons.In 1857 he asked that he be relieved of his position, and BishopDaniel Payneassigned him toLouisville, Kentucky,in April, and then to Bethel church inBaltimorein May 1858. In Baltimore, he also began editing a church periodical.

In December 1863 he was asked to superintend the organization of AME churches in Virginia and North Carolina, and in 1864 he became editor of theChristian Recorder.He was also elected corresponding secretary of the Parent Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the AME Church. Along withJames F. Sisson,William B. Derrick,andWilliam E. Matthews,he was very important in the work of creating new schools and churches throughout the South for the AME church.

In May 1868 he was ordained bishop of the AME church, first serving a district consisting of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. He organized the Alabama Conference of the AME church inSelma, Alabamaon July 25, 1868, and organized the Payne Institute in South Carolina which became Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1872 he changed district, then becoming bishop of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. In this role he helped establish the Paul Quinn College at Waco, Texas, and organized West Texas, South Arkansas, West Tennessee, and Columbia conferences. He also helped Bishop T. M. D. Ward establish the North Georgia Conference in 1872. In 1876 he again moved districts, then overseeing Baltimore, Virginia, North and South Carolina, serving there until 1880. He then moved to a district consisting of Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and New England. In 1884 he moved to a district including Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, North Missouri, South Kansas, and California.He organized the Colorado conference in September 1887.From 1888 to 1892 his district included Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa.

Brown in 1887

He held numerous positions in the national AME church as well. He was president of the financial board of the church.He was a leader in the movement of the AME church to send missionaries to Africa and Latin America, particularly in a speech at a general conference of the church in May 1872.He worked withFrederick Douglassand others to push for the enforcement of theCivil Rights Act of 1875,pointing particularly to an 1882 incident when Bishop Payne was removed from a railroad car and forced to walk to the next station while travelling in Florida.Brown was important in the move to include women in the AME ministry, licensingEmily Calkins Stevensto preach in the New Jersey conference in 1883.He was an outspoken and radical opponent of lynchings, especially in the 1890s.He was a delegate to the first World Methodist Ecumenical Conference inLondonin 1881 and to the second conference inWashington, DCin 1891.

Personal life

On February 13, 1852, he married Mary L Lewis inLouisville, Kentucky.They had nine children, including John M Brown andMary L Brown,medical doctors; William L Brown and Martha L Brown, educators; Daniel P Brown and George A Brown, ministers.Brown died on March 16, 1893, in Washington, DC.His funeral was atMetropolitan AME Churchand was presided over by Bishop A. W. Wayman. He was buried atGraceland Cemetery.

Sources

• Seraile, William.Fire in His Heart: Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and the AME Church.University of Tennessee Press, 1998.