Profile: Rev. Lemuel Haynes

Overview:

Lemuel Haynes was born in 1753 in West Hartford, Connecticut, to an African father and a white mother who left him as an infant. He grew up as an indentured servant in Massachusetts, where he worked on a farm but taught himself to read and write. Haynes developed a deep love for books, especially the Bible, and began writing and preaching sermons as a teenager. During the American Revolution, he served as a Minuteman. After the war, he became the first African American ordained by a mainstream Protestant church in the United States. He later led mostly white congregations in New England, built a strong reputation as a preacher and writer, and earned an honorary degree from Middlebury College. 

Quick Facts:

• Born: July 18, 1753, West Hartford, Connecticut

• Died: September 28, 1833, South Granville, New York

• First African American ordained by a mainstream Protestant church in the U.S.

• Served as a Minuteman during the American Revolution

• Self-educated; studied Latin and Greek with ministers

• Pastor of mostly white congregations in Connecticut, Vermont, and New York

• Served over 30 years in Rutland, Vermont

• Published essays and sermons on religion, liberty, and justice

• Received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Middlebury College (first African American to do so)

• Known for speaking against slavery and promoting equality

Why This Story Matters:

Rev. Lemuel Haynes matters because he challenged ideas about race, leadership, and belonging in early America. At a time when Black people were often excluded from education and leadership, he became a respected minister serving white congregations. He spoke about liberty, justice, and faith, connecting the ideals of the American Revolution to the lives of all people, including African Americans. His writing showed the contradiction of a nation fighting for freedom while allowing slavery. Haynes’s success in religion, education, and public thought proves that Black Americans were active builders of the nation, even when their stories were ignored or erased from history.

Legacy:

Rev. Lemuel Haynes left a powerful legacy as a minister, writer, and thinker who crossed racial boundaries in early America. He proved that African Americans could lead, teach, and influence society at the highest levels, even when facing prejudice. His sermons and writings helped shape conversations about liberty, religion, and equality in the new nation. His life also shows the challenges Black leaders faced, including racism that affected his career. Today, Haynes is remembered as a pioneer who helped expand the meaning of American freedom and whose story reminds us that the nation’s founding was more diverse than often taught. 

Discussion Questions:

1. If you were living in Haynes’s time, how might your own race and social position shape whether you trusted, followed, or rejected his leadership—and why? 

2. Rev. Haynes often preached to white congregations. How might his message have been different if his audience had been mostly Black, and what does that reveal about how people adjust their voices based on who is listening? 

3. Imagine history books had always centered voices like Lemuel Haynes. How might that have changed the way people today understand power, identity, and who is seen as “American”? 

Reflection Prompt:

1. How does understanding Rev. Lemuel Haynes’s race, background as an indentured servant, and role as a respected minister change your view of who belonged in early America—and what does that reveal about how history is told and whose voices are centered or left out?

Sources & Further Reading:

1. “Lemuel Haynes (1753–1833).” BlackPast.org.

2. “Lemuel Haynes.” PBS.org. 

3. “Lemuel Haynes: America’s First Black Ordained Minister.” Image. Connecticut Humanities, Connecticut History. Image accompanying biography of Revolutionary War veteran, theologian, and the first Black ordained minister in the United States. 

4. National Archives (NARA). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (ID: 75316106). 

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