Moses Wilkinson

Moses "Daddy" Wilkinson or Old Moses was an African-American slave, and Methodist preacher in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.

Biography

Moses Wilkinson was a blind and crippled slave from Nansemond County, Virginia and his master was Mills Wilkinson. After Lord Dunmore's proclamation, Wilkinson led a band of runaway slaves to freedom in 1776. Moses was evacuated alongside other African Americans in 1783 and he is listed in the Book of Negroes.

Wilkinson was the main leader of the Methodists, and after staying in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, his congregation followed him to Sierra Leone where they established the first Methodist church in Settler Town, Sierra Leone. Wilkinson outlived all other religious leaders of the Nova Scotian settlers.

He is commemorated by Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which leads to the Methodist Girls High School.

References

• Cassandra Pybus, Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves of the American Revolution and Their Global Quest for Liberty. Beacon Press, 2007. (Accessed February 2014)

• Vincent Carretta (ed.), Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, 2004. (Accessed February 2014)

• James W. St. G. Walker, The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783-1870, 1992. (Accessed February 2014)

• Simon Schama, Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, HarperCollins, 2006. (Accessed February 2014)

• Lamin Sanneh, Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa, Harvard University Press, 2001. (Accessed February 2014)

• Moses Wilkinson. (Accessed February 2014)

• The Wesleyans. (Accessed February 2014)

• Susan Ware, Forgotten Heroes: Inspiring American Portraits From Our Leading Historians, The Free Press, 1998. (Accessed February 2014)

• Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada: A History. (Accessed February 2014)