During slavery in America, religion was often used as a tool of control. Many preachers visited plantations to tell enslaved Africans to obey their masters and accept their suffering as God’s will. But Freeborn Garrettson, a Methodist preacher from Maryland, refused to be part of that lie. He preached a message of freedom, not submission, and for that, he was thrown into jail.
Freeborn Garrettson was born on August 15, 1752, in Bush River Neck, Maryland, on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay. His family was wealthy and owned a large plantation, a general store, and a blacksmith shop. The family’s prosperity was built on the labor of several enslaved African families who worked the land and managed the businesses.
As a child, Garrettson lived a comfortable life. He was raised in the Anglican faith and received a solid education for someone of his social class. He learned reading, writing, arithmetic, surveying, bookkeeping, and even astronomy. Yet, like most young men of his generation, he accepted slavery as normal, it was simply how the world worked.
Garrettson’s transformation began with a series of deep spiritual experiences. At the age of nine, he believed he heard God speaking to him, urging him to seek holiness. Those moments planted seeds that would later grow into a lifelong passion for serving God.
As he grew older, those early experiences never left him. The more he learned about faith, the stronger his desire became to live a life that truly pleased God. He began to see his purpose not in wealth or comfort, but in helping others find the same spiritual awakening he had felt as a child.
In 1775, Garrettson joined the Methodist ministry. He became one of the first American-born Methodist preachers and began traveling from town to town, spreading the Gospel. His encounters with Methodist leaders like Francis Asbury deepened his faith and strengthened his resolve to live by what he preached.
Not long after inheriting his family’s estate, Garrettson freed all the enslaved Africans he owned. He said that a “voice” told him to do so, and from that moment, he could no longer justify slavery. His journal writings show a clear rejection of the system that had once benefited his family.
From that moment, he began preaching openly against slavery, a dangerous choice in his time. Most preachers were either silent or openly supportive of the system. Those who preached on plantations often told enslaved Africans to serve their masters faithfully and find peace in heaven. Some, like Rev. Basil Manly Sr., even used the Bible to justify white ownership of Black bodies. Garrettson, however, declared that God created all people equal and that no one had the right to own another human being.
His message of freedom was revolutionary and angered many slaveholders. In Cambridge, Maryland, local authorities arrested him for preaching to enslaved Africans. To them, his sermons were dangerous because they inspired hope and resistance among those in bondage.
But Garrettson refused to stay silent. Even in jail, he continued to preach through the bars of his cell. His courage inspired others, both enslaved and free, to see Christianity not as a tool of oppression but as a call to liberation.
After his release, Garrettson resumed his travels as a Methodist preacher. He journeyed from Maryland and North Carolina to New York and even as far as Nova Scotia, spreading his message of faith and freedom.
In Nova Scotia, he helped found Methodist congregations, including one in the free Black community of Birchtown. His work there connected faith and freedom for people who had escaped slavery and sought to build new lives.
Garrettson’s legacy reached beyond his lifetime. His preaching directly influenced Richard Allen, a formerly enslaved man who would go on to establish the Bethel Church in Philadelphia. That church later became the foundation of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, the first independent Black denomination in the United States.
In his later years, Garrettson settled in Rhinebeck, New York, where he continued to preach and mentor younger ministers. He and his wife, Catherine Livingston, opened their home to traveling preachers who needed rest and encouragement. Even after decades of ministry, he never abandoned his belief that slavery was incompatible with Christianity.
He died on September 26, 1827, at his estate, Wildercliff, leaving behind a lasting legacy as one of Methodism’s most courageous voices.
Source:
https://www.umc.org/en/content/freeborn-garrettson-methodisms-paul-revere