Moses “Daddy Moses” Wilkinson’s life was an extraordinary journey from slavery in Virginia to religious leadership in Africa. Born enslaved, Wilkinson escaped during the American Revolutionary War, became a Methodist preacher, led a congregation in Nova Scotia, and eventually crossed the Atlantic to help establish a Methodist church in Sierra Leone.
Wilkinson was born enslaved around 1746 or 1747 in Nansemond County, Virginia, on the plantation of Miles Wilkinson. For nearly three decades, he lived under the control of another man, working on the plantation and knowing that his future was not his to decide.
By the time Wilkinson was about thirty, Virginia had been drawn into a war that would change the lives of thousands of enslaved Africans. In 1775, American colonists had rebelled against British rule, and fighting soon spread throughout the colonies. For enslaved Africans, the war created an unexpected path to freedom. The British, seeking to weaken the rebellion, offered freedom to enslaved Africans belonging to American rebels who escaped and joined their forces.
That same year, a smallpox epidemic swept through Virginia. Wilkinson is believed to have contracted the disease, and it likely left him blind and unable to walk without help for the rest of his life.
Disabled or not, Wilkinson seized the opportunity in 1776. He led a band of enslaved Africans away from their enslavers and to the British, freeing himself and others in the process. He eventually reached British-occupied New York.
There, he found himself among thousands of Black people who had sought freedom behind British lines. He also found a new purpose that would shape the rest of his life.
In New York, Wilkinson became a Wesleyan Methodist preacher and gathered a congregation of Black worshippers around him.
He had no formal education, as slaveholders generally opposed educating the people they enslaved, fearing that literacy and education could make them harder to control. But that did not prevent him from becoming a powerful religious speaker. Wilkinson was known as a fiery preacher, so passionate in his delivery that some people who watched him worried about the effect it might have on his health.
His ministry gave him an important place within New York’s Black community.
By the end of the Revolutionary War, Wilkinson had established himself as a respected preacher among Black Loyalists.
When the British evacuated New York in 1783, Wilkinson left with the Black Loyalists who had chosen freedom under British protection. His next destination was Nova Scotia.
Thousands of Black Loyalists were transported to Nova Scotia after the war. Wilkinson settled among them and continued his work as a Methodist preacher.
The conditions were difficult. Many of the Black Loyalists struggled with the harsh climate, poverty, discrimination, and delays in receiving land.
Wilkinson nevertheless continued building his congregation.
In 1786, Wilkinson and others organized a Methodist church with 78 members, 66 of whom were Black.
The church became an important centre of Black religious life in Nova Scotia. Wilkinson’s ministry helped create a community where formerly enslaved Africans could worship together and develop their own religious institutions.
It was around this period that Wilkinson became known affectionately as “Daddy Moses” or “Old Moses.” The people of Birchtown regarded the names as expressions of respect and affection.
His physical condition did not prevent him from leading his congregation. Although blind and unable to walk without assistance, he continued preaching and ministering to his followers. Members of his congregation helped provide for his food, clothing, and shelter.
Wilkinson’s journey did not end in Nova Scotia.
In 1791, British officials began recruiting Black Loyalists for a new settlement in Sierra Leone. The plan offered them an opportunity to leave Nova Scotia and establish a new community in West Africa.
Many Black Loyalists were dissatisfied with the difficult conditions in Nova Scotia and the discrimination they faced there. Wilkinson, members of his Methodist congregation, and thousands of other Black settlers decided to leave.
On 15 January 1792, about 1,196 Nova Scotian settlers sailed from Halifax for Sierra Leone.
After crossing the Atlantic, they reached the coast of West Africa on 9 March 1792 and established the settlement that became Freetown.
Wilkinson continued his religious work after arriving in Freetown.
He established the first Methodist church in Settler Town, helping to create a new religious institution among the Black settlers.
Life in Sierra Leone, however, was far from peaceful. Relations between the Sierra Leone Company and the independent-minded Christian communities grew increasingly strained as the settlers resisted interference in their religious and community affairs. The tension eventually boiled over in 1800, when some Methodists became involved in a failed rebellion against the colony.
The authorities responded harshly. Two Methodists were executed, while others were expelled and sent to different parts of West Africa. Wilkinson survived and remained in Sierra Leone, but the Methodist movement he had built lost much of its influence in the colony.
Wilkinson’s later years are less well documented. One historical account states that he was still alive in 1811, although he was no longer preaching. It describes him as the blind old man who had outlived the other leaders who had accompanied him to Sierra Leone.
His exact date and place of death remain unknown.
Source:
https://blackloyalist.com/cdc/people/religious/wilkinson.htm
