Williamsburg, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Gowan Pamphlet
(ca. 1748~ca. 1809)
Photographed by Adam Margolis, December 28, 2021
1. Gowan Pamphlet Marker
Inscription.
Gowan Pamphlet, ordained Baptist preacher, led clandestine religious gatherings of enslaved and free African Americans by the late 1770s. To avoid patrollers, they met in wooded areas outside Williamsburg. An enslaved worker at the Kings Arms Tavern and likely literate, Pamphlet molded the loosely knit worshipers into an organized Baptist church by 1781. In 17893, he gained membership for the 500-member church in the white regional Dover Baptist Association. Freed in 1793, Pamphlet owned part of a lot in Williamsburg and 14 acres in James City County by 1805. The congregation, later known as First Baptist Church, began worshiping on Nassau Street in Williamsburg early in the 19th century.
Gowan Pamphlet, ordained Baptist preacher, led clandestine religious gatherings of enslaved and free African Americans by the late 1770s. To avoid patrollers, they met in wooded areas outside Williamsburg. An enslaved worker at the Kings Arms Tavern and likely literate, Pamphlet molded the loosely knit worshipers into an organized Baptist church by 1781. In 17893, he gained membership for the 500-member church in the white regional Dover Baptist Association. Freed in 1793, Pamphlet owned part of a lot in Williamsburg and 14 acres in James City County by 1805. The congregation, later known as First Baptist Church, began worshiping on Nassau Street in Williamsburg early in the 19th century.
Erected 2020 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number W-110.)
Location. 37° 16.412′ N, 76° 42.244′ W. Marker is in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is at the intersection of North Nassau Street and Scotland Street, on the right when traveling north on North Nassau Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Williamsburg VA 23185, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Peninsula, in Coastal Virginia, and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 5, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 28, 2021, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California. This page has been viewed 1,234 times since then and 107 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 28, 2021, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
