Downtown Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates
⎯⎯⎯
Trailblazers

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates side of the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 6, 2015

1. Leaders, Stewards and Advocates side of the marker

Inscription.

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates, also, Trailblazers. . Leaders, Stewards and Advocates 1873 - 1913 East State Street. By 1873, Bethel AME Church served three elements of the city’s Black population; those free before the Civil War, those emancipated and placed in Bethel’s care by the Freedman’s Bureau; and immigrants fleeing the South’s Jim Crow laws., To shelter the diverse community, a grand new church was constructed on East State Street, current site of the Capitol Fountain. The building committee included Ephraim Slaughter, an African American who fought in the Civil War., On inauguration Sunday, folks gathered from across the Commonwealth to participate in honoring the achievement. Only the Sunday school building was completed in time. Four services were conducted to accommodate all who convened. , By evening, the collection plates held $500.00, a major achievement at a time when tradesmen and day laborers made $1.50-$3.00 a day. Small coins accomplished great things., However, the building committee was $9,000 short. This was a daunting sum until members John Polston and Ephraim Slaughter borrowed the money from Dickinson College of Carlisle. Still, it took until 1893 to retire the debt., From the pulpit and pews of the East State Street building flowed an outpouring of leadership, stewardship and fellowship, as well as fierce advocacy for civil rights and public education. The church was indeed a fountain of support for its congregation and the Old 8th Ward it served., [Captions:] Above and right. Bethel AME on State Street, Harrisburg., Above Left: Location of the Bethel AME Church, State Street, Harrisburg map, 1800. Above Right: Same location, current map., February 19, 1878 William Howard Day is elected to the Harrisburg School Board of Directors, the first African American to hold an elected position in the city., Ephraim Slaughter (1846-1943) Ephraim Slaughter was born a slave in North Carolina where he lived until his escape in 1863. He joined Company B of the 3rd N.C. Colored Infantry, also known as the 37th United States Colored Troops regiment. Slaughter moved to Harrisburg after the Civil War and married his wife Carrie in 1880. A member of Bethel AME, he joined the African-American Grand Army of the Republic, David Stevens Post 834. Slaughter died on February 176, 1943 and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Pembrook, Pennsylvania., Trailblazers 1839 - 1873 Short Street. The second Bethel AME Church opened on Short Street on November 24, 1839. Bethel’s first pastors-Reverend Levin Lee (ca. 1833-1843), Reverend T.M.D. Ward (1843-1845), and Reverend Abraham Cole (1846-ca.1854) --- each helped increase interest in the Bethel Church. The church operated a Sabbath school and, in the church basement, a library., In August 1847, the men of Bethel helped inaugurate the Brotherly Love Lodge (Odd Fellows). Eleven years later, on September 29, 1858, the Brotherly Love Lodge became the first Odd Fellowship in the United States to apply for and receive a Ruth Degree Warrant, granting the colored women of the Miriam Household of Ruth, No. 1., The church endured many difficult times at this location. In 1847, Bethel brethren protected Frederick Douglass while a vicious mob hurled stones at him after he spoke at the Dauphin County Courthouse with abolitionist William Lloyed Garrison. During the 1840s and 1850s, Bethel Church members formed a vigilance committee against kidnappers of runaway slaves., On February 22, 1861, Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President-elect Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known. , The men and women of Bethel met at the church on January 15, 1863, to draft a public statement explaining the Black community’s position on President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation., “We would have preferred that the proclamation should have been general instead of partial,” they proclaimed. However, the public statement expressed the colored community’s endorsement of citizenship. “We are well aware that freedom and citizenship are attended with responsibilities, and that the success or failure of the proclamation depends entirely upon ourselves, as public sentiment will be influenced…by our correct deportment and moral standing in the community.”, [Captions:] This is a view of the Short Street Bethel AME after it was sold to the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company. The church is turned to separate it from the structures added later by the new owner., Above, left: Location of the Bethel AME Church, Short Street, Harrisburg map, 1880., Above right; same location, current map., The article above was published in the Harrisburg Telegraph on January 14, 1863., February 22, 1861 Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known., ”To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”-Frederick Douglass., Harrisburg 1855: Arrow shows approximate location of the Bethel AME Short Street site.

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates
1873 - 1913
East State Street By 1873, Bethel AME Church served three elements of the city’s Black population; those free before the Civil War, those emancipated and placed in Bethel’s care by the Freedman’s Bureau; and immigrants fleeing the South’s Jim Crow laws.

To shelter the diverse community, a grand new church was constructed on East State Street, current site of the Capitol Fountain. The building committee included Ephraim Slaughter, an African American who fought in the Civil War.

On inauguration Sunday, folks gathered from across the Commonwealth to participate in honoring the achievement. Only the Sunday school building was completed in time. Four services were conducted to accommodate all who convened.

By evening, the collection plates held $500.00, a major achievement at a time when tradesmen and day laborers made $1.50-$3.00 a day. Small coins accomplished great things.

However, the building committee was $9,000 short. This was a daunting sum until members John Polston and Ephraim Slaughter borrowed the money from Dickinson College of Carlisle. Still, it took until 1893 to retire the debt.

From the pulpit and pews of the East State Street building flowed an outpouring of leadership, stewardship and fellowship,

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as well as fierce advocacy for civil rights and public education. The church was indeed a fountain of support for its congregation and the Old 8th Ward it served.

[Captions:]
Above and right. Bethel AME on State Street, Harrisburg.

Above Left: Location of the Bethel AME Church, State Street, Harrisburg map, 1800. Above Right: Same location, current map.

February 19, 1878 William Howard Day is elected to the Harrisburg School Board of Directors, the first African American to hold an elected position in the city.

Ephraim Slaughter (1846-1943) Ephraim Slaughter was born a slave in North Carolina where he lived until his escape in 1863. He joined Company B of the 3rd N.C. Colored Infantry, also known as the 37th United States Colored Troops regiment. Slaughter moved to Harrisburg after the Civil War and married his wife Carrie in 1880. A member of Bethel AME, he joined the African-American Grand Army of the Republic, David Stevens Post 834. Slaughter died on February 176, 1943 and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Pembrook, Pennsylvania.

Trailblazers
1839 - 1873
Short Street The second Bethel AME Church opened on Short Street on November 24, 1839. Bethel’s first pastors-Reverend Levin Lee (ca. 1833-1843), Reverend T.M.D. Ward (1843-1845), and Reverend Abraham Cole (1846-ca.1854)

Trailblazers side of the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 6, 2015

2. Trailblazers side of the marker

--- each helped increase interest in the Bethel Church. The church operated a Sabbath school and, in the church basement, a library.

In August 1847, the men of Bethel helped inaugurate the Brotherly Love Lodge (Odd Fellows). Eleven years later, on September 29, 1858, the Brotherly Love Lodge became the first Odd Fellowship in the United States to apply for and receive a Ruth Degree Warrant, granting the colored women of the Miriam Household of Ruth, No. 1.

The church endured many difficult times at this location. In 1847, Bethel brethren protected Frederick Douglass while a vicious mob hurled stones at him after he spoke at the Dauphin County Courthouse with abolitionist William Lloyed Garrison. During the 1840s and 1850s, Bethel Church members formed a vigilance committee against kidnappers of runaway slaves.

On February 22, 1861, Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President-elect Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known.

The men and women of Bethel met at the church on January 15, 1863, to draft a public statement explaining the Black community’s position on President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

“We would have preferred that the proclamation should have been general instead of partial,” they proclaimed. However, the public statement expressed
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), August 4, 2024

3. Leaders, Stewards and Advocates / Trailblazers Marker
the colored community’s endorsement of citizenship. “We are well aware that freedom and citizenship are attended with responsibilities, and that the success or failure of the proclamation depends entirely upon ourselves, as public sentiment will be influenced…by our correct deportment and moral standing in the community.”

[Captions:]
This is a view of the Short Street Bethel AME after it was sold to the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company. The church is turned to separate it from the structures added later by the new owner.

Above, left: Location of the Bethel AME Church, Short Street, Harrisburg map, 1880.

Above right; same location, current map.

The article above was published in the Harrisburg Telegraph on January 14, 1863.

February 22, 1861 Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known.

”To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”-Frederick Douglass.

Harrisburg 1855: Arrow shows approximate location of the Bethel AME Short Street site.

Erected by City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Bethel Village AME Church; Dauphin County Pennsylvania

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. (Marker Number 2.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church series list. A significant historical month for this entry is February 1873.

Location. 40° 15.805′ N, 76° 52.868′ W. Marker is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County. It is in Downtown Harrisburg. It is on Commonwealth Avenue. The marker is on the grounds of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 417 Walnut St, Harrisburg PA 17101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

and in the Susquehanna Valley.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Technical High School & Old City Hall (a few steps from this marker); Underground Railroad (a few steps from this marker); A Gathering At The Crossroads (within shouting distance of this marker); A Bench by the Road: Old Eighth Ward of Harrisburg (within shouting distance of this marker); Original Capitol Complex (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Underground Railroad (within shouting distance of this marker); Walnut Place (within shouting distance of this marker); Pennsylvania Canal (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Harrisburg.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 5, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 22, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 535 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 22, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 3. submitted on August 5, 2024, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates⎯⎯⎯Trailblazers

Leaders, Stewards and Advocates
⎯⎯⎯
Trailblazers