John Chavis was an African-American pastor in North Carolina and Virginia in the early part of the 19th century. He was one of the most important free African-Americans in North Carolina before the Civil War. Educated at Washington and Lee University (before it was called that) and at Princeton under John Witherspoon, he also served in the Revolutionary War. You can read more about him on the biography linked to on his page, as well as in the biography written by Helen Chavis Othow.
On Chavis' page you will also find his "Letter on the Extent of the Atonement." In this letter, Chavis argues against a Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement, and for an Arminian doctrine of universal atonement. The University of North Carolina has graciously allowed us to post this letter on our site (from the North Carolina Collection. The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb3389811 ). It is a fascinating read from an early American Presbyterian. For the background of the letter, see Othow's biography.