(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)
October 22 is a significant day in church history, especially for Log College Press.
English Puritan William Perkins died on October 22, 1602;
Dutch Puritan Herman Witsius died on October 22, 1708;
The College of New Jersey (Princeton) was granted a charter on October 22, 1746;
American Presbyterian Archibald Alexander died on October 22, 1851; and
American Presbyterian William Swan Plumer died on October 22, 1880.
Today we take note of the death of African-American Presbyterian James W.C. Pennington, who died in Jacksonville, Florida on October 22, 1870 - 150 years ago today.
A former Maryland-born fugitive blacksmith slave who went on to become a Christian, a Presbyterian minister, author, lecturer, doctor of divinity, and eventually, after the War, a missionary to freedmen in South, Pennington always had a passion for God-given responsibilities and liberties. His own duty, as he saw it, was to preach the gospel, and to serve his fellow man, with a particular focus on the needs of his own race. Having experienced the burden of slavery and the fear of a fugitive, he knew that not only must the law in such matters be set right, but that all men made in the image of God must be raised up to reach their potential for good and faithful service to both God and man.
In his final days, he had been called by a Committee of Missions to Freedmen of the Northern Presbyterian Church to minister in Jacksonville, Florida. As told by Christopher L. Webber in American to the Backbone: The Life of James W.C. Pennington, the Fugitive Slave Who Became One of the First Black Abolitionists, Pennington wrote to his friend Gerrit Smith before taking up this last work of his life that “Duty calls me to go to the State of Florida and assist my brethren and others in that interesting field in the great cause of education and christian Reconstruction.” Working with J.C. Gibbs and others, one of Pennington’s last contributions to the Church was to help organize the Presbytery of East Florida. But after sending an optimistic report about the progress of his work in September 1870, Pennington passed away after a short illness the following month.
Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Florida was founded in 1870 and so it celebrates 150 years of ministry this year as well. As for Pennington, the place of his burial is not known, but his legacy certainly endures. A great pioneer for Christ, who labored much to preach and teach the gospel, we remember him on the anniversary of his anniversary of the day he ceased from his earthly labors and entered into his heavenly rest. Well done, good and faithful servant.
