Lemuel Haynes, born in West Hartford, CT, in 1753, was the son of mixed race parents. Indentured at the age of 5 months to a devout churchman, Haynes was an ardent student of the Bible. In 1785, he became the first ordained African American minister in the US, traveling throughout Vermont as an itinerant preacher. In 1787, he was called to minister to the Congregational community of the West Parish of Rutland. The meetinghouse where he preached for 30 years was located near this cemetery. An outstanding preacher and writer, Haynes was well regarded as both churchman and author. Recognized as the first black minister to serve in white parishes of New England, Haynes died in 1833. Lemuel Haynes was an African American religious leader and antislavery supporter. Stressing interracial benevolence, Haynes’ sermons were distributed internationally, making him one of the first published African Americans. In 1775, he penned the poem “The Battle of Lexington,” recounting the opening skirmish of the American Revolution. In response to the Declaration of Independence, Haynes wrote “Liberty Further Extended” in 1776. It is considered one of the most forceful Revolutionary-era arguments against slavery and one of the first authored by an African American. In 1804, he received an honorary Master’s Degree from Middlebury College, the first in the US granted to an African American.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.