Buffalo’s African American community’s history began when the first non indigenous inhabitants settled in the region. Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832, with 10,000 residents, three hundred of whom were African American. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Black population grew steadily but remained numerically small, representing only one to one and a half percent of the populace.
Yet, despite their small numbers, African Americans established businesses and political, benevolent, and social societies. They advocated for abolition, suffrage, and educational equality through collective and individual initiatives as they built a close-knit community. Early in this community-building process, the Black church was one of the most effective organizations through which African Americans focused their energies, resources, and influence to achieve their objectives.
Before 1850, African Americans established two houses of worship in Buffalo. In 1831, the Colored Methodist Religious Society was the first exclusive religious organization founded by African Americans. The Society was accepted as an African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation five years later. After a move to Vine Street in 1839, the church became popularly known as the Vine Street African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Michigan Street Baptist Church originated as an offshoot of the white Washington Street Baptist Church. In 1836, thirteen African American members launched the Second Baptist church. In 1843, members purchased land on Michigan Street for a new edifice and name reflecting their location and autonomy.
Between 1831 and 1850, Buffalo’s Black population grew to 678, a little more than double its size in two decades. Seemingly, the two original churches had the capacity to fulfill the spiritual and secular needs of the Black community. Yet the religious landscape would soon be changed by a situation at the Vine Street AME.
In 1849, a schism occurred in the congregation, resulting in several church leaders leaving the mother church. The cause of the rift is unknown, but the group was determined to form a new religious institution. They chose the Buffalo Presbytery as the home for their congregation. The reasons for this decision and the facilitators in the Presbytery who assisted the new congregation remain a mystery. Yet, it’s evident that the founders had support from several of the Presbytery’s leading ministers.
The East Presbyterian Church was consecrated in a publicly held dedication service on March 18, 1850. The service included singing, sermonizing, and the ordination of three deacons. At least 27 worshippers, four of whom were baptized at this service, formed the nucleus of the congregation. Participants from the Presbytery included the pastor of the First Presbyterian, Rev. Dr. Thompson, who performed the baptisms; Rev. Dr. Heacock, pastor of Lafayette Presbyterian, who ordained the deacons; and Rev. Dr. Chester, who offered the sermon. Local newspaper articles covering the proceedings noted that East Presbyterian was the “third church formed for colored people in the city”.
East Presbyterian was without a pastor for more than a year. In December 1851, Rev. Jacob Prime arrived in Buffalo from Connecticut. His investiture was an elaborate event held at the First Presbyterian Church and attended by parishioners of other Presbyterian churches as well as members and friends of East Presbyterian. One attendee was so impressed by the young minister that he wrote a letter to the editor.
“It was deeply interesting to see one of their own number, who seems so well qualified for the station, thus solemnly set over his downtrodden and neglected brethren, to endeavor to instruct and exalt them….”
With a dynamic leader at its helm and the stewardship of seasoned community builders, East Presbyterian took its place alongside Vine Street AME and Michigan Street Baptist. Initially, the church met in several locations, but in 1853, the decision was made to build a new edifice. Property was purchased on Elm Street between North and South Division Streets. Noted architect C. N. Otis was hired to design and construct a new brick building at a cost of $7,000. The cornerstone was laid in 1854 and per the custom, parts of the church were occupied as building construction proceeded. By 1857, East Presbyterian’s new structure was fully open, serving as a house of worship capable of seating 300 and as an active community center. Church membership was reported to be at 100.
The completion of the new church appears to have been both a pinnacle of the success of the East Presbyterian and a turning point leading to its dissolution. The congregation took full possession of the building in 1858, the same year that Rev. Prime announced his decision to resign. He served nearly seven years of the ten year existence of East Presbyterian. On September 30, 1858, the trustees posted a public notice that announced the appointment of Rev. E. J. Adams as the pastor. Ultimately, Rev. Prime left Buffalo in 1859 for his next assignment in Troy, New York. Rev. Adams also appears to have moved on after a year.
As they focused their energies on addressing fiscal concerns, church trustees hired a professional “to aid them in paying off a pressing debt due from the church”. The financial burden imposed by the building project appears to have been a primary, although probably not the only, factor that resulted in the demise of East Presbyterian. As the congregation faced major challenges, they signaled their determination to continue the church’s mission. Under the auspices of the East Presbyterian, they supported abolitionist luminaries like Frederick Douglass, held conferences sponsored by the Sabbath School, social events, and other communal activities, in addition, to worship services.
East Presbyterian’s leaders were persistent in working to maintain the church following Rev. Prime’s departure. These men were stalwart supporters of longstanding, who worked to sustain a church that appeared destined to close. However, gaps in the East Presbyterian story exist. Why did they leave the Presbytery? A new partnership with the Episcopal Diocese helped them move almost seamlessly from one ecumenical partner to another. How was the relationship forged with the Diocese? The exact date of the closure of East Presbyterian is unknown.
Several documents provide evidence of St. Philip’s Episcopal sponsor. Rev. Orlando Witherspoon, the young pastor of St. John’s Episcopal, arrived in Buffalo in 1860 to assume the leadership of this prestigious congregation. In 1862, Rev. Witherspoon’s annual report to the Diocese described his activities with a group of African Americans in the community during the previous year.
"In addition to my parochial work reported above, I have officiated 25 times for a congregation of colored people. At my request, Rev. Drs. Shelton and Ingersoll, and Rev. Messers Wood, Stevens, Ernst, and Henderson, have kindly officiated for the same congregation."
In addition to his pastorate at St. John’s, Rev. Witherspoon assumed responsibility for St. Philip’s fledging congregation. He was 24 years old, energetic, charismatic, and capable of ministering to two culturally different congregations. The East Presbyterian Church began operating as St. Philip’s Colored Protestant Episcopal Church as early as 1861. From 1861 through 1865, Rev. Witherspoon was cited in the minutes of St. Philip’s vestry as the rector.
It took five years for St. Philip’s officers and founding rector to work through legal and canonical requirements before the congregation was fully consecrated as a parish in the Diocese. However, the lay leaders of the new entity did not wait for all the legal and Diocesan obligations to be resolved before organizing as an Episcopal parish. The gap years from 1861 to 1866 are chronicled in parish ledgers that document an active congregation and leadership that managed the day-to-day business of the church. On the inside cover of the oldest journal, a handwritten entry, headed “History” established May 30, 1861, as the date that a group of “19 heads of families” and seven individuals (who) “met under the auspices of St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church for the first time.”
St. Philip’s occupied the building erected as the East Presbyterian and also inherited the financial obligations of its predecessor. The congregation was under tremendous pressure regarding this debt. The vestry minutes of August 6, 1861, are illuminating. Rev. Witherspoon offered to assume responsibility for the mortgage and, consequently, ownership of the church.
Rev. Witherspoon proposed “…...holding such papers in trust as the property of St. Philip’s Colored Episcopal church until the mortgage now in the hands of Mr. Tilden shall be satisfied and said shall be formed into a parish at which time said property will be turned over to the vestry as the property of St. Philip’s church.” It was motioned “….. that we have entire confidence in the honesty of Mr. Witherspoon and that we authorize him to hold the deeds…. making him for the time, owner of the church.” The motion passed on a three-to-two vote. For the next four to five years, Rev. Witherspoon apparently continued to shepherd St. Philip’s as its pastor, although most of the Vestry minutes rarely mention him.
A significant meeting involving Rev. Witherspoon’s tenure as the rector was held on September 4, 1865. The minutes are terse and suggest a thinly veiled sign of discord between Mr. Witherspoon and the members of St. Philip’s vestry. Rev. Witherspoon made a written proposal that indicates he was not ready to end his pastoral duties at St. Philip’s. The meeting was called to discuss a “communication from Rev. Mr. Witherspoon, rector of St. John’s Church containing a series of resolutions proposing to place the church in his charge.” The resolutions were not included in the minutes, which offered no detail of the language of these resolutions. The minutes recorded a “…. motion made for its adoption, which was voted in the negative and lost.” The specifics of the discussion were not recorded, and this sentence was followed by: “On motion, the meeting adjourned.”. Rev. Witherspoon was not reported as attending this meeting.
The vestry moved quickly to call an African American rector. Rev. Samuel V. Berry had officiated at St. Luke’s, New Haven, Ct. Founded in 1844, St. Luke’s was the country's third African American Episcopal Church. He’d also served in several other parishes. Newspaper articles placed Rev. Berry’s arrival in Buffalo circa November 1865. He served as the rector for five years. Throughout his tenure, he was recognized as an able leader, and he led St. Philip’s through the next stage of its development. Rev. Berry is also credited as co-founding the "Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church among Colored People". This organization is recognized as the precursor to the modern-day Union of Black Episcopalians.
The incorporation of the church, previously filed under the East Presbyterian organization, was formally changed to St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal in 1866. A newspaper article announced the “Change in Incorporation”. St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church was “legally and canonically organized and incorporated under the rectorship of the Rev. S.V. Berry, as a regular parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the city of Buffalo.” An inscription on the inside cover of a St. Philip’s clerical ledger confirms the exact date, “November 14, date of incorporation. The church was formerly the East Presbyterian Church of Buffalo.”
As St. Philip’s became firmly entrenched as a significant, influential religious institution in Buffalo, knowledge of its historical foundation, set by the East Presbyterian Church, has been forgotten. At best, East Presbyterian is foot-noted as a “doomed” congregation. Its substantive achievements contributing to a decade of extensive community building have been overlooked. East Presbyterian’s leaders demonstrated dedication, fortitude, and resilience through their refusal to abandon their goals for their own congregation and resolve to chart their own spiritual course. St. Philip’s has overcome numerous challenges throughout its 162-year history, but the history of this remarkable congregation is incomplete without that of East Presbyterian. This paper is the first attempt to close the circle and reunite the history of one of Buffalo’s significant religious institutions.
