Group of 4 documents, each approx. 12 1/4 x 7 1/2 in., constituting an accounting of money held and distributions made on behalf of the African Benevolent Association [of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church Philadelphia].

The first document lists "Money in Hand of Treasurer March 7th 1848"  and "March 8th 1848 [money] paid unto society" followed by a list of 28 names representing the "Amount due each Member in distributing the whole of the Funds of the Association." The remaining three documents record disbursements in varying amounts made to 21 members of the philanthropic organization followed by the signature or mark of the recipient acknowledging the disbursement. These names and the accepted distributions correspond to those listed on the "Amount due each member." Signatures include: James Clay, Secretary of the African Benevolent Association; Charles Gordon; Ebenezer Bassaby; Alfred King; and Charles Davis. Among the “marks” is one of Ignatius Beck, a formerly enslaved man who labored on the U.S. Capitol building, survived a kidnapping and return to bondage, became a key figure in the Underground Railroad, and was an early member of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.  

Though the city of Philadelphia is not specifically identified on the pages of these documents, several names of aid society members who received disbursements can be tied to the city of Philadelphia and to Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. Founded by Richard Allen (1760-1830) in 1794 as Bethel Church, Mother Bethel is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal congregation in the nation. In the late eighteenth and into the nineteenth century, the church was also closely tied to philanthropic endeavors designed to support Philadelphia’s African American community, including the African Benevolent Association. Elisha Todd, a carter from the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia, filed a will in 1810 with bequests to the African Benevolent Association of Bethel Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church called Bethel in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania State Archives holds an “Index to Churches and Beneficial Societies, transcribed 1841” which includes the African Benevolent Association. 

Named in these documents are freemen and formerly enslaved freedmen with documented ties to the African Benevolent Association and the Philadelphia Mother Bethel church. These men include: Ignatius Beck, who was appointed by Rev. Richard Allen of Bethel as a “proxy pastor” and placed in charge of burial grounds; Ephraim Watts, who was born into slavery, escaped, moved to Philadelphia, and whose daughter is buried at Bethel Burying Ground; and Charles Davis, who worked as a porter in Philadelphia for most of his adult life and was buried at Bethel Burial Ground in 1854. 

In 1848 and throughout the nineteenth century, Philadelphia was an important hub for African American culture, religion, and abolitionist activity. The documents here demonstrate the pivotal role that Black churches and philanthropic organizations played in community organization, support, and activism.

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]