LOCATION: 509 Railroad Avenue, East New Market, MD USA 21631
Faith Community United Methodist Church- Stop21 (page 26) Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway Driving Tour Guide.
From the Harriet Tubman Underground Byway Driving Tour Guide website:
"Sarah Young, a free black woman,
deeded land to establish the Colored
People’s Methodist Episcopal Church in
1844. Now known as Faith Community
United Methodist Church, this church
is the second structure to house this
still-active congregation.
African-Americans regarded southern
white ministers as part of the system
of slavery. These ministers stressed
obedience and patience. Free black
preachers, such as Rev. Samuel Green, a
highly respected church trustee, offered
hope and resistance. His preaching did
not escape close scrutiny by white
overseers, however.
Green purchased his freedom in 1834.
He was able to buy his wife Kitty’s
freedom, too, but his children remained
enslaved. His son, Sam, Jr., fled to Canada
in 1854, but Green’s daughter, Sarah was
sold away from her two little children
and never seen again.
Green turned anger into action. As an
Underground Railroad agent, he helped
Harriet Tubman and many other
freedom seekers, including the “Dover
Eight” in March 1857. He was caught
and brought to trial. The white jury
acquitted him. He was soon charged
with possession of Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a
violation of Maryland’s law governing
people of color. He was sentenced to
ten years in prison."
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