David George

David George was born into slavery around 1743 in Essex County, Virginia, and endured severe abuse before escaping to South Carolina, where in 1775 he and several other enslaved people, converted by fellow formerly enslaved preacher George Liele, founded the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, the first Black congregation in what is now the United States.

During the American Revolutionary War, George and his family sought refuge behind British lines in Savannah, Georgia, and as the war turned against Britain, he joined thousands of Black Loyalists evacuated to Nova Scotia, where despite facing persecution, including having his home destroyed, he continued preaching and founding Baptist congregations across the colony.

Frustrated by broken British promises of land and provisions, George joined Thomas Peters and other Black Loyalist leaders in organising a mass emigration to the newly proposed Sierra Leone colony, and led part of the 1792 expedition that founded Freetown.

In December 1792 George travelled to London with Lieutenant John Clarkson, spending nearly a year visiting English Baptist congregations, raising financial support for his African mission, and dictating his memoirs, published as An Account of the Life of Mr David George, from Sierra Leone in Africa.

Returning to Freetown, George built a meeting house and baptised the first converts in the Sierra Leone River, founding the first Baptist church on the African continent, and continued serving as a preacher and community leader there until his death in 1810.