John Berry Meachum was born on this day in 1789 in Virginia. He was a slave, but also a Baptist preacher. Given the opportunity he worked hard and eventually purchased his freedom. Saving his income, he then purchased the freedom of his father, who also was a Baptist preacher. After moving to Kentucky he married a slave whom he led to the Lord. When her master moved to Missouri, John followed them, with only three dollars in his pocket. Being an industrious hard-working carpenter, he was saving money again and was able to buy the freedom of his wife and their children. It was about that time he was ordained and became the pastor of the First African Baptist Church of St. Louis. While pastoring and evangelizing, he continued to save money which he used to buy slaves. He carefully selected his purchases out of members of his church. He taught each of them the importance of Biblical morality and hard work, requiring that they purchase their freedom from him. By about 1835, his growing church had a membership of about 220, most of whom were slaves. Constantly trying to expand his ministry, Brother Meachum built a steamboat to use up and down the Mississippi to reach even more blacks with the gospel. For 38 years John Meachum served the Lord in St. Louis before his death in 1864. With God’s blessing, he almost single-handedly changed the black culture in St. Louis.
– Source: “This Day in Baptist History II” – Cummins and Thompson