Lott Cary: Pioneer Black American Missionary to Africa
Lott Cary (sometimes spelled Carey) was born a slave near Richmond Virginia in 1780. He died in 1828 in Monrovia, Liberia from an accident. He served in Liberia as a missionary, a pastor, an educator, an evangelist, a physician, and acting governor.
Cary's early life was that of a hardened young slave who labored in a tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. He led a depraved life until the Spirit of God radically changed him and brought him to faith in Jesus Christ. He was baptized by immersion, and joined the First Baptist Church of Richmond, a racially mixed congregation. With the help of a young white man he learned to read the New Testament, and was subsequently licensed to preach the gospel. Lott Cary and Colin Teague (sometimes spelled Teage), Cary's friend, became associate pastors of the Baptist church.
While working at the tobacco warehouse, he was granted permission to gather up the bits of tobacco lying on the floor, and sell them. He also received tips from merchants for whom he ran errands. By 1813, he had saved $850, and was able to purchase freedom for himself and two children, his wife having previously died.
Cary earned a good living as a craftsman in Richmond. The needs of his own people were, however, uppermost on his heart.
In 1815 Lott Cary, with his mentor William Crane, and inspired by Baptist leader Luther Rice, established the African Missionary Society of Richmond, as an auxiliary of the Baptist General Missionary (Triennial) Convention. The Triennial Convention, established in 1814, was one of the earliest missionary societies in America. Cary and Teague were commissioned by the Triennial Commission as Baptist missionaries in 1819. These two societies, and the American Colonization Society (organized in 1816), jointly sent Carey and Teague to Africa by sailing ship in 1821, as missionaries, along with freed American slaves as settlers, They traveled to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Lott Cary and all his family except for his oldest daughter, went on to what is now Monrovia, and began work there in 1822. Colin Teague remained in Sierra Leone.
Cary established and ministered to Providence Baptist Church, the first Baptist church in Monrovia. He set up schools in Monrovia for settler families and for indigent children. Cary established a mission school at Grand Cape Mount among the Vai tribal people. He organized the Monrovia Baptist Missionary Society to do mission work among the indigenous people, and was its first president. He had a tender love for the indigenous African people, who "knew not Christ", and "who while free in body, were chained in sin" (William J Simmons).
In 1824, Lott Cary, because he had developed a knowledge of the common medical diseases of the country, was appointed physician to the settlers in Monrovia, diligently discharging his duties to his patients.
Though Cary was an outstanding missionary, and his passion was missions, he was also a statesman. He helped found the nation of Liberia, on the principles of liberty for which the country was named. He became acting governor of Liberia in 1828, the year of his tragic death in an accident.
The Liberia venture helped establish Africa as the primary destination of black Baptist foreign missions into the 20th century. For example, by 1849, two decades after Cary's death, there were thirteen Baptist American missionaries in Liberia, all African American. The Lott Cary Foreign Mission Society, organized in 1897, in honor of the legacy of missionary devotion of Cary, did not send its first missionary to Africa until 1904.
Lott Cary was used mightily by God, and was loved by the people to whom he ministered . From 1815 until his death in 1828, Christian mission, particularly to Africa, was Cary's passion. He left a legacy of devotion to Christ.
For further reading and research:
Fitts, Leroy, A History of Black Baptists, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1985.
Fitts, Leroy, Lott Carey: First Black Baptist Missionary to Africa, Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1978.
Gurley, Ralph Randolph, Life of Jehudi Ashmun, Late Colonial Agent in Liberia, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. Contains: "Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Lott Cary," pages 145-160.
Hervey, G. Winfred, The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands, from the Time of Careyto the Present Date, St Louis: Chancy R. Barns, 1886. Contains: "Lott Carey and the African Mission," pages 199-207.
Martin, Sandy D., Black Baptists and African Missions: The Origins of a Movement 1880-1915, Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1989, paperback reprint 1998.
McBeth, H. Leon, The Baptist Heritage, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1987.
Simmons, William J., Men of Mark, New York: Arno Press, 1968 (reprint from an 1887 book).
Taylor, James B., Biography of Elder Lott Cary, Late Missionary to Africa, Baltimore: Armstrong & Berry, 1837. Most complete and accurate early biography.
Thomas, Perry, From Slave to Governor: The Unlikely Life of Lott Cary, Mobile, Alabama: Parson Place Press, 2010. Extensive notes and bibliography. Counters recent revisionism.
Torbet, Robert G., A History of the Baptists, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 1978.
Williams, Walter L., Black Americans and the Evangelization of Africa, 1877-1900, Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1982.
Cary's early life was that of a hardened young slave who labored in a tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. He led a depraved life until the Spirit of God radically changed him and brought him to faith in Jesus Christ. He was baptized by immersion, and joined the First Baptist Church of Richmond, a racially mixed congregation. With the help of a young white man he learned to read the New Testament, and was subsequently licensed to preach the gospel. Lott Cary and Colin Teague (sometimes spelled Teage), Cary's friend, became associate pastors of the Baptist church.
While working at the tobacco warehouse, he was granted permission to gather up the bits of tobacco lying on the floor, and sell them. He also received tips from merchants for whom he ran errands. By 1813, he had saved $850, and was able to purchase freedom for himself and two children, his wife having previously died.
Cary earned a good living as a craftsman in Richmond. The needs of his own people were, however, uppermost on his heart.
In 1815 Lott Cary, with his mentor William Crane, and inspired by Baptist leader Luther Rice, established the African Missionary Society of Richmond, as an auxiliary of the Baptist General Missionary (Triennial) Convention. The Triennial Convention, established in 1814, was one of the earliest missionary societies in America. Cary and Teague were commissioned by the Triennial Commission as Baptist missionaries in 1819. These two societies, and the American Colonization Society (organized in 1816), jointly sent Carey and Teague to Africa by sailing ship in 1821, as missionaries, along with freed American slaves as settlers, They traveled to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Lott Cary and all his family except for his oldest daughter, went on to what is now Monrovia, and began work there in 1822. Colin Teague remained in Sierra Leone.
Cary established and ministered to Providence Baptist Church, the first Baptist church in Monrovia. He set up schools in Monrovia for settler families and for indigent children. Cary established a mission school at Grand Cape Mount among the Vai tribal people. He organized the Monrovia Baptist Missionary Society to do mission work among the indigenous people, and was its first president. He had a tender love for the indigenous African people, who "knew not Christ", and "who while free in body, were chained in sin" (William J Simmons).
In 1824, Lott Cary, because he had developed a knowledge of the common medical diseases of the country, was appointed physician to the settlers in Monrovia, diligently discharging his duties to his patients.
Though Cary was an outstanding missionary, and his passion was missions, he was also a statesman. He helped found the nation of Liberia, on the principles of liberty for which the country was named. He became acting governor of Liberia in 1828, the year of his tragic death in an accident.
The Liberia venture helped establish Africa as the primary destination of black Baptist foreign missions into the 20th century. For example, by 1849, two decades after Cary's death, there were thirteen Baptist American missionaries in Liberia, all African American. The Lott Cary Foreign Mission Society, organized in 1897, in honor of the legacy of missionary devotion of Cary, did not send its first missionary to Africa until 1904.
Lott Cary was used mightily by God, and was loved by the people to whom he ministered . From 1815 until his death in 1828, Christian mission, particularly to Africa, was Cary's passion. He left a legacy of devotion to Christ.
For further reading and research:
Fitts, Leroy, A History of Black Baptists, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1985.
Fitts, Leroy, Lott Carey: First Black Baptist Missionary to Africa, Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1978.
Gurley, Ralph Randolph, Life of Jehudi Ashmun, Late Colonial Agent in Liberia, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. Contains: "Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Lott Cary," pages 145-160.
Hervey, G. Winfred, The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands, from the Time of Careyto the Present Date, St Louis: Chancy R. Barns, 1886. Contains: "Lott Carey and the African Mission," pages 199-207.
Martin, Sandy D., Black Baptists and African Missions: The Origins of a Movement 1880-1915, Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1989, paperback reprint 1998.
McBeth, H. Leon, The Baptist Heritage, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1987.
Simmons, William J., Men of Mark, New York: Arno Press, 1968 (reprint from an 1887 book).
Taylor, James B., Biography of Elder Lott Cary, Late Missionary to Africa, Baltimore: Armstrong & Berry, 1837. Most complete and accurate early biography.
Thomas, Perry, From Slave to Governor: The Unlikely Life of Lott Cary, Mobile, Alabama: Parson Place Press, 2010. Extensive notes and bibliography. Counters recent revisionism.
Torbet, Robert G., A History of the Baptists, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 1978.
Williams, Walter L., Black Americans and the Evangelization of Africa, 1877-1900, Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1982.
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