Gravesite of Bishop Peter Spencer (1779-1843)
And His Devoted Wife, Annes
Born a slave, Bishop Spencer was the father of Delaware’s independent Black church movement. In 1813, he founded the Union Church of Africans, presently known as the African Union Methodist Protestant Church. The mother AUMP church stood on this site from 1813 to 1970. The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church (UAME), formally organized in 1865, traces its origins to Spencer. He was also the founder of “August Quarterly” in 1813, one of the oldest Black folk festivals in America.
Marker is at the intersection of North French Street and East Eighth Street, on the right when traveling north on North French Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
