Born in Charleston in 1786, Jehu Jones Jr. began life as a slave. His father, Jehu Jones Sr. learned the tailor trade from his owner and bought the family’s freedom in 1798. At that point, Jehu Jones Sr. opened his own tailoring business and eventually opened a hotel.
Jehu Jones Jr. learned the tailoring trade from his father, and took over that business in about 1816. Though he grew up in the Episcopal Church, Jones joined Charleston’s St. John’s Lutheran in 1820.
Following a thwarted slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey in 1822, South Carolina passed a series of laws including one that made it illegal for freed black people to leave the state without permission, and illegal to return if the did. Jones mother Abigail was traveling in New York when the law passed, and never returned to South Carolina.
Encouraged by his pastor, Rev. John Bachman, Jones decided to become a pastor himself in 1832. He intended to go to Liberia as a missionary sponsored by the New York Synod. So, Jones traveled to New York for ordination and became the first black person ordained as a Lutheran pastor in the United States. When he returned to South Carolina, Jones was arrested for having left the state. Though Jones was released from jail in 1833, he never made it to Liberia.
Instead, Jones moved to Philadelphia in 1833. He accepted a position as a missionary to the black population of Philadelphia in July, and founded St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. In 1834 the congregation of twenty decided to build a building for St. Paul’s. Jones purchased property on Quince street in Philadelphia and laid the cornerstone. Unfortunately, the impoverished congregation could not raise all the funds necessary to pay off the building’s debt. In 1839 the foreclosed building sold at auction. Despite the loss of its building, St. Paul’s continued to meet, holding services at Benezet Hall.
While Jones also found churches in Gettysburg and Chambersburg, he continued to minister to his congregation in Philadelphia and advocate for equality. He died in 1852.
Sources:
- Wikipedia contributors. (2025, December 14). Jehu Jones. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:35, February 5, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jehu_Jones&oldid=1327397978
- Fate, M. (2014, April 16). Jehu Jones Jr. (1786-1852) | blackpast.org. Black Past. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/jones-jehu-jr-1786-1852/