African American Churches
- Lawrence Lore
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Plan to attend the program “The Little Town with a Big Heart” on February 21, 2026, at 1:30pm at at Sumner’s new City Hall, 224 S. Christy Ave. Free admittance and refreshment courtesy of the city of Sumner. Presentation by George Zwilling.
Black churches in Lawrence County, Illinois formed the spiritual and social backbone of the county’s early African American communities. Congregations such as the AME churches provided far more than Sunday worship—they were places where free Black families gathered for education, mutual aid, community decision‑making, and cultural continuity in an era where they often faced legal and social barriers. These churches anchored neighborhoods, nurtured leadership, and preserved a sense of dignity and belonging. Their presence helped sustain the early free Black settlers who built lives here long before the Civil War, and their legacy continues to shape the county’s understanding of its own history.
ZION A.M.E. CHURCH
The Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was organized in 1853 on the Allison Prairie, in Lawrence County Illinois. It was organized under the leadership of Basil L. Brooks, from the Indiana AME Conference. The trustees were James H. Pettiford, William Day Sr. and Rozell Taylor. The existence of the Zion AME Church and the names of its first trustees are documented in a deed dated July 23,1853. The Zion AME Church was located four miles southwest of Russellville, Illinois. This AME Church influenced many African American men in its neighborhood to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War. Each of the original trustees of the Zion AME Church had sons who served in Company B, 28th U.S. Colored Infantry. A deed filed at a later date, lists the Trustees as James Pettiford, William H. Russell, and R. Pettiford. The Zion AME Church had its own building by the end of 1853. This was proven by documents from the Loose-Papers Probate File of William Day at the Lawrence County courthouse. Trustee William Day purchased a stove and stove pipe for the Zion AME Church building on October 26,1853 from stove merchant N. Smith & Sons in Vincennes, Indiana. The store account was not paid until after the death of William Day in 1855.
There was proof of organized church life in the African American community, in Lawrence County, Illinois, before, during, and after the Civil War. On September 30, 1865, Patrick Thomas wrote to The Christian Recorder, an African American Newspaper in Philadelphia, PA, that he had “organized a Sabbath School five miles west of Vincennes, Indiana, in Lawrence County, Illinois. On the first Sabbath we met, the attendance was small, numbering only seventeen; but as time passed on, it rapidly increased. The present number of scholars in attendance is now forty. They have a superintendent and five teachers over them.”
This group became the ancestors of the members of the Bethel AME Church east of Pinkstaff, Illinois and the St. James AME Church in Lawrenceville, Illinois. These two AME churches are no longer active.(2026)
BETHEL A.M.E. CHURCH
On June 4, 1884, Rev. Jason Bundy, assisted by Rev. James Ferguson, a teacher in the schools of Pinkstaff, organized a church. The ten charter members were: Wm. Broady, Jane Broady, Oliver Russell, Charlotte Cole, Harriett Portee, Angeline Portee, W.H. Cole, Almira Payne, Jamess Meeks, and Calvin Taylor. Soon after this organization, a log structure was erected in the rural district, one half mile east of Pinkstaff on a plot of land belonging to Francis M. Cole and his wife, Charlotte. This was known as Pinkstaff Mission and, there being no regular pastor, services were conducted from time to time by visiting ministers. A short time later, this mission became affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church Conference.
In 1887, Rev. J.H. Sydes was sent to this place and together with the members, saw the need for a new church building. The plot of land was purchased from Francis and Charlotte Cole and the new building was erected in front of the log church. It was completed the following year with material and labor supplied largely by the members and friends of the community and the name changed to Bethel AME Church. Among the first officers of Bethel were: Riley Anderson, Clifton Goins, Harrison Mitchell, James Portee, and George Lyles. During the intervening years no major improvements were made to the church building.
Rev. William Lawton accepted this charge in 1941 and started a building fund. The proceeds to be used for remodeling the church, include a new basement, finishing the floors, completely redecorating the inside and outside and new wiring. Soon after this was completed, the church was destroyed by fire on December 22, 1944.
Early in 1945, still under the pastorate of Rev. Lawton, work on the new block structure began. During the next twenty-five years, new church and property underwent improvements and witnessed several new pastors. Bethel AME Church was the home of many weddings, funerals, baptisms, programs, and countless Sunday morning sermons.
Bethel AME had served its purpose until 1971, when the doors were closed and the building was sold. The Bethel AME Church, often called the “Mother Church,” will always be remembered by many in the community.
ST. JAMES A.M.E. CHURCH
The St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 11th and Ash Street in Lawrenceville, Illinois, was built in 1916. Reverend Mack Washington, pastor at Pinkstaff Bethel AME Church, was the founding pastor. (Mack was the father of Roy and the grandfather of Harold Washington, the first African American Mayor of Chicago.) St. James and Bethel AME alternated Sunday worship services from 1916 until 1971, when Bethel AME closed their doors. Most of the trustees and stewardesses held their positions in both churches. Each of the two churches had large enough congregations to keep their doors open. St. James held Sunday School Conventions, song fests, anniversaries, and many church-related programs.
Just to name a few of the pastors of St. James and Bethel; Wilson, Henry, Pendleton, Williams, Randolph, Curtis, Brewer, Johnson, Lawton, Pierson, and Mitchell. Rev. Dan Mitchell and his son Dan Jr. were always available pastors during the latter years. The St. James congregation travelled to other area AME churches for special programs and song fests. Music and choir singing were a major aspect of the AME Church. The other local AME churches were in Vincennes, Wheatland, Washington and Princeton, Indiana. Program and special occasion dinners were held in the basement of St. James. An important time for St. James was when an AME Bishop or Presiding Elder would visit. The Elders and Bishops had a reputation for their grand style of preaching. The St. James AME Missionary Society was made up of a group of dedicated women who met on a regular basis. Most of their regular meetings were held at the homes of their members. These dedicated women wore their white uniforms at every Sunday worship service. They were always well -respected and deserved the recognition as “mothers of the church.”
Christmas and Easter Programs at St. James were always special. It was a time that folks would come out wearing their Sunday best and children would share in the extended programs. There was always a lot of music, singing and good food that was celebrated on these occasions. Hopefully the life and times and great memories of St. James AME Church will be handed down to the next generation. The last pastor of St. James was the Rev. Clair Wilson, who commuted from Danville, Illinois. The worship services of the St. James AME Church ended, when it closed the doors, in the year, 2015.
