St. Pastor (1808-1829) – Rev. Thomas Paul  – Thomas Paul (1773–1831) Rev. Thomas Paul, born September 3, 1773, in Exeter, New Hampshire, was a trailblazing African‑American Baptist minister, abolitionist, and community leader whose influence extended throughout early 19th‑century Boston and beyond. 

He was the son of Caesar Nero Paul, a freed Black man, and was educated through the Free Will Baptist tradition. Wikipedia+1  He was baptized by Reverend S. F. Locke, ordained in 1804 at West Nottingham Meetinghouse by Rev. Thomas Baldwin, and shortly thereafter moved to Boston. 

In 1805, responding to the discriminatory practices toward Black worshipers in Boston’s white Baptist churches, Thomas Paul met with twenty other Black congregants at Faneuil Hall to organize an independent Black Baptist congregation. 

On December 4, 1806, he was installed as the first pastor of what became known as the First African Baptist Church (also known as the African Meeting House). Under his leadership, the church formed a charter membership in the Boston Baptist Association, and he baptized more than one hundred individuals during his tenure. 

The congregation grew from approximately 100 members to 139 by 1828. 

Paul was also active in missionary and reform movements. In 1815 he traveled with Prince Saunders to England to discuss educating Black children and strengthening ties with Haiti. In 1817, he went to Haiti as a missionary, forging relationships with Haitian President Jean‑Pierre Boyer and advocating for Black emigration to Haiti, though later he opposed colonization plans. 

Rev. Paul served as pastor until 1829, when he resigned. Encyclopedia.com+2Wikipedia+2  He died in Boston on April 13, 1831, likely of tuberculosis, and is buried at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.

Paul’s legacy lives on: the African Meeting House still stands as the oldest Black church building in America and a National Historic Landmark, a symbol of his foundational leadership in Boston’s Black church community.  A historical marker at his former home (26 George Street, Beacon Hill) recognizes his roles as the first minister of the African Baptist Church, a Masonic leader, and a missionary to Haiti.