Delivered in Allen Temple A. M. E. Church. 15
others. At the time of the donation of this lot there was no
house between it and what is now the corner of Hunt street and
Broadway; and cornfields were between it and Fourth street.
The architect and builder of the new church was a colored
man named Joseph Dorcus, who was, on week days, a carpenter,
and on the Sabbath a minister. There was a great scarcity of
men among the members, and not unfrequently the women
would officiate in the administration of the sacrament, love-
feast, etc. The lack of a regular minister was supplied by
Rev. J. Dorcus, the above-named, by exhorters from among
the colored brothren themselves, but most frequently by Rev.
William Buck, a local minister of great reputation at that day,
and who was afterward postmaster of our city under several
administrations. To him was added Rev. Robert Richardson,
Revs.----Finley, Nelson, and others.
This volunteering did not satisfy the congregation, and they
cast about to find a minister of their own color, whose minis¬
trations they could depend upon. There resided in Lexington,
Kentucky, a colored minister named James King, whose owner
permitted him to hire his time, and gave him a pass upon which
he traveled to the various stations to be supplied by him. To
him the congregation of Deer Creek church turned, and for
several years he traveled back and forth, receiving from this
congregation twenty dollars per month. At last Judge Spencer
—whose position on the " nigger question " would have passed
muster at Faneuil Hall, with Wm. Lloyd Garrison in the chair,
and Wendell Phillips on the platform—conceived the idea of
keeping King on this side of the river. During a visit one of
the members of the congregation asked to see the paper which
his master gave him to travel with. Looking at it he found it
to be a regular pass. Folding the paper he put it in his pocket.
King demanded it, and was told " that is all right, you shall
have it." The next morning, Jack Chambers, who filled the
offices of city marshall, policeman, constable, market master,
pound master, and other similar dignities, arrested King and
carried him before Squire Mahard. The pass was produced,
showing that King had come into a free State with the consent
of his master. "The man is as free as I am," said the Squire,
" and shall not go back to Kentucky." King was a conscien¬
tious man, and wanted to keep faith with his master; but he
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