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Sarah Allen (Bass)

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Death: July 16, 1849 (84-85)
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States
Immediate Family:

Wife of Richard Allen
Mother of Richard Allen, Jr.; James Allen; John Allen; Peter Allen; Sarah Allen and 1 other

Occupation: missionary, abolitionist
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:
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Immediate Family

About Sarah Allen

Sarah Allen (also known as Sara Allen and Mother Allen; née Bass; 1764–1849) was an American abolitionist and missionary for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is known within the AME Church as The Founding Mother.

Sarah Bass was born in 1764 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia as a slave. When she was eight she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was no longer enslaved as of 1800. That year she met Richard Allen. They married by 1802. They had 6 children.

The family purchased property for $35 in Philadelphia. The property housed a blacksmith shop. The shop was planning to relocate and the Allens used their team of horses to transport the shop to its new location. The property was eventually renovated and made into a church, which would become the founding African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Allen was highly involved in the AME Church, which Richard Allen founded. The family hid and cared for runaway slaves and their home was a part of the Underground Railroad. The couple used their home and the church to house enslaved people. By 1827, she had founded the Daughters of the Conference. The Daughters supported the male ministers of the AME Church. The women fed and cared for the generally poor and untidy ministers. The women also had a sewing circle to help mend and make clothes for the ministers.

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Sarah Allen's Timeline

1764
1764
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
1849
July 16, 1849
Age 85
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States
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