London Ferrell - Career

Career

Ferrill started preaching in Lexington, and in 1822 he was ordained by the First Baptist Church, a white congregation. Its leaders helped the First African Baptist Church be covenanted in "fellowship" in 1822, which meant it continued to be independent. In 1823 the Trustees of Lexington appointed Ferrill as the preacher for the First African Baptist Church, to succeed the aging founder, Peter Durrett. It was the oldest black Baptist church west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Ferrill worked well with both blacks and whites in the growing city. In 1824 his church was received into the Elkhorn Association, the local Baptist association. After several years, Ferrill had created considerable goodwill. White leaders initiated a legislative petition to permit him to remain in the state, in response to a threat from rivals competing for control of the church. They had threatened to force Ferrill from the state, using the law that required free blacks from other states to leave Kentucky after 90 days.

In 1833 Ferrill was notable as among the few clergy to stay in Lexington during the cholera epidemic, when he cared for the sick, dying and bereaved. Five hundred of the city's total 7,000 population died, including his wife Rodah and nearly one-third of the congregation of Christ Church Episcopal. Other ministers who stayed were Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith of Christ Church, whose wife also died in the epidemic; and Father Ed McMahon of the Catholic Church.

With the growth of Lexington and the region, Ferrill baptized many new converts, including those in outlying areas. He continued to attract members to his growing congregation. By 1850 the First African Baptist Church had 1820 members, both slave and free, and was the largest congregation, black or white, in the state. He was said to have baptized 5,000 persons during his years of service. He frequently traveled around the area to preach and baptize.

Ferrill died of a heart attack in 1854. His funeral procession numbered nearly 5,000, the largest in the city after that two years before for the statesman Henry Clay. Because of his high reputation and long service in the city, Ferrill was buried in the Old Episcopal Burying Ground, the only African American so honored.

In 2010 Christ Church Cathedral had a special service with First African Baptist to commemorate Ferrill, at which both choirs sang. Christ Church parishioner Robert Voll, who has worked on the monument and community garden projects (see below), said, "London Ferrill was a force for unity, a force for connecting the black and white communities of Lexington."