Trueman Pratt (b. ~1775 - d. 1877)
MSA SC 5496-51565
Founder of Orchard Street Church, 1825
Biography:
Trueman Pratt was a former slave, who became the founder of the Orchard Street United Methodist Church in Baltimore. Much of his early life has become subject to distortion and speculation, particularly in articles by the Baltimore Sun. The dearth of colonial era records, and other documentation related to slavery in post-war Maryland make many of the details difficult to uncover. Pratt was most likely born between 1773 and 1779, in either Anne Arundel County or a Caribbean island. Secondary sources claim that he had been enslaved by John Eager Howard, a Revolutionary War hero and Maryland governor. He was alleged to have been passed on to John Eager Jr., and eventually to a "Mr. Brice." An 1876 account also reported that he had accompanied Howard at the battle of North Point and "saw Gen. Ross soon after he was killed," during the War of 1812.1
A 1976 Sun article would claim that Pratt had fled from slavery to Boston, though no earlier accounts made this contention. He returned to the Baltimore area some time in the 1820's, when he likely "negotiated to buy his freedom" from Brice.2 However, there is no record of the purchase or manumission in the county records, under either man's name. Trueman was first recorded in the Federal Census in 1830, then residing in the 12th Ward, in the northwest portion of the city.3 At that time there were six "free colored persons" living in the household. The 1831 City Directory listed him as a laborer, though he was identified as a carter in later years.4 According to later accounts, Pratt had begun a prayer group in his house around 1825, unofficially establishing the Orchard Street United Methodist Church. His 1831 residence on Pierce Street may have been the same location.
Eventually Pratt's home would be too small to contain the growing number of African-American congregants seeking their own place of worship on Baltimore's west side. He joined forces with two other free black men, Cyrus Moore and Basil Hall, to provide a true religious center for the community. In 1839, they formally leased the grounds at the corner of Orchard Street and what was then called Elder Alley. The yearly rent of the property was set at $80.50, paid to the owner, a Pennsylvania man named Kirkpatrick Ewing.5 Over the next several years, Pratt orchestrated the construction of what is now the oldest standing structure built by African-Americans in Baltimore. "Orchard Chapel" was first recognized by Baltimore's business directory in the religious societies section of its 1842 edition.6
Trueman would continue to live in close proximity to the church for the rest of his life. Both the 1850 and 1860 Federal Censuses recorded his residence in the 20th Ward, a racially mixed section of West Baltimore.7 In the former year, his house also included 48 year old Malara and 14 year old Rebecca, presumably his wife and daughter. They were joined by 15 year old Eli and 4 year old Louis Pratt in 1860, whose exact relations are also unclear. Though the neighborhood was home to many Irish and German immigrants in the antebellum period, it would soon be a popular destination for former slaves and other African-Americans from the rural counties of the state. Pratt very well could have become familiar with Samuel Green Sr, a Dorchester County native who was imprisoned for 5 years for possessing Uncle Tom's Cabin. Green moved to Baltimore in the early 1870’s in order to work for the burgeoning Centenary Biblical Institute(now Morgan State), worshipping at Orchard Street until his death in 1877.8
The church became one of the most important civic institutions for blacks in
the city. Throughout the rest of the century, Orchard Street would host
the Washington Methodist Episcopal Conference, the Colored Maryland
Literary Union, as well as various university commencements and
reunions of United States Colored Troops. Another 1876 article in the Sun
noted the church's commemoration of Pratt, who was alleged to be "over
a hundred years old" by that time. The elder trustee was still healthy
and active with the institution, despite being totally blind.9 The structure could no longer support its growing congregation by the 1880's, and plans were made to rebuild.
In 1882 a
Pratt's death record lists his address was listed as 1 Elder Alley, a residence which may have adjoined the Orchard Street Church grounds. He truly remained connected to the institution until his death. The document also indicates that Pratt was born in West River, Maryland, contrary to some secondary accounts.12 He was buried at the Sharp Street Cemetary, the city's most prominent African-American burial ground that would later be known as Mt. Auburn. Trueman was survived by a wife, but little else is known about his family as there was no will registered in Baltimore. His grandson Harry T. Pratt would go on to become principal of West Baltimore's prestigious, yet segregated, Frederick Douglass High School.13
Footnotes -
1. "Over a Hundred Years Old," Baltimore Sun. 24 February 1876.
2. "Church Slave Tunnel 'Reopens.'" Baltimore Sun. 28 July 1976.
3. Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census. Baltimore, Maryland, Ward 12, p. 55.
4. Matchett's Baltimore Directory, 1831. P. 301, "Trueman Pratt".
5.
6. Craig's Business Directory and Baltimore Almanac., 1842. P. 81, "Orchard Chapel."
7. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census. Baltimore, Maryland, Ward 20, p. 29.
Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census. Baltimore, Maryland, Ward 20, p. 82.
8. "A Reminiscence of Slavery Times," Baltimore American. 7 March 1877. - http://collinsfactor.com/newspaper/samuelgreennews.htm.
9. "Over a Hundred Years Old."
10. "Corner-Stone Laying," Baltimore Sun. 16 May 1882.
11. "Expanding Orchard Street's miracle." Baltimore Sun. 9 November 1992.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
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