16th Bishop
Wesley John Gaines
Richard was ordained Bishop in 1875 and his administrative area consisted of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, the West Indies and British Guiana.
- Birth Date: October 4, 1840
- Consecrated: May 24, 1888
- Death Date: January 12, 1912
- Spouse: Julia A. Camper (m. August 30, 1863)
John Wesley Gaines was born to slave parents, William and Louise, in Wilkes County GA. He spent his youth on the plantation of Gabriel Toombs.1“Washington, Georgia” by Herman Mason. P. 11 He was called to preach, in 1846, age of the age of 6. However, was a sickly child but he took advantage of the time to secretly teach himself to read. In 1849, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At his brother’s urging he united with the AME church. He was married to Julia A. Camper on August 30, 1863. They had a daughter Mary Louise Gaines.2http://www.findagrave.com/ He was licensed to preach in 1865 and admitted to the SC conference in 1866. He was ordained a deacon and then Elder in 1867. He was assigned to and served as pastor in various places in GA and on May 19, 1888 was elected Bishop and consecrated on May 24, 1888. He is buried in Oakland cemetery in Fulton County, GA.
Achievements
- Instrumental in founding Morris Brown College, in 1891, in the basement of Atlanta’s big Bethel AME Church.
- He was Vice President of the newly founded Payne Theological Seminary, in 1891.
- He was Trustee of Wilberforce and Edward’s College.1“ Who’s Who in America, 1901-1902”, ed.: John William Leonard, et al., 1901
- He was an author.
