Since the 1700’s Martha’s Vineyard has been a Sanctuary City For self liberated Slavery Survivors! @BlackHistoryUniversity
The Gingerbread Homes surrounding the Open Air Tabernacle Campground are one of the many attractions on the Vineyard.
Slavery was prohibited in Massachusetts in 1783 and John Saunders, a slavery Survivor, brought Methodism to Martha’s Vineyard in 1787.
In 1783 and John Saunders, a slavery Survivor, brought Methodism to Martha’s Vineyard in 1787.
He was a Methodist founding father of the Campground who established Oak Bluffs as a tourist resort in 1835. Religion has played a large part in Black history.
Saunders stood on Pulpit Rock on Pulpit Rock Road
in Oak Bluffs and exhorted or urged his parishioners
to follow the tenets of Methodism. In 1787, a number of Negro families had established a community in the
Farm Neck area."It was important to preach not far from where your congregation resided, as
transportation was a challenge in the late 1700s.