Editing Absalom Jones (section)

==Early life==
Absalom Jones was born into [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] in [[Sussex County, Delaware|Sussex County]], [[Delaware]], in 1746. When he was sixteen, his enslaver sold him, his mother, and his siblings to a neighboring farmer. That year, the farmer kept Absalom but sold his mother and siblings and moved to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], where he became a merchant. Absalom was allowed to attend [[Benezet's School]], where he learned to read and write.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Absalom Jones – Delaware Art Museum|date=19 July 2021 |url=https://delart.org/absalom-jones/|access-date=2022-02-01|language=en-US}}</ref> While still enslaved by Mr. Wynkop (who was a [[vestryman]] of [[Christ Church, Philadelphia|Christ Church]] and later [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Society Hill, Philadelphia|St. Peter's]]), Absalom married Mary King (an enslaved woman owned by S. King, a neighbor to the Wynkoops),<ref name="christchurchphila.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.christchurchphila.org/Welcome-to-the-Christ-Church-Website/Who-We-Are/Sermons/Sermons/202/month--200802/vobid--678/ |title=Who owned Absalom Jones? &#124; Christ Church Philadelphia |access-date=2015-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213215131/http://www.christchurchphila.org/Welcome-to-the-Christ-Church-Website/Who-We-Are/Sermons/Sermons/202/month--200802/vobid--678/ |archive-date=2015-02-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> on January 4, 1770. the Rev. [[Jacob Duché]] performed the wedding ceremony.

By 1778, Absalom had purchased his wife's freedom so their children would be free; he asked for aid by donations and loans. (According to colonial law, children took the status of their mother, so children born to enslaved women were enslaved from birth.) Absalom also wrote to his enslaver seeking his freedom but was initially denied. In 1784, however, Wynkoop [[Manumission|manumitted]] him, inspired by revolutionary ideals. Absalom took the surname "Jones" as an indication of his American identity.<ref name="christchurchphila.org"/><ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h93.html "Absalom Jones' Marriage to Mary"], ''Brotherly Love'', PBS, accessed 14 January 2009</ref>

Later, Jones applied for his freedom for the second time. He was released from slavery on October 1, 1784.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Jones, Absalom {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jones-absalom-0#:~:text=In%20September%201804,%20Bishop%20White,by%20a%20major%20religious%20denomination|access-date=2022-02-17|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> After being released from slavery, Absalom was ordained as a priest in September 1802. This made him the first Black person to be ordained in America by a well-known religion.<ref name=":0" />