Absalom Jones was an influential African American clergyman and abolitionist living in Philadelphia during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born into slavery in Delaware, he eventually secured his freedom and became a central figure in the religious and social life of the city. Alongside Richard Allen, he established the Free African Society to provide mutual aid to Black Americans. Jones later founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas and achieved historic significance as the first Black person ordained as a priest within the Episcopal Church of the United States.