Not much is known[1] about the canonical residency of the first ordained Black deacon in the Diocese of New Jersey, but diocesan records indicate that the Rev. James C. Ward was indeed canonically resident approximately from 1829 to 1831. He is mentioned as being received into the diocese in the convention journal of 1830, though no assignment or place of service is noted. There are no known records of him officiating or teaching during this time, though he had previously been a school teacher in Pennsylvania, and would go on to teach again in Maryland after his tenure in New Jersey. The diocesan convention journal of 1832 indicates that he had moved to Maryland with the approval of Bishop Croes.
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| Figure 1: The Morgan Library and Museum, New York City (Elisa.rolle, Pierpont Morgan Library, CC BY-SA 3.0) |
Though the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City holds the manuscript of the letter dimissory furnished by Croes in 1831 for Ward’s transfer, the letter sheds little light on Ward’s activities in the diocese. It is essentially a form letter, offering little in the way of clues:
The Rev.’ James C. Ward (a coloured man,) a Deacon of this Diocese, having made application to me for a letter dimissory to the Rt. Rev.’ the Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, I hereby cheerfully grant his request, and do certify, that he has not, so far as I know, been liable to evil report for error in religion or viciousness of life, during the the [sic] three years last past.[2]
It seems most likely that Rev. Ward moved to New Jersey in the hope of teaching for the diocese or a church of the diocese in a segregated school, even though none were then formally or consistently in operation. Apparently no adequate opportunities became available, and he moved to the Diocese of Maryland, where such a teaching position had become available. It was not for decades yet that segregated Episcopal-affiliated schools in New Jersey were taught by Black instructors, and it seems that at the time the Rev. Ward first sought to do so, no White parishes were willing to sponsor him.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] See an initial treatment in Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski “Rev. James C. Ward (1777-1834), the first African American clergyman in the Diocese of New Jersey,” DNJRJR, October 9, 2023.
[2] John Croes to Revd. James C. Ward, July 16, 1831; Record ID 108178, Accession number MA 365.121, courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum.
