Faith Community UMC Church

In the 1840s and 1850s, Reverend Samuel Green was known locally as a literate, highly respected Methodist Episcopal preacher and community leader whose church stood here on land donated in 1843 by free woman Sarah Young, and although the building no longer survives, the congregation remains active. Like most African Americans in the region, Green’s family lived in fear of separation: his wife Kitty and children Sam Jr. and Sarah were enslaved, and after Sam Jr. escaped in 1854, his owner sold Sarah to slave traders from Missouri. Unknown to many, Green also served for years as an Underground Railroad agent, secretly aiding Harriet Tubman and freedom-seeking refugees, until in 1857 authorities traced the escape of a group known as the Dover Eight to him, leading to his arrest, trial, and imprisonment on a conviction for possessing a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

East New Market, Maryland · United States