John Sykes Fayette
Bornc. 1810
DiedFeb 27, 1876 (aged 66)
London, Ontario, Canada
Resting placeOakland Cemetery, London, Ontario, Canada
41°14′43″N 81°26′21″W / 41.24530°N 81.43920°W / 41.24530; -81.43920
Known forFirst African American college graduate in Ohio
Spouses
Hudson
​
(m. 1837⁠–⁠1837)​
    Emily Preston
    ​
    (m. 1838)​
      Elizabeth Bartlett Forbes
      ​
      ​
      (before 1876)​
      Children2

      Rev. John Frederick Augustus Sykes Fayette (c. 1810 – February 27, 1876) was an American and Canadian college-educated Presbyterian minister. Fayette attended Western Reserve College, present day Case Western Reserve University, beginning in 1832 and graduating in 1836, notably as Ohio's first African American college student.

      Early life and education

      Fayette arrived in Hudson, Ohio, via New York City, when his minister, Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox of Laight Street Presbyterian Church wrote a letter of recommendation to President Charles Backus Storrs of Western Reserve College.[1] In 1832, Fayette because the first African American to enroll at a university in Ohio and west of the Appalachian Mountains. In 1836, John Sykes Fayette because the first African American to graduate from a university in Ohio and west of the Appalachian Mountains. Staying for another year, Fayette earned a graduate degree in divinity graduating again in 1837.

      As a participating Abolitionist, Fayette spent time associating with local Hudson resident John Brown.

      Presbyterian ministries

      Barton Stone Church in Hamilton, Ontario, constructed from 1845-1847. Rev. Fayette was minister from 1845-1850.

      Often described as an "educated mulatto," Fayette moved to Canada in 1839 after being licensed by the Cleveland Presbytery, in 1840 founded the "Wellington Institute" in the Waterloo region of Berlin, Ontario (known today as Kitchener, Ontario), teaching local and Mennonite children for two years. The institute did not attract enough students to make ends meet, and closed after two years.[2]

      Fayette was finally licensed in Canada by the Presbytery of Niagara, a minister for several Presbyterian congregations, first in Ancaster in 1844 and then at Barton Stone Church from 1845 to 1850. The church, which still stands in Hamilton, Ontario, was completed in 1847.[3] Other cities Fayette served as minister included St. Vincent, Tecumseh, and Watford.[4]

      Fayette died on February 27, 1876, in London, Ontario, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery next to his third wife Elizabeth Bartlett Forbes.

      References

      1. ↑ Darrin Lythgoe (2001-2022) Rev. John Frederick Augustus Sykes Fayette
      2. ↑ A History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937 pg 39
      3. ↑ "Opinion | COMMUNITY COLUMNIST: Oldest Mountain church celebrates its history". The Hamilton Spectator. October 5, 2011.
      4. ↑ Presbyterian Year Book of the Dominion of Canada and New Foundland 1877 Toronto, https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.41369/1


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