Have you ever wondered about the unique name given to the people of Indiana – the ‘Hoosiers’? Or how the ‘Hoosier State’ earned its famous nickname? Here on Our American Stories, we believe America is the star, and its people hold incredible tales. Today, we’re unearthing one of those inspiring American stories, shining a light on a surprising piece of history that deeply shaped a state’s identity.
Prepare to meet Harry Hoosier, a truly remarkable Black Methodist preacher born into slavery, whose powerful message of freedom echoed across early America. Traveling with Bishop Francis Asbury, Harry became known as one of the most widely celebrated ministers of his day. His profound influence, particularly within the burgeoning anti-slavery movement, drew followers who eventually carried his name and message westward into Indiana. This is the moving narrative of how one man’s faith and fight for liberation became forever connected to the very name ‘Hoosier,’ a term that once celebrated his powerful legacy. Join us as we explore this inspiring, vital, and often untold chapter in Our American Stories.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
One such individual that has so deeply influenced our nation and one state in particular, is a Black man, a Black Methodist preacher by the name of Harry Hoosier. John Wesley, the well-known evangelist and Father of Methodism, at one of his conferences in the British Isles in 1771, called for his itinerant ministers to volunteer to go to America. Among those who volunteered was a young man by the name of Francis Asbury. In a few short years, Francis Asbury would rise to the highest office of Bishop in America. Having traveled thousands upon thousands of miles, his face was more readily recognized than the Father of our nation, George Washington. It was during the American Revolution that Francis Asbury asked Harry Hoosier to travel with him him throughout all of the colonies from New England, the Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies, and it was there that Harry Hoosier gained a reputation as the most widely accepted and widely applauded minister of his day. Harry Hoosier had been born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He had been born into slavery. He was purchased by a Methodist by the name of Henry Gough, and Mr. Gough invited his slaves, as well as those white inhabitants of his plantation in the Baltimore area, to prayers both morning and evening, and it was out of this setting that Mr. Gough freed Harry Hoosier. As the first most anti-slavery movement began just prior to the American Revolution, and it was the Methodist to with the Quakers helped to champion this cause, and Harry Hoosier was among those that was the first to be liberated from slavery. After being liberated, he became the traveling companion of Francis Asbury, and together they traveled thousands of miles, carrying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to both Black and white. It’s very significant that Harry Hoosier was more widely acclaimed as a preacher than any other minister, any other preacher, white or Black. In fact, it was one of the three most important Founding Fathers, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who, along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Dr. Benjamin Rush was so impressed with Harry Hoosier’s ability as a preacher that he said, “Making allowances for his illiteracy, he was the greatest orator in America.” Many of those who heard the preaching of Harry Hoosier, who had been converted as they moved out of the Appalachian Mountains and moved west, there located in Indiana. Indiana became a strong haven for Methodism. Those individuals that located in Indiana assumed the name of Hoosiers because they had been so deeply and so thoroughly influenced by the preaching of Harry Hoosier. Like so many other terms that have arisen, sometimes out of derision, this term Hoosier was also a term of derision for those who had come to believe in the anti-slavery message and who made their way into Indiana and other parts of the burgeoning nation. Professor William Pearson of Fisk University has said, “As memories of the preacher Black Harry slipped away, and as the white people of the Frontier adopted the nickname Hoosier for themselves, the term lost its original racial connotations and came to means simply an illiterate, ignorant, or uncouth yahoo.” For the thoul who flocked to hear Harry Hoosier preach, the name Hoosier was a memorial to both the man and his message of freedom from human bondage and freedom from the bondage of sin. People from Indiana should take pride in having the most distinctive state nickname, but they may justly exercise greater appreciation for the person whose name it was.
And a terrific job on the production by Greg Hangler. In a special thanks to Dr. Stephen Flick, head of the Christian Heritage Fellowship, for sharing Harry Hoosier’s story. Born into slavery in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Harry was freed by a slave owner in Baltimore, Maryland. He would go on to travel the country preaching the Gospel. No less an authority than Dr. Benjamin Rush was impressed his man. Well, his name was memorialized, as was his message, and of course, the name for anyone who was listening, meant freedom from human bondage and freedom from human sin. The story of Harry Hoosier here on Our American Stories. Here are to Our American Stories. We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith, and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told. But we can’t do it without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they’re not free to make. If you love Our American Stories in America like we do, please go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming. That’s OurAmericanStories.com.
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