Cato Perkins was an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 slave from Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 and he belonged to John Perkins.

Background

Perkins ran away to the British during the Siege of Charleston

Siege of Charleston

The Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the American Southern Colonies. After about six weeks of siege, Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln...

 and he joined General Clinton in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and worked as a carpenter there. Perkins was evacuated to Birchtown, Nova Scotia

Birchtown, Nova Scotia

Birchtown is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located near Shelburne in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County. Founded in 1783, it is famous as the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th...

 in 1783 and he is listed in the Book of Negroes

Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes is an important historical document which records names and descriptions of 3,000 African-American slaves who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated by the British by ship to points in Nova Scotia as freedmen.-Background:African Americans...

. Upon arriving in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 he was converted by John Marrant

John Marrant

John Marrant was one of the first African-American preachers and missionaries. He wrote three books about his experiences as a preacher.-Early life and career:...

 of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion

The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield...

 which was a Methodist splinter group. Perkins immigrated to Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

, where he led a strike of carpenters against the Sierra Leone Company

Sierra Leone Company

The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa in 1792 through the resettlement of black American ex-slaves who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...

. Cato Perkins established the first Huntingdon's Connexion church, and later on other Nova Scotian settler preachers established churches in the Liberated African villages. Cato Perkins died in 1805 and his churches are the remnant of the Huntingdon's Connexion churches around the world.

Sources

• http://books.google.com/books?id=_lf40JfV0lkC&pg=PA161&dq=african+americans+1792+freetown&lr=&sig=wf7zT4nPfgvwjl49zy0ohqiyZDU
• http://books.google.com/books?id=_lf40JfV0lkC&pg=PA161&dq=african+americans+1792+freetown&lr=&sig=wf7zT4nPfgvwjl49zy0ohqiyZDU
• http://books.google.com/books?id=_MtZuAn8Xb8C&pg=PA156&dq=nova+scotians+descendants+freetown&lr=&sig=F6wIw7eIA7wDCAGboANefBHEAfc
• http://books.google.com/books?id=6lFoADVf4pIC&pg=PA85&dq=nova+scotians+descendants+freetown&lr=&sig=w1bn0yKjNBWl8GoCSrdl3SF6P2o
• http://books.google.com/books?id=w6P8FSfh7GwC&pg=PA383&dq=nova+scotians+american+freetown&lr=&sig=SW9wbPcT9_K7GVn1T0ZkPq6B_ig
• http://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA555&dq=nova+scotians+american+freetown&lr=&sig=-pJKGzotVOEfiflL1E0rQ2afatI
• http://books.google.com/books?id=-7EZBC5y2GEC&pg=PA54&dq=thomas+peters+descendants+freetown&sig=DyYxn_g44CnWETFfqPRU4VQCUt8#PPA46,M1
• http://books.google.com/books?id=02WgzSvWyMQC&pg=PA144&dq=thomas+peters+descendants+freetown&sig=VuQ9O-gnKCxdqmHxrIUmFojE_YE
• http://books.google.com/books?id=APefKHjVx9EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cassandra+pybus&sig=UyvkKyFXsOxWa3wtgfP4JGDMpAE#PPA215,M1
• http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/people/religious/perkins.htm
• http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/story/exodus/freetown.htm
• http://books.google.com/books?id=APefKHjVx9EC&pg=PA186&dq=cato+perkins&sig=CyzXQ8rVHO1Xa8vRLsTcDZdmSGc#PPA215,M1
• http://books.google.com/books?id=vvlAAAAAIAAJ&q=cato+perkins&dq=cato+perkins&pgis=1
• http://books.google.com/books?id=vctMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA618&dq=william+ash+freetown
• http://books.google.com/books?id=bwkwAAAAIAAJ&q=william+ash+freetown&dq=william+ash+freetown&pgis=1
• http://books.google.com/books?id=n1aT_jpVv8gC&pg=PA32&dq=nova+scotian+children+freetown&sig=SpNmKt720FUCx_yVOe-PGdg31hw
• http://books.google.com/books?id=yz0g09DqGt4C&pg=PA54&dq=davis+settler+freetown&sig=n4PVRP2LEPxMQuWd3ZIWwlcQzO8