Preachers in Nova Scotia

William Pearly Oliver was born on February 11, 1912 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He received his early education at the local high school, and was encouraged by his family to excel in academics. He also played on the Wolfville hockey team.

He was the only Black youth in an all-white community, and was tolerated as long as he remained unthreatening. Although excluded from many social events, he still developed many interests such as botany and biology.

He entered the pre-med program at Acadia University in 1930, but soon decided to pursue a theological career. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934 and his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1936.

On July 29, 1936, he married Pearleen Bordon in Truro, Nova Scotia. He had met his bride during his student ministry in New Glasgow. They would have five sons: William, Philip, Leslie, Jules, and Stephen.

In 1937 Rev. Oliver was called to minister at Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in Halifax. Known as a leader with great wisdom and unfailing dedication, he was no stranger to controversy or criticism. He was the youngest minister to ever serve, with the exception of Richard Preston.

With his leadership, the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NSAACP) was formed in 1945 to improve the standard of living conditions for Blacks in Nova Scotia.

From 1950 to 1962, Rev. Oliver went on to work part-time with the Adult Education branch of the Department of Education. He later left the ministry to become an adult educator.

In 1960 Rev. Oliver was chosen to serve as president of the United Baptist Convention of the Maritimes. He was the first Black to be so honoured.

In 1968, Rev. Oliver chaired an all-Black public meeting with two Black Panthers and Stokely Carmichael. The meeting was the largest gathering of Blacks in memory, and resulted in an organization to improve the status of Blacks in Nova Scotia.

As a visionary, Rev. Oliver has been described as "Nova Scotia’s passionate defender of equality". He was a dedicated and selfless leader.

Rev. Oliver died peacefully at home in Lucasville in May 1989.

Founder of the African United Baptist Association and known as “Father Preston”, Reverend Richard Preston was born in 1790 in Virginia. Twenty-six years later he came to Halifax, Nova Scotia in an attempt to find his mother.

Upon arriving in Nova Scotia, he made his way to the Preston area. Once arriving there he sought shelter nearby. His mother, who recognized her long-departed son by a scar on his face, unexpectedly opened the door.

Taking advantage of his freedom, Father Preston joined Rev. Burton’s congregation in Halifax and helped to spread the Gospel to the Blacks in Halifax and Dartmouth. He then became an ordained preacher in 1823. With the help of Rev. Burton and many others, Father Preston went to England to study theology. On May 8, 1832, he was ordained. While in England, he gave rousing speeches to many great liberals who were leading voices in the Abolition Debates. (The Abolition Debates, which discussed the injustices of slavery and urged for its abolition, led to the Slavery Abolition Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1833.) As a former slave himself, Father Preston could honestly speak about the brutality slaves suffered from his own personal experience.

Upon returning to Nova Scotia, he assumed an even greater presence in the anti-slavery movement. He became president of the abolitionist group in Halifax, which communicated often with societies in Boston and other northern cities.

In the same year, he also organized the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in Halifax, and in his remaining years he established churches in every county from Yarmouth to Halifax. In 1854 in Granville Mountain, he met other church leaders and developed the African Baptist Association of Nova Scotia. The organization consisted of Rev. Preston and Rev. Henry Jackson as co-moderators, along with ordained ministers, licensed ministers, deacons, and elders from twelve Black Baptist churches. It became one of the most important African Canadian community groups and was the largest organization in the history of Nova Scotia’s Black population at that time. Today, it is one of the oldest of the Black organizations and continues to meet in various Black communities as it did at its beginning.

To establish the churches, Father Preston received help from the Government of Nova Scotia and other church organizations in Nova Scotia. With this financial assistance, he was able to found Baptist churches throughout Nova Scotia, including Hammonds Plains’ Emmanuel Baptist Church on Pockwock Road in Pockwock, Nova Scotia. He encouraged church members to make changes in their lives and stop unfair treatment of others.

Along with his church-related accomplishments, Father Preston continued to serve in the forces to help abolish slavery. He was devoted to his work and attended many more debates regarding the subject. Unfortunately, he was never able to see his dream of a free land.

His ministry inspired Black people to look beyond the hate and brutality of racism. Father Preston played a large role in the shaping of many Black communities and will always be remembered for his great contribution.

When he died in 1861, Father Preston's dream of freedom for all slaves still had not become a reality.