On this day 250 years ago, itinerant Methodist preacher William Duke organized the first Methodist society in Alexandria, Virginia, which would become today’s Trinity United Methodist Church. Teenage British immigrant John Littlejohn was a founding member of the congregation and would himself become a Methodist minister. The Methodists at this time were strongly antislavery, and the Alexandria Methodist church had black as well as white members. Most Methodist ministers were opposed to Independence and were treated as Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, but Littlejohn was an exception and supported the Patriots. He held various elective offices after the War including as Sheriff of Loudoun County, Virginia and in that role Sheriff Littlejohn was entrusted with safekeeping the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States for two weeks after the British burned the Capitol in the War of 1812.

Sources: https://novaumc.org/northern-virginia-methodism-the-early-years/; https://www.trinityalexandria.org/history; https://thezebra.org/2024/02/05/trinity-united-methodist-church-celebrates-250-years-of-service/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Littlejohn_(preacher)