Ellis Fray Sr. (1828 -1885) “Pathfinder, Propagator, and Great Exemplar” I

 

Refuge Baptist Church

Ellis Fray was born into enslavement in 1828 on the Orange Valley estate. This might have been the Orange Valley estate in St. Ann, whose owner, a Scotsman, was John Williams Blagrove. Sugar, rum, molasses, pimento and later, orange were the chief products of that estate. The other possibility, which appears more likely, is the large Orange Valley Estate at Salt Marsh, on the border of Trelawny and St James.  This estate dates back to 1678 and has produced sugar, rum, coffee and cattle. When Fray was born, Robert Newton Jarrett, an Englishman, was the owner of this estate.

Fray came under the influence of William Knibb who had a preaching station in a nearby village and he was baptized in 1844 and became a member of the Falmouth church. He would doubtless have heard about the so-called “Free Villages” that William Knibb had established in Trelawny – in places like Alps, Kettering, Wilberforce (now Refuge), Stewart Town, and Hoby Town (now Sherwood Content).

Ellis Fray enrolled at Calabar Theological College in 1847 where he was regarded as an outstanding student. In 1851, after successfully completing the programme of ministerial preparation at Calabar in 1850, Fray assumed the pastorate at Refuge Baptist Church in Trelawny. This church had been planted in 1831 under William Knibb’s leadership in a Free Village that Knibb had formed and named Wilberforce. Fray’s association with Refuge was to continue until his eventual death 34 years later.

In addition to his responsibilities at Refuge and at Clark’s Town Baptist Church, which was planted under Fray’s leadership in 1863, Fray gave oversight to a number of churches for relatively short periods of time as interim pastor. After 1856, Fray served as interim pastor at the Falmouth (now William Knibb) Baptist Church and the Baptist Church in Carfax (now Duncans), which had been planted in 1840. He did the same at Rio Bueno and Waldensia. Under Fray’s leadership, Kettering Baptist Church was to become a beacon of hope in the Duncans community. 

In 1855, Ellis Fray and Mary Ann Knibb, the second daughter of William Knibb, exchanged marital vows. They had eight children and sought to bring them up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Ellis and Ann were committed partners in the service of God’s people. For his part, Fray contributed significantly to the life of the Baptist family in Jamaica beyond the bounds of Trelawny and neighbouring parishes. He was the first Jamaican to be elected to serve as chairman (now president) of JBU. He served three terms in this office, viz., 1866-1867; 1878-1879, and 1881-1882.

He was also the first person to assume the important role of Secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Missionary Society (JBMS), an organization he helped to found. He served as an officer of JBMS for 25 years. It was in this capacity that Fray was one of the JBMS leaders who agreed to commission the American preacher William Wood from Key West to serve as missionary to Cuba at a time when US intervention in Cuba was causing much tension and would have precluded Wood serving in Cuba at that time.

Ellis and Anne Fray had eight children, one of whom, a daughter, married Charles Sibley, who was a Baptist pastor in Portland for many years. Another, a son, who was given the name Ellis Fray, Jr. became a pastor. He will be the subject of the next blog.

The churches Fray served were not financially well-endowed and Ellis Fray and his family lived in a dilapidated mission house given them by enslaved persons who had gained their freedom. Fray and his wife experienced difficulty feeding and clothing their children. Yet, they served their congregations and communities with deep commitment and sincere dedication to God.

In the midst of poverty, Fray led the Kettering church in Duncans to commence rebuilding their place of corporate worship.  Funds were hard to come by and, although the church members gave as much as they could, the rebuilding project took 16 years to complete. Can you imagine the joy the people felt when the day set apart for the dedication of their church building drew near?  They were overjoyed.  Everyone eagerly awaited the event.

On the night before the service of dedication, catastrophe struck. A fierce hurricane swept through Jamaica and it completely destroyed the Kettering church building.  The following day, Ellis Fray and some of the church members gathered around what remained of their new church building. Taking shelter under a tree and, with tears streaming down his face, Fray said to the gathering: “Friends, we had better dry our tears and sing a hymn, “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.” Fray’s listeners knew something we need to know: Saints are people with a robust faith in God. They have the kind of faith that can conquer any temporary defeat. Instead of cursing nature and blaming God, Fray led the people to remember that the God they served was one who would never forget or desert them. Not surprisingly, six years after that fateful day when that fierce hurricane devastated the Kettering building, the people completed a new place of worship. God provided the financial help these people of faith needed.

While preaching at Kettering on Emancipation Sunday 1885, on Job 8:9, “We are but of yesterday, and we know nothing, for our days on earth are but a shadow,” Fray collapsed after suffering a stroke from which he never recovered. He died on August 18, 1885.

It is not surprising that, at his funeral which started some 25 hours after his death at the age of 42, some seven to eight thousand persons were in attendance. A giant of the faith had passed away, but not before building up a heritage that enables us to call him blessed.

In reporting on Fray’s passing, the Gleaner described the deceased as:

 

one of the most widely known and most devoted and faithful Pastors of the Baptist Body in this island; a true and outspoken lover of this his native land, and a most zealous and successful advocate of institutions for the elevation of the people. His large churches and wide circle of work, his long career in Trelawney made him beloved and most tenderly regarded far and near. He was one of the leading spirits of the Baptist Body and all their organizations. The wide spread efforts of the Jamaica Baptist Mission were largely due to his indefatigable labours and large heart and sympathies….

Most energetic and devoted as a Minister and citizen; most dear and honoured as Pastor and Father of his people; beloved in all the Churches and most exemplary as the head of a happy Christian household—we are sure his death will be heard of with regret by a large number of our readers, and a tribute of respect rise to the memory of so good a man and benefactor now no more

T. Gordon Somers, addressing those attending a memorial service for the two Ellis Frays on December 11, 1927, described the Frays as “pathfinders, propagators, and great exemplars.”