Bartlett Taylor (February 14, 1815 – July 3, 1901) was an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister in Louisville, Kentucky.
He purchased his freedom from slavery in 1840 and became missionary for the states of Kentucky and Tennessee after the American Civil War (1861–1865), in which position he founded many churches.
Bartlett Taylor was born a slave in Henderson County, Kentucky on February 14, 1815.
At the age of nine, Bartlett and his sisters were moved to Oldham County, Kentucky to a farm six miles north of La Grange, Kentucky, and when Bartlett was twelve, he was purchased by his master's brother, but remained with his master where he stayed until he was nineteen.
He told his owners he wished to purchase his freedom and was put for auction on September 20, 1840, at the La Grange court-house, where he would be given that chance.
He was very successful and made a lot of money, but lost it when he agreed to secure the debt of another man in 1858 who then could not pay.
[1] In 1884, he moved to Ashbury Chapel, Louisville where he raised money to rebuild a church which had been destroyed by fire.