David Leroy Nickens (1794–1838) was a freed slave who was born in Virginia.
Nickens was the first African-American licensed minister in Ohio in July, 1824.
He worked with abolitionists Theodore Weld and Augustus Wattles reforming education for black children in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Nickens was called as the first pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Cincinnati, which was established on July 21, 1831.
His wife, Serena, and children returned to Chillicothe and finished out their days there.