Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Union Church
Many of us South Brunswick Townshippers drive through Little Rocky Hill on Route 27 and know little or nothing about the community that has been there since colonial times. At an earlier time, the road sat east of where it now passes through Little Rocky Hill. Along the old route an integrated community sprang up and clustered around the Mount Zion A. M. E. Church which was founded in 1843 and still stands. The original name of the church was "Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Union Church." One of the unsung founders of this church was Francis Tites, who passed away on January 29, 1862. He lived on Old Road, which is the same road the church is on. The nearby cemetery was started at the same time the church was. After Mr. Tites (aka: Titus) passed away, he was buried in this cemetery by the church he loved. The guiding principle of the A. M. E. Church is that all men, regardless of race, are brothers in God's eyes. The founder of the first A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia, Richard Allen, was a former slave who did not like being told where a person of color had to pray. He felt the races did not have to be separated at a place of worship. Founder's Day for the A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia coincides with Allen's birthday on February 14, 1760. His movement of protest against the established Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1787, evolved into the A. M. E. Church. The Church and its doctrine of inclusion spread to other states. These included Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware. Francis Tites was one of the first in Little Rocky Hill to be inspired by Allen's message of brotherhood. It took courage and conviction to express such a message in those days. Tites made sure the Little Rocky Hill community stood as a beacon of what a free society could be. A hundred years after Tites passed away, a new Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church was constructed north of the original structure on Old Road in Little Rocky Hill. The reader is invited to find the Old Road the next time driving on Route 27 and take a step back in history
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