Daily AncestorA.M.E.
A.M.E. stands for African Methodist Episcopal, the church founded by Richard Allen, as in A.M.E. Church or Bethel A.M.E.
Richard Allen, Absalom Jones and other free Black Philadelphians left St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in 1787 because of discrimination. Congregations from Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland later formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Protestant denomination founded by Black people, and Allen became its first bishop in 1816.
A.M.E. in an obituary, marriage record or cemetery name points to congregational records worth searching, such as membership rolls and marriage registers.
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Daily Ancestor. "A.M.E.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/ame. Last checked 2026-10-10.