Isaac Luke was a Portsmouth craftsman, property owner, and patriot whose actions helped shape the religious history of the South. 

A supporter of the American cause during the Revolution, Luke was known for his willingness to stand against public pressure. In 1772, when Methodist preacher Robert Williams faced hostility while preaching in Portsmouth, Luke offered him refuge and invited him to preach from the porch of his home. 

This event is remembered as the first Methodist preaching in the American South and is part of the founding story of what is now Monumental United Methodist Church, just a few blocks from here.

During the Revolutionary War, Luke’s patriot sympathies were well known, even during the British occupation of Portsmouth. 

A joiner by trade, he likely used his woodworking skills in shipbuilding and house construction throughout the growing port town. 

He died on October 31, 1784, at the age of 51 and is buried in Trinity Churchyard, where his restored gravestone honors a man remembered for both his civic courage and his role in the early spread of Methodism in America.