William Seymour was a religious pioneer who initiated the Pentacostal religion. The former railroad porter from Centerville, Louisiana went blind after being stricken with smallpox. When he moved to Houston, Texas in 1903, Seymour wished to attend a white Bible school, but could only listen to the sermon in the hallway because whites and blacks could not be taught together in the school. He learned from Charles Fox Parnham, a Holiness teacher who taught the practice of speaking in tongues. From this, Seymour rooted the Pentecostal Doctrine.
