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diff --git a/24484.txt b/24484.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..80ec6e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/24484.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18724 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 1, 2008 [EBook #24484] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL NEGRO HISTORY, VOL 7, 1922 *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text +as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings +and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an +obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook. Also, the transcriber +added the Table of Contents.] + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +Volume VII + +1922 + + + Table of Contents + + Vol VII--January, 1922--No. 1 + + Slave Society on the Southern Plantation FRANCES L. HUNTER + Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church WALTER H. BROOKS + Early Negro Education in West Virginia C. G. WOODSON + First Negro Churches in Washington JOHN W. CROMWELL + Documents + Communications + Book Reviews + Notes + Proceedings of Annual Meeting + + + Vol VII--April, 1922--No. 2 + + Negro Congressmen a Generation After ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR + Priority of the Silver Bluff Church WALTER H. BROOKS + The Negroes in Mauritius A. F. FOKEER + Documents + Book Reviews + Notes + + + Vol VII--July, 1922--No. 3 + + The Anderson Fugitive Case FRED LANDON + A Negro Senator G. DAVID HOUSTON + Lincoln's Emancipation Plan HARRY S. BLACKISTON + The Journal of Isaaco LOUIS N. FEIPEL + Communications + Documents + Book Reviews + Notes + + + Vol VII--October, 1922--No. 4 + + Brazilian and United Status Slavery Compared HERBERT B. ALEXANDER + Origins of Abolition in Santo Domingo GEORGE W. BROWN + Canadian Negroes and the Rebellion of 1837 FRED LANDON + Lott Cary, the Colonizing Missionary MILES MARK FISHER + Communications + Documents + Book Reviews + Notes + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. VII--JANUARY, 1922--NO. 1 + + + + +SLAVE SOCIETY ON THE SOUTHERN PLANTATION + + +In the year 1619, memorable in the history of the United States, a +Dutch trading vessel carried to the colonists of Virginia twenty +Negroes from the West Indies and sold them as slaves, thus laying the +foundation of slave society in the American colonies. In the +seventeenth century slavery made but little progress in these parts of +America, and during that whole period not more than twenty-five +thousand slaves were brought to the colonies to work in the tobacco +and rice fields of the South or to serve as maids, butlers, and +coachmen in the North. The eighteenth century, however, saw a rapid +increase in slavery, until the census of 1790, much to the surprise of +most observers, showed a slave population of 679,679 living in every +State and territory of the country except Massachusetts and Maine. + +With the extensive development of various industries in the colonies, +slavery soon left the North and was used exclusively in the South. +There are several reasons for this shift. In the first place, the +colonies of the North were settled by people from the lower and middle +classes, who had been accustomed to working for themselves and who +thus had no use for slaves, while the South was settled largely by +adventurers, who had never worked and who looked upon labor as +dishonorable. In the second place, the North had a temperate climate +in which any man could safely work, while the heat of the South was so +intense that a white man endangered his life by working in it, whereas +the Negro was protected by facility of acclimation. Another cause was +the difference in soil. The soil of the South was favorable to the +growth of cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar, the cultivation of which +crops required large forces of organized and concentrated labor, which +the slaves supplied. On the other hand, the soil of the North favored +the raising of cereals, which required neither organized nor +concentrated labor; for one man working alone was able to produce more +than one man working in a group: and thus slave labor was of little or +no advantage to the North. Then, too, its soil, lacking the fertility +of that of the South, required considerable fertilizing, which slave +labor did not have the intelligence to learn. Thus in 1750 the slaves +included three per cent of the population of the New England colonies, +nine per cent of the middle colonies, and twenty-five per cent of +those south of the Potomac River.[1] By the end of the eighteenth +century every State north of Maryland, with the exception of New +Jersey, had provided for the immediate or gradual abolition of +slavery, while the rise of the cotton industry, quickened by the +invention of the cotton gin in 1793, had bound the institution on the +South. + +In order to understand the institutions of the South, it is first +necessary to know something about the dominating class of people. The +planters, numbering in 1860 about 384,750 and owning 2,308,518 +slaves,[2] were first in the social scale and controlled affairs. +"They included an aristocracy or gentry reflecting distinctions of +colonial government, and expanding under influences that prevented an +amalgamation of widely separated elements."[3] + +The home of the planter was usually a large country house of ten or +twelve rooms, situated on an elevation, or river bluff. The house was +surrounded by a large porch, almost as tall as the house itself, the +roofs of which were supported by rows of large white columns. Inside +the house there was a large hall, with a wide stairway leading to +another hall on the second floor. Opening from the hall on the first +floor were the parlors, library and dining room, and, on the second +floor, the living rooms of the family. The ceilings were high, and the +windows tall and wide. The carpets were very plain, but very heavy, +while on the walls were portraits of ancestors, of Washington, or of +Calhoun. The house was surrounded by beautiful lawns with tall +spreading trees and sometimes marble statues.[4] The home of the +planter was indeed picturesque. + +The typical planter's family was composed of about twelve sons and +daughters, a "tall, lank, and rather weatherworn gentleman, and a +slender, soft-voiced, weary-looking mother, unless one counts the +inevitable guest or the old-maiden cousin, who, like the furniture or +the servants, always formed part of a planter's household."[5] The +planter, the master of the plantation, was usually well educated, +honorable, and generous. His chief work was managing the plantation. +He planned, ordered, and saw to the performance of the work. He also +spent much time engaging in politics, caring more for the honor of the +public station than for the remuneration, and often went on sporting +trips, being used to out-of-door life from boyhood. "The high sense of +personal worth, the habit of command, the tyranny engendered by the +submission of the prostrate race, made the Southern gentleman jealous +in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,"[6] and, as a result, the duel +was very common. Men went about fully armed and used their pistols +with slight provocation. They were used to exercising absolute power +over their dependents and became furious at opposition; thus a quarrel +between one lord and another was, during the earlier period, usually +settled by the pistol. + +The mistress, usually mother of a large family of her own and +over-mother of the pickaninnies, was the "chatelaine of the whole +establishment." She supervised the domestic duties, superintended the +household industries, was head nurse for the sick, and instructor in +religion and morals for the family and for the slaves. She was highly +honored and respected by the men, who showed her much consideration. +"No patience was had with plans to bring women into competition with +the men in the public life; but a generalization of the Pauline advice +to the Corinthian church did not hinder the mother from exercising a +gentle but firm sway over her husband and sons, while she set the +example of virtue and modesty for her daughters."[7] + +One of the chief characteristics of the Southern people was their +hospitality, which was increased by the fact that they had few +opportunities to extend it. Any traveler was welcome to eat at their +tables, which were always loaded with meats, breads, seasonal +vegetables, relishes, pickles, preserves, jellies, and cakes. He was +willingly entertained until he again took up his journey. The general +effect of the hospitality upon the status of the Southern society was +similar to that of "some rosy afterglow upon a landscape, enhancing +the charm of many features, and making attractive others that under a +cold white light might mar the whole."[8] + +Another prominent feature of the planters was their remarkable +progress. Between 1859 and 1860 they had eleven thousand sons and +daughters in Southern colleges, while the enrollment of New England +colleges was only four thousand. The income of the higher institutions +in the South was $700,000, while that of New England was $268,000. +They also boasted of many prominent scholars, such as Francis Lieber, +who was a professor at the University of South Carolina; Mr. Le Conte +and Joseph Senat, who were great geologists and who were also +professors at the University of South Carolina; Messrs. Ruffner, +Wiley, Yansey, and Manly, prominent Southern educators; and many +notable statesmen who went forth from the Southern universities. Does +it not seem natural, then, that the Southern planters, who were so +charming and so progressive, should dominate the political and social +life of the South? + +No picture of the planter, however, is "able to be free from the warm, +underlying color, the object upon which his progress rested +advantageously"--slavery. The attractive life of the planter was made +possible by the fact that he had hundreds of slaves to perform the +manual labor. The power of the master over the slave was very similar +to that of a master over an indentured apprentice in Europe. Both the +apprentice and the slave were bound for a term of years, the slave +being bound for life. In both cases the master regulated and +controlled the person and had absolute enjoyment of his labor. The +prominent difference in their power was that the master of a slave +could sell him to another, and had the right to sell his child born +during slavery, while the master of an indentured apprentice could not +so treat him. In both cases the master was an absolute despot.[9] + +Since the master, although making the rules of the plantation, was +frequently absent, and since the enforcement of the rules and the +severity of the labor depended upon the overseer, it is helpful to +know the general character of this important power in order to +understand the labor of the slaves. He was usually ignorant, +high-tempered, and brutal. Patrick Henry has described him as a most +"abject, degraded, and unprincipled man." Such men usually worked the +Negroes to the limit, having a Negro driver go with each gang of +slaves in order to secure the utmost labor. In the light of these +facts, it is easy to understand how the slaves might be mistreated, in +spite of the benevolent intentions of the master. Yet the overseers +were not wholly blamable for their cruelty, inasmuch as they were +assured of work only as long as they pleased the master, who judged +them by the good behavior of the slaves, the general condition of the +plantation, and the size and quality of the crop. Calhoun has +truthfully said that by displaying too great an interest in the size +of the crop, the master unconsciously encouraged cruelty by the +overseer. + +As to the general severity of the work, writers differ. Rhodes, in his +history of the United States, says that the slaves presented a picture +of sadness and fear, and that they toiled from morning until night, +working on an average of fifteen hours a day, while during the picking +season on the cotton plantations they worked sixteen hours and during +the grinding season on the sugar plantations they labored eighteen +hours daily. On the other hand, Murat, in his history of the United +States, says that the work of the slaves was less strenuous than that +of the free workers of the North, that they worked from sunrise till +three o'clock in the afternoon, resting two hours at noon and +receiving Sunday as a holiday and a half holiday on Saturday, and that +they received many privileges, such as farming a small piece of land +for themselves and selling its products. According to him, the slaves +were supremely happy and contented. Which of these views is correct, +it is difficult to say, for it is doubtless true that some slaves were +driven to the extreme, while others enjoyed a comparatively easy life. +When it is remembered, however, that, since the Constitution forbade +the importation of slaves after 1808, the price of slaves had steadily +risen, it is safe to conclude that the work was no more severe to the +slaves than was agricultural life to the whites in the North, for it +was advantageous to the owner to keep the slave in good health as long +as possible, and this was not to be accomplished by overworking him. + +The family life of the Negro was regulated by the planter, who, in +return for the service of the slave, provided him with food, +clothing, shelter, and all the necessities of life. This part of slave +life is very sad. "A slave, his wife, and their children, around that +charmed centre, a family table, with its influence of love, +instruction, discipline, humble as they necessarily would be, yet such +as God has given them, are too seldom seen."[10] Negroes were married +only that slaves might be bred for the master to sell. The Negro +families ranged from fifteen to twenty-five children. A certain man in +Virginia said that he was fortunate "because his women were uncommonly +good breeders; he did not suppose there was a lot of women anywhere +that bred faster than his; he never heard of babies coming faster than +they did on his plantation; and every one of them, in his estimation, +was worth two hundred dollars, as Negroes were selling then, the +moment they drew breath."[11] Many people purchased Negro women +because they were good breeders, making large fortunes by selling +their children. This compulsory breeding naturally crushed the +maternal instincts in Negro women. One month after the birth of a +child, it was taken to a nursery and cared for by a servant until it +was sold, while the mother worked in the field. Thus she neither fed, +clothed, nor controlled her child, and consequently the usual love +between mother and child was absent. This is well illustrated in the +case of a certain slave mother, who, when dying, was asked how she +felt about leaving her children and who replied: "O missis, you will +take care of them; I don't mind them." It has been truthfully said +that the most appalling feature of slavery was the lack of family life +suffered by the Negro. + +The Negroes lived in huts near the large house, which were usually log +cabins with board floors and good chimneys and which were generally +comfortable, but which, because of filth and indolence, presented a +foul and wretched appearance. Indeed, the appearance of the slave +himself was unfavorable. Olmsted describes him as "clumsy, awkward, +gross, elephantine in all his expressions and demeanor." The clothing +of the slave was of every variety, from the "smart mulatto lady's +maid, who wore the still fresh dress that had been her mistress's, +down to the pickaninny of three, five, or eight years of age, who went +as nature made him."[12] The little Negroes usually wore only a shirt +that reached to their knees, while the grown ones received two pairs +of shoes, a new suit of clothes, and a hat each year.[13] Their food, +as well as their clothes, varied according to the master, generally +consisting of cornmeal, bacon, and molasses, while on some plantations +they were allowed wheat flour, seasonal vegetables, and even +chicken.[14] It is reasonable to judge that the living of the slaves +was not very high, for it was to the interest of the master to bring +the food and clothing of the slaves down to the lowest cost. + +The education of the slaves was very displeasing to the planter. North +Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana passed laws +forbidding slaves being taught to read or write, although North +Carolina slaves could be taught arithmetic. It was said that if they +were educated they would read abolition papers and would be +discontented. On the other hand, some of the planters contended that +they should be taught to read in order that they might understand the +Bible. The majority of Negroes, however, were illiterate. As to their +religious education, there was much consideration. Southern people +were very pious and orthodox in their faith and usually baptized their +slaves, taught them the catechism, and then had them confirmed. Their +favorite text, however, was "Servants obey in all things your +masters." One can not blame the planter for his attitude towards the +education of the slave; for, after all, his chief aim was to obtain +the utmost work from him, and what educated man free to read and think +for himself would really be willing to work as a slave for another? + +The question which next presents itself is: "How could anyone justify +such a system by which one man is enslaved to the other, sacrificing +his right to life, liberty, and happiness that another might prosper?" +In the first place, the planter argued that the Negroes were naturally +inferior to the white race and could not enjoy the intellectual +pursuits; for they had always been savages, having lived in savagery +in Africa before taken into captivity and, even in the nineteenth +century when freed in Hayti, returning to that state of civilization. +From this fact it was argued that, inasmuch as the Negroes belonged to +an inferior race, it was only natural that men should enslave them and +that they should be controlled by their superiors. Chancellor Harper +said: "It is the order of nature and of Heaven that the being of +superior faculties and knowledge, and therefore of superior power, +should control and dispose of those who are inferior." + +The planter argued, secondly, that the Negro was happy and contented +in slavery; for he was secure, working for the master, and in return +receiving good care all of his life. He was relieved of all worry of +sickness or old age, for he knew his master would have to care for +him. In time of business depression it was not he who suffered, but +the master. On the other hand, the free worker of the North labored +for his employer during the best part of his life and then, when no +longer able to work, or during business depression, was turned away +and obliged to suffer from lack of care. It was maintained that the +assertion that the Negro was not happy when he might be whipped was +"pathos misapplied." If a man hired a white laborer who robbed him, he +dismissed the worker, who was then sentenced to prison, thus +disgracing his family, which then suffered from lack of support. On +the other hand, a master could not discharge his slave, but whipped +and corrected him. After the whipping the Negro felt no bad +consequence and his family did not suffer from his wrong doings. It +was asserted that the slave was happy and loved his master as a +father, "looking up to him as his supporter, director, and defender." +Dew inquired: "Why, then, since the slave is happy and happiness is +the great object of all animated creation, should we endeavor to +disturb his contentment by infusing into his mind a vain and +indefinite desire for liberty, a something which he can not comprehend +and which must inevitably dry up every source of his happiness?" + +But the chief argument advanced was that slavery was the price of +prosperity and progress of the South. The North had a moderate climate +because of the sea breeze and elevation, and thus white men were able +to till the soil, while the intense heat of the South rendered it +impossible for the white man to work in the fields and made a large +supply of black men necessary. As Harper said, "The products of slave +labor furnished more than two-thirds of the materials of our commerce, +employed in transporting and exchanging; and among the slaveholding +States is to be found the greater market for all the productions of +their industry, of whatever kind. The prosperity of those States, +therefore, and the civilization of their cities have been for the most +part created by the existence of slavery." In addition, slavery +released the planter from manual labor and gave him more time to +cultivate his mind, and thus the Southern planter was highly educated, +cultured, and refined. In the mind of the planter, slavery was "the +defence of human civilization." Students of economics, however, saw +that it was an evil which had to pass away. + + FRANCES L. HUNTER + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Muzzey, _History of the United States_, p. 304. + +[2] Ingle, _Southern Sidelights_, p. 18. + +[3] _Ibid._, p. 18. + +[4] Dodd, _Cotton Kingdom_, p. 71. + +[5] _Ibid._, p. 72. + +[6] Rhodes, _History of the United States_, Vol. I, p. 361. + +[7] Ingle, _Southern Sidelights_, p. 45. + +[8] _Ibid._, p. 40. + +[9] DeBow, _Industrial History of the United States_, Vol. II, p. 303. + +[10] Adams, _Three Months in the South_, p. 82. + +[11] Rhodes, _History of the United States_, Vol. I, 317. + +[12] Hart, _Slavery and Abolition_, p. 100. + +[13] Dodd, _Cotton Kingdom_, p. 75. + +[14] Hart, _Slavery and Abolition_, p. 100. + + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCH + + +The freedom and local democracy of the Baptist Church enabled the +Negroes to participate in the affairs thereof much earlier than they +were so indulged in the other denominations. Pioneer Negro preachers +and churches, therefore, first appeared in the Baptist Church. The +development of the attitude of the Baptist Church toward the Negro, +however, has been by cycles. The relations of the two races in church +matters differ widely from what they were years ago. Members of both +races formerly belonged to the same congregation, which in the +beginning in this country ignored social distinctions. They have since +then undergone radical changes to reach the present situation in which +they have all but severed connection with each other. + +In the beginning, the attitude of the so-called Christian whites +toward the early Negro preachers was that of hostility. This +opposition, however, did not come from the Baptists themselves, but +from the master class. George Liele in the West Indies, Andrew Bryan +in Georgia, and David George in Canada had much difficulty in their +pioneer work, suffering many indignities and hardships. Andrew Bryan +was whipped in a cruel and bloody manner but triumphed over +persecution by his bold declaration that he was willing to die for +Jesus. Rev. Mr. Moses, working in Virginia about this time, was often +arrested and whipped for holding meetings. Others were excommunicated, +but such opposition could not stay the progress of the work, for these +pioneer preachers finally succeeded. This is attested by the +resolution of the white Baptist Association expressing deep regret on +the occasion of the death of Andrew Bryan.[1] + +When the Baptists had won a standing after the grant of toleration in +the United States and Negroes began to connect themselves with them, +the status of the blacks in the Baptist Church had to be determined. +Was the Negro to be a mere member in the back seat or a participant in +the work of the Church? Under the labors of inspired white men +thousands of Negroes were converted, baptized, set apart as churches, +and instructed in all things which pertain to a life becoming the +gospel of Christ. White persons, on the other hand, have been +converted through the preaching of Negroes, and a few Negroes, even in +the Southland, have been pastors of white Baptist churches. Speaking +of the resignation of Mr. Thomas Armistead, who was pastor of the +Portsmouth Church, in Virginia, until 1792, Robert B. Semple, in his +_History of the Baptists of Virginia_, remarks: "After his resignation +the church declined greatly. They employed Josiah Bishop, a black man +of considerable talents, to preach to them. This, as might have been +expected, could not answer in Virginia."[2] + +Another instance of the same character is related by Mr. Semple, in +connection with the Pettsworth or Gloucester Church. In his statement +in regard to the death of Rev. Robert Hudgin, their first pastor, he +observes that "This church continued to prosper moderately until Mr. +Hudgin's death. They were then left without any person to go in and +out before them. They at length did what it would hardly have been +supposed would have been done by Virginians; they chose for their +pastor William Lemon, a man of color." "He also died after several +years. Since then," remarks Mr. Semple, "they have been destitute of +stated ministerial aid." Here, then, is a man of color, who was +pastor of a white Baptist Church in Virginia to the day of his death, +covering a period of "several years."[3] + +There is still another case, in which the order of things is reversed, +and this the most remarkable in the history of the South. In 1798 +there appeared in southwest Mississippi a colored Baptist preacher, +Joseph Willis, a mulatto, who being duly licensed was very zealous to +exercise his gift as a minister. In 1804 he crossed the Mississippi +River and began a work into which he put a half century of earnest +endeavor. After preaching at Vermillion and Plaquemine Brule for eight +years, amidst hardships and bitter persecutions, unaided and alone, +and sacrificing a small fortune in the struggle, he was able, with the +aid of visiting ministers, to constitute the first Baptist Church at +Bayou Chicot. Other churches, the fruits of his labors, soon sprang +into being, and in 1818 the Louisiana Baptist Association was +constituted, with these churches as a nucleus. Joseph Willis was +pastor of the church at Bayou Chicot for a number of years. As +moderator of the Louisiana Baptist Association he was honored and +respected--indeed, beloved and spoken of as "Father Willis." That a +Negro should have the honor of giving to Louisiana its first mixed +Baptist church and of being the pastor of that church--that a Negro +was the first moderator of Louisiana's first white Baptist +association,[4] and rendered the denomination fifty years of service, +causes us greatly to marvel in these days of race division and race +antipathy. + +The Negro members of white Baptist churches of this country were, as a +rule, permitted to worship with their white brethren within certain +fixed limits. The gap between them, however, tended to widen. Later +they were allowed another hour for worship, with large bounds and +privileges. Still later they were provided with all the privileges of +the Baptist meeting house under the restrictions of the white +churches to which they belonged. The master class gradually reached +the position of separating the races in worship, but for the security +of slavery they deemed it wise to hold the Negroes as members of the +white churches. + +It was argued that, in all nature, living creatures move instinctively +in groups after their kind, and that the Negro and the white man, left +to themselves, do the same thing, as is evidenced by the fact that the +black slave was ever offending against the institution of slavery by +holding religious services after his own liking where only his own +people were present and shared in the devotion. In this manner the +master justified himself in segregating his slave in the house of God +and pointed to the Court of the Gentiles, in the Temple of Jehovah, in +confirmation of the righteousness of his act. But for some reason the +untutored black slave was never entirely at home in the white man's +church, with its special place for Negroes. He knew that the master +could be at ease in any part of his church edifice. It was all his and +he moved about through its aisles as a free man, but the slave was +limited in his privileges, and was counted a good man only as he kept +within the limits assigned him. + +When the Negroes in the white Baptist churches of the South became +very numerous, services for their special benefit were held in the +church edifices, usually in the afternoon, by the pastor and other +persons who felt a deep interest in them. In these meetings the +colored members of the church not only enjoyed the freedom of the +place for the time being, but often listened with great satisfaction +to the exhortations of one or more of their own brethren who spoke by +permission from the floor and not from the pulpit platform. These +Negro exhorters were encouraged to exercise a measure of spiritual +oversight in the midst of their brethren and so help the church and +pastor in caring for the flock. The segregated group, in a separate +church edifice, meeting for worship at the same hours as the parent +body, gave rise to the separate church altogether, with a white +ministry. In this way many of the largest and most progressive Negro +Baptist churches of the South had their beginnings amid the +vicissitudes of life peculiar to a land of human bondage. The African +Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia, under the direction of Dr. +Robert Ryland, the white president of Richmond College, is a case in +evidence. + +Still another type of Negro Baptist church arose where there was no +parent church of white persons in control of the offspring. There were +churches of this character in Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, the +British West Indies, Canada, and in far-off Africa, before the close +of the eighteenth century. In these churches the members were of the +black race. In Virginia and in Georgia churches of this class as well +as others were admitted to membership in the oldest and best white +Baptist associations, in which they at one time were given +considerable attention.[5] It is worthy of note that Negro Baptist +churches of this type were the first Negro Baptist churches in all the +land and preceded by many years the first Negro churches of other +denominations in America. + +These churches, moreover, soon established themselves in spite of +opposition, for they were accepted by the Baptist associations. The +Negro Baptist Church organized at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, in +1773 or 1775, probably had no such connection, nor did that of George +Liele in Savannah, established not long thereafter; but the Negro +Baptist Church of Williamsburg, Virginia, sought membership in the +Dover Association in 1791 and was accepted. This church, according to +John W. Cromwell, who is himself a Methodist, was founded in the year +1776. In 1815 the Gillfield Baptist Church, of Petersburg, Virginia, a +Negro congregation, united with the Portsmouth Association, an +organization of white Baptists. Shortly after doing so this church +invited the association to hold its approaching annual meeting with +the Gillfield Baptist Church. The "invitation was accepted and the +church appointed a committee to rent stables and to buy feed for the +delegates' horses." Richard Kennard, from whose church record we +quote, adds: "A committee was also appointed to furnish blacking and +brushes with which to clean the delegates' boots and shoes, and to see +to the general comfort of the delegates." We agree with Mr. Kennard in +the reflection: "At that age there did not seem to be as much +prejudice among Christians or as much separation as since."[6] + +The second step in the development was that of expansion abroad. There +had been planted Negro Baptist churches, like the First African +Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, in 1793, and Amos's Church at New +Providence, Bahama Islands, British West Indies, in 1788. George Liele +carried the work of the Baptists into Jamaica in 1784; and David +George extended it to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and finally into +Sierra Leone about the same time. In this connection it may be +remarked that because a Baptist church can arise and continue to exist +as a self-originating, self-governing body without any consent or +approval from without, the work of the denomination rapidly expanded. +White ministers fully ordained to the ministry Negro Baptists, Negro +Episcopalians and Negro Presbyterians and inducted them into +pastorates, at a time when the Methodist Episcopal Church in America +was not at first inclined to do so. This denomination, therefore, +brought about that condition which resulted in the setting up of an +independent African Methodist denomination under Peter Spencer in +1812, of another under Richard Allen in 1816, and still another under +James Varick in 1820. + +It should be remarked, moreover, that all Negro Baptist churches, +except those in the South, which came out of white churches during +slavery, had Negro pastors. Yet whatever their differences, Negro +Baptists and white Baptists in America constituted one family until +after the Civil War. Indeed there has never been any formal separation +of the two groups. Each has simply followed the race instinct, in an +age of freedom, while the one group cooperates with the other, North +and South. + +There were Negro Baptist churches in the South for more than a quarter +of a century before they began to be constituted in the North, and +about a half century before the first church of the kind was planted +in the West. When in 1805, moreover, the first African Baptist church +was organized at Boston, Massachusetts, it was not only the first +Negro Baptist church in the North, but was also the only independent +Negro church north except the St. Thomas Episcopal Church of +Philadelphia, which had a Negro rector. The Boston African Baptist +church had for its pastor a Negro, the Rev. Thomas Paul, a man of such +intelligence and piety, such commanding presence and pleasing address, +that pulpits everywhere in Massachusetts and in his native State of +New Hampshire, were open to him, both before and after he became a +minister in that city. + +In the course of time Negro Baptist churches tended to associate among +themselves, as they developed power independently of the white +churches. There were in the South during the Negro's enslavement, +however, no Negro Baptist associations which embraced their churches +in any State or in any considerable part of a State; for all Negro +Baptist churches were associated with white Baptist churches in the +South. The "Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society," which was +constituted at Richmond, Virginia, in 1815, was no exception to the +rule. Lott Cary,[6] the chief spirit in that organization, and Mr. +William Crane, a white merchant, its corresponding secretary, were +members of the same church--not a Negro Baptist church, for there was +no organization of the kind in Richmond at the time. Lott Cary was +converted under the preaching of a white pastor. At the hands of that +white pastor he was baptized, into the fellowship of the white church +of which that pastor was the spiritual leader Lott Cary was received, +and from that white church, the First Baptist Church of Richmond, +Virginia, Lott Cary went to plant the standard of Christ on the shores +of Africa. + +Negro Baptist associations in this country were the achievements of +free men on free soil. The Providence Association of Ohio, organized +in 1833, and the Wood River Association of Illinois, organized in +1838, led the way. The colored Baptist churches of the North and East +organized in 1840, and the abolition of slavery as an American +institution resulted in the nation-wide formation of Negro churches, +local associations, State conventions, and larger groups. In 1866 a +national convention which merged the forces of the North and South, +the East and West, under the significant name, "The Consolidated +American Baptist Missionary Convention," was organized. Its chief work +was in the South and confined to the period of Reconstruction. In 1873 +the West revived its organization under the name, "The Baptist General +Association of the Western States and Territories," and the Northern +churches did likewise in 1875 in the formation of "The New England +Baptist Missionary Society." Each enlarged its borders until the two +embraced the greater part of the whole country. In 1880 the Negro +Baptists of the country formed their first national society to do work +in foreign lands exclusively. The organization constituted at this +time took the name, "The Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the +United States." + +In 1886, at St. Louis, Missouri, the National Baptist Convention was +formed, and the work of this organization was subsequently so modified +that in it is unified all the national and international church work +in which Negro Baptists of America were engaged. These efforts toward +organization, however, were not altogether satisfactory, for the +Baptists soon developed a factional struggle in regard to the question +as to independent action or cooperation with the American Baptist +Foreign Mission Society and the American Baptist Home Mission Society. +In 1897, in the Shiloh Baptist Church, Washington, D. C., the Lott +Cary Baptist Foreign Missionary Convention was formed by certain +churches in the Atlantic States which looked with disfavor on the +independent mission work as conducted by the Foreign Mission Board of +the National Baptist Convention. Composed chiefly of men and women who +were educated in the schools of the American Baptist Home Mission +Society, this organization has from the first cooperated with Northern +Baptists in the prosecution of its work. + +At Chicago in 1915 there arose a more serious division in the forces +of the National Baptist Convention as the result of differences of +opinion in regard to the ownership of the Convention in the lands and +chattels of its Publishing Board. As a result of these differences +there have developed two groups of colored Baptists in this country, +engaged in similar work, and each claims to be the National Baptist +Convention--the original and only National Baptist Convention of Negro +Baptists in America. + +One of the results of the association of Negro churches has been +education. Negro Baptists in a land of slavery were not supposed to be +versed in the knowledge of books. But inasmuch as master and slave +were instructed out of the same inspired writings Sabbath after +Sabbath, the slave quite frequently was as familiar with the Bible as +his master. Ignorance and illiteracy are not one and the same thing. +An unlettered people may be learned in the word of God, and being made +wise unto salvation, may present to the world no mean type of +Christian life. Apart from the knowledge received through the regular +preaching of the gospel by the best preachers of the Southland, it +was not unlawful to impart verbal instruction to slaves, in +Sunday-school exercises and, under other circumstances, in regard to +any number of things which have to do with conduct and character and +human comfort, so long as nothing was said to endanger the institution +of slavery. But some Baptists appear to have given some measure of +literary training to Negroes attached to their churches. Andrew Bryan, +in one of his letters to Dr. John Rippon of London, England, in 1800, +speaks of the fact that certain white friends in Savannah, Georgia, +had purchased a man of color of many excellent qualities, the Rev. +Henry Francis, and had given him his freedom that he might be a +teacher to his people. Bryan himself then opened a school for the +slaves on his plantation outside of Savannah. George Liele established +a school in connection with his church in Jamaica, hoping to develop +the minds of his communicants that he might properly edify their +souls. + +The First Baptist Church (white), Richmond, Virginia, moreover, +conducted a school for the literary training and instruction of its +Negro members. For several years Lott Cary was a student in this +institution. The church at Williamsburg, Virginia, which was a Negro +Baptist church from its beginning, that is, from 1776, must have done +something for education, for it kept correct church records, in the +handwriting of its own members. Many of the Negro Baptist preachers of +the South, moreover, obtained some degree of scholarship by private +instruction and so won the respect of the people among whom they +lived. The close of the Civil War brought together a group of +scholarly men, from the North and West, men of purpose and +consecration, preachers of great power who were an inspiration to +their less cultured and less scholarly brethren in the South, and +these invaded our Southland to help forward the new order of things in +the churches as well as in civil life. + +To-day the Negro Baptists of America have more than 20,000 churches, +with about two and a half million members and church property valued +at more than forty million dollars. They are conducting orphan +schools, homes for the aged poor, and institutions of learning, and +are as zealous as ever in sending the gospel to people in foreign +lands. Great has been the progress of Negro Baptists in America, but +that progress was due in very great measure to Northern philanthropy +during a quarter of a century after the Civil War and is promoted also +to-day by the good will of Southern Baptists who have put at the +disposal of Negro Baptists in the South thousands of dollars. But the +greatest glory of Negro Baptists is the spirit of self-help and heroic +sacrifice in the endeavor to help others, and that spirit is now +everywhere prevalent. + + WALTER H. BROOKS + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The resolution was: "The association is sensibly affected by the +death of the Rev. Andrew Bryan, a man of color, and pastor of the +first colored Church in Savannah. This son of Africa, after suffering +inexpressible persecutions in the cause of his Divine Master, was at +length permitted to discharge the duties of the ministry among his +colored friends in peace and quiet, hundreds of whom, through his +instrumentality, were brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is +in Jesus. He closed his extensively useful, and amazingly luminous +course, in the lively exercise of faith, and in the joyful hope of a +happy immortality." See Benedict's _History of the Baptists_. + +[2] Semple, _History of the Baptists in Virginia_, p. 355. + +[3] Semple, _History of the Baptists in Virginia_, p. 356. + +[4] _The Negro Year Book_, 1918-1919, p. 236; Benedict, _History of +the Baptists_, 376. + +[5] By way of comparison, be it further remembered, that the founder +of the African Methodist Episcopal Church was originally a member of +the St. George Society, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he and +others withdrew from that body of white persons in 1787; but it was +not until 1794, that Bishop Francis Asbury constituted the Bethel A. +M. E. Church at Philadelphia, which claims to be the oldest Negro +Methodist church in the country. The Zion Church, of the African +Methodist Episcopal Zion connection, New York City, was founded in +1796, while the first church of Negro Episcopalians, the St. Thomas +Church, Philadelphia, was planted by Bishop William White in 1794. The +Lombard Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, the oldest +organization of Negro Presbyterians in America, was constituted +in 1807, and not until 1829 was the first church of Negro +Congregationalists, the Dixwell Avenue of New Haven, Conn., +constituted. + +[6] Richard Kennard's _History of the Gillfield Baptist Church_, p. +16. + +[6] Let me quote here a paragraph from Sprague's _Annals of the +American Pulpit_, Vol. VI, p. 583, (Ed. 1860, published by Robert +Carter and Brother, New York.) The paragraph appears in an article +which the publisher takes from _Taylor's Memoirs.--Missionary Heroes +and Martyrs_. + +"In 1850, the late Rev. Eli Ball of Virginia, visited all the Liberian +Baptist Missionary Stations, as agent of the Southern Baptist +Missionary Convention, and, with considerable difficulty, ascertained +the spot where Lott Cary was buried. The next year, a small marble +monument was sent out, and placed over the grave, with the following +inscription:-- + +"On the front of the monument was-- + + LOTT CARY + Born a slave in Virginia, + 1780, + Removed from Richmond to Africa, as a + Missionary and Colonist, + 1821, + Was Pastor of the First Baptist Church, + and an original settler and defender + of the Colony at Monrovia. + Died Acting Governor of Liberia + Nov. 10th, 1828. + His life was the progressive development of an + able intellect and firm benevolent heart, + under the influence of + Freedom and an enlightened Christianity; + and affords the amplest evidence of the capacity + of his race to fill with dignity and usefulness + the highest ecclesiastical and political stations. + Of a truth God is no respecter of persons, + But hath made of one blood all nations of men. + +On the reverse-- + + Lott Gary's self-denying, self-sacrificing labors, + as a self-taught Physician, as a Missionary and + Pastor of a Church, and finally as + Governor of the Colony, + have inscribed his name indelibly on the page of history, + not only as one of Nature's Noblemen, but as an eminent + Philanthropist and Missionary of Jesus Christ. + + 'Aye, call it holy ground, + The place where first they trod; + They sought what here they found, + Freedom to worship God.'" + +That is, indeed, a remarkable utterance, coming from the Southern +Baptist Missionary Convention, in the year 1851. + + + + +EARLY NEGRO EDUCATION IN WEST VIRGINIA + + +The early education of the Negro in West Virginia falls in three +periods.[1] During the first period, it was largely restricted to +such efforts as benevolent whites were disposed to make in behalf of +those Negroes who had served them acceptably as slaves. This period, +therefore, antedates the emancipation of the Negroes. Because of the +scarcity of the slave population of Western Virginia, the 14,000 +slaves scattered among the mountainous counties came into helpful +contact with their masters, among whom the institution never lost its +patriarchal aspect. Although it was both unlawful and in some parts of +West Virginia unpopular to instruct Negroes, these masters, a law unto +themselves, undertook to impart to these bondmen some modicum of +knowledge. Upon the actual emancipation in 1865, when all restraint in +this respect was abrogated, benevolent white persons, moved with +compassion because of the benighted condition of Negroes, volunteered +to offer them instruction. The first teachers of the Negroes in West +Virginia, then, were white persons. The Negroes of Jefferson, +Greenbrier, Monroe, Summers, Kanawha, Mason, and Wood counties still +point with pride to these white friends, who by their indefatigable +work as teachers blazed the way in a field which to Negroes had been +forbidden. + +During the next period there came into these same parts the Union +soldier, followed and sometimes accompanied by the missionary teachers +sent out by the Freedmen's Relief Commissions of the North and by the +Freedmen's Bureau. The efforts of the Union soldier could not be +crowned with signal success for the reason that they were sporadic and +this volunteer was not in every case well prepared for such service. +The greatest impetus was given the cause when missionary teachers +appeared in the State. Having the spirit of sacrifice which +characterized the apostles of old, they endured the hardships +resulting from social proscription and crude environment. With the +funds which they secured from the agencies which they represented and +which they could raise among the poor freedmen and their few +sympathetic white friends, these teachers of the new day built or +rented shanty-like school-houses in which they proclaimed the power of +education as the great leverage by which the recently emancipated race +could toil up to a position of recognition in this republic. The +educational achievements of this class of teachers were significant, +not so much because of the actual instruction given, but rather on +account of the inspiration which set the whole body of Negroes +throughout the State thinking and working to secure to themselves +every facility for education vouchsafed to the most highly favored +element of our population. + +The third period in the early education of Negroes in West Virginia +was reached when these pioneer teachers had wrought well enough to +enable the Negroes to help themselves. Because of the rapid +development of this industrial State and the consequent influx of +Negroes from other commonwealths, however, the number of Negro +teachers produced on the ground proved inadequate to the demand for +instructors among the increasing and expanding Negro population of +West Virginia. There went out to the other States the call for help, +which was answered largely by workers from Virginia, Maryland, and +Ohio. Virginia did not have many workers to spare, but from Baltimore, +where, because of the liberal attitude of the whites toward the +education of Negroes prior to the Civil War, a considerable group of +Negroes had been trained, came a much larger number of volunteers. +From Ohio, however, came as many as were obtained from both Virginia +and Maryland, for the reason that, although the Negroes were early +permitted to attend school in Ohio, race prejudice had not +sufficiently diminished to permit them to instruct white persons in +public schools. Looking out for a new field, their eyes quickly fell +on the waiting harvest across the Ohio in West Virginia. Some of these +workers from adjacent States, moreover, served the people not only as +teachers but also as ministers of the gospel. They were largely +instrumental in establishing practically all of the Methodist and +Baptist churches in the State, and while they taught school during the +week, they inspired and edified their congregations on Sunday. + +The beginning of the education of the Negroes in West Virginia at +public expense was delayed inasmuch as its first constitution, +although it made provisions for free schools, did not extend the +facilities of the same to the freedmen. In the report of the State +Superintendent of Public Schools in 1864, therefore, he complained +that the Negroes had been too long and too mercilessly deprived of +this privilege. "I regret to report," said he, "that there are not +schools for the children of this portion of our citizens; as the law +stands I fear they will be compelled to remain in ignorance. I commend +them to the favorable notice of the legislature."[2] + + +In 1866, therefore, the legislature enacted a law providing for the +establishing of public schools for Negroes between the ages of six and +twenty-one years. These schools had to maintain an average attendance +of sixteen pupils or be closed. As Negro communities were not very +large and the number of such children small, some of them scattered +throughout the State were denied the opportunity to acquire an +education. This law, therefore, was amended in 1867 so as to authorize +local boards of education to establish a school whenever there were +more than fifteen Negro children between the ages of six and +twenty-one.[3] + +The attitude of the State approved separation of the two races in the +schools, but the first two laws bearing on Negro schools did not make +this point clear. Upon revising the constitution in 1872, therefore, +it was specifically provided that whites and blacks should not be +taught in the same school.[4] Thereafter, however, the whites and +blacks sometimes used the same school-houses. As the term consisted of +only four months of twenty-two school days each, the whites would open +school in September and vacate by Christmas, when the Negroes would +take charge. + +No further changes were made in the school law until 1899, when it was +amended to the effect that the trustees in certain districts should +establish one or more primary schools for Negro children between the +ages of six and twenty-one years, and that said members of boards of +education should establish such Negro schools whenever there were at +least ten Negro pupils who resided in their district, and for a +smaller number, if it were possible to do so.[5] This gave impetus to +the movement for more intensive education among Negroes throughout +their communities. Often Negro children in groups of only four or five +were thus trained in the backward districts, where they received +sufficient inspiration to come to larger schools for more systematic +training. + + +THE FIRST EFFORTS IN NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA + +Parkersburg enjoys the distinction of having established in this State +the first school for Negroes supported by private funds. Having a +desire to provide for their children the facilities of education long +since denied to members of their race, a group of progressive Negroes +met in Parkersburg in January, 1862, to translate their idea into +action. Among these persons were Robert Thomas, Lafayette Wilson, +William Sargent, R. W. Simmons, Charles Hicks, William Smith, and +Matthew Thomas. They organized a board, which adopted a constitution +and by-laws by which they were to be governed in carrying out this +plan. They then proceeded to establish a subscription school requiring +a tuition fee of one dollar a month of those who were able to pay; but +poorer children were admitted free of charge. At this time there was a +certain stigma attached to the idea of educating one's children at the +expense of others or at the expense of the commonwealth. Persons able +to pay for the instruction of their children were, therefore, willing +to do so that they might not have a reputation for dependency or +delinquency.[6] + +The teachers first employed in Parkersburg were Sarah Trotter and +Pocahontas Simmons, persons of color and Rev. S. E. Colburn, a white +man. The number of pupils enrolled in the first year approached forty. +To encourage Negroes in that city to avail themselves of their +opportunity for their enlightenment, these teachers moved among the +people from time to time, pointing out the necessity for more +extensive preparation to discharge the functions of citizenship then +devolving upon Negroes in their new State of freedom after the Civil +War.[7] + +Parkersburg enjoys also the distinction of having established the +first free school for Negroes in the South. The work of the school +organization of 1862 had been so well done that it was easily possible +to interest school officials in the extension of school privileges to +Negroes. The Parkersburg _Weekly Times_ of June 7, 1866, carried a +notice to the effect that the first public free school for the Negro +children of the city of Parkersburg, West Virginia, had been opened in +the school ward lately removed. "All colored children over six years +of age and under twenty-one, as the law directs," continued the +editor, "are at liberty to attend and are requested to do so." Rev. S. +E. Colburn was the teacher. The private school then came to an end.[8] + +It does not appear that the Reverend Mr. Colburn remained for a long +time in this school, for at the close of the session in 1866 we have a +record of an exhibition in Bank Hall under the charge of T. J. +Ferguson. Ferguson was a versatile character among the Negroes at that +time, participating extensively in politics during the reconstruction +period, and contending for the enlargement of freedom and opportunity +for their race. The next man of consequence after Ferguson was J. L. +Camp, who served the system for eleven years. He passed among his +people as a man of high character, and is remembered today as one of +the most successful and inspiring workers to toil among the lowly in +West Virginia. The Negro schools could then be turned over to teachers +of the race who, having availed themselves of the opportunities for +education, had become equipped for service among their own people. +With the further organization of the public school system of +Parkersburg, the Negro school was brought under the direction of the +local superintendent of schools and given the same sort of instruction +and inspection as that provided for the white schools. In the course +of time the work developed from a primary into an intermediate and +then into a grammar school. + +Parkersburg is unique again, moreover, in having the first high school +for Negroes in the State. This advanced phase of public school work +was added in 1885, and the first class was graduated in 1887. For a +number of years the Negro schools were housed in a frame building of +two rooms, which was somewhat enlarged in 1883. This, moreover, has +been followed by the erection of a brick structure with the modern +conveniences for public schools, facilitating especially high school +instruction, which under former conditions was handicapped. A new +building known as the Sumner High School was constructed there in +1886, and A. W. Pegues, a graduate of the Richmond Institute, was made +its first principal. He showed himself a studious man of intellectual +bearing, but after serving in Parkersburg one year he resigned to +accept a chair in Shaw University in North Carolina. He has since been +made the head of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum of that State.[9] + +Following Professor Pegues came T. D. Scott, who served in this high +school five years, reorganizing the work and enlarging the curriculum. +When he resigned in 1892 he became an instructor in natural science at +Wilberforce University, of which he was an alumnus. Carter Harrison +Barnett, a graduate of Dennison University, became principal in 1892 +and served one year. Then came John Rupert Jefferson, who took charge +of the institution in 1893, a position which he has successfully +filled until the present time with the exception of one year when he +was supplanted by Mr. B. S. Jackson, an alumnus of Howard University, +who at the close of his first year's service gave way to Mr. +Jefferson.[10] + +Clarksburg followed in the wake of Parkersburg and soon bestirred +itself in the direction of the education of Negro youth. The first +school was established there in 1867, with an enrolment of thirty +pupils under the direction of Miss Joe Gee. For her time she was +well-prepared woman, using up-to-date methods, and was very successful +in the work there for two and one-half years, at the expiration of +which she married. Her successful work was due in no small measure to +the cooperation of Mrs. Mary Rector, Mrs. Phyllis Henderson, Mr. Fred +Siren, Jr., and Mrs. Harriet Beckwith. They did not own the school +property, but conducted the work in a one-room ramshackled structure. +Another group of ambitious Negroes established a school at Glen Falls, +in the same county, in 1872, with Noe Johnson as the teacher. + +Steps were soon taken to provide better educational facilities for +Negroes in Clarksburg. On July 15, 1868, the Board of Education of +that city accepted a bid of $1,147 to erect a one-story brick building +to be used as a Negro school-house. This structure was completed and +occupied by the end of the school year 1870. After the school had been +better housed, the work was professionally organized and thereafter +intelligently supervised to standardize instruction. + +In the beginning of this new day the schools were successful in having +a number of popular principals to serve them efficiently. Among these +may be mentioned Charles Ankrum, a pioneer teacher, who was principal +of the school from 1870 to 1873, J. A. Riley, a man of the same type +serving from 1873-1874, G. F. Jones, a man of little more preparation +than that of his predecessors, from 1874 to 1876, W. B. Jones, an +honest worker, from 1876-1878, and M. W. Grayson, who served the +system well from 1878 to 1889, doing much to lay the foundation upon +which others built thereafter.[11] + +The first Negro principal at Clarksburg, with extensive preparation as +judged by the standards of today, was J. S. Williams, a graduate of +Morgan College, who was the head of this school from 1889 to 1891. Mr. +C. W. Boyd, a normal school graduate of Wilberforce University, served +the system one year, that is, from 1891 to 1892, after which he became +a teacher in the Charleston Negro Public Schools of which he is now +the head. Then came Mr. Sherman H. Guss, the first Negro to receive a +degree from Ohio State University. He made a special study of the +needs of the school, forcefully presented them to the educational +authorities, enlarged the school's facilities, and developed there a +high school which ranks today as one of the best in the State. In 1901 +Mr. Guss resigned to become instructor in Latin at the West Virginia +Colored Institute, where he is still employed. He was followed by J. +W. Robinson, a man of liberal and specialized education, who +endeavored to maintain a high standard and to extend the influence of +the Negro schools, adding much to develop an intellectual atmosphere +through the enlargement of the school library and other accessories. +After toiling in this city for a number of years he taught at St. +Albans. He then accepted the principalship of the high school at +Northfork, during his incumbency of which he has served as a member of +the Advisory Council to the State Board of Education of West Virginia. + +Weston did not lag far behind the other towns in making some provision +for the education of Negroes. During the early years immediately +following the Civil War, a white man of philanthropic tendency named +Benjamin Owens taught a Negro school in an old church located not far +from the head of Main Street extended in Weston. A local historian +believes also that one Doctor Gordon's daughter taught in the same +school. It does not appear that Owens was a man of exceptional +intellectual attainment, but he had well mastered the fundamentals of +education when working in the printing office of Horace Greeley in New +York, where he learned to manifest interest in the man far down, and +to make sacrifices for his cause. His work was so successful that the +school was later established as a public institution supported by the +State. + +The next pioneer to lend a helping hand was George Jones who, after +serving the Negroes in Weston as a teacher for a number of years, +abandoned this field for a much larger work as a minister. Then came +Misses Hattie Hood, Grace Rigsby, and Anna Wells, who taught in this +school one or two years each. There appeared next W. P. Crump, who is +referred to as the first Negro teacher of exceptional ability to toil +in Weston. He did much to develop the school and exerted a beneficent +influence upon the people. After serving them as instructor for a few +years, he abandoned the work for a more lucrative employment +elsewhere. The next teacher of importance was Mr. Frank Jefferson who +also toiled successfully in these parts. Inasmuch as the salary at +that time was unusually low compared with the compensation offered in +other parts, he eventually gave up that work for other service.[12] + +About 1898 there came Mr. L. O. Wilson, a man of scholarship, who +later became a leader of power and influence throughout the State of +West Virginia. He reorganized the school, improved the methods of +instruction, and supplied it with a library. He endeared himself to +the people here, as he did wherever he was known; and, although he was +several times offered higher salaries elsewhere, he preferred to toil +among the people of Weston for less compensation. The results which he +obtained, while laboring among these people, stand as a monument +justifying the sacrifice which he made to serve them.[13] + +The next school of importance in this part of the State was that of +Piedmont, since then designated as the Howard School. Educational +efforts began in this section about six years after the Civil War. +Prior to that time the few Negroes coming into Piedmont were too +migratory to necessitate any outlay for their education. Some efforts +were made to secure their education through private instruction in the +fundamentals, and a little progress therein was noted. Years later +there came such substantial friends of education as the Barneses, the +Masons, the Thomases, the Biases, and the Redmons. There was no +organized effort to establish a real public school, however, until the +year 1877, when one John Brown, being influential with one Mr. Hyde, +then President of the Board of Education, induced him to provide a +school-room and hire a teacher for the instruction of the Negroes. The +following persons, since known as Mrs. Emma Stewart (Mason), Miss +Mary Thomas, Mr. John Brown, Jr., Miss Alice Brown, and Mr. Harry +Bias, presented themselves as the first students of this school. One +Mr. Ross, a white man, was the first instructor. The next teacher of +this school was a white man, and he was followed by a member of his +own race. + +The early history of this school published in 1919 states that the +attendance was regular and that after three years of conducting a +private school the board of education formally established this as a +public school in the year 1880, with Mrs. Steiglar, a white woman, as +instructor. The school was still held in the private building which +has since been occupied by the Williams, Redmon, and Taylor families +of that vicinity. After this school was conducted thus for about ten +years, there came a change which marked the epoch of progress in +education in Piedmont. This was the time when the white teachers were +exchanged for those of Negro blood, who having more interest in their +race, and treating the pupils with more sympathy, achieved much +greater success than their predecessors. This school has since been +much developed under the direction of Mr. H. W. Hopewell and Miss M. +Brooks.[14] + +The early schools of Shepherdstown, Martinsburg, Harper's Ferry, and +other places nearby in West Virginia were in the beginning largely +private, and even when established as public schools accomplished +little more than their predecessors until they received an impetus +from without. The first stimulus came from Miss Mann, a niece of the +great educator, Horace Mann. She was sent by the Christian Commission +to Bolivar, near Harper's Ferry, to open a Negro school, which in +spite of militant race prejudice she maintained a year.[15] Then came +the establishment of Storer College by that philanthropic worker for +the uplift of the Negro race, Rev. Nathan C. Brackett, a graduate of +Dartmouth College, who had during the last year of the Civil War been +attached to the Christian Mission of Sheridan's army in Virginia. +Fortunately the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau in charge of the +educational work among Negroes designated him as the superintendent of +such schools to be established in the Shenandoah Valley. While he was +thus organizing and directing the education of the Negroes in this +section, Mr. John Storer, of Sanford, Maine, expressed a desire to set +aside a fund of ten thousand dollars for the establishment of an +institution of education for the freedmen on the condition that an +equal amount should be raised by other persons within a specified +period. As there was an increasing interest in the uplift of the +freedmen throughout the country at this time, it was an easy matter to +meet this condition with a similar contribution from another quarter. +The additional funds came largely from the Free Baptists, in the +principles of which this institution had its setting when established. + +The work was begun, by special arrangement with the Federal agents, in +dilapidated houses recently abandoned by the Union troops at Harper's +Ferry. With the cooperation of friends the buildings were secured +through the influence of James A. Garfield, then a member of Congress, +and William Fessenden, then United States Senator from Maine. Mr. and +Mrs. Brackett opened this school in October, 1867, with nineteen +earnest students. Since then it has become a power for good, a factor +in the development of actual Christian manhood and womanhood. For a +number of years it was the only graded school for Negroes in the State +of West Virginia, and had to supply many of the first teachers and +ministers in West Virginia and even in the adjacent portions of +Maryland and Virginia. The towns nearby caught the spirit of the +uplift of the Negro from what was being done for the race in Storer +College. This institution, of course, had its opposition; but wherever +there was a helpful attitude toward the Negro, the work which it was +doing in spite of its difficulties stood out as a shining light.[16] + +Many of the early teachers of Storer College spent a part of their +time working among Negroes in nearby communities. Mrs. Annie Dudley, a +white woman connected with that institution, taught the first school +at Shepherdstown. She had about twenty-five students and conducted a +night and a day school. She was a well-educated, sympathetic woman who +did much to lay the foundation for the Negro public school which was +established there in 1872. The next popular teacher in the Eastern +Panhandle was William B. Evans, who successfully taught in +Shepherdstown, Keyser, Martinsburg, and Bolivar for forty-two years. +His wife, Mrs. M. E. L. Evans, after beginning in Virginia, taught ten +years at Storer, Summit Point, Smithfield, and Bolivar. William Arter +taught thirty-two years at Kabletown, doing excellent work. The most +prominent teacher that Shepherdstown had was John H. Hill. He graded +the work of the school and endeavored to standardize instruction. He +is still remembered in that community for the efficient work which he +did. He was finally succeeded by Alexander Freeman when Mr. Hill +became an instructor in the West Virginia Colored Institute, of which +he later became principal. + +About the same time the influence of Storer College was felt in +Charles Town, the county seat of Jefferson County, where there was +another settlement of Negroes. The first teacher of whom we have a +record was one Enos Wilson, a Negro. He was a man of fair preparation +through self-instruction. He had much enthusiasm in his work, exerted +an influence for good, and won the respect of his people. In achieving +his success he had the cooperation of Mr. William Hill, the +grandfather of J. H. Hill. Although not well informed himself, William +Hill believed in education and religion, and supported all uplift +movements then taking shape among the Negroes. + +Following Enos Wilson, who later became an instructor in another +field, came L. L. Page, who building upon the foundation made by his +predecessors rendered unusually valuable service. Like his predecessor +he was a very good man and an enthusiastic worker. The people waited +upon his words, answered his summons to social service, and supported +him in his efforts to promote their general welfare. This is evidenced +by the fact that he served his community acceptably about twenty-five +years. He was succeeded by Phillip Jackson, who found the school +sufficiently well developed to necessitate the employment of three +teachers. + +Not far away from this point Mrs. Emma Hart Brady opened a large +school at Kearneysville, in Jefferson County, in 1869. She was a +popular teacher for that day, used modern methods, and successfully +instructed 80 or 90 students there for two terms. This school today, +as it was then, is overcrowded and in need of better facilities.[16a] + +Speaking generally, however, one must say that the education of the +Negro in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia today is, after all, +much more backward than in other parts. A good example of noble effort +in behalf of the Negro was given, and the spirit with which workers +should address themselves to the task was furnished by the founders +and graduates of Storer College, but they were not supported by public +sentiment among the whites of that section. Glancing at the map of +West Virginia, one can readily see that the Eastern Panhandle is +geographically a part of Maryland and Virginia, states which have not +as yet been converted to the wisdom of making appropriations to Negro +education equally as large as those providing for the education of the +whites. The ardor of the successors of these early enthusiastic +workers in that section, therefore, was dampened, and the results +which they obtained fell far short of the aspiration of these pioneers +to remake these freedmen that they might live as the citizens of a +free republic. + +A mere glance at the Negro schools in the northern section will show +that these beginnings were confined to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad +and its branches. There were not many Negroes living in the other +northern counties of the State. In 1878, Moundsville in Marshall +County welcomed a Negro woman, of Smithfield, Ohio, who taught its +Negro public school. She had a fair preparation and rendered valuable +service with the cooperation of such patrons as Mrs. Rollen, William +Love, and Thomas McCoy. Because of the small Negro population in this +town, however, this school has not rapidly developed, although the +work of the teachers employed there has been efficient, as has been +evidenced by their well-prepared eighth-grade students who have done +excellently in more advanced schools.[17] + +A little farther north, in Wheeling in Ohio County, Negro education +had a better opportunity. Wheeling is geographically a part of +Pennsylvania, and its attitude toward education has been determined to +a large extent by the impetus given the cause in that progressive +commonwealth. The spirit of fairness in dealing with the man far down +in urban communities nearby, moreover, has been reflected to a certain +extent in the policies of the educational authorities of Wheeling in +dealing with the Negro. At an early date the Negroes of Wheeling were +provided with elementary schools. Referring to the increasing interest +in Negro education in 1866, State Superintendent White said: "An +excellent school has been started in Wheeling and a few are reported +in other places. The school-house in Wheeling cost about $2500. The +school is conducted by a teacher of their own color and the behavior +and scholarship of the pupils are worthy of imitation." + +Here, as in the case of most Negro schools near the Ohio River and +even in the central portion of the State, their first teachers came +from Ohio, where they had the opportunity to attend the high schools +and even colleges of high order, although they were not able to +over-ride the race prejudice which barred them from the teaching corps +in that free State. In Wheeling, moreover, the salaries paid were much +more inviting than in many towns of West Virginia, and that city could +easily employ the best equipped Negro teachers, who in the beginning +came largely from Ohio. + +The Wheeling school, then, fortunate in having the service of such +teachers, developed about as rapidly as possible under the +circumstances of a limited Negro population; for Wheeling is not in a +Negro section, and the industrial aspect of the city not being +inviting to Negro workers, the population of color did not rapidly +increase. Because of the small enumeration thereby resulting, more +extensive facilities could not be provided even when the board of +education was favorably inclined. In 1897, however, when the pupils of +all of the grades reached about three hundred, the city established +the Lincoln High School, which had its development under the late J. +McHenry Jones. He called to his assistance well-equipped teachers and +succeeded in offering to the Negroes of that city practically the same +course of study taught in the white high school, though at times some +classes were too small to justify instruction in certain phases of +specialized work.[18] + + +BLAZING THE WAY IN THE CENTRAL COUNTIES + +A more extensive movement for the education of the Negroes was taking +place during these years in the central part of West Virginia, +following the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the New and +Kanawha Rivers. This work did not arouse equal interest in all of the +counties along these routes, but in Greenbrier, Monroe, Summers, +Fayette, Kanawha, Cabell and Mason Counties, reached a point of +development deserving mention. It can be readily observed that this +progress in education resulted largely from the early settlements of +Negroes in the east-central counties of the State and from the influx +of Negro laborers into the New and the Kanawha valleys to work on the +salt works, and later from the migration of Negroes to the coal mines +opened along the Chesapeake and Ohio and the Kanawha and Michigan +Railroads. Negro schools, with such few exceptions as those at +Marshes, in Raleigh County, at Madison and Uneeda in Boone County, at +Red Sulphur Springs in Monroe County, and at Fayetteville in Fayette +County, were unsuccessful when removed from those important +thoroughfares. + +The earliest teaching of the Negroes in the east-central counties of +the State came as a result of the sympathetic interests of benevolent +slaveholders who, living in a part of a State with a natural endowment +unfavorable to the institution of slavery, failed as a whole to follow +the fortunes of the slaveholders near the Atlantic Coast, and, hoping +to see the ultimate extinction of the institution by gradual +emancipation, gave the Negroes an opportunity for such preparation as +they would need to discharge the functions of citizenship. Immediately +after the War, when there was no public opinion proscribing such +benevolence, sympathetic white persons privately instructed Negroes +here and there. Such was the case at White Sulphur, long since known +as a summer resort, attracting from afar persons of aristocratic +bearing who, coming into contact with the Negro servants whom the +resort required, not only proved helpful to them by way of contact, +but gave them assistance in realizing limited educational aspirations. +The private school in White Sulphur finally gave place to one +established by the district. It had the support of the best white +citizens of the community and was maintained largely by the enterprise +of progressive Negroes seeking to provide for their children all +facilities for education offered elsewhere. About the same time, that +is, in 1866, the Freedmen's Bureau had a school in Lewisburg, under +the direction of one Miss Woodford. After serving the people well for +a year or two, this institution gave place to a public school.[19] + +In Ronceverte, where the Negro population increased more rapidly and +where these persons of color made more economic progress than in the +case of White Sulphur, Negro education had a better chance. After +passing through the stage of such private instruction as white +persons interested in the man far down felt disposed to give, an +actual school was opened in the early seventies with an enrolment of +thirty pupils. The first teacher was Mr. Robert Keys of Charleston, +West Virginia. Mr. Keys was well prepared for that time and served +there creditably for two years. Mr. Keys had the support of such +well-known families as the Crumps, the Capertons, the Gees, the +Petersons, the Eldridges, the Browns, the Eubanks, the Williamses and +the Hayneses. There served also Miss Carr of Harrisonburg, Virginia, +and Benjamin Perkins of Lewisburg, West Virginia. Mr. Robert D. Riddle +was also one of the early instructors. Mr. Riddle retired from +teaching several years ago, but is still living in the city of +Ronceverte, where he has distinguished himself as a successful truck +farmer. Some years later Rev. R. D. W. Meadows, who has for a number +of years served as a missionary in West Virginia, labored as a teacher +in these parts, leaving a favorable impression on the system. The +school was first taught in the small one-room house privately owned. +When it increased in later years, it was found necessary to divide it +so as to teach a part of the school in the Negro Baptist Church until +the larger building could be provided. It is now a well-graded and +junior high school with many modern facilities.[20] + +Union, in Monroe County, was not unlike the other large settlements of +this section having considerable Negro population. There was at times +even as early as 1855 a healthy sentiment in favor of the improvement +of the few slaves there, and this was not lost after the Civil War had +ended. So general was the interest in behalf of the Negroes that this +proved to be a most favorable community. Union was one of the first +towns in that section to establish a public school for Negroes. At +first there was some difficulty in having well prepared Negro teachers +in the county itself; for one John Didell, a white man, was the first +teacher of the public school. He had the support of such respectable +Negroes as Julius Smalls, Andrew Bailey, Malinda Campbell, Henry +Campbell, James Clair, Christopher Whitlock, and Charles Campbell. Two +of the products of this school are Miss Charlotte Campbell and Bishop +M. W. Clair of the Methodist Episcopal Church.[21] Among those who +came in later to stimulate the first efforts of the teachers were Mrs. +Leota Moss Claire, now a resident of Charleston, West Virginia, and J. +M. Riddle who, after having taught at Sinks Grove in Monroe county and +preached for several years in various parts of West Virginia, engaged +in the ministry in Ohio and later went to California, where he is now +serving as a State Missionary of the Baptist church. + +In Summers County, the large settlement of Negroes was at Hinton. This +place had a Negro school of fifteen pupils as early as 1878, with one +T. J. Trinkle as instructor. He was a man of limited education, but +prepared to help those who had not made advancement in the +fundamentals. What he lacked in education he made up in moral +influence, and his career is still remembered as a success. The cause +of education among Negroes of Hinton was fearlessly supported by E. J. +Pack and C. H. Payne, once a teacher in a rural district in this +county himself and later a minister and a public servant in this +country and abroad. The school in Hinton began in a one-room structure +rented for four months, the length of the school term. Teachers were +paid at the rate of $15, $25 and $30 a month for third, second, and +first grade certificates respectively. It has recently developed into +a well-graded school having a junior high school running nine months, +with teachers paid at the rate of a combined monthly salary of $600. + +The Negro public school experienced a later development in Fayette +County than in the case of the counties nearer to the eastern border +of the State or nearer the Ohio River; for, unlike those parts which +had a larger number of slaves than the central and northern counties, +Fayette County never before the eighties had Negro groups in +sufficiently large numbers to warrant an outlay in education at +public expense. The beginning of Negro education in this county was +consequent upon the migration of Negroes to the coal fields. Many of +them were interested in education and became its best patrons. Among +those were Samuel Morgan, A. W. Slaughter, J. H. Shelton, J. D. +Shelton, Aaron Chiles, Thomas Chiles, Randal Booker, Thomas Bradley, +Oliver Jones, Ballard Rotan, Anderson Rotan, R. J. Perkins, Aaron +Calloway, Mat Jordan, Henry Robinson, S. H. Hughes, Wellington +Henderson, John Carrington, James Caul, George Moss, and Pleasant +Thomas. + +The first school established in Fayette County was that at Montgomery, +in 1879. It was opened by H. B. Rice, a pioneer teacher in Kanawha +Valley who had completed his education at Hampton Institute. For three +years Mr. Rice taught in one room of the home of Thomas H. Norman, an +intelligent and progressive Negro who, realizing the importance of +education as a leverage in the uplift of his people, early made +sacrifices for the establishment of this school. The school was then +taught in a shanty. Inasmuch as at the end of one year, that is, by +1883, the Negro population had rapidly increased, this uncomfortable +building was very much over-crowded and the school had to be divided +so that part of it could be taught in the Baptist church nearby, until +it secured better quarters. Among the teachers who toiled in this +district were Mrs. A. G. Payne, Mrs. Anna Banks, Misses Sadie Howell, +Julia Norman, Annie Parker, M. E. Eubank, Mrs. F. D. Railey, Mr. +George Cuzzins, Mrs. M. A. W. Thompson, Miss L. O. Hopkins, Miss +Lizzie Meadows, Mr. J. W. Scott, Miss Rebecca I. Bullard, Miss Mattie +Payne Trent, Mrs. Lola M. Lavender Mack, Miss Nellie M. Lewis, Miss +Ida M. King and Mr. H. H. Railey. The last mentioned not only attained +distinction as the principal of this school, but so impressed his +constituents as to be elected to the West Virginia Legislature.[22] + +The impetus given to education at Montgomery was productive of +desirable results in other towns in Fayette County. The second Negro +school to be established in Fayette County was that Quinnimont in +1880. A storm of protest made the life of the teacher almost +intolerable, although he was a white man. The school-house had to be +guarded, but Rev. M. S. G. Abbot taught it two years. Then came Mr. R. +D. Riddle, mentioned above in connection with the school at +Ronceverte.[23] + +At Eagle, not far from Montgomery, there settled groups of Negroes +sufficiently large to necessitate educational facilities for their +children. A large one-room school followed and this had not been +established very long before it was necessary to employ two teachers. +Among the prominent laborers in this field were Mrs. Mary +Wilson-Johnson and Mrs. A. G. Payne. This work experienced most +extensive growth under the direction of Miss A. L. Norman, Miss M. E. +Shelton and Mr. A. C. Page. + +There soon followed schools at Fire Creek, Hawk's Nest, Stone Cliff, +Nuttallburg, Sewell, Fayetteville, and elsewhere in Fayette County. +Prominent among the teachers serving in these towns were D. W. +Calloway, A. T. Calloway, Miss L. E. Perry, Mrs. Lizzie Davis, Miss +Bertha Morton, Mr. James Washington, Mrs. F. Donnelly Railey, Mrs. H. +C. A. Washington, Mrs. J. B. Jordan-Campbell, C. G. Woodson, and Mrs. +E. M. Dandridge. These teachers did not generally serve a long period +in any one place, as there was a difference in salary in various +districts and the best teachers usually sought the most lucrative +positions; and sometimes, in the battle for bread and butter, the +rather keen competition in certain districts led to the periodical +dismissal of teachers without justifiable cause. + +To those mentioned above, however, is due the credit for the +development of the Negro schools in Fayette County. This is especially +true of Mrs. E. M. Dandridge, who doubtless had a more beneficent +influence in Fayette County than any teacher of color who toiled +there. She taught for twenty-five years at Quinnimont, where she was +not only a teacher but a moving spirit in all things promoting the +social, moral, and religious welfare of the Negroes of her own and +adjacent communities. She was fortunate in having a natural endowment +superior to that of most persons and enjoyed, moreover, educational +advantages considered exceptional for most Negroes of that day. She +still lives to continue a noble work well begun and to complete a +useful career in the same county where she cast her lot years ago. + +For almost a generation earlier than this, Negro education had been +launched with much better beginnings in the county of Kanawha. There +were no free schools in West Virginia until 1866, but as in the case +of several other settlements in the State, private schools were +conducted for Negroes immediately after their emancipation. There had +come into the county of Kanawha Rev. F. C. James, an Ohio Negro, the +father of C. H. James, the wealthy wholesale produce merchant of +Charleston. This pioneer was a man of fundamental education and +unusual native ability. He opened at Chapel Hollow, or Salines, two +and one-half miles from Malden, in 1865, probably the first Negro +school in the Kanawha Valley. He thereafter taught elsewhere and later +became the founder of the First Baptist Church of Charleston. The +following year Miss Lucy James from Gallia County, Ohio, opened the +first Negro school in Charleston. Among the first patrons were Matthew +Dillon, Lewis Rogers, Alexander Payne, Lewis Jones, Perry Harden, +Julius Whiting, and Harvey Morris. Mrs. Landonia Sims had charge of +the school one year also. At this time Rev. Charles O. Fisher, a +Methodist Episcopal minister of Maryland, had a private and select +school which was later merged with the free public school. Between +1866 and 1869 Rev. J. W. Dansberry, another Methodist Episcopal +minister from Baltimore, Maryland, belonging as did Mr. Fisher to the +Washington Conference, served also as a teacher while preaching in +this State. The Simpson M. E. Church, their main charge, was being +developed during these years and was in 1867 housed in a comfortable +building on Dickinson and Quarrier Streets. Mr. C. O. Fisher was a +well-educated man, but Mr. Dansberry depended largely on natural +attainments. + +Rev. I. V. Bryant, who has toiled for many years in the Ohio Valley as +a Baptist minister, started his public career as a teacher at Baker's +Fort school, about two and one-half miles from Charleston. Rev. Harvey +Morris, another minister, opened a public school at Sissonsville in +1873, Rev. J. C. Taylor another at Crown Hill in 1882, and not long +thereafter this school was attended by such distinguished persons as +Mrs. M. A. W. Thompson and Dr. A. Clayton Powell of New York City. +This work in Kanawha County was accelerated too by the assistance from +the Freedmen's Bureau which sent to this section C. H. Howard, brother +of Gen. O. O. Howard, the head of the Freedmen's Bureau, to inspect +the field, and later sent one Mr. Sharp to teach in Charleston.[24] + +One of the first schools in Kanawha County was organized at Malden. +Immediately after the Civil War this town had a much larger and more +promising Negro population than the city of Charleston. Many Negroes +had been brought to Kanawha County, and after their freedom many +others came to labor in the salt works. This private school at Malden +was conducted by Mr. William Davis, the first teacher of Booker T. +Washington, who a few years before had come from Halesford, Virginia, +to Malden. + +Mr. Davis's career is more than interesting. He was born in Columbus, +Ohio, November 27, 1848, remained there until his thirteenth year, +spending parts of the years 1861, 1862, 1863 in Chillicothe. During +these years he mastered the fundamentals of an English education. He +moved back to Columbus in the fall of 1863. On December 18th of that +year Mr. Davis enlisted in the Union "Light Guard," called "Lincoln's +Body Guard," at Columbus. He served in the army eighteen months and +was discharged at Camp Todd Barracks, Washington, D. C., June 24, +1865. He then returned to Columbus and after remaining there about a +month went to Cincinnati, from which he proceeded to run on a boat +from Gallipolis to Charleston for about a month. + +About this time the people of Malden, under the wise guidance of Lewis +Rice, a beloved pioneer minister, better known among the early Negroes +of the State as Father Rice because of his persistent efforts in +behalf of religion and education, had decided to establish a school +for the education of their children. Mr. William Davis thereupon +abandoned his work on the boat and became the teacher of this private +school, established at Malden in the home of Father Rice, in 1865. As +the school had to be conducted in the very bed-room of this +philanthropist, it was necessary for him to take down his bed in the +morning and bring in the benches, which would be replaced in the +evening by the bed in its turn. The school was next held in the same +church thereafter constructed, and finally in the schoolroom provided +at public expense, as one of the schools of the county. + +About the only white person who seemed to give any encouragement to +the education of Negroes at Malden was General Lewis Ruffner. It +seems, however, that his interest was not sufficient to provide those +facilities necessary to ease the burden of this pioneer teacher. When +we think, however, that out of this school came such useful teachers +as William T. McKinney, H. B. Rice, and one of the world's greatest +educators, Booker T. Washington, we must conclude that it was a +success. + +Mr. Davis's worth as a teacher rapidly extended through the Kanawha +Valley. He was chosen by the authorities of Charleston to take charge +of their Negro schools in 1871, when it was just a two-room affair. In +this field, however, Mr. Davis had been preceded as mentioned above by +noble workers in behalf of the Negroes. Building upon the foundation +which other Negroes had laid, he soon had a school of four instead of +two rooms, and before he ceased to be principal it had increased to +five, with a well-graded system, standardized instruction, and +up-to-date methods. His early assistants in this work were Charles P. +Keys, P. B. Burbridge, Harry Payne, James Bullard, and William T. +McKinney. + +Mr. Davis received some cooperation from a few white persons, the +chief one of whom was Mr. Edward Moore of Pennsylvania, the father of +Spencer Moore, now a bookseller in the city of Charleston. Mr. Edward +Moore taught a select school for Negroes and helped the cause +considerably. Mr. Davis served about twenty-four years as principal, +although he was a member of the teaching staff for a much longer +period, serving altogether forty-seven years.[25] + +Because of the unsettled policy of the Charleston public schools they +changed principals every year or two, to the detriment of the system +and progress of the student body. Rev. J. W. Dansbury served for a +while as principal, and H. B. Rice, who entered the service as an +assistant in 1888, became principal some time later and served about +four years. Mr. Davis, who had been demoted to a subordinate position, +was then reinstated, but not long thereafter came Mr. C. W. Boyd, who +had rendered valuable service in Clarksburg and had later found +employment in the public schools of Charleston. He succeeded Mr. Davis +as principal. At the close of one year, however, Mr. Rice was +reinstated and served for a number of years, at the expiration of +which Mr. Boyd again became principal and remained in the position +long enough to give some stability to the procedure and plans of the +system and to secure the confidence of the patrons of the schools. +Some of the valuable assistants serving during this period were Mr. +William B. Boss, Miss Blanche Jeffries, Mrs. Fannie Cobb Carter and +Byrd Prillerman, whose career as a teacher includes a period of short +and valuable service in the Charleston public schools.[26] + +At what is now Institute, in Union district, there was established in +the fall of 1872 another Negro school, opened on the subscription +basis in the home of Mrs. Mollie Berry, nee Cabell. Mrs. Berry was the +first teacher of this school. The building is occupied at present by a +Mr. James and owned now by Mrs. Berry's daughter, Mrs. Cornie +Robinson. In the spring of 1873, Mr. William Scott Brown, who had by +marriage connected himself with the Cabell family, was elected trustee +in the Union district, and by his efforts a Jenny Lind one-room +building, small and creditably furnished, was erected on a lot +purchased by the board of education from Mrs. Cabell for twenty-five +dollars, on the site now occupied by the family of Mr. Solomon Brown +of Institute. The trustees chose Mr. Samuel Cabell as the first Negro +public school teacher of the district. The method of qualifying as a +teacher was purely perfunctory, as a license to teach was easily +obtained by nominal examination. The term was four months.[27] The +line of teachers from 1886 may be traced from records of the board of +education of the district. Short tenure of office for a few years +seems to have been the rule until the recent years dating from 1918. +It is the opinion of Mr. W. A. Brown and others of the old system that +the quality of the local school has grown better. The establishment of +the West Virginia Collegiate Institute at this point is considered the +greatest factor contributing to such development.[28] + +The next school of consequence established on Kanawha River was the +Langston School of Point Pleasant, in Mason County. This institution +was organized in 1867 by Eli Coleman, its first teacher. He toiled for +seven years in the one-room frame structure at the end of Sixth +Street. At the very beginning the enrolment was sixty-four, some of +the students being adults. The school continued as an ungraded +establishment for a number of years, working against many handicaps, +until the independent district was established and provided better +facilities. This school then had a board of five trustees, three +whites and two Negroes, and was incorporated into the city system by +the Board of Education and placed under the supervision of the +Superintendent of the Point Pleasant Public Schools. + +Some of the early teachers following Mr. Coleman were J. H. Rickman, +later principal of the colored school in Middleport, Ohio, P. H. +Williams, Mrs. Lillie Chambers, Florence Ghee, Fannie Smith and Lida +Fitch. In 1885 the school had grown sufficiently to justify the +employment of two teachers. These were then L. W. Johnson as principal +and Miss Hattie C. Jordan as his assistant. Mr. Johnson served until +1890 when he was succeeded by Miss Lola Freeman as principal with +Samuel Jordan as assistant for one year. The Board of Education then +secured the services of J. E. Campbell as principal. Under him the +school moved into a five-story brick structure vacated by a white +school when better quarters for the latter had been provided. The +Negro school was then named the Langston Academy in honor of John +Mercer Langston, a Negro congressman and public official of wide +reputation. Miss Iva Wilson of Gallipolis succeeded Mr. Campbell as +principal, with Miss Jordan as assistant. Later there came as +principal Mr. F. C. Smith, A. W. Puller, and Ralph W. White, and +finally the efficient and scholarly Isaiah L. Scott, a promising youth +cut off before he had a chance to manifest his worth to the +world.[29] + +Somewhat later than this, another group of Negro schools developed in +Cabell County, the first and most important being in Guyandotte and +Barboursville. These schools followed as a result of employment of +Negroes on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, terminating in the +seventies at the Ohio River, where it gave rise to the city of +Huntington, West Virginia, laid out in 1870. Most of these Negroes, +prominent among whom were James Woodson, Nelson Barnett, and W. O. +James, came from Virginia. The first school established near +Huntington was opened in the log house on Cemetery Hill, one and a +half miles east of the town and a little west of Guyandotte. The Negro +school enumeration was so small that the two towns had to cooperate in +maintaining one school. + +The teacher first employed was Mrs. Julia Jones, a lady who had most +of the rudiments of education. Some old citizens refer to James +Liggins as the first teacher in this community. In this precarious +status of stinted support the school did not undergo any striking +development during the first years. Not until 1882, some years after +the school had been removed to Huntington itself, was there any +notable change. The first impetus which marked an epoch in the +development of this school came with the employment of Mr. and Mrs. W. +F. James, products of the Ohio school system. They were for their time +well-prepared teachers of foresight, who had the ability to arouse +interest and inspire the people. Mr. James at once entered upon the +task of the thorough reorganization of the school and by 1886 brought +the institution to the rank of that of the grammar school, beginning +at the same time some advanced classes commonly taught in the high +schools. He was an earnest worker, willing to sacrifice everything for +the good of the cause. While thus spending his energy as a sacrifice +for many he passed away respected by his pupils and honored by the +patrons of the school. His wife continued for a number of years +thereafter to render the system the same efficient service as the +popular primary teacher upon which the success of the work of the +higher grades largely depended, until she passed away in 1899. + +The school then had the services of Mr. Ramsey and Mr. J. B. Cabell +who seemingly gave some impetus to the forward movement. Another epoch +in the history of the school was reached when W. T. McKinney became +principal in 1891. With the cooperation of the leading Negroes of the +city he succeeded in inducing the board of education to build on the +corner of Sixteenth Street and Eighth Avenue the Douglass High School, +which in its first form, prior to the making of certain additions, +consisted of a well-built six-room school costing several thousand +dollars. Mr. McKinney added the high school course and in the year +1893 graduated the first class of three. Following Mr. McKinney there +served the system efficiently as principals C. H. Barnett from 1890 to +1900, C. G. Woodson from 1900 to 1903, and R. P. Sims from 1903 to +1906. J. W. Scott, who succeeded Mr. Sims, is today principal of this +school, ranking throughout the State as one of its foremost educators. + +Following along the line of Wayne County there soon appeared a school +at Ceredo and another at Fort Gay, just across the river from Louisa, +Kentucky. Under Mrs. Pogue, a woman of ambition and efficiency, this +school accomplished much good and exerted an influence throughout that +county. A number of students trained through the sixth, seventh, and +eighth grades later attended schools in other parts and made good +records because of the thorough training they first received. At Fort +Gay in this same county, however, no such desirable results were +achieved because of the small Negro population, the inability to +secure teachers for the small amount paid, and the tendency on the +part of local trustees there to change their teachers. Mrs. Cora +Brooks Smith, a graduate of the Ironton High School, who toiled there +a number of years, and Miss Susie Woodson, an alumnus of the Douglass +High School of Huntington, West Virginia, who also labored in the same +field, should be given at least passing mention in any sketch setting +forth the achievements in education among the Negroes in Wayne County. + + +THE STRIVINGS IN SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA + +In southern West Virginia there were at first few schools for Negroes, +inasmuch as the small Negro groups here and there did not warrant the +outlay. What instruction such Negroes received prior to 1888 was +largely private. That year an epoch was marked in the development of +the southern portion of the State by the completion of the main line +of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, opening up one of the largest +coal fields in the United States. As the discontented Negroes of +Virginia and North Carolina were eager for industrial opportunities in +the mining regions of the Appalachian Mountains, these coal fields +attracted them in large numbers. Bluefield, which developed in a few +years from a barren field in 1888 to a town of almost ten thousand by +1900, indicates how rapidly the population there increased. Other +large centers of industry, like Elkhorn, Northfork, Welch, and +Keystone, soon became more than ordinary mining towns. + +When these places had worn off the rough edges of frontier settlement +and directed their attention to economic and social welfare, they +naturally clamored for education. The first school for whites was +established in Bluefield in 1889 and one for the Negroes, with Gordon +Madson as teacher, followed in 1890. Prominent among the pioneering +teachers in Bluefield were Mr. A. J. Smith and Mrs. L. O. McGhee, who +began their work in a one-room log building in the suburbs of the +town. About the end of the nineties there were Negro schools in most +of the important mining towns along the Norfolk and Western Railroad +between Bluefield and Williamson. + +The Negro school in Bluefield had an interesting history. The school, +of course, was poorly equipped and the teachers were not then +adequately paid, but they continued their work two sessions of five +months each. In the third year the school was moved to another town +called Cooperstown where it was housed in a two-room building more +comfortable than the first structure, but not a modern establishment. +As it was situated in crowded quarters, the children had no +playground. Several years thereafter, the work was continued by Mr. +Patterson and Mrs. E. O. Smith. When, however, a large Negro +population settled in North Bluefield it was necessary to provide +there a two-room building between them. In this school-house taught +Mr. P. J. Carter with an enrolment of about thirty pupils. Not long +thereafter the building in the suburb of Cooperstown was burned. Two +additional rooms were then annexed to that of North Bluefield, but +before that could be occupied it was also destroyed in the same way. +The Board of Education then opened a school, in a building used first +as a bar-room, then as a pool-room, and finally as a courthouse. +Thereafter an old store-room was used for four years. + +There were then four teachers in Bluefield, Mr. H. Smith, Mr. T. P. +Wright, Mesdames Lane, and E. C. Smith. In time Mr. Wright and Mr. +Smith were replaced by Miss H. W. Booze, Mr. W. A. Saunders and Mr. R. +A. McDonald. Mr. Saunders remained for one year and then was followed +by Mr. G. W. Hatter who was in his turn succeeded by Mr. R. F. +Douglass, who served as principal four years. Mr. Douglass had the +board of education appropriate funds for a six-room building and +increase the corps of teachers to five. By raising funds in the +community through entertainments and the like, the teachers purchased +a library of 100 volumes. In later years Mr. Douglass was followed by +Mr. E. L. Rand, a graduate of Lincoln University. + +At Keystone in 1890 Mr. J. A. Brown opened its first Negro school with +an enrolment of about twenty-five. He was a man of fair education, but +could not accomplish very much because the term was only three months +in length. The school was held in one of the private houses belonging +to the coal company and later in the church. In subsequent years +there was very much development in the right direction, which proved +the quality of the teachers employed in the school. Among these were +Rev. J. Whittico, Mrs. Josephine D. Cannady, Mary A. McSwain, and +Maggie Anderson. This school was later combined to form the +Keystone-Eckman graded school, and now has an eight months' term and +well-qualified teachers.[30] A school had been established at Eckman +in 1893 by James Knox Smith. + +In November, 1892, one Moses Sanders at Northfork opened a school with +an enrolment of twenty. He had only a rudimentary education. He served +at Northfork for three terms using methods considered fair for that +time, and his work, as a whole, was regarded as successful. He had +there the support of such a useful person as Henry Glenn, now a member +of the board of education.[31] This school has later developed into a +standard elementary graded school and a junior and senior high school +of more than one hundred students. It has done well under the +reorganization and direction of the efficient J. W. Robinson. + + +HIGHER EDUCATION OF NEGROES + +It did not require much argument to show that the schools could not +make much progress without some provision for developing its own +teaching force. The State Superintendent was early authorized, +therefore, to arrange with some school in the State for the +professional training of Negro teachers. For a number of years the +State depended largely upon such normal training as could be given at +Storer College at Harper's Ferry. The reports of the State +Superintendent of Schools carried honorable mention from period to +period of the successful work being accomplished there under the +direction of Dr. N. C. Brackett, which work was the only effort for +secondary education for Negroes in the State at that time. This was +given an impetus by a measure introduced in the legislature by Judge +James H. Ferguson of Charleston, providing for an arrangement with +Storer College by which eighteen persons as candidates for teachers in +this State should be given free tuition at that institution. As this +school was in the extreme northeastern section of the State and was +geographically a part of Maryland and Virginia, however, the Negroes +of the central and southern portions of Virginia soon began the +movement for the establishment of a Negro school providing for normal +instruction nearer home. Mr. William Davis and his corps of teachers +in Charleston, West Virginia, were among the first in West Virginia to +direct attention to this crying need. Impetus was also given the +movement by the rapid development of higher grades in Point Pleasant, +Saint Albans, Montgomery, Lewisburg and Eckman, necessitating better +trained teachers. In the summers of 1890, 1891, and 1892, Byrd +Prillerman and H. B. Rice undertook to supply this need by conducting +a summer school in the city of Charleston. Still further stimulus came +later from the establishment of promising high schools in Parkersburg, +Wheeling, Clarksburg, Huntington, and Charleston. + +During this same period, however, a systematic effort was being made +to interest a larger group in the more efficient training of Negro +leaders. The Baptists of the State, led by C. H. Payne, undertook to +establish a college in West Virginia. Payne toured the State in behalf +of the enterprise, setting forth the urgent need for such an +institution and showing how this objective could be attained. Rallying +to this call, the people of the State raised a sum adequate to +purchase a site, which was soon sought by authority of the Baptists of +the State. They selected the abandoned building and grounds of Shelton +College, overlooking Saint Albans. Because of race prejudice, however, +the people of that town started such a protest that the owners of the +property were induced not to sell the site for such an unpopular +purpose. + +A more successful effort, however, was soon made. Talking with +Superintendent Morgan about the necessity for higher education for the +Negroes of West Virginia, Byrd Prillerman obtained from this official +the promise to support a movement to supply this need. Superintendent +Morgan furthermore directed Prillerman to Governor Fleming to take up +with him the same proposal. The Governor was in a receptive mood and +informed Prillerman, moreover, that this problem could be more easily +solved than he had at first thought, for the reason that such an +institution could be so established as to benefit by the Morrill Land +Grant Act intended to subsidize, with funds from the proceeds of +public lands, institutions largely devoted to instruction in +Agriculture. Like the Negro Baptists of the State, Governor Fleming +thought of purchasing Shelton College in St. Albans; but inasmuch as +that place was not available the State government had to take more +serious action. As Governor Fleming said he would give his approval to +a bill for the establishment of such an institution, the only problem +to be then solved was to find persons to pilot such a measure through +the legislature. Superintendent Morgan outlined the plans for this +legislation. He showed how necessary it was to secure the support of +Mr. C. C. Watts and Judge James H. Ferguson. Byrd Prillerman used his +influence in securing the support of Mr. Watts and C. H. Payne induced +Judge Ferguson to lend the cause a helping hand. These gentlemen +framed the measure which, after some unnecessary debate and +unsuccessful opposition from friends of Storer College, they piloted +through the legislature in 1891 as a measure establishing the West +Virginia Colored Institute. + +The first head of this institution was James E. Campbell, a graduate +of the Pomeroy High School. After laying the foundation and +popularizing the work to some extent in the central portion of the +State, Campbell resigned and was succeeded by J. H. Hill, who rendered +very efficient service until 1899, when he was succeeded by J. McHenry +Jones, under whom the school considerably expanded. Following him +came Byrd Prillerman, a man beloved by the people of West Virginia. He +had already been a successful teacher of English in this school. He +then served the institution as president for ten years, emphasizing +the high ideals of Christian character as the essentials in the +preparation of youth. In 1915 a collegiate course was established at +this institution and its name was changed to that of the West Virginia +Collegiate Institute. In 1919 Byrd Prillerman was succeeded by John W. +Davis, under whom the institution is progressing with renewed vigor in +its new field as a reorganized college furnishing facilities for +education not offered elsewhere for the youth of West Virginia. + +The influx of Negroes into the southern counties of the State, which +necessitated the establishment of many elementary schools, caused at +the same time a demand for the extension of the facilities of +pedagogic training of the advanced order provided in the West Virginia +Colored Institute, which was not at first easily accessible to the +people of southern West Virginia. Acting upon the memorials, praying +that this need be supplied, the legislature established the Bluefield +Colored Institute in 1895. Mr. Hamilton Hatter was made the first +principal and upon him devolved the task of organizing this +institution. After serving the institution efficiently until 1906 he +retired, and was succeeded by Mr. R. P. Sims, who had formerly been an +efficient and popular assistant under Mr. Hatter at this institution. +Mr. Sims has acceptably filled this position until the present time. + + +THE WEST VIRGINIA TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION + +To promote education and to encourage interest in their particular +work the Negro teachers of the State soon deemed it wise to take steps +for more thorough cooperation of the whole teaching corps of West +Virginia. White and Negro teachers were then admitted to the same +teachers' institutes and in certain parts were encouraged to +participate in the general discussions; but believing that they could +more successfully cooperate through organizations of their own, the +teachers in Charleston, in 1891, appointed from their own reading +circle a committee to organize a State Teachers' Association. This +committee was composed of H. B. Rice, P. B. Burbridge and Byrd +Prillerman. The meeting was invited by Byrd Prillerman, as secretary, +to meet at the Simpson M. E. Church in Charleston. More than fifty +teachers and race leaders attended. Inasmuch as H. B. Rice, the +chairman of the committee, was absent on account of illness, P. B. +Burbridge, whose name was second on the list of the committee, called +the meeting to order, and delivered the address of welcome. William T. +McKinney of Huntington was elected temporary chairman. The Association +was then permanently organized by naming Byrd Prillerman its first +president and Mrs. Rhoda Weaver its first secretary. Among the most +important addresses was that of C. H. Payne, an influential and +educated minister then engaged in religious and editorial work at +Montgomery, and that of B. S. Morgan, State Superintendent of Public +Schools. Others attending the meeting were Dr. W. T. Merchant, Mrs. E. +M. Dandridge, Mrs. M. A. Washington-Thompson, F. C. Smith, and J. R. +Jefferson.[32] + +The second meeting of this Association assembled according to +arrangement in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The work of the Association +had by this time been taken more seriously by the teachers throughout +the State. They adopted a constitution with a preamble which stated +that the aim of the Association was "to elevate the character and +advance the interest of the profession of teaching, and to promote the +cause of popular education in the State of West Virginia." An address +was delivered by State Superintendent of Schools B. S. Morgan, and +papers were read by Mrs. E. M. Dandridge of Quinnimont, Miss Blanche +Jeffries of Charleston, Miss Coralie Franklin of Storer College, and +Principal J. E. Campbell of the West Virginia Colored Institute. Among +the persons attending but not appearing on the program were C. H. +Barnett, who had been recently graduated by Dennison University in +Ohio; C. H. Payne, then well known in the State of West Virginia; Dr. +W. S. Kearney, a graduate of the medical college of Shaw University, +then beginning his practice in Huntington; J. R. Jefferson, F. C. +Smith and O. A. Wells. Booker T. Washington was at this time made an +honorary member. Byrd Prillerman was unanimously elected president. + +The third annual meeting of the Association was held at Parkersburg, +West Virginia, in 1893. For some reason there were not many teachers +present. It was held at the Baptist Church of that city, with +President Byrd Prillerman presiding. The address of welcome was +delivered by Mr. J. R. Jefferson, to the words of whom Mr. C. W. Boyd +of Charleston responded. At this meeting Principal J. E. Campbell of +the West Virginia Colored Institute was made president of the +Association, with C. W. Boyd, J. R. Jefferson, Miss Mary F. Norman as +vice-presidents, Miss Clara Thomas as secretary, Miss E. D. Webster as +treasurer, and Mrs. Susie James as historian. Two of the most +prominent persons participating in this meeting were J. McHenry Jones, +then principal of the high school in Wheeling, and J. H. Hill, an +instructor in the West Virginia Colored Institute. + +The fourth annual meeting assembled at Montgomery. J. E. Campbell +being absent, Professor C. W. Boyd presided. The meeting to a certain +extent was a successful one. A Thanksgiving sermon was preached by Dr. +C. H. Payne. Dr. H. F. Gamble read a paper on "Science in Common +School Education." The Association took high ground by adopting a +resolution urging a compulsory school law. A committee consisting of +C. W. Boyd, Rev. G. B. Howard, J. W. Scott, John H. Hill, and Byrd +Prillerman, was appointed to urge the State to make an appropriation +for the teaching fund of the West Virginia Colored Institute. Byrd +Prillerman was again elected President and Miss Fannie Cobb was chosen +secretary. + +The fifth annual meeting of the Association was held at Hinton. An +important feature of the meeting was the method of entertainment, in +that the citizens of Hinton gave the teachers a free banquet. Still +more significant was the address delivered by Dr. J. E. Jones of the +Richmond Theological Seminary. Byrd Prillerman, the President, himself +delivered an important address giving valuable facts as to the +conditions of the schools of the State, evoking widely extended +comment. The most prominent persons attending were J. H. Hill, +Principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute, G. B. Howard, Miss +Mary Booze, W. T. McKinney, and Miss G. E. Fulks.[33] + +The sixth annual meeting was held in Charleston in the House of +Delegates, November 26-27, 1896. This was the largest and most +interesting meeting hitherto held. Welcome addresses were delivered by +C. W. Boyd of the Garnet High School, Mr. George L. Laidley, +Superintendent of the Charleston Public Schools, and Governor W. A. +McCorkle. Responses to the words of welcome were delivered by J. H. +Hill, principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute, Hamilton +Hatter, principal of the Bluefield Colored Institute, and C. H. Payne. +Other prominent persons who attended the meeting were Honorable V. A. +Lewis, P. F. Jones, Colonel B. W. Byrne, Professor A. L. Wade, J. R. +Jefferson, Rev. D. W. Shaw, Dr. G. W. Holley, P. B. Burbridge, Dr. H. +F. Gamble, Dr. L. B. Washington, Mrs. E. M. Dandridge, Mrs. M. A. W. +Thompson and Mrs. Byrd Prillerman. Officers elected were: President, +Byrd Prillerman; Vice Presidents, J. R. Jefferson, Mrs. E. M. +Dandridge, C. W. Boyd; Secretary, Miss Mary J. Jones; Treasurer, Mrs. +M. A. W. Thompson; Historian, Mr. George L. Cuzzins. + +After this meeting of such unusual interest and unexpected success, +the West Virginia Teachers' Association reached its purely pedagogic +setting. It ceased to be the organization concerned with the general +social uplift, of all, and thereafter restricted its program largely +to educational matters. This was due not so much to any desire on the +part of the teachers to discontinue cooperation with the clergy, but +rather to direct attention primarily to the problems of education. +Ministers, thereafter, figured less conspicuously in the conventions, +except so far as their interests were coincident with those of the +teaching body. + +There have been twenty-eight sessions of the Association held at +Charleston, Huntington,[34] Parkersburg, Hinton, St. Albans, +Bluefield, Institute, Kimball, and Harper's Ferry. The session which +was scheduled for Clarksburg in 1900 was called off because of the +outbreak of small-pox just before the time for the session to be +convened. + +Eleven well-known persons have served as president of the Association. +Byrd Prillerman served nine terms, C. W. Boyd one, J. R. Jefferson +one, J. W. Scott three, H. H. Railey one, Hamilton Hatter one, R. P. +Sims two, E. L. Rann two, J. W. Moss two, A. W. Curtis two, John F. +J. Clark two, and H. L. Dickason, the present incumbent, two. Those +who have served as secretary are Miss Rhoda E. Weaver, Miss M. Blanche +Jeffries, Miss Clara Thomas, Miss Fannie C. Cobb, Miss Mary J. Jones, +and Miss C. Ruth Campbell, and Miss H. Pryor. + +Among the prominent persons who have addressed the Association are +Hon. C. H. Payne, Ex-Governor George W. Atkinson, Ex-Governor William +A. McCorkle, and State Superintendents B. S. Morgan, Virgil A. Lewis, +James Russell Trotter, and M. P. Shawkey. Among other distinguished +persons have been Dr. J. E. Jones, Prof. George William Cook, J. +McHenry Jones, Prof. Kelly Miller, Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Prof. William +Pickens, Mr. William A. Joiner, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Miss Nannie H. +Burroughs, John W. Davis, and Dr. J. E. Gregg.[35] + + C. G. WOODSON + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This study was undertaken at the suggestion of President John W. +Davis, of The West Virginia Collegiate Institute. He appointed a +committee to collect the facts bearing on the early efforts of workers +among the Negroes in West Virginia. The members of this committee were +C. G. Woodson, D. A. Lane, A. A. Taylor, S. H. Guss, C. E. Jones, Mary +E. Eubank, J. S. Price, F. A. Parker, and W. F. Savoy. + +At the first meeting of the committee, C. G. Woodson was chosen +Chairman and at his suggestion the following questionnaire was drawn +up and sent out: + +A QUESTIONNAIRE ON NEGRO EDUCATION IN WEST VIRGINIA + + + Place........................ + + 1. When was a Negro school first opened in your district? + + 2. What was the enrollment? + + 3. Who was the first teacher? + + 4. Was he well prepared? + + 5. How long did he serve? + + 6. Were his methods up-to-date or antiquated? + + 7. Did he succeed or fail? + + 8. Who were the useful patrons supporting the school? + + 9. What was the method of securing certificates? + + 10. What was the method of hiring teachers? + + 11. What was the method of paying teachers, that is, did the + school district pay promptly or was it necessary to discount + their drafts or wait a long period to be paid? 12. Did the + community own the school property or was the school taught in a + private home or in a church? + + 13. What has been the progress or development of the school? + + 14. What is its present condition? + + 15. What persons in your community can give additional facts on + Negro education? + + Name........................ + + +From the distribution of these questionnaires there were obtained the +salient facts of the early history of the pioneer education among +Negroes in the State. A number of names of other persons in a position +to give additional information were returned with the questionnaires. +These were promptly used wherever the information needed could not be +supplied from any other source. Members of the committee, moreover, +visited persons in various parts and interviewed them to obtain facts +not otherwise available. Wherever it was possible, the investigators +consulted the available records of the State and county. In this way, +however, only meager information could be obtained. + +The most reliable sources were such books as the annual _Reports of +the State Superintendent of Public Schools_, the _History of Education +in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1904), and the _History of Education in +West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907). Such local histories as the _Howard +School of Piedmont, West Virginia_, and K. J. Anthony's _Storer +College_ were also helpful. + +At the conclusion of this study, President John W. Davis made the +celebration of Founder's Day, May 3, 1921, a convocation for +rehearsing the early educational history of the State. Most of the +living pioneers in this cause were invited to address this meeting, as +they would doubtless under the inspiration of the occasion, set forth +facts which an ordinary interview would not evoke, and thus it +happened. + +Of those invited Mrs. E. M. Dandridge, one of the oldest educators in +the State, Mr. S. H. Guss, head of the Secondary Department of The +West Virginia Collegiate Institute, and President Emeritus Byrd +Prillerman responded with forceful addresses. Mrs. Dandridge gave in a +very impressive way a brief account of education in Fayette County. +Mr. Guss delivered an informing address on the contribution of the +early teachers from Ohio, and President Emeritus Prillerman expressed +with emphasis a new thought in taking up the rise of schools in the +State and the organization and growth of the West Virginia Teachers' +Association. Prof. J. S. Price, of the West Virginia Collegiate +Institute, showed by interesting and informing charts the development +of the Negro teacher and the Negro school in West Virginia. + +At the conclusion of all of these efforts the facts collected were +turned over to C. G. Woodson to be embodied in literary form. Prof. D. +A. Lane, of the Department of English of The West Virginia Collegiate +Institute, also a member of the committee, read the manuscript and +suggested a few changes. + +[2] Report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1864, p. +31. + +[3] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), p. 274. + +[4] See West Virginia Constitution. + +[5] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), p. 274. + +[6] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), p. 268. + +[7] _Ibid._, 269. + +[8] _The Parkersburg Weekly Times_, June 7, 1866. + +[9] These facts were obtained from local records. + +[10] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), pp. +269-270. + +[11] These facts were obtained from the local records, from Mr. S. H. +Guss and from Mr. D. H. Kyle, both of whom served as teachers in +Clarksburg. + +[12] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), pp. +273-274. + +[13] These facts were obtained from local records. + +[14] _History of the Howard School, Piedmont, West Virginia_, 1919, +passim. + +[15] This fact is stated in a letter of J. E. Robinson. + +[16] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), pp. +264-266; and _Storer College, Brief Historical Sketch_, by K. J. +Anthony. + +[16a] These facts were obtained from Mrs. Brady's daughter. + +[17] Facts obtained from a former teacher at this place, Freida +Campbell. + +[18] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1907), p. +243. + +[19] Facts obtained from local records. + +[20] These facts were obtained from the teachers and oldest citizens +of the town, who actually participated in these early efforts. + +[21] These facts were supplied by Mary Campbell, an old citizen of +Union. + +[22] _History of Education in West Virginia_ (Edition of 1904), _Negro +Education in Fayette County_. + +[23] Facts obtained from old citizens and former teachers. + +[24] These facts were obtained from old citizens and from local +records. See also J. P. Hale's _Trans-Allegheny Pioneers_, 385. + +[25] This is largely Mr. Davis's own statement verified by several +other authorities and by local records. + +[26] These statements are supported by the records of the Board of +Education of Charleston. + +[27] In the summer of 1874 there was circulated among the teachers of +this school a petition in behalf of Miss Bertha Chapelle, who was +chosen to teach the second term of the high school. In this way the +last month of the session was taught with but one scholar attending. +In the year 1875 Miss Mollie Berry was chosen to teach this school, +and she was followed in 1876 by Mr. Frank C. James, who had taught +previously the first public school in the county at Kanawha City, in +1866. He was succeeded in 1877 by Mr. Pitt Campbell, who was followed +by Mrs. Bettie Cabell in 1878. She was in turn succeeded by Mr. Brack +Cabell the following year. In 1880 the school was moved to the site +now occupied by the two-room village school, and was called the Piney +Road School. Mr. J. B. Cabell was chosen teacher for the first year. + +In 1881 Miss Emma Ferguson was selected teacher. Miss Ferguson, now +Mrs. Emma Jones, is still an active teacher. In 1882 Miss Addie Wells +taught this school. She was followed by Miss Annie Cozzins. In 1884 W. +C. Cabell was in charge. He was succeeded in 1885 by Otho Wells and he +by Mrs. Julia Brown in 1886. + +[28] These facts were obtained from old citizens and from local +records. + +[29] For a more detailed account, see the History of Education in West +Virginia, pp. 272-273. + +[30] These facts were obtained from local records. + +[31] These facts were obtained from J. W. Robinson, the principal of +the school. + +[32] The following resolutions adopted at the meeting of the Teachers' +Association in 1891 were suggestive: + +1. That all persons of high literary standing, who are not teachers, +be admitted as honorary members. + +2. That we highly commend the committee of arrangements for their +success in bringing together so many teachers and professional +persons, and for making the meeting of so much importance and +interest. + +3. That we recognize in the death of Prof. W. B. Ross, A.M., who died +at his post at Greenville, Texas, August 20, 1891, the loss of one of +our ripest scholars and most efficient educators. + +4. That we tender our thanks to Hon. B. S. Morgan, State +Superintendent, for the interest he manifested in the Association and +the able address he delivered before us. + +5. That the Summer School for Teachers, as has been taught by +Professors H. B. Rice and Byrd Prillerman, has been a means of +elevating the standard of our teachers, and should be continued. + +6. That we indorse the action of the State Legislature in establishing +the West Virginia Colored Institute, and that we will do all in our +power to make this school a success. + +7. That we make _The Pioneer_ the official organ of the Association. + +8. That we tender our thanks to the Pastor and Congregation for the +use of this Church, and also to Mr. I. C. Cabell for his valuable +services as organist. + +The Committee was composed of J. R. Jefferson, Mary M. Brown, Dr. W. +T. Merchant, C. H. Payne, Miss Luella Ferguson and Atty. M. H. Jones. + +[33] This account of the early meetings of the West Virginia Teachers' +Association is found in the Twelfth Biennial Report of the State +Superintendent of Schools of West Virginia, 1895-1896, pp. 111-113. + +[34] At the Huntington meeting in 1892 an original poem on +Thanksgiving Day was read by Miss Leota Moss. The poem was written by +Paul Lawrence Dunbar for this special occasion at the request of Byrd +Prillerman, the president. The price paid Dunbar for this service was +$2.00. + +[35] The more recent record of the West Virginia Teachers' Association +was given by Byrd Prillerman, who served that body nine terms as +president. + + + + +THE FIRST NEGRO CHURCHES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA + + +The early Negro churches in the District of Columbia were Methodist +and Baptist. The rise of numerous churches of these sects in +contradistinction to those of other denominations may be easily +accounted for by the fact that in the beginning the Negroes were +earnestly sought by the Methodists and Baptists because white persons +of high social position at first looked with contempt upon these +evangelical denominations; but when in the course of time the poor +whites who had joined the Methodist church accumulated wealth and some +of them became aristocratic slaveholders themselves, they assumed such +a haughty attitude toward the Negroes that the increasing race hate +made their presence so intolerable that the independent church +movement among the Negro Methodists and Baptists was the only remedy +for their humiliation. The separation of the Negro Methodists was made +possible at a much earlier date in the District of Columbia, when +Richard Allen had set the example by his protest against +discrimination in the Methodist church, of Philadelphia, which +culminated in the establishment of the distinct Negro denomination, +and also when the Zionites in New York City, led by James Varick, had +separated from the Methodists there for similar reasons. It was not +until the time of the critical period of the slavery agitation, +however, that practically all of the Protestant churches provided +separate pews and separate galleries for Negroes and so rigidly +enforced the rules of segregation that there was a general exodus of +the Negroes, in cities of the border States, from the Protestant +churches.[1] The District of Columbia had the same upheaval. + +The records show that among the Methodists the alienation developed +sooner than in any of the other churches. "As early as 1820," +according to an investigator, "the colored members of the Ebenezer +Church on Fourth Street, East, near Virginia Avenue, erected a log +building in that vicinity, not far from the present Odd Fellow's +lodge, for their social, religious meetings and Sabbath school. About +the same time some of the leading members among them, George Bell and +George Hicks, became dissatisfied with their treatment, withdrew, and +organized a church in connection with the African Methodist Episcopal +church. At first they worshipped in Basil Sim's Rope-walk, First +Street east, near Pennsylvania Avenue, but subsequently in Rev. Mr. +Wheat's school-house on Capitol Hill, near Virginia Avenue. They +finally purchased the old First Presbyterian Church at the foot of +Capitol Hill, later known as the Israel Bethel Colored Methodist +Episcopal Church. Some years thereafter other members of the old +Ebenezer Church, not liking their confined quarters in the gallery, +and otherwise discontented, purchased a lot on the corner of C Street +south and Fifth Street east, built a house of worship, and organized +the "Little Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church."[2] + +About the year 1825 a third colonization from the original Ebenezer +Church took place. One grievance among others was that the Negro +members were dissatisfied with their white pastors because they +declined to take the Negro children into their arms when administering +the rites of baptism. In 1839 this alienation developed into an open +rupture, when thirteen class leaders and one exhorter left the mother +church, and, after purchasing a lot on the Island, erected a house and +formed a Negro church, independent of the Methodist Episcopal body, +under the name of the Wesley Zion Church, and employed a Negro +preacher. Among the prominent men in this separation were Enoch +Ambush, the well-known schoolmaster, and Anthony Bowen, who for many +years was an estimable employee in the Department of the Interior.[3] +Mr. Bowen served as a local preacher for forty years, and under his +guidance St. Paul's Negro Church on the Island was organized, at first +worshipping in E Street Chapel."[3a] + +The white Methodists of Georgetown elbowed their Negro membership out +of their meeting house, but for fourteen years, that is, until 1830, +they kept no written church records except a list of this one sold to +Georgia, another to Carolina, a third to Louisiana, and others to +different parts--annals befitting the time and place, and a +searchlight on conditions then prevailing at the National Capitol and +elsewhere south of the Mason and Dixon line. In 1830 the membership +was large and much spirituality was manifested. White ministers of +more than local note were anxious to serve these people. At the +instance of one of them, Mr. Roszel, the church was first called Mount +Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, because it was located on a hill. The +feasibility of having Negro ministers to preside over Negro churches +was proposed in 1849 and was a fruitful theme for several years.[4] In +fact, it was due to this effort that the organization of Union Wesley +A. M. E., the John Wesley, and Ebenezer Churches followed. John Brent, +a member of Mt. Zion, led in the first named movement, and Clement +Beckett, another reformer, espoused the organization of Ebenezer in +1856, as a church "for Negroes and by Negroes."[5] + +The beginnings of the Israel Colored Methodist Episcopal Church +centered around the evangelical activity of David Smith, a native of +Baltimore, the most energetic of individual forces in the organization +of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the city of +Washington. The presence of a Negro preacher was objectionable to many +Negroes themselves. As early as 1821 Mr. Smith was assigned to +Washington but his coming was the signal for personal attack, and he +was mobbed by members of his own race, communicants of the Methodist +Episcopal Church, who were opposed to the African Methodists. He +persisted, however, and having secured an old school house for $300, +entered upon his work with such zeal and energy that he commanded +success. Among the men and women active in the first efforts were +Scipio Beans, George Simms, Peter Schureman, George Hicks, Dora Bowen, +William Costin, William Datcher, William Warren and George Bell, one +of the three colored men who fifteen years before had erected a +building for a Negro school. + +Israel promptly became a member of the Baltimore Conference, one of +the oldest conferences of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The +first Negro conference to meet in Washington was held in Israel during +the administration of Andrew Jackson. Its assembly caused a sensation +and gave the church and the denomination a standing surpassing that of +all other Negro churches in the community. It was also largely through +the personalities of the ministers in charge of Israel that its +influence on its congregation and through them on the community must +be judged. Among those in the period of its African Methodist +affiliation were David Smith, Clayton Durham, John and William +Cornish, James A. Shorter, Daniel A. Payne, Samuel Watts, Jeremiah R. +V. Thomas, Henry M. Turner, William H. Hunter, George T. Watkins, +James H. A. Johnson, and finally Jacob M. Mitchell, the last of the +African Methodist Episcopal pastors at Israel. Smith and Durham were +colleagues of Richard Allen; William Cornish was in the antislavery +struggle; Hunter and Turner served as chaplains in the Union Army; and +Payne, Wayman, Shorter and Turner became bishops of the African +Methodist Episcopal Church. + +The career of Bishop Payne is widely known, but some incidents in his +pastorate deserve emphasis. Under a prevailing law he had to secure a +bond of one thousand dollars before he could remain in the District of +Columbia and officiate as a minister. The building being without pews +and the people too poor to buy them, Payne, who had learned the trade +of a carpenter, bought tools, threw off his coat, and, with the aid of +the society furnishing the lumber, in a few weeks seated the basement +of the church. The first Negro ministers' union in Washington was +organized by Bishop Payne, the other two members being John F. Cook of +the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church and Levi Collins of Wesley +Zion. + +It was during the Civil War, however, that the influence of Israel was +at its maximum. Then it was that the intellectual genius, the fiery +pulpit orator, the daring and unique Henry McNeal Turner, was not only +a conspicuous preacher but preeminent as a national character. These +were stirring times. All eyes were on Washington. Israel Church played +a leading part in the drama. Here the members of Congress, prominent +among whom at the time were Benjamin F. Wade, Thaddeus Stevens and +Henry Wilson, addressed the Negro citizens on the dominant issues of +the day, buoying them up in the midst of their darkness and gloom. At +this time the Israel Lyceum was an institution not unlike the Bethel +Literary Association of thirty years later, that drew the most +intellectual men to listen to lectures, participate in discussions, +and read dissertations on timely topics.[6] + +In reckoning the influence[7] of this church the individuals whose +place was in the pew must not be forgotten. The minister passes from +church to church; the layman remains. In hurried review there comes to +mind Alethea Tanner, who rescued the church when it was about to be +sold at auction. There were George Bell and Enoch Ambush, who operated +in this church basement a large school which was maintained for +thirty-two years. Honorable mention belongs here also to Rev. William +Nichols whom, because of his high ideals, Bishop Payne, in his +_History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1816 to 1856_, +classed as "a man of more than ordinary intelligence firmly opposed to +the extravagent zeal and rude manners which characterized so many of +the leading men of his denomination." He was the "veritable hero who +had aided the martyred Torrey in covering the escape of many slaves +from the District of Columbia to Canada and who when by accident he +learned that suspicion rested on him the fear of arrest was so great +on his mind as to induce the paralysis which led to his (Nicoll's) +sudden death."[8] + +Some years later a sermon preached at Israel by Bishop John M. Brown, +to whom the writer was a listener, deeply stirred the congregation. At +the time I did not understand what caused the tumult until I learned +from Rev. James Reid, a local preacher, that the church was +negotiating for another lot on which to erect a new building, and the +contention was whether the title to the new site should be held in +trust for the congregation or for the denomination. The people +contended that the property should be held in trust for them; the +bishop, on the other hand, maintained that it should be in the name of +the trustees of the denomination. The people were insistent and won +their contention. A step further was the repudiation of the +appointment made for them by the bishop, and the severance of their +relations with the A. M. E. church made them independent. After a +short interval Israel joined the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, +which had been set apart in 1870 by the M. E. Church, South.[9] + +During these years the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church was also in +the making. Certain records show January 15, 1836, as the date of the +organization of the Asbury Aid Society. These workers were originally +a part of the Old Foundry Church. When this congregation augmented so +that the gallery occupied by the Negro membership became too congested +for their accommodation, it became necessary to find more suitable +quarters. The old Smothers School House on H Street near Fourteenth +was rented for their use, but it, too, became inadequate, making the +purchase of ground on which to build an immediate necessity. Thomas +Johnson, Lewis Delaney, and Benjamin M. McCoy were constituted the +building committee that secured from William Billings the lot on which +the church was ultimately built. The Foundry Quarterly Conference, +under whose authority they were functioning, elected trustees and a +building committee to secure funds and pay for the building, but no +regular church organization was immediately effected. These +communicants remained under the sole management and control of the +Foundry Church until the organization of the Washington Conference in +the Civil War. Originally there were two Negro preachers, one a +deacon, the other a licentiate, and two exhorters in these early days. +There were three stewards, two black and one white. These constituted +the officiary and were members of the Foundry Quarterly Conference. + +After the Annual Conference of 1841, when there were, according to the +stewards' records, 423 Negro members, an appeal was made to the +Quarterly Conference of the Foundry for a preacher to take more direct +supervision of the church. By order of the bishop, Rev. James M. +Hanson, a supernumerary of the Foundry Church was appointed to take +the charge of Asbury as its regular minister. Though a separate +charge, Asbury was not a separate station, and it continued in +subordination to the Foundry Church. After Hanson's appointment, +regular weekly meetings were established, but the white leaders did +not seem to succeed, for four of them had by this time resigned. In +1845 there was but one white leader remaining, and he did not meet +regularly with the Negro leaders.[10] Again in 1851, therefore, there +was an appeal to the presiding bishop and elders of the Baltimore +Annual Conference (white) praying for a separate establishment,[11] +and the request was finally granted in the Civil War. + +Union Bethel (Metropolitan) A. M. E. Church was organized July 6, +1838, as a branch of Israel A. M. E., with Clayton Durham as pastor, +assisted by John Cornish. They met in a little house which stood in +the rear of one Mr. Bolden's residence on L Street near Fifteenth +Street. William H. Moore took charge in 1840, after which regular +appointments annually followed. In 1841 there served one Mr. Moore, +who was reappointed, and in 1842 Edward Waters began an incumbency of +two years. In 1844 Adam S. Driver became pastor and remained two +years. He was succeeded in 1847 by Thomas W. Henry. In 1848 Alexander +Washington Wayman, whose name frequently figures in the history of the +church and denomination, appeared on the scene, followed in 1850 by W. +H. Moore. In 1851 Wayman returned to Union Bethel and remained two +years. In 1853 John R. V. Morgan, destined to occupy a unique figure +because of his oratorical ability, was pastor. Savage L. Hammond, who +was appointed in 1854, served also the next year.[12] + +The first work towards the erection of the present Metropolitan +African Methodist Episcopal Church, first known as Union Bethel, was +begun by John W. Stevenson, who was transferred from the New Jersey +Conference and appointed by Bishop D. A. Payne for the specific +purpose of erecting the new building. He entered upon his work with +great zeal and alacrity, but pursued methods which, though adapted to +or suitable in the localities in which he had hitherto labored with +such phenomenal success, occasioned much friction and disgust in +Washington. He catered to elements that would relegate the more +cultured and progressive classes to the background, yet he secured +among the conservatives loyal support. At the end of his first year, +however, the spirit of rebellion was rife. A delegation of the +discontented element called on the presiding bishop to state their +grievance and effect the removal of the irrepressible minister, but +Bishop Payne was inexorable. He did not even give an actual hearing to +the petitioners, although they were personally known to him to be some +of the most faithful adherents of African Methodism. The next step was +open rebellion. Meetings were held by the dissatisfied group and in +the month of June more than a hundred and fifty persons, after the +question of forming a new religious organization had been carefully +canvassed, agreed to sever their connection with their spiritual +mother and raise their "Ebenezer" elsewhere. Notwithstanding this +opposition within and without, however, the old edifice was pulled +down and work on the new building was immediately begun. + +The corner stone was laid in September, 1881, with appropriate +ceremonies under the auspices of the Masons. During the work on the +building, which was continued up to the fall of 1885, services were +held in the Hall on M Street diagonally opposite the square to the +west. By the end of Stevenson's second year, he had, by his +characteristic methods, alienated so many of those on whom he had +relied mainly for support that Bishop Payne, now disillusioned, was as +bitter against Stevenson as he was blindly his champion the year +before.[13] Stevenson was removed, but there were those who still +believed in his leadership. He refused to accept the appointment given +him and organized the Central Methodist Church with dissentients +formerly members of Union Bethel. James A. Handy was appointed +Stevenson's successor at this juncture, yet there was considerable +opposition even among those regarded as his firm personal and +political friends.[14] The building was finally completed. By a vote +of the African Methodist Episcopal Conference in 1872 the name was +changed from Union Bethel to Metropolitan. + +The same forces tending toward separation were at this time at work +also among the Negro Baptist members in the white churches. This was +the case of the First Baptist Church (white) organized in 1802. Its +Negro members worshipped at first on the basis of equality with the +whites, but this came to an end when the Negro members were assigned +to the gallery, just as other churches of this time were gradually +segregating them. When the new white Baptist Church, which was +afterward sold and converted into a theater later known as Ford's +Theater, was built on Tenth Street, the Negro communicants were given +the gallery, but this was not satisfactory to the majority, who chafed +under the new arrangement. O. B. Brown, the pastor, however, tried +under the circumstances to treat the Negro members with as much +charity as his prejudiced members would permit, as he was a +kind-hearted man and did not believe in distinction on account of +color. When the Tenth Street Church was occupied in 1833, therefore, +these discontented members bought the old church on the corner of 19th +and I Streets, Northwest, which is still held by that congregation and +known throughout the country as the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. + +This was the first church of the denomination among the Negroes of the +District of Columbia. It was organized August 29, 1839, by Sampson +White, a Negro, assisted by John Healy and S. P. Hill, white pastors +of Baltimore, and Moses Clayton, a Negro minister, who was the founder +and pastor of the first Negro Baptist church of Baltimore. The +original members were William Bush, Eliza Bush, Lavinia Perry and +Emily Coke. The accession of Sampson White and wife increased the +membership to six. None of these had been members of any church in the +District of Columbia. They held letters from churches elsewhere, and +so were free to form a church of their own in this city. But the white +Baptist church, which had worshipped at 19th and I Streets, Northwest, +from the year of their organization, from 1802 to 1833, had many Negro +members who worshipped at 19th and I Streets for six years before +Sampson White organized his small congregation. + +These Negro members of the white church, being separated in worship +from their white brethren, and having become sole owners of the house +of worship which formerly they and the whites owned as members of the +white church, wished to be organized as a separate body. This was +refused. Sampson White, therefore, organized the First Negro Baptist +Church of Washington, with persons not of the Washington white church, +and thereby secured the recognition of his church by the leading white +and Negro Baptists of Baltimore. In less than sixty days he had it in +the oldest and best known white Baptist connection in America, the +Philadelphia Baptist Association. This accomplished, Sampson White's +little group received into their body all of the Negro members of the +white church, except about twenty-three. These additional members made +this a congregation ten times the size of the original body. This +larger group, too, was in possession of the property at 19th and I +Streets, at the time that the founders received them as members, and +having been in possession of the property from the time it was sold to +the Negro members of the First Baptist Church, white, these Negro +Baptists, thereafter worshipping as the First Negro Baptist Church, +insisted that the property was theirs, while the few colored members +of the white church, who did not leave the parent body, claimed the +property as belonging to them. This led to a law suit which lasted for +years, but finally all the Negro members of the First Baptist Church, +white, cast in their lot with the members at 19th and I Streets, and +the trustees of the white church kindly released all claim in behalf +of Negro members of that body, and rendered the deed clear.[15] + +The first pastorate of Sampson White was short. He was followed by +William Williams. Under his labors the membership increased almost to +two hundred. But the latter part of his incumbency was not peaceful +and William Bush, and others of the church withdrew. After casting +their lot with the white Second Baptist Church near the Navy Yard, +these seceders, along with others, were constituted the Second Negro +Baptist Church of this city, with H. Butler, a former member of the +church at 19th and I Streets, as pastor. + +Following William Williams came Martin Jenkins as a supply. In 1849 +Gustavus Brown became pastor, remaining for a short while. He was +succeeded by Sampson White, who, serving the congregation a second +time, remained with the church until 1853. Chauncey A. Leonard was the +next pastor, and after him Samuel M. Madden. At the close of the Civil +War, D. W. Anderson became pastor and for seven years labored for the +good of his church. During his ministry in Washington the church added +to its membership a thousand or more, chiefly as the result of the +additions to this city from the Negro population of the ex-slaves of +the South. But D. W. Anderson, as a man of great heart, labored for +all Washington. Under his leadership the Metropolitan and Vermont +Avenue Baptist churches were organized. The Nineteenth Street Baptist +Church building which had been altered and improved from time to time, +before his pastorate, was demolished and a new edifice erected in +1871. In 1872, D. W. Anderson passed to his reward and the church +erected a marble shaft in the Harmony Cemetery to mark the place +where his remains lie. + +Anthony Binga, Sr., of Canada, followed D. W. Anderson, but his +pastorate was short. His successor was Jesse Boulden, of Mississippi, +who occupied the pulpit for about four years. During his pastorate +thirty members withdrew, and formed the Berean Baptist Church. +Sometime before this, the Salem Baptist Church had been constituted +with members from the churches of which Anderson, Binga and Boulden +had been pastors.[16] + +The pastorate of Dr. Walter H. Brooks is the outstanding one in the +history of the church, extending from November 12, 1882, until the +present writing, the third decade of the twentieth century. During his +ministrations more than 3,500 have joined the church, 1,500 of whom +were personally baptized by him. The financial condition of the church +places it among the best managed churches in the country, although it +has at times assumed heavy obligations in making improvements and in +rebuilding. During the pastorate of Dr. Brooks a number of ministers +and preachers have gone forth from the Nineteenth Street Baptist +Church. Dr. J. L. Dart, the founder of an important education and +missionary work in South Carolina, was ordained at this church. Dr. +James R. L. Diggs, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, and head of +important educational work in Baltimore, is of this congregation, +having been baptized and ordained by Dr. Brooks. E. E. Rick, of +Newark, N. J., was ordained from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. +James L. Pinn is a product of this body, and Dr. Brooks was +influential in securing for him his first charge. John H. Burke, +pastor of Israel Baptist Church, came up under Dr. Brooks, as did also +Joseph Lee, of Arlington, Virginia, and James L. Jasper, of Brentwood, +Maryland. But none of these products of the Nineteenth Street Baptist +Church have done a better work than Miss Jennie Deane, the founder of +the Manassas Industrial School, in Virginia, and Miss Nannie H. +Burroughs, the founder and promoter of the National Training School +for Women and Girls, Lincoln Heights, Washington, D. C. Nor should +Mrs. Laura Queen be forgotten, for by her labors the doors of Stoddard +Baptist Home were first opened.[17] + +The Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, the next to be established, +was formally organized November 21, 1841, in a little frame school +house located on H Street near 14th Northwest. The moving spirit in +this undertaking was John F. Cook.[18] He had been received as a +licentiate by the Presbytery of the District of Columbia on the +twenty-first of October of that same year. Eighteen persons took part +in this organization. Of these John F. Cook and Alfred A. Cook had +been official members of the Union Bethel, now the Metropolitan +African Methodist Episcopal Church. The pioneer members came from the +First, the Second, and the Fourth Presbyterian Churches of the city +and one from the Shiloh Church of New York, of which the Rev. Theodore +S. Wright was pastor. The reasons why they desired the establishment +of an independent church were clearly set forth in a series of +resolutions which were not unlike those which occasioned the +organization of other Negro churches. The new society was received +into the Presbytery May 3, 1842, when in session at Alexandria, +Virginia, then a part of the District of Columbia. John F. Cook was +installed as the first pastor July 14, 1855. Under his pastorate the +church prospered, increasing its membership to 125. + +The successor of Mr. Cook was William T. Catto of Philadelphia, the +former pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church of the country. +Others to occupy the pulpit as supplies and pastors were Benjamin T. +Tanner, subsequently a bishop of the A. M. E. Church, William B. +Evans, Henry Highland Garnet, J. H. Muse, J. Sella Martin, John B. +Reeves, during his connection with Howard University, Dr. Septimus +Tustin, George Van Deurs, a Swede, and John Brown, a Scotchman. The +last mentioned incumbent was succeeded by the Rev. Francis J. Grimke, +who has served longer than all other pastors combined, and with marked +success. During the first years of the ministry of Mr. Grimke, which +began in the spring of 1878, there was great spiritual awakening as +the result of his forceful preaching. + +The church has had a high record for its Christian ideals and its +public spirit. It has always stood for the best things, morally and +spiritually, in the life of the community. It has always been ready to +aid in every worthy cause. During the period immediately preceding the +Civil War, and in the days of the reconstruction, it divided honors +with the Israel Church as a place of popular assembly and referendum. +In 1918 it sold its old edifice on 15th Street between I and K +Streets, where it had worshipped for seventy-five years, and is now +located in a beautiful and commodious structure on the corner of R and +Fifteenth Streets. + +The next significant effort was made by the Baptists. Persons +dismissed from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church for the purpose of +organizing another body began in the year 1848 the existence of the +Second Baptist Church, under the leadership of H. H. Butler, a +licentiate. The next year Jeremiah Asher, a native of Connecticut, +became the first pastor and remained for two years. Mr. Asher was a +typical New Englander of superior education and high ideals. In 1850 +Gustavus Brown assumed charge of the new body when it worshipped on B +Street, Southwest, between Sixth and Seventh, in a broom factory, and +subsequently at 9th and D Streets, Northwest, over Ryan's Grocery +Store. In 1853 H. H. Butler was recalled and formally ordained as +pastor. He remained with the church until his death in 1856, when +Sandy Alexander was asked to accept this charge. A permanent home was +then bought on the present site where the congregation has worshipped +ever since. Mr. Alexander continued for five years until his health +compelled him to retire. In 1861, Caleb Woodyard became pastor and +remained for two years. During this period conditions were such that +progress was not steady and this led to the recall of Mr. Alexander, +under whose direction a strong organization was effected. Following +him, came Chauncey A. Leonard and next John Gaines. Then followed +Madison Gaskins, whose service was characterized by alternating +conditions, a lawsuit, a fire and new organizations branching +therefrom as Mount Carmel, Mt. Olive in the Northeast, and Rehoboth in +the Southwest.[20] + +The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches of Washington, D. C., +grew out of the efforts of their denomination, founded by James +Varick, Peter Williams, William Miller, Abraham Thompson, Christopher +Rush and others, in New York City, in 1796. These fathers early +extended their work through New England, western New York, central and +western Pennsylvania. In 1833, their first church was founded in South +Washington, then known as the Island. It was established as the +Metropolitan Wesley African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, on D +Street, Southwest, Washington, D. C. The first pastor was Abraham +Cole, who took charge in 1833. The persons organizing this church were +originally members of the Ebenezer M. E. Church, located on D Street, +Southeast. They drew out of this organization because their pastor, a +white man, held slaves. The Wesley Metropolitan African Methodist +Episcopal Zion Church, its officers contend, was the first independent +church in the District of Columbia organized by colored people. The +first public school for the training of Negro youth was held in this +church. Hanson Brooks was the secretary of the first organization.[21] + +The establishment of the Union Wesley, the second church of the +Zionites, in Washington, the progressive body, of which Dr. E. D. W. +Jones was pastor, was very interesting. This church was organized in +1848 by Bishop J. J. Clinton, who afterwards became a bright star in +the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The organization took +place in the residence of Gasoway Waters in Georgetown.[22] He had +been sent to Georgetown as a missionary and started his labors in this +organization of a few persons determined to become independent of the +white Methodists. + +They began the construction of a church with the help of such men and +women as Charles Lemon, Charly Wilson, Eliza Wilson, William Crusoe, +George Brown, Mary Brown, William Sewall, Margaret Waters, and Eliza +Johnson. After having been organized for a little while, they bought a +lot on the corner of what is now known as 28th and O Streets, +Georgetown.[23] Things seemed favorable in the beginning, but the +enemies of the church were busy those days putting temptation in the +path of the Negro and betraying him unto his enemies. Bondmen, +according to the slave code, were not allowed to meet or hold any kind +of meeting unless a white man was present. Nor were they allowed to be +out after ten o'clock at night without a pass, or to have two or more +congregate on the street at one time. If they did any of these things, +they thereby violated the sacred laws of bondage and suffered +imprisonment and persecution. Thus handicapped in their worship, they, +like Paul and Silas, prayed for a deliverer, and he came in the person +of a young lawyer from Philadelphia, who had taken up the cause. By +his earnest endeavors in their behalf, they were released without +being sentenced to jail or whipped. But, nevertheless, they were +driven out of Georgetown, across Rock Creek, and into Washington, +where they worshipped for a while in the house of William Beckett on +the corner of 23d and L Streets. + +A short time afterwards they bought the lot where this church now +stands and built thereon a frame chapel which was contemptuously +called the Horseshoe Church. After they had been there but a short +time, there was a funeral at the chapel one day. Across from the +chapel the Hibernian fire company was stationed. While the funeral +services were being held in the chapel, two of these firemen came +across the street and while one of them got inside of the hearse the +other one got up on the driver's seat and drove all around the +streets, while the people were out looking for the hearse. When they +came back, the one who was inside got out and said that he was Lazarus +risen from the dead. This act so inflamed some of the white gentlemen +that they had the firemen arrested and prosecuted. These two impious +gentlemen became so indignant because of their arrest that they set +fire to the chapel and burned it to the ground. These communicants, +being homeless again, went back to the house of William Beckett on L +Street and commenced to rebuild. This time they succeeded in erecting +a brick building, a portion of which stands today. + +The John Wesley African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was organized +in 1849 at the home of John Brent on Eighteenth and L Streets. Among +the founders were John Brent, W. H. Johnson, John Brent, Jr., William +V. Ingram, Arnold Bowie, Charles Wilson, Joseph Conner, Edward Curtis, +and Gilbert Joy. These communicants then purchased property on +Connecticut Avenue and built thereon a simple frame building into +which they moved in 1851.[24] This church finally bought the old +Berean Baptist Church property on Eighteenth Street, under the +pastorate of Dr. B. J. Bolding, in 1902. + +The ministers who pastored the congregation while it worshipped in +Connecticut Avenue were Abraham Cole, J. B. Trusty, N. F. Turpin, J. +H. Hamer, H. F. Butler, Nathaniel Stubbs, Sampson Talbert, S. T. +Jones, John V. Givens, S. T. Henry, G. W. Bosley, S. S. Wales, J. W. +Smith, J. P. Thompson, Jesse Cowles, W. A. Cypress, J. A. Williams, J. +B. Small, B. J. Bolding, R. H. G. Dyson, D. H. Anderson, R. A. Fisher, +J. J. Clinton, and J. H. McMullen. Those who served the body in +Eighteenth Street were Rev. L. W. Kyles, W. A. Blackwell, P. H. +Williams, C. C. Alleyne, and Dr. William C. Brown. John Wesley Church +has had at different times six pastors, who later were elected to the +bishopric. These were Bishops Sampson Talbert, J. J. Clinton, J. P. +Thompson, S. T. Jones, J. B. Small and John Wesley Smith, all of whom +are deceased. Among the officers of the church may be mentioned +Gilbert L. Joy, who was made secretary of the Trustee Board in 1864, +and served thirty-two years in that capacity. He had the enviable +record of being a trustee of this church for forty-three years, a +longer period than that of any other person connected with it, and he +is still an active member. + +The awakening of John Wesley A. M. E. Zion Church, characterized by +the selling of its property on Eighteenth Street to purchase at the +same time the edifice on Fourteenth and Corcoran Streets for $61,000, +is significant. It is the most important event in the history of Zion +Church in Washington. The Zion Church long needed a larger +representative edifice in this city. This advanced step was taken, and +under the leadership of Dr. W. C. Brown and Dr. W. O. Carrington the +progress of the congregation has been epochal. + +The Galbraith African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was founded in +1859. That year five members of Zion Wesley, under the leadership of +Samuel Payne, withdrew and organized a church in a small house on L +Street between Third and Fourth Streets. They subsequently built a +house of worship near New York Avenue. Robert H. G. Dyson who had been +active as a class leader and chorister in Zion Wesley, became the +first pastor. It developed from its little frame church on L Street, +Northwest, into a larger congregation in the modern structure on its +present location, under N. J. Green, the pastor in charge. This church +has figured conspicuously in the religious, moral and civic uplift of +the city. It has been served by an array of prominent ministers, chief +among whom are J. Harvey Anderson, J. S. Coles, Wm. Chambers, J. B. +Colbert, H. P. Kyler, William Dixon, S. L. Corrothers, George C. +Clement, and William D. Battle. During Mr. Battle's administration the +church was relieved of its long-standing debt and the well begun work +was steadily developed.[25] + +The next efforts in the District of Columbia were of the Baptists. +Albert Bouldin, who began public prayer services near Fourth and L +Streets in 1857, was a prominent influence in the organization of the +Third Baptist Church.[26] On June 20, 1858 there was held a council of +ministers at which were present G. W. Sampson, Chauncey A. Leonard, A. +Rothwell, Lindsey Muse, Evans Stott, Henry H. Butler, Sandy Alexander, +and L. Patten. There were also the following laymen: Joseph Pryor, +Joseph Alexander, N. Nookes, Henry Scott, John Minor, Charles +Alexander, and Austin Robinson. The trustees were William B. +Jefferson, Joseph Alexander, Henry Scott, Charles Alexander, Vernon +Duff, and Henry Nookes, who assisted in effecting the organization and +served it as the first deacons. + +In 1863 there was secured on Fourth and L Streets a lot on which the +people began to erect their meeting house. On account of disputes, +four years afterward it became necessary to look elsewhere, and +William B. Jefferson became the controlling spirit. Then a lot was +purchased on Franklin Street between Fourth and Fifth at a cost of +$1,198.50. In September, 1871, the church was dedicated. Rev. D. W. +Anderson, at that time pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, +delivered the sermon. After a lapse of thirteen years, August 2, 1884, +another lot situated on the corner of Fifth and Que Streets was +purchased.[27] The next forward movement was toward the erection of a +new building which was completed July 1893 at a cost of $26,000 and +dedicated the fifth Sunday of July 1893.[28] + +There soon followed another significant undertaking. After preaching +regularly to four persons for four years, Sandy Alexander organized on +October 5, 1862, the First Baptist Church of West Washington. Two of +the four pioneer members were from churches in Fredericksburg, +Virginia. Dr. G. W. Sampson, president of Columbian College, +subsequently Columbian University, now the George Washington +University, was of great service to Mr. Alexander in this work of the +organization of this church. The church was first located on the +corner of Greene and Beale Street, Georgetown, where it remained one +year, after which a lot was purchased at the corner of Dumbarton and +27th Streets and a large frame building was first constructed at a +cost of $15,000.[29] From this church there have been regularly +organized the Macedonia, the First Baptist Church of Rosslyn, +Virginia, and the Memorial Baptist Church in Maryland. + +The Baptists were at the same time receiving recruits from another +source. In June, 1862, while a destructive war was being waged by the +Southern States against the Union, warning was given that a terrible +siege was to be started against the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia. +This news caused between three and four hundred members of the Shiloh +Baptist Church of that town to leave for Washington as a place of +refuge. After arriving there many tearful eyes were turned toward the +dear old church of their childhood and riper years, where "many a +pleasant hour had been enjoyed, and it was only natural for these +fellow church members to plan for a place where they might once more +gather in prayer and praise God for their deliverance from the +ravages of war."[30] Home gatherings were frequent among these +refugees and in this way the organization of the present church was +effected. + +Shiloh Baptist Church, like many other churches, had its beginning in +a Sunday School.[31] The constant meeting of these seekers after the +truth served to keep a number of them in close touch with each other +and intensified the desire for a church of their own. They then began +to meet in each other's houses for prayer and for conference upon the +subject and soon resolved to have a Shiloh Baptist Church in +Washington, since they could not return to Shiloh Church in +Fredericksburg. It was at one of these prayer meetings in the bedroom +of Henry D. Peyton in an old brick house on K Street, between 26th and +27th Streets, in Georgetown (now West Washington) that Shiloh Baptist +Church of Washington had its beginnings in September, 1863.[32] + +Having formed the church, the founders sent a communication to the +various Baptist churches of Washington, both white and black, asking +that a council be called to consider the propriety of recognizing them +as a regularly constituted Baptist church. The Negro Baptist churches +gave these petitioners no encouragement and sent no delegates to the +council, but the white Baptist churches sent a number of their +members, deacons, and pastors, as delegates, who met in the First +white Baptist church, located at that time on 13th Street between G +and H Streets, Northwest, at eight o'clock Wednesday evening, +September 23, 1863, and formed a recognition council. Dr. G. W. +Sampson, pastor of the First Baptist Church and President of Columbian +College, was chosen Moderator, and John S. Poler, clerk. After +approving the credentials of the delegates the Moderator stated the +purpose of the meeting. He further stated that the council had also +been asked to examine William J. Walker as to his fitness and +qualification for the gospel ministry, and if found worthy to ordain +him, as the church had called him as its pastor and recommended his +ordination.[33] It was so ordered and done by the council. + +The church continued to meet in the homes of the members, but it grew +so rapidly that it soon became necessary to secure larger quarters. +The little frame building on the north side of L Street, between 16th +and 17th Northwest, was then bought, and the church moved into it and +remained there until 1868. The church prospered greatly and soon +outgrew its first meeting house. Steps were then taken to purchase a +site and erect a building sufficiently large to accommodate the +growing membership. The present lot was secured, and in 1868 a +commodious frame structure was erected thereon and used until 1883, +when the church tore down the frame building and erected upon the same +spot the present brick edifice. + +William J. Walker, the first pastor, played a large part in building +up the Baptist denomination in the District of Columbia and adjoining +States. He organized four churches in Washington, namely, Zion +Baptist, Enon Baptist, Mt. Zion Baptist and Mt. Jezreel Baptist +churches, and two churches in Virginia, all of which are strong and +prosperous organizations. He also founded the Baptist Sunday School +Union and the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society. + +For a year or more after the death of William J. Walker the church +remained without a pastor. During the greater part of this time +William H. Scott served as supply, and it was while he was serving the +church that the Walker Memorial Baptist Church was formed out of the +members who drew out of Shiloh. Dr. J. Anderson Taylor became pastor +in 1890 and remained with the church until near the close of 1906. +During his ministry the church greatly increased in membership, and +enlarged its building at a cost of $10,000. When Dr. Taylor gave up +the pastorate of the church about 200 members withdrew from Shiloh and +formed the Trinity Baptist Church and called him to take charge +thereof. Shiloh Baptist Church, then, has been divided twice within +twenty-three years. In spite of these handicaps, however, the church +has prospered financially, numerically and spiritually. Dr. J. Milton +Waldron took formal charge of Shiloh Baptist Church on the 6th of June +1907 and has labored with success in edifying his congregation and +extending the influence of the church.[34] + +While the organization of Shiloh Church was being effected in the +northern section of Washington, there was in the southwest also +another group from Fredericksburg. This effort resulted in the +establishment of the Zion Baptist Church. They first organized a +Sunday and day school in Jackson's School House on Delaware Avenue and +L Street, Southwest. Their next movement was the organization of a +church, September 12, 1864, with nine members. They bought what was +then known as Simpson's Feed Store on the present site of the church, +and remodeled this building in 1867; William J. Walker was its +founder and first pastor. In January, 1869, William Gibbons of +Charlottesville, Virginia, became the pastor and under his temporal +and spiritual oversight the church flourished. The first church +edifice was dedicated in 1871 and for twenty-one years was used by the +congregation. In 1891 the present structure was built at an +expenditure of $35,000. The membership at the forty-eighth anniversary +was 2,310, the largest at the time in the District of Columbia. Up to +the close of the nineteenth century they raised annually on an average +of $8,000 for current expenses. Their present pastor, William J. +Howard, has a unique record as being one of the best known ministers +and men in the city, regardless of denomination, and with a character +beyond reproach.[35] + +The Metropolitan, formerly known as the Fourth Baptist Church, was +organized May 1863 by a few holding letters from the Nineteenth Street +Baptist Church during the pastorate of Duke W. Anderson, and by a few +members from other churches. Henry Bailey was the first pastor of the +new group. In 1865 there took place a division of this body which +resulted in the establishment of the Fifth, now the Vermont Avenue +Baptist Church. The organization was effected in a mission building +which stood in the intersection of what is now E Street and Vermont +Avenue. Two contending parties, both claiming to be the Fourth Baptist +Church, were then engaged in presenting their rival claims. Four +church councils were held before it was established which one had the +right to bear the title Fourth. Robert Johnson took charge in 1870, +seven years after the original movement. Under him the establishment +prospered. + +Four buildings have been used as church edifices in the history of +this congregation, the mission building referred to above, the +barracks, a relic of the Civil War, and a frame structure on the site +of the present edifice, which at that time of its dedication in 1884 +was valued at $60,000; but today the valuation, conservatively +speaking, may be placed at $175,000. From 1865 to 1890 the membership +was about 2,000, 1,100 of whom were baptized by Robert Johnson. The +first Washington Baptist Convention composed of churches principally +of the District of Columbia requested in September, 1890, that the +church be called the Metropolitan. The congregation formally agreed to +bear the title and since then Metropolitan has been its legal as well +as its popular name. + +After securing the services of Dr. M. W. D. Norman, who came from +Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1905, the progress of the church has been +such as to merit fully the title Metropolitan. On his assumption of +the pastorate, a large floating and bonded indebtedness rested on the +church. This has been discharged and modern improvements of +electricity and steam heating at the cost of $15,000 have been +provided. Yet there is not a dollar of indebtedness and the membership +has increased to 5,748. + +The following ministers have been ordained by the Metropolitan Baptist +Church: Charles H. Parker, W. Bishop Johnson, John A. Pryer, Edward +B. Gordon, Anderson Hogan, Luke D. Best, William Richardson, William +Johnson, E. R. Jackson, John Braxton, John Mercer, Noah Grimes, Levi +Washington, and W. L. Hill.[36] + +The Baptist church on Vermont Avenue between Q and R Streets was +originally established as the Fifth Baptist Church, June 5, 1866, by +the pious J. H. Brooks, with seven members. He built a frame structure +which was afterward replaced by a more comfortable brick building. +Under him the congregation grew and in 1884, when he died the church +had a membership of 1,800. He had served his people well, impressed +the community with his worth, and passed to his reward loved not only +by his own members but by the Christian people throughout the city. + +He was succeeded by Dr. George W. Lee, who came to this church from +North Carolina where he had served successfully as a pastor. Dr. Lee +was installed in 1885 and served a quarter of a century, passing away +on February 6, 1910. There were several important achievements during +his pastorate. In 1890, at a cost of about $25,000, he remodeled the +building left by J. H. Brooks and changed the name to Vermont Avenue +Baptist Church. Being a great preacher and pastor noted for his +originality and his ability to master the situation, he soon attracted +a large following and increased the membership of his church almost to +4,000. He easily became a man of national reputation and in his +travels abroad so impressed the people wherever he went that he +developed into an international character. + +Dr. Lee was noted especially for three significant elements in his +character. Near to his heart was the promotion of African missions in +keeping with his deep sense of charity. He was always a friend of the +poor and, being such, emphasized more than any other duty of the +church that of supporting missionary work in Africa. As a result the +Vermont Avenue Baptist Church did more for this purpose than many +other churches of the District of Columbia combined. He was always +disposed, moreover, to help the under man in the struggle with his +uncharitable accusers and traducers. When a minister was under fire, +he usually stood by the unfortunate, if there was any possible chance +to save him for the good of the service. He made himself, too, a +patron of young men aspiring to the ministry, raising money for their +support by impressing upon the people the importance of educating +them. In this connection he trained and helped to support Dr. James E. +Willis, who was baptized, licensed and ordained to preach under Dr. +Lee. Through contact the one became attached to the other so that the +younger imbibed the spirit of the other. + +Dr. Willis became his successor in 1911. At first many of the members +questioned his ability to fill such a position so that there developed +much trouble in the congregation and much anxiety among the people at +large. There followed a schism which resulted in litigation in the +courts and the secession of a group of members who established the +Florida Avenue Baptist Church, now in the charge of Dr. Taylor. Dr. +Willis, however, was established as pastor with the support of a large +majority of the members of the church. He filled the position with +such distinction and attracted to him such a following of willing +workers that the church prospered under him as it did under his +predecessor. In recognition of his valuable services the congregation +gave him a trip to the Holy Land at a cost of $3,000. It then +purchased adjoining property upon which it erected a monument to Dr. +George W. Lee. + +According to a recent report rendered by the clerk and treasurer, the +congregation has during the pastorate of Dr. Willis raised more than +$68,000 for general expenses and $1,850 for their Old Folk's Home. +This does not by any means account for the amount raised for +charitable purposes, which include home and foreign missions. The +support given needy members and institutions of learning, traveling +ministers, and the like, has amounted approximately to $35,000 or +$40,000. The church, moreover, has been very generous in the support +of home missions, a duty decidedly emphasized by Dr. Willis in +contradistinction to the inclination of Dr. Lee, who emphasized +foreign missions.[36a] + +Baptists in another part of the city were planning an additional +organization. The First Baptist Church of South Washington was +organized on Sixth Street between G and H Streets, Southwest, in 1866. +Alfred Bolden was the first pastor. Two buildings have been erected on +the present site. One Mr. Lee afterward served as the pastor until the +coming of Henry C. Robinson, who exhibited energy that promised a +bright future. Early in the history of the church, as an outcome of an +internal agitation, however, 54 excluded members organized the +Virginia Avenue Baptist Church and were afterward joined by others, +thus weakening the parent organization; but in 1891 the property was +valued at $25,000 and the church had a membership of 500.[37] + +Another Baptist church soon resulted from a secession. In 1873 William +Shanklin, Peter Gray, Abraham Blackmore, Edward Montague, and +Catherine Wilson left the Fifth Baptist Church, now the Vermont Avenue +Baptist Church, and formed, with their friends, Mt. Jezreel. Since +then it has grown to be the largest Negro Baptist church in Southeast +Washington, though it is also the youngest. The church, when first +formed, was located on Van Street. It grew rapidly, and soon was able +to buy desirable property on the southeast corner of Fifth and E +Streets and begin the erection of its present handsome church edifice. +In 1888 the building was finished and it was dedicated the first +Sunday in November of that year, when Dr. Robert Johnson, of the +Metropolitan Baptist Church, preached the dedicatory sermon. Its +membership numbers about 300 people, and the church is in a very +prosperous condition.[38] + +The organization of another Baptist church soon followed. In +September, 1876, there was organized on Nichol's Avenue, Hillsdale, +the Bethlehem Baptist Church by Henry Scott, its first pastor. It was +an outgrowth from the Macedonia Baptist Church organized nine years +before by Sandy Alexander, of the First West Washington Church. The +first officers were William Singleton, Carle Matthews, James Flood, +Richard Harrison, Mack McKenzie, Cornelius W. Davis, David Simpson, +Armstead Taylor, and Leonard Peyton.[39] The second minister, William +H. Phillips, served with considerable success for six years when he +was called to the Shiloh Baptist Church in Philadelphia, where he +died.[40] + +A new church was soon to evolve as a result of another stir among the +Baptists. The succession of the pastorates of Dr. Anthony Binga, Sr., +and Jesse Bolden to that of Dr. D. W. Anderson did not satisfy an +important element of the 19th Street Baptist Church, which for fifteen +years had given that church moral and financial support. Steps to +organize a new church were therefore taken. In the preliminary stages +of the separation there was much opposition. Nevertheless, they +organized May 7, 1877, at the residence of William H. A. Wormley, 1126 +16th Street, Northwest, and were recognized by a council of Baptist +churches which met at the residence of L. C. Bailey, 1022 Nineteenth +Street, June 5, 1877.[41] With twenty-two members this determined body +went pluckily to work. In the first place, they were fortunate in +securing for their pastor a man who for thirteen years voluntarily +served the flock without salary. For twenty-five years, 1877 to 1902, +they worshipped in their church on 18th Street, which was erected +within six months of organization for the sum of $19,000. The church +grew from 22 to 200. It is a fair estimate that $50,000 was received +from all sources during this period. In 1902 they sold this church to +the John Wesley A. M. E. Zion for $19,500 cash. After vacating their +building and meeting in Odd Fellows Hall they erected their present +building at 11th and V Streets, which they have paid for in full. The +successor to Mr. Wm. Waring was Dr. W. A. Creditt.[42] Then came Dr. +J. M. Waldron, who in 1892 was succeeded by Rev. Mr. D. F. Rivers, who +still abides as a potent factor in the life of the Washington people. + +After the Civil War Negroes became attracted to denominations in which +they had never sought membership because of their close attachment to +the Methodists and Baptists. From just such a divergence from the old +order resulted the organization of the Lincoln Memorial Temple +Congregational Church, on the northeast corner of 11th and R Streets, +Northwest. This church was organized in the parlor of F. S. Presbrey, +publisher of _Public Opinion_, January 10, 1887, with Rev. S. P. Smith +as its first pastor. Lincoln Temple is the outgrowth of the Colfax +Industrial Mission founded by members of the First Congregational +Church, prominent among whom was John W. Alvord. It later became the +Lincoln Mission. In addition to the Sunday School feature should be +mentioned the industrial work, as classes in domestic science and +domestic art were conducted there. For a time this mission constituted +the first church home for Negro girls in the country. Among its +founders were R. S. Smith, William H. Jackson, Theodore Clark and +wife, Otwina Smith, Miss Booker, Hiram Ball, a Mrs. Jackson of Chicago +and a Mr. Shorter. The Lincoln Mission Sunday School, with an +attendance running at times to 700 and more, was a part of the work of +the charitable organizations of the North engaged in missions and +education in the South among the freedmen. As such it was one of the +institutions of the city in Sabbath School work, with music especially +popular. This school enjoyed the fostering care of the American +Missionary Association, which appointed a minister to conduct +religious services and a woman to work in the homes of the people. The +teachers of the Sunday School were of both races. The whites were +drawn from the First Congregational Church and Negroes were mainly +students from Howard University. + +During the operation of these two instrumentalities, the thought that +the work of the school could be made more effectual and permanent by +the organization of a church first took tangible form in the years of +Mr. Smith's ministrations, and the church grew steadily and surely. +Rev. George W. Moore became pastor on June 1, 1883. His work was a +thorough success, due in no small measure to the personality of his +wife, Ella Sheppard Moore, who had been pianist of the Fisk Jubilee +Singers and with them had circled the globe. Dr. Moore resigned in +1893. Subsequent pastors have been Rev. Eugene Johnson, A. P. Miller +and Sterling N. Brown. Dr. Brown was followed by Rev. Emory B. Smith, +an enterprising young man who has brought the church to the very +foremost in all the activities of religious work.[43] + +The Plymouth Congregational Church was the direct outcome of +dissatisfaction of many members of Union Bethel, now the Metropolitan +Church, at the arbitrary action of Bishop Daniel A. Payne in the +matter of the appointment of the Rev. John W. Stevenson as pastor of +Union Bethel Church and the refusal to remove him. For these reasons +63 members decided to withdraw from the African Methodist Episcopal +denomination and organized themselves in the Shiloh Hall on L Street, +near 16th, Northwest, as the First Congregational Church of Washington +in the District of Columbia. William T. Peele, who for several years +had been a local preacher and class leader at Union Bethel Church was +one of the number--in fact, the leader of the recalcitrant +communicants. Church services for the new congregation were held in +the meeting place of the Salem Baptist Church on N Street near 17th. +Here they could meet only in the afternoon on Sunday. Other quarters +were then secured on 18th Street near L and M Streets. On October 5, +1881, the name of the new organization was changed to that of the +Plymouth Congregational Church of Washington. Their leader, William T. +Peele, was then regularly ordained and installed as their pastor by +Dr. Holmes of Baltimore, assisted by Dr. J. E. Rankin, then pastor of +First Congregational Church, Dr. William Patton, President of Howard +University, W. W. Hicks, and S. P. Smith. The church attached itself +to the New Jersey Association of Congregational Churches at the +fourteenth annual meeting held in the First Congregational Church in +April, 1882. The church then purchased at a cost of $4,500 a site at +the southeast corner of 17th and P Streets, on which it built by 1887. + +William T. Peele, to whom this body rallied as its first pastor +tendered his resignation July 26, 1888, and for several months the +church was without a pastor. Dr. Sterling N. Brown of Cleveland, Ohio, +entered upon the pastorate April 1, 1887, and rendered a most +successful service. Under his guidance they evolved steadily from +Methodism to Congregationalism. + +Dr. Alexander C. Garner became the next pastor in 1896 and for +twenty-five years led the church both temporally and spiritually. The +church has been honored by his being chosen to represent the +Congregationalists at national gatherings. The entire church mortgage +debt was cancelled during Dr. Garner's incumbency, when all the +churches were making strenuous and successful efforts to the same end. +In fact, his successful career had much to do with his call to the +direction of the growing spiritual interests of the Congregationalists +in Harlem in New York.[44] + +Some Negroes, too, had begun to look with more favor upon the +Protestant Episcopal church. As early as 1866 cottage meetings were +held by C. H. Hall, rector of the Epiphany, with the assistance of J. +Vaughn Lewis, rector of St. John's Church. This movement went to the +extent that steps were taken looking to the establishment of a church +and the purchase of a lot on which an edifice was to be built. At this +juncture Mrs. Parsons, a communicant of St. John's parish, donated a +lot for the purpose on 23d Street, and Secretary of War E. M. Stanton +contributed a frame building in 1867. From 1867 to 1873 several white +clergymen officiated, but the selection of a colored minister to take +charge of the work was indispensable. Efforts to this end soon +followed. Among the clergymen considered were William H. Josephus, a +talented West Indian, and William J. Alston, who had been rector of +St. Phillip's in New York and of St. Thomas in Philadelphia. John +Thomas Johnson, a progressive Negro citizen who in the reconstruction +times was Treasurer of the District Government, began on behalf of a +number of interested people a correspondence with Dr. Alexander +Crummell with a view to securing him as the spiritual leader of these +Episcopalians. This effort resulted in bringing Dr. Crummell to +Washington in June, 1873. + +The people almost instantaneously rallied to Dr. Crummell's support +and the outcome was the determination to build a church. A sinking +fund association, composed of young people from different sections of +the city, and in which other denominations were represented, was a +most active factor. The enthusiasm was intense. The corner stone was +laid in 1876 at Fifteenth and Sampson Streets, near Church Street, and +work on the new building went rapidly on. Dr. Crummell meanwhile +traveled extensively throughout the North and East for funds in aid of +the new movement. Such was his success that the first services in the +new building were held there on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, +1879.[45] + +With the opening of St. Luke's a new opportunity presented itself at +St. Mary's, where the congregation under the administration of Mr. O. +L. Mitchell developed into an institutional church. It was consecrated +December 11, 1894, by Bishop William Paret, then of Maryland, assisted +by Bishop Penick and Dr. W. V. Tunnell, of Howard University, who +preached the sermon. St. Mary's is one of the most beautiful of +churches. + +The rise of Negro Catholic churches in the District of Columbia as +well as throughout the United States has been less extensive for the +reason that not very many Negroes have been attracted to this +denomination because of its ritualistic appeal, and those who have +become adherents to the Catholic faith have been treated with so much +more of the spirit of Christ than they have been by other sects, that +the tendency toward independent church establishments has not been so +pronounced. Early in the history of the District of Columbia Rev. +Leonard Neale, the Archbishop of Georgetown, his brother, the Rev. +Francis Neale of the Holy Trinity Church, and Father Van Lomell, +pastor of the same church in 1807, were all friends of the Negroes, +showing no distinction on account of color in the establishment of +parish schools and the uplift of the people. The same policy was +followed by Father De Theux, who in 1817 succeeded Father Macelroy, +who established a Sunday School and labored with a great deal of +devotion to bring them into the church. The Catholic Church was free +in all of its privileges to all persons regardless of color. This was +especially true of St. Patrick's Church under its founder, Father +Matthew, who permitted the poorest Negro to kneel at the altar side by +side with the highest personages in the land. The same was observed in +St. Aloysius Church and in St. Mary's Church at Alexandria. The +Catholics were the last to change their attitude toward the Negro +during the critical antislavery period of the thirties, forties, and +fifties, when the Protestant churches practically excluded the Negroes +from their Sunday Schools and congregations. This explains why the +Negro Catholics organized in the District of Columbia during the early +period only one Catholic church of their own, St. Martin's, although +the Negro Catholics constituted a considerable part of the Negro +population. + +The actual separation of the Negroes in the Catholic Church did not +take place until the Civil War itself necessitated certain changes to +meet the special needs of the Negroes in their new status. The +establishment of St. Augustine's Church, however, somewhat antedated +this. Before the organization of this church there was established a +school meeting the special needs of the Negroes on L Street, and out +of that developed the organization of this church in 1863. The moving +spirit in this undertaking was Father Charles J. White, who was then +pastor of St. Matthew's church in which the Negroes had always felt +free to worship. Early in 1863 he purchased a lot on 15th Street +between L and M and built there a two-story structure with the +assistance of colored members from the various churches of the city +and especially from those of St. Matthew's. Among those participating +in the launching of this new church were the following: Miss Mary +Harrison, Mr. Isaac Landic and wife, Mrs. Jane Smallwood, Mrs. Henry +Warren and family, Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Smith, the Misses Mary +and Sara Ann Smith, Mr. William T. Benjamin, Mr. Bazil Mullen, Mr. +John West, Miss Agnes Gray, Messrs. William H. Wheeler, Henry Jackson, +Henry Neal and family, James F. Jackson and family, Mrs. Frances +Madison, and the Misses Eliza Ann Cook, Mary T. Smith, Eliza Hall, and +Jane Teagle. + +In the course of time there were so many accessions to the church that +more space was needed. In 1865, therefore, a frame building was added +at the time that the church was under the patronage of Martin de +Porrers, a colored lay brother of the order of St. Dominic, who had +labored in South America. Dr. White was still the pastor, with Martin +de Porrers officiating at most of the services. In the course of time +it was necessary to seek other assistants, who were supplied by the +Society of Jesus at Georgetown College in the person of Fathers Kelly +and Cleary. + +After the Civil War Archbishop Spaulding, then in charge of the +diocese, saw the opportunity and the challenge of the church to meet +the many needs of the freedmen who without spiritual guidance might +morally retrograde. He therefore called for other workers to offer +their lives as a sacrifice to a noble cause. In Italy at this time +there was Father Barroti, who after having equipped himself for +missionary work prepared to carry the Gospel message to the Chinese. +In 1869, however, he was persuaded to go to the more inviting field of +the freedmen in the United States. After some further instruction in +English and other matters essential to the equipment for service among +these people, he took charge of this Negro congregation in 1867. He +immediately succeeded in securing the cooperation of the Negroes and +the respect of the community. He passed among them as a man of +Christian virtue and an apostle to the lowly. His following so rapidly +increased that it was soon necessary to add wooden buildings to the +original structure and to purchase additional property for a new +building in 1869. To finance these undertakings he had the cooperation +of Father Walters in St. Patrick's. + +The new structure, planned to cost about $100,000, was begun in 1874 +and completed and dedicated in the midst of impressive ceremonies in +1876. At first it was thought best to place this church under the +patronage of the Blessed Martin de Porrers. According to the +regulation of the church law, however, whereas a chapel could be +designated in honor of an ecclesiastic, a parish church could not be +thus dedicated, but must be named for one of the Saints. It was then +decided to name it for St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa. Upon +the completion of this structure the Negro Catholic congregation was +given a new standing in the community and in the United States. + +In 1881 the death of Father Barroti marked an epoch in the history of +this church. For some time there was serious doubt as to how the +congregation could secure the services of some one so well equipped as +this sacrificing churchman. Fortunately, however, the zealous Fathers +of St. Joseph, an order established in England for the special benefit +of the Negroes, came to take up the task. Thoroughly devoted to their +work and believing in the uplift of the Negroes to a plane of equality +with the whites, these Fathers caused the white Catholics much trouble +by imposing upon those visiting St. Augustine's the same restrictions +that some of the Catholic churches after the Civil War began to impose +upon Negroes worshipping elsewhere. Chief among these may be mentioned +Fathers Michael J. Walsh as rector, with Father Girard Wiersma and +Father Francis P. Kerrick as associate pastors. Later he had such +assistants as Father Burke and Father Hohlman. The successor of Father +Walsh was the Rev. Paul Griffith, with Father G. A. Dougherty as +assistant and later an additional assistant in the person of the Rev. +Father H. Bischoff. Father Olds succeeded Father Griffith, having as +his assistant Father O'Connor and Father Mihm. As the church had the +cooperation of Archbishop Spaulding in his day, it was similarly +assisted by Archbishop Baily and especially so by Archbishop Gibbons, +later Cardinal. Among the teachers who made possible the increasing +membership by their valuable work in the parochial school of the +church should be mentioned Miss Mary Smith, later Mrs. W. F. Benjamin, +Mr. Ambrose Queen, and Miss Eliza Ann Cook.[46] + +Negro Catholics living in East Washington and worshippers at St. +Peter's and St. Joseph's churches, desirous of having a church of +their own, were responsive to the labors of Father James R. Matthews, +assistant pastor of St. Peter's. He was a native of Johnstown, +Pennsylvania, had studied at St. Charles College and St. Mary's +Seminary in the diocese of Maryland, and was ordained a priest in +1886. He worked so assiduously and energetically for the new +congregation here at Washington, which was then known as St. +Benedict's, that a site for their building was purchased on the corner +of 13th and C Streets, Southeast, about the middle of April, 1893. The +work of excavation was begun on the last day of July and the corner +stone was laid on the 24th of September of that year. Less than eight +months afterward the church was complete and ready for public worship. +An imposing parade, participated in by uniformed white and Negro +Catholic societies of Baltimore and Washington, was a feature of the +occasion. Cardinal Gibbons dedicated the Church as St. Cyprian.[47] + + JOHN W. CROMWELL + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This dissertation was written from facts obtained from these +churches and their pastors and verified by reference to books and +newspapers. The most important source was the _Special Report of the +U. S. Commissioner of Education on the Schools of the District of +Columbia_, pp. 197 _et seq._ + +[2] _Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Education on +the Schools of the District of Columbia_, pp. 195-197. + +[3] _Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Education on +the Schools of the District of Columbia._ + +[3a] After the Civil War "Little Ebenezer" entered upon a new career. +The white pastors who up to this time had been serving this +congregation were replaced by ministers of color, the first one being +Noah Jones. About 1874 the property of the church was transferred from +the white church to the local organization. Placed upon this +advantageous basis, the success of this congregation soon entitled +that church to rank among the leading Negro churches of the city. C. +G. Keyes built the first church edifice. Under C. G. Walker, who came +later, there were added so many more new members that a new building +was necessary to accommodate the congregation. Then came W. H. Draper, +Alexander Dennis, and finally Dr. M. W. Clair. Using the plans devised +by Dr. M. W. Clair, now Bishop of the M. E. Church, John H. Griffin +built the edifice which is today used by the Ebenezer Church. This +church was later served by W. T. Harris, E. W. S. Peck, and more +recently by the efficient S. H. Brown and W. H. Dean, who did much to +promote the religious life and expand the work of the present +flourishing congregation now under the direction of J. W. Waters. + +[4] From records preserved by Miss H. H. Beason. + +[5] The time for radical changes was approaching when the political +discussions of the time were affecting Washington and all elements of +its population. It was not until the Civil War was in its third year +that Mt. Zion felt the change, and this was by the organization of the +Washington Annual M. E. Conference in 1864. Had it not been effected +at this time, it is doubtful if the M. E. Church would have been able +to make much headway in Virginia with the Negro members who up to that +time were counted a part of the M. E. South, worshipping in the same +edifice as the whites and under such conditions as to give rise to +little or no friction. The Civil War was in its last year, and there +had been no opportunity before this time for the M. E. Church to +secure Negro members to any extent. The A. M. E. Church, moreover, had +already got a foothold in Norfolk and Portsmouth where the Union +armies had triumphed, as early as 1862, and in 1865 the A. M. E. Zion +Church secured a large following with valuable property in Petersburg. + +Bishop Levi Scott, who organized the Washington Conference, was not +concerned primarily for such churches in Baltimore as Sharp Street, +Asbury, and Mt. Zion in Washington, but he was looking beyond the +Potomac. At any rate he organized with four members and in 1864 sent +to Mt. Zion Rev. John H. Brice, who thus became their first Negro +pastor. Mt. Zion then had a membership of 317. Rev. Mr. Brice was +reappointed in 1865. He was succeeded in 1866 by Rev. N. W. Carroll, +whose career as an aggressive minister is that of one of the very +first in his denomination. Rev. Mr. Carroll served three years and was +an elder when his successor, Rev. Henry R. Elbert, was appointed in +1869. + +Following Mr. Elbert came Rev. G. T. Pinkney, under whose +administration the planning of a new structure first took form, and +$1,500 for the purpose was deposited in the Freedmen's Bank. Rev. Mr. +Pinkney was succeeded by Rev. George Lewis, who raised $1,600 for the +building fund. Then came the Rev. Benjamin Brown, one of the useful +pastors of the Negro church, a man whose reputation was coextensive +with the confines of the Washington Conference, which at that time +included Virginia and West Virginia as well as Maryland and the +District of Columbia. + +The desire for a new edifice increased, and the people contributed +liberally. At the time of the suspension of the Freedmen's Bank in +1874 the church had on deposit $2,500. The effect of the failure of +the bank was most disastrous. There was a cessation of effort for a +time, but under the magnetic and masterly leadership of Rev. Mr. Brown +the people rallied, and $624 was collected in one day toward the new +building. The time had come for a forward movement. The members were +called together March 24, 1875. The question of rebuilding was +discussed thoroughly and with but ten dissenting votes the proposition +was endorsed and the trustees, thus empowered, undertook the purchase +of a lot on Twenty-ninth Street, between Dunbarton and O Streets, from +Mr. Alfred Pope, one of their number, for $25. + +The work on the new edifice was begun. Meanwhile Rev. Mr. Brown was +reappointed and the cornerstone was laid, the ceremony being performed +by the Good Samaritans. Then came Rev. R. A. Read, who subsequently +became pastor at Asbury. Rev. James Dansbury followed Mr. Brown and +gave a good account of himself. In 1880 Rev. James D. S. Hall, an +eloquent preacher, who had done very creditable work in different +parts of the country and who had served successfully in the A. M. E. +Church as well as in the M. E. Conferences, was appointed. His +appointment was the signal for new life. The cornerstone was relaid, +this time under the authority of the Masons. The next morning the +building when only five feet high was discovered on fire. +Dissatisfaction crept in the flock, lawsuits followed, and there was +formed a separate A. M. E. body, with Rev. James T. Morris as its +first pastor. Mt. Zion kept on nevertheless, and the first services +were held in the new structure October 30, 1880, although the building +was without roof or plaster. The subsequent history of Mt. Zion until +the close of the nineteenth century was notable for its steady +progress. + +[6] In 1869 a bill passed both houses of Congress to transfer the +authority of the separate management of the Negro schools to the white +board. The colored people became alarmed. Israel Church opened its +doors for a mass meeting and under the leadership of John F. Cook a +strong protest against the legislation was voiced. The other churches +were asked to follow and endorse the stand taken at Israel. They did +so; the President, Andrew Johnson, refused to sign the bill and the +schools remained intact under Negro management until 1900. + +[7] Israel was the church above all which made itself an example for +other independent churches in Washington. Mt. Zion in Georgetown had +been acting as an organized church since 1816. Until 1830, however, it +had no records. It had no Negro pastor for forty-eight years and no +trustees until 1866. + +[8] Payne, _History of the A. M. E. Church_, p. 38. + +[9] Some of the strongest men in that denomination were sent to +Israel. Charles Wesley Fitzhugh, Charles H. Phillips, R. S. Williams, +N. S. Cleaves, and S. B. Wallace were among the number. Phillips, +Williams, and Cleaves became bishops, while Dr. Wallace, who died +while pastor in 1895, was certainly one of the foremost pulpit orators +in any of the Negro churches, without exception, during the nineteenth +century. + +[10] From the records of this church. + +[11] At this time there were eighteen classes at the Asbury and a +membership of about 640. A financial report for the year ending March +30, 1850, shows receipts of $829.17-1/2. Ten years later the stewards' +financial report gives $798.01. At the dedication of Asbury in 1869 a +review of its history was given by Benjamin McCoy, who was the most +influential personage in the history of this church. He was a +colleague of John F. Cook, Sr. An extract from a report submitted by +him is very interesting, showing for the building the amount of the +debt of the old Asbury, $15,354.97, on which $11,610.97 was paid +Downing and Brothers, $3,744 to Rogers and Cissil, $1,257.48 paid to +Morsell and Dearing, leaving a balance of $2,486.52. + +[12] The order then follows: W. H. Waters, 1856; John J. Herbert, +1857; Michael F. Sluy, 1858; Alexander W. Wayman, 1859; Daniel W. +Moore, 1860-1861; James A. Handy, 1864 (6 weeks); James D. S. Hall, +1864, 1865; James A. Handy, 1866, 1867; Richard A. Hall, 1868, 1869; +Daniel P. Seaton, M.D., 1870, 1871; Daniel Draper, 1872, 1873; Richard +A. Hall, 1874; Joseph S. Thompson, 1875, 1876; George W. Brodie, 1877, +1878, 1879; Rev. John W. Stevenson, 1880, 1881. + +Union Bethel finally became the Metropolitan Church in 1881. James A. +Handy served in 1882, 1883, 1884; after which came Rev. George T. +Watkins, 1885; Theophilus G. Steward in 1886 and 1887, and John T. +Mitchell in 1888 and 1889. + +[13] The organization of the Bethel Literary and Historical +Association by Bishop Payne in the early autumn of 1881 was an event +worth chronicling because of its immediate influence on the individual +church, the community, the denomination and the entire country. For +twenty-five years the Bethel Literary in the fall and winter seasons +was recognized as an intellectual clearing house. In distant +communities the reflex influence was just as unmistakable because of +the newspapers, whose Washington correspondents did not fail to +register the utterances and the discussions which the Literary +occasioned. + +[14] Union Bethel became the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church by order of +the General Conference of 1872, affirmed by that of 1876 and +reaffirmed by its successor in 1880. + +The church building is 80 x 120 with a sub-basement for domestic +purposes and a basement above grade containing lecture, Sunday School, +library, and class rooms. The cost was $70,000 on ground, the assessed +valuation of which at the time of the erection of the edifice was +$25,000. The cornerstone was laid in 1881. The basement was opened for +divine worship November 8, 1885, and dedicated by Bishop A. W. Nayman, +Dr. J. A. Handy, Dr. B. W. Arnett, and Dr. G. T. Watkins, pastor. On +the completion of the main auditorium services were first held Sunday, +May 30, 1886. When dedication features extending one week took place, +John A. Simms, Andrew Twine, William Beckett, John Shorter, George C. +Brown, James Washington, Walter F. Hyson, George R. Dalley, and J. T. +Harris were the trustees. + +In 1886 the new edifice was dedicated with elaborate exercises. T. G. +Steward was the first pastor to serve in the new building. After an +administration of two years he was succeeded by Dr. John G. Mitchell. +John W. Beckett followed Dr. Mitchell in 1889 and remained three +years. In 1873 John T. Jenifer, who bears the distinction of being a +member of the first graduating class of Wilberforce University, was +appointed and served three years. He was succeeded in 1896 by John +Albert Johnson, who served a term of five years with unusual success. +Daniel J. Hill followed J. Albert Johnson and remained two years. +Oscar J. W. Scott, who followed in 1903, filled out three terms and +was serving his fourth when he received an appointment as Chaplain in +the 24th United States Infantry to succeed Chaplain T. G. Steward. +John H. Welch, named to succeed J. W. Scott, served two years and was +appointed for the third when he suddenly passed away to the intense +sorrow of his congregation. Dr. Isaac N. Ross began in 1909 an +incumbency of five years. + +In 1914 Dr. C. Harold Stepteau succeeded Dr. Ross and remained for +three years. Dr. Stepteau was succeeded in 1917 by Rev. Carlton M. +Tanner. He at once bent his efforts toward the reduction of the debt +which had handicapped the progress of the church for a generation. +Such was his success that within two years he accomplished what had +been regarded as an impossible task. The event was made an occasion +for great rejoicing, culminating in a thanksgiving service Monday +evening, January 27, 1919, which included among other features an +address by the pastor, Dr. Tanner, one by the presiding Bishop, John +Albert Johnson, and an original poem by Dr. Robert E. Ford. The most +spectacular number was the burning of the fourteen thousand dollar +mortgage deed in the presence of the vast audience, the taper being +applied by a committee of elderly members who had been connected with +the church for a score or more of years. + +[15] One has said that not long thereafter they employed as temporary +pastor the Rev. Mr. Nickens, whose coming being unacceptable to some +members of the congregation, caused about thirty to secede, organizing +a church by themselves. These seceding members were expelled and, as +the church property was deeded to the members of the church, there +ensued a controversy as to the title of the church, which for a number +of years was in litigation between the mother church and her +offspring. See the _Special Report of the United States Commissioner +of Education on the Schools of D. C._, 311. + +[16] During his school days Rev. Harvey Johnson of Baltimore was a +follower of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. + +[17] This account was given by the present pastor of this church, Dr. +W. H. Brooks. + +The deacons during Dr. Brooks's pastorate have included some of the +foremost men in the community. Such men are William Coke, who was a +deacon in 1840, John H. Beale, Nathaniel Gilmer, Henry Jarvis, Linsey +Muse, Albert Parker, William P. Pierre and William Syphax, while among +the trustees will be recalled Carter A. Stewart, Charles Lemos, David +Clark, William B. Brooks, W. A. Johnson, Edgar Ball and John H. +Hunter. Among the local churches either directly or indirectly +originated in the Nineteenth Street Church are the Vermont Avenue, the +Metropolitan, Berean, Pilgrim of Brentwood, Salem and Israel Baptist +Churches. + +[18] The following persons constituted the church: John F. Cook, David +Carroll, Jane Noland, Mary Ann Tilghman, Clement Talbert, Lydia +Williams, Elizabeth Carroll, Ann Brown, Charles Bruce, Basil Gutridge, +Clarissa Forest, John Madison, Catherine Madison, Ann Chew, Ruth +Smith, Emily Norris, Maria Newton, Alfred Cook and Eliza Stewart. + +[19] See F. J. Grimke's _Anniversary Address on the Occasion of the +Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian +Church_. + +[20] A statement verified by the present pastor, Dr. J. L. S. +Holloman. + +In 1883 Dr. William Bishop Johnson accepted the call to the pastorate +which, notwithstanding its nearly forty years of struggle, had been +reduced to a membership of less than one hundred. During Dr. Johnson's +pastorate a church edifice was erected in 1895 at a cost of $75,000, +one of the largest and most imposing in the city. An outstanding +feature of Dr. Johnson's administration was the organization of a +Sunday School Lyceum in 1885 which was one of the most popular +literary organizations in the Capitol, meeting Sunday afternoons, when +there were discussions of some foremost topic by representative +thinkers of both sexes and races. Notable among the presidents of the +Sunday School Lyceum were Mr. Jesse Lawson, Mr. R. D. Ruffin, and Mr. +R. W. Thompson, the newspaper correspondent. Johnson died in 1917 +mourned by the congregation and community as one of its leading +preachers. Through his administration of the affairs the church became +one of the best known throughout the country because of the organizing +abilities of the pastor and his unusual ability. In 1917 the church +called as pastor Dr. J. L. S. Holloman of Winton, North Carolina. +During his four years of service the church has been practically freed +of debt and has entered on a new era of progress. + +[21] The present building was erected about 1886, by Dr. R. H. G. +Dyson. The present pastor is Rev. H. J. Callis, who easily takes rank +in the city as one of its leading public-spirited influences. + +[22] This story is taken largely from records preserved by Mr. B. J. +Grant, one of the oldest members of this church. + +[23] At the present time this plot of ground is covered by the +Ebenezer A. M. E. Church. + +[24] Two years later they erected another story, which remained intact +until the church was sold. The remodeling and addition cost $1,100. +This property proved to be very valuable, as they decided after many +years to make it one of its most fashionable thoroughfares. Bought for +almost a pittance, this property had advanced in value to such an +extent that the business interests offered a high price for it and it +was sold. + +[25] A new edifice is being favorably considered to accommodate the +growing congregation. A building fund has been started for this +purpose. + +[26] This account was taken from the records of the Third Baptist +Church. + +[27] There were elected the following officers in 1885: W. C. Laws, +Joseph Jones, Henry Hughes, James H. West, Daniel Lewis, Moten Waites, +and Joseph Montgomery. P. H. Umbles officiated during the vacancy of +the pulpit occasioned by the death of Mr. Jefferson, which occurred in +October, 1885. + +On March 19 James H. Lee of New Bedford, who had formerly been +connected with the Third Baptist Church, was called to the pastorate. +He accepted and preached his inaugural sermon May 9 and was installed +on May 30. During the first seven years of his administration 242 +members were received by baptism, 49 by letter, 62 by experience, 59 +by restoration. In the same period 24 were dismissed by letter, 65 +excluded and 117 lost by deaths. A debt of $3,475.55 was paid during +this period including balance due on site. The collections aggregated +$28,729. + +[28] The following officers were then in charge: Deacons W. L. Laws, +Daniel Lewis, Joseph Jones, Joseph Montgomery, James H. West, Henry +Hughes, and Moten Waites; and Trustees Alexander Peyton, Henry C. +Bolden, William Reynolds, Ottowa Nichols, Richard Basey, George Duff +and Dennis Johnson. After the death of Rev. James H. Lee, Rev. Mr. +Bullock became the pastor. + +[29] James L. Pinn is the present pastor, having served since +September, 1916. + +[30] Records of the Shiloh Baptist Church. + +[31] About a year before the church was organized a number of +Baptists, who with their children afterward formed the church, met in +a little shanty situated at that time on the south side of L Street, +just across from the present church house, and under the direction of +J. McCleary Perkins, a white Union soldier, formed a Sunday School. +The members of this Sunday School were largely adults of African +descent, while the teachers were from both races. The Bible was the +book from which morals and religion were taught, and Webster's +blueback speller was the constant companion of children and parents +while they were learning to read the Word of God. James H. Payne +succeeded Mr. Perkins as Superintendent of this school, and six months +thereafter John M. Washington succeeded Payne. These two men +alternated as superintendents of this Sunday School for ten or twelve +years, and worked together faithfully until they succeeded in building +up a flourishing institution. + +[32] Those who were in the original company that founded the church +were Washington Whitlow, John J. Taylor, J. Mason Wilson, George +Armstead, Edward Brook, Clement Morgan, Henry Frazier, Henry D. +Payton, Griffin Saunders, Alfred Pendleton, James H. Payne, James G. +Semple, Jane Brown, Elizabeth Morgan, Annie Armstead, Lucy Davis and +Rev. William J. Walker. + +[33] The Moderator then informed the members of Shiloh that the +Council was ready to hear their statement, whereupon Henry Frazier, +the senior deacon of the newly formed church, gave a history of the +organization and prosperity of Shiloh Baptist Church in +Fredericksburg, from which the members forming the new church had +come. William J. Walker, who had been associated with the +Fredericksburg church for about twelve years, presented some +interesting facts, and added: "These brethren, who have been driven +from their homes and scattered among strangers, long to be gathered +into a church, that they may worship God unitedly as they formerly +did." Thereupon A. Rothwell offered the following resolutions which +were unanimously passed: + +"Resolved, That we recognize with devout gratitude the good hand of +our Heavenly Father, in delivering these, His children, from the +fetters of bondage, so that they may freely serve Him, and more +perfectly learn His Way, and we tender to them our cordial Christian +sympathies, as well as our prayers and our aid, in maintaining their +church organization. + +"Resolved, also, That we heartily approve the proposition of the +brethren to be recognized as a church, based upon the Christian +doctrines and principles which are the foundation of our denomination, +and that we will cheerfully cooperate in the services appropriate to +the recognition of the Shiloh Baptist Church of Washington, D. C." + +The following were the officers of the newly formed church: Deacons +Henry Frazier, Clement Morgan, James G. Semple, Edward Brook, James H. +Payne, Henry D. Payton and Alfred Pendleton; Trustees William J. +Walker, Edward Brook, John J. Taylor, James H. Payne, Griffin +Saunders, Washington Whitlow and Henry D. Payton; John J. Taylor, +church clerk, and J. McCleary Perkins, Superintendent of the Sunday +School. + +William J. Walker, the first pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, was a +native of Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was born of free parents and +was about 72 years of age at the time of his death, in 1889. He was a +printer by trade, and enjoyed considerable educational advantages for +the times in which he lived. He was a wise leader, an untiring worker, +and a faithful and able minister of the gospel. + +[34] This is a condensed account furnished Dr. J. M. Waldron. + +[35] These facts were obtained from the church records. + +[36] A statement verified by the present pastor. + +[36a] A statement made by the clerk of the church. + +[37] A statement made by a number of old members of the church. + +[38] The records of the church. + +[39] Their first meeting house was erected with a seating capacity of +300 at a cost of $800; the second, which would seat 500, cost $2,000. +With their more than 150 membership they raised $1,000 annually and +expended $850 on current expenses. + +[40] These are facts given by the officers of this church. + +[41] J. W. Parker, pastor of the E Street Baptist Church, was +moderator, and Lalmon Richards, of the North Baptist Church, was clerk +of this council. The organization consisted of twenty-two members, 10 +men and 12 women: James Storum, Wormley, White, Harrod, Denney, +Bailey, John Pierre Randolph, Rowe, Page, Mrs. Wormley, Mrs. Anderson, +widow of D. W. Anderson, Eliza Jackson, Mary Jackson, Thompson, +Pierre, Denney, White, Farley, Bailey and Watson. + +[42] This is an abridged statement verified by the church itself. + +[43] This is based on a statement made by this church. + +[44] This account is based on the records of this church. + +[45] These facts were obtained from the records of the church. + +[46] These facts as to Negro Catholics were taken from records in the +form of a church monthly newspaper in the possession of Dr. John F. +Smith. + +[47] The sermon was delivered by Dr. O'Gorman. The edifice is an +imposing structure of Potomac blue stone, granite basement with +trimmings of Baltimore County marble. A slate roof crowns the +building, the elevation to the apex of the roof being 56 feet. The +facade is broken at the corner with a square tower standing with its +top about 113 feet from the ground. Three wide doors open from the +street approached by ten stone steps so constructed as to make them +easy to ascend or descend. The church will seat 600 persons and cost +about $40,000. In connection with its religious activities St. +Cyprian's has a parochial school and academy located on 8th and D +Streets, five blocks west. This is the gift of one Miss Atkins, one of +the most thrifty of Negro women of the community, who had been a +student at St. Francis Academy in Baltimore. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + + THE EXPERIENCE OF A GEORGIA PEON--MY ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE[1] + + + It was on a faraway plantation, where the big bell rang out the + call to work, and the overseer shouted at the top of his voice, + "All in line." For twenty-seven years I was one among the groups + that must hearken to the call of the big bell. + + Some years ago the owners of these plantations agreed among + themselves to let the colored people have schools, with the + understanding that no one should be admitted as a pupil who was + old enough to work. So I found myself among those who had to + work. I hardly know how the thought came into my mind that I + wanted to go to school, for there was no talk of schools around + the fireside, but for some cause that I cannot explain I became + possessed with the longing for an education. I did not know what + for, but, with all my heart, I wanted to go to school. + + There were ten of us in our family, including our father. Our + mother departed into the beyond when we were very small. Our + father was an easy-going man. Any way would do for him. Whatever + _was_ was right. Whenever I told him that I wanted to go to + school he would answer, "You know what the boss says." But I + would reply, "Father, he can't _make_ me stay here." That was to + him a piece of foolishness and he would turn away and say nothing + more. At last I saw that I must do my own thinking and plan my + own way of leaving. For ten years school was my chief thought. + Every day I saw myself turning from the old plantation to what + was for me the land of freedom and opportunity. + + It was years before the opportunity came. One night I said to my + father, "I am going to leave on the first day of May if it costs + me my life." For the first time he seemed to realize that I was + in earnest. Then he said, "If you leave me you will travel in my + tears." That was a horrible thought to me so I did not leave then + nor until several more years had gone by, ten in all from the + time I first began to think about school. + + Finally, one night I said to him: "This is the third and last + time I shall tell you I want to go to school. You hindered me for + years by telling me that I would be travelling in your tears. + That will not answer any longer." When he saw that the blaze had + never died out he said: "My son, these may be right thoughts that + have come to your mind and their power may lead you to a good + end, yet they may be the ruin of you. I would rather follow you + to your grave than see you captured and brought back to be + punished by these hateful laws they have on these plantations. + God will change things after a time and then it may be you can go + to school in safety." I saw then that my poor father wanted me to + go to school but was afraid I would be punished if I did, as he + had known others to do. I said I was going to risk it anyway. As + the appointed time drew near he was very sorrowful. Never shall I + forget the night of parting. After he had pronounced a + benedirection upon me he said: "May you ever be happy." + + I had really started upon my journey. I had a sack of gingerbread + which I did not want to bother with but that my dear sisters + persuaded me to carry with me. When daylight appeared I knew it + would not be safe to keep the road so I planned out a road of my + own. When I came to the spring into which Ponce de Leon had + plunged to regain his lost youth I sat down and ate all the bread + I could and left the rest. How often afterwards I wished for it! + + Not long after I left Ponce de Leon spring I heard the plantation + dogs coming after me. "What shall I do now?" was the question. + When they had nearly reached me I hid behind a tree and then + dashed off as if I saw game ahead. They soon recognized me and + became my fast friends. + + We slept in the same bed under the same guardian stars. Every + night I would thank God for their voiceless sympathy. I shared my + meals with them. When I bought crackers I would eat but a few of + them and give the rest to my dumb companions. But I saw at last + that I must get rid of the poor creatures somehow, although the + thought almost broke my heart. When I reached the Mississippi I + lashed two logs together and sent my companions out hunting. Then + I sailed away on the raft I had made across the Father of Waters. + When they returned I looked back and saw them running alongside + of the river where they could see me, willing to die with me. I + broke down in tears and could not look back any more, because I + would have gone back and died with them. + + For hundreds of miles I made a path where no human foot had ever + trod. I swam rivers and made harbors where no boat had ever + landed. At last I reached Texas. For many days I travelled + without seeing any house. At night I was afraid of being + destroyed by some wild beast, so I would climb a tree and stay + awake until morning. But none of these things moved me for I had + ten years' study of my journey and whatever it might bring, even + death. Coming to a little town I found work with one of my race. + I thought all colored people were like those on the plantation so + I told my employer everything and from what plantation I came. He + said I had taken the right step. Imagine my surprise therefore + when I discovered that I was captured! It almost broke my heart. + Rather than go back to the old plantation I would suffer death. I + pulled away from my captors and ran with all my might. My + pretended friend was ahead trying to overtake me but I soon freed + myself in a large swamp. This taught me a lesson I did not have + to go to school to learn, I found out that some among my own race + would put me to death for a dollar and I learned to keep my mouth + shut. + + When I reached Chattanooga, the nights were so cold I saw I could + no longer lie out. For many months I had not slept in a bed, nor + eaten a cooked meal. My clothes were those I wore away from home + and they were what you can imagine they would be. I did not know + how to go about getting a job. Finally I found a good place and + before long was earning enough to make me comfortable. But one + day when I was out in town I saw a drummer who had sold goods to + the store on our plantation, for many years. He recognized me and + called out, "The boss is going to break your head, nigger, if he + gets you!" This ended my happy home. I had not yet learned to get + on a train but with my same dependence I soon ran away to + Knoxville. Writing to a certain place from there I learned of my + father's death. These were dark days for me. I was strolling + about in the cold world without home or friends. I would often + ask myself, "What am I living for when there is no heart beating + for me?" I began to drift with the current and even thought I + would take to drinking. Then the thought came to me that I would + be a coward to come so far and then give up. I arose with this + thought and determined to act like a man. I entered school in + Morristown Tenn., thinking that all my troubles were over. I made + low grade with small children. It seemed funny to them to see a + man who knew so little. I was there about four months and was + beginning to lose my fear when one day I saw the same drummer + again. When he caught sight of me he called out, "Hello, nigger, + I thought you were in New York!" Never will sinner tremble in the + presence of the Almighty as I did in the presence of that + drummer. But he seemed only delighted in spending some time + talking with me. He said one of my sisters and several other + hands from the plantation had run away and the boss thought I was + the cause of it all, and, he added, "If that old man gets his + hand on you, they'll take you some night and skin you alive. I + told him I saw you in Chattanooga and he said he would make me a + present of $200 if I would let him know where you were if I + should see you again. But I would not do you that way for + anything. I'll tell you what I will do for you, however. I'll get + you a good job up North where you can go to school. I would not + stop here." I replied "All RIGHT!" As he was going away he threw + me a quarter saying, "Get you a drink, old boy!" I lifted my hat + and scraped back my foot as I thanked him for the money. But I + was not so easily fooled at that time. I knew just what such + sweet talk meant. I saw that it was my move. I had learned then + to get on the train. I left Morristown that night and next + morning was in Lexington. Being afraid to stay I went to + Wilberforce, Ohio, then to Frankfort but finally came back to + Lexington again. By that time I had found out that my boss could + not carry me back to the plantation, as its laws were not so + large in the world as I had thought. I found out that if I + violated the laws of the State I could not be carried back + without the consent of the Governor of Kentucky. I entered + Chandler School without money but happy. For the first time I + wrote to my old Miss telling her I was in Lexington in Chandler + School. She answered with sweet words about my going to school, + and said the boss had spoken kind things about me before he + passed away. + + The kind teachers of Chandler did their best to unfold those + twenty-seven years of ignorance. I had almost to bite the dust to + stay in school but I stayed there. I have studied many days + hungry--walking the streets afternoons trying to find work for a + little to eat. + + Since I have been in Lexington I have often been asked, "What do + you want with so much education?" Out of those same lips I have + heard other students praised for going to school. I did not let + this discourage me. Dr. J. E. Hunter, Rev. E. A. Clarke, and + Kelly Robinson will ever have my heart-felt gratitude for the + kind words of encouragement they gave me. We little realize what + a word of encouragement means to one who has lived the life I + have. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This narrative was obtained by the editor. It relates an incident +which took place between Wrightsville and Dublin, Georgia, in 1903. +There is abundant evidence that many other cases of this have been and +may be found in the United States. + + + + +COMMUNICATIONS + + +This letter contains at least one important fact showing the +development of racial relations in the United States since the +establishment of the independence of this country. + + + February 8, 1916. + + MR. C. G. WOODSON, + EDITOR, THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF NEGRO + LIFE AND HISTORY, + 2223 12th St., NW., + Washington, D. C. + + _Sir_: + + Referring to your letter of the 4th instant, in which you express + a desire to be furnished with information showing the number of + negro soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War, their names, + if possible, and some information concerning the regiments in + which they served, and in which letter you also make inquiry as + to whether such records are accessible to some member of your + staff for making the necessary research, I am directed by the + Secretary of War to inform you as follows: + + A cursory examination of the Revolutionary War records on file in + this Department has resulted in the discovery of information here + and there concerning the services of colored men in that war, but + there is no index indicating where records of such services may + be found and in order to ascertain data showing the names, + organizations and numbers of such colored men it would be + necessary to make an extended search of the entire collection of + Revolutionary War records in the custody of this Department. Even + after making such an extended search the results would be + doubtful because the War Department records afford but little + information showing whether Revolutionary War soldiers were white + or colored. + + No attempt has ever been made by the War Department to compile + information regarding the numbers or names of colored men in the + Revolutionary War or the designations of the organizations to + which they belonged, and owing to the limited clerical force + allowed by law, the Department cannot undertake any compilation, + which, as already explained, would in any event necessarily be + incomplete and unsatisfactory. + + Historical investigators of recognized standing are permitted to + have access to the War Department records under certain + conditions, but the Revolutionary War records have become so worn + and dilapidated by reason of lapse of time and long use thereof + that access thereto is permitted only under exceptional + circumstances. Inasmuch as those records are very incomplete and + afford scarcely any information bearing upon the subject in + question it is not seen that any useful purpose can be served by + granting permission to search those records for the data desired. + + Many of the States that had troops in the Revolutionary War have + published rosters of such troops. These rosters can probably be + readily consulted in the Congressional Library, and it is + believed that they afford the most promising source for obtaining + the information sought + + Very respectfully, + H. T. MCCAIN, + _The Adjutant General_ + + +The following sent out some time ago under the frank of Congressman +Goldfogle may have some historic value: + + When the Jamestown Exposition Bill was under consideration by the + Committee on Industrial Arts and Expositions of the House of + Representatives, at Washington, Congressman Henry M. Goldfogle, + of New York, a member of the committee, took a very keen and + lively interest in securing an appropriation of a hundred + thousand dollars for a Negro exhibit. + + On the day the Committee finally revised the bill and voted on + it, Congressman Goldfogle was suffering intensely from + carbuncles, and was about to undergo a surgical operation. + Despite this, he went to the committee meeting, and there moved + the insertion of the provision for the appropriation for a Negro + exhibit. + + Some members of the committee who were not favorable to the + project and others who were quite indifferent to it urged the + Congressman to allow the matter to remain in abeyance, saying + that it might be taken up at some future time. Judge Goldfogle, + however, insisted there was no time like the present and that the + colored men and women of the country ought to have an opportunity + to show through means of the proposed exhibit the remarkable + progress that they had made since the days when they emerged from + slavery. In the course of his remarks to the Committee, he said + that he came of a race that had been oppressed and which + centuries ago had been in slavery, and that had he lived forty + years after the children of Israel had passed out of the house of + bondage, he would have been thankful and grateful had anyone + given his people an opportunity to show the progress they had + made as free men. + + Congressman Goldfogle called attention to the testimony that had + been given during the hearings before the Committee of the great + advancement made by the colored people in every avenue of life + from the time of their emancipation, and the credit that was due + to many of the men and women of the Negro race who had shown + themselves worthy of the freedom that happily this country + accorded them. + + After quite a spirited debate, in which Judge Goldfogle warmly + espoused the cause of the colored man, the Committee, by a + majority of one vote, inserted the appropriation provision; and + thus, mainly through the efforts of this New York Congressman, + who has not a single colored vote in his district, the Negro + exhibit was established at the Jamestown Exposition. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + + _A Social History of the American Negro._ By BENJAMIN BRAWLEY. + Macmillan Company, New York, 1921. Pp. 420. + +As Negro history has been so long neglected, it will require some time +to develop in this field the necessary standard to secure a +distinction between the significant and insignificant and between +truth and fiction. On account of the emphasis which has been recently +given to this study, many novices lacking especially the historical +point of view have entered this field because it is so productive that +it is an easy task to write a work therein. Benjamin Brawley whose +chief preparation and efforts have been restricted to English is one +of these novices. Among his first efforts were _A Short History of the +American Negro_ and _The Negro in Literature and Art_. In neither of +these works does he exhibit the knowledge required by the standards of +present day historiography. This more recent work although more +extensive than the others has no better claim to its being called +history. + +There can be no question as to many valuable facts contained in this +work, but it lacks proportion, style, and accuracy. The book begins +with a study of African origins based largely on Wiener's _Africa and +the Discovery of America_ and upon Lady Lugard's _Tropical +Dependency_. He next takes up the Negro in the Spanish exploration but +has little or nothing to say about the Negroes in connection with +other explorers. His treatment of the development of the slave trade +and of the introduction of slavery shows a slightly improved +conception of his task. In his discussion of the Negroes in the +colonies, into which he works servitude and slavery, the Indian, the +mulatto, the free Negro, and efforts for social betterment, he +presents a veritable hodgepodge. Passing then to the study of the +estrangement from Great Britain, the participation of the Negro in the +Revolutionary War, and the effect of that movement upon the Negro's +social and political situation, he exhibits no scientific grasp of the +status of the Negroes during the eighteenth century or of what they +were thinking and doing. The treatment of the new West, the South, and +the West Indies, which follows this portion of the book is merely +certain generalizations which may be obtained from an average +knowledge of American history and from such topical discussions of the +Negro history as may be found in B.A. Johnson's _History of the Negro +Race_ or in John W. Cromwell's _The Negro in American History_. In his +discussion of the Indian and the Negro there is an effort which serves +to direct attention to a neglected aspect of our history, that is, to +figure out the extent to which the races were associated and the race +admixture which resulted from such contact. + +Coming nearer to our day to take up the discussion of the Missouri +Compromise, the abolition agitation, and the constitutional debate on +slavery, Mr. Brawley shows his inability to develop his subject for he +merely draws a few facts first from one field and then from another to +fill out certain topics in the book without correlating them in such a +way that the reader may be able to interpret their meaning. He has +endeavored not to write a history but to summarize what other persons +are now publishing as selected topics in this field. In other words, +he has added to the unscientific history of the Negro, which has +hitherto appeared in the so-called text books on Negro history, facts +culled from various sources but so improperly used as not to develop +the subject. + +The chapter on Liberia should have been incorporated into the +treatment of colonization or made a supplementary chapter in the +appendix of the book. Placed in the middle of the work, it has been +necessary to repeat certain facts which could have been stated +elsewhere once for all. The same is true of his treatment of the Negro +as a national issue, and of social progress, which he takes up the +second time as topics inadequately developed in the earlier stages of +the treatise. In his discussion of the Civil War, the Emancipation, +the Reconstruction, and the Negro in the new South, he says very +little which is new. Under the caption _The Vale of Tears_, he drifts +almost altogether into opinion as he does also in the case of the +_Negro in the New Age_ and the _Negro Problem_. Judging, then, from +the point of view of an historian, one must conclude that this work +does not meet any particular want and that so far as the history of +the Negro is concerned the publication of it will hardly result in any +definite good. Mr. Brawley does not know history. + + + _William Lloyd Garrison._ By JOHN JAY CHAPMAN. Moffat, Yard and + Company, New York, 1913. Pp. 278. + +This is a revised edition of a work of a similar name by this author, +published in 1913 by Moffat, Yard and Company, New York. After having +written the first edition the author made further investigation and +had other reflections which led him to think and to see things from a +different angle. He was impressed, moreover, with the fact that, being +now further removed from the Civil War, persons have learned to think +more seriously with regard thereto and to consider the value of the +deeds of the participants therein in a more sympathetic manner. This +work, however, has not been so very much enlarged; for it has only +eighteen pages more, but unlike the first edition it has an index. +Hoping, however, to give the subject of this sketch a larger place in +American history and to popularize the story of his career this +revised edition has been given to the public. + +The work is not set forth as a scientific study. It is rather an +abridged account which may be read without much difficulty by the +average student in quest of concise opinion concerning one of the most +important American characters figuring in that great crisis between +1830 and 1860. On reading this work, one receives the impression that +the author has done his task very well. It borders somewhat on hero +worship, however, as is evident from the use of the following +language: "If one could see a mystical presentation of the epoch, one +would see Garrison as a Titan, turning a giant grindstone or +electrical power-wheel, from which radiated vibrations in larger and +in ever larger, more communicative circles and spheres of agitation, +till there was not a man, woman, or child in America who was not a +tremble." He says further: "We know, of course, that the source of +these radiations was not in Garrison. They came from the infinite and +passed out into the infinite. Had there been no Garrison they would +somehow have arrived and at some time would have prevailed. But +historically speaking they did actually pass through Garrison: he +vitalized and permanently changed this nation as much as one man ever +did the same for any nation in the history of the world." + +The book gives a good background and then dramatically stages Garrison +as a striking figure. Next follows a dramatic presentation of the +antislavery struggle with pen pictures of the participants. The story +finally reaches the crisis when Garrison stood as a central figure. +The work contains a retrospect and a prospect, an excellent account of +the man in action, the Rynders Mob, Garrison and Emerson, and foreign +influence. The story closes with a summary and an impressive epilogue. +Although not a scientific treatise it certainly furnishes stimulus to +further study, and when a student thus interested has read it, he +will desire to study one of the larger biographies of this +distinguished man. + + + _The Education of the South African Native._ By CHARLES T. LORAM. + Longmans, Green and Company, London, 1917. Pp. 340. + +This is a treatise written by a South African brought up among the +natives. He was once a Fellow in Teachers College of Columbia +University. At the time of writing this book he was serving as an +inspector of schools in Natal. The study, however, was undertaken as a +doctoral dissertation at Columbia. + +Observing the shortcomings of writers on Africa, this author endeavors +to make a step ahead of them. He feels that they have dealt too much +with ethnology, and with the descriptions of customs and habits. He +does not think very much of the books primarily devoted to a +discussion of the conflicting opinions on craniology and psychology of +the natives. Taking up his own chosen task, however, he found it +rather difficult because the government has had no definite policy of +native education, and when there has been a policy among the four +important South African governments there does not appear to be any +uniformity of effort. No one, moreover, has undertaken to give the +problem of the uplift of the natives adequate treatment. + +The author desired to make his work scientific but it appears that he +had not prosecuted this study very far before he found that important +facts were lacking and that in making his conclusions and suggestions +he would have to rely upon faith that what he may surmise may in the +future prove to be true, although some modification may be necessary. +Taking up this problem of education, however, he made use of the +reports of the government departments, reports of school officials, +books, pamphlets, articles in periodicals, statistical and +experimental investigations, personal experience, and the experiences +of his colleagues. While the work for the lack of some scientific +treatise blazing the way suffered from so many handicaps that it could +not be thoroughly scientific, it is the nearest approach to it and +must be considered the best authority in this field until superseded. + +The work begins with a consideration of such scientific topics as race +contact in its larger aspects, the native problem and its proposed +solution, serving as a sort of introduction to the essential portion +of the work. The chief value of the book lies in its consideration of +why the natives should be educated, the early missionary enterprises, +the present status, elementary, industrial and higher education of the +natives, a comparison of the achievements of native education with +that of European, the basis for reconstruction of the native system, +the educational budget, and proposed changes. + +The work is generally readable but grows a little dull in certain +statistical portions. The table of contents is detailed, but the book +could have been considerably improved had an index been added. On the +whole, the volume is a justification of some change in the political +status of the Negro for the good of all. South Africa cannot in its +own interest neglect the uplift of the natives, if it would promote +the social and economic progress of the whole group. The one element +cannot be elevated or kept up while the other is being held down. +Persons interested in education of belated peoples and in the +missionary enterprises should avail themselves of this volume. + + + _From Slave to Citizen._ By CHARLES M. MELDEN. The Methodist Book + Concern, New York and Cincinnati, 1921. Pp. 271. + +This is a work written by one who has spent sixteen years as an +educator of Negroes in the South. His experience there was sufficient +for him to learn the Negro and his needs and he writes in the vein of +one speaking as having authority. Because of his long service among +the Negroes, the author has doubtless caught the viewpoint of the +aspiring members of the race. He aims, therefore, to present the +Negro's claim for recognition as a man, as a member of the human +family with the implied rights and privileges belonging to him. + +The book presents a definite program. It proceeds on the basis that, +in a democracy, citizenship with its duties and its privileges must in +the long run be recognized. He does not feel that democracy means the +wiping out of racial preferences but the recognition of racial gifts +and endowments. The author considers it an injustice to hold the Negro +to the standards of democracy without training him to meet the +responsibility. He considers it unfair to require every individual of +the race to reach a prescribed standard before any of that group shall +be recognized. It is, therefore, a plea for treating the Negroes as +individuals and not as a single group, for fair treatment will not +lead to amalgamation in as much as Christianity has not been known to +promote that. + +The chief remedy for the evils of racial conflict, according to the +author, is cooperation. This must be brought about through growth and +development from the contact of the two races on the higher plane of +Christian service. Men must learn to work together without +surrendering their fundamental connections. They must confer on all +matters pertaining to economic welfare. This means that the white man +must give the Negro a chance for initiative and leadership in the +program of cooperation rather than the eternal superimposed leadership +from without. In the language of Bishop W. P. Thirkield, who wrote the +introduction to this work: "The Negro must be offered not crutches but +a spirit of cooperation to make him strong that he may stand on his +feet and walk." + +It is evident then that this book is primarily concerned with the +solution of the race problem. Yet written by a man who for years lived +in the South, it presents a point of view which will be of value to +the historian. From such topics as citizenship, social and legal +discrimination, disfranchisement, and mob law, the historian will +learn much by observing how these things impressed this worker in the +South and his reaction on them. Valuable information may be obtained +also from the discussion of the work of the Christian teacher in the +South, the mission school, and the silent protest in the form of the +exodus. There are valuable statistics in the chapters presenting the +progress in education, advancement in wealth, achievement in social +uplift, attainments in literature and art, and the record of the +Negroes in the World War. The last part of the book concerned with the +currents and counter-currents, the grinding of the mills of the gods +and a possible modus vivendi will decidedly interest the social worker +but will not concern very much the student of history. On the whole, +however, this volume is a valuable historical document which the +student of Negro life must read to be well informed as to what the +Negro has been doing in the South during the last generation and what +others have been doing for him. + + + + +NOTES + + +The annual meeting of the Association, held at Lynchburg on the 14th +and 15th of November, was the most successful conference hitherto held +by this organization. The proceedings appear elsewhere in this number. + +At this meeting Prof. John R. Hawkins, for years a member of the +Executive Council, was elected President. A new Secretary-Treasurer, +Mr. S. W. Rutherford, was also elected. Mr. Rutherford is a well-known +business man in Washington. The Executive Council was reconstructed to +make it national. The following persons were added thereto: Bishop R. +A. Carter, R. R. Church, John W. Davis, Clement Richardson, and R. C. +Woods. Most of the former members of the Executive Council were +retained. + +The Associated Publishers, Incorporated, Washington, D. C., have +brought out C. G. Woodson's _History of the Negro Church_. A review of +this work will appear in the next number. Another work, the _Negro in +Our History_, will be published some time in March. + +_The Journal of Negro History_ has received for review Mason and +Furr's _With the Red Hand of France_, an account of a regiment of +Negro soldiers in France with the American Expeditionary Force. + +A group of intelligent Negroes in North Carolina have formed a state +historical society to preserve the records of the race in that +commonwealth. + +Dr. C. G. Woodson, the Director of the Association is now making a +study of slavery from the point of view of the slave himself. He has +sent out a searching questionnaire from which some results are being +obtained. He is also consulting local records and documents left by +slaves themselves and by those in a position to know their attitude +toward the institution. The cooperation of all interested in +unearthing the truth is earnestly solicited. + +Professor A. A. Taylor, of the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, is +now making a scientific study of the influence of the Negro +congressmen on the legislation of Congress and on the general policy +of the country. He will appreciate any facts which may not be covered +by the public documents and books available. + +Duffield and Company of Boston have published a new edition of +Benjamin Brawley's _The Negro in Literature and Art_. + + +PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF +NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY, HELD AT LYNCHBURG, NOVEMBER 14 AND 15, 1921 + + +The morning session of the annual meeting of the Association on the +14th at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College was called to +order by the Director, C. G. Woodson, who briefly traced the history +of the organization showing how it had gradually gained influence and +power and reached the position which it now occupies as a national +organization of concern to the people of both races throughout the +country. The Director then introduced Professor Charles H. Wesley of +Howard University, who delivered a most instructive and inspiring +address on the value of Negro History. After a few remarks by Dr. R. +C. Woods, a number of persons expressed their interest in the +Association by becoming members. + +At two o'clock in the evening, the business session of the Association +was held. From the Executive Council, there was presented a +recommendation for the following amendments to the constitution, +which, after some discussion, were adopted by the Association: + + That Article IV be amended so as to change "twelve" to + "fourteen," and to incorporate after the words "business + committee" therein the words "to fix salaries of employees." This + article would then read as follows: + + The Officers of this Association shall be a President, a + Secretary-Treasurer, a Director and Editor, and an Executive + Council, consisting of the three foregoing officers and fourteen + other members elected by the Association. The Association shall + have three trustees, who ex-officio shall be the President, + Secretary-Treasurer, and the Director and Editor. It shall also + appoint a Business Committee to fix salaries of employees, to + certify bills, and to advise the Director and Editor in matters + of administrative nature. These officers shall be elected by + ballot through the mail or at each annual meeting of the + Association. + + That Article V be amended so as to read as follows: + + The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association + and of the Executive Council. He shall be ex-officio a trustee of + the Association, a member of the Business Committee and a member + of all standing committees. He shall perform such other duties as + may be required of him from time to time by the Executive Council + or by the Association. + + In case of the absence of the President or his inability to act, + his duty shall be performed by the Secretary-Treasurer, who in + that event shall exercise any of the above mentioned powers of + the President. In case of the absence of both the President and + the Secretary-Treasurer, the duty of the President shall be + performed by the Director and Editor, who in that event shall + exercise any of the above mentioned powers of the President. + + The Secretary-Treasurer shall attend all meetings and keep a full + account of their proceedings in a book to be kept for that + purpose. He shall through his Assistant keep a full and accurate + account of receipts and disbursements of the Association in books + belonging to the Association and shall deposit all monies and + other valuable objects in the name of this Association in such + depositories or safety vaults as may be designated by the + Business Committee. He and his Assistant shall be required by the + Executive Council to give bond as the Executive Council may + designate. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be ex-officio a trustee + of the Association, and a member of the Business Committee. + + The Director and Editor shall be the executive of the Association + when it or the Executive Council is not in session. He shall + devise plans for the collection of documents, direct the studies + of members of the Association, and determine what matter shall be + published in the Journal of Negro History. He shall employ a + business manager and clerk, the last mentioned to serve also as + the Assistant to the Secretary-Treasurer. He may employ other + assistants for administrative work and upon the approval of the + Executive Council may employ specialists to prosecute the + research to be undertaken by the Association. The Director and + Editor shall be ex-officio a trustee of the Association, and a + member of all standing committees except the Business Committee. + + The Executive Council shall have charge of the general interests + of the Association, including the election of members of the + Association on recommendation of the Director, the calling of + meetings, the collection and the disposition of funds. + +The report of the Director was read and adopted as was also the report +of the Secretary-Treasurer, which was referred to an auditor. +Important extracts from these reports follow. + + The work of the Association has been successfully promoted. In + some respects the Association has merely maintained its former + status. Considered from another point of view, however, a decided + advance in several ways has been noted. In the fields in which + the work has advanced the progress has been so significant that + the year through which the Association has just passed has been + the most prosperous in its history. + + The subscription list of the Journal of Negro History does not + show a large increase for the reason that it became necessary + more than a year ago to raise the fee from one to two dollars a + year and the current stringency in the money market has borne so + heavily upon teachers, and students to whom this publication must + appeal, that they have been unable to give it more liberal + support. Among the subscribers and members, however, there has + been manifested a deep interest in the matter published and a + keen appreciation of its value in the uplift of the Negro. + + The membership of the Association for the same reason has about + remained the same as that of last year. The interest of the + members in the work and the value of the direction of the + Association to them, however, have both unusually increased. This + interest has culminated in the organization of clubs under the + supervision of the Director, who through them has been able to + give considerable stimulus to the work in remote parts of the + country. Among the clubs thus organized should be mentioned those + of San Antonio, Louisville, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, + Philadelphia, Brooklyn and New York. Classes doing the same work + under the instruction of teachers have been formed in most of the + accredited Negro secondary schools and colleges. The work of such + classes at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, the Virginia + Theological Seminary and College, Hampton Institute, Morehouse + College, Atlanta University, Paine College, Lincoln Institute in + Missouri, and the Kentucky State Normal School has been helpful + to the Association in its prosecution of the study of Negro life + and history. + + With the cooperation of these friends and through travel the + Director has been making a study of _Slavery from the Point of + View of the Slave_. This has been done through questionnaires + filled out by ex-slaves and former masters, through the + collection of documents, and the study of local records. This + study, however, is just beginning and will require much more time + for completion. The Director expects to finish at an earlier date + his studies of the _Free Negro_ and the _Development of the Negro + in the Occupations_. + + The most significant achievement of the Association has been the + success of the Director in increasing the income of the + Association to about $12,000 a year. This substantial uplift has + come in part from a large number of Negroes, who now more than + ever appreciate the value of their records and the importance of + popularizing the study thereof. A large number of Negroes have + made small contributions and as many as forty have given the + Association $25 each this year. Through the strong endorsement of + Dr. J. F. Jameson and other noted historical scholars the + Director secured from the Carnegie Corporation the much needed + appropriation of $5,000 a year for each of the next five years. + With this income the Association has paid all of its debts except + that of the bonus of $1,200 a year promised the Director for + 1919-1920 and 1920-1921. Besides, the Association has been + enabled to employ a Business Manager and to pay the Director a + regular salary that as soon as practicable he may sever his + connection with all work and devote all of his time to the + prosecution of the study of Negro Life and History. + +The details as to how the funds thus raised have been expended appear +in the following report of the Secretary-Treasurer: + + + November 12, 1921. + + _The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, + Washington, D. C._ + + _Gentlemen:_ I hereby submit to you a statement of the amount of + money received and expended by the Association for the Study of + Negro Life and History, Incorporated, from September 30, 1920, to + November 12, 1921. + + + RECEIPTS EXPENDITURES + + Subscriptions $913.96 Printing and Stationery $5,731.53 + Memberships 126.00 Petty Cash 709.90 + Contributions 8,239.50 Stenographic Service 1,134.60 + Advertisements 255.15 Rent and Light 438.61 + Rent and Light 198.61 Miscellaneous 86.10 + Books 75.40 Salaries 1,225.00 + Traveling Expenses 77.21 + -------- -------- + Total $9,808.62 Total $9402.95 + + Balance on hand Balance on hand November + Sept. 30, 1920. 48.86 12, 1921 454.53 + --------- ------- + $9,857.48 $9,857.48 + + Respectfully submitted, + Secretary-Treasurer. + + +Upon the recommendation of the committee on nominations the officers +of the Association were, in keeping with the custom of this body, +elected by a motion to the effect that the Acting Secretary be +instructed to cast the unanimous ballot of the Association, for those +recommended by the committee on nominations, that is, for John R. +Hawkins as President, for S. W. Rutherford as Secretary-Treasurer, for +C. G. Woodson as Director and Editor, and as members of the Executive +Council the three foregoing officers together with Julius Rosenwald, +George Foster Peabody, James H. Dillard, Bishop R. A. Carter, R. R. +Church, Albert Bushnell Hart, John W. Davis, Bishop John R. Hurst, A. +L. Jackson, Moorfield Storey, Bishop R. E. Jones, Channing H. Tobias, +Clement Richardson, and R. C. Woods. + +The evening session of the 14th was held at the Eighth Street Baptist +Church where were assembled a considerable representation of the +members of the Association and a large number of persons seeking to +learn of the work and to profit by the discussion of the Association. +Dr. R. C. Woods, President of the Virginia Theological Seminary and +College, presided. The first speaker of the evening, Dr. W. H. Stokes +of Richmond, Virginia, delivered a well-prepared and instructive +address on the value of tradition. His aim was to encourage the Negro +race and other persons interested in its uplift to do more for the +preservation and study of its records. The next speaker of the evening +was Professor J. R. Hawkins, Financial Secretary of the African +Methodist Episcopal Church. He delivered a very forceful and informing +discourse on the history of the Negro Church. How the church has +figured in the life of the Negro; how it has been effective in +promoting the progress of the race; and what it is doing to-day to +present the case of the Negro to the world and offer him opportunities +in other fields were all emphasized throughout this address. Dr. R. T. +Kerlin, former Professor at the Virginia Military Institute, was then +introduced. He briefly spoke about the importance of acquainting the +white race with the achievements of the Negro, and showed that his +task was not, therefore, to appeal to the Negroes, themselves, but to +the white people, who too often misunderstand them. + +The morning session of the 15th at the Virginia Theological Seminary +and College was called to order by the newly elected President, Prof. +John R. Hawkins. The Director, Dr. C. G. Woodson, was then introduced. +He showed how the Negro is a menace to the position of the white man +in trying to maintain racial superiority. The significant achievements +of the Negro in Africa and this country were passed in rapid review to +show how untenable this position of the white man is and how unlikely +it can continue in view of the fact that the Negro is accomplishing +more now than ever before in the history of the race. Professor John +R. Hawkins then delivered a brief address showing how the development +of the schools and the maintenance of the proper school spirit through +teachers and students can be made effective in the social uplift of +the race. President Trigg of Bennet College then followed with +impressive remarks expressing his interest in the cause and his +confidence in those who are now doing so much to preserve the records +of the Negro and to popularize the study of them throughout this +country and abroad. + +There was no afternoon session of the Association except a brief +meeting of the Executive Council, to which the public was not invited. +The conference closed with the evening session at the Eighth Street +Baptist Church, where a large audience was addressed by Dr. I. E. +McDougle, of Sweet Briar College, Dr. E. Crooks, of Randolph-Macon +College, and Professor Bernard Tyrrell of the Virginia Theological +Seminary and College. Dr. McDougle briefly discussed Negro history as +a neglected field, showing that it is generally unexplored, and +introducing an abundance of material which may be discovered with +little effort. He spoke, moreover, of Negro History as a neglected +subject, giving statistical information as to the places where the +subject is now being taught and the manner in which such instruction +is offered. Dr. Crooks spoke for a few minutes on self-respect as a +means by which the race may develop power. He unfortunately, however, +drifted into a discussion of certain phases of the race problem and +disgusted his audience by advancing ideas with which, as he was +informed, Negroes cannot agree. Professor Tyrrell then delivered a +scholarly address on Negro ancestry and brought forward from his study +of ancient history and especially that of Africa, facts showing that +the Negro race has made a record of which it may well feel proud. He +explained, moreover, how historians since the early days have become +prejudiced against the proper treatment of the achievements of +Africans and have endeavored to convince the world that the record of +the race is not significant. + +This meeting on the whole was a success, above and beyond that of any +other hitherto held. The attendance was large, the enthusiasm ran +higher, and the financial support secured far exceeded that of other +meetings. There was expressed a general interest in the plans for the +future prosecution of the work and the intention to give it more +support that it may be extended in all of its ramifications throughout +this country and even abroad. + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. VII--APRIL, 1922--NO. 2 + + + + +NEGRO CONGRESSMEN A GENERATION AFTER + + +The period of reconstruction which followed the Civil War presented to +the statesmen of that time three problems of unusual significance. +These were: what should be the status of the eleven Confederate +States; what should be done with the leaders of the Confederacy; and +finally, what should be the role to be played by the several millions +of freedmen? In the effort to deal effectively with these problems the +Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses adopted a reconstruction policy +which provided for the readmission of the formerly rebellious States +to the Union, the imposition of political disabilities upon many +former Confederates, and the bestowal of citizenship and suffrage upon +the freedmen. Upon the enlarged electorate the reconstruction of the +States was undertaken. + +That the freedmen, comprising in many communities a preponderance of +voting power, should elect to public office ambitious outstanding men +of their race was expected. At that time, therefore, Negroes attained +not only local and State offices of importance, but also sat in the +United States Congress. Indeed, during the period from 1871 to 1901, +the latter year marking the passing of this type of Congressman, +twenty-two Negroes, two of whom were senators, held membership in +Congress. It seems, moreover, that men like Menard of Florida, +Pinchback of Louisiana, Lee and others, though unable to prove their +contentions, were, nevertheless, contestants with good title. + +This situation, no less unique than it was interesting, has become the +source of interminable debate. It has been contended that because of +the ignorance of the blacks, in letters, in manners, in business, and +in the affairs of State, it was a serious mistake to enfranchise them, +thus making possible for a period however brief their virtual +direction of the political affairs of some of the Southern States. +Consistent in principle, historians of this conviction have viewed +with abhorrence the seating of black men in the highest legislative +assembly of the land. Not all men, however, have concurred in this +opinion. There were those who had precisely the opposite view, basing +their argument on the necessity of the plan of reconstruction +effected, in order to preserve to the Union the fruits of its victory. + +The merits of that reconstruction are not here, however, at issue. Of +far greater import for our consideration is the single fact that +Negroes were thereby sent to Congress. Did the Negroes elected to +Congress justify by their achievements their presence there? To what +extent did they give direction to the thought and policies which were +to govern and control in this nation? Manifestly an impartial judgment +in this matter may be most adequately arrived at by the setting up of +certain criteria of excellence expected to inhere in Congressmen and +measuring by these the achievements of these functionaries. +Considering the matter in this light, therefore, the following +questions are advanced as bearing a direct relationship to the +services of these Congressmen. First, what of their mental equipment +to perform the tasks of law makers? Second, as measured by their +experience in public positions of trust and by their grasp of the +public questions at that time current, to what extent did they show +capacity for public service? Third, in what directions were their +chief interests manifested? + + +EVIDENCES OF MENTAL EQUIPMENT + +Regarding the Negro Congressmen in the light of the standards already +referred to, we shall first make inquiry as to their mental fitness to +function as law makers. Broadly considered, they may be divided into +two groups: first, those who possessed but limited education; second, +those who were college bred. + +Among the men comprising the first group, certain common +characteristics are noticeable: first, they were mainly members of the +earliest Reconstruction Congresses, beginning with the Forty-first, in +which Negroes held membership, and were therefore but little removed +from slavery; second, some of them were born of slave parents or had +been, themselves, slaves; third, others were brought up in communities +which expressly prohibited the establishment of educational +institutions for Negroes; and fourth, all of them, by dint of severe +application in later years, secured, prior to their election to +Congress, a better education than rudimentary instruction. The members +of this group were twelve in number, including Long[1] of Georgia; De +Large,[2] Rainey,[3] Ransier,[4] and Smalls[5] of South Carolina; +Lynch[6] and Bruce[7] of Mississippi; Haralson[8] and Turner[9] of +Alabama; Hyman[10] of North Carolina; Nash[11] of Louisiana; and +Walls[12] of Florida. + +As many as ten of the twenty-two Negro congressmen were men of college +education. This training, however, varied widely in scope and purpose. +Two men of this group became ministers of the gospel. One of them, +Richard H. Cain[13] of South Carolina, was trained at Wilberforce +University, Xenia, Ohio, whence he left in 1861, at the age of +thirty-six years, to begin a career in his chosen field; the other, +Hiram E. Revels[14] of Mississippi, was educated at the Quaker +Seminary in Union County, Indiana. Prior to their election to +Congress, both of these men attracted wide attention as churchmen. +Cain was for four years the pastor of a church in Brooklyn, N. Y., +after which his congregation sent him as a missionary to the freedmen +of South Carolina. Senator Revels, on the other hand, was widely known +as a lecturer in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. +For some time he preached in Baltimore, taught school in St. Louis, +and among other things, organized churches and lectured in +Mississippi. The wide experiences of both gentlemen offered to them +unusual opportunities to develop the power, keenness of insight, and +knowledge of human nature so essential to the leadership of men. + +To some of these future Congressmen, the profession of teaching seemed +more attractive than the ministry. Three of the number were destined +to become educators. One of them, Henry P. Cheatham[15] of North +Carolina, attended the public and private schools near the town of +Henderson, and was later graduated with honor from the college +department of Shaw University. Immediately thereafter, in 1882, he was +elected to the principalship of the Plymouth State Normal School, +where he served until 1895. The second member of this group, George W. +Murray[16] of South Carolina, won by competitive examination a +scholarship at the reconstructed University of South Carolina. There +he remained until 1876, his junior year, when by the accession to +power of an administration unfriendly to the coeducation of the races, +he was forced to withdraw. For many years thereafter, Murray was +engaged as a teacher in the schools of his native county. + +John Mercer Langston[17] of Virginia, the third member of the group of +educators, was graduated, in 1849, at the age of twenty, from Oberlin +College. Four years later, in 1853, he completed the work of the +theological department of that school. Because of his ripe +scholarship, moreover, unusual honors were conferred upon him by +several American colleges and universities, and he was the recipient +of several honorary memberships in scientific and literary +institutions and associations of foreign countries. Indeed, there have +sat in Congress few men of greater mental power and energy than John +Mercer Langston. + +Of the twenty-two Negroes who have sat in Congress, five were members +of the legal profession. One of these men represented Alabama, two +South Carolina, and two North Carolina. Robert Brown Elliott, the +first member of this group of legally trained leaders, was perhaps the +most outstanding and certainly the most brilliant of the Negroes who +have served in Congress. Elliott[18] entered the High Hollow Academy +of London, England, in 1853, at the age of eleven years. In 1859, he +was graduated from Eton College. Later, he studied law and was +admitted to the bar, where he practiced for some time before the +courts of South Carolina. This superior training of Elliott no doubt +contributed in large measure to his eminence in debate, which was so +often manifested during the memorable sessions of the 42nd and 43rd +Congresses. + +James T. Rapier[19] of Alabama, one of the really brilliant men in +this group, acquired a liberal education, after which he studied law +and practiced in his native State. Another member of the legal group +was James E. O'Hara[20] of Enfield, North Carolina. Following his +academic training which was received in New York City, O'Hara studied +law, first, in North Carolina, and later at Howard University in +Washington. In June, 1871, he was admitted to the bar of his State. + +Two others of this group were Miller and White. The first one, Thomas +E. Miller,[21] of Beaufort, South Carolina, attended the free public +school for Negroes in his native city. In 1872 he was graduated from +the Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Later, Miller read law, and in +1875 was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of his State. +The second of these two, George Henry White[22] of North Carolina, +studied first in his native State and later at Howard University. +While there he pursued concurrently courses in liberal arts and in +law. In January, 1879, he was admitted to practice before the Supreme +Court of his State. + + +THEIR PUBLIC SERVICE PRIOR TO MEMBERSHIP IN CONGRESS + +Perhaps the most accurate method whereby one's capacity for the +performance of any service may be measured is that which seeks, first, +to establish the experience of the individual in the performance of +the identical or similar services, and second, to evaluate the degree +of skill with which the individual, at a given time, performs the +particular service. Regarded in this light, therefore, we subject the +Negro Congressmen to this test: As measured by their experience in +public positions of trust and confidence and by their grasp of the +great public questions at that time current, to what extent did they +show capacity for public service? + +The first part of our query lends itself to solution without +difficulty. Indeed, one may with great ease establish the fact that, +with but few exceptions, these men, prior to their election to +Congress, had held public offices of honor and trust. A case in point +is that of John Mercer Langston[23] of Virginia. While never a member +of a State legislature, Langston was, nevertheless, brought often into +other public service. Indeed he early attracted attention in Ohio by +his service as a member of the Council of Oberlin and by his record in +other township offices. Langston served as dean of the Law Department +of Howard University, and in 1872 became Vice-President and Acting +President of that institution. In 1885 he became President of the +Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. He served, moreover, as +Inspector-General of the Bureau of Freedmen, a member of the Board of +Health of the District of Columbia, Minister resident and +Consul-General to Haiti, and Charge d'Affaires to Santo Domingo. His +election to Congress, therefore, was the crowning achievement of a +lifelong public career. + +Hyman,[24] O'Hara,[25] Cheatham,[26] and White,[27] all of North +Carolina, had held public office prior to their election to Congress. +Hyman and White had each been members of the State Senate, the former +for six years, from 1868 to 1874, while O'Hara and White had each +served in the lower house of the legislature. Hyman had been a +delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1868, moreover, while +O'Hara, who had also served as chairman of the Board of Commissioners +of the County of Halifax, had been a delegate to the Constitutional +Convention of 1875. For the eight years from 1886 to 1894, White +served as prosecuting attorney for the second judicial district of the +State, while Cheatham, the fourth member of the North Carolina +delegation, had held but one office, that of Register of Deeds for +Vance County. + +It is especially significant that each one of the Negro Reconstruction +Congressmen from South Carolina, namely Cain,[28] De Large,[29] +Elliott,[30] Rainey,[31] Ransier,[32] and Smalls[33] were members of +the State Constitutional Convention of 1868. Two of them, Cain and +Rainey, had been formerly State Senators; Smalls had served two terms +in the Senate and four in the House; while each of the others had been +members for one term or more in the lower branch of the legislature. +Ransier, moreover, had held, prior to his election to Congress, the +high office of lieutenant-governor of the State; Elliott had served as +adjutant-general, and Smalls had held successively the offices of +lieutenant-colonel, brigadier-general and major-general in the State +militia. + +Of the two South Carolinians who served in Congress after the +Reconstruction, Thomas E. Miller[34] was for four terms a member of +the lower chamber of the State legislature and for one term a member +of the Senate. Furthermore, he was for one term a school commissioner +of his county, and received also his party's nomination for the office +of lieutenant-governor of the State. Indeed, of the entire South +Carolina group, Murray, alone, seems to have been elected to Congress +without previously having held public office.[35] Jefferson F. +Long,[36] of Georgia, was not unlike Mr. Murray in that the former had +never held public office. In this, his experience differed from that +of Walls, of Florida, who had been a member of the Florida State +Senate. + +Alabama sent to Congress three Negroes, Turner,[37] Rapier,[38] and +Haralson.[39] Of these men Haralson alone had had experience in the +legislature prior to his election to Congress, having served in both +branches of that body. Turner was elected in 1868 to the city council +of Selma. Later he became tax collector of Dallas County, but because +of his inability to secure honest men as assistants, resigned the +office. The third member of this group, James T. Rapier, served as an +assessor and later as a collector of internal revenue in his State. + +The two Negro United States Senators, Hiram R. Revels[40] and B. K. +Bruce,[41] both of Mississippi, and Representative John R. Lynch[42] +of the same State, had all served in public office before they were +sent to Congress. Senator Revels had held several local offices in +Vicksburg, while Senator Bruce, before he came to the Senate, had been +sheriff, a member of the Mississippi levee board, and for three years +the tax collector of Bolivar County. John R. Lynch, on the other hand, +had served not only as justice of the peace, but also two terms in the +lower house of the legislature, during the latter one of which he was +the Speaker of that body. Unlike the Congressmen from Mississippi, +Nash[43] of Louisiana held office for the first time when his state +elected him a representative to Congress. + +Accessible records and impartial and unbiased historians support the +contention that with a few exceptions the record of these Negro +functionaries was honorable. Corrupt government was not always the +work of the Negro. In the chapter on reconstruction in his _The Negro +in Our History_, C. G. Woodson states that local, state, and federal +administrative offices, which offered the most frequent opportunity +for corruption, were seldom held by Negroes, but rather by the local +white men and by those from the North who had come South to seek their +fortunes. In many respects selfish and sometimes lacking in +principle, these men became corrupt in several States, administering +the government for their own personal ends. "Most Negroes who have +served in the South," says he, "came out of office with honorable +records. Such service these Negroes rendered in spite of the fact that +this was not the rule in that day." New York, according to the same +authority, was dominated by the Tweed ring, and the same white men who +complained of Negro domination robbed the governments of the Southern +States of thousands of dollars after the rule of the master class was +reestablished. + + +NEGRO CONGRESSMEN IN ACTION + +With the facts concerning the earlier experiences of these Congressmen +in public life a matter of record, attention may now be centered upon +the second aspect of the question of their capacity for public +service--namely, that of their reactions to the great public questions +of their day. Perhaps this topic may be most properly treated first by +determining what were the problems of greatest public moment during +the period in which these men were in Congress. From the year +1871--the period of service of the first Negro in Congress--throughout +the first year of the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, there +were brought prominently before the public mind the questions of +reconstruction, economic, social, and political, in the North and West +as well as in the South. The exploitation of the public domain in the +West, the development of transcontinental railroads and other means of +communication, the plea for sound money, the economic regeneration of +the South, the proper adjustment of the social relations between the +two races living in that section, and the readjustment of political +control in the former Confederate States were the great issues upon +which, during this period, the attention of the nation was focused. + +In the solution of some of these problems the Negro was intimately +involved. What was to be his place in the scheme of social adjustment +in the South? What part was he to play in the economic regeneration of +that section? How and to what extent should he maintain the political +power delegated to him by the war amendments? Indeed, of utmost +importance to the Negro was the proper solution of three perplexing +problems: first, to secure to themselves the civil rights so freely +exercised by other groups in the nation; second, to obtain national +funds to aid education; third, to determine whether their former +masters should be relieved of their political disabilities. It was to +the solution of these problems, therefore, that the Negro Congressmen +of that period especially addressed themselves. + +The problem of civil rights, however, did not immediately take +precedence. With the passage by Congress, in 1875, of a measure known +as the Civil Rights Bill, which was supplementary to measures of the +same sort previously enacted, the Negroes of the country were accorded +the rights granted by the Constitution to all other citizens of the +United States. The subsequent approval of this bill by the president, +and the well-known policy toward the Southern States then adopted, +served to remove from the fore of American politics the various issues +arising from the larger problems of the social and political +reconstruction of the South. + +Economic questions then had more opportunity for consideration. A new +era in the nation's development was ushered in, and with it came new +issues and new policies. The question of the exploitation of the +public domain in the West and that of transcontinental railway +construction had long been before the nation and still remained, but +in lieu of the others of the earlier period, there arose also such +questions as the free coinage of silver, the bimetallic monetary +standard, tariff for protection or for revenue only, and the Chinese +immigration. Despite the new character of the great problems before +the public forum, and of the consequent relegation to a minor position +of national importance the problems of reconstruction in the South, +the issues of peculiar interest to the Negro were not so aptly +settled. Indeed, it is to the discredit of the Supreme Court of the +United States that in all cases coming before that body in which there +was at issue a right granted by the Constitution to the freedmen, +efforts were made to evade the real issue, or to interpret the laws so +as to contravene the intent of the framers of the Constitution.[44] To +urge the protection of the Negro in his exercise of the rights and +privileges granted by the Constitution, to secure the enactment of +laws with the purpose to secure to him a greater measure of +opportunity for social advancement, to oppose the enactment of laws +proposing to retard such progress, to stimulate a healthy public +opinion favorable to the Negro's cause, to protest against every +injustice, great or small, meted out to him, became, as never before, +the imperative duties of the Negro members of Congress. Whatever other +time and energy remained might be directed towards the solution of the +other important issues before the public, but for the most part, the +Negro Congressmen were of necessity compelled to defend those +interests peculiar to the freedmen. The petitions which these +Congressmen presented, the resolutions which they offered, the +amendments which they proposed, the bills which they introduced or +supported, and the issues which they discussed or debated, will enable +one to ascertain to what extent these men viewed aright the needs of +their constituents and of the nation. Because of the constitutional +right of all citizens to petition Congress for a redress of +grievances, however, Congressmen have, in general, considered it a +duty to present to Congress the petitions of their constituents, +whatever their nature may be. An examination of these, therefore, does +not always assist in the effort to determine the interests of a +statesman. The sole justification for their consideration in this case +is the fact that they have formed, in many instances, the basis of the +resolutions, motions and bills which were subsequently introduced. + +While petitions of varying natures were presented by all of these +legislators, three classes, particularly, claimed the attention of +practically every one of them. These petitions sought the relief +either of an individual or of an institution suffering from some +misfortune of the war, made application for a pension, or requested +the adjustment of a claim. Of greater significance, however, were the +petitions which, while not so generally popular, led often to the +introduction of legislative measures. Conspicuous among these were +those seeking to remove the political disabilities of former +secessionists, those praying that undesirable laws or privileges be +abrogated, those advocating the passage of bills, those praying an +investigation of the political methods used in certain States, those +directing attention to conditions which merited legislative enactment, +those praying an appropriation by Congress for the construction of +public buildings, the promotion of public works, and the making of +local improvements, and those endorsing movements for the good of the +body politic. + +One of the first problems of reconstruction that claimed the attention +of the Negro Congressmen arose from the measures proposing to grant +amnesty to the former Confederates who, by a provision of the +Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, had +been declared ineligible to vote and to hold office. In reference to +this matter, Jefferson F. Long, a representative from Georgia to the +Forty-first Congress, spoke in a manner reflecting the attitude of +many of the Negro Congressmen who were to follow him. His forceful +protest maintained that any modification of the test oath as then +administered, having the purpose to bring about a general removal of +political disabilities, would effect the subjugation of the loyal men +of the South to the disloyal. It would, moreover, appear to the Ku +Klux Klan to be an indorsement of their campaign of lawlessness, +depredation, and crime, fostered and abetted by the men whose +political disabilities it was then being sought to remove.[45] + +Speaking on the enforcement act, on which he stated first his own +position and later that of the Republican Party in his State, Revels, +the Senator from Mississippi, said: "I am in favor of removing the +disabilities of those upon whom they are imposed in the South just as +fast as they give evidence of having become loyal and of being loyal. +If you can find one man in the South who gives evidence of the +fact that he has ceased to renounce the laws of Congress as +unconstitutional, has ceased to oppose them, and respects them and +favors the carrying of them out, I am in favor of removing his +disabilities; and if you can find one hundred men that the same is +true of, I am in favor of removing their disabilities. If you can find +a whole State that this is true of, I am in favor of removing the +disabilities of all its people."[46] + +Revels at that time had reasonable grounds for supporting amnesty, but +conditions soon changed. Speaking in the 42nd Congress as it regarded +the enforcement of the 14th Amendment, Rainey felt that too much +amnesty had led to the murderous activities of the disloyal after they +had reached the point of acquiescing. He said:[47] "If the +Constitution which we uphold and support as the fundamental law of +the United States is inadequate to afford security to life, liberty, +and property--if, I say, this inadequacy is proven, then its work is +done, then it should no longer be recognized as the magna charta of a +great and free people; the sooner it is set aside the better for the +liberties of the nation." Another member of the 42nd Congress, Robert +C. De Large of South Carolina, while speaking on the bill for the +removal of political disabilities, made it quite clear that he would +not support the bill unless the gentlemen for it would support a +measure to protect the loyal people of the South.[48] + +Notable among the speeches on the question of amnesty was that made by +Elliott protesting against a bill to this effect by Beck of Kentucky. +Contending that the men now seeking relief were responsible for the +crimes perpetrated against the loyal men of the South, Elliott +maintained that the passage of the bill would be nothing less than the +paying of a premium on disloyalty and treason at the expense of those +who had remained loyal. Pointing out the cause of their +disfranchisement, he demanded in the name of the "law-abiding people +of his constituency, whites as well as Negroes," the rejection of this +bill and the protection of those whose "only offense was their +adherence to the principles of freedom and justice."[49] That the +proposed bill was defeated[50] was perhaps in some measure due to his +masterful arraignment of its purposes. + +Contemporaneous with the question of amnesty, and lasting throughout +the thirty years during which Negroes served in Congress, the problem +of securing civil rights for the freedmen or of protecting them in the +exercise of such rights demanded, to a greater extent than any other, +the energy and efforts of the Negro Congressmen. Indeed, but few of +the men of this group failed during their careers in Congress to +register their opinions on this all-absorbing matter. + +Remarking at length on the Georgia bill,[51] Senator Revels spoke out +fearlessly in the defense of his race. He defended the Negroes against +charges of antagonism and servile strife, lauded the conduct of Negro +soldiers in the Civil War and the part they played in saving the +Union. He called attention to the loyalty of the Negroes in protecting +the white women and their homes, with the knowledge that the masters +were engaged in the prosecution of a war the success of which would +have meant permanent bondage to the blacks. He asserted that the +Negroes bore toward their former masters no revengeful thoughts, no +hatreds, no animosities. He recounted the iniquities of the bill then +before the body, prayed the protection of those whose rights were +thereby threatened, and appealed to Congress to give to the +reconstructed State such direction and support as would best meet its +most imperative needs. + +The discussion of the civil rights bill gave rise to one of Robert +Brown Elliott's greatest speeches.[52] Arising to defend the bill, he +proceeded to refute the proposition advanced by Beck of Kentucky and +supported by Stephens of Georgia, that Congress had no power to +legislate against a plain discrimination made by State laws or customs +against any person or class of persons within its limits. In reference +to the decision of the Slaughter House Cases of Louisiana, which the +gentlemen had advanced in support of their thesis, Elliott pointed out +the difference in principle between the issues there involved and +those at hand. In the former case the court held the act in question +to be "a legitimate and warrantable exercise of the police power of +the State in regulating the business of stock landing and slaughtering +in the city of New Orleans and the territory immediately contiguous." +In this case, however, the evils complained of comprehended "the +exclusion of certain classes of persons from public inns, from the +saloons and tables of the steamboat, from the sleeping-cars on +railways, and from the right of sepulchre in public burial-grounds." + +The Supreme Court, Elliott contended, has recognized two classes of +citizenships, state and national, but nowhere is there denied to +Congress the power to prevent a denial of equality of rights, whether +those rights exist by virtue of citizenship of the United States or of +a State. It followed, therefore, that it is within the authority of +Congress to see that no State deny to one class of citizens or +persons, rights which are common to other citizens, unless it can be +shown to be for the good of all, or pursuant to the legitimate +exercise of its police power. Rejecting such classification of the +case at hand and pointing out from the decision of the Slaughter House +Cases the express recognition of Congress to pass such a bill as the +one then under discussion, he concluded that the Constitution +warranted the passage of the bill, the Supreme Court sanctioned it, +and justice demanded it.[53] Elliott submitted also a resolution +directing the Judiciary Committee to report a civil rights bill.[54] + +The civil rights of the Negroes constituted the general theme of the +remarks made by Alonzo J. Ransier, a representative from South +Carolina in the Forty-third Congress. In the first instance he spoke +in refutation of the allegements of certain members of the opposition +to the effect that the mass of Negroes did not want civil rights. +Ransier sought mainly to show, by the presentation[55] of data in form +of resolutions from Negro bodies and conventions, the intense desire +of the race for civil rights. During the course of these remarks, +Ransier served notice of his intention to offer to the civil rights +bill an amendment to prevent the disqualification of competent +citizens for service as jurors in any court in the nation because of +"race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The amendment would +provide also for the repeal of all laws, statutes, and ordinances, +national or State, which were devised to discriminate against any +citizen on account of color by the use of the word "white."[56] + +The civil rights of the Negro found nowhere a more ardent champion +than James T. Rapier, a representative from Alabama in the Forty-third +Congress. In a speech on the measure supplementary to the civil rights +bill, Rapier made a lucid analysis of the anomalous position then +occupied by the Negro in the United States. Pointing out that Negroes +were accorded political rights without the civil, he deplored the +whole situation and challenged the truth of the statement that America +is the asylum for the oppressed. Averring that the problem was +national in scope, he asserted the constitutional authority of +Congress to solve it. Denying the contentions of Alexander H. +Stephens, of Georgia, Rapier deplored the apparent inability of that +gentleman to comprehend the new order ushered in since the formerly +sat in Congress. Stephens, he said, maintained the ideals of the old +South. Thus, despite the decision of the war that national rights are +paramount to those of the States, Stephens urged that it is the +prerogative of the States to confer civil rights upon the Negro, and +contended that such action should be left to the States. He thereby +offered no constitutional objection to the bestowal of civil rights +upon the Negro, but advanced a principle, the acceptance of which +would forever preclude his enjoying them. To this proposition Rapier +could not assent. That the Negro was considered to possess no rights +under the Constitution, he maintained, was fully demonstrated by +Kentucky and other Southern States, in which they were denied the +privilege of testifying in court against a white man, were refused the +right to education by the destruction of their schools and the +visitation of violence upon their teachers, and were prevented by the +Ku Klux Klan from exercising their right of suffrage. Such actions, he +insisted, were in conflict with the contention that the States would +eventually confer upon Negroes civil rights. In conclusion he declared +that the Negro had earned all the rights that he then exercised as +well as those enjoyed by other citizens, that the current conditions +constituted a stricture on the fair name of America, and that the +solution of the problem lay in the immediate passage by Congress of +the Civil Rights Bill then being considered.[57] + +Not unlike his colleagues, Richard H. Cain, a representative from +South Carolina to the Forty-third and Forty-fifth Congresses, gave to +the matter of civil rights much of his time and energy. Replying in +part to Vance of North Carolina, Cain denied that the Civil Rights +Bill, if passed, would be without the limits of the Constitution or +that it would enforce "social equality," maintaining that the +regulation of that condition was without the province of legislation. +Cain asserted that the Negroes of South Carolina did not enjoy, in +public places, all the "rights, privileges and immunities" accorded to +other citizens and showed that the admission of Negro students to the +University of South Carolina had not effected its destruction. He did +not believe that the passage of the bill would alienate from the +Negroes the white men of the South who were then friendly to them. +Cain reviewed, furthermore, the history of the part played by the +Negro in the economic and industrial development of the nation, +pointed out the importance of giving to him, in every State, the best +possible school facilities, asserted the right of the Negro by +statutory enactment to his full civil liberties, and insisted that in +the name of justice he should demand for himself all the rights, +privileges and immunities accorded to other citizens.[58] Conforming +in principle to the doctrine that he had pronounced, Cain introduced +before Congress a bill supplementary to the Civil Rights Act.[59] + +Much of the energy of James E. O'Hara, a representative from North +Carolina, in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, was directed +toward the protection of the Negro in the exercise of his civil +rights.[60] During the course of his remarks on the bill to regulate +interstate commerce, he offered an amendment to the effect that any +person or persons having purchased a ticket to be conveyed from one +State to another, or paid the required fare, should receive the same +treatment and be offered equal facilities and accommodation as are +furnished all other persons holding tickets of the same class, without +discrimination. In support of this amendment, he asserted the +constitutional right of Congress to regulate commerce between the +States, and that the action contemplated by his amendment came within +the scope of this constitutional power. Denying that it was class or +race legislation, he maintained that it was in line with the +enlightened point of view of the age. The amendment was passed.[61] +His opponents, however, were not sufficiently progressive to leave his +victory intact. + +A defense of the civil rights of the Negro was brought prominently to +the fore in the Fifty-first Congress. In his remarks on the affairs of +South Carolina,[62] Thomas E. Miller, a representative from that +State, declared that the Negroes of South Carolina were suffering from +several distinct causes. Among these causes he named lynch law, the +petty system of theft which deprived them of the fruits of their daily +toil, and injustice in the courts in which they had no rights where +their interests and those of the whites conflicted. He demanded for +them trial by jury, pay for their work, and the assurance that their +lynchers would not become also their legislators. These +considerations, he maintained, were of invaluable importance to the +country. Miller, furthermore, deplored the action of the Governor of +his State, which refused State aid to Negro schools and caused to be +closed certain white colleges which had the courage to consider, in a +sane way, the so-called Negro problem. + +In the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses, the questions of the +protection of the Negroes in the exercise of their civil rights +demanded virtually the entire attention of George H. White, who was +at that time the sole Negro member of Congress. Among his many +protests of discrimination, appeals for just treatment, and discourses +on the upright character of his race, there were no speeches more +significant nor more prophetic than his arraignment of the apathetic +manner with which Congress had greeted his bill, designed "to give to +the federal government entire jurisdiction over all cases of lynching +and death by mob violence." If, he declared, the nation is to avoid +the state of anarchy and moral decay to which conditions were then +rapidly leading, there remained no alternative, save the enactment, by +some future Congress, of a law to constitute lynching a federal +offense.[63] + + +EDUCATION + +Despite the great significance attached by many of the Congressmen to +the civil rights of the Negroes, that of the education of the freedman +was considered hardly less important. One of the first Negro +Congressmen to commit himself on this problem was Rainey of South +Carolina. That he had the proper grasp of the educational needs of his +country is shown by his forceful speech made for national aid to +education. He contended that the natural result of this mental +improvement will be to impart a better understanding of our +institutions, and thus cultivate a loyal disposition and lofty +appreciation for them. "The military prowess and demonstrated +superiority of the Prussians, when compared to the French, especially +in the late war [The Franco-Prussian War]," said he, "is attributable +to the fact that the masses of the former were better educated and +trained than those of the latter. The leavening spirit of the German +philosophers has apparently pervaded all classes of the population of +that empire."[64] + +The same problem of the education of the Negroes evoked from Walls, of +Florida, an opinion replete with sound judgment on the matter. +Replying to the objection of McIntyre, of Georgia, that the +establishment of a national education fund would interfere with +States' rights, Walls conceded, first, that the Constitution confers +upon the States all those rights neither expressly delegated to the +Federal Government nor prohibited to the States, and second, that one +of those rights is the power of regulating common schools; but he +doubted the applicability of that principle in this instance. The +enemies of progress in the South, he maintained, opposed the education +of the masses both of Negroes and whites because of its tendency to +liberalize these people. He assigned this policy, therefore, as the +motive underlying the opposition of McIntyre to the establishment of a +national education fund. He rejected the proposition advanced by +McIntyre that the $300,000 appropriated by the legislature of Georgia, +of which the Negroes are entitled to a portion, would be shared by +them. Continuing, Walls pointed out the activities of the Ku Klux +Klan, and the burning of Negro homes and of their schools as +inconsistent with the contention that they would receive a fair +distribution of the school fund. He reviewed, moreover, the history of +the free school movement in Florida and Georgia, assigning the cause +of its failure. Concluding his speech with a summary arraignment of +the policy of that time, he urged not only the establishment of a +national education fund but also of a national education system as +constituting the sole assured method whereby the poor whites and +Negroes of the South might secure proper educational facilities.[65] + +Walls, moreover, submitted a resolution calling for a statement +relative to the public lands granted for school purposes, and +thereafter introduced bills for the purpose of making large grants of +the public lands to schools.[66] Contemporary with Walls in the +Forty-third Congress, R. H. Cain shared with him great concern over +the question of educating the masses. In the Forty-fifth Congress, he +proposed a measure,[67] somewhat similar to one previously submitted +by Jere Haralson, to establish an educational fund and to apply the +proceeds of the public lands to the education of the people.[68] + + +PROTECTION OF LOYAL CITIZENS + +The protection of the loyal people of the South claimed also the +attention of Negro Congressmen. When, therefore, the House had under +consideration the bill to enforce the 14th Amendment, Robert C. De +Large made eloquent remarks replying to Cox of New York, who had +denounced the "ignorant" rulers of South Carolina for their +"rapacity," which in his opinion justified the activities of the Ku +Klux Klan.[69] It was in the defense of the bill for the protection +of life and property in the South[70] that Robert B. Elliott had +occasion to speak. He showed that the argument upon the pending bill +had proceeded upon a question of constitutional law, the opponents +denying that its provisions were warranted by the Constitution of the +United States, and questioning the data upon which the proposed bill +was founded. The probable efficacy of the bill, as a measure of relief +and protection for the loyal men of the South from the extraordinary +system of oppression to which they were subjected, had not been +assailed. Elliott, therefore, undertook to prove that the proposed +bill was not obnoxious to the spirit of the Constitution, that it was +founded on reason, and that in view of the state of affairs then +existing in the South, it was, as a measure of protection, not only +warranted, but imperatively demanded. + +For his first task, Elliott was compelled to sustain the position that +the government of the United States has the right, under the +Constitution, to protect a citizen of the United States in the +exercise of his vested rights as an American citizen, by the exercise +of direct force, or the assertion of immediate jurisdiction through +its courts, without the appeal of the State in which the citizen is +domiciled. Asserting the legal maxim that where power is given the +means of its execution are implied, he sought to establish that the +power had been given by Article IV of the Constitution, which imposes +upon the Federal Government the duty to protect the States against +domestic violence. He attempted, moreover, to establish by the +authority of the preamble to the Constitution the violence of the +"presumption that the majority of the people of a State may be +oppressively subordinated to the minority." To support his own +constructions of the Constitution, Elliott quoted Justice Story on +this same issue, pointed out the inconsistencies in the argument of +his chief opponent, defined within the meaning of the Constitution a +republican form of government and thereafter affirmed that the bill +in hand came within the limits of the Constitution. + +Elliott had next to establish the validity of the facts upon which the +proposed bill was founded. Little difficulty, indeed, was experienced +in bringing forward convincing evidence. There were presented before +the House numerous editorials from Southern newspapers showing the +animus of the enemies of the Negro; the report of the partisan +committees of Charleston in 1868; communications appearing in the +Newberry, South Carolina, _Herald_ of July 17 in 1868; the Ku Klux +Klan order appearing in the Charleston _News_ of January 31, 1871; and +the printed allegements of leading unreconstructed Southerners, all of +which tended to indicate to what extent violence had superseded law, +and exactly how unsafe were the lives and property of the loyal people +of the South. Elliott quite properly affirmed, therefore, the urgent +need for the passage of the bill as a measure of relief and protection +to those in the South, whose liberties had been assailed. + +On the political conditions in the South during the decline of the +Reconstruction regime many Congressmen spoke with seeming authority. +Two speeches of note on Southern conditions were made, during the +Forty-second Congress, by Robert Brown Elliott. On May 30, 1872, he +addressed the House on the subject of the Ku Klux Klan. In this +speech, he exposed the whole scheme of domination by violence as +effected by that element of the Southern whites who would either +"rule[71] or ruin the governments of the several States." The second +speech followed remarks by Voorhees, of Indiana, on the misconduct in +financial matters of the administration of South Carolina. Replying to +the specific charge that his party had been guilty of an over-issue of +bonds, Elliott reviewed briefly the financial history of his State for +the period in question and, in conclusion, pointed out, first, that +"in a legal sense an over-issue of bonds is an issue made in excess of +such issue authorized by law," and second, that no act of the General +Assembly of South Carolina had limited the extent of bonds to be +issued in that State.[72] + +An unceasing interest in the political conditions of the South was +manifested by John R. Lynch of Mississippi throughout his three terms +in Congress. He was quite active in proposing legislation relating to +the Southern judicial districts of Mississippi, and he offered also an +amendment to the federal election laws.[73] Remarks made by him +comprehended discussions of such subjects as the political affairs of +the South, reconstruction and restoration of white rule in +Mississippi, and "the Southern Question."[74] In his analysis of the +"Southern Question," Lynch attributed the condition of the South to +certain underlying causes, namely: (1) "A continuous and unnecessary +opposition of the impracticable element within the ranks of the +Democratic Party to the system of reconstruction finally adopted by +Congress, and a stubborn refusal on their part to acquiesce in the +results of the War"; (2) "the persistent and uncharitable opposition +of this same element--the element that had obtained control of the +party organization and therefore shaped its policy--to the civil and +political rights of Negroes"; and (3) "the methods of the so-called +white-league whereby an armed military organization was maintained to +effect a condition of white supremacy." Lynch, in concluding, appealed +to the fairminded and justice-loving people of America to unite in a +common effort to eradicate these evils and secure to the Negroes the +rights that they so justly merited. + +Referring to the same situation, Charles E. Nash, a representative +from Louisiana to the Forty-fourth Congress, held to be unjustified +the attacks upon the character of the white men and the integrity and +ability of Negroes in the South, who had joined purposes to promote +the principles of justice and of sectional harmony. Furthermore, he +entered a general denial of the charge that liberty in Louisiana had +been destroyed, and pointed out the need of a policy of cooperation +between the whites and blacks, to the end that the education of both +races might be fostered, that the indiscriminate and illegal killing +of Negroes might be eliminated, and that the reign of terror effected +by a union of the ruffian whites and ignorant blacks might be +prevented. Nash then extolled the record of the party in power for its +fairness to the Negro, and arraigned the attitude of the opposition to +all measures designed to ameliorate the condition of the race. +Concluding his remarks, Nash preached the sound doctrine that +sectional animosities should be buried and that all units and sections +of the nation should cooperate to the end that a greater, more humane +and more powerful America might be evolved.[75] + +The most comprehensive remarks of Smalls of South Carolina concerned +the electoral vote and the policy of parties in his State.[76] In this +he pointed out that ruffians had intimidated the black voters, had +driven out the white, and had perpetrated crimes and election frauds +to the end that the political control of the State might be +recommitted to the hands of reactionaries. Concerning the frauds +committed in the election held prior to the Forty-fourth Congress, +facts and figures were presented in great detail to verify his +contentions. + +During his discussion of the proposal to investigate the frauds in the +late election in Mississippi, B. K. Bruce, a senator from that State, +came fearlessly to the defense of his State government. On this +occasion, also, he put into the record valuable statistics showing the +progress of the freedmen in Mississippi. The Negroes, he believed, had +suffered on account of leadership, but they had, at that time, better +leaders who, though not all educated, yet understood the duties of +citizenship. Senator Bruce[77] believed that the thing needed was +peace and good order at the South, but it could come only by the +fullest recognition of the rights of all classes. The opposition would +have to concede the necessity of change, not only in the temper, but +in the philosophy of their party organization and management. The +sober American judgment would have to obtain in the South, as +elsewhere in the Republic, since the only distinctions upon which +parties can be safely organized in harmony with our institutions, are +differences of opinion relative to principles and policy of +government; because differences of religion, nationality, race, can +neither with safety nor propriety be permitted to enter into the party +contests. The unanimity with which the Negro voters acted with a party +was not referable to any race prejudice. On the contrary, the Negroes +invited the political cooperation of their white brethren, and voted +as a unit because proscribed as such. They deprecated the +establishment of the color line by the opposition, not only because +the act was unwise and wrong in principle, but because it isolated +them from the white man of the South and forced them in sheer +self-protection and against their inclination to act seemingly upon +the basis of race prejudice which they neither respected nor +entertained. As a class he believed they were free from prejudices and +had no uncharitable suspicions against their white fellow citizens, +whether native born or settlers from the Northern States. "When +Negroes," continued he, "can entertain opinions and select party +affiliations without proscription, and cast their ballots as other +citizens and without jeopardy to person or privilege, they can safely +afford to be governed by the considerations that ordinarily determine +the political actions of American citizens." Senator Bruce asked, +therefore, not for new laws, but rather for the enforcement of the +old. Peace in the South could come, he believed, only by guaranteeing +the protection of the law. + +Replying in part to the remarks of Senator Colquitt, from Georgia, +Miller, a representative from South Carolina in the Fifty-first +Congress, spoke impressively on the subject, "Southern Affairs."[78] +The colleague of Miller in this Congress, John M. Langston of +Virginia, spoke at great length on the federal election laws, pointing +out the need for an adequate legislation and its proper +enforcement.[79] He offered, moreover, a measure directing an inquiry +relative to the instructions of the Attorney-General concerning +elections. + +To the bill to repeal all statutes relating to supervisors of +elections and special deputy marshals, George W. Murray, a member of +the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, took vigorous +exception.[80] Asserting that such action would have the effect of +promoting the election frauds of the reactionaries in the South, and +that already in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and South +Carolina, a decided minority of the voting population of each +Congressional district elected regularly the representative to +Congress, he maintained that the present law should not only remain +unchanged, but rather, be vigorously enforced. He introduced, +moreover, measures designed to assure minority representation in +federal elections[81] and to investigate the political conditions in +the State of South Carolina. + + +INTEREST IN ECONOMIC PROBLEMS + +Although not equally interesting to the Negro Congressmen as matters +of political import, to not a few of them problems essentially +economic in character, or at any rate, of economic significance, made +a forceful appeal. Measures designed to provide superior facilities +for the trade and commerce of their communities constituted, in some +instances, the most valuable service rendered by these legislators. + +With the interests of his constituency ever in mind, Benjamin S. +Turner of Alabama, a member of the Forty-second Congress, proposed +various measures to effect local improvements.[82] He urged a +distribution of the public lands, proposed a bill to erect a public +building in Selma, sought to increase the appropriation for rivers and +harbors from $50,000 to $75,000, and made efforts to secure +improvements in navigation in Alabama waters. + +Of all the Congressmen, Josiah T. Walls of Florida was perhaps the +most persistent in the effort to secure improvements for his district +and State.[83] He introduced numerous bills to erect in his district +custom houses and other public buildings, and to improve the rivers +and harbors of his State. Walls introduced also bills to provide a +lifesaving station along the coast of Florida, to amend an act +granting right of way through public lands for the construction of +railroad and telegraph lines through Florida, and to create an +additional land district. He sought further to amend an appropriation +bill to the end that $50,000 be made available for the establishment +of a navy yard at Pensacola. + +James T. Rapier, who succeeded Turner in Congress, continued, to some +extent, the policy of the latter to secure local improvements.[84] Of +two measures introduced by Rapier, one proposed to erect public +buildings in his district, the other to make improvements in the +rivers and harbors of the State. He succeeded in having enacted into +law his measure to constitute Montgomery, Alabama, a port of entry. + +The policy of John R. Lynch of Mississippi in the matter of local +improvements[85] did not differ materially from that of Rapier. Lynch +proposed measures for the construction of the Memphis and New Orleans +Railroad, for the construction of public buildings and custom houses, +and for the improvement of rivers within the State of Mississippi. + +Smalls, of South Carolina, likewise concerned himself with the matter +of local improvements.[86] He endeavored to secure an appropriation +for the restoration of the Beaufort Library which was destroyed during +the War. He proposed measures to establish in his district custom +houses, docks, warehouses, a weather observation station, and other +public buildings. He was interested also in the redemption of lands +held by direct taxes and sought to promote a measure for the +construction of telegraph lines in the State. Similarly concerned was +James E. O'Hara of North Carolina, whose chief measures for +improvements[87] embraced bills to erect public buildings in his +district, and to improve the rivers and harbors in his State. Murray, +of South Carolina, was some years later advocating the exemption of +the Young Men's Christian Association from taxation and the relief of +cyclone sufferers in Beaufort, South Carolina. + +The Negro Congressman, too, had an interest in the more important +economic questions. On the question of the tariff several Congressmen +expressed opinions. In the Forty-second Congress, Josiah T. Walls +sought to amend the tax and tariff bill relative to certain +commodities produced in the State of Florida.[88] He favored a tariff +for protection as opposed to one for revenue only. During a similar +discussion, in the House, John R. Lynch, a member of the Forty-seventh +Congress, urged a protective tariff[89] for cotton, lumber, and +sugar. His argument was that the cotton producers of the South were in +favor of a protective tariff. When its producing class (meaning labor) +was slave, when all of its products were exported, when all of its +wants were supplied from without, and when cotton was its only +interest, the South favored cheap labor and free trade. At this time, +however, labor was free as distinguished from slave, and it therefore +added to the cost of production, while jute, sugar, rice, lumber, and +manufactures in the embryonic stage, shared with cotton the interests +of producers. These changed conditions, he maintained, demanded for +the South a policy of reasonable protection. + +Regarding protection as a panacea for all the economic ills of the +South, Lynch asserted that it would foster the growth of industries, +permit the manufacturing interests to develop, and prevent the +recurrence of a situation in which the whole output of raw material is +shipped to a foreign market and sold at a price fixed by market, +whereas goods manufactured from this same raw material are shipped to +the South and sold at a price dictated by the sellers. He said, +moreover, that a protective tariff would effect a decrease of American +imports in cotton goods and at the same time an increase of employment +among the folks at home. With reference to tariff on sugar and lumber, +Lynch held that the South needed diversified industries, that the +investment of capital in the South was essential to a diversification +of industries, that a reasonable interest must be guaranteed to +attract the capital, and that inasmuch as protection afforded the only +way whereby the interest could be assured, protection for these +industries was nationally demanded. + +Any consideration of the merits of the arguments advanced by Lynch +must not overlook the fact that protection has been the policy of the +nation during its periods of remarkable growth. Two arguments largely +supported this policy. In the first place, it was early conceived that +protection was essential to the development of infant industries; in +the second, the belief was accepted that to an agricultural country a +home market is the only guarantee of a regular market. Because, +however, of the unprecedented growth of the country and its final +achievement of economic independence, other reasons were sought to +support the protective policy. It was contended, therefore, that the +high wages paid in the United States would discourage producers from +introducing new industries which, without protection, must compete on +equal terms with the products of low waged Europe. Finally, it was +pointed out that the owners of great wealth must suffer tremendous +loss of capital if protection were withdrawn from certain industries, +compelling them to compete on equal basis with the industries of like +kind of foreign countries. + +In addition to these economic arguments, moreover, a political +argument was not lacking. Ambitious statesmen have ever dreamed of a +policy with which to cement the bonds that unite the different +sections of the country, making them mutually dependent and, at the +same time, independent of Europe. Protection, it was said, would do +this. In full justice to Lynch, therefore, it must be said that his +doctrine, whether or not sound, was not without basis. His firm stand +for a protective tariff conformed to the policy that has recently +controlled in the nation. + +Sometime thereafter, White, in the Fifty-fifth Congress, had occasion +to speak on the Wilson Tariff Law enacted in 1893. This measure[90] he +held to be responsible for the unemployment among mill workers in his +community and the loss of contracts by the Southern producers. He +advocated, therefore, protection for the industries and labor of +America against the pauperism and cheap labor of foreigners. + +Several other subjects of economic character were discussed by the +Negro Congressmen. During his terms in the Forty-eighth and +Forty-ninth Congresses, James E. O'Hara discussed at length the +measure on labor arbitration.[91] Shortly thereafter, in the +Fifty-first Congress, John M. Langston made informing remarks on the +shipping bill.[92] Presenting in support of his position +communications from the chambers of commerce of the principal cities +of his State urging his support of the pending bill, facts and figures +exhibiting recent progressive development of trade in Newport News, +and information showing the growing dependence of world trade upon the +development of an American merchant marine, he urged the passage of +the shipping bill, with legislation to subsidize an American marine +that would assist this nation to recover her former position upon the +sea. While pointing out causes underlying the decadence of the +merchant marine, he enumerated also the conditions which at that time +favored its certain development.... He was, therefore, committed to a +vigorous prosecution of any constructive plan leading in that +direction. + +In the Fifty-second Congress, H. P. Cheatham logically discussed the +anti-option bill,[93] a measure defining "options" and "futures," +imposing special taxes on dealers therein, and requiring such dealers +and persons engaged in selling specified products to obtain a license +to do so. Speaking in the behalf of the agricultural class of people +whom he represented, Cheatham set forth the disastrous economic +effects that dealing in "futures" and "options" has always had on the +farming class in fixing the price of cotton and other commodities. As +a measure contemplating an adjustment of this most portentous evil in +the industrial life of the nation, he urged the passage of the bill +then under consideration. + + +RACIAL MEASURES + +In the case of some of the Negro Congressmen measures designed either +to promote the welfare of their race or to give publicity to its +achievement commanded precedence over all others. Many offered +petitions and bills providing especially for the benefit of Negroes. +Benjamin Turner, of Alabama, secured from the Federal Government +several thousands of dollars in payment of a claim for damages to his +property during the Civil War. In the Fifty-first Congress, Thomas E. +Miller submitted two measures in the interest of his race.[94] The +first proposed the establishment of a home for indigent freedmen, and +the second sought to authorize the erection of a monument in +commemoration of the Negro soldiers who fought for the Union in the +Civil War. + +The World's Columbian Exposition received much consideration during +the first session of the Fifty-second Congress. Henry P. Cheatham,[95] +a representative from North Carolina, during the course of his remarks +on the Negro race urged that Congress make provisions for exhibiting, +at that fair, the facts and statistics of the progress that the Negro +had made during his thirty years of freedom. He deplored the fact that +"politics" had crept into the amendment designed to effect his purpose +and urged its acceptance as a matter of encouragement and justice to a +numerically significant group of the American people. Cheatham +proposed, also, a measure which sought to have printed the historical +record of the Negro troops in the wars in which they had participated. + +The welfare of the race was often reflected in the remarks of George +W. Murray, a Congressman from South Carolina. When, in the Fifty-third +Congress, there arose, in connection with the proposal that federal +aid be extended to the Atlanta Exposition,[96] the question of the +progress of the Negro race, Murray favored such an exposition because, +he declared, it would offer opportunity to have registered the facts +and statistics of the Negro's achievement since emancipation. As +evidence of the inventive genius of his race, he submitted to Congress +at this time a list of patents which had been granted by the +government for the inventions of Negroes. Murray spoke briefly of what +the Negroes were doing and thinking and, in conclusion, gave to the +effort for federal aid his unqualified endorsement. + +Measures proposed by George H. White, a representative from North +Carolina to the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses, tended mainly +to promote the social welfare of his race.[97] One of these was a +resolution for the consideration of a bill to provide a home for aged +and infirm Negroes. His other measures of this sort were bills to pay +the wages of the Negro Civil War-time employees withheld by the War +Department, to incorporate a "National Colored American Association," +and to provide for the exhibit of the educational and industrial +progress of the Negro at the Paris Exposition of 1900. Few measures of +this type could become law. + + +VARIOUS INTERESTS + +Many problems miscellaneous in character interested the Negro +Congressmen. Indeed, early in the Forty-second Congress, Josiah T. +Walls[98] supported a measure which proposed to appropriate $3,000,000 +to aid the centennial celebration and international exhibition of +1876. Sometime later, moreover, he urged the recognition of the +belligerent rights of Cuba. In the Forty-fourth Congress, John A. +Hyman, of North Carolina, offered a measure to provide relief for the +Cherokee Indians, who had returned to the "Nation West"[99] while the +measures of his colleague, Jere Haralson[100] of Alabama, comprised +such objects as the amendment of the revised statutes of the United +States, the relief of the Medical College of Alabama, and the payment +of war claims. During his three terms in Congress, John R. Lynch +maintained interest in a wide range of subjects. He spoke at length +on a bill "to provide and regulate the counting of votes for President +and Vice President and the decision in the disputed election of R. B. +Hayes.[101] He opposed the bill to repeal the act providing for the +pay of Congressmen,[102] but supported a measure to appropriate funds +for the establishment of a national board of health.[103] + +In the Forty-fifth Congress, R. H. Cain proposed a measure to +establish a line of mail and emigrant steam and sailing vessels +between certain ports of the United States and Liberia.[104] His +colleague, Robert Smalls, was a man of wider interests.[105] Among his +various remarks, there must be noted those on the District of Columbia +liquor traffic, interstate commerce, and the army reorganization bill. +In the latter instance, he attempted to have inserted into the bill an +amendment providing for the merging of enlisted men into military +units without distinction as to race or color. + +In the Senate, B. K. Bruce was afforded opportunity to debate the +issues of the day. While most active in offering bills and +resolutions, he nevertheless spoke forcefully on several matters of +greater than ordinary import. He spoke out fearlessly against the bill +restricting Chinese immigration,[106] and while discussing the Indian +bill,[107] he took high ground, showing that we had failed in our +selfish policy toward the Indian--a policy by which the breeding of +hatred and discontent had kept him a fugitive and a vagabond--and +emphasized the necessity for the government to do something to +civilize the Indian. There must be a change in the Indian policy "if +they are to be civilized," said he, "in that the best elements of +their natures are to be developed to the exercise of their best +functions, so as to produce individual character and social groups +characteristic of enlightened people; if this is to be done under our +system, its ultimate realization requires an adoption of a political +philosophy that shall make the Indians, as individuals and as a tribe, +subjects of American law and beneficiaries of American institutions, +by making them first American citizens, and clothing them as rapidly +as their advancement and location will permit, with the protecting and +ennobling prerogatives of such friendship." + +In support of his resolution, proposing to admit as a Senator from +Louisiana P. B. S. Pinchback, Mr. Bruce spoke out, cogently presenting +the facts as he saw them, contending that the gentleman had been +regularly elected and that the National Government would, by declaring +his election irregular and not expressive of the will of the people, +repudiate the very government that it had recognized.[108] Pinchback +was not seated, but the records show that his title was as sound as +that of scores of senators whose right has never been questioned. + +B. K. Bruce had another good claim to statesmanship. During his +incumbency in Congress the question of the improvement of the +navigation of the Mississippi and the protection of life and property +from the periodical inundations of that stream was of much concern to +the whole country. As a spokesman for the State of Mississippi and a +statesman seeking to provide facilities for interstate and foreign +commerce, B. K. Bruce fearlessly advocated that the Federal Government +should appropriate funds to undertake this improvement. He repeatedly +offered bills and amendments to this end and endeavored to secure the +support of the leaders of Congress to pilot these measures through +that body. While the results which Senator Bruce obtained were not +proportionate to the effort which he made, he paved the way for other +promoters of this enterprise, who have been more successful. +Subsequent history shows the importance of this national task and +demonstrates the statesmanlike foresight of Senator Bruce in +championing its cause.[109] + +General remarks by James E. O'Hara comprehended discussion of the +bills on oleomargarine and the payment of pensions.[110] Towards the +former he was opposed, while in the latter he urged that white persons +and Negroes be paid according to the same standard. George H. White +sought to amend the bill to provide a government for Hawaii.[111] He +gave some attention also to the debate on the civil service law.[112] +Concerning it he held that the administration of the law had been +subversive of the principles of appointment by merit. Indeed, in his +opinion, its failure warranted either a return to the spoils system or +the adoption of a new policy, by which there would be established in +each department of the government a bureau with the duty of +determining the fitness of each applicant for a position in that +department. + + +A CRITICAL SURVEY + +It appears, then, these two general types of legislation, the one +proposing local improvements, the other seeking social justice for the +Negro race, were preeminent in the measures proposed by the Negro +Congressmen. On the other hand, however, most of these measures, +regardless of merit, met in general one of three fates: they were +either sidetracked in committee, reported adversely, or defeated after +debate in open session. + +The character of measures proposed by these Congressmen has been the +subject of much adverse criticism. Not a few persons have considered +as weakness the tendency to propose measures relating to local +improvements, and those racial rather than national in character. The +records of Congress show, however, that the motives impelling the +Negro Congressmen to propose the type of legislation stated differed +in no wise from those underlying similar actions of other Congressmen. +Discussing the service of Congress, Mr. Munro, in his _Government of +the United States_, says: "First among the merits of congressional +government as it has existed in the United States for over one hundred +and thirty years, is the fidelity with which law-making has reflected +the public opinion of the country."[113] Mr. Munro further says that +while Congress has not always been immediately responsive to popular +sentiment, it has seldom failed to act when there has come to it an +"audible mandate" from the whole country. + +If, therefore, the Congress as a whole must be somewhat immediately +responsive to the expressed public will, what, indeed, is the precise +course of action that a representative, as a matter of policy, must +pursue? He is regarded, in the first instance, as representing not his +State, but rather a particular Congressional district of his State. +His tenure of office runs for but two years, at the expiration of +which he must submit to his constituents not a record of constructive +statesmanship, based upon his fealty to measures of national or +international importance, but rather one alleging the skill with which +he has protected the peculiar interests of his district. That he has +sought to obtain a new customs house, has opposed a tariff for revenue +only, has defended the principle of bimetallism, not indeed in +relation to the wider demands of the nation, but because of the +particular demands of his constituency, are matters of great practical +import to him, for upon these depends the approval or the rejection of +his record. The Congressman who aspires to longevity of service is +apt, therefore, to determine his proposal and defense of measures of +legislation largely, if not wholly, by the expressed opinion of those +whom he represents. Regarding the Negro Congressmen, therefore, in the +light of the practices common to all Congressmen, there can be offered +no valid criticism of the character of their legislation. The records +of Congress show that these functionaries were, as a matter of +policy, interested in their constituents, and that they promoted +legislation for general advancement for the reason that the +circumstances of the people whom they represented warranted +legislation of that sort. + +For the tendency of some of the Negro Congressmen to propose +legislative measures which were racial in character, two reasons are +conspicuously obvious. In the first place, these men regarded +themselves the official spokesmen of their race. The power conferred +upon them they believed to be evidence of the expectation and +confidence of the Negroes in them to secure for the race civil rights, +economic opportunity and political preferment. They found, moreover, +that legislation granting to Negroes their civil rights failed often +to protect them in the exercise of those rights. For such protection, +then, these Congressmen had often to contend. These personal, ever +present, inherent duties permitted these Congressmen neither time nor +energy for the preparation of legislative measures of other types. + +Another reason for restricting their efforts to local measures or +those peculiar to their race was the rule of politics that all honor +for the formulation of national measures must attach to the seasoned +veterans in Congress. This custom has become so well established as to +be traditional. It could not have been expected that the Negro +members, then, should take the lead in Congressional legislation. They +faithfully cooperated with the leaders of Congress and generally voted +for measures considered productive of the greatest good of the +country. + +Why did the Negro Congressmen fail to have their measures enacted into +law? The path of a bill is fraught with difficulties. The well-known +journey through the committee, through both houses of Congress, to the +conference and to the President, but few bills complete. Many bills of +the Negro Congressmen died of this natural cause. Others because of +lack of merit were reported adversely from committee; still others +reported favorably could not withstand the Congressional debate. A few +that survived the whole ordeal became laws. + +There were two preeminent causes for the failure of some of these +bills. The Negro membership in any Congress, in the first place always +an exceedingly small minority, was never a determining factor in the +passage of a measure proposed by one of this particular group. +Secondly, the objects of the suspicion of their party colleagues,[114] +and regarded by them as an experiment in the legislative program of +the nation, these men were not generally able to secure for their +measures sufficient white Republican votes. Considered from this point +of view, the failure of these measures is in no wise an evidence of +the lack of ability and statesmanship. + +Of them, James G. Blaine, a Republican leader of fifty years ago, has +spoken in a most praiseworthy manner. Conceding the right of the +Negroes to sit in Congress and attesting the success of their +activities there, he asserted that "they were as a rule studious, +earnest, ambitious men, whose public conduct--as illustrated by Mr. +Revels and Mr. Bruce in the Senate, and by Mr. Rapier, Mr. Lynch and +Mr. Rainey in the House--would be honorable to any race."[115] + + ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Jefferson F. Long was born in Crawford County, Georgia, March 3, +1836. Some time thereafter he moved to Macon, Bibb County, where, +under the direction of his owner, he learned the tailor's trade. Prior +to his election to the third session of the Forty-first Congress, Mr. +Long conducted, in Macon, a thriving business as a merchant tailor. +His patronage, which consisted largely of that of whites, was much +decreased after his term in Congress, due no doubt to their resentment +of his activities in politics. Mr. Long was a good speaker, a +Christian gentleman, and a man of many fine qualities. Upon his death +in Macon, February 4, 1900, his loss was mourned alike by whites and +Negroes.--Chaplain T. G. Stewart, _Fifty Years in the Gospel +Ministry_, p. 129. + +Letter from Mrs. A. L. Rucker, Atlanta, Ga., daughter of Mr. Long. +October, 1921. + +[2] Robert C. DeLarge was born at Aiken, South Carolina, March 15, +1842. He received only a limited education and chose to pursue the +occupation of farming. He entered politics in 1868, held several +local and State offices, was elected to the Forty-second +Congress, and on February 15, 1874, became a trial justice at +Charleston.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 497. + +[3] Joseph H. Rainey was born of slave parents at Georgetown, S. C., +June 21, 1832. He received a limited education. After following the +trade of a barber, he was compelled, in 1862, to work on Confederate +fortifications. From this work he escaped, going to the West Indies, +where he remained till the end of the war. Upon his return to the +United States, he entered politics. He served in the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, +and 45th Congresses, and died at Georgetown, S. C., August 1, +1887.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 757. + +[4] Alonzo J. Ransier was born at Charleston, South Carolina, January +3, 1836. He received a limited education, entered politics, and held +various offices. In 1868, he was a presidential elector, casting a +vote for Grant and Colfax, while four years later he was a delegate to +the Republican National Convention. He served as a member of +the 42nd Congress and died at Charleston, S. C., August 17, +1882.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 759. + +[5] Robert Smalls was born a slave at Beaufort, South Carolina, April +5, 1839. Debarred by statute from attending school, he availed himself +of such limited educational advantages as he could secure. In 1851, he +moved to Charleston, worked as a rigger, and thereafter led a +seafaring life. In 1861, he became connected with the _Planter_, a +steamer plying in the Charleston Harbor as a transport, which he took +over the Charleston bar in 1862 and delivered with his services to the +commander of the United States blockading squadron. He was appointed a +pilot in the Quartermaster's Department of the United States Navy, and +remained in the service till 1866, and meanwhile rose to the rank of +Captain. In 1868 he entered politics and was later elected to the +44th, 45th, 47th, 48th, and 49th Congresses. In the State militia +of South Carolina, he held successively the commands of +lieutenant-colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general, the latter +terminating with the reorganization of the militia in 1877. Mr. Smalls +was a delegate to several National Republican Conventions. His +last public office was that of collector of the port of +Beaufort.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 803. + +[6] John R. Lynch of Natchez, Mississippi, was born in Concordia +Parish, Louisiana, September 10, 1847. He attended evening school at +Natchez for a few months, and by private study acquired a good English +education. He engaged in the business of photography at Natchez until +1869, when Governor Ames appointed him a justice of the peace. Mr. +Lynch served in the 43rd, 44th, and 47th Congresses, and was elected +to the 45th Congress, but was counted out. Later he served as Fourth +Auditor of Treasury Department under President Harrison, and as a +paymaster in the Volunteer Army during the Spanish-American +War.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 662. + +[7] Blanche K. Bruce of Floreyville, Mississippi, was born in Prince +Edward County, Virginia, March 1, 1841. A man of limited education, he +became, in 1869, a planter in Mississippi. Later he became a member of +the Mississippi levee board, served in several local offices, and +finally was elected, in 1875, to the United States Senate where he +served till 1881. Mr. Bruce died at Washington, D. C., March 17, +1898.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 420. + +[8] Jore Haralson was born a slave in Muscogee County, Georgia, April +1, 1846. He was emancipated in 1865, after which he acquired through +self-instruction a fair education. After moving to Alabama, he entered +into the politics of that State. Mr. Haralson was elected to the 44th +Congress, but failed of re-election to the 45th.--_Biographical +Congressional Directory_, p. 557. + +[9] Benjamin Sterling Turner was born a slave at Halifax, North +Carolina, March 17, 1825. In 1830, he moved to Alabama, where by +clandestine study he obtained a fair education. He became a prosperous +merchant, was elected to several local offices, and to the 42nd +Congress. He was defeated for the 43rd.--_Biographical Congressional +Directory_, p. 849. + +[10] John Adams Hyman was born a slave in Warren, North Carolina, July +23, 1840. He was sold and sent to Alabama, where he was emancipated in +1865. Returning to North Carolina, Mr. Hyman engaged in farming and +acquired a rudimentary education. Entering politics in 1868, he was +later elected to the 44th Congress. In June, 1877, he was appointed +collector of internal revenue for the 2nd district of North +Carolina.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 614. + +[11] Charles E. Nash was a native of Opelousas, Louisiana. He was +educated at New Orleans, later following the trade of bricklayer. In +1863, Mr. Nash served as a private in the Eighty-third Regiment United +States Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was later promoted to sergeant-major +and lost a leg in the storming of Fort Blakeley. He was elected to the +44th Congress, but defeated for the 45th.--_Biographical Congressional +Directory_, p. 713. + +[12] Josiah T. Walls was born at Winchester, Virginia, December 30, +1842. He received a limited education, became a farmer, and in 1868 +entered politics. Mr. Walls received a certificate of election as a +representative from Florida to the 42nd Congress, but his seat was +successfully contested by Silas Niblack. He was admitted, however, to +the 43rd and 44th Congresses.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, +p. 864. + +[13] Richard H. Cain was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, April +12, 1825. In 1831, he moved with his father to Gallipolis, Ohio. Of +limited education prior to his marriage, and having entered the +ministry at an early age, he found it to his advantage, at the age of +35 years, to undertake formal study at a recognized school of +learning. Following a career as clergyman, missionary, and politician, +he was elected to the 43rd Congress and re-elected to the 45th. After +his retirement from Congress, Mr. Cain, was elected the fourteenth +bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in +Washington, January 18, 1887. --_Biographical Congressional +Directory_, p. 434. + +[14] Hiram B. Revels was born at Fayetteville, North Carolina, +September 1, 1822. Being unable to obtain an education in his own +State, he moved to Indiana and there began study for the ministry. At +the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Revels assisted in the organization +of the first two Negro regiments in Maryland. Having made a record for +service among his people in the central States, he went to Mississippi +and there became interested in managing the freedmen's affairs. He was +elected to several local offices and in 1870 was elected to fill an +unexpired term in the United States Senate. After his retirement from +Congress, Mr. Revels served as president of Alcorn University at +Rodney, Mississippi, and later as pastor of the African Methodist +Episcopal Church at Richmond, Indiana. He died January 16, 1901, at +Abeerden, Mississippi.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. +763. + +[15] Henry Plummer Cheatham of Henderson, North Carolina, was born at +Granville, North Carolina, December 27, 1857. After acquiring a good +education, he entered the teaching profession. Later he became +interested in politics and was elected to the 51st and 52nd +Congresses. His last public office was that of Recorder of Deeds of +the District of Columbia.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. +450. + +[16] George Washington Murray was born of slave parents, September 22, +1853, near Rembert, Sumter County, South Carolina. At the age of +eleven years, he found himself free, bereft of parents, completely +dependent upon his own resources. His early life, therefore, was one +of great trials and sacrifices. Possessed, however, of a determination +to live and learn, young Murray availed himself of every opportunity +to improve his meagre stock of knowledge. So well did he succeed that +his first day in school was spent as teacher rather than student. In +later life, he acquired a good education, entered into the service of +the public schools of his county and was finally elected to the 53rd +Congress. Mr. Murray was elected also to the 54th, but secured his +seat only after a successful contest with a leading Democrat of his +State.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, pp. 711-712. + +[17] John Mercer Langston was born in Louisa County, Virginia, +December 14, 1829. He distinguished himself as an educator and won +many honors in his field. Mr. Langston served also in many civic and +political offices prior to his election to the 51st Congress. Due to +the contest he was forced to make for his seat, Mr. Langston served +actually a very short time in Congress. He died in Washington, D. C., +November 15, 1897.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 643. + +[18] Robert Brown Elliott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August +11, 1842. He was educated in England, and upon his return to the +United States entered into the politics of the State of South +Carolina. Mr. Elliott was elected to the 42nd Congress and resigned +before the term had expired; he was re-elected to the 43rd +Congress and again resigned, this time to accept the office of +sheriff.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 517. + +[19] James T. Rapier was born at Florence, Alabama, in 1840. He was +sent to Canada to be educated, and while there was given the +opportunity to recite before the late King Edward VII, then Prince of +Wales, who was at that time visiting the United States and Canada. +Prior to his election to Congress, Mr. Rapier held several local +offices in Alabama and also aspired to become Secretary-of-State. In +this contest he was defeated by one Nicholas Davis, a white man. Mr. +Rapier was a partisan in the split in the Republican Party in his +State, aligning himself with one Spencer, a Republican leader of that +date. Losing in this contest, he lost also his ability to win votes +and so was defeated in his attempt to seek re-election to the 44th +Congress. Soon thereafter, Mr. Rapier gave his attention to farming +and was highly successful as a cotton planter.--_Biographical +Congressional Directory_, p. 760, and a statement of Thomas Walker, a +local officer in Alabama during the reconstruction period. + +[20] James E. O'Hara of Enfield, North Carolina, was born in New York +City, February 26, 1844. He acquired a liberal education, read law, +and entered into the politics of the State of North Carolina. After +holding several local offices, he was elected to the 46th, 48th, and +49th Congresses, but was counted out in the former.--_Biographical +Congressional Directory_, p. 722. + +[21] Thomas E. Miller was born in Beaufort County, South Carolina, at +Ferrybeeville, June 17, 1849. After acquiring a good education, he +entered politics. Mr. Miller held many local and State offices, +and was nominated by his party, in 1878, for the office of +Lieutenant-Governor of the State. Due, however, to riotous actions of +the Democratic party throughout the elections that year, the ticket +was withdrawn. Mr. Miller was seated in the 51st Congress after a +contested election with Col. William Elliott. In 1896, he was elected +president of the State Colored College at Orangeburg, South +Carolina.--_Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 695. + +[22] George Henry White of Tarboro, North Carolina, was born at +Rosindale, North Carolina, December 18, 1852. He acquired a good +education, practiced law, and entered politics. After serving in +several local and State offices, Mr. White was elected to the 55th and +re-elected to the 56th Congress.--_Biographical Congressional +Directory_, p. 877. + +[23] _Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 643. + +[24] _Ibid._, p. 614. + +[25] _Ibid._, p. 722. + +[26] _Ibid._, p. 450. + +[27] _Ibid._, p. 877. + +[28] _Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 434. + +[29] _Ibid._, p. 497. + +[30] _Ibid._, p. 517. + +[31] _Ibid._, p. 757. + +[32] _Ibid._, p. 759. + +[33] _Ibid._, p. 803. + +[34] _Ibid._, p. 695. + +[35] _Ibid._, pp. 711-712. + +[36] Letter from Mrs. A. L. Rucker, Atlanta, Ga., daughter of J. F. +Long, Oct., 1921. + +[37] Statement of Thomas Walker, Washington, D. C., a local officer in +Alabama, during the Reconstruction Period. + +[38] Statement made by Thomas Walker. + +[39] _Biographical Congressional Directory_, p. 577. + +[40] _Ibid._, p. 763. + +[41] _Ibid._, p. 420. + +[42] _Ibid._, p. 662. + +[43] _Ibid._, p. 713. + +[44] C. G. Woodson, _Fifty Years of Negro Citizenship_, JOURNAL OF +NEGRO HISTORY, Vol. VI, p. 11. + +[45] _Congressional Globe_, 41st Congress, 3rd Session, p. 881. + +[46] "In regard to the State of Mississippi," continued Senator +Revels, "I have this to say: The Republican Party now dominating there +pledged itself to universal amnesty. That was in their platform; these +speakers pledged themselves to it and the legislature redeemed that +pledge, unanimously adopting a resolution asking Congress to remove +the political disabilities of all the citizens of Mississippi, which +resolution they placed in my hands, and made it my duty to present +here, and which I have presented. + +"Now I can say more, I believe, for the State of Mississippi, than I +can say for any other of the lately insurrectionary States. I do not +know of one State that is altogether as well reconstructed as +Mississippi is. We have reports of a great many other States of +lawlessness and violence, and from parts of States we have +well-authenticated reports of this effect; but while this is the case, +do you hear one report of any more lawlessness in evidence in the +State of Mississippi? No! The people now I believe are getting along +as quietly, pleasantly, harmoniously, prosperously as the people are +in any of the formerly free States. I think this is the case, I do not +think my statement exaggerates anything at all. Now, sir, I hope that +I am understood. I am in favor of amnesty in Mississippi. We pledged +ourselves to it. The State is for it."--_Congressional Globe_, 41st +Congress, 2nd Session, p. 3520. + +[47] _Ibid._, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, p. 393. + +[48] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 103. + +[49] _Ibid._, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 102-103. + +[50] _Ibid._, 102-103. + +[51] _Congressional Globe_, 41st Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1287. + +[52] _Congressional Record_, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 407-410. + +[53] _Congressional Record_, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 407-410. + +[54] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 3383. + +[55] _Congressional Record_, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. +1311-1314. + +[56] _Ibid._, p. 407. + +[57] _Congressional Record_, pp. 4782-4786. + +[58] _Ibid._, pp. 565-567. + +[59] _Ibid._, p. 64. + +[60] _Ibid._, p. 64. + +[61] _Congressional Record_, 48th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 297. + +[62] _Ibid._, 51st Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1216. + +[63] _Congressional Record_, 56th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1634. + +[64] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 813; App., +p. 15. + +[65] _Congressional Globe_, pp. 808-810. + +[66] _Ibid._, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, p. 3655; 3rd Session, p. +220. _Congressional Record_, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 87, 88. + +[67] _Congressional Record_, 45th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1646; 44th +Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2714, 3602. + +[68] At a later date, Langston, in the Fifty-first Congress, +introduced a measure for the establishment of normal and industrial +schools for Negroes. These numerous measures were referred invariably +to the Committee on Education and Labor, from which they were usually +reported adversely to the House.--_Congressional Record_, 51st +Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1650. + +[69] In placing the responsibility with both parties, DeLarge said: +"Mr. Speaker, when the governor of my State the other day called in +council the leading men of the State, to consider the condition of +affairs there and to advise what measures would be best for the +protection of the people, whom did he call together? The major portion +of the men whom he convened were men resting under political +disabilities imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In good faith, I ask +the gentlemen on this side of the House, and gentlemen on the other +side of the House, whether it is reasonable to expect that those men +should be interested, in any shape or form, in using their influence +and best endeavor for the preservation of the public peace when they +have nothing to look for politically in the future? You say that they +should have the moral and material interest of their State at heart, +though even always denied a participation in its honors. You may +insist that the true patriot seeks no personal ends in acts of +patriotism. All this is true, but, Mr. Speaker, men are but men +everywhere, and you ought not to expect of those whom you daily call +by opprobrious epithets, whom you daily remind of their political +sins, whom you persistently exclude from places of the smallest trust +in the government you have created, to be very earnest to cooperate +with you in the work of establishing and fortifying the government set +up in hostility to the whole tone of their prejudices, their +connections, and their sympathies. What ought to be is one thing; what +in the weakness and fallibility of human nature will be is quite +another thing. The statesman regards the actual and acts upon it; the +desirable, the possible, and even the probable furnishes but poor +basis for political action."--_Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, +1st Session, App., pp. 230-231. + +[70] _Ibid._, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, p. 376. + +[71] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 3rd Session, p. 4039. + +[72] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 3rd Session, App., p. 475. + +[73] _Congressional Record_, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, p. 1121; 44th +Congress, 1st Session, p. 206; 47th Congress, 1st Session, p. 3946. + +[74] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 3825-3826; 3781-3784; +5540-5543. + +[75] _Congressional Record_, pp. 3667, 3668, 3669. + +[76] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 2nd Session, App., pp. 123-136. + +[77] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2100-2105. + +[78] Miller pointed out the inherent weaknesses of the South, the +insecurity of investment, violation of the right of property and of +contract, the jeopardy of life, and over-assessment of taxes on +property held by Northern Whites--as constituting the causes +underlying the failure of investors to direct their monies to Southern +enterprises. He discussed the amenability of the Negro to civilizing +influences and the economic progress that the race had made since its +emancipation from slavery. Miller asserted, moreover, that though +these remarks might effect the loss of his seat in the next Congress, +he conceived it his duty to his party and to his race to defend his +people against the dastardly attack of one who pretended to be its +friend. _Congressional Record_, 51st Congress, 2nd Session, p. 2691. + +[79] _Ibid._, pp. 1479-1482; 1524. + +[80] _Ibid._, 53rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2158-2161. + +[81] _Ibid._, 54th Congress, 1st Session, p. 1868; 2nd Session, p. +320. + +[82] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 393, 2439, +2447, 2452. + +[83] _Ibid._, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 198, 178, 3793; 3rd +Session, p. 220; 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 87, 88. + +[84] _Ibid._, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 85, 320, 1333. + +[85] _Congressional Globe_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 321, 1203; +47th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 4551, 6146. + +[86] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 442, 3754, 4857; 45th +Congress, 2nd Session, p. 2706; 47th Congress, 1st Session, p. 6432; +49th Congress, 1st Session, p. 1218. + +[87] _Ibid._, 49th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 437, 1404, 3748, 4980, +4982, 5069. + +[88] _Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, p. 3570. + +[89] _Congressional Record_, 47th Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 2312, +2660, 2870-2871. + +[90] _Congressional Record_, 55th Congress, 1st Session, p. 550. + +[91] _Ibid._, 49th Congress, 1st Session, p. 3049. + +[92] _Congressional Record_, 51st Congress, 2nd Session, p. 3490. + +[93] _Ibid._, 52nd Congress, 1st Session, App., p. 508. + +[94] _Congressional Record_, 51st Congress, 1st Session, pp. 10,707, +10,708. + +[95] _Ibid._, 52nd Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 4695, 5974. + +[96] _Ibid._, 53rd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 8382. + +[97] _Congressional Record_, 56th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 166, 372, +594, 791; 2nd Session, p. 188; 55th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 3153. + +[98] _Ibid._, 43rd Congress, 1st Session, App., p. 250; pp. 27, 206. +_Congressional Globe_, 42nd Congress, 1st Session, pp. 198, 178. + +[99] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, p. 3340. + +[100] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 771, 2714, 2791. + +[101] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 2nd Session, pp. +1025-1026. + +[102] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 118, +119. + +[103] _Ibid._, 47th Congress, 1st Session, p. 6898. + +[104] _Ibid._, 45th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1646. + +[105] _Ibid._, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 3457, 3467, 3468; 48th +Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 316, 2057; 49th Congress, 1st Session, p. +1919. + +[106] _Ibid._, 45th Congress, 3rd Session, p. 1914. + +[107] _Ibid._, 46th Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 2195-2196. + +[108] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 1444, +1445. + +[109] _Congressional Record_, 45th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 245, +1750; 3rd Session, 1314, 1316, 2309. + +[110] _Ibid._, 53rd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 2399; 1st Session, pp. +1392, 1396. + +[111] _Ibid._, 56th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 3814. + +[112] _Ibid._, 55th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 541. + +[113] Munro, _The Government of the United States_, p. 297. + +[114] A Letter from John E. Bruce, Brooklyn, N. N., a man active +during the Reconstruction. June 6, 1921. + +[115] James G. Blaine, _Twenty Years of Congress_, 1861-1881, Vol. II, +p. 515. + + + + +THE PRIORITY OF THE SILVER BLUFF CHURCH AND ITS PROMOTERS + + +In speaking of the beginning of Negro churches in the United States, +those of the Baptist faith must not be forgotten. Nor must we err in +thinking that the first churches of this faith were planted in the +North. It is true that there were Negro Baptists in Providence, Rhode +Island, as early as 1774,[1] and doubtless much earlier, but they had +no church of their own. Indeed, there is absolutely no trace of Negro +Baptist churches in the North prior to the nineteenth century. The +oldest Negro Baptist churches, north of Mason and Dixon's Line, are +the Independent or First African Baptist Church, of Boston, +Massachusetts, planted in 1805; the Abysinnian, of New York City, +established in 1808; and the First African, of Philadelphia, +Pennsylvania, organized in 1809.[2] + +Negro Baptist churches, unlike other Negro churches, had their +beginning in the South, and at a somewhat earlier date. The first +church of Negro Baptists, so far as authentic and trustworthy writings +of the eighteenth century establish, was constituted at Silver +Bluff,[3] on Mr. Galphin's[4] estate, a year or two before the +Revolutionary War. It continued to worship there, in comparative +peace, until the latter part of 1778, when the vicissitudes of war +drove the church into exile[5]--but only to multiply itself +elsewhere.[6] The work at Silver Bluff began anew with the cessation +of hostilities, moreover, and was more prosperous than ever in +1791.[7] + +Silver Bluff was situated on the South Carolina side of the Savannah +River, in Aiken County, just twelve miles from Augusta, Georgia.[8] +All there was of it, in September, 1775, seems to have been embraced +in what William Tennett, of Revolutionary fame, styled "Mr. Galphin's +Settlement."[9] Nevertheless, as it lay in the tract of the +Revolutionary forces, and was for a time a center of supplies to the +Indians, who had their habitation in that quarter, living in treaty +relations with the colonists, Ramsey, Carroll, Drayton,[10] and +others, give it a place on the map of South Carolina. Indeed, so +identified was Silver Bluff with the Galphins, their interests and +their influence, that by 1785 it was known far and near as Galphinton. +Fort Galphin was there. Bartram, who visited it in 1776, says that +Silver Bluff was "a very celebrated place," and describes it as "a +beautiful villa," while the picture which Jones, in his history of +South Carolina, gives of Silver Bluff, is animating, to say the +least.[11] + +David George, who was one of the constituent members, and the first +regular pastor of the Silver Bluff Church, is our authority in regard +to the early history of this flock. We make the following extracts +from letters of his, published in London, England, in connection with +other foreign correspondence, during the period from 1790 to 1793: + + Brother Palmer,[12] who was pastor at some distance from Silver + Bluff, came and preached to a large congregation at a mill of Mr. + Galphin's; he was a very powerful preacher.... Brother Palmer + came again and wished us to beg Master to let him preach to us; + and he came frequently.... There were eight of us now, who had + found the great blessing and mercy from the Lord, and my wife was + one of them, and Brother Jesse Galphin.... Brother Palmer + appointed Saturday evening to hear what the Lord had done for us, + and next day, he baptized us in the mill stream.... Brother + Palmer formed us into a church, and gave us the Lord's Supper at + Silver Bluff.... Then I began to exhort in the Church, and + learned to sing hymns.... Afterwards the church advised with + Brother Palmer about my speaking to them, and keeping them + together.... So I was appointed to the office of an elder, and + received instruction from Brother Palmer how to conduct myself. I + proceeded in this way till the American War was coming on, when + the Ministers were not allowed to come amongst us, lest they + should furnish us with too much knowledge.... I continued + preaching at Silver Bluff, till the church, constituted with + eight, increased to thirty or more, and 'till the British came to + the city of Savannah and took it.[13] + +The first clear conception of time, which we get from these extracts, +in regard to the origin of the Silver Bluff Church, is where David +George speaks of being left in sole charge, as Liele and Palmer might +no longer visit Silver Bluff, lest in so doing, they should impart to +the slaves of the settlement a knowledge, which, in the then +prevailing conditions, would result in their personal freedom, and, +consequently, in great financial loss to their masters. This +undoubtedly was not later than November, 1775, when the Earl of +Dunmore issued on American soil a proclamation of emancipation, in +which the black slaves and the white indentured bondmen were alike +promised freedom, provided they espoused the cause of England, in its +struggle with the colonists. How well these slaves understood and +appreciated the proffered boon, may be inferred from a letter which +was written by Stephen Bull to Col. Henry Laurens, President of the +Council of Safety, Charleston, South Carolina, March 14, 1776. In that +letter he says: "It is better for the public, and the owners, if the +deserted Negroes who are on Tybee Island be shot, if they cannot be +taken."[14] By this means, as he informs us, he hoped to "deter other +Negroes from deserting" their masters. According to Bull's +representation, the Negroes along the Savannah River were abandoning +their masters, and now going to the British in scores and hundreds, to +the detriment of their owners, and the menace of the cause of American +independence. + +Now George Liele, although not a runaway slave, appears to have had +some liking for the Tybee River, as a place of abode, and it is +probable that when he could no longer visit Silver Bluff, and was not +in camp with Henry Sharp (who had not only given him his freedom, but +also taken up arms against the Revolutionists), he reported to Tybee +Island to preach to the refugees there assembled. At any rate, when +Liele appears in Savannah, Georgia, as a preacher of the Gospel, his +biographer declares that "He came up to the city of Savannah from +Tybee River."[15] + +The next hint which we get from the statements of David George, in +regard to the time when the Silver Bluff Church was planted, is where +he says that George Liele preached at Silver Bluff both before and +after the organization of the church. Happily, Liele himself refers to +Silver Bluff as a place where he used to preach. Liele also informs +us that he became a Christian about two years before the American +Revolution, but did not immediately connect himself with a church; +that when he did join, he became a member of Matthew Moore's church, +in Burke County, Georgia; that he was a member of this church about +four years; that his membership terminated with the evacuation of +Savannah; that he preached at Yamacraw and Brumpton Land about three +years; and that he went to Jamaica, in the West Indies, in the year of +1782. + +Let us consider carefully these facts, with reference to time. The +three years, which preceded 1782, were 1781, 1780, 1779. This brings +us to the evacuation of Savannah by the Americans, within two days, as +the British captured the city December 29, 1778. The four years which +preceded 1779 were 1778, 1777, 1776, 1775. We understand from George +Liele's statements concerning himself, therefore, that he became a +member of Matthew Moore's church at the close of the year 1774, or the +beginning of 1775, but was converted at the end of the year 1773, and +let a whole year, or nearly so, pass before becoming a church-member. + +It is probable that George Liele did not wait to be received into the +fellowship of a church before going from plantation to plantation to +tell his fellow slaves of the blessing of salvation which he had +experienced. He may have thus declared the love of Christ, at Silver +Bluff, as early as 1773, as Burke County, Georgia, in which he lived, +is in part practically adjacent to Aiken County, South Carolina, in +which was Silver Bluff. Accordingly, we are warranted in concluding +that the Negro Baptist Church at Silver Bluff was constituted not +earlier than 1773, nor later than 1775. + +In making these deductions, we bear in mind that the year 1777 has +been designated as the time of Liele's conversion, 1778 as the time +when he united with Matthew Moore's church, and four years later, or +1782, as the time when his membership in that church ceased. In +explanation of this view its advocates insist that the three years in +which Liele preached at Brumpton Land and Yamacraw are included in +the four years during which he was a member of Matthew Moore's church. +According to this claim, the Silver Bluff Church could not have been +planted earlier than 1777 nor later than 1778. + +We do not share this view for good and sufficient reasons. When Liele, +in 1779, went to Savannah to reside, during the British occupancy, he +became separated from Matthew Moore's church and the people of Burke +County, Georgia, for all time. With the British troops he entered +Savannah, as the Americans had evacuated it at the very close of the +year 1778. With the British he remained in Savannah during his three +years stay in that city, and with one of their officers he left the +country, in 1782, for Kingston, Jamaica, British West Indies, where he +spent the remainder of his life. His four years of connection with +Matthew Moore's church, therefore, must have preceded the year 1779, +covering the time from the latter part of 1774 to the latter part of +1778. + +As George Liele informs us that he became a Christian about two years +before the American War, those who place his conversion in the year +1777 are compelled to reckon the beginning of the Revolutionary War +from the year 1779. Errors are hard things to substantiate, and force +men to choose between strange dilemmas. But, in explanation of this +absurdity, it is claimed that the Revolutionary War did not make +itself manifest in Georgia and South Carolina until about the year +1779, and the Negroes of Georgia and South Carolina, in speaking of +it, would refer to that year as the beginning of the war. But as a +matter of fact, the Revolutionary struggle in South Carolina and +Georgia was manifest from the very first. Thus the biographer of +Abraham Marshall, of Kiokee, Georgia, having informed his reader that +the subject of his sketch was ordained to the work of the Gospel +ministry on May 20, 1775, adds, "Just as he had chosen his life work, +the Revolutionary War broke out, and Georgia became a scene of +violence and bloodshed. During almost the entire struggle, the people +were subject to the combined outrages of Britons, Tories and +Indians."[16] + +Thus, too, the biographer of Gov. John Houston's trusted slave, Andrew +C. Marshall, writes, "The embargo having taken effect in Savannah at +the opening of the Revolution, fifteen merchants of that city agreed +to give him a purse of $225.00 if he would carry word to several +American vessels that lay in a bay on the lower seaboard, in which +achievement he was successful."[17] The expression, "the opening of +the Revolution," in this passage, refers to the year 1775, and not to +1778-1779, for the British attacked the city of Savannah as early as +March 3, 1776, and would have captured it if they had not been +repulsed by the Americans. + +The English agents, their American allies (the Tories), and the +Cherokee Indians, who resided in the neighborhood of Silver Bluff and +made it the commercial mart it was in colonial times, took up the +cause of the British against the revolutionists from the very +beginning of the war. Accordingly, William H. Drayton, of South +Carolina, on August 30, 1775, urged the sending of foot-soldiers and +mounted men to the vicinity of Augusta, Georgia, to protect the +interests of the patriots, and chasten their foes.[18] + +Eight days later, September 7, 1775, William Tennett, of South +Carolina, wrote in his journal as follows: "Went ten miles to +New-Savannah, where I had appointed a meeting of inhabitants, in hopes +to draw an audience out of Augusta, from Mr. Galphin's Settlement, and +Beach Island, but most of the men having marched with Mr. Drayton, +and Mr. Galphin being from home, I had but few."[19] To this same +neighborhood Col. Andrew Williamson led a large force of South +Carolinians, in defense of the American cause, some time later, and +General Griffith Rutherford, with 2,400 men, reinforced him, +September, 1776. + +In view of all these statements in regard to the time when the +Revolutionary War began to make itself manifest in Georgia and South +Carolina, we conclude that when George Liele says he was converted to +Christianity about two years before the Revolutionary War, he refers +to the year 1773, and his visits to Silver Bluff were at an end by the +summer of 1775. We are, therefore, driven back to our first +affirmation, namely, that the Negro Baptist Church at Silver Bluff, +South Carolina, was organized not earlier than 1773, nor later than +1775. + +The writers who have insisted that Mr. Liele united with Matthew +Moore's church in 1778, and terminated that membership in 1782, have +followed what is undoubtedly an erroneous inference. Liele said, "I +continued in this church about four years till the 'vacuation.'" But +as the expression seemed to Dr. Rippon indefinite in some particulars, +he sought information from persons who were supposed to be capable of +guiding him, and added five words to the statement of Liele, which +made it read as follows: "I continued in this church about four years, +'till the 'vacuation'--_of Savannah by the British_."[20] Dr. Rippon +carefully states that "Brother George's words are distinguished by +inverted commas, and what is not so marked, is either matter +compressed, or information received from such persons to whom +application had been made for it." + +It is easy enough to see how the inference was drawn, for in one of +his letters Liele says, "Our beloved Sister Hannah Williams, during +the time she was a member of the church at Savannah, until the +'vacuation, did walk as a faithful, well-beloved Christian."[21] Here +there is no room for doubt. Liele speaks in this case of the +evacuation of Savannah by the British, July, 1782, but in the former +instance the only evacuation of Savannah which harmonizes with the +story of his own life, the events and circumstances of his time, and +those of his associates, is the evacuation of Savannah by the +Americans, December 29, 1778. + + +GEORGE GALPHIN--PATRON OF THE SILVER BLUFF CHURCH + +The planter and merchant on whose estate the Silver Bluff Church was +constituted is deserving of special mention in connection with the +story of that people. We learn from White's _History of Georgia_, that +George Galphin was "a native of Ireland, emigrated soon after manhood +to America, and died at Silver Bluff, his residence, on the Savannah +River, in South Carolina, on the second of December, 1782, in the +seventy-first year of his age." N. W. Jones, in his history, quotes +William Bartram as saying that George Galphin was "a gentleman of very +distinguished talents and great liberality."[22] + +The spirit of justice and kindness, it appears, was manifest in all +his dealings with the peoples of the weaker races, who were daily +about him. The red man and the black man alike saw in him a man of +kindly soul. David George, who was ever a British subject, described +his former master as an "anti-loyalist." N. W. Jones, speaking as an +American, pronounced him a "patriot." Neither spoke of him except to +praise. A master less humane, less considerate of the happiness and +moral weal of his dependents, less tolerant in spirit, would never +have consented to the establishment of a Negro church on his estate. +He might have put an end to the enterprise in its very incipiency, but +he did not. He fostered the work from the beginning. It was by his +consent that the gospel was preached to slaves who resided at Silver +Bluff. It was by his permission that the Silver Bluff Church was +established. It was he who permitted David George to be ordained to +the work of the ministry. It was he who provided the Silver Bluff +Church with a house of worship, by permitting his mill to be used in +that capacity. And it was he who gave the little flock a baptistry, by +placing his mill-stream at their disposal on baptizing occasions. But +we are satisfied that he had no conception of the far-reaching +influence of these deeds of kindness. + +The truth is, the Galphins appear to have been masters of the +patriarchal type. Thomas Galphin, under whose beneficence the work at +Silver Bluff was renewed in postbellum time, was, as we shall see, as +much the benefactor and protector of Jesse Peter, as George Galphin +had been of David George before, and during the earlier stages of the +Revolutionary War.[23] Accessible records reveal the fact that John +Galphin was an Indian interpreter and a friend of the Cussetahs. It is +indeed suggestive that, in 1787, these Indians wished a Negro, whom +John Galphin owned, to be a messenger with one of their men to the +whites. + + +THE SILVER BLUFF CHURCH IN EXILE + +With the fall of Savannah, at the very close of the year 1778, the +Silver Bluff Church completed the first stage in its history. At that +time Rev. David George, the pastor, and about forty other slaves, whom +George Galphin had abandoned in his flight, went to Savannah, to find +safety and freedom under the British flag. Later David George returned +to South Carolina, and abode for a time in the city of Charleston. +Thence, in 1782, he sailed to Nova Scotia, in company with not less +than five hundred white persons, who were adherents of the British +cause. In Nova Scotia he abode ten years, preaching to the people of +his own race who had found their way into that portion of the +continent, in large numbers, after abandoning their homes in the +United States. + +These labors were performed amid hardships and persecutions, but in +faithfulness to God and suffering humanity. In prosecuting his +mission, he preached in Shelburn, Birchtown, Ragged Island, and in St. +Johns, New Brunswick. So pronounced was the opposition to his labors +in New Brunswick, that he found it necessary to invoke the protection +of the civil authorities. How well he succeeded in doing so, may be +imagined from the subjoined statement: + + "Secretary's Office, Fredericktown, 17th July, 1792, I do hereby + certify that David George, a free Negro man, has permission from + his Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, to instruct the Black + people in knowledge, and exhort them to the practice of the + Christian religion. Jno. Odell, Secretary."[24] + +It should excite in us no surprise that David George was opposed in +his labors in his new home, for, as Lorenzo Sabine declares, "the +original population of this Colony was composed almost entirely of the +Loyalists of the Revolution."[25] They had not changed their views in +regard to the rights of Negroes, by being removed from a land where +the two races had hitherto sustained the relation of master and slave. +The real surprise lies in the fact, that the secretary of the province +was himself a preacher, a minister of the Episcopal Church, and a +former resident of the State of New Jersey. + +So effective were the arduous labors of David George that he is +enrolled among the pulpit pioneers, in Bill's history of Canadian +Baptists. He was certainly first to plant a Baptist church at +Shelburn, as well as a number of feeble beginnings elsewhere. But +Canada was only a temporary home to David George, and to others from +the States. Accordingly, he took a colony of Negroes to Sierra Leone, +British Central Africa, in 1782. + +Of this distant colony, G. Winfred Hervey remarks: "The first settlers +of Sierra Leone were what they needed to be, men of bravery. They +consisted of about 12,000 colored men who had joined the British +forces in the American Revolution. At the close of the war they were +sent to Nova Scotia, but the climate proving too unfriendly to them, +they were, in 1792, transported to Sierra Leone."[26] One of the first +things that David George did, after reaching Africa, was to plant a +little Baptist church, which was composed of Negroes from America who +had arrived in their fatherland by way of Nova Scotia. + +In order to stimulate in the English people an intelligent interest in +the colony of Sierra Leone, and secure for the Baptist cause in +Freetown the sympathy and aid of English Baptists, David George took a +trip to London, England, shortly after establishing himself on the +continent of Africa. It was this visit to the metropolis of the world +which doubtless, more than anything else, facilitated the collection +and publication of many facts then existing and ascertainable in +regard to Negro Baptist preachers and their churches in the eastern +and western hemispheres. + +In visiting Europe, David George took with him letters of commendation +from persons of recognized standing in England. John Rippon, the +distinguished London divine, thus speaks of David George, after +investigating his standing: "Governor Clarkson, in the most unreserved +manner, assured me that he esteemed David George as his brother, and +that he believes him to be the best man, without exception, in the +colony of Sierra Leone."[27] Had the Silver Bluff Church done nothing +more than produce this one earnest Christian man, this faithful +preacher of Christ, this potent factor in the planting of a colony +under the English flag, it would not have existed in vain, but it did +more. + + +THE SILVER BLUFF CHURCH REVIVED + +When peace had been restored, and the Revolutionary forces had been +disbanded or recalled, Silver Bluff resumed once more the aspect of +social distinctions between master and slave in colonial times. Once +more, too, the Galphin place became a center of religious activities, +and the Negro Baptists of Silver Bluff were more numerous than ever. + +The man who was instrumental in resuscitating the work at Silver Bluff +was Jesse Peter, who, according to an old custom of applying to the +slave the surname of the master, was better known as Jesse Galphin, or +Gaulfin. Having been connected with the Silver Bluff Church from the +very first, and only separated from it during the Revolutionary War +and the period of readjustment immediately thereafter, Jesse Peter was +eminently fitted, at least in one particular, to take up the work at +Silver Bluff which David George had abandoned in the year 1778. He +knew the place and he loved the people. Silver Bluff was his home, and +there he was held in high esteem. Moreover, he possessed what is +essential to ministerial success everywhere, deep sincerity, +seriousness of purpose, knowledge of the Bible, an excellent spirit, +and the ability to deliver, with profit and pleasure, the message of +the truth. Jonathan Clarke, and Abraham Marshall, who knew him +personally, have left on record beautiful testimonials of his work and +his worth.[28] + +Why this young man, who had obtained his freedom by going to the +British at the fall of Savannah,[29] in 1778, remained in America to +resume the condition of a slave, after the Revolutionary War, is not +known. It is known, however, that, unlike George Liele and David +George, men of adventurous spirit, Jesse Peter was not a pioneering +worker in strange fields. If, indeed, he ever traveled beyond Kiokee, +Georgia, in the one direction, and the city of Savannah in the other, +we have failed to note the fact. It is known, too, that he had an +indulgent master, and it is possible that he preferred a state of +nominal slavery, under his protection, to a probable state of want and +hardship in a foreign land. Or it may be he was willing to die for the +cause, and so deliberately entered again into the old condition of +bondage in order to enjoy the privilege of preaching, where Liele and +George had labored in other days. + +It is to be presumed that Jesse Peter was regularly ordained to the +work of the Gospel ministry. We take this view because he exercised +the duties and privileges which ordination implies, without ever being +called in question for doing so. His three years of association with +Liele and George, in Savannah, during the British occupancy, moreover, +afforded him ample opportunity to be publicly and regularly +consecrated to his life-work. Certainly Abraham Marshall, of Kiokee, +Georgia, would not have associated himself with Jesse Peter in the +ordination of Andrew Bryan, of Savannah, in 1788, if Jesse Peter had +not himself been ordained to the work of the ministry. + +Conditions in the earlier stages of Jesse Peter's pastorate at Silver +Bluff were such that he did not reside at his old home, but came and +went as a stated visitor. Accordingly, Jonathan Clarke, writing from +Savannah, Georgia, December 22, 1792, says, "Jesse Peter (whose +present master is Thomas Galphin), is now here, and has three or four +places in the country, where he attends preaching alternately."[30] +George Liele, writing from the West Indies, in 1791, had said to +Joseph Cook, of South Carolina, "Brother Jesse Galphin, another black +minister, preaches near Augusta, in South Carolina, where I used to +preach."[31] Referring to him, George White speaks as follows: "On the +20th of January, 1788, Andrew, surnamed Bryan, was ordained by Rev. +Abraham Marshall, and a colored minister named Jesse Peter, from the +vicinity of Augusta."[32] Benedict, referring to Andrew Marshall, in +the same connection, states that "he was accompanied by a young +preacher of color, by the name of Jesse Peter, of Augusta."[33] From +these testimonies, it is evident that Jesse Peter was a nonresident +pastor of the Silver Bluff Church from 1788 to 1792, if not for a +longer period. + +During the first period of Jesse Peter's pastorate at Silver Bluff, +another slave, who lived in that locality, began to preach. Andrew +Bryan, writing from Savannah, Georgia, December 28, 1800, refers to +him in the following manner: "Another dispensation of Providence has +greatly strengthened our hands and increased our means of information: +Henry Francis, lately a slave of the widow of the late Col. Leroy +Hammond, of Augusta, has been purchased by a few humane gentlemen of +this place, and liberated to exercise the handsome ministerial gifts +he possesses amongst us, and teach our youth to read and write." He +adds, "Brother Francis has been in the ministry fifteen years, and +will soon receive ordination."[34] According to Andrew Bryan, Henry +Francis was a half-breed, his mother being white, his father an +Indian, but I find in a letter, written by another from the city of +Savannah, May 23, 1800, that he is characterized as "a man of color, +who has for many years served Col. Hammond, and has handsome +ministerial abilities."[35] + +The question easily suggests itself, was Henry Francis a member of the +Silver Bluff Church when, in 1785, he began to preach? We infer that +he was, from certain known facts as to his place of abode, and his +opportunities for church membership. In the first place, he lived in +the immediate neighborhood of Silver Bluff. William Tennett informs us +that the Hammond place was in South Carolina, four miles from Augusta, +Georgia and Lossing, Abraham Marshall, and others, that Silver Bluff +was also in South Carolina, twelve miles from Augusta. It was easy, +therefore, for Henry Francis to attend divine service at the Silver +Bluff Church. In the second place, it was the custom of the slaves on +the neighboring plantations to attend preaching at Silver Bluff during +the pastorate of David George,[36] and the custom doubtless prevailed +during Jesse Peter's pastorate. If Henry Francis attended church at +Silver Bluff, he did only what other slaves of the neighborhood did. +Furthermore, there was no other Baptist church, white or colored, in +the neighborhood, for Francis to join. Marshall's church at Kiokee, +Georgia, was twenty miles above Augusta, while Botsford's Meeting +House, in the opposite direction, was "25 or 30 miles below +Augusta."[37] In Augusta itself, there was no Negro Baptist church +until 1793,[38] and no white Baptist church until 1817.[39] To our +mind the conclusion is inevitable that Henry Francis, in 1785, was a +member of the Negro Baptist church, at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. + +In reaching this conclusion, moreover, we have been not a little +influenced by the fact that when Henry Francis was formerly ordained +to the ministry at Savannah, Georgia, seventeen years after he had +commenced to preach, and when he was an officer in the Negro church at +Savannah, the ordination sermon was not preached by Dr. Henry +Holcombe, of the white church of that city, nor by Andrew Bryan of the +First African, but by Jesse Peter,[40] pastor of the Silver Bluff +Church. We can account for the deference shown Jesse Peter, on this +occasion, only on the presumption that Henry Francis was converted, +baptized, and licensed to preach at Silver Bluff, and that Jesse Peter +was the instrument used in bringing these results to pass. It is +evident, then, that the Ogeeche African Baptist Church,[41] on the +Ogeeche River, fourteen miles south of Savannah, organized in the year +1803, is more indebted to the Silver Bluff Church for her first +preacher and instructor of youth than to any other church. + +Of Jesse Peter's ministry at Silver Bluff, as a resident pastor, we +are not well informed. In a letter written from Kiokee, Georgia, May +1, 1793, Abraham Marshall speaks of him as follows: "I am intimately +acquainted with Jesse Golfin; he lives thirty miles below me in South +Carolina, and twelve miles below Augusta. He is a Negro servant of Mr. +Golfin, who, to his praise be it spoken, treats him with respect."[42] +Jesse Peter, then, was resident pastor of the Silver Bluff Church in +the early spring of 1793. From another source we learn that the +membership of the Silver Bluff Church, at this time, was sixty or +more.[43] + + +THE CHURCH AT AUGUSTA + +Here we lose sight of the Silver Bluff Church, just as the First +African Baptist Church, of Augusta, Georgia, better known as the +Springfield Baptist Church, comes into being. Jesse Peter had secured +standing and recognition for the First African Church, at Savannah, +Georgia,[44] and Henry Francis had been ordained for the Ogeeche +Church by him and Andrew Bryan and Henry Holcombe. It was natural, +then, that he would wish for his work at Silver Bluff the standing and +recognition which had been secured for the work in and about Savannah, +Georgia. In order to obtain this boon, and have his work in touch with +that near the seacoast, it would be necessary to transfer its place of +meeting from the State of South Carolina to the State of Georgia, +where he had a friend, who was able to bring things to pass. It is in +this way alone that we account for the beginning of the First African +Baptist Church at Augusta at the very time when the Silver Bluff +Church disappears. The curtain falls on the Silver Bluff Church, with +Jesse Peter as pastor, when the church is reported as in a flourishing +condition. The curtain rises, and again we see a flock of devoted +Christians, with Jesse Peter as pastor, but they are twelve miles away +from Silver Bluff, South Carolina, receiving from Abraham Marshall and +another white Baptist minister the regulating touches which gave the +body standing and influence as the First African Baptist Church, of +Augusta, Georgia. + +Here is what Benedict says of the body: "This church appears to have +been raised up by the labors of Jesse Peter, a black preacher of +respectable talents, and an amiable character. It was constituted in +1793, by elders Abraham Marshall and David Tinsley. Jesse Peter, +sometimes called Jesse Golfin, on account of his master's name, +continued the pastor of this church a number of years, and was very +successful in his ministry."[45] If, as we presume, the Silver Bluff +Church is still with us, in another meeting-place and under a new +name, the oldest Negro Baptist church in this country today is that at +Augusta, Georgia, having existed at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, from +the period 1774-1775 to the year 1793, before becoming a Georgia +institution. + + +THE FIRST AFRICAN BAPTIST CHURCH OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA + +The story of the Silver Bluff Baptist Church would not be complete +without reference to the Negro Baptist Church at Savannah, Georgia, +which existed before Andrew Bryan became a Christian. Neither E. K. +Love, a recent pastor of the First African Baptist Church, nor James +M. Simms, of the Bryan Church, have intimated, in their respective +histories, that Savannah had a Negro Baptist church before the 20th of +January, 1788. Nevertheless, the fact remains that during the British +occupancy--that is, from the year 1779 to the year 1782--there was at +Savannah, Georgia, an African Baptist church. + +If the Negroes of Savannah had been without a Baptist church from 1779 +to 1782, it would have been strange indeed. For David George led a +company of fifty or more fugitive slaves from Galphinton, South +Carolina, into that city at the close of the year 1778, and this +company, it is reasonable to infer, included a considerable part, if +not nearly all, of the members of the Silver Bluff Church. Devout +Christians who had enjoyed such privileges as slaves, and that for +years, in South Carolina, would scarcely be satisfied without them in +Georgia, as free men, when they had with them three preachers of the +Gospel, David George, George Liele, and Jesse Peter, men of their own +race and denomination, men from the vicinity of Augusta, who had +figured in the planting and growth of the Silver Bluff Church. + +We are glad that we have historical data which establish the fact that +there was a Negro Baptist church in Savannah from 1779 to 1782, and +that the Negro Baptist ministry, which had made itself felt at Silver +Bluff for the centuries to come, was now embraced in the church at +Savannah. But in this church, it will be seen, George Liele, the +eldest of the trio, was the pastor, and not David George. George +Liele, as servant of the British officer, who had given him his +freedom, could secure for the church recognition and influence, at the +hands of the military government then in possession of Savannah, which +neither David George, nor Jesse Peter, could obtain. Liele was with a +man who had influence with the British government. David George and +Jesse Peter, as strangers and fugitives, were unknown to that +government, and without influence. It is in this way that we account +for the fact that George Liele, and not David George, was pastor of +the church. Under ordinary circumstances, the Silver Bluff element, +which probably included nearly the whole church at the beginning, +would have insisted upon having their old pastor. + +In seeking facts, which make it manifest that Savannah, Georgia, had a +Negro Baptist church prior to 1788, we have consulted the testimony of +persons who were connected with the church at the time, and that of +persons of recognized standing who were contemporaneous with them and +competent to testify. Joseph Cook, of Euhaw, Upper Indian Land, South +Carolina, in a letter to Dr. John Rippon, London, England, dated +September 15, 1790, uses the following language: "A poor Negro, +commonly called Brother George, has been so highly favored of God, as +to plant the first Baptist church in Savannah, and another in +Jamaica."[46] As Hervey, Cox, Phillipo, and others who have noticed +the missionary efforts of Negro Baptists in the West Indies, inform us +that George Liele left the United States in 1782 and began preaching +at Kingston, Jamaica, British West Indies, in 1784, it is evident from +Cook's letter that the church which Liele planted at Savannah existed +prior to 1782.[47] Cook is corroborated by F. A. Cox, who, in speaking +of George Liele, in his history of the Baptist Missionary Society of +England, states that "He had been pastor of a colored congregation in +America." A paragraph which we take from the _History of the +Propagation of Christianity Among the Heathen_, is of the same nature. +It refers to the church of which Mr. Cook speaks, in this manner: "The +first Baptist preacher in Jamaica was a black man named George Liele, +who, though a slave, had been the pastor of a Baptist church in +Georgia. He was brought to Jamaica about 1782." Liele, on his own +behalf, testified that there was a Negro Baptist church in Savannah, +Georgia, during the British occupancy, and mentions by name at least +three of its members, who were not in this country, after the British +withdrew their forces from Savannah, in 1782. In a letter to Joseph +Cook, written from Jamaica, in 1790, Liele refers to one of these +members in the following manner: "Also I received accounts from Nova +Scotia of a black Baptist preacher, David George, who was a member of +the church at Savannah."[48] + +In a communication written in 1791 and addressed to the pastor of a +London church, Liele refers to one of his Jamaica members in this +style: "Sister Hannah Williams, during the time she was a member of +the church at Savannah, until the 'vacuation, did _walk_ as a +faithful, well-behaved Christian."[49] In answer to questions in +regard to Jesse Peter, Liele replied to his London correspondent as +follows: "Brother Jesse Gaulphin, another black minister, preaches +near Augusta, in South Carolina, where I used to preach. He was a +member of the church at Savannah."[50] + +In the face of this testimony, coming from different sources and from +parties widely separated from each other who had no motive to deceive, +there is absolutely no room for doubt as to the fact that a Negro +Baptist church existed in Savannah, Georgia, from 1779 to 1782. + +As to what measure of prosperity attended the work of the Negro +Baptist church at Savannah, Georgia, during the years 1779-1782, we +are not informed. It was well that at a time when churches in some +parts were going to pieces because of the ravages of war, this little +flock remained intact. We infer, however, that it did a most blessed +work. George Liele speaks in one of his letters of one "Brother +Amos,"[51] who appears to have been a product of the Negro church at +Savannah, or the older church at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. Amid +the changes wrought in the closing days of the Revolutionary War, this +Negro preacher had his lot cast in New Providence, Bahama Islands, +British West Indies. According to George Liele, Amos had a membership +of three hundred in 1791. Benedict informs us that Amos was in +correspondence with his brethren in Savannah, Georgia, in 1812, and at +that time the church at New Providence numbered eight hundred and +fifty. + + +A REMNANT OF LIELE'S CHURCH IN SAVANNAH AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR + +What portion of the Savannah Church remained in America, after the +evacuation of the city of Savannah by the British, in 1782, we are not +able to state. But blessings and trials attended both that portion of +the flock which went abroad and that which remained. Andrew Bryan, +Hannah Bryan, Kate Hogg, and Hagar Simpson,[52] were among the last +converts received into the fellowship of the Negro Baptist church at +Savannah before the pastor, the Rev. George Liele, sailed for the West +Indies in 1782. These and probably others, like Jesse Peter, remained +in America after the restoration of peace between the United States +and the "mother-country," and labored under Andrew Bryan, their new +spiritual leader, for the continuation of the work which had been so +blessed of God under the labors of George Liele. + +From Liele's departure, in 1782, to the time of Andrew Bryan's +ordination, in 1788, the little flock at Savannah, Georgia, was +bitterly persecuted, but its work for resuscitation, and progress, was +wonderful--wonderful because of the moral heroism which characterized +it. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that much of the opposition +to the church at Savannah from 1782 to 1787 was due to the +circumstances in which it had come into being, and not to any real +antipathy to the cause of Christ. For it must be borne in mind that it +was a creature of the Revolutionary War, and of British origin, having +been planted when the rightful people of Savannah were languishing in +exile, or heroically struggling with the enemy in other parts of the +country. Bryan and his associates were beaten unmercifully for their +persistency in holding on to the work, but they were prepared to yield +their lives in martyrdom[53] sooner than relinquish what George Liele +had instituted. So it lived--lived amid the fires of persecution. + +Jesse Peter, a member of the church under Liele, and, after the +Revolutionary War, pastor of the church at Silver Bluff, saw what was +needed to end this persecution, and proceeded to change the aspect of +things. He was held in high esteem by the colonists, and Abraham +Marshall, of Kiokee, Georgia, was his chief admirer and friend. +Accordingly, he secured the services of Abraham Marshall in setting +things aright. The church was organized anew, the pastor was ordained +to the office of a Baptist minister, and the reestablished church, +with its preacher, was brought into membership with the Georgia +Baptist Association.[54] As Abraham Marshall was beloved by Georgia +Baptists as no other man of the State, it was enough that this church +should have his official approval and recognition. Referring to this +new order of things, instituted on the 20th day of January, 1788, +Marshall, the one associated with Jesse Peter in the undertaking, +recognizes Jesse Peter as taking the initiative, when he says, "I +assisted in the constitution of the church, and the ordination of the +minister."[55] + +So ended the second period in the history of this church, as the dawn +of its new day began--a day in which the once-persecuted congregation +could say: "We enjoy the rights of conscience to a valuable extent, +worshipping in our families, preaching three times every Lord's Day, +baptizing frequently from ten to thirty at a time, in the Savannah, +and administering the sacred supper, not only without molestation, +but in the presence and with the approbation and encouragement of many +of the white people."[56] + +Let us recapitulate. We began with the church at Silver Bluff, South +Carolina. We were next attracted to Canada, and then to far-off Africa +by the labors of David George, the first regular pastor at Silver +Bluff. Again we follow a portion of the Silver Bluff Church to +Savannah, Georgia. In Savannah we see a church growing under the +labors of George Liele, then we find Liele and Amos in the British +West Indies, leading large congregations of Negro Baptists. Once more +we turn our eyes homeward, and we are attracted to the church at +Silver Bluff, South Carolina, to the church at Augusta, Georgia, and +the church at Savannah, which, having endured the severest trials, +rejoices in recognition and peace--the church of today. + + WALTER H. BROOKS + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition, 1848), p. 454. +Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1801-1802, p. 836. + +[2] _Ibid._, pp. 397, 577, 620. Compare with edition 1813, Vol. II, +pp. 504, 509, 515. + +[3] See Ramsey's _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I, p. 158, note 19, +p. 159; Steven's _History of Georgia_, Vol. I, pp. 255-256; Gibbes' +_Documentary History of American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, +pp. 235-236 and 158-159; Furman's _History Charleston Baptist +Association_, p. 77; Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, +pp. 445, 474, 477, 541; _State Papers, Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, pp. +15, 32, 35, 36; Lossing's _Field Book of Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484; +article on Henry Lee in Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. X, p. 487; +_Light Horse Harry_ in Larner's _History of Ready Reference_, Vol. V, +pp. 32-74-5; _American Cyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 378; N. W. Jones' +_History of Georgia_, Vol. II, pp. 136-138; _Abraham Marshall_ in +Cathcart's _Baptist Encyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 349. + +[4] George and John Galphin, brothers, are mentioned in _State Papers, +Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, pp. 32, 35, 36, 158, 159. Thomas Galphin is +referred to in Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. +540-541. Milledge Galphin, according to Act of Congress, passed August +14, 1848, and statement of United States for 1850, set forth in +Lossing's _Field Book of the American Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484, +received in settlement of his claim against the United States as heir +of George Galphin, $200,000. + +[5] For date of fall of Savannah, Dec. 29, 1778, Sir Archibald +Campbell in Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. I, p. +511, and for troubles at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, see Rippon's +_Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, p. 477, and compare with pp. +473-480 and 332-337. For conditions necessitating the exile of Silver +Bluff Church, see letter of Wm. H. Drayton, written from Hammond's +place near Augusta, Georgia, August 30, 1775, to the Council of Safety +in Gibbes' _Documentary History of the American Revolution_ (South +Carolina), Vol. I, p. 162, and for distance from Silver Bluff see +letter of Rev. Wm. Tennett, p. 236, and compare with note in Lossing's +_Field Book of the American Revolution_, Vol. II, 484. See also Rev. +Tennett's letter of September 7, 1775, for movement of men at Silver +Bluff and surrounding country. Gibbes' _Documentary History of the +American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 245-246. + +[6] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336, compare with +1790-1793, pp. 476-477. + +[7] See Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_ for 1793, pp. 540-541. +Compare with 1790-1793, pp. 544-545. + +[8] Lossing's _Field Book_, p. 484; Steven's _Georgia_, Vol. II, pp. +255-256, etc., as above in note 3. + +[9] Gibbes' _Documentary History American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp. +235-236; Furman's _History Charleston Baptist Association_, p. 77, and +compare letters of George and John Galphin in _State Papers, Indian +Affairs_, Vol. I, pp. 15, 35, 36, and G. No. 2, p. 32. + +[10] Ramsey's _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I, p. 158. + +[11] Steven's _History of Georgia_, Vol. II, pp. 255-256; article on +Henry Lee, Appleton's _American Cyclopedia_, Vol. X, p. 487. + +[12] But who was "Elder Palmer," the man who planted the first of this +series of churches? David George states that he was a powerful +preacher, and that he was pastor of a church some distance from Silver +Bluff. We are satisfied that the church alluded to was not in South +Carolina, nor in Georgia, nor were the members of the church in +question, nor its pastor, of African descent. It is our opinion that +"Elder Palmer" was no less a distinguished person than Wait Palmer, +the founder of the First Baptist Church of Stonington, Connecticut. It +was possible that he should be the cause of this remarkable beginning +of Negro Baptist churches in the United States, for he was living and +active during and prior to the Revolutionary period, and long before. + +Wait Palmer, of Stonington, Connecticut, moreover, was, as his +biographer states, "an actor in the great New Light, or Separatist +movement," and in this capacity he "preached often in destitute +regions." Benedict testifies that "he became a famous pioneer in +Virginia and North Carolina." But what is more, Mrs. Marshall, the +mother of Abraham Marshall, of Kiokee, Georgia, was a sister of Shubal +Sterns, and Shubal Sterns was baptized and ordained to the work of the +ministry by Wait Palmer, at Tolland, Connecticut, in the spring of +1751. It was but natural that, in his zeal to preach Christ in +destitute regions, Palmer would visit this Connecticut family and +preach the gospel to any who might desire to hear it. + +If it should be thought by some that no man would, in the +circumstances, have gone on a preaching tour from Connecticut to South +Carolina, it may be well to recall the fact that Rev. Abraham Marshall +covered the ground in question, in the year 1786, travelling both ways +on horseback, preaching nearly every day during the three months he +was away from home. But Palmer was now in the South and not in the +North, as Benedict states. No other Palmer, known to Baptists, fits +the case like this friend of Shubal Stearns. We shall continue to +assign to him the credit of the first Negro Baptist Church in America, +until we can find another "Elder Palmer," whose claim is absolutely +certain. See Rippon, _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. +475-476; Catheart's _Baptist Encyclopedia_, II, 882. + +[13] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, edition 1790-1793, pp. +473-480, and compare article, Sir Archibald Campbell, in Appleton's +_Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. I, p. 511. + +[14] See Bill's letter of March 12, and one of March 14, 1776; also +March 26, 1776, printed in Gibbes' _Documentary History of the +American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 266-273. Compare +with letter in Vol. II, p. 62. See also Dunmore's Emancipation +Proclamation issued in November, 1775, in Joseph T. Wilson's +_Emancipation_, pp. 36-37. + +[15] _Cyclopedia American Biography_, Vol. I, p. 511. Compare with +Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, edition 1790-1793, pp. 332-333. + +[16] Cathcart's _Encyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 749, and compare article +of John Houston in Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. +III, p. 273. + +[17] Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. IV, p. 219. +Compare Vol. III, p. 273. See article, Savannah in Appleton's +_American Cyclopedia_, Vol. III, p. 646. + +[18] See Drayton's letter in Gibbes' _Documentary History of American +Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, p. 162, and for distance from +Silver Bluff compare letter of Tennett, p. 235, note in Lossing's +_Field Book of Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484. + +[19] Gibbes' _Documentary History of the American Revolution_ (South +Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 235-236, letter of Tennett, of September 7, +1775. + +[20] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1770-1773, pp. 332-337. + +[21] _Ibid._, 1790-1793, p. 344. + +[22] White's _History of Georgia_, pp. 246-247; Jones, Vol. II, p. +137. + +[23] _State Papers, Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, G. No. 2, p. 32. + +[24] See Jonathan Odell, Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American +Biography_, Vol. IV, p. 556; Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, +1790-1793, p. 481; Bill's _History of the Canadian Baptists_, pp. 26, +176, 653, 657. Compare with Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_ for +1798-1800, p. 336. + +[25] Sabine's _American Loyalists_, Vol. I, p. 127. Compare pp. +122-123. + +[26] G. W. Hervey, _Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands_, p. +596. Compare article on Sierra Leone in Appleton's _American +Cyclopedia_, Vol. XV, p. 32; also article on Nova Scotia, Vol. XII, +pp. 524-525; See Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. +481-483. See also article on Sierra Leone in _The Earth and its +Inhabitants_--Africa--Vol. III, p. 207. + +[27] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 481-484. + +[28] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 473, 544-545; +1791, p. 336; 1793, pp. 540-541. + +[29] Joseph T. Wilson's _Emancipation_, pp. 36-38; Dunmore's +Emancipation Proclamation issued 1775. + +[30] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, pp. 540-541. + +[31] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 336. + +[32] White's _Historical Collections of Georgia_, p. 316. + +[33] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, p. 170. + +[34] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1798-1801, p. 367. Compare +263. + +[35] _Ibid._, p. 263. + +[36] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, p. 476. + +[37] Benedict's _History_ (edition 1848), p. 723. + +[38] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p. +193. + +[39] Article on Augusta, Georgia, First Baptist Church of, Cathcart's +_Baptist Encyclopedia_, Vol. I, p. 49. + +[40] James M. Simm's _First Colored Baptist Church in North America_, +p. 57. + +[41] _Ibid._, pp. 58-59. + +[42] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, edition 1813, Vol. II, p. +193, quoted from Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_. + +[43] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336. + +[44] White's _Historical Collections of Georgia_, p. 316; Benedict's +_History of the Baptists_ (edition 1848), p. 740. Compare with +Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, p. 545. Benedict's _History +of the Baptists_, edition 1848, p. 727, note 5, shows no white +minister was present except Abraham Marshall, and he says here he +"assisted in the constitution of the church, and the ordination of the +minister." + +[45] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p. +193. + +[46] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 332. + +[47] Hervey's _Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands_, pp. +611-612; Cox's _History of the British Baptist Missionary Society_, +1792-1842, p. 12. Phillipo, _Jamaica, Past and Present_; E. K. Love's +_History First African Baptist Church_, p. 35; Brown, _Propagation of +Christianity among Heathen_, Vol. II, p. 94. + +[48] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336, and compare +Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 476, 481-483. + +[49] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 344. + +[50] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 336. + +[51] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p. +206. + +[52] James M. Simm's _The First Colored Baptist Church in North +America_, p. 15. + +[53] "Andrew Bryan, and his brother Sampson, who was converted about a +year after Andrew was, were twice imprisoned and they with about fifty +others, without much ceremony, were severely whipped. Andrew was +inhumanly cut and bled abundantly; but while under their lashes he +held up his hands and told his persecutors that he rejoiced not only +to be whipped but would _freely suffer death_ for the cause of +Christ." _Baptist Home Missions in America_, 1832-1882, Jubilee +Volume, p. 388. + +[54] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, edition 1848, p. 170. +Compare with p. 723. + +[55] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, p. 545. + +[56] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793-1801, p. 367. Compare +with Clark's letter, 1790-1793, p. 540. + + + + +THE NEGROES IN MAURITIUS[1] + + +Mauritius was discovered by the Portuguese in 1505 and remained in +their possession until 1598, when it was ceded to the Dutch, who gave +it the name by which it is now known. Aside from erecting a fort at +Grand Port, however, the Dutch did no more for the development of the +colony than the Portuguese. The Dutch finally abandoned it in 1710 +when the island was taken over by the French. Under the French the +island was considerably developed, especially during the second half +of the eighteenth century, and this new step, as the majority saw it, +necessitated the introduction of slavery. During the Napoleonic Wars +Mauritius was captured by England and was formally ceded by France in +1814. + +The significant history of the Negroes in Mauritius, however, dates +from the year 1723 when the East India Company of France, in order to +promote agriculture in the Island, sanctioned the introduction of +slaves, whom they sold to the inhabitants at a certain fixed price. +This price was seldom paid at the moment of purchase, and, as many +evaded payment altogether. Mahe de Labourdounais, the then Governor +of the Colony, received instructions on this point, the execution of +which made him unpopular among the inhabitants.[2] + +The slave trade, at this period, was principally in the hands of those +pirates who had formed a settlement at Nossibe (Nosse Ibrahim), on the +northeast coast of Madagascar, where they had been received with +kindness and hospitality by the natives. In return they excited a war +between the tribes in the interior and those inhabiting the seacoast, +and purchased the prisoners made by both for the purpose of conveying +them for sale to Bourbon or Mauritius. If the prisoners thus obtained +proved insufficient to the demands of the slave market, a descent was +made on some part of the Island, a village was surrounded, and its +younger and more vigorous inhabitants were borne off to a state of +perpetual slavery.[3] + +Harrowing as the scenes witnessed in such forays must have been, the +slave trade from Madagascar to Mauritius was not accompanied with the +same horrors as from the neighboring continent to America, if history +be credited. Its victims were spared the toiling and harassing march +from the interior and the horrors of being cribbed and confined for +successive weeks beneath the hatches till they reached their final +destination; and yet, of every five Negroes embarked at Madagascar, +not more than two were found fit for service in Mauritius. The rest +either stifled beneath the hatches, starved themselves to death, died +of putrid fever, became the food of sharks, fled to the mountains, or +fell beneath the driver's lash. + +Mahe de Labourdounais was not the founder of slavery. The institution +preceded his arrival. Slavery existed in Mauritius even under the +Dutch regime. Of every eighteen slaves in the colony one died +annually, so that if the traffic had ceased for eighteen years, at the +end of that time the whole black population would have died out. From +first to last Mauritius has been the tomb of more than a million of +Africans. Their lamentable history is like the roll of the prophet, +written within and without, and the writing thereof is mourning and +lamentation. + +Many became fugitives, and sometimes by daring adventure returned to +Africa. In order to check the fugitive slaves, Labourdounais employed +their countrymen against them, and formed a mounted police who +protected the colonists from their incursions.[4] To preserve the +inhabitants from famine, he introduced the cassava from the Island of +St. Jago and the Brazils, and published an ordinance by which every +planter was compelled to put under cultivation five hundred feet of +cassava for every slave that he possessed. The planters, an ignorant +and indolent race, used every measure to degenerate and discredit this +innovation, and in some cases destroyed the plantations of the cassava +by pouring boiling water on the root. The benefit conferred by this +ordinance was later felt and appreciated when their crops were +destroyed by the hurricanes or devoured by locusts. The cassava was +immune from either of these casualties and was the usual article of +food for the Negroes. Labourdounais instructed the slaves in the art +of ship building, made them sailors and soldiers and found them highly +useful in the expedition which he undertook against the English in +India. He endeavored also to mitigate their sufferings from the +enforcement of the regulations of the _Code Noir_. + +After the dispersion of the pirates, the slave trade fell into the +hands of European merchants or Creole colonists, who extended it to +the adjoining coasts of Africa. The Mozambique Negroes were found more +tractable than those of Madagascar, but Negroes were obtained from +both points, according to the difficulties and exigencies of the +traffic. The price paid by the French at Madagascar for a man or a +woman from the age of thirteen to forty was two muskets, two cartridge +boxes, ten flints, and ten balls, or fifteen hundred balls or +seventeen hundred flints. In spite of the price the trade developed. +In 1766 there were about 25,000 slaves and 1200 free Negroes in the +colony. In 1799 there were 55,000 of the former class and 35,000 of +the latter. In 1832 they were estimated at 16,000 free Negroes and +63,500 slaves. It seems difficult to account for the diminution among +the free Negro population. Baron Grant de Vaux[5] states that to +prevent the increase of this class it was enacted that no slaves +should be liberated save those who had saved the lives of their +masters. A kind-hearted master, however, could always give his slave +an opportunity to save his life. + +Slavery as it developed in Maritius falls in three epochs. During the +earliest period the institution gradually took the form of a system +somewhat like that of the bondage of the Hebrews, modified in the case +of Mauritius, however, according to the requirements of the temper and +habits of the natives and the situation of the planters. There was no +regard for the comfort of the slaves and they tended to degrade to the +lowest depths. Yet the slaves were not considered altogether as +chattels, convertible at the will of their masters. In the second +stage, however, the bondage of the Negro reached the darkest age of +irresponsibility to law and cruelty absolutely intolerable. A few +officials and planters protested, and travelers who saw the horror +appealed for mercy in behalf of the unfortunate.[6] A change in the +attitude of the planters toward the slaves was finally forced and +characterized the third stage of slavery in Mauritius. These cruelties +were mitigated largely by the agitation of _Les Amis des Noirs_, among +whom were some of the most distinguished actors in the grand drama of +the French Revolution. The leading reformers were the brilliant +orators Mirabeau and Madam de Poivre, the wife of the deceased +Intendant of the Isle of France. At a much earlier date, even under +Labourdounais, under whose economic development of Mauritius slavery +flourished, much was said about improving the condition of the +slaves.[7] Yet it was not until the rule of De Caen that we observe +actual efforts to provide for the slaves, such as better nourishment, +religious instruction and legal marriage.[8] + +The first attempt to emancipate the slaves was made by the leaders of +the French Revolution, who, while they professed to discard +Christianity as a revelation from God, deduced the equality of all men +before God from the principles of natural reason.[9] The prohibition +of slavery was rendered null and void by the planters of Mauritius and +the members of local government, all of whom were slaveholders and +opposed to any change. The only effect of the prohibition was to +alienate the affections of the colonists from the mother-country, and +to lead them to rejoice when Napoleon assumed the consular power and +annulled the ordinance prohibiting slavery after the capture of the +island by the British. The importation of slaves was prohibited under +severe penalties. + +As the execution of this law was vested in the local authorities, who +had a direct personal interest in the continuance of this traffic, +slaves were still imported in sufficient numbers to satisfy the wants +of the planters.[10] It is true that trading in slaves was declared to +be felony, that the two harbors of Port Louis and Matubourg were +closed against their entrance, that a slave registry was opened in +1815, and that credulous Governors wrote to the home authorities that +the Mauritians, far from wishing to renew this nefarious traffic, were +filled with indignation at the remembrance of its horrors. All this +may be true, but the slave trade was as brisk as ever, and the island +swarmed with Negroes whose peculiar appearance and ignorance of the +Creole language proved them to be of recent introduction. + +No law can be executed unless it be in accordance with public opinion, +and the feelings of the white Mauritians were altogether in favor of +slavery. The illicit introduction of slaves was a felony by law, and +yet, notwithstanding the notorious violations of this law, no one was +ever convicted. The prisoner might have turned on the judge and proved +his complicity in the crime. The only convictions that were obtained +were in the case of offenders that were sent to England for trial. +This statement will excite no astonishment on the part of those who +are acquainted with the manner in which justice is still administered +in Mauritius. The slave registry was opened in 1815, but the entries +were so falsified that instead of checking slavery it threw its mantle +of protection upon it.[11] Slaves were not introduced publicly at the +two chief ports of the island from Africa, but the Seychelles Islands +lay at a convenient distance, and slaves registered at the Seychelles +were admitted into Mauritius without any questions being asked. The +coral reef that surrounds the island could easily be passed and the +slaves loaded in those light coasters that are used by fishermen. The +governors were surrounded by functionaries who were slaveholders and +who were therefore interested in supporting the traffic and screening +the offenders from punishment, so that their reports, based on +information received from these parties, were not entitled to much +credit. + +As to the feelings of indignation expressed by the colonists at the +remembrance of the horrors of the slave trade, it is sufficient to +remark that rogues are always louder in protestation of their +innocence than honest men--that this change of feeling was too rapid +to be sincere, and that truthfulness of character does not stand high +in the code of Mauritian morality, to judge from the attitude of the +white population. + +In judging the treatment of the slaves in Mauritius, recourse must be +had to those writers who visited or lived in the colony during the +prevalence of slavery, and have given the world the benefit of their +experience. These are St. Pierre, Soumerat and Baron Grant. St. Pierre +spent several years in the island, and mingled freely with the +inhabitants of all classes. The last was born in the island where his +father had sought to retrieve his fortune after the failure of Law's +Mississippi scheme. The pictures presented in the writings of St. +Pierre might appear exaggerated, or prejudiced, if drawn by a +foreigner; but it must be borne in mind that he describes only what he +witnessed, and that his good faith has never been questioned.[12] He +thus speaks of the importation and treatment of slaves: + + "They are landed with just a rag around their loins. The men are + ranged on one side and the women on the other with their infants, + who cling from fear to their mothers. The planter, having + examined them as he would a horse, buys what may then attract + him. Brothers, sisters, friends, lovers, are now torn asunder, + and bidding each other a long farewell, are driven weeping to the + plantations they are bought for. Sometimes they turned desperate, + fancying that the white people intended eating their flesh, + making red wine of their blood, and powder of their bones. They + were treated in the following manner: + + "At break of day a signal of three smacks of a whip called them + to work, when each betook himself with his spade to the + plantation, where they worked almost naked in the heat of the + sun. Their food was bruised or boiled maize, or bread made of + cassava root, their clothing a single piece of linen. Upon the + commission of the most trivial offence, they were tied hands and + feet to a ladder, where the overseer approached with a whip like + a postilion's and gave them fifty, a hundred, and perhaps two + hundred lashes upon the back. Each stroke carried off its portion + of skin. The poor wretch was then untied, an iron collar with + three spikes put round his neck, and he was then sent back to his + task. Some of them were unable to sit down for a month after this + beating--a punishment inflicted with equal severity on women as + on men. In the evening, when they returned home, they were + obliged to pray for the prosperity of their masters, and wish + them a good night before they retired to rest. There was a law in + force in their favor called the _Code Noir_ or the Black Code, + which ordained that they should receive no more than thirty + lashes for any offence, that they should not work on Sundays, + that they should eat meat once a week, and have a new shirt every + year; but this was not observed."[13] + +Soumerat, who visited the island during the period of slavery, speaks +of their treatment by their white masters in the following terms: + + "I have known humane and compassionate masters who, instead of + maltreating them, tried to mitigate their servile condition, but + they are very few in number. The rest exercise over their Negroes + a cruel and revolting tyranny. The slave, after having labored + the whole day, sees himself obliged to search for his food in the + woods, and lives only on unwholesome roots. They die of misery + and bad treatment, without exciting the smallest feeling of pity, + and consequently they never let slip any opportunity of breaking + their chains in order to escape to the forests in search of + independence and misery." + +So miserable indeed was their condition that they welcomed death as a +friend, and often committed crime in the hope of being executed.[14] +Conditions decidedly improved in Mauritius, however, after the British +took possession in 1814. The freedom of slaves was then agitated +throughout the civilized world. The British interfered with slavery +there in 1826, endeavoring to ease the burden of the bondmen. In 1829 +the charter of the slave population was proclaimed. It provided for +the religious instruction of the slaves, the recognition of the +sanctity of the Sabbath, toleration in worship, the right of the slave +to contract marriage, and prohibition of the separation of husband +from wife or the mother from her children. Slaves were made competent +to acquire stock and movable or immovable property. They were given +power to dispose of property by will. Punishments were diminished and +the way to elevation to civil power was opened.[15] + +The end of this ordeal finally came. The British Emancipation Act was +passed in 1833. From 1834 the traffic in human flesh ceased. In 1839 +all slaves in Mauritius six years old and upwards became apprentice +laborers and remained so until 1841 as regarded field laborers, and +until 1839 for those unattached. There were then in the island 39,464 +men and boys and 25,856 women and girls, in all 65,320. Knowing that +the change in the status of so many inhabitants might interfere with +the labor supply, the planters prepared for this contingency by +importing coolies from Ceylon and India. By 1838 they had brought in +24,566 such natives, but because they had managed the importation so +badly that many evils resulted therefrom, it was stopped by public +protest. When the apprentices were freed in 1839, however, there +followed such a scarcity of labor that the immigration of the +Cingalese and Hindoos was reopened. So many have since then made their +way to the island that they now constitute a substantial element of +the colony. So much race admixture has followed, on the other hand, +that observers sometimes refer to the Mauritians as creoles and +coolies. + + A. F. FOKEER + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] For the leading facts of the life and history of Mauritius see the +following: Charles Pridham's _England's Colonial Empire_ (London, +1846); _Le Premier Etablissment des Neerlandais a Maurice_; _A +Transport Voyage to the Mauritius and Back_; Baron Grant, _History of +Mauritius or the Isle of France and the Neighboring Islands_; Jacques +Henri Bernardin de St. Pierre, _A Voyage to the Island of Mauritius, +the Isle of Bourbon, the Cape of Good Hope, etc._ (London, 1775); Le +Baron d'Unienville, _Statistique de l'ile de France et ses +Dependances_ (Paris, 1838); M. J. Milbert, _Voyage pittoresque de +l'ile de France a Cap de Bonne Esperance et a l'ile de Teneriffe_ +(Paris, 1812); Adrien d'Epinay, _Renseignements pour servir a +l'histoire de l'ile de France jusqu'a l'annee 1810, inclusivement, +precedes de notes sur le decouverte de l'ile sur l'occupation +hollandaise_; Henri Prentout, _L'ile de France sous Decaen_, 1803-1810 +(Paris, 1901); Patrick Beaton, _Creoles and Coolies_ (London, 1858); +Nicholas Pike, _Subtropical Rambles in the Land of the Aphanapteryx_ +(New York, 1873); and _An Account of the Island of Mauritius and its +Dependencies by a Late Official Resident_. + +[2] _Adrian d'Espinay Renseignments_, etc., 112-113; _An Account of +the Island of Mauritius_, 19. + +[3] Grant, _History of Mauritius_, 74. + +[4] Grant, _History of Mauritius_, 74-75. + +[5] Grant, _History of Mauritius_, p. 75, 1801. + +[6] Pridham, _England's Colonial Empire_, I, 160. + +[7] Beaton, _Creoles and Coolies_, 94-111; _An Account of the Island +of Mauritius and its Dependencies by a Late Official Resident_, p. 19; +Adrien d'Epinay, _Renseignments_, etc., pp. 112-113. + +[8] Henri Prentout, _L'ile de France sous DeCaen_, 126. + +[9] Pridham, p. 154. + +[10] _Ibid._, p. 156. + +[11] Pridham, p. 157. + +[12] Pridham, pp. 164, 165. + +[13] Bernardin de St. Pierre, _A Voyage_, etc., pp. 100-105. + +[14] Pridham, p. 161. + +[15] _Ibid._, pp. 175-175. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + +LETTERS COLLECTED BY R. E. PARK AND BOOKER T. WASHINGTON + + +This is an extract from the publications of the Southern History +Association, Spangenberg's Journal of Travels in North Carolina, +1752.[1] + + Whoever comes to North Carolina must prepare to pay a poll tax. + Poll tax is required from all white men, master or servant, from + 16 years of age and on; all Negroes and Negresses pay poll tax + from their twelfth year. Whoever marries a Negro, or Indian, a + mixed blood--his children are liable to the fourth degree from + the twelfth year on, and the female Indian or Negro is also + taxable. Should this tax not be paid to the sheriff--by whom it + is demanded, he is empowered to sell anything belonging to the + delinquent party, he can seize at public vendue, and after + keeping enough to pay his own fees and satisfy the tax he returns + the remainder to the party. + + When anyone wishes to marry he must go to the clerk of his county + and deposit a Bond for fifty pounds, as assurance that there is + no obstacle or impediment to his marying. + + He then receives a certificate which he presents to the Justice, + who gives him his license: he may then get married. The fees are + 20 shillings for the clerk--five shillings for the Justice; 10 + shillings for the Minister. Should the "Banns be published," + however the license fee is not required. Should the marriage not + be performed by the Minister, his fee must, nevertheless, be + offered to him. Whoever marries a Negress, Indian, Mulatto or + anything of mixed blood, must pay a fine of fifty pounds. Whoever + marries such a couple must also pay a fine of fifty pounds. + + If a slave or servant buys or sells anything without his master's + knowledge and consent, the parties dealing with him shall not + only lose three times the amount bargained for, but also pay a + penalty of six pounds. + + Whoever assists a slave to escape from his master, be it much or + little, shall serve the master 5 years, as punishment. + +The following is a letter from an investigator seeking in Ohio +information concerning the Randolph slaves: + + + November 18, '08. + + _Dr. Park_:-- + + The following is what I found in answer to your questions + concerning the Randolph slaves in Ohio: + + In Virginia, they lived in Charlotte and Prince Edward Counties + on the Roanoke River. + + They traveled overland, in wagons and carts from there to + Cincinnati and from Cincinnati, to Mercer Co., in Ohio by flat + boats. The land which is said to have been bought for them was in + Mercer Co. + + The settlers of the Community were mainly Germans who would not + allow the landing of the Negroes where they arrived there. + + The Colony then moved down the Miami River, settled in camp in + Miami County not far from the towns of Piqua and Troy. + + They never got possession of any of the land supposed to have + been purchased for them. + + The citizens of Piqua held a mass meeting to discuss the + condition of the Negroes in Camp, to decide upon some course of + action in regard to them. + + The decision was to find employment for them wherever they could + and distribute them accordingly. Some were sent to Shelby + County-Sidney, about 12 miles N. E. of Piqua--being the county + seat. Several descendants live in this community yet. + + Many remained in & about Piqua & Troy where there are still few + of the old ones & many descendents. Some were sent into Indiana + and other parts of Ohio. There were 385 of them. + + The most noted of them is Mr. Goodrich Giles. His father was a + member of the Colony. His mother belonged to another planter in + Virginia & did not get to go. + + Mr. Giles is without any question a Negro. He farms & has + succeeded at it. He owns 425 acres of land just out from Piqua + not an acre of which is said to be worth less than one hundred + dollars. He lives in a good roomy brick house, has good farm + buildings, is supplied with farming implements and though old is + still active--leading in his work. + + His crop this year consists of about, + + 4500 bus. Corn 500 bus. Oats + + 1400 bus. Wheat + + 100 tons Hay with potatoes & other crops in smaller quantity but + enough to do him. + + He raises most of his meat. Has twelve horses & fifteen cows. + + He is a good churchman, attends, counsels and pays. Believes in + lodges & helps them too. His city property is said to be worth + from $15,000 to $20,000. His obligations he says are very slight, + well within his ability to handle. The best citizens of the + community are loud in praise of him. + + Mr. Fountain Randolph went up with the colony a boy. He is not + very active now & has not prospered as Giles has, but lives in + his own house of brick with four rooms I think, and is still + respected by the community. He & Giles lead in trying to keep the + descendents of the colony together & in the effort to get the + land which it is claimed was bought for them. + + Randolph still lives in Piqua. A son of his, John S. Randolph was + born there, educated in the city schools, and was called to + Macon, Ga. several years ago to teach in the schools there, is + reported to have done well, established a school at Montezuma, + Ga. known as Bennett University. I have not had chance to look + him up or his work. + + A Miss Anna Jones born at Troy, O. is a descendent who has been + prominent as teacher I was told. Mr. Fountain Randolph said she + now lives & teaches at Wilberforce as Mrs. Coleman. I wrote Prof. + Scarborough about her but have not heard from him. + + Mr. Robert Gordon living at Troy is prospering in business and is + greatly helped--says Mr. Randolph, by his wife who is one of the + descendants. + + Mr. Samuel White at Troy is a prosperous farmer owning his farm & + is a successful Tobacco grower. He is a descendent. + + Mr. Cash Evans is a prosperous barber in Piqua. He is one of the + descendants & is said to own several houses there. + + In the summer of 1901 Messrs Goodrich Giles & Fountain Randolph + started what became known as "The Randolph Slave Society." + + It grew out of a custom in Ohio of holding what they call "Family + Reunions" one day in each year. This is a day of feasting and + special amusement of some kind when all the members and relatives + of a family from far and near are brought together and rejoice + among themselves. + + The day chosen is usually the anniversary of the birth of some + member of the family when all others make special effort to cheer + that one, bringing presents & greetings of various sorts. + + * * * * * + + Giles & Randolph being impressed with this, arranged for a picnic + and invited all the members of the Randolph colony that could be + reached and their descendents. A number came and spent the day + pleasantly together. A permanent organization was effected. Mr. + Fountain Randolph was made President & still holds that position. + + That meeting and later ones attracted attention. The Newspapers + got interested and began to write them up. The story of their + going into Ohio, of the land which was said to have been bought + for them in Mercer Co., and of the refusal of the settlers to + permit them to occupy the land and more was set forth in the + papers. Then lawyers began to talk with them about the lands. A + colored lawyer named Henderson from Indianapolis was among the + first to call upon them advising that the land could be secured. + He was employed to look it up, He advised & secured the + employment of a white lawyer, Mr. Johnson at Salina, O. in Mercer + Co. to assist him in working out the matter. Mr. Johnson is said + to have a certified copy of the Randolph will providing for the + liberation of the slaves--their transportation into Ohio, the + purchase of land for them, its distribution among them etc. How + much money has been raised for the lawyers I could not find but + some money has been raised & more probably will be. + + Speaking of John Randolph the Master, old Mr. Fountain Randolph + said "my father said he had lots of peculiarities about him. He + never sold a slave & never allowed them to be abused. He never + sold any produce as corn, meat and stuffs used by the slaves + without first enquiring of the slaves if they could spare it. He + would say to the person wanting to buy "You must ask my slaves." + "and my mother said:" continued Mr. Randolph "He would often go + among his slaves, parents & children & pat them on the head + saying 'all these are my children.' His chief body guard was a + faithful slave called John White for whom some special mention & + provision was made in the will." + + This man went with the colony to Ohio, was respected by the + others & treated by them just as if he had not been favored by + the Master, says Mr. Randolph. + + The master gave as his reason for not marrying that should he + die--his heirs would want to hold the slaves or sell them and he + wanted neither of the things to happen. + + He often called the slaves together and asked which they + preferred: "Freedom while he lived or after his death and they + always said after his death." + + Mr. Fountain Randolph has in his possession an old copy of "Life + of Randolph of Roanoke" written by Hugh A. Garland, & Published + in New York in 1850 by D. Appleton & Co. and Published in Phila. + the same year by G. S. Appleton & Co. It is in two volumes. Mr. + Randolph had both Vols. but loaned Volume I to the Indianapolis + lawyer & has not been able to get it back. + + The Randolph will is set forth in Vol. II from which I made the + following notes: + + Will 1st written in 1819 & left with Dr. Brockenbrough saying: + + "I give my slaves their freedom to which my conscience tells me + they are justly entitled. It has long been a matter of deepest + regret to me that the circumstances under which I inherited them + and the obstacles thrown in the way by the laws of the land have + prevented my emancipating them in my life time which it is my + full intention to do in case I can accomplish it. All the rest & + residue of my estate (with exceptions herein after made) whether + real or personal, I bequeath to Wm. Leigh, Esq., of Halifax, Atty + at Law, to the Rev. Wm. Meade of Frederic and Francis Scott Key + Esq., of Georgetown, D. C. in trust for the following uses and + purposes viz: + + 1st To provide one or more tracts of land in any of the States or + Territories not exceeding in the whole 4000 acres nor less than + 2000 acres, to be partitioned & apportioned by them in such + manner as to them shall seem best, among the said slaves. + + 2nd To pay the expense of their removal & of furnishing them with + necessary cabins, clothes & utensils." + + In 1821 another Will was written saying: 1st I give and bequeath + to all my slaves their freedom--heartily regretting that I have + ever been the owner of one. + + 2nd I give to my executor a sum not exceeding $8,000 or so much + thereof as may be necessary to transport & settle said slaves to + & in some other state or Territory of the United States, giving + to all above the age of 40 not less than ten acres of land each. + + Then special annuities to his "old faithful servants Essex & his + wife, Hetty, same to woman servant Nancy to John (alias Jupiter) + to Queen and to Johnny his body servant." In 1826 a codicil was + written confirming previous wills. In 1828 a codicil to will in + possession of Wm. Leigh Esq., confirming it as his last will and + testament revoking any and all other wills or codicil at variance + that may be found. + + In 1831 on starting home from London another codicil adding to + former provisions as follows: + + Upwards of 2000 L were left in the hands of Baring Bros, & Co of + London & upwards of 1000 L in the hands of Gowan & Marx to be + used by Leigh as fund for executing the will regarding the + slaves. + + Respectfully yours, + + +The following account and the clipping attached thereto give an +interesting story of the success and the philanthropy of a Negro: + + I was born in Milledgeville, Ga. about the year 1867. My mother + belonged to a white man by the name of Dr. Garner Edwards. My + father belonged to a different family. About two weeks after I + was born my mother died. She was still working for the same + people who once owned her. She was much liked by them so they + decided to keep her child and try and raise it. They taught me at + home so when I went to school I knew how to read and write. They + sent me to a school four or five years. Dr. Edwards had a son by + the name of Miller or (Buck) Edwards. It was through him that I + received my schooling as Dr. was old and Miller was the support + of the house. After years Miller died and I had to stop school + and go to work. I worked in a number of stores in Milledgeville + and was always trusted. + + My earnings I always carried them home and gave them to the white + people. They never asked me for anything. They gave me all I made + but I thought they needed it more than I, so that went on for a + number of years. At this time I was about twenty years old so I + told them I was going to Macon, Ga. to work. I secured work at + the Central R. R. Shop. I worked on the yard a number of months. + During that time I was called off the yard at different times to + work in the office when some one wanted to get off. Finally I was + given one office to clean up. My work was so satisfactory until I + was moved from the shop to the car shed and was given a job of + delivering R. R. Mail. I was promoted three times in two years. + It was then where I became acquainted with a route agent. He + boarded at the same house. We were often in conversation. He was + telling me of a daughter he had in school. I told him I wanted to + go but I was not able. He ask me did I know Booker Washington. I + said no. He said well he runs a school where you can work your + way through school. I told him I would like to go so he gave me + the address. I wrote and received a little pamphlet. I was + looking for a catalogue so I was much disappointed in getting + this little book and said it was not much. But I decided to go + and try. I did not have much money. I had been living high in + Macon and spending all I made. I did not stay to make more but + left in about four weeks after I received the first letter. I + asked for a pass to Montgomery. It was given me. I arrived in + Montgomery with 10 or 12 dollars. I said well I am going to + school so I will have a good time before going so I got broke did + not know any one, thought my trip was up. I walked up the street + one morning. In passing a drug store I saw a young man inside. I + step back a few steps to look again. I recognized it to be some + one I knew some years ago so the first thing came in mind was to + borrow enough money from him to take me to Tuskegee. After a long + talk he asked me where I was going and what I was doing there, so + now was my chance. I told him I was on my way to Tuskegee. He + said it was a fine that he had worked up there. I told him I had + spent all the money I had and wanted to borrow enough to get + there which he very liberally responded. But before I saw him I + begged a stamp and some paper and wrote to Mr. Washington that if + he would send me the money to come from there I would pay him in + work when I came. I received an answer from Mr. Logan stating + that if I would go to work there it would not be long before I + would get enough money to come on so I borrowed some money from + that man and landed there with $3.40. The food was very poor so I + soon ate that up. I was not satisfied at first and wanted to + leave but I did not have any money and did not want to write home + because I did not want my white people to know where I was until + I accomplished something so I made up my mind that if all these + boys and girls I see can stay here, I can too. So I was never + bothered any more. I went to work at the brick mason's trade + under Mr. Carter. They did not have any teacher at that time. + Soon after Mr. J. M. Green came and I learned fast and was soon + a corner man. I was a student two years and nine months. After + that time I secured an excuse and left for home. I was very proud + of my trade and all seemed to be surprised as no one knew where I + was but my white people. I wrote to them once a month and they + always answered and would send me money, clothes something to + eat. They were very glad I had gone there and tried to help me in + many ways when I got home. They had spoken to a contractor and I + had no trouble in getting work. I worked at home about two years. + Meantime I received a letter from Mr. Washington stating he would + like for me to return and work on the chapel, which I did. At + this time I was a hired man and not a student. I worked for the + school five or six years. Within that time I had helped build two + houses in Milledgeville Ga. and paid for them and bought me + thirty acres of land in Tuskegee, Ala. I feel very grateful to + the school for she has help me in a great many ways. I have + always had a great desire to farm but I said I never would farm + until I owned my land and stock. + + So three years ago I bought some land and I am at the present + time farming. I like it and I expect I will continue at farming + instead of my trade. My white people are as good to me now as + they were when I was a boy. I made it a rule not to ask them for + anything unless I was compelled to but when I do they always send + more that I ask for. I will say that I did not know the real + value of a dollar until I had spent 2 years and 9 months at + Tuskegee. The teachings from the various teachers and the Sunday + evening talks of Mr. Washington made an indellible impression + upon my heart. I remember the first Sunday evening talk that I + ever heard him. He spoke of things that were in line with my + thoughts and I have tried to put them in practice ever since I + have been connected with the school. There is one word I heard + Mr. W. Speak 13 years ago that has followed me because I was + taught the same words by my white people and they were not to do + anything that will bring disgrace upon the school you attend. I + was taught not to do anything that will bring disgrace upon the + people that raised you. There are a number of other thoughts that + I will not take time to mention for I have thanked him a thousand + times for those Sunday evenings talks. + + GARNER J. EDWARDS + + + _The Republican_--Springfield, Mass.--Dec. 6, 1902. + + The Milledgeville (Ga.) _News_ of November tells the following + interesting story of one of the young colored men connected with + Booker T. Washington's school at Tuskegee, in regard to the work + of which Mr. Washington is to speak in the high school hall in + this city the 10th:-- + + A case has come to the News which deserves more than a mere + passing mention. The story deals with the prettiest case of loyal + Negro's devotion and gratitude to his white benefactors that we + ever knew of. When we refer to the incident as a story we mean + that there is in it a good subject for a real story with a + genuine hero. And every word of it is true; in fact, there is + more truth in it than we feel at liberty to tell. + + About 30 years ago Buck Edwards of this city picked up a very + small and dark-colored boy and undertook, in his language, "to + raise him and make something of him." Mr. Edwards clothed and fed + the boy, and in a general way taught him many things. In return + the boy was bright and quick, and rendered such return as a boy + of his years could. His name was Garner, and in time he came to + be known as Garner Edwards, which name I think he yet clings to. + + In the course of human events, Mr. Edwards passed from the stage + of life and went to reap the reward of those who rescue the + perishing and support the orphans. After his death, Mr. Edward's + sisters, Misses Fanny and Laura, continued to care for the boy, + and raised him to manhood. Garner was proud of his family, "and + was as faithful as a watchdog, honest at all times, and a great + protection to the good ladies who were befriending him, and who + were now also alone in the world without parents or brothers. + When Garner grew into manhood he did not forsake the home that + had sheltered him, but insisted that it was his home--the only + home he knew--and that it was his duty and pleasure to aid in + supporting it; and he did come to bear a considerable part of its + expenses. + + Garner learned to be a brickmason, and finally moved to Alabama. + He became acquainted with Booker Washington, the great Negro + Educator, and the acquaintance ripened into friendship. + Washington aided Garner in getting work that would enable him to + take a course in the school at Tuskegee and at the same time be + self-sustaining. Here as in all other of his positions, Garner + made a good record and won many honors. In the meantime he did + not forget the folks at home, and his remittances to them were + always punctual. After finishing school he married, but continued + in the employ of the school and Booker Washington and is there + yet. + + Sometime ago Miss Laura had a fall and sustained a painful injury + which confined her to her room. As soon as Garner heard of it he + telephoned to Warren Edwards here to provide the best medical + attendance possible, and to supply every want at his expense. + Following the telegraph came his wife, a trained nurse, "to take + care of his white folks," and she is here yet performing every + duty with a devotion seldom witnessed. Garner wanted to come too, + very much, but he sacrificed the pleasure to keep his salary + doing, "because they might need something." + + Garner paid the taxes on the old home for years, but in the + meantime he has saved enough to buy him another home in Alabama. + No one of any color could have been more faithful and + appreciative, and such gratitude and devotion as this humble + Negro has shown for his white benefactors is a lovely thing to + behold in this selfish day. It is said that he never once + presumed anything or forgot his place and the respect due to + those around him.[2] + +The following letter and list accompanying it explain themselves: + + + BELOIT, WIS. Dec. 28, 1906. + _Dear Mr. Washington_ + + In answer to your telegram for names of graduates and former + students engaged in farming in Ala I send the following. I know + there are others especially former students but I cannot now + recall names. I will try to add to the list if possible. + + I would say in regard to the Bowen sisters they have about 600 + acres of land and look after the cultivation of it and some parts + Cornelia and Katie care for directly actually raising a crop. + McRae farmed last year at Louisville, Ala. the year just closing. + Mr. W. A. Menafee has 200 acres of land at Alexander City. This + he superintendents by two visits each year. Those marked with a + cross farm on their own land. Edwards and Barnes own land at Snow + Hill which they farm by the labor of others. Whether they and Mr. + Chambliss come under the head of farmers according to your idea + you can decide. + + I leave January 3 for Denmark, S. C. You can write me there till + further notice. + + Yours + (Signed) R. C. BEDFORD + + + GRADUATES AND FORMER STUDENTS ENGAGED IN FARMING IN ALA. WHOLLY + OR IN PART + + *Cornelia Bowen '85 also teaches Waugh, Ala. + J. T. Hollis '85 also teaches Armstrong, Ala. + *Berry Bowen Campbell '84 also nurses Waugh, Ala. + W. D. Floyd, teaches also Hawkinsville, Ala. + Watt Buchanan 1889 farming wholly Montgomery, Ala. + *Enoch Houser 1889 also teaches Antangville, Ala. + William Chambliss 1890 Tuskegee, Ala. + *Davis Henry 1890 Bells Landing, Ala. + *Abner Jackson 1890 Newville, Ala. + John W. Perry 1890 Myrtle, Ala. + Abner Edwards 1890 Salem, Ala. + *J. H. Michael 1890 Mt. Meigs, Ala. + Robert B. Sherman 1890 Sprague Jc., Ala. + *H. A. Barnes 1893 Snow Hill, Ala. + *W. J. Edwards 1893 Snow Hill, Ala. + *N. E. Henry 1893 China, Ala. + Sophia Momen 1894 Notasulga, Ala. + *C. A. Barrows 1894 Snow Hill, Ala. + *S. F. Bizzell, has a store 1894 Hammac, Ala. + E. W. McRae 1894 also teaches Louisville, Ala. + *Moses Purifoy 1894 also teaches Evergreen, Ala. + *J. C. Calloway 1896 also teaches Dawkins, Ala. + Geo. W. Henderson, preacher 1899 Hannon, Ala. + *Martin A. Menafee, Treasurer 1900 Alexander City, Ala. + George K. Gordon, Dairying 1902 Mobile, Ala. + + FORMER STUDENTS + + Katie Bowen also teaches Waugh, Ala. + Benjamin Jones Waugh, Ala. + Nelson Judkins Cecil, Ala. + Gomine Judkins Cecil, Ala. + Wm. Plato, also black smith Waugh, Ala. + James Pinckett, carpenter Waugh, Ala. + Ossie Williams Waugh, Ala. + James Garrison Waugh, Ala. + Nelson Garrison Waugh, Ala. + John Mitchell also painter Waugh, Ala. + *Wallace Campbell blacksmith Fitzpatrick, Ala. + *R. T. Phillips blacksmith + + +This is a letter from a Negro farmer in the south: + + ISAAC P. MARTIN-- + + Merryweather Co--near Stenson + + Father belonged to Peter Martin near about 3 miles from where he + was born--never did own any land. Went to work planting at + 9--Worked 9 to 25--Had six or eight months schooling--Went one + month in a year. School lasted about three months. Used Blue Back + Speller got as high as Baker; Got as far as subtraction--Did not + know anything outside of reading--Did not know what a newspaper + was. + + Father taught us to work corn, cotton sweet potatoes--He was a + ---- farmer--Had eleven children all worked--about 1880 they + began to grow up and leave the farm--go on some other + plantation--all married. + + My older brother and all the younger children got more schooling + Brother next younger--Payne's Institute Ga.--finished preaching + in Americus Georgia. I had a cousin to come here--He wanted to + buy ---- here--He was interested in machine shop--He was down in + Opelika. He met more boys on their way here, inquiring around to + get down this far and get in. + + I had saved up $200 in the bank. I was going to buy land. Went + into day school a Preparatory about 800 or 900 students. The + first work was in harness & shoe shop--Lewis Adams was in + charge--I came there walking. I wanted to get away from the farm. + Going around town I saw that everyone looked better than on the + farm--I wanted to be something. Went in twice a year. We had + plenty country churches. Rabbits, squirrels, ducks, + possums--Geography, reading, Wentworth's Arithmetic. Miss Hunt + and Miss Logan were one of my teachers. I read lots about + Hiawatha. There was a number of little boys in the shop--they + used to call me "Pop." They were ahead of me. Went to Blacksmith + Shop. Worked about four months. Then went to work in + Wheelwright. I learn a good deal about blacksmith and wood work. + I find both these trade very handy. + + I was here three weeks before I could eat in the dining room--had + to go to restaurant--I was ashamed. + + I was here only one term. Came in 1895--left in 96--Never came + back until tonight. My mother sent for me--My mother was awful + sick. My class was so low that I was ashamed to come back. I + weighed 240 pounds. I went back home until 1898--on farm. I got + to read my newspapers. I subscribed for the semi-monthly Atlanta + Journal--I could read that. + + I saw advertised and so much money paid out for wages--I thought + I would go into business. I started grocery store and meat + market--I had $2,500 made on farm. Father used to run us off the + farm at 20 so I rented some land. + + I was born 1870. I had been working for myself for years. 1898 I + came to Birmingham. I failed in grocery business. "Credit." I + made a lot of friends all over town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + They had lots of money but they owed a lot. It take lot to feed + them. Took three years and little over to get all of money. + + Worked for Tenn. Coal and Iron Co. I leased some land from the + Republic Iron and Steel Co. Leased 64 acres outside of Pratt City + and went to trucking. I bought two mules for $40. It was a sale. + They were old run down mules. They were blind--I worked there + until I grew something. Farm about a mile from Pretts. Paid $1.50 + per acre--now I pay $7. The company would not sell. I peddle + vegetables to people here--ran two wagons--now I run three. Got + new feed for horses. By fall had lots of stuff. Married in + 1900--year after went to Birmingham. Second year I was able to + buy two good mules--Had two good wagons made. Fall of second year + had another which made three. Running three now. I employ six + people--3 men and 3 women all the time. I drive the wholesale + wagon. + + I raise between $3,500 and $4,000 worth of stuff each year. Have + since the second year. I sell about $2,000 a year above expenses. + Production increases every year. I learned all I know about + trucking since then. I have fifteen head of cattle. Eight milking + cows. I raise three crops. That is the highest. Third crop is not + worth so much. 90,000 cabbages this year. Got the plants from + South Carolina. I bought a piece of land in Oklahoma for $3,000 + outside of 22 miles from Muskogee. Land rents now for $300. I own + a lot in Red Bird. Have 2 children. 14 & and 17. They go to + school. + + Won county prize year before last--196 bushels--this year + received State prize 200 bushels. Plant eight and ten acres of + cotton, 14 acres corn. Raise all my fodder. Three-fourths acres + of new sugar cane, 150 gals. of syrup. I make butter $30 per + hundred. $40 retail. I take two or three little farm journals and + take the bulletin. + +These letters addressed to R. E. Park and to Booker T. Washington give +information about the estate of John McKee: + + + Estate of } + JOHN MCKEE, } + Deceased. } + + HON. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, + Tuskegee Institute, + Alabama, + + _Dear sir:_ + + Your favor has been received and in reply thereto I would state + that the State Appraiser fixed the valuation in Estate of the + late Colonel John McKee as follows: + + Gross valuation of Personal estate, $ 71,644.29 + Gross valuation of real estate in Pennsylvania, 271,188.33 + ----------- + Making together, $342,832.62 + =========== + Net valuation of the above, $212,831.86 + + Of this $46,500. is in unimproved real estate from which, at this + time, no income is derived. + + In addition to the above the Estate owns the following from which + no income (or but a nominal income) is derived:--a lot in + Gloucester County, New Jersey, valued at One hundred Dollars + ($100),--a large area of land in Atlantic County, New Jersey, + known as McKee City, assessed for taxation at twenty-thousand six + hundred and fifty Dollars ($20,650) and a tract of coal and + mineral lands in Kentucky, which Colonel McKee always considered + would turn out to be valuable and would eventually realize a + considerable sum. It is assessed for taxation for 1909 at Seventy + thousand Dollars ($70,000)-- + + In brief the testamentary directions of Colonel McKee are to + accumulate the rents and income of his estate until the decease + of all his children and grand-children, meanwhile improving + (under certain conditions) his unimproved real estate. Upon the + death of all his children and grand-children, the estate is to be + made use of in the establishment and maintenance of a college for + the education of colored and white fatherless boys. + + Very truly yours, + JOSEPH P. MCCULLEN + February 23, 1909. + + + MR. ROBERT E. PARK, + Tuskegee Institute, Ala., + + _Dear Sir:_ + + Yours of the 13th inst., post marked the 16th inst., has been + received. You state you would be glad to have any information I + can give you about Mr. McKee, particularly in regard to the + amount of the estate he left at the time of his death. + + The value of Mr. McKee's estate has been variously estimated from + $1,000,000 to $4,000,000. I am not able to give a more exact + estimate, as I have not seen any inventory made by his executors. + He owned more than 300 houses in this city, all unencumbered. He + also owned oil and coal lands in Kentucky and West Virginia, and + lands in Bath and Steuben Counties, N. Y. As to his personal + characteristics, I would suggest that you see the Philadelphia + Press of April 20, 1902. If you desire a more exact estimate of + the value of his estate, I would suggest that you write Joseph P. + McCullen, Jr., No. 1008 Land Title Building, this city. + + Yours truly, + T. J. MINTON. + + +The following letter from Colonel James Lewis to Booker T. Washington +gives valuable information about Thomy Lafon and incidentally about +other persons in New Orleans: + + + New Orleans, La., Jany. 25/09. + COLONEL JAMES LEWIS, + _Dear Sir:_ + + In answer to your letter of 14th instant, will say that the delay + in my answer was caused by my desire to obtain and furnish to + you all informations regarding the late Mr. Thomy Lafon. + + The baptismal records in the archive of the Cathedral at that + time written in Spanish attest that the late Mr. Thomy Lafon was + born in this city on December 28th, 1810. He died at his home, + corner Ursulines & Robertson Streets, on December 23rd, 1893, at + the ripe age of 83 years. His body rests in the St. Louis + cemetery on Esplanade Avenue. He was a man of dignified + appearance and affable manners. In early life he taught school; + later he operated a small dry goods store in Orleans Street until + near into 1850. He was never married. Sometime before the war of + Secession he had started his vast fortune by loaning money at + advantageous rates of interest and by the accumulation of his + savings. Toward the close of his career he became attached to the + lamented Archbishop Janssens and began his philanthropies. By the + terms of his will, dated April 3rd, 1890, he provided amply for + his aged sister and some friends, and wisely distributed the bulk + of his estate among public charitable institutions of New + Orleans. His legacy was appraised at $413,000.00 divided in + securities and realty. + + In recognition of his charity, the City of New Orleans, named + after him one of its public schools. + + Before his death he had established an asylum for orphan boys + called the Lafon Asylum, situated in St. Peter Street between + Claiborne Avenue & N. Derbigny Street. To this Asylum he + bequeathed a sum of $2000, and the revenues, amounting to $275 + per month of a large property situated corner Royal & Iberville + Streets. + + Other legacies were to the + + Charity Hospital of New Orleans $10,000 + " " Ambulance Dept. 3,000 + Lafon Old Folks' Home 5,000 + Little Sisters of the Poor 5,000 + Shakespeare Almshouse + Catholic Institution for indigent orphans 2,000 + and the following property: + 1st. St. Claude St. bet. St. Philip & + Ursulines Sts., valued at $1500 + 2nd. Robertson St. bet. St. Philip & + Ursulines Sts., valued at 2000 + 3rd. Burgundy St. bet. Hospital & + Barracks Sts., valued at 2000 + 4th. Union St. between Royal & + Dauphine Sts., valued at 2000 + St. John Berchman Asylum for girls, + under the care of Holy family 2000 + and the following property: + 1st. Burgundy St., No. 528, worth about $1500 + 2nd. Dumaine St., Nos. 2129/31, worth about 2500 + 3rd. Galvez St., No. 828, worth about 1800 + 4th. Toulouse St., Nos. 726/28, worth about 2500 + 5th. Tulane Ave., No. 1402, worth about 4000 + Asylum for old indigents, corner Tonti + & Hospital Streets 15000 + + and the following property: + 1st. St. Andrew St., 1536/38 valued at $ 6000 + 2nd. Baronne St., No. 722 valued at 4000 + 3rd. Baronne St. Nos. 732/36 valued at 8000 + 4th. Canal & Villere Sts. valued at 6000 + 5th. Canal St., old No. 176 valued at 30000 + An another cash $ 2000 + Society of the Holy Family, Orleans St. 10000 + Straight University of New Orleans 3000 + Southern University of New Orleans 3000 + New Orleans University of New Orleans 3000 + Society of Jeunes Amis, New Orleans 3000 + Eye, Ear Nose & Throat Hospital 3000 + Mother St. Clair of the Convent of the Good Sheperd 20000 + + All of which cash legacies were doubled. + + Yours respectfully, + (Signed) P. A. BACAS + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This extract and the documents which follow were collected by Dr. +R. E. Park. + +[2] _The Springfield Republican_, Dec. 6, 1902. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + + _The History of the Negro Church._ By CARTER G. WOODSON, Ph.D. + The Associated Publishers, Inc., Washington, D. C. 1921. Pp. 330. + +With due regard for the modern scientific methods of historiography, +the author of this book has traced the rise and spread of +institutionalized Christianity among American Negroes. He discusses +such salient points as the early efforts of white missionaries to +evangelize the heathen bondmen, the difficulties which beset their +labors, the respective contributions of the white denominations, +showing the Baptists in the lead, followed closely by the Methodists, +with the Presbyterians, Catholics and Congregationalists in the rear. +There are set forth the psychological, geographical and other reasons +why the Negro was attracted more readily to the Baptist and Methodist +denominations, the causes for the reactions of slave holders for and +against the evangelization of the slaves, the rise of Negro preachers +of merit in the Baptist and Methodist denominations during the +eighteenth century, and the founding of the first churches by Negroes +of these sects. Among these he mentions the first African Baptist +Church by Andrew Bryan in 1788, the first African Methodist Episcopal +Church by Richard Allen in 1794, and the first African Presbyterian +Church by John Gloucester in 1807. + +The factors which caused the cleavage of the white denominations into +North and South, the causes of the separation of the Negro +communicants from the whites and the threefold cleavage of the Negro +Methodists are adequately discussed. Attention is given also to the +increase in the number of churches and the State and national +centralization of the churches within the respective denominations. +The ante-bellum beginnings of the only Negro education which aimed to +develop Negro preachers through instructors of both races, the +importance of Negro churches in developing race leaders, educators, +and statesmen who figured in the economic, social and political life +of the Negro after the war, are ably treated. The book gives an +account of the rise of the conservative and progressive elements +within the church and closes with a chapter on the present-day Negro +church statistics which indicate the enormous spread of Christianity +through the ascendancy of the Methodists and Baptists. + +One can hardly appreciate the sympathetic and scholarly character of +this work from the bald outline given above. Just therein may it be +characterized as a pioneer work, a genuine contribution. In a larger +sense it is more than the history of the Negro church; it is the very +life history of the Negro race in America, so intimately have the +spiritual strivings of the Negro been bound up with his sentiments and +interests, his habits and endeavors, his situation and circumstances, +his monuments and edifices, his poetry and song. + + F. C. SUMNER + + + _Unsung Heroes._ By MRS. ELIZABETH ROSS HAYNES. N. Y. DuBois & + Dill. 1921. 279 pp. Illustrated. + +One of the gravest problems now facing the Negroes in the United +States, and a problem none the less grave because unrecognized by the +unthinking majority, is that of reading for their children. Can +anything be more dangerous than the continual subjection of our +children to the influence of books, magazines, and newspapers in which +their race is being held up constantly to pity or contempt? The use of +opprobrious and insulting epithets with reference to the Negro is so +common in English and American publications as to need no more than a +mere reference here, and this practice is to be noted even in authors +who are conscious of no active race hostility. If the psychological +influence of such endlessly reiterated and therefore inescapable slurs +is bad for adults, how much worse must it be for children. In _The +Brownies' Book_, published by DuBois and Dill, a most praiseworthy +attempt has been made to meet this need in the form of a children's +magazine free from all objectionable matter, and it is nothing short +of a national calamity that this periodical has been forced to suspend +publication because of a lack of sufficient patronage. It is fitting, +then, that the same publishers should issue the book now under our +hand, a fine specimen of the printer's art in paper, presswork, +binding, and illustrations. + +In it the author, the wife of Dr. George E. Haynes, the well-known +sociologist, has set forth in a language and style suited to young +readers the lives of seventeen of the most celebrated men and women +of Negro descent. Eight of them--Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Banneker, +Phillis Wheatley, Josiah Henson, Sojourner Truth, Attucks, and Paul +Cuffe--belong to the ante-bellum period in America; five--Dunbar, +Booker Washington, B. K. Bruce, Crummell, and Langston--to the +reconstruction and late nineteenth century periods; and four--Pushkin, +the Russian; L'Ouverture, the Haytian; Coleridge-Taylor, the +Englishman; and Alexandre Dumas, the Frenchman--belong across the +ocean. It will be seen that the selection is a representative one, and +that no living person is included. The material chosen from each life +is carefully selected, too, to suit the minds and tastes of children. +There are six illustrations by four of our well-known young artists. +Altogether the book is the most satisfactory addition yet made to our +children's literature in this country, and should be in every home +where there are colored children, and in every library in which they +are readers. + + E. C. WILLIAMS + + + _Les Daimons du Culte Voudo._ By DR. ARTHUR HOLLY, Port-au + Prince, Haiti, 1919. Pp. lx-523. + +The author of this unique volume declares himself "boldly, but without +vanity, or false modesty" an esoterist, that is to say, one who is an +adept at the interpretation of the occult and secret doctrines. This +book, an exposition of the secret doctrine, is not, therefore, as its +title might suggest, a scientific treatise upon the Voudo cult as it +has existed and as it still exists in Haiti. It is rather an +interpretation and defense of the primitive religion of Africa, +particularly as it is represented in the religious customs and +practices of the common people in Haiti today. + +The sentiments which have inspired this undertaking are altogether +admirable. "Haitiens," he says, "have reached a point in their efforts +to conform to an alien culture where they are in danger of losing +their personality as a people as well as their native culture." But +now if ever is the moment, after the great cataclysm in Europe, to +lift the ancestral cult from the dust and make it worthy of Haiti, of +the African race. + +"We are," he continues, "African-Latins. But our Latin culture is all +on the surface. The old African heritage persists in us and controls +us to such an extent that under certain circumstances we feel +ourselves moved by mysterious forces when the silence of the night, +throbs with the irregular rhythm, melancholly, passionate and magical, +of the sacred dances of _Voudo_." + +Dr. Arthur Holly is evidently learning, but he draws his knowledge +from sources that are esoteric and therefore inaccessible to all +except the adepts. What he has written is, therefore, neither science +nor history. It has the character rather of revelation. It is +impressive, but not intelligible to the uninitiated. + +From his introduction, however, one gathers that he intends to show +that Christianity and Voudoism are from a common source, that "the +Bible," as he says, "belongs to us," _i.e._, the black people, but +that this earlier and more primitive form of religion which is +revealed in it has been corrupted by the white race. + +It is an interesting idea, but more interesting is the evidence that +it offers of the rise, among the Negro people of Haiti, of a racial +consciousness which embraces in one conscious unity the Negro peoples +of Africa and America. It is another spontaneous manifestation of that +unrest of the black man which has found expression in pan-Africanism +and in the movement in this country headed by Marcus Garvey, whose +program is Africa for the Africans. + + ROBERT E. PARK + UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO + + + _The Wings of Oppression._ By LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL. The Stratford + Company, Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. Price by mail, $2.15. + +Bearing the certificate of the Lyric Muse, Mr. Leslie Pinckney Hill, +schoolmaster of Cheney, Pennsylvania, and authentic singer, is the +newest arrival on the slopes of Parnassus. A first glance tells that +he is an agile climber, sinewy, easy of movement, light of step, with +both grace and strength. Every indication in form and motion is for +some point far up toward the summit. Youthful is he, ambitious +plainly, and, in spite of a burden, buoyant. "Climber," I said. I will +drop the figure. Poets were never pedestrians. Mr. Hill comes not +afoot. If not on the wings of Pegasus, yet on wings he comes--_the +wings of oppression_. Sad wings! Yet it must be remarked that it is +commonly on such wings that poets of whatever race and time rise. And +Mr. Hill's race knows no other wings. On the wings of oppression the +Negro poet and the Negro people are rising toward the summits of +Parnassus, Pisgah, and other peaks. This they know, too, and of it +they are justly proud. + +In his _Foreword_ Mr. Hill thus states the case of his people, and, by +implication, of himself: + + "Nothing in the life of the nation has seemed to me more + significant than that dark civilization which the colored man has + built up in the midst of a white society organized against it. + The Negro has been driven under all the burdens of oppression, + both material and spiritual, to the brink of desperation, but he + has always been saved by his philosophy of life. He has advanced + against all opposition by a certain elevation of his spirit. He + has been made strong in tribulation. He has constrained + oppression to give him wings." + +The significant thing about these wings, in a critical view, is that +they fulfill the proper function of wings--bear aloft and sustain in +flight through the azure depths. Mr. Hill's wings do bear aloft and +sustain: if not always, nor even ever, into the very empyrean of +poetry, yet invariably, seventy times, into the ampler air. Like all +his race, he has suffered much; and, like all his race still, he has +gathered wisdom from sorrow. As a true poet should have, he has +philosophy, also vision and imagination--vision for himself and his +people, imagination that sees facts in terms of beauty and presents +truths with vital imagery. Add thereto craftsmanship acquired in the +best traditions of English poetry and you have Hill the poet. + +The merits of this book cannot be shown by the quoting of lines and +stanzas. As ever with true art, the merit lies in the effect of +complete poems. Still, we can here detach from this and that poem a +stanza or two, despite the wrong to art. The first and fourth stanzas +of the title-poem will indicate Mr. Hill's technique and philosophy: + + I have a song that few will sing + In honor of all suffering, + A song to which my heart can bring + The homage of believing-- + A song the heavy-laden hears + Above the clamor of his fears, + While still he walks with blinding tears, + And drains the cap of grieving. + + * * * * * + + So long as life is steeped in wrong, + And nations cry: "How long, how long!" + I look not to the wise and strong + For peace and self-possession: + But right will rise, and mercy shine, + And justice lift her conquering sign + Where lowly people starve and pine + Beneath a world oppression. + +Significant as interpreting the character and temper of the Negro with +whom today the white world has to deal, are the following lines from +the blank verse poem entitled _Armageddon_: + + Because ye schooled them in the arts of life, + and gave to them your God, and poured your blood + Into their veins to make them what they are, + They shall not fail you in your hour of need, + They hold in them enough of you to feel + All that has made you masters in your time-- + The power of art and wealth, unending toil, + Proud types of beauty, an unbounded will + To triumph, wondrous science, and old law-- + These have they learned to value and to share. + +If these poems, taken collectively, do not declare "what is on the +Negro's mind," they yet truly reveal, to the reflecting person, what +has sunk deep into his heart. They are therefore a message to America, +a protest, an appeal, and a warning. They will penetrate, I predict, +through breast armor of _aes triplex_ into the hearts of those whom +sermons and editorials fail to touch in the springs of action. Such is +the virtue of music wed to persuasive words. + +A sonnet entitled _To a Caged Canary in a Negro Restaurant_ will +present the poet's people and his own manner of poetic musing: + + Thou little golden bird of happy song! + A cage cannot restrain the rapturous joy + Which thou dost shed abroad. Thou dost employ + Thy bondage for high uses. Grievous wrong + Is thine; yet in thy heart glows full and strong + The tropic sun, though far beyond thy flight, + And though thou flutterest there by day and night + Above the clamor of a dusky throng. + So let my will, albeit hedged about + By creed and caste, feed on the light within; + So let my song sing through the bars of doubt + With light and healing where despair has been; + So let my people bide their time and place, + A hindered but a sunny-hearted race. + +It would be an injustice to this poet did I convey the idea that his +seventy-odd poems are exclusively occupied with race wrongs and +oppression. Not a few of them bear no stamp of an oppressed or +afflicted spirit, though of sorrow they may have been nurtured. + +A lyric of pure loveliness is the following, entitled: + + TO A NOBLY-GIFTED SINGER + + All the pleasance of her face + Telleth of an inward grace; + In her dark eyes I have seen + Sorrows of the Nazarene; + In the proud and perfect mould + Of her body I behold, + Rounded in a single view, + The good, the beautiful, the true; + And when her spirit goes up-winging + On sweet air of artless singing, + Surely the heavenly spheres rejoice + In union with a kindred voice. + +_The Wings of Oppression_ strikes a high level of artistic expression +and makes a quite extraordinary appeal. It is intense poetry, lyrical +and meditative. + +Here is that solid body of thought which, in addition to artistic +expression, is requisite to poetry that attains and holds a high place +of esteem. Great variety of form is also here; excellent blank verse +with a movement at once easy and restrained, an equable, strong flow, +bearing lofty meditations; sonnets after the manner of the masters; +octo-syllabics of sententious felicity; various apt lyrical stanzas. +Culture alone, of which there is abundant evidence, could not have +produced these poems. The poetic endowment, thoroughly disciplined, +was necessary. Mr. Leslie Pinckney Hill is a poet. His powers are +rich, varied, and developing. His second book will be better than this +excellent first. + +But more than the merit that has been intimated there is in these +lyrics and measured musings a pathos, a restrained Laocooen cry, that +must be to thousands an arresting revelation of the unimagined +sufferings of the cultured colored people of our land. Mr. Hill's +_Wings of Oppression_ has a message in it for America. + + ROBERT T. KERLIN + LEXINGTON, VA. + + + + +NOTES. + + +By aiding the education of Negroes in rural communities with the +assistance of State governments and of Negroes themselves Mr. Julius +Rosenwald has been making an important chapter in the history of this +race during the last generation. The significance of this achievement +is apparent when one merely glances at these statistics: + + 1223 buildings (2812 teachers). + + Total Cost $4,012,923 + Negroes $1,139,165 + Whites 277,668 + Public Funds 1,840,210 + Rosenwald aid 755,880 + +These schoolbuildings have been built in the States as follows: +Alabama 234, North Carolina 175, Mississippi 145, Louisiana 136, +Tennessee 114, Virginia 105, South Carolina 73, Arkansas 54, Georgia +53, Kentucky 52, Texas 50, Maryland 16 and Oklahoma 15. + +By types these buildings include: + + 357 one-teacher + 464 two-teacher + 191 three-teacher + 106 four-teacher + 39 five-teacher + 32 six-teacher + 5 seven-teacher + 5 eight-teacher + 1 nine-teacher + 2 ten-teacher + 1 eleven-teacher + 1 twelve-teacher + 1 sixteen-teacher + 18 Teachers' Homes + ---- + 1223 + +The fact that over $4,000,000 has been invested in these buildings is +worthy of comment as is the added fact that more than one-fourth of +this large total has been raised by the Negroes themselves. While the +figures are of buildings which have been actually completed, it is +well to note that there are in progress now, some of them nearly +finished and all of them to be finished before June 30, 1922, other +buildings which will increase the total to 1500, will show a total +outlay of $5,500,000, will bring the total of contributions by the +Negroes up to $1,500,000, and make Mr. Rosenwald's contribution over +$1,000,000. These school building projects and the financial outlays +for them have been definitely approved, and all that is lacking is the +actual completion of contracts let. + +When the work was first undertaken, the thought was to build one-room +rural schoolhouses. Under the developing interest, however, larger and +better buildings have been erected. As the teacher capacity is an +important thing, the total number of teachers has been given to serve +as another index to the value of this achievement. + +Still another significant thing should be noted. All of the +construction now going on is being done through the States themselves. +Every project is presented for approval by the State educational +authorities, and is certified as completed by the same officers. The +interest manifested is sincere and continuing, and in North Carolina, +for example, there are no fewer than eight people connected with the +office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction who are giving +their time toward Negro education. + +There is another point too which may be interesting. The buildings are +constructed according to definite plans and specifications and no +building receives Rosenwald aid unless it conforms to the details of +such plans and specifications. As a result in the Rosenwald schools +the windows are so placed as to give the right kind of light; the +blackboards too are properly located; and the equipment in the way of +desks is the best available for the funds on hand. No school building +is paid for until inspection has shown it to be built according to the +approved ideas. + + * * * * * + +The following extract from _Current History_, Vol. XV, pages 771-772, +sets forth the participation of Alice Ball, a scholarly Negro chemist, +in the treatment of leprosy through the use of chaulmoogra oil +extracted by a difficult scientific process. + + "Credit for initiating a revolutionary method of treatment is + generally ascribed to Dr. Victor Heiser of the United States + Public Health Service in the Philippines. Instead of giving raw + chaulmoogra oil in doses, as had been the custom for centuries, + he gave it by injection to the muscles. Mixed with olive oil and + drugs, it was efficacious and helped all patients treated. The + old method of taking the oil through the mouth, even in + capsules, produced such violent nausea that very few could retain + it. If retained, it was healing; the best remedy then known. The + success of the Heiser treatment led physicians generally to adopt + injections as the best method of giving the oil, but it was thick + and not easily absorbed. This led Dr. Harry T. Hollman, a member + of the Government Medical Corps at Honolulu, to call for a more + diluted form of the oil, one freed from extraneous matter, an + ethyl ester, or the vital principle, if there was one. The + decomposition of the oil, he said, should be accomplished outside + the body. + + "After securing the approval of his superiors, Drs. McCoy and + Currie, he asked the Chemistry Department of the University of + Hawaii to liberate this essence from the vegetable compound. + President Dean, himself an expert chemist, became greatly + interested. He assigned to the task Miss Alice Ball, a young + negro woman and an expert chemist, who found the task exceedingly + elusive. She gave it all her time and secured a light essence, + which Dr. Hollman administered with improved results; but he + still insisted it could be improved. Miss Ball's health failed, + possibly from chemical poisoning, and she went to California to + recuperate. On her return she again took up the task, aided by + Dr. Dean, but was again forced to give up the work entirely and + soon afterward died in California. + + "President Dean then entered upon the task with redoubled + enthusiasm. He was encouraged from results obtained to give every + possible aid to the indomitable and optimistic Dr. Hollman. There + were months of persistent effort, the devising of expensive and + complicated apparatus, including a special furnace for intense + heat. At last the precise ethyl ester desired--with a number of + others--was secured. Injections were made as before into the hips + of patients--the large muscles were selected to avoid any + possible introduction of the medicine into the large veins or + arteries. The improvement following in every case was so marked + as to cause surprise and decided gratification." + +On the 3rd and 4th of April, the Association for the Study of Negro +Life and History will hold its spring conference in New York City. +This meeting will come as a climax of a nation-wide membership drive +now being conducted by the Association. The plans are to have present +a large representation of persons from the various parts of the +country that steps may be taken for a more thorough prosecution of the +work. + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. VII--JULY, 1922--NO. 3 + + + + +THE ANDERSON FUGITIVE CASE + + +The recent decision of the Canadian government not to allow +deportation to proceed in the case of Matthew Bullock, a Negro whose +return was asked by the State of North Carolina, has served to recall +to public attention in Canada certain cases occurring during the +period of slavery in the United States when the Canadian courts were +asked to order the return of fugitives. The most famous of these was +the Anderson case tried before the Canadian courts at Toronto, in +1860, interest in which stirred the British provinces from end to end. + +The Bullock case, recently decided, has some points of similarity to +the Anderson case, though the circumstances vary greatly. Bullock was +charged with participation in race riots in North Carolina in January +1921. He had made his way to Canada and succeeded in evading the +immigration authorities in entering the country. It was admitted by +the Canadian authorities that he was in the country illegally but in +the final decision it was stated that, as he had conducted himself in +an exemplary manner since entering, he would be allowed to remain. On +behalf of the fugitive it was freely hinted that should he be returned +to North Carolina he would risk being a victim of mob justice. While +this plea doubtless influenced the Canadian immigration authorities, +it could not, of course, be stated as their reason for allowing the +man his freedom. + +The Anderson case of 1860, to which so much newspaper reference was +made during the progress of the Bullock case, came just on the eve of +the American Civil War. In some respects it looked to be one of the +last efforts of the slave-owners to secure complete enforcement of the +Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. That measure, so detested by the North, +became a dead letter in many sections by the force of public opinion +but was also weakened by the fact that the fugitive in the North could +soon cross into Canada, if threatened by any sudden enforcement of the +law. An arrest under the Fugitive Slave Law in any northern city was +usually followed by a swift trek into Canada of other Negroes who +feared that they might be the next victims. But what if there could be +found some means of using British law to secure the return of +fugitives from Canada? This appears to have been in the minds of those +who tried to get Anderson out of Canada in 1860. It is difficult to +account, otherwise, for the strenuous efforts that were made to secure +his extradition. That the Missouri slaveholders felt they were +performing something in the nature of a public service by fighting +this case in the Canadian courts, is evidenced by their request that +the State should reimburse them for their outlay.[1] + +John Anderson appears to have arrived in Canada in November 1853, +crossing over the Detroit River to Windsor where he stayed with Mrs. +Bibb, mother of Henry Bibb, who was attempting to organize a refugee +settlement not far from that frontier point. Mrs. Laura S. Haviland, a +philanthropic Michigan woman who was doing missionary and educational +work among the fugitives, met him soon after his arrival and learned +his story. She says that he came to her asking that she write a letter +for him. This letter revealed the tragedy in which he had recently +figured and that had caused him to flee to Canada. She had noted the +sadness in his face which indicated the stress through which he had +passed. He told her that to satisfy a debt he had been sold by his +master, Seneca Diggs, and was to be separated from his wife and four +children. Husband and wife pleaded not to be separated but the reply +was that the buyer desired only the man. Later, however, the master +indicated that some other arrangement might be arrived at but the man +was suspicious and armed himself with a dirk. His suspicions were +further aroused when he was told to come to the woods where some trees +were to be chopped and when he noticed that the master had a stout +rope under his coat. The slave kept at a distance from the master +until the latter finally frankly admitted his purpose. The slave +declared that he would never be taken but at this point another man +appeared and Anderson began to run. The slavers followed him for seven +miles and finally had him cornered. Anderson flourished his knife and +threatened to kill the first man who laid hands upon him. All stood +back but Diggs who, with a knife in his hand, rushed at the slave. In +the melee the master was stabbed and the slave escaped into the woods. +That night he saw his wife and family for the last time. The woman +informed him that he had killed his master and that if he were caught +he could expect to be burned alive or chopped to pieces. She urged him +to flee to Canada, and if he arrived there safely, he was to write to +her father who was free. This is the story as he told it to Mrs. +Haviland and it was the letter to his father-in-law that he wished her +to write. + +Mrs. Haviland shrewdly suspected that a letter from Canada addressed +to a Negro related to Anderson would not likely reach its destination +and would also give a clue to the fugitive's whereabouts. Accordingly +she dated the letter from Adrian, Michigan, and asked that the reply +be sent there. The answer, which came shortly after, said that +Anderson's wife and four children were being brought to him. Mrs. +Haviland replied to this letter but warned Anderson not to cross the +Detroit River as she suspected a plot. In her message she asked the +party to come to Adrian, Michigan, and inquire for Mrs. Laura +Haviland, a widow, from whom information could be had regarding +Anderson. A few days later a white man called, very clearly a +southerner, and informed her that Anderson's family was in Detroit +staying in the home of a Negro minister named Williams. The visitor +seemed exceedingly anxious to find out where Anderson was and Mrs. +Haviland finally told him that the man was in Chatham and advised that +his family should be sent there. At this the visitor's face reddened +rather noticeably. Mrs. Haviland lost no time in sending a message to +Anderson advising him to leave Chatham. He got out none too soon for +within a few days white men were in Chatham inquiring for him. They +were told that he had gone to Sault Ste. Marie and they followed the +trail there but without success. Finally they disappeared after +leaving with Detroit people power of attorney to arrest Anderson, if +he could ever be decoyed over the river or should be found there. + +Mrs. Haviland, in her memoirs, says that after this effort to capture +Anderson as a murderer she wrote a letter to Lord Elgin, the Governor +of the Canadas, setting forth the facts, and that she received this +reply from him: "In case of a demand for William Anderson, he should +require the case to be tried in their British courts; and if twelve +freeholders should testify that he had been a man of integrity since +his arrival in their dominion it should clear him."[2] + +There is a rather curious similarity between the latter part of this +statement and the recent decision from Ottawa in the Bullock case, +namely, that as the latter had conducted himself well since entering +the country he should not be deported. + +About three years after the events mentioned above, which would be +about 1856, Mrs. Haviland records a meeting with D. L. Ward, a New +Orleans attorney, who said to her: "We are going to have Anderson by +hook or by crook; we will have him by fair means or foul; the South is +determined to have that man." + +The whereabouts of Anderson between 1853 and 1859 is not on record. +Probably he lived most of that time in southwestern Ontario where his +own people were most numerous. It is stated that he had worked in +Hamilton and Caledonia. In the fall of 1860 he was working near +Brantford when it came to the ears of a magistrate at Brantford, +Matthews by name, that at some time in the past this Negro had +committed a crime and was a fugitive from the justice of his own +State. Matthews had the Negro arrested and locked him up. It would +appear that he had no evidence of any kind other than rumor. S. B. +Freeman, who defended Anderson later, says that he went to the +Brantford magistrate and made inquiries about the prisoner, being told +that the fugitive was held pending the receipt of necessary evidence. +According to Freeman's charges, which were made publicly in _The +Toronto Globe_ of December 11, 1860, Matthews communicated with +private detectives in Detroit who passed the word on to friends of the +deceased Diggs in Missouri and they promptly applied at Washington for +extradition papers. _The Hamilton Times_ charged that Matthews had +subjected his prisoner to most rigorous prison life for two months, +keeping him ironed, permitting no Negro friends to see him, not even +admitting Rev. Walter Hawkins, the Negro preacher who afterwards +became a bishop.[3] It required very much persuasion on the part of +Freeman, and apparently some threats as well, to induce the Brantford +magistrate to release his prisoner. When let out of jail Anderson went +to Simcoe and was working there when again arrested, this time, it +would appear, on a warrant sworn out by a Detroit man named Gunning. +There are indications in the press reports of the time that the +Brantford magistrate was much aggrieved at his prisoner getting into +other hands and sought to have the case transferred to Brantford, +being aided in this by the county Crown attorney. + +In a letter to the _Hamilton Spectator_ Freeman made this charge +against the magistrate: "Mr. Matthews arrested him as having been +guilty of murder without any legal evidence of a murder having been +committed, or, in fact, of any one having been killed by him. And +after he had him in custody he communicated with the authorities for +the necessary evidence."[4] + +On November 24 Anderson was brought before the Court of Queen's Bench +consisting of Chief Justice Robinson and Justices Burns and McLean. S. +B. Freeman appeared for the prisoner and Henry Eccles and R. A. +Harrison for the attorney-general. Freeman read the warrant of +committal by William Matthews and the two other Brantford magistrates +who had been associated with him. The evidence was to the effect that +on September 28, 1859 (sic), Anderson was on the estate of Seneca T. +P. Diggs in Howard County, Missouri, and that Diggs, while attempting +with Negro help to arrest Anderson, was stabbed twice and later died. +The question was whether Canada was to administer the slave laws of +Missouri. The counsel for the Crown admitted that Anderson's act, if +committed in Canada, would not be murder. + +The Anderson case was practically the last important case to come +before Chief Justice Sir John Beverly Robinson, and around perhaps no +decision of his whole legal career did more excitement center. While +the justices were considering the evidence public meetings were being +held, not only in Toronto but in other Canadian cities. Newspapers +were furiously defending the fugitive and the judgment of the court +was being awaited with tense interest. + +It was understood on November 30 that the Chief Justice was ready to +give decision but that he deferred for his associates. On that date +there were special police on duty about the court in fear of an +attempt at rescue by the Negroes and others. _The Globe_ of that date +contended that the question of surrendering the man, being a matter of +a treaty, should have been dealt with by the executive and not by the +courts at all. + +"The universal heart and conscience of the people of Canada and of the +British nation will say upon the facts of the case that Anderson is +not a murderer in the sight of God, or under British law," was a part +of its comment editorially upon the case. A day or two later the paper +pointed out the significance of this particular case. If Anderson were +given up, it maintained, "no fugitive slave in Canada is safe on our +soil ... there is not a fugitive in Canada whose extradition may not +be demanded upon evidence sufficient to put the accused upon his +trial."[5] + +The court finally gave its judgment on Saturday, December 15. The +papers of the following Monday say, that as the decision was being +given, police stood about the court with muskets and that a company of +Royal Canadian Rifles were also under arms at the Government House. + +In its decision the court was not unanimous. The Chief Justice and +Justice Burns favored extradition while Justice McLean dissented. The +biographer of the Chief Justice says of this judgment: "Their decision +was neither in support of nor against slavery but was based entirely +upon the consideration of the treaty existing between the United +States and Canada." The biographer quotes also as follows from an +English contemporary: "These judges, proof against unpopularity and +unswayed by their own bitter hatred of slavery, as well as unsoftened +by their own feelings for a fellow man, in agonizing peril, upheld the +law made to their hands and which they are sworn faithfully to +administer. Fiat justitia. Give them their due. Such men are the +ballast of nations."[6] + +Gerrit Smith, the famous abolitionist, was one of those who acted on +behalf of the fugitive, and his plea made a strong impression. He +argued that Anderson was not guilty of murder but at the worst of +homicide, that the Ashburton case did not require the surrender of +fugitives and that in any case Anderson's delivery was a matter for +the English courts to decide. + +On the evening of December 19, 1860, a huge mass meeting was held in +St. Lawrence Hall. The mayor of the city presided and the chief +speaker of the evening was John Scoble, the abolitionist.[7] He was +able to throw considerable light upon the exact meaning of the +extradition treaty, having interviewed both Lord Aberdeen and Lord +Brougham on its terms in relation to fugitive slaves at the time that +it was passing through the British Parliament. He was at that time the +secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society of England which had become +alarmed over the possibilities to fugitives in Canada of the +extradition clauses.[8] + +Ashburton told him, he said, "that the article in question was no more +designed to touch the fugitive slave than to affect the case of +deserters or parties charged with high treason." Lord Aberdeen stated +that instructions would be sent to the Governor of Canada that in the +case of fugitive slaves great care was to be taken to see that the +treaty did not work their ruin. Sir Charles Metcalfe, Governor of +Canada, was quoted by the speaker as having said that he would never +be a party to wronging fugitives. + +In the course of his address Mr. Scoble gave some information about +the arrest of Anderson. He said that he personally went to Brantford +as soon as Anderson was taken up in April and tried to get a writ of +habeas corpus but could get no help from counsel in Brantford. At the +Brantford spring assizes Anderson was released by the judge, since +there was no evidence against him, but was rearrested three days +later. Other speakers at the St. Lawrence Hall gathering were Rev. Wm. +King, M. C. Cameron, Rev. Dr. Willis, Rev. Dr. Burns, Peter Brown and +Rev. Mr. Marling. At the close of the meeting there were cheers for +Anderson and others and groans for Magistrate Matthews. + +There was much comment in the Canadian press on the case as a whole +and upon the judgment in particular. _The Montreal Herald_ of December +19, 1860, said: "We hope that the day will never come when the +wretches who traffic in the bodies and souls of their fellow creatures +will be able to say to any British subject, 'And thou also art made +like unto us.'" _The Quebec Mercury_ said: "The judgment of the court +in Anderson's case is one of those infamous prostitutions of judicial +power to political expediency which in this degenerate age have too +frequently polluted the judicial ermine." _The Montreal Witness_ said: +"Such a gigantic wrong cannot exist on the same continent with us +without affecting the people of Canada in one way or another. +Slaveholders long looked at Canada with evil eye. If the slavers get +Anderson back they will execute him before the slaves. It would be +worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to them annually." + +Speaking on the evening of December 20 before the St. Patrick's +Literary Society of Montreal, Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee condemned the +decision in the Anderson case. "As a fugitive slave has never been +yielded by this province," he said, "I cannot believe that we are +going to take upon ourselves the yoke of that servitude just now. We +have no bonds to break or keep with the 'peculiar institution' of the +south; and the true voice and spirit of this province is that when the +flying slave has once put the roar of Niagara between him and the bay +of the bloodhounds of his master--from that hour, no man shall ever +dream of recovering him as his chattel property." + +As soon as the decision of the Court of Queen's Bench was given, +abolitionists in Toronto decided to carry the case to English courts +and did so, securing from the Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster an +order to bring Anderson there. In the meantime the case was carried to +the Court of Common Pleas in Toronto and there on February 16, 1861, +Chief Justice Draper acquitted Anderson, for the following reasons, as +quoted in _The Toronto Leader_: "In the first place, the magistrate's +warrant was defective inasmuch as the words used in the warrant did +not imply the charge of murder, though perhaps expressing more than +manslaughter; secondly, the warrant of commitment was also defective +in not adhering to the words of the treaty." + +It would take long to list all the meetings, petitions, resolutions, +and protests that were brought forth by the Anderson case. The +Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, with headquarters in Toronto, was, of +course, active throughout the whole case. Early in January it was +reported that a petition signed by more than 2500 people had been +forwarded from Montreal on behalf of Anderson and from elsewhere in +Canada came similar protests. + +With the decision of Chief Justice Draper the Anderson case was closed +and the fugitive disappears. As a result, however, of the unseemly +action of the Brantford magistrate the Canadian law was revised so as +to take from the control of ordinary magistrates jurisdiction as +regards foreign fugitives from justice, leaving such cases with county +judges and police justices. + + + FRED LANDON. + THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, + LONDON, ONTARIO. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] On March 27, 1861, certain Howard County citizens petitioned for +money advanced by them to prosecute Anderson in the Canadian Courts +(_Session Laws_, 1860, p. 534). + +[2] For Mrs. Haviland's story see her book, "_A Woman's Life Work_," +published at Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1881. Anderson's story as told to +her is found on pages 197-8. + +[3] See _The Toronto Globe_, Nov. 14, 1860. + +[4] Quoted in _The Toronto Globe_, Nov. 29, 1860. + +[5] _The Toronto Globe_, Dec. 3, 1860. + +[6] _Life of Sir John Beverly Robinson_, London, 1904, pp. 326-7. + +[7] The proceedings of this meeting are reported at length in _The +Globe_ of the following day. + +[8] Article X of the Ashburton Treaty, dealing with extradition, reads +as follows: "It is agreed that the United States and Her Britannic +Majesty shall, upon mutual requisition by them, or their ministers, +officers, or authorities, respectively made, deliver up to justice all +persons who, being charged with the crime of murder, or assault with +intent to commit murder, or piracy, or arson, or robbery, or forgery, +or the utterance of forged paper, shall seek an asylum, or shall be +found within the territories of the other; provided that this shall +only be done upon such evidence of criminality as, according to the +laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be +found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the +crime or offence had there been committed, etc." + + + + +A NEGRO SENATOR + + +Incredible as it may sound to the twentieth century reader, the +Commonwealth of Mississippi was for six years ably represented in the +United States Senate by a distinguished Negro Senator, the Honorable +B. K. Bruce. So inspiring is the story of Senator Bruce's efforts in +the defense of humanity that it ought not to be permitted to lie in +obscurity for want of a sympathetic pen. The present venture, +therefore, is an attempt, though belated, to recount some of the +achievements of this statesman whose public career looms up as a +monument to the American Negro's self-confidence, resolution, and +persistency. + +Senator Bruce's career in the upper chamber of Congress began on March +5, 1875, at the special session of the Forty-fourth Congress, called +by President Grant. His name appears in the _Congressional Record_ of +that session as "Branch" K. Bruce, Floreyville, Mississippi. He was +assigned to the _Committee on Manufactures_ and to the _Committee on +Education and Labor_ and later to the _Committee on Pensions_ and the +_Committee on the Improvement of the Mississippi River and its +Tributaries_.[1] + +Antedating his election to the United States Senate, Senator Bruce had +held positions of trust and honor in the State of Mississippi. He had +been Sheriff, Tax-Collector, Commissioner of the Levees Board, and +County Superintendent of Education. Moreover, he had served as +Sergeant-at-Arms of the first State Senate after the Reconstruction +Period, and Commissioner of Elections in a county that was reputed as +being the most lawless in the State. In all these positions, Senator +Bruce had displayed such integrity of purpose, sagacious +statesmanship, and tireless industry that his election to the United +States Senate followed as a logical and merited promotion.[2] + +Senator Bruce's "maiden speech" in the Senate was delivered shortly +after he took his seat during the special session. The speech was a +vigorous protest against the proposed removal of the troops from the +South, Mississippi in particular, where the military authorities were +still in control. The speech made a profound impression on the Senate +and clearly indicated the manly stand which Senator Bruce was +preparing to take against the injustices practised against Negro +citizens both North and South.[3] + +The regular session of the Forty-fourth Congress, which convened on +Monday, December 6, 1875, gave Senator Bruce numerous opportunities +for energetic efforts. Early in the session, he presented a petition +of the Sons of Temperance of the District of Columbia, praying for +legislation for the District of Columbia and the Territories; for the +prohibition of the importation of alcoholic liquors from abroad and +that total abstinence be made a condition of the civil, military, and +naval service. Later he introduced a Bill "to provide for the payment +of bounties, etc., to colored soldiers and sailors and their +heirs."[4] His first important opportunity for valuable service came +during the discussion of the resolution to admit former Governor +Pinchback as a Senator from Louisiana. The resolution had been +presented on March 5, 1875, at the special session of the +Senate--"That P. B. S. Pinchback be admitted as a Senator from the +State of Louisiana for the term of six years, beginning with the +fourth of March 1873." Senator Bruce delivered the following address: + + When I entered upon my duties here as Senator from Mississippi, + the question ceased to be novel, and had already been elaborately + and exhaustively discussed. So far as opportunity has permitted + me to do so, I have dispassionately examined the question in the + light of the discussion, and I venture my views now with the + diffidence inspired by my limited experience in the consideration + of such questions and by a just appreciation of the learning and + ability of the gentlemen who have already attempted to elucidate + and determine this case. + + I believe, Mr. President, whatever seeming informalities may + attach to the manner in which the will of the people was + ascertained, Mr. Pinchback is the representative of a majority of + the legal voters of Louisiana, and is entitled to a seat in the + Senate. In the election of 1872, the white population of the + State exceeded, by the census of 1872, the colored population by + about two thousand, including in the white estimate 6,300 + foreigners, only half of whom were naturalized. This estimate, at + the same ratio in each race, would give a large majority of + colored voters. The census and registration up to 1872 + substantially agree, and both sustain this conclusion. The census + of 1875, taken in pursuance of an article of the State + constitution, gives, after including the foreign population + (naturalized and unnaturalized) in the white aggregate, a + majority of 45,695 colored population. + + This view of the question is submitted not as determining the + contest, but as an offset to the allegation that Mr. Pinchback + does not fairly represent the popular will of the State, and as a + presumption in favor of the legal title of the assembly that + elected him. + + The State government elected in 1872, and permanently inaugurated + in January 1873, in the face of contest and opposition, obtained + for its authority the recognition of the inferior and supreme + courts of the State. When organized violence threatened its + existence and the United States Government was appealed to for + troops to sustain it, the national Executive, in pursuance of his + constitutional authority and duty, responded to the demand made + for help, prefacing said action by an authoritative declaration, + made through the Attorney General, addressed to + Lieutenant-Governor Pinchback, then Acting Governor, of date of + December 12, 1872, that said Pinchback was "recognized as the + lawful executive of Louisiana, and the body assembled at + Mechanics' Institute as the lawful Legislature of the State"; and + similar recognition of his successor was subsequently given. When + in September 1874, an attempt was made to overthrow the + government, the President again interposed with the Army and Navy + for its protection and the maintenance of its authority. + + This government has proceeded to enact and enforce laws for three + years, which not only affect life, liberty, and property, but + which have received the general obedience of the citizens of the + State. The present government also has frequently been brought in + official contact with the United States Congress--through its + legislatures of 1873 and 1875, by memorials and joint resolutions + addressed to the respective Houses; and through its executive, by + credentials, borne by Congressmen and by Senators--and in no case + has the legitimate authority of the Legislature been excepted to + save in the action of electing a United States Senator; and in no + instance has the sufficiency of the executive's credentials been + questioned, in either House, except in the matter of the + senatorial claimant. + + Now, sir, shall we admit by our action on this ease that for + three years the State of Louisiana has not had a lawful + Legislature; that its laws have been made by an unauthorized mob; + that the President of the United States actively, and Congress, + by non-action at least, have sustained and perpetuated this + abnormal, illegal, wrongful condition of things, thereby + justifying and provoking the indignant and violent protests of + one portion of the people of that State, and inviting them to + renewed and continued agitation and violence? Such action by us + would be unjust to the claimant, a great wrong to the people who + sent him here, and cruel even to that class who have awaited an + opportunity to bring to their support the overwhelming moral + power of the nation in the pursuit of their illusion--which has + so nearly ruined the future of that fair State--a government + based upon the prejudices of caste. + + I respectfully ask attention of Senators to another view of this + subject, which is not without weight in determining the + obligations of this body to the State of Louisiana and in + ascertaining the title of the claimant. If the assumption that + the present government inaugurated in 1873 is without legal + authority and usurpation is true, the remedy for the state of + things was to be found in the exercise of Congress through the + joint action of the two Houses of the powers conferred under the + guaranteeing clause of the Constitution relative to republican + forms of government in the several States. + + Failing to exercise her power and perform her duty in this + direction, and thus practically perpetuating the present + government, I submit that, in my judgment, we cannot now ignore + our obligation to give the State her full representation on the + score of the alleged irregularity of the government through which + she has expressed her will; and there does seem to me, in this + connection, something incongruous in the proposition that we may + impose upon the people a government without legal sanction and + demand their obedience to and support thereof, said government + meanwhile determining the character of its successors and thus + perpetuating its talent, and yet are powerless to admit a Senator + elected thereby. + + In my judgment, this question shall at this juncture be + considered and decided not on abstract but practical grounds. + Whatever wrongs have been done and mistakes made in Louisiana by + either party, the present order of things is accepted by the + people of the State and by the nation, and will be maintained as + a final settlement of the political issues that have divided the + people there; and no changes in the administration of public + affairs can or will be made except by the people, through the + ballot, under the existing government and laws of the + Commonwealth. + + Under these circumstances, holding the question in abeyance is, + in my judgment, an unconstitutional deprivation of the right of a + State, and a provocation to popular disquietude; and in the + interest of good-will and good government, the most judicious and + consistent course is to admit the claimant to his seat. + + I desire, Mr. President, to make a personal reference to the + claimant. I would not attempt one or deem one proper were it not + that his personal character has been assailed. + + As a father, I know him to be affectionate; as a husband, the + idol of a pleasant home and cheerful fireside; as a citizen, + loyal, brave, and true. And in his character and success we + behold an admirable illustration of the excellence of our + republican institutions.[5] + +This speech, printed in its entirety, is an honest, frank, and +convincing enunciation of republican truths. It is an unselfish and +sober appeal for justice to another member of the Negro race. Bereft +of all rhetorical embellishments, as the speech is, it may well pass +for a masterpiece of logical thought and dynamic expression. It is the +forerunner of even mightier utterances. + +Long before Senator Bruce donned his senatorial toga, rioting in +Mississippi had become prevalent. In fact, his own county, Bolivar, +was perhaps the only one in the State which had not furnished a stage +for bitter race feuds; and even this county narrowly averted a +calamity. Back in the early seventies, a report gained currency that +in a few days there was to be a "shooting up" in Bolivar. Guns and +ammunition were being stored, and the outlook became menacing. The +riot, however, was averted because Senator Bruce went personally to +the controlling citizens and succeeded in arousing a strong sentiment +against the threatening disorder. Bolivar County was thus enabled to +boast that it had never been stained with bloodshed, and even today +the memory of Senator Bruce is held in highest respect in Bolivar +County. + +In other sections of the State, rioting became so prevalent, +especially on election days, that the returns of the elections were +open to serious doubt. The United States Senate was forced to take +cognizance of this condition. On Friday, March 31, 1876, a Resolution +was introduced appointing a Committee "to investigate the late +election in Mississippi." Senator Bruce embraced this opportunity to +give a clear exposition of the condition of affairs in his State. His +speech on this occasion reveals him as a broad-minded and courageous +statesman free from the curse of narrow dogma and paltry aim. He began +by announcing the basic principles of a democracy that will survive: + + The conduct of the late election in Mississippi affected not + merely the fortunes of the partisans--as the same were + necessarily involved in the defeat or success of the respective + parties to the contest--but put in question and jeopardy the + sacred rights of the citizens; and the investigation contemplated + in the pending resolution has for its object not the + determination of the question whether the offices shall be held + and the public affairs of the State be administered by Democrats + or Republicans, but the higher and more important end, the + protection in all their purity and significance of the political + rights of the people and the free institutions of the country.[6] + +He continued by referring to the evidence which proved that the voters +of Mississippi in the "late election" had not had an actual +opportunity to cast their votes: + + The evidence in hand and accessible will show beyond peradventure + that in many parts of the State corrupt and violent influences + were brought to bear upon the registrars of voters, thus + materially affecting the character of the voting or poll lists; + upon the inspectors of election, prejudicially and unfairly, + thereby changing the number of votes cast; and finally threats + and violence were practiced directly upon the masses of voters in + such measure and strength as to produce grave apprehensions for + personal safety and as to deter them from the exercise of their + political franchises. + +It was in this speech that Senator Bruce replied to the erstwhile +criticism that the Negro was a coward because he endured every kind of +indignity without retaliating. Taking the prevalent view of +progressive thought of the nineteenth century, he spoke as follows: + + It will not accord with the laws of nature or history to brand + colored people a race of cowards. On more than one historic + field, beginning in 1776 and coming down to the centennial year + of the Republic, they have attested in blood their courage as + well as a love of liberty. I ask Senators to believe that no + consideration of fear or personal danger has kept us quiet and + forbearing under the provocations and wrongs that have so sorely + tried our souls. But feeling kindly towards our white + fellow-citizens, appreciating the good purposes and offices of + the better classes, and, above all, abhorring war of races, we + determined to wait until such time as an appeal to the good sense + and justice of the American people could be made.[7] + +This pronouncement of Senator Bruce exalting the manly virtue of +patience, even in the face of grave injustices, was preeminently +representative of the most highly educated Negro thought of the +century in which Senator Bruce lived, and must be interpreted in terms +of the philosophy of his day. If it should be objected to by some of +the most highly developed Negro thought of the present day, the +increasing tendency towards retaliation should be attributed partly to +the American Negro's metamorphosis since the colossal struggle for +that Utopian dream--a World's Democracy. + +Perhaps the part of Senator Bruce's speech which has given most +impetus to similar modern expression is contained in the following +excerpt: + + The sober American judgment must obtain in the South as elsewhere + in the Republic, that the only distinctions upon which parties + can be safely organized and in harmony with our institutions are + differences of opinion relative to principles and policies of + government, and that differences of religion, nationality, or + race can neither with safety nor propriety be permitted for a + moment to enter into the party contests of the day. The unanimity + with which the colored voters act with a party is not referable + to any race prejudice on their part. On the contrary, they invite + the political cooperation of their white brethren, and vote as a + unit because proscribed as such. They deprecate the establishment + of the color line by the opposition, not only because the act is + unwise, but because it isolates them from the white men of the + South and forces them, in sheer self-protection, and against + their inclination, to act seemingly upon the basis of a race + prejudice that they neither respect nor entertain. They not only + recognize the equality of citizenship and the right of every man + to hold without proscription any position of honor and trust to + which the confidence of the people may elevate him; but owing + nothing to race, birth, or surroundings, they above all other + classes, in the community, are interested to see prejudices drop + out of both politics and the business of the country, and success + in life proceed upon the integrity and merit of the man who seeks + it.... But withal, as they progress in intelligence and + appreciation of the dignity of their prerogatives as citizens, + they as an evidence of growth begin to realize the significance + of the proverb, "When thou doest well for thyself, men shall + praise thee"; and are disposed to exact the same protection and + concession of rights that are conferred upon other citizens by + the Constitution, and that too without humiliation involved in + the enforced abandonment of their political convictions. + +The speech closes with an enthusiastic expression of confidence in +American institutions and in the American Negro: + + I have confidence, not only in my country and her institutions, + but in the endurance, capacity and destiny of my people. We will, + as opportunity offers and ability serves, seek our places, + sometimes in the field of letters, arts, science and the + professions. More frequently mechanical pursuits will attract and + elicit our efforts; more still of my people will find employment + and livelihood as the cultivators of the soil. The bulk of this + people--by surroundings, habits, adaptation, and choice will + continue to find their homes in the South and constitute the + masses of its yeomanry. We will there, probably of our own + volition and more abundantly than in the past, produce the great + staples that will contribute to the basis of foreign exchange, + aid in giving the nation a balance of trade, and minister to the + wants and comforts and build up the prosperity of the whole land. + Whatever our ultimate position in the composite civilization of + the republic and whatever varying fortunes attend our career, we + will not forget our instincts for freedom nor our love for + country.[8] + +A careful study of the speech shows what a model it has been for +speakers and writers of a much later period. It deals openly and +frankly with the Southern question, and is prophetic of President +Harding's recent utterances on the Negro's political status in the +South. + +During the second session of the Forty-fourth Congress, Mr. Bruce +confined his efforts largely to the relief of the legal heirs of Negro +soldiers who had fought to preserve the Union. Consequently, he +introduced a number of bills praying that arrears of pensions be +granted. In this way, he became the benefactor of many persons who +otherwise might never have received their pensions. In addition to +such relief legislation, he presented for the second time a petition +praying for a general law prohibiting liquor traffic, and introduced a +bill for certain improvements in the Mississippi River.[9] + +The Forty-fifth Congress was not especially eventful. Senator Bruce, +however, continued to introduce bills for the relief of legal heirs of +soldiers. During the second session of this Congress, he took an +active interest in the Chinese Exclusion Bill, registering his vote +against the measure which seemed to him to be contrary to American +principles. His denunciation of the selfish policy of the United +States toward the Indian was more pronounced than that of his +dissatisfaction with the restriction of the immigration of the +Chinese. He believed that the attitude of the Americans toward the +Indian bred hatred and discontent and made the Indian a fugitive and a +vagabond. He believed that the United States Government should do +something to civilize the Indian rather than to restrict him. The +Indian could be made a desirable citizen if the best elements of his +nature were developed to enable him to exercise the functions of +citizenship. He early advocated, therefore, that the Indians should +cease to be dealt with as tribes and should receive consideration as +individuals, "subject to American law and beneficiaries of American +institutions." The Indian then, when no longer branded as an outlaw, +would in the very near future advance to the position when the +cooperation and the protection of the white man would be welcomed as +that of friends.[11] + +It was during the Forty-sixth Congress that Senator Bruce was most +active. Senator Bruce did most constructive work in advocating the +improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river. The importance +of this question today is not so striking as it was at that time for +the reason that little had been done to protect life and property from +the inundations of that stream. Senator Bruce kept this important +problem before Congress urging not only that the interest of the +people in the valley itself be taken care of, but that this river +should by adequate facilities be made the highway of interstate and +foreign commerce. Toward this end Senator Bruce offered several bills +meeting the exigencies of the time and providing for future needs. As +the foresight of a majority of the members of Congress at that time +was not sufficient to appreciate this statesmanlike effort of Senator +Bruce, his program for this important internal improvement was not +carried out, although some important efforts since then to supply this +need in our economic development must be considered as due in some +measure to the persistence and the courage of Senator Bruce in keeping +this question before Congress.[12] + +Senator Bruce, moreover, had been watching, with increasing +misgivings, the affairs of that notorious banking bubble, more +pretentiously known as the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. To +protect the rights of the depositors of the defunct institution, he +offered the following resolution, on April 7, 1879: + + That the President of the Senate appoint a committee of five on + the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company to take into + consideration all matters relating to said institution, and that + said committee be authorized to employ a clerk, and that the + necessary expenses be paid out of the "miscellaneous items" of + the contingent fund of the Senate.[13] + +The resolution was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to. The +Vice President, the Honorable William A. Wheeler, subsequently +appointed Senator Bruce as Chairman of this committee. The other +members were Senators Cameron of Wisconsin, Gordon, Withers, and +Garland. To head such a committee was, indeed, an enviable privilege, +but the real opportunity lay in the kind of service which the +entangled affairs of the bank made possible. At this time, the affairs +of the bank were in the hands of three commissioners, each receiving +$3000 a year, and no promise of winding up the business of the bank +was foreshadowed. Thus the available assets were reduced annually by +the total amount of these salaries. The assets, of course, were to be +paid _pro rata_ to the depositors. + +In order that his committee might have more power to go into the +management of the bank, Senator Bruce offered the following resolution +on May 16, 1879: + + That the Select Committee on the Freedman's Savings and Trust + Company appointed by resolution of the Senate of April 7, 1879, + is authorized and directed to investigate the affairs of said + savings and trust company and its several branches, to ascertain + and report to the Senate all matters relating to the management + of the same and the cause or causes of failure, with such other + facts relating thereto as may be important to a full + understanding of the management and present condition of the + institution and to a more economical administration and speedy + adjustment of its affairs. + +Following this resolution, Senator Bruce presented a petition of R. M. +Hall, M.D., and others, citizens of Baltimore, Maryland, praying the +passage of an act requiring the commissioners of the Freedman's +Savings and Trust Company to close up the affairs of the institution +and distribute the assets among the creditors thereof. This petition +was presented on May 27, 1879. + +The resolution and the petition had their desired effect. The services +of the commissioners were dispensed with, thus saving $9000 a year for +the depositors; and the final settlement of the claims was turned over +to the Controller of the Treasury. To Senator Bruce's Committee, +therefore, goes the credit of bringing a speedy close to the affairs +of the defunct Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, with the minimum +of further loss to the depositors. Later, Senator Bruce made a strong, +but vain, appeal to reimburse the colored depositors of the Freedman's +Savings and Trust Company for losses incurred by the failure of the +bank. + +His final dealings with the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company came +in the third session of the Forty-sixth Congress, when he introduced +the following bill: + + That the Senate authorize and direct the purchase by the + Secretary of the Treasury, for public use, the property known as + the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, and the real estate and + parcels of ground adjacent thereto, belonging to the Freedman's + Savings and Trust Company, and located on Pennsylvania Avenue + between Fifteenth and Fifteenth-and-a-half Streets, Washington, + District of Columbia. + +The bill was considered, amended, and passed.[14] + +Ever alert to the educational needs of the colored youth, Senator +Bruce introduced, among many other bills, during the second session of +the Forty-sixth Congress, a bill: + + To provide for the investment of certain unclaimed pay and bounty + moneys now in the Treasury of the United States and to facilitate + and encourage the education of the colored race in the several + States and Territories. + +The bill was referred to the _Committee on Education and Labor_, +amended by Mr. Pendleton of Ohio, and reported back adversely and +postponed indefinitely.[15] + +Senator Bruce was not returned to the Forty-seventh Congress. The +record, however, which he made in the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and +Forty-sixth Congresses will ever maintain for him a prominent place +among the progressive and constructive statesmen of this country. And +here our account should end if it were not for the fact that some of +our readers will want a glimpse of some of the significant events in +Senator Brace's life, exclusive of his career in the Senate. A +condensed account of such facts will suffice. + +Senator Bruce was not a native Mississippian. He was born in the +little town of Farmville, Virginia. At an early age, he made his way +to Missouri, thence to Mississippi where he arrived in 1868. In 1878, +he married Miss Josephine B. Wilson, of Cleveland, Ohio, a lady of +most excellent parts and refined culture. A son, Roscoe Conklin, was +born in 1879--a polished gentleman by birth, an educator by training, +an orator and debater by choice, and a scholar by nature. Both wife +and son survive the late Senator.[16] + +Senator Bruce belonged to that rugged, self-made type of manhood that +did right to prosper in this world and hope for felicity in the next. +He studied under private tutors and spent two years at Oberlin +College. Like many successful statesmen, he served his time in the +classroom as a teacher. It was during his teaching career that he was +persuaded by Henry Ward Beecher to enter the Christian ministry, but +the inward voice did not respond to the ministerial call. + +Though his tenure of office as United States Senator lasted but one +full term of six years, he was given further opportunities for public +service. From 1881 to 1885, he served as Register of the Treasury, +having been appointed to this office by President Garfield. In 1889, +during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, he was +appointed Recorder of Deeds when the office was operated under a +system of fees which netted from twelve to fifteen thousand dollars a +year. President McKinley called him a second time to the office of +Register of the Treasury, in which position he remained until his +death in 1898. + + G. DAVID HOUSTON + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, First Session. + +[2] Simmons, _Men of Mark_, 699-703. + +[3] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2100-2105. + +[4] _Ibid._, pp. 736, 1547, 5138. + +[5] _Congressional Record_, 1st Session, pp. 1444, 1445. + +[6] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2100-2105. + +[7] _Congressional Record_, 44th Congress, 1st Session, p. 2104. + +[8] _Congressional Record_, Forty-sixth Congress, 1st Session, p. +2104. + +[9] _Ibid._, p. 2105. + +[10] _Ibid._, p. 2105. + +[11] _Congressional Record_, Forty-sixth Congress, 2d Session, pp. +2195-2196. + +[12] _Congressional Record_, Forty-fifth Congress, 1st Session, pp. +201, 245; 3d Session, pp. 1314, 1316, 2309. + +[13] _Ibid._, Forty-sixth Congress, 1st Session, pp. 45, 71, 435, +1679, 2415; 3d Session, pp. 632, 668. + +[14] _Congressional Record_, Forty-sixth Congress, 2d Session, pp. 45, +273, 538. + +[15] _Ibid._, pp. 1619, 1953, 2053, 2384, 4563. + +[16] See Simmons, _Men of Mark_, pp. 699-703. + + + + +LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PLAN + + +There was some slavery in the Northwest Territory to which Lincoln +moved with his father from Kentucky, for although that section had +been dedicated to freedom by the Ordinance of 1787, slavery in a +modified form existed there for three reasons. The Ordinance was not +considered emancipatory so far as it regarded the British slaves held +in such service prior to 1795, those of French masters prior to 1763 +and those already in that condition when the Ordinance was passed. +Furthermore, after separating from the Indiana Territory, Illinois +legalized slavery by indenture, provided for the hiring of slaves from +Southern States to supply labor in its various industries, and at the +same time passed a stringent law to prohibit the immigration of free +Negroes into that State. Later there followed an attempt to open the +State to slavery by the Legislature of 1822-1823, but the slave party +was defeated by the election of Governor Coles, who would not permit +the reactionary element to reduce that commonwealth to a mediaeval +basis.[1] Such slavery as existed in Illinois, however, differed +widely from that in the South where it had become economic rather than +patriarchal as it then existed in certain parts of the North. + +On a trip by way of the Sangamon and the Mississippi to New Orleans in +May 1831, Abraham Lincoln got his first impression of economic slavery +when he "saw Negroes chained, maltreated, whipped and scourged."[2] He +made no mention of this spectacle until a decade later when journeying +from Louisville to St. Louis he saw ten or twelve slaves shackled +together on a boat. This was sufficient to convince him that this +institution was not only an economic evil but a disgrace to a country +pretending to be free. Lincoln, therefore, early decided within +himself that if he ever attained a position of sufficient power to do +something for the extermination of this institution, he would count it +the opportunity of his life. + +There soon followed an occasion when Lincoln had an opportunity to +show his constituents his position on this important question. As a +result of the murder of Lovejoy the question of slavery was brought up +at the session of the legislature held in 1837 and was referred to a +committee. The report of this committee expressed disapproval of +abolition societies and carried a declaration to the effect that the +Federal Constitution secured the right of property in slaves, and the +Government of the United States could not abolish slavery in the +District of Columbia without the consent of its citizens. After much +heated debate and filibustering these resolutions were finally passed, +although Lincoln and five other members voted in the negative. Then +there followed from Lincoln and Daniel A. Stone a protest, questioning +and attacking the moral support of slavery, yet recognizing all the +constitutional guarantees that protected it.[3] + +Lincoln, as an Illinois Representative in Congress, resorted to a +similar procedure in that national body. At this time there was almost +a pitched battle between the slave States and the free commonwealths, +each one endeavoring to develop more strength than the other in the +effort to dictate the policy of the nation with reference to the +States to be formed out of the remaining western territory. Lincoln +did not take any active part in the discussion of slavery during the +first session of his service in Congress, but he always voted against +any measure providing for the extension of the institution. However, +he still adhered to his position as set forth in the protest in the +Illinois Legislature, that Congress had power under the Constitution +to regulate or prohibit slavery in all territory subject to its +jurisdiction, provided that such power be exercised with due regard to +constitutional rights. He, therefore, decided to test the question +whether it was possible to remove from the seat of the Federal +Government the offensive traffic in human beings. In formulating his +plans to carry out this policy, he consulted the leading citizens of +the District of Columbia and certain prominent men in Congress. + +Having secured the approval of Mayor Seaton of Washington, a +representative of the intelligent slave-holding citizens of the +District of Columbia, and also the support of Joshua Giddings, the +leading abolition member of Congress, Lincoln proposed a bill to this +effect. Thereupon Giddings made these remarks: "This evening (January +11th) our whole mess remained in the dining room after tea, and +conversed upon the subject of Mr. Lincoln's bill to abolish slavery. +It was approved by all; I believe it as good bill as we could get at +this time, and am willing to pay for slaves to save them from the +southern market, as I suppose every man in the District would sell his +slaves if he saw that slavery was to be abolished."[4] + +In the meantime a less radical bill providing also for the abolition +of slavery in the District of Columbia had been introduced by +Representative Gott of New York. Lincoln, therefore, moved as an +amendment on January 16, 1849, that a committee report a bill for the +emancipation of all slaves in the District of Columbia. This measure +prohibited the bringing of slaves into and selling them out of the +District except in the case of those temporarily serving persons +representing slave-holding States. It made provision for a tentative +system of apprenticeship and the eventual emancipation of children +born of slave mothers after January 1, 1850. It further provided for +the manumission of slaves by the Government of the United States with +compensation to the owners who might make application therefor, for +the return of fugitive slaves from Washington and Georgetown, and +finally for the submission of the bill to popular vote in the District +of Columbia. This measure, however, and its probability of success so +excited the proslavery members of Congress and the slave owners in the +District of Columbia that a violent opposition thereto followed. So +many influential forces were arrayed against the measure that its +friends did not further endeavor to pilot it through the House.[5] +This unsuccessful effort marked the expiration of Lincoln's term in +Congress. + +Declining to become a candidate for renomination to Congress, Lincoln +returned to Springfield, partially withdrew from politics, and devoted +himself largely to the practice of law. He reappeared as an active +participant in politics in Illinois in 1854, when there appeared a new +aspect of the question as reflected by the debate incident to the +Kansas-Nebraska controversy. At this time Lincoln was called for in +all directions to deliver addresses to inform the people on the issue +of the day. In this connection he demonstrated his inalterable +opposition to the extension of slavery.[6] He objected to the +iniquitous doctrine of the Nebraska Bill in that it assumed that there +was moral right in the enslaving of one man by another, and, further, +that it tended to be unmistakably subversive of the basic principles +of the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln was of the opinion that +the salvation of the Union was dependent upon the extension or the +restriction of slavery. Realizing the futility and the hopelessness of +voluntary emancipation, he asserted that the "Autocrat of all the +Russias" would resign his crown, and proclaim freedom to all his +subjects sooner than the "American masters" would voluntarily give up +their slaves.[7] It is remarkable that Lincoln's speculative +affirmation was followed by what he thought an impossibility, for on +the day preceding Mr. Lincoln's inauguration the "Autocrat of all the +Russias," Alexander II, by an imperial decree emancipated his serfs; +"while six weeks after the inauguration, the proslavery element, +headed by Jefferson Davis, began the Rebellion to perpetuate and to +spread the institution of slavery." + +In 1857 came the Dred Scott decision, in which Chief Justice Taney of +the Supreme Court dragged that tribunal into politics, aiming to +settle the question of slavery in the territories, but it stimulated +rather than suppressed the discussion of slavery, as was evident by +its outburst in the debates between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stephen A. +Douglas.[8] The main question was whether, according to the +Constitution, Congress could prohibit slavery in the territories. +Lincoln contended that it could but Douglas was evasive, as he hoped +to reconcile his popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision. +Lincoln, on the other hand, showed that the public estimate of the +Negro had become decidedly lower than it was prior to the industrial +revolution, when masters could emancipate their bondmen of their own +volition. Since then it had become common for the State Legislature, +which in the exercise of the sovereignty of the State had the power to +abolish slavery within its limits, to withhold that power and to make +legal restraints tantamount to prohibition. + +Lincoln opposed Mr. Douglas in 1858 when he contested the latter's +reelection to the United States Senate. Toward this end he launched a +more determined antislavery program than ever before, advancing the +doctrine that "a house divided against itself cannot stand" and +likewise that "the Union could not endure permanently, half slave and +half free."[9] He further declared that either the advocates of +slavery would push the institution forward until it became alike +lawful in both North and South, or the opponents thereof would arrest +its extension. Douglas had charged the Republicans with the intent to +abolish slavery in the States and had asserted that their opposition +to the Dred Scott decision marked their desire for Negro equality and +amalgamation.[10] To this charge Lincoln replied that the Republicans +were not directing their efforts toward abolition in the slave States, +but toward the exclusion of slavery from the territories. He forcibly +denied the accusation that the Republicans solicited social equality +and amalgamation with the Negro, declaring that there was a physical +difference between the two races, which probably would forever forbid +their living together on equal footing; and that, inasmuch as it +became a necessity that there must be a difference, he, like Douglas, +favored his race for the superior position. Lincoln admitted that in +some respects the Negro, according to the Declaration of Independence, +was not the white man's equal; that in color, size, intellect, moral +development, or social capacity the Negro was not on a par with the +white man; but that that instrument did, with tolerable distinctness, +consider "all men created equal" with certain inalienable rights, such +as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."[11] Lincoln held +that, notwithstanding all these facts, there was no reason why the +Negro was not entitled to all the natural rights embraced by the +Declaration of Independence, which are enjoyed by the white man.[12] +He interpreted the standard maxim that "all men are created equal" as +being of no practical use in effecting the separation of the thirteen +Colonies from Great Britain, and, on the contrary, contended that it +was placed in the Declaration of Independence for future use in the +attainment of democracy. + +Lincoln failed to defeat Douglas for the United States Senate but he +continued to discuss the constitutionality of the restriction of +slavery. On more than one instance he limited his remarks to this +question, irrespective of the type of his audience or character of the +occasion. He persistently reiterated the doctrine that there was no +provision in the Constitution that precluded the right of the Federal +Government to control slavery in the territories.[13] + +The crisis between 1850 and 1860 brought Lincoln's ideas before larger +groups. Until that year the Democrats had apparently remained united. +At the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, +in April, 1860, there was a division.[14] The Northern Democrats, +unable to comply with the demands of the slave power that the +convention should adopt a platform requiring Congress to protect +slavery in the territories and the Northerners to acknowledge and +advocate the moral right of slavery, forced the South to the radical +position of withdrawing from the Convention. Since no candidate could +then be nominated, the Convention adjourned to Baltimore, in the hope +that time would bring about a reconciliation; but in the end the +Northern Democrats nominated Douglas, and the Southerners nominated +Breckenridge.[15] + +The Republican Convention was held in Chicago in May 1860, and there +was adopted a moderate platform, with a denial of the right of +Congress to interfere with slavery in the States. The Republicans +reaffirmed the Declaration of Independence and declared that Congress +should prohibit slavery in the territories. They repudiated the Dred +Scott decision and advocated a protective system. Their most difficult +problem was the selection of a candidate for the presidency. Inasmuch +as Seward and Chase had alienated certain elements by their bold +advocacy of advanced principles and Lincoln was comparatively unknown, +the managers of the party finally accepted him because of his +availability. This choice was received with much indignation among the +antislavery leaders, for even Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd +Garrison railed against the nominee and portrayed him as an +obscurity.[16] + +Lincoln's election forced slavery into the foreground. Without +waiting for his inauguration, several Southern States, acting in +accordance with their previous threats that they would secede if a +Republican President were elected, withdrew from the Union. Others +soon followed their example. Congress hastened to offer various +concessions to the seceding States,[17] but these efforts for +compromise were in vain. The die was cast. When Lincoln asserted that +his oath of office bound him to preserve the Union at any cost, civil +war became inevitable. The proslavery element opened fire on the +American flag at Fort Sumter and forced its surrender April 14.[18] On +the next day Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 +volunteers. 500,000 others were later called to defend the honor of +the nation. + +The emancipation of Negroes during the Civil War could not be kept +down. It appeared first in the acceptance of Negroes in the Union army +camps as contraband, on the ground that they were being used by the +Confederates to build fortifications and the like and, if returned to +the seceding territory, would be of further use in opposing the +Federal troops. General Butler set this precedent when he was in +charge of the forces at Fortress Monroe. At first there was some +hesitation as to whether the administration should adopt such a +policy. Butler's course, however, was approved by Cameron, the +Secretary of War, May 30, 1861, although Lincoln was not pleased with +it; for he did not desire to alienate the border slave States by +radical steps toward emancipation. He was hoping that the nation would +trust him, "as having the more commanding view, gradually to fix the +attitude of the Government toward the subject,"[19] as the conquest of +the Confederacy proceeded. The Federal troops, however, did not at +first make much headway in the East, but events west of the +Alleghenies progressed favorably for the Union cause, especially in +Missouri. Taking advantage of this state of affairs, General John C. +Fremont, in charge of this district, proclaimed military emancipation +in that State on August 30, 1861. All persons with arms were to be +tried by court martial and shot. Their property would be confiscated, +and their slaves would thereby be declared free. He appointed a +military commission, whose business it was to hear evidence and to +issue personal deeds of the manumission of slaves. + +When Lincoln was apprised of this proclamation, he forthwith took +action. He feared that the provisions of General Fremont's drastic +order, providing for the confiscation of property and the emancipation +of slaves of traitorous owners, would alarm the Southern friends of +the Union, would drive them over to the seceding faction, and perhaps +would be instrumental in the loss of the border slave States. +Fremont's action was diametrically opposed to Lincoln's policy, in +that such emancipation was purely administrative and political, one of +civil administration that could not be justified by military +necessity. Consequently Lincoln issued an order instructing Fremont to +modify his proclamation by striking out the disturbing provisions of +the proclamation and substituting therefor the act to confiscate +property used for insurrectionary purposes, passed by Congress on +August 6, 1861, which authorized the President to cause property used +or employed in aid of insurrection to be seized, confiscated, or +condemned, providing, however, that such condemnation be made by +judicial procedure.[20] + +Lincoln, nevertheless, hoped to increase the number of free States +through compensated emancipation, which he expected to come through +voluntary action on the part of the slave States at the suggestion of +the Federal Government. In his next annual message to Congress, +however, he made no direct reference to any specific plan of +emancipation, but discussed its practical necessities in general terms +so as to leave himself in a position to decide later on a definite +policy.[21] He endeavored to keep before Congress new and possible +contingencies and emphasized the fact that, by virtue of the +Confiscation Act, many of the slaves thus liberated were already +dependent upon the United States for maintenance, and that they must +be provided for. He recommended, therefore, that Congress provide for +accepting such persons from States so affected in lieu of direct +taxes, and that such persons accepted by the General Government be +declared free immediately. + +With his plan for compensated emancipation in mind, it was quite +natural that Lincoln should look for a field of experimentation in a +small State, such as Delaware, especially since there was in Congress +from that State, Representative George E. Fisher, who was a staunch +Unionist and a friend of the President. Fisher gladly cooperated with +Lincoln in carrying out this plan. The Congressman tried to have the +Legislature of Delaware pass an act for the gradual compensated +emancipation of the 1,798 slaves which that State claimed according to +the census of 1861, on the condition that the United States would pay +the Delaware slaveholders $400 for each slave. During November of +1861, Lincoln wrote drafts of two separate bills to effect such an +agreement.[22] The first bill provided that, on the passage of the +act, all Negroes over thirty-five years of age should become free; +that all born after the passage of the measure should remain free; and +that the rest, after suitable apprenticeship for children, should +become free in 1893, while the State in the meanwhile should prohibit +the selling of Delaware slaves elsewhere. By the provisions of the +second bill the United States Government should pay the State of +Delaware $23,200 a year for thirty-one years and all Negroes born +after the passage of the act should be declared free, while all others +should automatically become free at thirty-five years of age until +January, 1893, when all remaining slaves of all ages should become +free, subject to apprenticeship for minors born of slave mothers up +to the respective ages of eighteen and twenty-one. + +One of the drafts was rewritten by the friends of the measure that it +might embrace the details and alterations to conform with local +opinion and law. It was printed and circulated among the members of +the Legislature of Delaware and a special session of that body was +called to consider the proposal. The bill, however, was never +introduced, because it was feared that it would be voted down by the +hostile proslavery majority. The proslavery element, moreover, +prepared resolutions to the effect that the bill would encourage the +abolition element in Congress, that it bore evidence of an effort to +abolish slavery in the States, that Congress had no right to +appropriate money for the purchase of slaves, that it was not +desirable to make Delaware guarantee the public faith of the United +States, that the suggestion of saving expenses to the people by +compensated emancipation was a bribe, and that Delaware would abolish +slavery of its own volition at a time when its lawmakers would deem it +advisable. But these resolutions did not fare much better than +Lincoln's bill, for in spite of the fact that they passed the House +they were lost in the Senate.[23] + +Although disappointed over the failure of his plans for compensated +emancipation in Delaware, Lincoln, encouraged by the victories of +Thomas and Grant in the West took his next step through Congress to +the States.[24] Accordingly, on March 6, 1862, he sent to that body a +special message, recommending the adoption of the joint resolution +that the United States would cooperate with any State which might +adopt gradual emancipation, giving such State compensation for all +inconveniences produced by the change of any system within its +confines.[25] Lincoln had figured out that less than the cost of the +war for a half day would pay for all the slaves in Delaware at $400 +each, and that less than eighty-seven days' cost of the war would +compensate the slaveowners of Delaware, Maryland, the District of +Columbia, Kentucky, and Missouri for all the slaves at the same rate. + +The next step took the form of Roscoe Conkling's joint resolution to +this effect recommended by Lincoln in his special message of March 6. +At the same time Lincoln assembled the Congressmen from the border +slave States of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and +Missouri at the Executive Mansion, where a prolonged discussion of the +subject ensued.[26] Lincoln tried to convince these Congressmen of the +good faith of the administration, and suggested to them that they take +this question of gradual abolition into serious consideration, for the +Government of the United States had no right to coerce them. He +asserted that emancipation was exclusively a State affair; and that +his purpose was simply to present the proposition. Yet probably one +reason for the failure of these Congressmen of the border slave States +to make a favorable reply or to commit themselves in any way was that +they were well aware of Lincoln's determination, according to his +special message of March 6, to use all means to save the Union; and +they, furthermore, understood the hint that necessity might force him +to resort to extreme measures. While this proposition gained no +headway with the border slave States, the joint resolution was +approved by Congress and received the signature of the President on +April 10. + +Congress then passed an important measure, the expediency of which +Lincoln urged in 1849. This was emancipation in the District of +Columbia. Lincoln made no specific recommendations relative to this in +his annual message, but later sent a special message to Congress March +6, 1862, taking up the subject in its more extensive aspects. This +bill provided for the immediate emancipation of slaves in the +District of Columbia, and empowered a commission to distribute to +slave-holders for their manumitted slaves a compensation not to exceed +an aggregate of three hundred dollars a head, with an additional +appropriation for $100,000 for expenses of voluntary emigration of +freedmen to Haiti and Liberia.[27] Lincoln did not heartily approve +this measure, however, for he did not want this to interfere with his +policy of compensated emancipation in the border slave States. Even +after the bill had been amended, according to his suggestions, he +still hesitated and some of his friends thought that he might never +sign it, but he did. + +The question of emancipation appeared in another form when, upon the +capture of Port Royal the previous November, many slaves, abandoned by +the fleeing slave-holders, sought protection in the Union army. These +slaves, thus dislodged by the misfortunes of war, outnumbered the +whites five to one and had to be organized in groups for government +protection. Relief societies in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia +sent funds and teachers for the slaves. This educational enterprise +received the official sanction of Secretary Chase at President +Lincoln's request. Wishing further to improve their condition, General +David Hunter, commander of the Department of the South, issued on May +9, 1862, an order of military emancipation, proclaiming the Department +of the South under martial law and declaring persons in Georgia, +Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves, forever +free.[28] Hunter regarded this an act of military necessity, not an +instrument of political import as General Fremont's proclamation in +Missouri, for Hunter's forces were insufficient for offensive +movements, and he was doing this as the first step toward training and +arming Negroes within his lines. Assuming that the instructions of the +War Department conferred the necessary authority he proclaimed the +order without delay. + +The news of this proclamation did not travel rapidly. It was published +in the newspapers one week later, owing to the slow mail by sea from +the South. By this means even Lincoln first learned of this decree, on +account of which he was being assailed in many parts. When the news +reached Lincoln he took decisive and prompt action. On May 19, he +published a proclamation in which he revoked the order of emancipation +and recited that the Government had no knowledge of such a decree nor +had it authorized General Hunter to give such an order.[29] + +Lincoln, however, used this occasion for an admonition to the border +slave States, although he carefully distinguished between the limited +powers of the commanders in the field and his full executive +authority. He reminded the border States of the joint resolution +passed by Congress, to authorize compensated emancipation, and he +warned them not to neglect this opportunity to obtain financial +indemnity, for the "signs of the times" were multiplying to a degree +that should have convinced the border States that slavery was doomed. + +In the very beginning of the Thirty-seventh Congress there came a +series of antislavery measures which constituted a complete and +decisive reversal of the policy of the Federal Government.[30] On +March 13, 1862, Congress approved an act, which prohibited all +military and naval officers and enlisted personnel from returning +fugitive slaves. Section 10 of the Confiscation Act, virtually an +amendment of the Fugitive Slave Law, which withheld from the claimant +the right to use his authority until he had taken an oath of +allegiance, and made it tantamount to a crime for any person in the +army or navy to surrender a fugitive slave or attempt to validate the +owner's claim, was rigidly enforced. Wishing to see Liberia and Haiti +welcomed into the family of nations, moreover, Lincoln in his annual +message in the previous December recommended the recognition of their +independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the +new nations. This resolution was passed by a Congress and approved +June 5, 1862. Lincoln then effected the passage of a measure to carry +into execution the treaty between Great Britain and the United States +for the suppression of the African slave trade. Soon thereafter +followed an act to secure freedom to all persons within the +territories of the United States. The Republican party had thus +carried out its platform by its restoration of the Missouri +Compromise, its extension and application to all Territories, and as a +logical result the rejection and condemnation of the Dred Scott +decision and the subversive property theory of the secessionists.[31] + +Then followed the Confiscation Act, the discussion of which was +closely followed by Lincoln, who had his views incorporated therein by +pointing out its defects and suggesting amendments. Whereas the act of +August 6, 1861, freed slaves actually employed in military service, +the new Confiscation Act of 1862 proved to be a law to destroy slavery +under the powers of war. In conjunction with provisions for punishing +treason or rebellion it declared free all slaves of persons guilty and +convicted of these crimes, and provided that slaves deserted by rebels +escaping from them or coming under control of the United States and +slaves of rebels found on Union soil should be deemed captives and set +free. Then again, there were enacted other provisions, which by +implication permitted the employment of slaves in the United States +army that they might work their own enfranchisement. Under this law +the President was empowered to enroll and employ contrabands in such +service as they were fitted for. Their mothers, wives, and children, +if owned by rebels, should be declared free by virtue of such service. +The eleventh section of the Confiscation Act authorized the President +to employ as many Negroes as he might deem necessary for the +suppression of the rebellion. The organization of the earliest Negro +regiments resulted from this legislation. + +Lincoln had some hesitation about signing this bill, however, for it +had to be changed to conform to his views. But he signed it and also +an anticipatory resolution of Congress to remedy its defects, placing +himself on record by transmitting with his approval a copy of his +intended veto, had certain defects remained. Mr. Lincoln objected to +the expression that Congress could free a slave within a State, +whereupon he suggested that it be changed to read that the ownership +of the slave would be transferred to the nation, and that Congress +would then liberate him.[32] The Democrats opposed this act, but +antislavery opinion gained momentum by increasing accessions to the +ranks of freedom and by that unusual ability of the highly talented +patriotic membership of Congress. Yet to the proslavery element and +the conservative Unionists, Lincoln's proposal of gradual compensated +emancipation was a daring innovation upon practical politics. "In +point of fact," say Nicolay and Hay, "the President stood sagaciously +midway between headlong reform and blind reaction. His steady, +cautious direction and control of the average public sentiment of the +country alike held back rash experiment and spurred lagging +opinion."[33] + +Four months after Lincoln's proposal of compensated emancipation to +the border slave States and its sanction by Congress, the situation +seeming more complicated by the vicissitudes of war, Lincoln saw the +necessity for uniting the sentiment of the North for a practical +solution of the slavery problem. Looking forward into the future, +therefore, Lincoln readily realized that the North must present a +united front contending for a plain, practical policy, relative to +things both political and military. + +Consequently he again met the border State delegations on July 12, and +made a second appeal to them to accept compensation for the +emancipation of the slaves in their respective States while the +opportunity was yet at hand.[34] He pointed out to them that the war +would have been ended, had they considered the acceptance of the +provisions of his first appeal for gradual emancipation, and that this +plan would not be a slow and weak means of ending the war. Dissuading +them from secession, he failed not to apprise them of the fact that, +if the rebellion continued, their institution would be destroyed +without any sort of indemnity or reparation. Again he referred to his +revoking General Hunter's proclamation of military abolition, with the +hope that he might possibly win them over to his plan, but his effort +was futile. Most of them replied with a qualified refusal; twenty of +them later presented a written reply, pledging themselves to continue +loyal, but at the same time giving the reasons why they could not +accept the plan of compensated emancipation. + +In the meantime the capture of strategic points like Vicksburg and New +Orleans had given the control of the lower Mississippi to the +Union,[35] General Grant had crippled and driven back the Confederates +in the West,[36] and prospects for military success in the East seemed +to require some such a measure as military emancipation. After the +refusal of compensated emancipation by the border slave States the +President decided to emancipate the slaves of rebellious commonwealths +by military order.[37] While riding with Mr. Seward and Mr. Welles one +day, Mr. Lincoln made mention of emancipating the slaves by +proclamation, if the rebels did not lay down their arms. He believed +that such action could be guaranteed only as a military necessity. He +thought that the slaves must be liberated, or the Union would be +exterminated. Lincoln reached a final conclusion and called the +cabinet together on July 21, the day preceding the close of that +session of Congress.[38] Since he was at the end of his tether, he +determined to take a more definite and decisive step. Accordingly, he +prepared several orders which, gave authority to commanders in the +field to subsist their troops in hostile territory and to employ +Negroes as paid laborers, and further provided for the colonization of +Negroes in some tropical country.[39] + +As this discussion led to no definite conclusion, the subject was +resumed at a meeting on the following day; but Lincoln decided that +the time was inopportune. While he thought that more evil than good +would be derived from the wholesale arming of Negroes, yet he was not +unwilling that the commanders arm, purely for defensive purposes, +those slaves who came within the Union lines. But the President had +reached a decision on the correlated policy of emancipation with which +it appears that his cabinet was not in accord. They were surprised +when he read to them the first draft of a proclamation warning the +rebels of the penalties provided by the Confiscation Act, suggesting +the renewal of his proposition of compensation to the loyal States, +and adding a summary order that, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and +Navy, he would declare free the slaves of all States that might be in +rebellion on January 1, 1863. The Cabinet was somewhat "bewildered by +the magnitude and boldness of this proposal."[40] + +Only two members of the cabinet concurred in the proposal. Secretary +Chase favored this plan of military emancipation, but could not +approve the method of execution. Blair, the Postmaster General, +deprecated this policy on the ground that it would cost the +administration the fall elections. Secretary Seward approved it and +yet questioned the expediency of its issue at that stage of the war, +owing to the depression of the public mind and the repeated reversals +for the Union armies. He further deemed it to be a last measure of an +exhausted government that was crying for help, stretching forth its +arms to Ethiopia instead of awaiting a reverse appeal from Ethiopia. +Consequently he urged a postponement of the issue of the proclamation +until the country was supported by military success. Lincoln, struck +by the wisdom of Seward's views, which he had entirely overlooked, +laid it away and postponed the proclamation on July 22 until the Union +forces reported a victory. Instead, after a three-day interval, he +issued a short announcement that contained warnings as required by the +provisions of the Confiscation Act. + +Lincoln's postponement of the issue of the proclamation was wise. +Military reversals made the situation more serious for the President's +supporters. The radicals and the conservatives, resorted to incessant +criticism, railing against him and his policy. Lincoln, however, kept +up appearances of indecision, even though his own course had been +clearly and inalterably mapped out; but circumstances did not admit a +revelation. His main object was to restrain impatience and zeal, and +yet maintain the loyalty of both factions.[41] + +Horace Greeley attacked Lincoln unmercifully in _The New York Tribune_ +and accused him of being responsible for the deplorable results coming +from his failure to enforce the Confiscation Act. Lincoln, on the +contrary, lost no time in replying to Greeley, and declared that he +intended to save the Union by the shortest possible way in accordance +with the provisions of the Constitution; that his paramount object in +the struggle was to preserve the Union and not either to preserve or +destroy slavery; that he would save the Union, either without +liberating any slaves, or by freeing all the slaves, or by freeing +some and leaving others in servitude; that, at any rate, he would save +the Union; and that his efforts at emancipation would be determined by +its bearing on the more important question of saving the Union. + +The expected easy victory did not follow; but, on the contrary, came +sad and humiliating defeat of Pope in the second battle of Bull Run in +August, 1862. At this juncture Lincoln was urged by both individuals +and delegations to follow one or the other decision relative to +emancipation, but his attitude remained the same. On September 13, he +informed a Chicago delegation that he was unable to free slaves by the +Constitution, especially when the Constitution could not be enforced +in the rebel States, and declared that any emancipation proclamation +would at that time be as effective and operative as "the Pope's bull +against the comet."[42] What the antislavery group wanted was not +granted; but wholesale emancipation was going on by virtue of the +provisions of the Confiscation Act, slavery had been abolished in the +District of Columbia, and the territories had been restored to +freedom. Lincoln, moreover, left himself a margin for action according +to his declaration, in his interview with the Chicago delegation, +that, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, he had the right to +take any measure which might best subdue the enemy.[43] + +Upon hearing of the Union victory at Antietam three days after, +Lincoln immediately seized this opportunity to announce the policy +upon which he had already decided. He had promised to withhold his +Emancipation Proclamation until the rebels were out of Frederick. Now +that they had been driven from Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lincoln was +ready to carry out his plan. On September 22, 1862, therefore, he +announced, read, and published his preliminary Emancipation +Proclamation.[44] It embraced propositions that provided for the +renewal of the plan of compensated emancipation, voluntary +colonization, military emancipation of all slaves in rebellious States +on January 1, 1863, and the ultimate recommendation of compensation to +loyal owners. + +Although this proclamation was endorsed by an assembly of Governors +from the Northern States, who had already convened at Altoona, +Pennsylvania, to consider emergency measures for the protection of +their respective States,[45] the political test of this announcement +of military emancipation came, as expected, in the autumn elections. +Popular discontent had arisen as the result of military failure. The +Democrats boldly declared that the war of the Union had been changed +to a war for abolition of slavery. Party conflicts became bitter and +resulted in a loss to the Republicans although they still retained a +majority. + +In his next annual message, however, President Lincoln did not discuss +the Emancipation Proclamation, but he renewed his argument for +compensated emancipation. On December 11, 1862, George H. Yeaman of +Kentucky introduced in the House of Representatives a resolution +dubbing the President's proclamation as unwarranted by the +Constitution and a useless and dangerous war message. This resolution +was tabled by a vote of ninety-four to forty-five. Four days later +Representative S. C. Fessenden of Maine, on the contrary, offered a +resolution putting into affirmative form the identical phraseology of +Mr. Yeaman's proposition, and secured its passage by a test vote of +seventy-eight to fifty-four. No other action of consequence then +followed except a manifestation of interest in compensated +emancipation in Missouri. + +At a cabinet meeting on the last day of December, 1862, Lincoln read +the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation and invited +criticism. He made some revision of a minor nature but rejected the +proposal to eliminate from the order the provision that the freedmen +be armed. In this form the Proclamation was issued the following day, +January 1, 1863. The constitutionality of this document has been +questioned. It is conceded, however, that it did actually abolish +slavery within the rebellious area and as a moral stimulus to the +struggle for freedom, it proved to be of great value. + + HARRY S. BLACKISTON + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Edwards, _History of Illinois_, 179. + +[2] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, I, 72; W. H. Lamon, _Life of +Abraham Lincoln_, 83. + +[3] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, I, 15, 140, 151, 642. + +[4] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, I, 148, 285-288. + +[5] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, I, 286. + +[6] _Ibid._, I, 373, 375, 380-390. + +[7] _Ibid._, I, pp. 391, 392. + +[8] Nicolay and Hay, II, 85, 89. + +[9] Nicolay and Hay, II, 136-138, 143. + +[10] Nicolay and Hay, II, 137, 156, 157; _Lincoln-Douglass Debates_, +p. 8. + +[11] Nicolay and Hay, II, pp. 75, 147. + +[12] _Ibid._, II, p. 149. + +[13] Nicolay and Hay, II, 156, 157, 216. + +[14] Murat Halstead, _Conventions of 1860_, 6. + +[15] _Ibid._, 7. + +[16] Nicolay and Hay, II, 255. + +[17] Nicolay and Hay, II, 287, 382. + +[18] Rhodes, _United States_, III, p. 357. + +[19] Burgess, _Civil War_, II, p. 76. + +[20] Nicolay and Hay, _Abraham Lincoln_, IV, 416-420; V, p. 211. + +[21] Burgess, _Civil War_, II, 79-80. + +[22] Nicolay and Hay, V, 206. + +[23] Nicolay and Hay, V, 207. + +[24] Dodge, _View_, chap. xi. + +[25] Nicolay and Hay, V, p. 209. + +[26] McPherson, _History of the Rebellion_, p. 210. + +[27] Nicolay and Hay, V, 214. + +[28] _Ibid._, VI, p. 90. + +[29] Nicolay and Hay, VI, 94-96. + +[30] _Ibid._, VI, 97. + +[31] Nicolay and Hay, VI, 99-100. + +[32] Nicolay and Hay, VI, 103. + +[33] _Ibid._, VI, 107. + +[34] _Ibid._, VI, pp. 109-111. + +[35] King, _New Orleans_, ch. xiii. + +[36] Dodge, _View_, ch. x. + +[37] Nicolay and Hay, VI, p. 121. + +[38] _Ibid._, VI, pp. 123-124. + +[39] Warden, _Life of S. P. Chase_, p. 439. + +[40] F. B. Carpenter, _Six Months at the White House_, pp. 20-22. + +[41] Dodge, _View_, ch. xiv. Rossiter Johnson, _History of War of +Secession_. + +[42] Nicolay and Hay, VI, 155. + +[43] Dodge, _View_, pp. 102-115. + +[44] Nicolay and Hay, VI, pp. 168-169. + +[45] Nicolay and Hay, VI, p. 164. + + + + +THE JOURNAL OF ISAACO[1] + +I + + +The time approaches when all the wildness of this little world will be +overrun and tamed into the trimness of a civilized parterre; when the +last trail will have been trodden, the mystery of the last forest +bared, and the last of the savage peoples penned into a League of +Nations to die of unnatural peace. What will our children do then, I +wonder, for their books of high romance? How satisfy their thirst of +daring with nothing further to dare? Who will appease them, when + + "The Rudyards cease from kipling + And the Haggards ride no more," + +when Robinson Crusoe and the classics are once read, and in a hencoop +world no saga-man arises in their stead? They say that by then we +shall have enlarged our borders and gone in our chariots of petrol to +visit the wheeling stars. But I misdoubt these Icarian flights. It +seems to me more likely that the harassed parents and publishers of +those days will be driven earthward to rummage into the lumber of the +past and bring out as new the obscure things that a former more heroic +age had buried. In those stricken times, I hope someone may have the +fortune to light upon my manuscript _Journal_ of Isaaco, a slim, +alluring folio that now glitters in red-and-gold upon my study +shelves. It would be a pity if Time, the All-Merciless, were allowed +to throw the dust of oblivion over these pretty pages, for they +possess in good measure that trait of "pleasant atrocity" which wins +the attention of youth. + +But who was Isaaco, and what was his _Journal_ that it calls for the +popularity of print? Those who have followed the harrowing tale of +Mungo Park's _Travels_ along the River Niger, in the years 1795 to +1797, and again in the fatal expedition of 1805, will be well +acquainted with Isaaco. They will have smiled at his childish tempers, +applauded his snakelike cunning, and laughed outright at his heathen +superstitions. But the others must be gravely informed that Isaaco was +a West African of the Mandingo tribe who was wont for dignity's sake +to describe himself as a Mohammedan priest. Certainly he had the +Pentecostal gift of tongues, for there was hardly a dialect of +Bambouk, Fool-adoo, Jallonkadoo, Timbuctoo, and all the other tribes +of Senegal and beyond, but he could deceive the wiliest natives in it. +Moreover, as a professional guide he found it paid to keep a wife in +every petty state. At the worst she served to exercise the tongue; at +the best she was provisioner, geographer, and spy. Never tired, never +sick, never at a loss, Isaaco was simply indispensable to the European +merchants trading in Senegal. So, indeed, was he to Mungo Park, that +doughtiest of Scotsmen, who dared on through Bambarra and Haoussa +where no white-face had ever been. Without Isaaco's genius and +gigantic strength, it is unlikely that the second expedition (in 1805) +would ever have reached the Niger. It was Isaaco who nursed the forty +brave men who one by one sickened of dysentery; supported them on +their mules, even in delirium, when they cried like children for their +homes; and buried them at the last with saphies or charms from the +_Koran_ over their unmarked graves. It was he who watched, while the +others slept the dead sleep of exhaustion; piled up the camp-fires to +scare off the lions and wolves, and, worse than the wolves, those +thieves and murderers (the scum of Senegal) who ever dogged their +steps. None like Isaaco could placate each chieftain with the gift +that his soul desired (be it cowries, beads, looking-glasses, muskets, +or multi-colored waistcoats); nor when these failed, could any but +Isaaco win passports with the mere honey of his tongue. Nothing could +swerve him from honesty or the performance of his task. He was tied to +a tree and flogged in the presence of his local wife, set upon by the +very white men he was serving, stung all over by a swarm of bees, and +mauled in both thighs by a crocodile; but each time he turned up +smiling and ready to go on. Nothing could stop him, for did he not +keep the solemn ritual of the guides, sacrificing a black ram at the +threshold of every country they entered, drawing the magic triangles +and hieroglyphs on the sand of every desert they had to cross, and +keeping fast in his scrip that lock of a white man's hair, which added +all the knowledge of a European to the African natives who possessed +it?[2] + + +II + +The agreement of Isaaco was to guide the expedition to the Niger, +whence it was to proceed under the direction of Amady Fatouma, another +guide. Accordingly, when Sansanding was reached, Isaaco's work was +accomplished. Some days he lingered to load the great canoe (large +enough to carry a hundred men). In the evenings he taught Mungo Park +the names of the necessaries of life in the tongues of the countries +ahead. Then he took a last farewell of his master and carried back to +the coast that famous letter to Lord Camden, the concluding lines of +which are engraved below the writer's statue in the city of Edinburgh: +"My dear friends Mr. Anderson and likewise Mr. Scott are both dead; +but, though all Europeans who were with me should die, and though I +were myself half dead, I would still persevere; and if I could not +succeed in the object of my journey I would at least die on the +Niger." + +One by one the months wore on and no news came from the Niger. But in +the next year (1806) there began to be rumors of a great disaster. +Still nothing definite was heard, and Mungo Park's wife and his many +friends hoped on. They knew his marvellous hardihood and resource, and +that of the stalwart Scotsmen who were with him. In 1810, however, +the Government, who were responsible for the second expedition, +thought it time to inquire what had befallen it; so they told the +Governor of Senegal to find Isaaco and offer him L1,000 to explore +after the explorer and put all doubts at rest. Now the manuscript +which I possess, and of which a _precis_ follows, is Isaaco's account +of his travels in search of Mungo Park, by which he earned his +thousand pounds and did the last sad offices to his master's memory. +In my judgment it contains as much of the spirit of adventure as Mungo +Park's own journals, and, being written by a native, gets nearer to +the life and mind of the African Negro than any white man, writing +from outside, could hope to do. For that reason I often wonder why the +successive editors of Park's _Travels_ have passed it over, printing +only the last page or two, wherein Amady Fatouma relates the +explorer's end. One thing I know has been against its adoption, to +wit, an insufferably dull style. Seeing that it is difficult to be +dull in the Arabic tongue, and that it was impossible for Isaaco to be +so in any of the tongues he used, I suspect the English translator (no +doubt a mere clerk in Governor Maxwell's Office) of pruning away the +flowers of speech, and making all as prim and exact as an affidavit. +Or possibly Isaaco simulated dullness. He meant to have that thousand +pounds, and could afford to take no risks. A tropical, luxuriant style +would certainly have put his credibility in question. As it was, many +of the learned societies doubted his word, and one of them roundly +asserted that he had sat outside Senegal and fabricated at ease the +history of his travels. It was only after Bowditch, Denham, +Clapperton, and Landor had explored after the explorer that Isaaco's +credit was established and the learned societies put to shame. + +In the abridgment that follows I have tried to preserve not only the +spirit, but wherever possible the very words, of Isaaco's manuscript +_Journal_. Whatever has been discarded is of little consequence and of +less grammar. + + +III + +Isaaco left Senegal by ship on the 22d day of the Moon Tabasky +(January 7th) in the year 1810; but apparently the moon was not +propitious, for he was nearly cast away in the lighter, trying to +cross the bar, and in the ensuing confusion the larger part of his +baggage was stolen. When he discovered this two days later at Goree +and attempted to return, the winds rose and tossed the vessel about +for nine days and drove him back to Goree. After some negotiation with +Governor Maxwell by courier, the baggage was rescued and sent to +Isaaco by road. The next few pages of his _Journal_ are difficult and +barren reading, bristling with nothing but the uncouth names of places +where the good ship passed or anchored for the night, and with the +hours duly entered as in a log book, according to the Mohammedan hours +of prayer. Sailing by way of Yoummy, Jillifrey, Tancrowaly, and +Jaunimmarou, they came on the eighth day to Mariancounda, where Isaaco +landed. This was the home of Dr. Robert Ainsley, who had so often +befriended Mungo Park, fitted him out with the necessaries of life, +and started each expedition on its way. Under the same hospitable roof +Isaaco lodged for the inside of a week, and then, enriched with the +gift of a horse and an ass and twenty bars of beads, went into the +wilds to search for the fate of his master. To open the road through +Giammalocoto and Tandacounda, Isaaco wisely paid court to the King of +Cataba, and showered upon him an old musket and a string of amber of +the quality No. 4. The next halt was at Sandougoumanna under a +tamarisk tree (Isaaco always notes the trees under which he sleeps). +From the shade of this in the early morning he sent presents to the +kings who barred the way; tobacco to him of Sallatigua, and scarlet +cloth to him of Mansangcoije. Three villages on, Isaaco's company was +suddenly increased by members of his own family, fleeing before the +army of Bambarra--all but his mother, who had refused to leave her +kraal. Three days later he was with her, in his native place of +Montogou, and there stayed forty days, whether carousing, or +fighting, or praying, he does not say. Then, prudently burying his +heavy luggage, he departed, still carrying his people with +him--through Moundoundou, where the chief killed a sheep in his honor +and was rewarded with a flask of powder--on through Couchiar, a sleepy +sort of place by name and situation, with a spreading bark tree, +beneath which he drowsed the length of a day--on to Saabic, a village +solely inhabited by Maraboos or priests. To gain the goodwill of +Allah, he dwelt there a few days, and discovered a relation of one of +his wives (no rare occurrence, seeing how many he kept) whose heart he +rejoiced with some gunpowder and a gay piece of cloth. At the very +next village, Tallimangoly, he fell across another, who cost him three +grains of amber. Indeed, it seemed as though his store of presents +would never hold out; for, no sooner had he digested the sheep his +cousin killed for him, than the Bambarra army came up, and with fear +and trembling Isaaco must needs dole out a whole heap of stuff--10 +flasks of powder, 13 grains of amber (this time No. 1), 2 grains of +coral (No. 1) and a handsome tin box. These to the King. And the +King's chamberlain, goldsmith, and singing men had to be tipped as +well.[3] + + +IV + +So they paid their way through Sangnonagagy and Saamcolo (where there +was a "grand palaver" to rescue Isaaco's dog, which had bitten a man +and been condemned to die), on to Diggichoucoumee, a place as long as +its name, which took them four days to get through. It took still +longer to get clear of the next village of Dramana, for the family of +one of his wives came up and bitterly opposed her going with him on a +journey so hazardous. There was another "grand palaver." In the end +Isaaco lost his temper and divorced his wife; and, as the law required +her to return what she had received at marriage, he came rather well +out of it--to be exact, with a bullock and four sheep. A little +further on Isaaco met an Arab with an exceptionally fine mare, which +he bought with his wife's dowry and so consoled himself. He found the +mare more tractable than a wife with obstinate relations. After this +episode the pace of the party mended. Numbers of villages with +unpronounceable names were hurried through. The river Senegal was +crossed, and a country entered, that of Bambarra, where only women +could be found. Every man, even the children and the aged, had gone +away with the army. At the ill-sounding place Ourigiague, just beyond, +they were royally entertained. A whole bullock was roasted for them. +So, too, at Medina, where they were forced to waste twelve days and +devour five sheep, because one of Isaaco's servants made off with the +aforesaid mare and Isaaco's precious musket. A trustier servant was +despatched on his trail. In due time he returned with the mare and the +musket, and preferred not to say what had happened to the thief. The +petty kingdom of Casso, which they came to next, proved very trying. +There were six rivers to cross, full (says Isaaco) of alligators and +hippopotami. There was the forbidding rock of Tap-Pa in the desert of +Maretoumane to get by. And there was the mountain of Lambatara, on the +top of which they were attacked by a cloud of bees. Maddened with the +stings, the Negroes ran everywhere; the mules broke loose and threw +their packs down the hill. Poor Isaaco had to collect them all, +physick the dying and distressed, and number the living and the lost. +At nightfall he slept like a log "under a monkey-bread tree." The +following day was darkened by an ominous message from the King of +Bambarra. There was evidently trouble brewing ahead. To gain some +friendship in the capital, Isaaco decided to bribe. To Sabila, the +Chief of the King's slaves, he sent a pair of scissors, a snuff-box, +and a looking-glass, and desired to be his friend. And to his old +friend Allasana Bosiara, then ambassador at Bambarra from the King of +Sego, he sent a piece of silver "as a mark of being near him," and +begged him not to leave until he was in safety. As he drew nearer, +other signs made Isaaco convinced that "something unpleasant was +planning." He was refused lodgings and water by the chiefs. A friendly +merchant who had travelled under his protection was secretly warned to +take himself and his goods away before it was too late. Thereupon +Isaaco retired to another monkey-bread tree, ringed his little company +about with muskets, double-barrelled guns, and assegais and "waited +for what should happen." The following morning the King tempted them +away with the friendliest of welcomes and gave them lodging and water +at Wassaba, near the Royal Palace. His suggestion, however, that +Isaaco should sleep separately from his people, was courteously but +firmly declined. Indeed, Isaaco left nothing to chance. He first +fortified the lodgings assigned to him, and then set out to find +Sabila. But the King's spies who dogged his steps gave him the wrong +directions, and at last he abandoned the quest. It seemed clear that +Sabila did not wish him well. The next day the King sent word that he +would like to see Isaaco. It had to be. Taking his life in his hands, +as he had done a thousand times before, the old guide mounted his +horse and rode off to the royal quarters. On the way, a friend +whispered to him that he was betrayed; and on no account must he tell +the King that he was bound with presents to the King of Sego; for +there was not a being he hated and feared so much as that monarch, who +usurped his rightful throne. "But," replied Isaaco, "he knows already +I am bound there. To Sego I was sent and to Sego I must go unless +force or death prevents." Arrived at the King's door, Isaaco was told +that he was sleeping (yet another ruse) and that he must remain in the +guard-room. It was then about sunset. For hours Isaaco waited, but the +King slept on and not a soul of Isaaco's friends in the capital came +to relieve his suspense. They knew he was marked down to die. "The +only person," he writes, "who came to comfort me was a Griot, that is, +a dancing woman. On leaving me she went, as I afterwards learned, to +the Ambassadors of Sego and said to them: 'Oh! me, oh! me, my back is +broke (which is an expression of sorrow among the Cassoukes). They are +going to kill Isaaco.'" + + +V + +Meantime, as the guards were dancing, singing, and drinking, Isaaco +stole out unperceived and made good use of his time. To the keeper of +the inn, with whom he had formerly stayed, and who had some influence +with the King, he gave one of his wives' necklaces and seven grains of +coral. From him he went to Madiguijou, a Counsellor of State, +explained his mission to Sego, and hinted what Governor Maxwell would +do if he were put to death. He even crept into Sabila's hut, and told +him the same thing; but the chief of the slaves smiled and promised +nothing. Isaaco plied him with more amber No. 1, but he "smiled and +smiled and still remained a villain." Then Isaaco thought it wiser to +get back into the guard-room, before the drunken soldiers grew sober +and looked for him. In the morning he played his last card by getting +into touch with the Ambassadors from Sego. These distinguished +gentlemen were by no means eager to take on the burden of his +protection, but Isaaco bade them know that the present which Mungo +Park had promised King Mansong, he (Isaaco) was commissioned to bring +to their King Dacha, his son. If they were determined to go without +him, they might do so; but whether he lived or died they should hear +of it at Sego. That fetched them. They were by no means pleased with +the picture Isaaco drew of their sufferings, and proceeded to save +themselves by saving him. As the King their master could simply eat up +the King of Bambarra and his army at one swallow, they commanded the +release of Isaaco and twenty men to conduct him on his way. At this +peremptory message, King Figuing Coroba found it politic to wake, and +summoned Isaaco to his presence. The latter obeyed, went through the +highest salutations, and proffered a tin box by way of asking: "Is it +peace?" But there was no sign of peace. The King suddenly lost his +temper, raged at the King of Sego, and, swearing he would seize +everything Isaaco possessed, hurled the tin box at his head. Isaaco +discreetly withdrew, while Sabila promised to pour oil on the troubled +waters. The next day Isaaco, not the least daunted, presented himself +with the aforesaid tin box and in addition a quantity of amber, and +gunpowder, and the horse Robert Ainsley had given him. Sabila was +bribed once more, and the King's singer was won over with a snuff-box. +At the sight of his share, the King's anger melted like wax, and he +not only gave Isaaco leave to depart that same day, but promised an +escort too.... Isaaco coolly answered that he was in no hurry and +would wait a day or two--an exhibition of nerve that quite astonished +the King. "You see," he said to Sabila, "Isaaco appears to be a +courageous man. If he had been of a weak-spirited mind, he would have +run away and left his things in my hands." To confirm his friendship, +the King called up the heir to the throne, and made him swear +protection to Isaaco, an oath which the Prince hinted should be +cemented by the gift of a _cousaba_ or shirt. But Isaaco delicately +replied that he had none quite clean enough to present. When he +returned to his own country, he swore to bring him a new one. So +Isaaco triumphed and returned to his own people, who were mourning him +as dead. Nor did he come empty-handed, for he met a man on the way who +wanted a priestly charm or amulet (_grisgris_). Isaaco scribbled an +Arabic prayer on a leaf and received a bullock in exchange. This he +slaughtered forthwith, feasted his large family, and made a sacrifice +of thanksgiving to his god. + + +VI + +Three days after this distressing delay, Isaaco set out for Sego, and +was brought in safety to the end of the Bambarra dominions. For +further guidance he then hired four promising natives; but, having +landed the party in the midst of a gloomy forest, they grew +superstitious and ran away. "I was much disappointed," says the mild +Isaaco, "at their behavior." More likely he was speechless with +rage.[4] But there was nothing to do but to press on, and that they +did through forest and desert to the lakes of Chicare and Tirium. As +they reached the mud-walled village of Giangounta, one of the fatting +pigs, which were to be given to King Dacha, became too fat to carry. +Isaaco begged the chief of the village to look after it until it could +be fetched, but he objected, "being afraid to take charge of an +unknown animal." However, Isaaco explained all about its ways, wrote a +_grisgris_ to ward off all evil, and dumped it on the still-astonished +hamlet. Thence over more lakes by canoe, through Toucha, where they +found the trees from which African gunpowder was made, and by a great +pyramid with a large stone on its head, where the murderous Moors lie +in wait. Going by night to avoid them, Isaaco did not till day +discover that one of his servants had made off with his box of +jewellery and his one and only _cousaba_. Then he swore as only a +Mohammedan priest can, and rode after the thief. In three days he was +back with the felon, whose death penalty he postponed for a time on +condition that he carried the remaining pig into Sego. At Sannanba, +Isaaco found again the sister and the wife he had left there five +years before. He seems to have quite forgotten them; but they had +faithfully waited his return, knowing that nothing would kill him. It +was from them that he first learnt that Mungo Park was dead. They had +seen Alhaji Beraim,[5] who had been shown the canoe in the country of +Haoussa, where Park met his end. However, Isaaco was determined to go +on and learn for himself on the spot. So he dismissed his sister with +a piece of muslin, took on the wife, and released the prisoner, for +(he says) "I was certain, once in the King's power, he would be put to +death." At Counnow, a little further along the road, Isaaco came upon +"an enormous large tree inhabited by a large number of bats. Another +such tree lies on the west of the village, likewise full of bats; but +what is most extraordinary, the bats of the east constantly go at +night to the west, and return to the east at the approach of day; +those of the west never go to the east. And the natives say their +lawful King (Figuing Coroba who had been driven out to the petty +kingdom of Bambarra) lies upon the west." + +Impressing four men of every district to carry the pig to the next, +Isaaco journeyed on through Dedougou, Issicord, and five other +villages, all deserted. At Yamina, one of the women slaves whom Isaaco +had redeemed, and who had followed his expedition, found her long-lost +husband. There was much rejoicing and dancing and exchange of presents +all round. Then after crossing the Niger at Jolliba, they struck Sego +Coro, the ancient palace of the kings, where to that day (and possibly +to this) the King resorted when war was declared, to have his amulets +prepared, and don his forefathers' armor. There, too, the royal +prisoners were wont to be brought for confinement until the fasting +moon, and then cruelly murdered in the House of Death. For eight days +after it was against the law for anyone to pass the house without +putting off his hat and shoes. In the reign of the great warrior-king, +Walloo, not a moon passed without the sacrifice of blood. + + +VII + +The next day Isaaco was summoned to the presence of the King, who +scented his presents from afar. Indeed the royal message was concerned +only with the pigs: they were to be brought in the same ingenious +manner by which Isaaco had tied them for transit. In this fashion +then, with the swine, like peace-offerings, suspended in advance, +Isaaco's motley company, begrimed with eight months' travel, came +straggling into Sego. + +Encircled with his companies of guards, "young, strong, and +beardless," the great King Dacha squatted on the ground. Behind and +beside him, standing upright in the earth, glittered the four +broadswords which Mungo Park had given. As a sign that he had loosed +his hounds of war, the King was dressed in his military coat, shining +with countless amulets of gold. In the wild flaming sky burned the +remnants of the storm which had just driven him back from Douabougou. +So squatted King Dacha, and with royal impassive face, showing no mark +of the boiling curiosity within, stared at those unknown animals, the +swine. Hard on their heels shuffled Isaaco, himself also on all fours +in a deep obeisance. Behind him the bearers of the inevitable bribes: +a drum, two blunderbusses, a bed, a piece of scarlet cloth, and a +solitary dog. (There should have been another, but it had bolted far +back at Mariancounda.) Then said Isaaco: "Maxwell, Governor of +Senegal, salutes you and sends his compliments to you. Here is the +present your father asked of Mr. Park and which he promised to send +him." "Is the Governor well?" asked Dacha. "Yes," replied Isaaco, "he +is well and desired me to beg your assistance to discover what has +become of Mr. Park. We would know if he is dead or alive." After these +civilities they fell to business, and Isaaco bargained for a canoe to +row as far as needful down the Niger. The King hesitated over the +Governor's offer of two hundred bars, for was he not far enough away +to break his word? But when the two pigs got loose and waddled about, +he became as happy as a child, and was no more trouble to Isaaco. To +confirm his goodwill, he killed a bullock for him, and begged him to +remain as his guest throughout the remainder of that moon. After a +fortnight's festivities, Isaaco was preparing to depart, when the +King's mind was suddenly turned another way. A message was brought in +that the Prince of Timbuctoo was at hand and desired an audience. King +Dacha scowled. Then he leapt to his feet, summoned his 600 guards, and +went out in full war-paint to meet him. The Prince rode up airily and +said: "Being a friend of your father, I thought it my duty to let you +know of my coming to take a wife, promised to me in your tribe." "And +why," asked Dacha in his dreadful voice, "why have you permitted the +people of your country to plunder one of my caravans, and why did +_you_ yourself plunder another?" + +With no more said, the King returned to his kraal. It was from others +the Prince learned that the merchants of the caravans had denounced +him before the King, that his betrothed had been given to another, and +that he was in danger of being plundered of his life. With almost +indecent haste he despatched three horses to the King, gave pieces of +colored stuff to all the captains of the guards, and slunk back +ashamed to Timbuctoo. But King Dacha was so furiously enraged, he +could neither stay in his kraal nor allow Isaaco to take leave. Away +he rode to Impelbara and Banangcoro, with Isaaco trailing behind, very +much out of temper and somewhat out of breath. It seemed, as the chief +slave tried to explain, that when the King was angry, he pacified +himself by visiting his children. Apparently he visited his wrath on +them. Isaaco groaned and wondered how many there might be, and in what +score of villages they dwelt apart. But he cheered up when they told +him the legitimate children were six. There had been more, but by an +ancient law of Sego, if a male child was born of one of the King's +wives upon a Friday, its throat was cut immediately. This had +accounted for three. After a decent interval, Isaaco made it known to +the King that he also was very angry, and demanded to have his canoe +and go after Mungo Park. The King then sent for him, apologized for +forgetting all about him, and pointed in justification to the pigs, +which, like a good father, he had brought along to please the +children. He himself could hardly keep his eyes off such fat and +unusually happy creatures. The next day Isaaco pressed the bargain, +and, though it was Friday, steered away in the King's canoe for +Sansanding, where he had parted from Mungo Park. And then, with the +prospect of hundreds of miles in hostile country before him, he had a +stroke of good fortune; for in the next village of Medina, whom should +he run against but Amady Fatouma! As one might expect, Isaaco nailed +him to the spot with a hundred questions. Poor Amady began to weep. +"They are all dead," he sobbed. Isaaco demanded to know when and where +and why. "They are all dead," the guide repeated. "They are lost for +ever. It is no use asking. It is no good looking for what is +irrecoverably lost." Like a sensible man, Isaaco checked the ardor of +his curiosity. It certainly was hopeless to ply Amady with questions; +his tears threatened to flood the Niger; it was not safe to stay +there. So Isaaco gave him a day or two to subside, and arranged a +meeting higher up the river. + + +VIII + +Amady's tale has often been printed, and there is no need here to +repeat anything but essentials; his padding is even more woolly than +Isaaco's. In the great canoe,[6] which Isaaco had helped to load +before departing, Mungo Park rowed away on November 17th, 1805, with +the survivors of his company of forty, namely, four white men and five +Negroes, including Amady, for crew. From the very outset the voyage +proved unpropitious. Almost every village they passed on the river +bank came out against them in canoes, armed with bows and arrows, +pikes and assegais. Each member of the crew kept fifteen muskets in +action; to kill and kill was the only chance of forcing a passage +through. There was no Isaaco to try the magic of conciliation. Once +indeed, when they had beaten off sixty canoes with appalling +slaughter, Amady ventured to remonstrate. "Martin," he said, taking +hold of his arm, "let us cease firing: we have killed too many +already." "On which," he comments, "Martin wanted to kill me and would +have done so had not Mr. Park intervened." The troubles thickened. The +news of their coming had evidently been spread in advance. Just beyond +Gotoigega they encountered a whole army, comprised of the Poule +nation, such beasts themselves, that (says Amady) they possess no +beasts of any other kind. They were suffered to go by in ominous +silence--only to fall foul of a squadron of hippopotami, who nearly +washed them over. At an island just beyond, Amady was landed to forage +for milk; but there was no milk to be had, not even the milk of human +kindness. The natives took him prisoner and decided he should be done +to death. But Mungo Park was watching; and by a fortunate chance two +canoes full of natives, bringing fresh provisions for sale, had come +alongside at that moment. Mungo Park made it abundantly clear that he +would kill every man-jack of them if a hair of Amady's head were +touched. So the prisoners were exchanged. It was a narrow escape for +Amady; and the uneasiness it caused was increased by the constant +cries from the shore, "Amady Fatouma, how can you pass through our +country without giving us anything?" "I seriously promised," he +observed, "never to pass there again without making considerable +charitable donations to the poor." As they came to the frontiers of +Haoussa another large army of Moors watched them from a mountain. +Fortunately they had no fire-arms, and could do no harm. On reaching +Yaour, the first place of any size in Haoussa, Amady was landed, as +his bargain was to bring the party only so far. In addition to his +pay, he conveyed Mungo Park's presents to the King; but, instead of +delivering these in person, gave them to the Chieftain of Yaour, who +promised to forward them. A little slip, it seems, but fraught with +deadly consequence. The Chieftain, finding out from Mungo Park that he +did not intend to return that way, determined to keep the presents +for himself. The next morning, as Amady was paying his court to the +King and expecting the presents to come, two horsemen rode in from +Yaour and said: "We are sent from the Chief to let you know that the +white men went away without giving you or him anything. They have a +great many things with them and have given nothing. This Amady Fatouma +now before you is a bad man, and has made a fool of you." Poor Amady +was forthwith put in irons and all his goods confiscated, with the +exception of his Arabic charms, which they dared not touch. The next +morning the King sent his army to Boussa and posted it on a rock which +straddled the width of the river, leaving only a narrow opening for +the current to race through. Mungo Park, seeing the danger, +nevertheless resolved to force a passage. But the odds were terrific. +It took half the men to keep the canoe moving against the current, +while the rest fired at the enemy as they hurled stones and assegais +upon their heads. At last the two steersmen were slain, and the canoe +went adrift. In a desperate attempt to lighten it, they cast all the +baggage into the river, but still could make no headway. Overpowered +by numbers and fatigue, and with no chance of killing a whole army, +they saw but one hope of escape--namely, to make for the shore and get +away into the bush. Taking hold of one of the white men, Mungo Park +leapt into the river, Martin, with another white man, following after; +but, fine swimmers as they were, the current proved too strong for +them and all four were drowned. The one Negro left in the canoe +surrendered, and both he and the canoe were dragged to shore and +carried to the King. + +After being kept three months in irons, Amady was released and in part +consoled with a concubine. But he made it his first business before +departing to visit the slave taken in the canoe, and learn from him +the sad details of Mungo Park's destruction. The only thing that was +found in the canoe after its capture was a sword belt which the King +used as a saddle-girth for his horse. + + +IX + +Such was Amady Fatouma's tale, that Isaaco had journeyed for nine +months to hear. And as he was a "good, honest, and upright man" and +had sworn truth upon the _Koran_, there was nothing to do but believe +and carry back the mournful tidings. To make "assurance double sure," +Isaaco sent to Yaour a native who bribed a slave girl to steal the +sword belt from the king's charger. Then, passing homeward through +Sego, he told the news to Dacha, who was so furious that he despatched +his army to wipe the country of Haoussa off the face of the earth. But +Isaaco set his face for Senegal, to exchange his Arabic _Journal_ for +a thousand pounds. + + LOUIS N. FEIPEL + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Extract from _The Cream of Curiosity_, by Reginald L. Hine, 1920, +pp. 291-316. + +[2] To this day no news has reached England of Isaaco's death, and +indeed after all he survived it seems impossible that he should ever +die. + +[3] Isaaco was better able to appreciate their music than Mungo Park. +In one item of his accounts, the latter writes: "To the native singers +for singing their nonsense." + +[4] It must be remembered that Isaaco was writing a government report +and careful to suppress all signs of indecorum. What a heap of money +one would give to possess his private, unexpurgated journal! + +[5] A priest of Yaour to whom Amady Fatouma, the guide, had given a +small present from Mungo Park. + +[6] Mansong had sold it to Park for a quantity of firearms. It was +half rotten and took eighteen days to make water-tight. Forty feet +long by six broad and flat-bottomed. They christened it "His Majesty's +Schooner Joliba." + + + + +COMMUNICATIONS + + +Mr. A. A. Taylor, who contributed the article on _Negro Congressmen a +Generation After_ in the April number, recently received from Mr. +Henry A. Wallace, a participant in the Reconstruction in South +Carolina, the following important letter: + + + 326 Flower St., + Chester, Pa., + April 19, 1922. + + PROF. A. A. TAYLOR, + + The West Virginia Collegiate Institute, Institute, W. Va. + + _Dear Sir:_ I am still confined to the house, not having been + outside since the last week of December. When we get some good + sunshiny weather I will venture out. I am writing this to let you + know how much I enjoyed reading your very interesting article + "Negro Congressmen a Generation After," in the April number of + The Journal of Negro History. This article and Dr. Woodson's + "Fifty Years of Negro Citizenship as Qualified by the United + States Supreme Court" are worth the subscription price to The + Journal. + + As your article is now in permanent form and no doubt will be + quoted frequently, there are one or two little slips that I would + like to invite your attention to, feeling that you, like myself, + believe in accuracy. + + On page 130, foot note relative to Mr. Rainey you have not + included his service in the 41st Congress. He was seated in that + Congress on December 12, 1870, to succeed Mr. Whittemore, who was + unseated on account of a serious charge brought against him. Mr. + Rainey was the first Negro Congressman. Mr. Long was seated in + the same Congress, but later--January 16, 1871. This would give + Mr. Rainey a record of five Congresses. On the same page (130) + foot note relative to General Smalls, you have him as a member of + five Congresses. My record does not show him a member of the + _47th_ Congress. Mr. Rainey holds the record for length of + service. In connection with Mr. Rainey's record I will state that + he was the only one of the Negro congressmen who presided over + the House of Representatives, that courtesy was extended to him + by Speaker Blaine. Altho the House was democratic he was honored + by the Republican caucus at one time for Clerkship of the House, + showing the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues, after + he retired from the House. Page 134--High Hollow Academy should + be High Holborn Academy. On the same page, foot note, it is + stated that Gen. Elliott resigned from Congress to accept the + office of sheriff. While Gen. Elliott had his official residence + in Aiken county, he and Mrs. Elliott had their home in Columbia, + one of the show places of the city. I cannot conceive of him + resigning the position of congressman to accept the insignificant + office of sheriff of the small county of Aiken. He resigned in + order to go to the House of Representatives at Columbia for the + purpose of being elected Speaker of that body, and he succeeded. + The other time he resigned was for the purpose of being a + candidate for the U. S. Senatorship, but the Pennsylvania R. R. + interests put John J. Patterson, who was a Cameron protege, over. + Had he been elected sheriff of Aiken county it would have + necessitated his living there. + + On page 139--"From the year 1871--the period of service of the + first Negro in Congress" should be _1870_--Rainey, Dec. 12, 1870. + + The greatest compliment I think that was ever paid to a Negro by + a prominent white man was that by Benjamin F. Butler, the + distinguished Union General, afterwards Governor of + Massachusetts, and who had charge of Sumner's civil rights bill + in the House of Representatives. In the prefatory remarks to his + speech on the day following the great speech made by Gen. Elliott + on the same bill, he said: + + "I should have considered more at length the constitutional + argument, were it not for the exhaustive presentation by the + gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Elliott) of the law, and the + only law quoted against us in this case that has been cited, to + wit, the Slaughter-House cases. He, with the true instinct of + freedom, with a grasp of mind that shows him to be the peer of + any man on this floor, be he who he may, has given the full + strength and full power of that decision of the Supreme Court." + + Garfield, Cannon, Frye, Hale, Hawley, Hoar (Geo. F.), Platt, + Dawes, Phelps, Lamar, Beck, Stephens (A. H.), Randall, Mills, + Cox, and Barnum, were among the prominent members of the House at + that time, many of whom afterwards reached the Senate, and + Garfield, the presidency. General Butler was considered one of + the great constitutional lawyers of that period. + + The following relative to Senator Bruce and Mr. Langston may + interest you if you have not already heard of the incidents: + + It is always customary when a new Senator appears with his + credentials for his colleague to escort him to the + Vice-President's desk to be sworn in. When Senator Bruce + presented himself, his colleague, Senator Alcorn, was not + present. Senator Roscoe Conkling taking in the situation, walked + over to Senator Bruce and escorted him up the aisle and the oath + was administered. For this gracious act Senator Bruce named his + son, recently of Washington, after the distinguished senator from + New York. + + As Mr. Venable, the democrat, was given the certificate of + election by the Virginia officials for the Congressional seat, + Mr. Langston made the contest. The Committee on privileges and + elections voted in favor of Mr. Langston. When the time set for + action on the case arrived, the whole democratic membership + withdrew from the House, thinking that they would catch the + Republicans napping and without a quorom, the republican majority + being small. The Republicans, however, got wind of what the + Democrats were doing and had all of their members rounded up. + They not only seated Mr. Langston but the chairman of the + elections committee took advantage of the absence of the + Democrats and called up the case of Miller versus Elliott from + South Carolina and then seated Miller, though the case was not + slated for that time. The feelings of the Democrats can be better + imagined than described when they returned to the House and found + two of their colleagues unseated and two Negro Congressmen seated + in their places. The Democrats never again resorted to such + tactics. + + Very respectfully, + HENRY A. WALLACE. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + + +The following extracts from the _Daily Record_, Greensboro, North +Carolina, February 2nd and 3rd, 1911, setting forth the reminiscences +of Captain Ball, a participant in the Reconstruction of the Southern +States, gives valuable information as to the troublous times of that +period: + + New York, Feb. 2.--I have now told nearly all of the + authenticated facts concerning the Stephens murder; the rest is + merely speculative. There have been stories coming from the + negroes which are interesting, even if not strictly true. A negro + has quite an imagination. I will relate some of these stories, + without expressing an opinion, leaving others to decide as to + their accuracy and naturalness. + + Much of what follows comes from Governor Holden, at the time an + aged man, retired (perhaps not voluntarily) from public life. The + tendency of his political opinions in his later years was toward + "Conservation." I called upon him in February, 1885 (twenty-six + years ago) and took notes of what he said, because of its + inherent interest. His memory was clear and comprehensive. While + governor--he was elected by the Republicans in 1868--and before + his impeachment and removal from office by the Democratic + legislature of 1870, he sought to unravel the mysteries of the + Kuklux brotherhoods; and tried in every way to discover the + perpetrators of the Stephens assassination. + + It has already been stated that Stephens, on the fatal Saturday, + was in attendance upon a Conservative meeting in Yanceyville, and + that he went out of it with Wiley. It is reported that Wiley, on + his way home, took supper at the house of a Mr. Poteat. Now the + negroes are not only full of curiosity, but take risks to gratify + it. Nothing was more common than for them to listen from behind + doors, through keyholes and in the corners of the houses where + they were employed as servants. Thus it happened that the + conversation at the supper-table at Poteat's--so the story + goes--was overheard by a negro woman (and other servants), who + had been waiting upon the table, and a most pitiful recital it + was! The servants had retired from the dining-room, and being in + the passage way, outside, and hearing Stephens's name called, + they listened. + + Governor Holden said that Wiley was speaking of how Stephens had + been killed that day; that he (Wiley) had done a good day's work + and that he, and the others, had toled (that is enticed) Stephens + down stairs to talk with Wiley about being a candidate for + sheriff; that they got Stephens to the door and threw the noose + over his neck and dragged him inside, and choked him down; that + while this was going on, in the room below, old man Bedford Brown + was making a speech up-stairs, and the applause was continuous, + to drown any outcry; that after Stephens was choked the noose was + loosened, as they wished if possible not to kill him; that he was + told if he would denounce the Republican party and leave the + State, they would spare his life; that he refused and said he + would die first; that he then begged them, as their purpose was + to kill him, to let him go and see his family; that he said to + them, "Gentlemen, you know me, that I am a man of my word and + will come back;" that they refused his request; that he then + begged them to let him take a last look of his house; that they + led him to the window, holding the rope behind him, and he saw + his children playing upon the green; that they told him his time + was up and pulled him back and again choked him down upon the + table; that they loosened the rope when he said, "Gentlemen, I + surrender--spare my life and I will do anything you say;" that a + young man (whose name I will not give, as Governor Holden gave it + to me) said, "No, damn you, you die," and struck him with his + knife on his throat and vest, and then they finished him. The + negro woman, horrified as she listened, upon hearing all this, + exclaimed aloud, "There, by God!" + + The supper party heard her words and the story ceased. Wiley left + almost immediately; and then they asked the old woman why she + said those words and she told them, "because the coffee burned + her." They asked her if she had been listening and she declared + she had not. + + Next day, a younger brother of Poteat sent for her to work in his + tobacco field, and asked her the second time the reason of her + outcry the night before. He said, "You mind what you are + doing--if you 'cheep,' (_i.e._, tell) about this thing, I will + put a ball through you." + + Wiley went home (the story goes on) and walked up and down his + piazza, until late that night, attracting the attention of his + family by his singular conduct. A negro man, on the watch, had + followed him, and had hidden under the house, to hear what was + said. The dwellings of the South are frequently without cellars + and, in the country, are often sustained by brick and log + supports; so it would be easy to crawl underneath. This negro + claims to have heard some of Wiley's family ask him why he did + not come to bed, and he replied that he was waiting for the + wagon. + + It was rumored among the negroes, that the purpose was to carry + Stephens's corpse to a church near Wiley's, called "Republican + Headquarters," and there leave it, to produce the impression that + Stephens's political associates had killed him. There was a + sprinkle of rain, after nightfall, and fresh wagon tracks were + seen, which approached near to Yanceyville, and returned almost + to Wiley's. Perhaps, if this was true, the scheme to steal away + the body from the court house was baffled by the vigilance of the + guards. + + The effort was several times made to make it appear that Stephens + had been slaughtered by his political friends, to get rid of him, + or for effect. For instance, six years had elapsed when the + Milton Chronicle, published in Caswell county, charged by + innuendo, under the head of "Revelations," that "Hester, Holden, + Settle, Smith, Albion (meaning Judge Tourgee), Albright, Boyd, + Ball and Keogh" had accomplished this murder most foul. But Mr. + Boyd, at the time of the Stephens homicide, was himself a member, + in full standing, of the White Brotherhood. This silly charge was + made during the Tilden-Hayes campaign of 1876; Judge Settle then + being the Republican candidate for governor and William A. Smith + for lieutenant-governor. The others named were all Republicans of + more or less prominence. Of course the editor of the Chronicle, + and his patrons, knew that the story was a lie. + + While I was at Yanceyville, at the inquest, William Henry + Stephens--(usually called Henry) as I could not at once go home, + thought it would be better for me to stay all night at his late + brother's residence. My sojourn at the dwelling, that night, gave + me my first opportunity to see how it was fortified. The lower + story was protected by thick planks, bullet-proof. The stairway + was fixed with a trap door, which could be let down, by its + hinges, from above; and then no one could go upstairs without + forcing his way against great odds. There was a plentiful supply + of firearms with abundant ammunition. Twenty men could resist + successfully a hundred, or more, if the attacking party had no + artillery. But if a lodgment could be effected below, what could + prevent the firing of the dwelling and the destruction of its + inmates? + + Here Stephens had lived and kept his enemies at bay; and he was + as brave as any of them and much more desperate. The cowards who + attacked negro cabins in the dead of night, with overwhelming + numbers, never invaded Stephens's premises, for that sort took no + risks. Yet he felt secure, for he had said that he suffered none + to approach him, but those he knew to be his friends. I suppose + he thought Wiley was his "friend." + + Let us go back a few weeks. At spring term (April, 1870) of the + Caswell Superior Court, an alarm was given that the Kuklux were + coming to kill Stephens, Judge Tourgee, and all Republicans and + break up the court. This disquieting intelligence was conveyed to + me by Judge Tourgee himself. At the time, I occupied a room in + Mitchell's house, already mentioned. My apartment, although + joined to the dwelling, had no door opening into the main + building, so that one had to go into the yard to get to the + entrances of that part of the structure. Hon. James T. Morehead, + an aged lawyer, who had been famous in his day, and now attended + the court from habit, occupied a room of the same size as mine, + and opening into it, and detached, as mine was, from the main + building. + + On Monday afternoon, the first day of the term, Judge Tourgee + told me that one Hemphill had informed him of the contemplated + raid, and that it was to occur the next Wednesday night. He + desired me to go with him to Stephens's house (where the judge + boarded during the court), as one of the garrison, to help defend + it. The proposition looked absurd to me and it seemed that, if I + went, it might subject me to ridicule. No one likes to be + ridiculed; at least, I do not. + + It may be remarked, in passing, that Judge Tourgee had offended + the lawyers, because he boarded with Stephens. They considered it + beneath the dignity of so high an official to make his home with + a man so low in the social scale, and they were all the more + hostile toward the judge because he would do this. They insisted + that they would have treated him with respect, if not with + cordiality, had he not shown these degraded tastes. As it was, + they had no more courtesy for him than for Stephens, believing + the judge to have disgraced his office. + + It was the effort of the lawyers of North Carolina, in those + days, to avoid close contact with the populace and to preserve an + esprit de corps. They believed that their only associates, on + terms of equality, should be of their own order, as the clergy or + medical profession, representing an educated aristocracy. The + masses were illiterate, unpolished and, in the estimation of the + lawyers, unfit for companionship with the cultivated classes, + whose policy it was to inspire the plain people with profound + respect for their superiors. + + The statements here made of early ideas and feelings, largely + result from conversations with Col. Thomas Ruffin, a man of + aristocratic lineage and unusual powers of mind. He was a son of + the late Chief Justice Ruffin, of the Supreme Court of North + Carolina, and afterward himself was an associate justice of that + eminent tribunal. He informed me of the sentiment among the + lawyers against Tourgee, because of his intimacy with Stephens. + And once, when as a matter of course, with my New York education, + I had offered to make oath to an affidavit, in a Caswell county + lawsuit, wherein I was associated with Col. Ruffin, he advised me + against it, and said it had been the custom, in North Carolina, + for lawyers never to be sworn, in the conduct of their cases, it + being considered that their mere word was sufficient; and so, as + I afterward understood, the judges generally so regarded it. + + Any one can see, however, the mischiefs which might occur from + such a custom; as, after the verbal statements of lawyers, + disputes might arise as to what had been said, and no one would + be able to decide, and no one would try to do so, for fear of a + quarrel. Happily the people, in spite of the traditions of + slavery, are rapidly emerging from their blind gropings, as an + outcome of the freedom thrust upon them by the civil war, and the + younger members of the legal profession now aid in the work of + educating the illiterate, knowing that it is better for the + commonwealth that all should be taught. + + The social conditions existing in North Carolina in the early + days mentioned, may help to explain the intense bitterness + manifested on all occasions toward men like Stephens. He was of + humble parentage, but had been put forward by Governor Holden as + a trusted agent of the State government. Thus was invaded the + prerogatives of the privileged classes. The prejudices of the + leaders were communicated to their followers (who did the voting + to keep their rulers in power). + + Judge Tourgee, and all carpet-baggers (myself included, of + course), were esteemed to be opposed to the dominion of the + aristocrats; some of whom, nevertheless, were themselves quite + ordinary persons, but puffed up with pride, God knows what for! + + Judge Tourgee also invited J. R. Bulla, Esquire, the solicitor, + to help defend Stephens's house. Mr. Bulla was a native + Republican. Neither he, nor I, believed at the time, that the + Kuklux were banded together for serious mischief; although, as I + afterward learned, a plot was laid, in those days, by the + Randolph county Kuklux, to take Mr. Bulla out and whip him. Had + this been done it would have been a wanton outrage. Mr. Bulla + never knew of the plan. The scheme was prevented by the + interference of a mere youth, Tom Worth, from whom I had the + facts. + + Both Mr. Bulla and myself decided to remain in our rooms. Out of + deference, however, to Judge Tourgee's intelligence, I agreed, in + case of an alarm, to go over and help fight it out. There were + sixteen resolute fellows there, under the leadership of Judge + Tourgee, all well armed and with enough ammunition. Had an attack + been made it would have been a lively conflict. Mr. Bulla, born a + Quaker, would not agree to join in the battle, preferring, I + suppose, in accordance with his tenets, to be murdered in cold + blood. + + The raid did not take place, however. The judge had caused all + the roads leading to Yanceyville to be patrolled, and it was + understood that if any considerable body of men approached from + any direction light-wood fires would be kindled as warnings. + + Tuesday night of the same week, I was invited, and so was Mr. + Bulla, to a supper at Judge Kerr's. Nearly all of the members of + the bar in attendance upon the court, were guests. Among them I + remember Col. Ruffin, General Alfred M. Scales, Col. Junius I. + Scales and Col. Dillard. Judge Tourgee was not invited. + + Before I went to the supper Judge Kerr, whose residence was not + far off, came to my room and smoked his pipe, with its long reed + stem. Sometimes he walked the floor, and then sat down, then + walked again, and so on. His manner was uneasy, a characteristic + of the man. Several times he seemed ready to speak and then + restrained himself. He had professed a liking for me, and as he + was an impulsive man, I thought he might wish to say something + about the threatenings in the air; but finally he kept whatever + was on his mind to himself. He had fine traits, but was pompous + in demeanor. Those who liked that style were fond of him. + + At the April term of the court, the evidences of the presence of + the Kuklux in Caswell county, accumulated. After partaking of + supper with Judge Kerr and his guests, I retired to rest in my + room, quite uneasy because of the rumors. I had fallen into a + doze, when my ears were disturbed by voices and singing and a + guitar tinkled. My venerable neighbor, Hon. James T. Morehead, + was being serenaded. After the music (so-called) had ceased + "Uncle Jimmy" made a little speech to the boys. From this, and + the conversation ensuing, I learned that it was confessedly a + Kuklux serenade. The venerable Nestor of the bar said to his + visitors that there were many worse things than the Kuklux--among + them the Union League and the Republican party. And so the young + men were encouraged. + + I was glad when the time came to go home; which I did on the 14th + day of April, 1870. I started from Yanceyville in a buggy, with a + Mr. Fowler, a resident of Greensboro. Had I previously doubted + the existence of the Klans, I must have been convinced, after + that ride, unimportant in itself, but memorable for the events + which lately had taken place. The remarks and manners of my + companion were peculiar. He had a furtive, scared expression as + night enclosed us. He was a native Democrat--and I was amazed at + his evident trepidation. + + We were striving to reach Ruffin, a little station on the + Richmond and Danville railroad (now called the Southern Railroad) + a few miles south of Danville. Although spring was opening, there + was no foliage on the trees, except tiny leaflets bursting into + life. Night advanced and the moon shone effulgent, but her rays + were obscured by the divergent limbs of the forest, when we + sometimes plunged into its depths. The gloom was intensified by + drifting clouds, hanging low; but these momentarily lifted, + briefly restoring the cheery moonbeams and silver roadway. Many + tree-trunks were white, contrasting with the darkness within the + dense woods, glistening like spectres, as the tremulous light + glimmered through the branches. There was no sound in the + forest, except the solemn wail of the wind, and the steady tramp, + tramp--tramp, tramp of the hurrying horse. My flesh crept and + shuddered under the drastic influence of the chill night and the + doleful croakings of my companion; who talked continually of the + Kuklux, and peered through the bushes and undergrowth, as if + expecting to see rise from the ground a full cavalcade of shadowy + night-riders. + + We reached Ruffin, nevertheless, in good time, and went whirling + home in a comfortable railway coach, filled not with hobgoblins, + but with civilized human beings. + + Afterward I learned that the companion of my night-ride (who was + a tailor) had sewn together the diabolical garbs of the White + Brotherhood of his vicinity. Remembering this hideous livery of + the devil, it was no wonder he was afraid, even of the peaceful + moon, as she benignantly observed him through the arms of the + forest. + + * * * * * + + New York, Feb. 2.--The result of the election (Nov. 8) was rather + shocking, but not unexpected. I think the Republicans deserved + the drubbing. A hundred and ninety thousand of them, in New York, + did not vote; so to punish somebody for something, they let + Tammany obtain control. + + Governor Dix doesn't say anything; but Governor Wilson says + enough for both. It remains to be seen whether or not the latter + has not bitten off more than he can masticate. + + In the course of my life I have been shocked more than once, + mostly, while living in North Carolina. For instance, in 1876, + when it was supposed that Tilden had been elected, the young men + of Odell's store thought it a good joke and decorated my fence + with black calico. Our colored cook, thinking it would hurt our + feelings, stripped it all off early in the morning before we got + a sight of it, much to our regret. But Madam was equal to the + emergency and had the girl gather up the black stuff and take it + to Odell's store to sell for paper-rags! The cook was received + with shouts of applause, showing that Odell's young men fully + appreciated the humor of the occasion. + + Odell had a big store, but all the black calico in stock must + have been cleaned out on that occasion. As I understand at the + time, the fences of Judge Dick, Postmaster White, Col. Keogh, + Judge Settle and Judge Tourgee were all decorated. The last + named, characteristically, sought to make capital out of the + episode, which was only a joke. + + When I went to bed very late the night before (or rather in the + morning) I thought Tilden had really been elected and I did not + enjoy the sensation. Nevertheless I did not feel as I did six + years before, in the Ku Klux times. We lived then in the little + cottage opposite the jail. The election was in August. Madam had + gone North to visit her home-folks. I was alone in the house. + Diagonally across the street was a disreputable bar-room, where + all the "roughs" assembled every night; and for no less than + three weeks after the "Conservative" victory these fellows kept + up a shouting and howling, which was far from agreeable to me. + + Those were the Kuklux days and the times were very uncomfortable, + especially for a carpet-bagger, whose party had been + overwhelmingly defeated. But I did not know anything about the + Kuklux and was simple-minded enough not to fully credit their + existence. + + I had become a citizen of North Carolina in November, 1868; but + being unaccustomed to the ways and prejudices of the people, I + was not prepared to believe what was said about the Klans. + Respectable Southern gentlemen denied their existence and I felt + bound by their protestations. Yet a "den" met frequently in + Greensboro; sometimes in Bogart's Hall; sometimes in the old + Caldwell Institute (now torn down), again upstairs over the + Lindsay corner (recently destroyed) opposite the court house and + more often in the woods in the northern suburbs of the town, not + a great ways from the residence of Judge Dick. + + These meetings were occurring after the beginning of my residence + in Greensboro, for nearly a year, but I did not know of them. + Indeed, young men with whom I was well acquainted, actually were + members of the fraternity--men whom I met every day, on social + terms, in my boarding house at Mrs. Gilmer's. I had not reason to + suspect their membership. Of course the assemblages were as + secret as could be. When they were held in Bogart's Hall, for + example--so I have since been told by participants--the only + light was a candle, placed under a table, so that its rays could + not shine through the curtained windows. + + While I myself was incredulous, my political friends, Union men, + natives of the South, familiar with the methods and peculiarities + of the people, were firm believers in the entity of the Kuklux. + They saw and understood the most trivial signs and signals. These + men had been on the spot when the rebellion raged and had, in + many instances, belonged to the "Red Strings," and other secret + societies, banded together for mutual help and protection, and to + aid the Union cause, in which they implicitly believed; and to + assist escaping prisoners of war through the military lines. If + therefore they observed a peculiar mark upon a tree, or figures + upon the ground, they knew there was some meaning intended. + + But the time soon came when I had to believe. In the latter days + of 1869, Judge Tourgee, then of the Superior Court, issued a + bench warrant for the arrest of several citizens of Caswell + county. They were charged with having visited in disguise the + cabins of a number of negroes, whom they took out and whipped. I + was employed by Gov. Holden to conduct the examination of + witnesses for the State; but the defendants easily proved alibis, + as usual in such cases. + + A few months afterward I was notified by the Governor to attend + similar examinations before Mr. John W. Stephens (called "Chicken + Stephens" by Jo. Turner). Mr. Stephens was a justice of the peace + in Yanceyville. He was likewise a State Senator, but the + legislature was not then in session. + + I proceeded to Yanceyville via Danville, Va., leaving the + railroad at the latter town, and driving sixteen miles across the + country. Reaching Yanceyville in the forenoon, I noticed several + groups of men, apparently laboring under suppressed excitement. + Beginning to understand the popular temper I feared a riot if the + cases should go on before the magistrate that day. + + I stated my apprehensions to the Honorable John Kerr, the leading + attorney for the defendants and suggested that, to avoid a + possible riot, his clients should waive examination, and give + bail for their appearance at the next term of the Superior Court, + which they could do easily. + + All of the Yanceyville lawyers appeared with Judge Kerr for the + defendants, doubtless volunteering their services with patriotic + fervor. After further consultation, my suggestion was adopted and + thus, it may be, bloodshed was then avoided. At any rate, events + soon to follow in Yanceyville, justify the belief that Stephens + would have been put out of the way on the spot, had the trials + proceeded. + + When the cases had been disposed of, Stephens came to my room. + He was a slender, sinewy man, with fair complexion, pale blue + eyes and light brown hair, not prepossessing in manners or + appearance; illiterate and unpolished, but very earnest; + belonging to the plain classes of the South. His origin was + respectable, although born into a poor family, in Guilford + county. He had courage and tenacity. He was the leader of the + Caswell county Republicans, being one of the few white men who + dared to profess Republican principles in that locality. He was + bitterly hated by the "Conservatives," and this boded him no + good. Yet knowing it all, accused of petty crimes, which he had + not committed, held up to ridicule by such a man as Jo. Turner, + then a veritable potentate, Stephens had stood up boldly in the + midst of a hostile population, with no backers but the timid + negroes, which only intensified the hatred of his enemies. No + romance of chivalry has ever invested its heroes with a nobler + spirit than his, which was more than equal to that of the bravest + of his traducers--for who of them all would have faced the + dangers that he was facing? + + He resided about a quarter of a mile from the Yanceyville court + house, within plain view of it. His house was veritably his + castle, where he had fortified himself. He was besieged at home + and was under obsession everywhere; yet he seemed to hold danger + in contempt. + + On this occasion he wore a sack-coat of medium length, with + side-pockets. He said he had been warned by anonymous letters to + leave the State. "But," he said simply, "I have a right to be + here and can't be scared away from my home and family." + Continuing, Stephens told me how well he was prepared for + emergencies; and he displayed two single-barreled, breech-loading + Derringers. He showed me how rapidly he could load them and + seemed expert in handling the weapons. He carried a pistol in + each side-pocket of his coat, within easy reach. He said he never + permitted any one to approach unless he knew him to be a friend; + that he always carried the Derringers, but that on "public days," + he also had with him what I understood to be a seven shooter. + + In his estimation this was a public day, because a crowd was in + town, attracted by the cases before his magistrate's court. + Yanceyville was but a small village, with a court house and a few + dwellings, stores and shops, and ordinarily not many persons were + on the streets. There was no hotel. Throwing back his coat, + Stephens, displayed to me his other weapon. With his temper and + dangerous surroundings, he was a man to be dreaded by his foes, + for he meant to kill any assailant. He could be overcome only by + treachery, as will be seen hereafter. + + To me, his words had peculiar significance, when considered in + connection with the occurrences of the next few days; for it + should be noticed that he declared he never suffered any one to + approach, unless he knew him to be a friend. "But," he added, "I + think the worst is now over and they," (meaning the Kuklux) "are + becoming frightened at their own acts." Alas, how little he knew + or understood the venom of his enemies! Our conversation was on + Monday. The next Saturday, May 21, 1870, Stephens was murdered in + a lower room of the Yanceyville court house. + + A vivid account of the assassination is given in "A Fool's + Errand," where John Walter Stephens is called "John Walters." + Whether it is all true as therein narrated, I cannot say for + certain; but the story, confessedly fiction, is no more monstrous + than the reality. It was a ghastly murder. As those who know best + about it (if still alive) have told nothing, and will not, any + narrative of the circumstances must be imperfect. + + On the day of the homicide Stephens had attended a Democratic + meeting, upstairs in the court house, in the audience-room. + According to his custom he had been taking note of the speeches. + + Sometimes he used the room where his body afterward was found, + for the trial of his magistrate's cases. This room was at the + time occupied for no other purpose, and was devoid of furniture, + except an old table and a chair or two. A pile of fire-place wood + extended across it, on the north side, next to the wall, one end + of the pile being near a window. There were three windows, two of + them overlooking the court house yard, opposite a street. On the + other side of the street were several negro houses. Stephens's + dwelling could be seen plainly from the windows, being southeast + from the court house. The only door entering the room was from + the hallway, which passed entirely through the building from + north to south. The door of the room was within a few feet of the + rear hall entrance. + + Stephens, after being in the meeting upstairs, until about 5 + o'clock in the afternoon, was called out by a man named Wiley; + with whom Stephens had been in frequent conversation during the + day, trying to induce Wiley to become an independent candidate + for sheriff. Wiley was a Democrat and Stephens had pledged him + the Republican vote of Caswell county. After the two went out + together Stephens was not seen alive by any one innocent of the + murder. + + No doubt Wiley enticed Stephens from the meeting and admitted it. + But according to a letter from Hon. R. Z. Linney (recently + deceased) published in the _News-Observer_, Dec. 29, 1891, + credited to the _Statesville Landmark_, "a gentleman of + intelligence who was at Yanceyville at the time of the tragedy," + declared that he had information regarded by him as altogether + reliable, that Wiley was not in the room when Stephens was + killed, but had arranged to get him from the court-room, to + extort from him a promise to leave the county; and the promise + not being given Stephens was killed. According to the "gentleman + of intelligence," Wiley was "very angry" with the men who had + slain Stephens--a lame excuse, it must be admitted; although his + "anger" was quite creditable. + + Mr. Linney, it may be stated, in passing, said in his letter, + that Wiley died at his (Linney's) house near Taylorsville, and + that the "measure of the corpse was about seven feet in length." + This statement seems astounding, but as I recollect him, Wiley + was a very tall man. Upon one occasion, during the Kuklux + troubles, I saw him on horseback, going from Yanceyville, with a + long rifle resting in the hollow of his arm--an incident + characteristic of the times. He looked like a wind mill on horse + back. + + +MATERIALS FROM THE SCRAPBOOK OF W. A. HAYNE COLLECTED IN 1874[1] + +William A. Hayne was a native of Charleston, and a free man of free +parents. His mother's father and his father's father were white. He +was educated in the Charleston school of free Negroes. He attained the +position of Representative in the Legislature and served the State +efficiently. Hayne passed away in 1889. + + The recent meeting at Barnwell Courthouse was by far the largest + held there since the war. The meeting was called to order by Dr. + J. W. Ogilvie as temporary chairman. A committee of five, + consisting of Col. Counts, Captain F. M. Wanamaker, Dr. J. C. + Miller, and Messrs. W. T. Blanton and J. M. Hudson were appointed + to select permanent officers, and nominated the following + gentlemen: General Johnson Hagood, President; Messrs. Counts, + Sojourner, Blanton, Killingsworth and Ogilvie, vice-presidents; + J. M. Ryan, secretary. + + General Hagood, who was at the front end of the hall, some + distance from the chair he was to occupy, upon the invitation of + the temporary chairman, advanced to take his seat as presiding + officer amidst deafening applause. On taking the chair, General + Hagood said: "I understand the purpose of this meeting to be to + consider the misgovernment in South Carolina, which running + through ten long years, has culminated in the shameful and + shameless proceedings of our present Legislature. It is not for + me, here, to recall this disgraceful history in all its details. + You have borne with it till patience has ceased to be a virtue, + and from one end of this American Union to another, regardless of + section or party the press--that mighty engine and exponent of + popular sentiment--is now ringing with the denunciation of the + last wrong inflicted upon you, and with commendation of the true + and faithful man who, with a heroism surpassing that of the + battlefield, which is wielding such weapons as the executive army + can furnish in your temporary defence. This thing has gone far + enough: This crowded hall--these earnest faces over which a light + flickers that carries me back to a time since when my head and + heart have alike grown gray, tell me so. Every instinct of + self-preservation tells me that the time has come when all in + South Carolina who are fit to live outside of her penitentiary, + or expect to within her borders an inheritance for their + children, must enlist in this struggle. It will be a contest in + which no half-hearted recruit is wanted. It is a fight for life + and property, in which you will have to do all that a citizen may + do--and, if need be, all that may become a man." (Applause.) + + Mr. Alfred Aldrich rose and said: A short time ago, in this + house, I said among other things to the taxpayers, that I had + "implicit confidence in the people of Barnwell County, but none + in Governor Chamberlain." In the light of recent events, I desire + to make the Amende honorable to Governor Chamberlain, and here, + with equal unreserve as when I made the declaration alluded to, I + wish to submit the charge in my opinion embodied in the following + resolutions: + + Resolved that Governor Chamberlain, from his first ... to his + last veto, has carried ... knowledge to the platform on which + ... if he does not receive the support of the leading men of his + own party, is entitled to the confidence and will receive the + cordial sympathy and merited aid of the honest and good men in + South Carolina. + + Resolved, that in rising above party to vindicate the + civilization and ancient good name of the States over which he + presides, by his rebuke to the Legislature for the election of + corrupt and incompetent judges, as he has shown large + statesmanship, integrity of purpose and courage of performance + that command the respect and approval of all good men, + irrespective of party. + + Resolved: that the Governor, having taken care of the Charleston + and Sumter circuits by refusing to commission Whipper and Moses + and not being able to reach Wiggins in the same way, we of the + Barnwell circuit must see that he does not defile the bench and + debauch the county now adorned by the virtue and the learning of + the incorruptible Maher. + + Resolved: That we recognize and appreciate the difficulties that + the Governor has had to contend against to maintain his position + as a political reformer, that we acknowledge probity in redeeming + the pledges contained in the platform on which he was elected to + office, and admire his boldness in resisting the pressure of + those who were not in earnest when they made them; that we are + fully sensible of the opposition that he encountered and the + difficulties that have environed him in acting his arduous role, + and that we take this occasion to show him and the men of his + party who endorse him, of our cordial support. + + The resolutions were unanimously and enthusiastically adopted. + The Honorable A. P. Aldrich by invitation, then addressed the + meeting. We have already published his remarks. + + It was resolved that the President appoint, at his leisure, an + executive committee of five to carry out in Barnwell County such + recommendations as might be made by the Central Democratic + Executive Committee, at its meeting in Columbia on the instant. + + Mr. Simms then offered the following resolutions, which were + carried out unanimously: Resolved, that in view of our repeated + failures to reform the State Government by the policy of + co-operation with the Conservative element of the Republican + Party, who professed the same object, and of recent events we + recognize the absolute and immediate necessity of reorganizing + the Democratic party to restore an honest and economical + government. + + Resolved: That the Democratic Party of South Carolina will in the + future, as it has in the past, support principles, not men, and + we hereby extend a cordial invitation to all men in the State, + who desire honest government, to unite with us, at least until we + have accomplished our purpose. + + Resolved: That the co-operation now invited is not with the bad + men who have heretofore deluded, deceived and betrayed our + colored fellow-citizens, but with the great mass of that class + who, we believe, are willing to rescue the State from the grasp + of these unprincipled adventurers. + + Resolved: That the President appoint a committee of five to carry + out the recommendations of the State executive committee to meet + in Columbia on the 6th instant. + + The following resolutions offered by Col. Counts, were adopted + without a dissenting voice. + + Whereas, by an indiscreet action of the Legislature of this State + an insult of the grossest nature--an insult to all common decency + and to all civilization, has been thrust into our faces by way of + an election for judges of the respective circuits of Judges + Maher, Reed and Shaw; and whereas, it was not expected or desired + by either political party of said circuits that either of the + present incumbents should be defeated; and whereas, we regard + this act as a public declaration against the peace, prosperity + and happiness of all virtue and intelligence, now, therefore, be + it + + Resolved, That we, the people of this section of the second + circuit, not wishing to make an issue with any individual or + party, and not being willing to risk our lives and property in + the hands of the newly elected judge, P. L. Wiggins, for reasons + obvious, do earnestly request the said P. L. Wiggins to tender + his resignation to the Governor at once, and that the Governor do + declare said vacancy be filled by an election to take place + before the close of the present session of the Legislature. + + Resolved, That a memorial be prepared by such persons as the + president of this meeting shall designate, asking for the + re-election of Judge Maher, and that said memorial (by request of + this convention) be presented to the Legislature by the Hon. + Chancellor Johnson. + + Resolved, That a memorial be prepared by such persons as the + president of this meeting shall designate, asking for the + re-election of Judge Maher, and that said memorial (by request of + this convention) be presented to the Legislature by the Hon. + Chancellor Johnson. + + Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed by the president + of this meeting to communicate with the action of this meeting to + communicate with Solicitor Wiggins, and to notify him of the + action of this convention; and that said committee be instructed + to assure him that this convention is not prompted by any impure + motives or personal animosity for him in taking this action, but + alone for the interest of the country, and for the peace,.... + + VOTE OF MARION COUNTY IN 1870 + + Reform Republican + Marion 372 511 + Friendship 79 65 + Mars Bluff 84 192 + Berry's X Roads 196 178 + Mullins 196 124 + Aliens 72 33 + High Hill 176 37 + Old Ark 23 17 + Cains 121 120 + McMilans 105 36 + Little Rock 277 204 + Aeriel 130 57 + Stones 62 73 + Jeffries Creek 67 224 + Old Neck 80 67 + Campbells Bridge 151 56 + ____ ____ + Totals 2191 1994 + + "It will be seen from the above statement that the reform + movement in 1870 carried the county by a majority of 207 votes. + In that election the fight was between the Conservatives and the + Republicans--the whites against the blacks. In fact it was a + question of color, for both races voted solidly. Now it is + different. The Republicans have inaugurated the Reform movement, + and the fight on the 3d of November will be between the two wings + of this party. The problem then is easy to solve. The Reform + movement will carry Marion County by an overwhelming majority." + + + THE SPEAKING TOMORROW 1870 + + The representatives of both wings of the Republican party will + speak at the Courthouse tomorrow. We hope every Republican in the + county will be present and hear what both sides have to say. The + Republican voters of the county who have any doubt as to their + duty at the coming election, for whom they should vote, we hope, + will be sufficiently enlightened to cast their votes for honest + men and an honest Government. + + We hope, for the character of Marion, that, those who come to the + Courthouse on this occasion, will come for the purpose of + enlightening themselves on a subject which involves the salvation + of the State, and that each and every one will constitute himself + a keeper of the peace, and that good order will be preserved + during the day. + + + ROLL OF MEMBERS OF THE UNION REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION, 1874 + + Aiken--R. B. Elliot, C. D. Hayne, Gloster Holland, W. M. Peel. + + Abbeville--H. Wideman, J. R. Tolbert, R. Griffin, A. H. Wallace, + A. J. Titus. + + Anderson--John R. Cochran, C. A. Mathison, W. R. Parker. + + Barnwell--W. J. Whipper, C. P. Leslie, E. M. Sumter,--Jackson. + + Beaufort--Robert Smalls, N. B. Myers, R. H. Gleaves, T. E. + Miller, Thomas Hamilton, S. J. Bamfield, Hastings Gantt. + + Charleston--W. R. Jervey, E. W. M. Mackey, Aaron Logan, S. E. + Gaillard, W. J. McKinlay, T. H. Jones, E. B. Seabrook, J. L. + Walker, W. T. Oliver, W. G. Pinckney, Stephen Brown, Edward + Petty, J. A. Williams, J. W. Reid, J. A. Mushington, P. P. + Hedges, R. B. Gathers, A. C. Richmond. + + Chester--T. J. Mackey, D. J. Walker, Barney Humphries. + + Chesterfield--T. L. Weston, Robert Brewer. + + Clarendon--J. D. Warley, Syfax Milton. + + Colleton--W. M. Thomas, A. C. Schaffer, A. P. Holmes, T. H. + Grant, W. F. Myers. + + Darlington--T. C. Cox, B. F. Whittemore, Jordan Lang, J. B. + Middleton. + + Edgefield--J. H. McDevitt, Lawrence Cain, Paris Simkins, David + Graham, Ned Tenant. + + Fairfield--Daniel Bird, Thomas Walker, William Boler. + + Georgetown--J. H. Rainey, W. H. Jones, Jr., R. M. Herriott. + + Greenville--J. M. Runion, Thos. Brier, A. Blythe, Zion Collins. + + Horry--T. C. Dunn, H. W. Jones. + + Kershaw--J. A. Chestnut, N. W. Blair, Frank Carter. + + Lancaster--Jos. Clarke, Allen Hudson. + + Laurens--Y. J. P. Owens, H. McDaniels, James Young, Jos. Crews. + + Lexington--R. H. Kirk, S. L. Lorick. + + Marion--C. Smith, W. A. Hayne, M. K. Holloway, Anthony Howard. + + Marlboro--H. J. Maxwell, D. D. McColl. + + Newberry--H. C. Corwin, C. David, Henry Gillem. + + Oconee--M. D. Singleton, Elisha Jenkins. + + Orangeburg--T. C. Andrews, R. R. Duncan, C. W. Caldwell, E. I. + Cain, Samuel Lewis. + + Pickens--O. C. Folger. + + Richland--C. M. Wilder, J. J. Patterson, F. L. Cardoza, C. S. + Minort. + + Sumter--Samuel Lee, F. J. Moses, Jr., W. E. Johnson, J. M. + Tindall. + + Spartanburg--J. Winsmith, T. B. Hartwell, S. T. Poinier, Alex + Jones. + + Union--June Mobley, S. Hawkins, J. H. Goss. + + Williamsburg--S. A. Swails, J. T. Peterson, Wm. Scott. + + York--J. H. White, R. M. Crook, M. L. Owens, Nelson Davis. + + + MARION COUNTY + + _For Governor_, + JOHN T. GREEN + + _For Lieutenant-Governor_, + MARTIN R. DELANEY + + _For Congress_, + SAMUEL LEE + + _State Board of Equalization_, + B. D. TOWNSEND, of Darlington + W. B. SMITH, of Charleston + W. D. MARS, of Abbeville + G. W. MELTON, of Chester + S. J. LEE, of Aiken + + _Representatives_, + W. D. JOHNSON W. A. HAYNE + B. G. HOWARD A. H. HOWARD + + _Judge of Probate_, + JOHN WILCOX, SR. + + _School Commissioners_, + J. A. SMITH + + _County Commissioners_, + T. W. AYRES A. J. FRYER + J. P. DAVIS + + + A GREEN POW WOW + + CONFUSION TRIUMPHANT + + TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHARLESTON CHRONICLE: + + A mass meeting of those of the Republicans of this County who are + credulous enough to espouse the bolters movement, was held here + on Tuesday the 29th inst, at the Court House under the call of + one Dr. J. B. Thompson, temporary County Chairman, who was sent + down here by Senator T. C. Dunn, with a handsome and carefully + prepared set of Resolutions, for adoption, pledging the entire + County for Green and Reform, and lauding Senator Jones, for his + steadfast adherence to the cause; and with equal warmth + denouncing the other of our delegation for daring to exercise + their untrammelled opinion in their support and advocacy of + Daniel H. Chamberlain. The resolutions, however, were never + introduced as intended owing to the fact that the Chairman, the + said Dr. Thompson, had not the temerity to call his own meeting + to order, nor did he put in an appearance at any time during the + proceedings. The recollections of the bombardment of Castle + Jones, on the memorable night of the 13th of August was too vivid + upon his memory. But about the meeting. + + It was a Babel of confusion from beginning to ending. This arose + principally from an evident disposition on the part of the most + prominent Greenites, to thrust the notorious Bowley upon the + people as a Delegate, against their will and wishes. The meeting + was really a Pow Wow. A motion of any description could not be + heard and the meeting adjourned without coming to any effectual + conclusion. + + The majority of the people are under such a feeling having been + foiled, deceived, and deserted by the men whom they have elevated + for honor, that they now have inscribed upon their banners: + + "Judge Green may try with might and main, But he'll never beat + Daniel H. Chamberlain." + + REPUBLICAN. + + + MATTERS IN MARION + + FREAKS OF A JACK-IN-OFFICE--THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE DISTRICT + CONFERENCE + + _Correspondence of the News and Courier_ + + Marion, S. C., July 20, 1874. + + One W. A. Hayne, of nondescript complexion and Radical + persuasion, whose frantic speeches and other wild performances + during a political canvass several years ago procured him the + sobriquet of "Notoriety," is just now lording over our unhappy + people in the guise of a United States commissioner. In this + potential capacity he has commenced active operations against + those who he or his ebon emissaries choose to suspect of + transgressing the internal revenue law. Farmers who may have been + in the habit of purchasing small quantities of tobacco just as + they purchase other supplies for the use of the laborers on their + plantations, have all at once become victims of vindictive + prosecutions--the officers who make the arrests, and the + over-zealous witnesses for the government, all being negroes. It + is said that a farmer must not buy tobacco for his hands without + having obtained a regular license therefor. While this may or may + not be true, it seems to be certain that the warlike commissioner + is enforcing the decision not so much in the spirit of the law, + which he pretends to vindicate, as with a malicious propensity to + annoy his political opponents. He was not gracious enough to + consider that our farmers were without perhaps a single + exception, ignorant of the existence of so stringent a ruling, + (if, indeed, it does exist,) and he did not see the propriety of + advertising it for the benefit of those whose character would + belie the suspicion of an intention to defraud the revenue. It + may be that "Noteriety Hayne," by thus flaunting in our faces his + puissant commission, means to enhance his consequence as a + prospective candidate far the Legislature, or that he thereby + seeks to ingratiate himself with the colored people who relish + (as he may suppose) the persecution and humiliation to which the + planters are subjected by such wanton abuses of misplaced + authority. + + The transaction from this topic to matters of religion may be + somewhat violent; it is, nevertheless, a relief. The Marion + District Conference of the Methodist Church convened here on + Thursday last, and remained in session four days. An unusually + large number of delegates were in attendance. The deliberations, + which were presided over by Rev. W. C. Power, were conducted in a + spirit of earnest devotion to the important interests which came + up for consideration. The reports from the various charges in the + district, which embraces the Counties of Marlboro', Marion, Horry + and Georgetown, and portions of Darlington and Williamsburg, + exhibited a most gratifying state of the church. The + Sunday-Schools were shown to be in a very flourishing condition, + and the cause of temperance was making headway against all + opposition. The Rev. Drs. Shipp and Jones, presidents + respectively of Wofford and Columbia Female Colleges, were + present, and their fine pulpit ministrations added much to the + interest of the occasion. + + + DIVIDING THE NEGRO VOTE + + WHY THE SOUTH HAS FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH IT + + _A Northern Journalist's Impressions of the Palmetto State_ + + The following extracts from a letter of Mr. John Russell Young, + published in the New York Herald, are well worthy of attentive + consideration; but we need hardly say that in our opinion Mr. + Young is wholly mistaken in holding the white responsible, during + the last five years at least, for the solidity and infrangibility + of the negro in the South: + + + _The Letter_ + + Why is it that the Southerners, the whites who masters before the + war, have not devided the negro vote, and uniting with those who + were intelligent, gained control of the State so as to secure it + an efficient government? It would seem to the ordinary political + thinker that even three-sevenths whites could control the + four-sevenths blacks. One thinks of the Saxon in India with the + Hindoo, in Canada with the French, in Jamaica with the Negro, in + Ireland, after a turbulent fashion, with the mailed hand, and + yet his rule is now absolute. Why is it that in South Carolina it + is otherwise? My gifted and honored colleague, Mr. Nordhoff, in + his series of letters from the South, says it is because he has + been corrupted by the carpet-bagger. With all deference to that + distinguished authority, his answer is an imperfect solution. + Surely the Negro who knows his old master, who has lived with him + during his life, who in most cases looks with affection upon him + and all who belong to him--surely in the new relation he will + look to the master as a friend, and take his guidance in so + solemn a duty as entering upon citizenship. This too because as + we learn from all authorities, and from none more clearly than + Mr. Nordhoff, that the master, "accepts the new relation" and has + no purpose of renewing the war, and, so far as from wishing to + return the negro to slavery, feels that the old system was an + error, even from an economical point of view, and that in time + its abolition will prove to be a blessing to the white, whatever + it may be to the black. Why, then this being the case, has the + carpet-bagger been able to strangle a commonwealth like South + Carolina, and with the aid of the Negro, plunder his old master? + The only answer that I can see is that the whites have not taken + any pains to cultivate the blacks, who would naturally go with + them, or the intelligent and honest Northern men who came here, + meaning in good faith to make the South a home and to grow up + with the Southern people. In nearly every case with scarcely an + exception, the whites have drawn a line, just as Jefferson Davis + drew when he embarked upon the Confederacy. They alone have a + right here. Whoever opposes him is a "scalawag," a + "carpet-bagger," or a "nigger." A "scalawag" if as a Southern + born man he votes with the Republicans; a "carpet-bagger" if he + comes from the North, no matter how he votes. This line is drawn + with severity and with scarcely an exception. A worthy citizen of + Charleston, who came from the North in the beginning of the war, + from motives of philanthropy, to educate the blacks, who has + lived in the state ever since, and holds a high reputation from + all classes because of his integrity and ability, told me that he + had never been asked to the home of a Southern man since he came + into the State. "They do business with me, meet me in public + places and show me all respect, but never open the latch key". A + reverend and highly esteemed prelate of the Methodist Church in + the North came here to attend a gathering of African churches. He + was in an official position, for these churches were under the + control of his denomination. He remained here several days + presiding over the gathering. He was known to be an honored + prelate, whose life was given solely to his religious duties. He + told me that during his stay in South Carolina he had not + received a single attention from his Southern fellow Methodists. + The clergy had not noticed his presence nor asked him into their + pulpit. He saw only fellow Christians who had come from the North + or Negroes, I cannot imagine how the line can be more closely + drawn, and now speak of what happened only a few days since. + + + _The Negro and His Northern Ally_ + + The negro, then has been thrown back upon his Northern ally. + Every memory, every name, every anniversary of the war, is + cherished as sacred. All the rest is an abomination. You may well + ask: "Why should not this be so, for are not these memories dear + to them by the blood slain brothers and children?" Truly so, and + far be it from me to profane so holy a thought as that which + would honor them. But I am answering the question propounded some + time since as to how it is that the Southern whites have never + succeeded in dividing the colored vote, so as to give the states + a good government. They have driven the Negro away. In Georgia + when they gained power they have practically disfranchised him. + But for the interference of the Federal Congress they would have + forbidden his appearance in their legislatures. I do not think + that any frank Georgian will deny that this result was largely + due to intimidation and force. In a State with 545,142 negroes in + 1870, to 638,926 whites, they have virtually stamped out a + Republican party. The negro is afraid to vote, is not in many + places allowed on the jury, is punished severely for crimes, and + Mr. Nordhoff has told you that at least 25,000 of them have left + the State in the last five years; and yet in Georgia they pay + taxes on a large property. The negro in South Carolina sees what + has been done across the line, and he knows, or naturally fears, + that should the white man rule here the same results will follow. + As a consequence, therefore, the negro is in the hands of the + adventurer. He fears that his master will make him a slave, or + reduce him to a condition akin to slavery. The result is, + therefore, that not one of them will vote the Democratic ticket. + I have heard of Democratic negroes, but I have seen none. I have + spoken on this subject with Southern men in Florida, Georgia, + North and South Carolina, and there is only one story. "I have + negroes here," said one eminent gentleman, "who were my slaves in + the old time. They hang around my house. They will fight for me, + work for me and bring me their money to keep. They take my advice + in all things, and are trustworthy and devoted. They will not + vote for me. My coachman there will vote against me and in favor + of the meanest Republican in the county." The negro thus far sees + nothing in politics but his own freedom. He votes for Grant all + the time. His political education embraces a sentiment and a + fact. The sentiment is Lincoln, the fact is Grant. I was talking + to a woolly headed vagabond the other day, who had learned that I + was a Northern man, and wanted to go home with me as an + attendant. He was a worthless, ragged, shining darky, as black as + night, and earned his living, he told me, by dancing the juba for + gentlemen on the sidewalk when the police were not looking. + During the war he was a slave lad. "Did you know you were free," + I said, "before the war was over?" He told me that the news came + very quickly; that they all kept "mighty shady," never pretending + to know until "Massa Sherman came with the soldiers." But they + knew it all the time, and there was never a night that his "old + mammie didn't pray to Massa Lincoln." This is the thought that + has burned deep into the negro mind. You cannot erase it. You + cannot take it from him. He has heard the slaves' horn. He has + worn the yoke and carried the scar into furrow and swamp. He has + seen father and mother perhaps, taken to the block and sold into + slavery. That memory ever lives as it would live with you and I, + if such a career darkened our lives. So Moses may steal and + Whipper may "administer justice," to him they mean freedom. + Coming out of the night they find no hand to grasp but the hand + of the adventurer. Is it any wonder then, that they follow him as + blind men or those who see darkly? + + + _Better Signs_ + + I cannot resist the conclusion, and it grows upon me every day, + in the South, that for much of the wrong, that has been done in + these States the old Southerners are to blame. I say this in + sorrow and with no harshness of feeling to them, and not without + making allowance for a feeling which, after all, is one of human + nature, a feeling of hatred of the men who defeated their hopes + of empire and of contempt for the negro, who is today a senator, + but who yesterday could have been sent to the whipping post. It + is not easy for a planter who has not enough to eat to rejoice + over the fact that the servant who once washed his beard is now + his ruler of the State. But, whatever the motive of the feeling, + the negro in South Carolina is at the feet of Moses and Whipper, + because he was driven there. The old master has as yet made no + sign of sympathy or friendship. I am profoundly convinced that + if, instead of mourning over the lost cause, as in the past they + were wont to bluster about the Yankees and slavery, these people + had dealt wisely with the negro and generously with the Northern + immigrant, these States, and South Carolina especially, would be + free and powerful. I hail the Chamberlain movement in one of its + aspects as the opening of a new era. The support which that + officer receives from the leading journal in the State, and one + of the leading journals in the South--_The News and + Courier_--shows the awakening of a new spirit. This paper + thoroughly Democratic, its editors gentlemen who were in the + Confederacy through the whole war and firm in their devotion to + the lost cause, sees that the only hope for South Carolina is + supporting the honest, intelligent New England Governor, who says + he is Republican from conviction and never ... a Democrat; that + he has no sympathy for Democracy or desire to be in its councils + ... that as Governor he means to give ... honest government. The + news ... takes the Governor at his word and ... him on, while + newspapers over the border in Georgia mock and deride. If + Chamberlain succeeds he will divide the colored vote, and for the + first time array parties upon some other dividing line than that + laid down by Jefferson Davis when he founded his Confederacy. + + + _Hope for Carolina_ + + But whether he succeeds or not the movement which he began a year + ago, and which is now almost national in its extent, must go on. + There is no way for South Carolina to win a good government + except on this basis. Here the negroes are and in a large + majority. They cannot be driven away, they cannot be slain, they + cannot be disfranchised. They must be asked to take part in + government, to unite with honest men in punishing crime. + Education makes this more and more easy, and amid all this sorrow + and strife and tumult the work of education goes on. The negro + pants for the primer and the speller as the hart for the water of + the brook. I have taken pains, in some bookstore loungings, to + inquire about this. I learned in nearly every case that the + negroes were constant purchasers, and almost invariably of + school-books--elementary and advanced. I am told that the negro + is as anxious to read and write as he used to be to own a yellow + cravat. I do not suppose this education goes far, but it is + something. It is there I see day--there, and nowhere else. This + old feeling must die out. These memories of the Southern + Confederacy must be put away with the family laces and + grandmother' samplers. Leaders like Toombs and Hill must be + superseded. These negroes must be taught that freedom means + responsibility, and that honesty is safety and peace. These lands + and ports, these watercourses, these widely stretching and vast + acres, must respond to capital and energy, the money and the + skill of the North. Here is room in South Carolina alone for all + of New England, and in no State could the spirit of New England + work such marvels. But so long as the fogs of slavery and + misgovernment and ostracism and social hatred hang over them like + the malaria of their own rice lowlands, so long South Carolina + will be a prostrate State, crying for sympathy and help. Let us + trust that the time has come for the people to help themselves, + and in doing so, raise their Commonwealth to a pinacle of + grandeur and prosperity such as even its proud history has never + known. + + + "REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLE" AND THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT + + The burden of the song of the Chamberlain Ring and their organs + is that the integrity of "the party" is of more consequence than + honest government, and that any Republican who votes for Green + and Delaney is a traitor to the Republican party and false to + Republican principles. In all humility we beg leave to suggest + that the persons who are candidates for office in the interest of + a corrupt Ring, and the few newspapers which live and move and + have their being by and in that Ring, are hardly the + disinterested and unselfish counsellors that they claim to be. It + is safer to go outside of the charmed circle, and ascertain what + is advised by Republicans whose honesty is as great as their + integrity, who were Republicans when Democracy was in the + ascendant, and who are as true now to Republicanism as they were + while slavery existed and most of the South Carolina white + Republicans were red-hot Democrats in the South or obscure + demagogues in the North. Their opinions are entitled to weight, + and for that reason they are carefully excluded from the columns + of the organs of the Chamberlain Ring. It is in our power, + however, to lay these opinions before the public, and we mean to + do it. + + 1. _The New York Times_ is known everywhere as a powerful + Republican newspaper; it advocates Republican principles in + season and out of season. This paper heartily approves of the + Independent Republican movement, and says that, whatever may be + the immediate result, "The final effect cannot be good." It says, + further, that, in the organization of the Independent Republican + movement, the colored people have made "a long step forward." + + 2. _The New York Evening Post_, a Republican newspaper which + circulates among the upper-ten, declares that "the political + signs from South Carolina are favorable"; and that it has very + gratifying assurances that "the colored voters are beginning to + perceive that they have been used too long by unscrupulous + politicians" (of the Chamberlain-Bowen school) "who have employed + partisan prejudices to promote their own private fortunes." And + _The New York Tribune_, an unfaltering friend of the colored + Republicans, talks in the same strain, and gives the Independent + Republican movement its warm approval. + + 3. One of the strongest Republican newspapers in New England is + _The Springfield Republican_ (Mass.) which sees in the new + movement an evidence of good faith on the part of the + Conservatives, and of sagacity and honesty on the part of the + Independent Republicans. + + The newspapers whose opinions we have quoted represent, in large + part, the sentiments and opinions of the people who pushed the + war against the South, and insisted on the abolition of slavery. + They say, without a dissenting voice, that the Independent + Republican movement is right and wise and just. On the other + side, a marked man, stands C. C. Bowen, who, in printed + handbills, speaks of Judge Green as "the Democratic candidate for + Governor." Colored Republicans! whom will you believe, the men + and newspapers who fought your battles when you were powerless to + help yourselves, or the men and the newspapers whose love for you + only began when you had office and public plunder to bestow upon + them? + + + SUNDAY MORNING, July 12, 1874 + + _The Warning_ + + If there be anything wanting to the argument we have persistently + urged upon the Republicans of this State, it is contained in the + following extract from an editorial in _The New York Times_, + General Grant's especial organ. In speaking of what General Grant + has said about South Carolina, the _Times_ says: "He (General + Grant) further added that unless a true reform was begun at once + in South Carolina, the Republican party would this fall repudiate + the so-called Republicans of the State. In fact, this is what the + Republicans of the North have already done. The Triumph of Moses + and his gang would be only the triumph of corruption, and that + the people of this country will not stand. + + If we do not heed this warning in time, there will not be enough + left of our organization next year to make a respectable ward + meeting. We cannot fight the Democrats here, General Grant and + the whole country beside. We cannot afford to commit political + suicide, and we are not going. + + + CHARLESTON, S. C., FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 2, 1874 + + THE FAIR PLAY MEETING + + _A Grand Gathering of Republicans and Conservatives--Harmony + Prevails and Nothing Asked but Fair Play_ + + The meeting last night was one of the most extraordinary + gatherings ever held in Charleston. Upwards of four thousand of + our citizens irrespective of party, assembled together and raised + their voices in the interests of fair play for one and all. + + Men of culture and wealth, stood side by side, with the honest + and industrious workingmen. Republican and Conservative, white + men and colored men, Chamberlain men and Green men stood shoulder + to shoulder bearing in mind the great object of the meeting and + for the time being casting aside all thoughts of party spirit. It + seemed to be well understood by each and every man in the vast + assemblage that this was not the time nor place to urge the claim + of any particular candidates, and the harmony that prevailed + reflected the most unbounded credit on the citizens of + Charleston. + + Let it here be distinctly understood that the objection to the + commissioners of election does not imply an objection to either + of them individually but it is claimed that one of them should + at least give place to a representative of the other side. If + Thompson and Smith are candidates for election to any office, and + the three commissioners of election are all Thompson men, it is + natural that the supporters of Smith should be dissatisfied, but + by appointing one Smith man all suspicions of unfair play will be + removed. + + Col. E. W. M. Mackey called the meeting to order from the steps + of the City Hall at 8 o'clock and upon his motion it was + organized with the following officers: + + President--The Hon. H. D. Lesesne. + + Vice-Presidents--Mayor C. I. Cunningham, Ex-Gov. Wm. Aiken, + Coroner Aaron Logan, Mr. E. B. Seabrook, Mr. S. Y. Tupper, + Alderman W. J. McKinlay, Senator S. E. Gaillard, Hon. Henry + Gourdin, Mr. John F. Taylor, Rev. E. J. Adams, Mr. Andrew + Simonds, Mr. H. H. DeLeon, Mr. C. O. Witte, Alderman S. B. + Garrett, Mr. Hugh Ferguson, Mr. J. W. Reed, Alderman John A. + Godfrey, Mr. B. Bollman, Mr. B. O'Neill, Capt. J. C. Clausen, Mr. + Stephen Brown, Mr. W. A. Courtenay. + + Secretaries--Mr. J. A. Mushington, Mr. C. O. Trumbo, Capt. Alex + Williams. + + Mr. Lesesne opened the meeting with a most appropriate address, + in which he stated ... meeting, at his leisure, who shall present + by letter or otherwise, the foregoing preamble and resolutions to + the Governor of the State, and require of him, as necessary for + the preservation of public peace, that he do remove the said + commissioners of election, or a majority of them, and appoint, in + their stead, commissioners of known integrity, intelligence and + impartiality, who will see that in every matter pertaining to the + election, equal and exact justice shall be done to all citizens, + irrespective of class, color or political party; and further, + that the said committee shall, in the event of the refusal of the + Executive to grant this request, call a mass meeting of the + people to take such action as will then be necessary. + + Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the chairman + of this meeting, at his leisure, who shall immediately ascertain + what protection can be secured to the voters of Charleston County + under the United States laws relating to elections, which + committee shall immediately report the result of their + investigations, through the public prints, with such + recommendations for the guidance of the citizens as they may deem + advisable. + + After the reading of the above preamble and resolutions, Mr. + Joseph W. Barnwell addressed the meeting, and was followed by the + Hon. G. A. Trenholm, who spoke with much eloquence and at + considerable length. + + Mr. Trenholm, holding the Chronicle in his hand, read therefrom + the following extract from the third plank of the Republican + platform: "We shall hold all men as enemies to equality of rights + who interfere with the ballot or deny the free and lawful + exercise of its use to any citizen, whatever may be his party + creed." + + He called attention to the fact that these sentiments were in the + Republican platform and were published in the Charleston + Chronicle, the only Republican paper in this city; but, strange + to say, this portion of his speech does not seem to have made a + great impression on either the News and Courier reporter or the + Sun man. For the News and Courier fails to report it, and the Sun + does not shine upon it. + + The Hon. A. J. Ransier then took the platform, but his address + was interrupted by an unlooked for incident. + + A number of policemen having in charge some of the men who were + wounded in the fracas with the strikers, of which an account is + given elsewhere in this issue, were seen marching down Meeting + street followed by a considerable crowd. The bigger crowd seeing + the others, and not knowing what was up, became demoralized, and + a panic ensued followed by a general stampede. + + + SPEECH OF W. A. HAYNE, OF MARION, + + _On Outrages In Edgefield County S. C._ + + The House, in Committee of the Whole, having under consideration + the following message from His Excellency: + + STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, + Executive Chamber, + Columbia, March 1, 1876. + + HON. ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, Speaker House of Representatives: + + _Sir:_--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of + a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives and + concurred in by the Senate, by which I am requested to report to + this General Assembly at the earliest practicable moment all the + facts and information in my possession in relation to outrages + alleged to have been committed recently in Edgefield County. + + I have the honor, in reply, to say that the information received + by me respecting the matter referred to is, in substance, that, + on the night of the 11th of February, some twenty-five or thirty + mounted men, in disguise, went to the house of James Perry, + living near Ridge Spring, in the County of Edgefield; that they + found in the house Freeman Gardner, his wife, Julia Brooks, a + woman between seventy and eighty years of age, and Zilpha Hill, a + young woman--all colored; that this disguised band took all four + of the immates of the house to a point of about a mile and a + quarter distant and then stripped and whipped them all; that + after the whipping was over, the woman, Patsey Gardner, was + severely and systematically burned by the application of liquid + sealing wax or burning pitch to her back and limbs; that the + young woman, Zilpha Hill, who was pregnant was also beaten and + severely abused, to such an extent as to endanger her life; that + the only pretext for this conduct was given in a remark of one of + the disguised band about John Gaston's goods. + + This is the account given by the victims of the outrage, and the + condition of the woman, Patsey Gardner, seems to indicate the + truth of her statements as to the injuries inflicted upon this + woman. + + This is the substance of the information in my hands at the + present time. + + Very respectfully, + (Signed) D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, _Governor_. + + +Mr. Hayne said: + + _Mr. Chairman_--Perhaps no member regrets this outrage more than + I do, for in the last campaign it was my earnest desire, yea, the + height of my ambition, to bring about not only purity in my + party, but harmony between the two races, and therefore my + regret. I am disappointed, almost discouraged, for it seems as + though 'tis love's labor lost. But, sir, just so long as the + newspapers of the country continue to exert their influence in + this direction will our State be disgraced by these foul + outrages. They fire up the hatred of the hot headed, indiscreet + youths of the State by their incendiary articles, and make them + believe that to slay and scourge all who differ from them in + opinion are doing God and their country a service. They never + heap the ashes of charitable oblivion upon the coals of prejudice + and hate, but continue to replenish it with the most exciting and + fiery appeals. The Edgefield paper makes light of this dastardly + violence done to aged and inoffensive women by ascribing it as + the work of "rash boys." Manly pastime for these brave boys! a + crime sir, that in any other State, and done to any other class, + would have demanded and met with immediate punishment, perhaps in + the Court of Judge Lynch, as was the case in Marlboro County a + few weeks ago, when a white lady was abused, the perpetrators, + two colored men, met with immediate punishment. They would not + have brooked the law's delay. Yea, sir, an outraged community + would have taught these "rash boys" a lesson that I fear they + will learn in no other school, and the courteous Sheriff would + not have been put to the trouble of "inviting them to be + arrested." + + But, Mr. Chairman, it happens to be the poor despised Africans + who have tilled their fields for centuries, educated and amassed + for them princely fortunes, and while they were engaged in + riveting tighter the chains of bondage, were engaged in the care + and protection of their defenceless families. Mr. Chairman, I + ask, is this the mode to bring about harmony and prosperity? Will + this tranquilize this already distracted country? No, sir. On the + contrary, it will raise to its highest temperature the ill + feelings of an outraged people, and cause them to adopt for their + redress _lex talionis_, in opposition to the Edgefield _lex + loci_, as Mr. McDuffe truthfully says, "God has planted in the + breast of man a higher and holier principle than that by which he + is prompted to resist oppression; the vilest reptile that crawls + on the earth, without the gift of reason to comprehend the + injustice of its injuries, would bite, or sting, or bruise the + hand by which they were inflicted. Is it to be expected, then, + that freemen will patiently bow down and kiss the rod of the + oppressors?" I had hoped that the swift retribution that followed + the K. K's reign, and the withering rebuke administered by their + own counsel, (Hon. Reverdy Johnson,) would have put an end to + these inhuman and disgusting outrages; but, sir, the newspapers + must live and thrive, and this can only be done by a healthy + subscription list, and, in order to swell that list, they must + excite the worst passions of depraved men and pander to their + prejudices. + + Are the disgraceful scenes that darkened the history of South + Carolina and cast a foul blot upon her proud escutcheon to be + re-enacted? It must not. If we expect to enjoy peace and + prosperity in our State, we must be more mindful of the rights of + each other, more tolerant in our political views, and finally, + leave the punishment of violators of the law to Courts of + Justice, and not constitute ourselves a Vigilance Committee for + every imaginary wrong. The Courts are certainly doing their duty, + as our increased appropriation for the penitentiary will evince. + If this course of action is followed, then, and not until then, + will South Carolina blossom as the rose, and peace and prosperity + flow as a river within her borders. + + Again, Mr. Chairman, if the people of that and any other County + would only turn away from the siren voice of selfish + office-seekers, and put in office men who would dare to do their + duty at all times and in all places, without fear, favor or + impartiality, then, sir, would their rights be secured, and they + would sit down under their own vine and fig-tree, with none + daring to molest or make afraid; then would these lawless men + respect the rights of the occupants of the humblest cabin; for + the law properly administered would indeed be a terror to these + evil doers, and wherever that aegis of America's honor, and her + citizen's protection floats, men would fear to disregard the + rights of his fellows or take the law into their own hands; and, + my fellow-citizens, let me entreat you, in the exercise of your + rights as citizens hereafter, select only such men as are worthy + of these high offices--men who will do their duty. When I have + given such advice hitherto you have scorned it, but take heed in + future, for your interests, the security of your rights, make it + an imperative duty on you. + + Mr. Chairman, if departed spirits are visitants of this earth, + and familiar with the actions of men, the spirits of the + patriotic Rutledge and of the sainted Gasden must have wept tears + of anguish over the degeneracy of these men bearing their + patronymics as they witnessed the outrages (the details of which + are heart sickening) which were perpetrated upon those + inoffensive women. Has the chivalry of South Carolina degenerated + thus far? Is this the work of her brave sons? Could they find no + more worthy foe than an aged, infirm woman, brutally maltreated + and her person exposed, who, even if guilty, should have excited + their sympathy? Another, in a condition that would have appealed + not in vain to the protection of savages, much less civilized + men, cruelly beaten, and her life and that of her unborn child + endangered thereby. Shame on you, degenerate sons of a brave and + chivalrous ancestry! The recording angel in heaven's chancery + must have shed tears as, with his diamond pen, he noted this + additional evidence of man's depravity. I am no advocate of the + "bloody shirt" doctrine, neither do I endorse the rash + sentiments expressed by the member from Charleston, (Mr. Davis); + but inasmuch as His Excellency has furnished this House with + official information of this outrage, I have felt it my duty as a + representative to express in positive, forcible terms my utter + abhorrence and condemnation of this brutal outrage. The Governor + has faithfully performed his duty in furthering the arrest of the + guilty parties, and I hope the Court of justice will administer a + lesson that will not soon be forgotten by that community. The + laws are adequate; we simply require efficient and faithful + officers to execute them; and as a legislative body we have done + our duty in condemning this outrage, the punishment of which we + leave to another tribunal--the Nemesis of justice. + + + THE HIPPODROME + + SECOND DAYS EXHIBITION! + + _They go for a Reporter And Catch a Tartar!_ + + _Large Attendance but Poor Performance._ + + The exhibition at this place of amusement yesterday was of only + an indifferent character. Unless the managers improve the show in + some way, it will hardly draw for many more performances. True, + the tricks of the acrobats are worthy of mention; the riding + passable, and the performance of the numerous ring-masters + tolerably creditable; but the "dagger pitchers" and + "revolver-swallowers," and inferior parts assigned to the clowns + in the ring, were altogether too limited to please the + amusement-loving public. There must be more robber declarations + and full-blooded excited performances anxious for bloody fames, + or the thing will be a failure. This pretense of fight won't do; + there must be a regular shooting and dying for principle, or we + shall pronounce your cheap show a humbug; and some of you at + least know that no third rate "Punch and Judy" exhibition will be + tolerated by the party in power in South Carolina. With this + warning and introduction, we proceed to give an account of the + performance. + + The mob was called to order precisely at 1 o'clock, temporary + President Swails in the chair. The proceedings of the previous + day were read from _The Union-Herald_ in his hand, and called the + attention of the assemblage to an article in that paper touching + upon the subject of the raising of a chair by some member for the + purpose of annihilating the present Governor of South Carolina. + Smalls succeeded in raising a turbulent discussion about nothing, + and a general discussion of the subject by the windy members of + the convention, for some two hours, in which many of the "end + men" took part. + + The more intelligent members of the hippodrome took no part in + the discussion, with the exception of the Governor, who, in a + very dignified manner, informed them that he had feared no bodily + harm from any of them; that he had witnessed such scenes before, + and was quietly engaged in preparation for any trap that might be + sprung upon the decent members of the convention, after the riot + should have spent itself. + + At this point, Maxwell, the tragedian from Marlboro, obtained the + floor. He is one of the most amusing characters connected with + the big show. He hadn't "seen any chairs raised," and, folding + his arms and throwing himself back in a tragic and majestic + position, said: "I, gentlemen, was the coolest of the cool." This + remark, brought the house down. The worst of them were compelled + to laugh; especially those who know he never keeps cool. He wound + up his harangue by saying that the day was fast approaching when + men would seek their rights on the ... face to face with + newspaper men ... got the floor.... + + After other speeches, of a like nature, Captain Canton, city + editor of _The Union-Herald_, stepped in front of the reporters + table, read the article, and explained to them how he obtained + his information and what he saw with his own eyes, winding up, + after being interrupted several times, by telling them that + "newspaper men were abundantly able to take care of themselves." + + The discussion continued until Elliott moved that the whole + matter be laid upon the table, which was agreed to. + + Mr. Keegan, the correspondent of _The Washington Chronicle_, had + listened to their foul language of denunciation of himself and + others of his profession, and seeing the question closed, the + vilified correspondent, sought his hat, and turning round to the + assembled mob, told them they had denounced him like a dog, and + had denied him the right to defend himself. This remark of the + correspondent cowed the more ignorant portion of the gang, and + the resolution was withdrawn, which permitted him to explain to + them as the representative of a Republican paper, a gentleman + and a soldier; that he had fought to free them; fought against + his own father, who owned 150 of their kind, and was a Major in + the 5th Louisiana Regiment; that he fought for principle, while + his father fought for property; that he had been sent to Columbia + to report their doings and sayings, and to see if there was a + possible hope of good government in South Carolina. + + This stopped the war upon the newspaper men. We devoutly hope + that when he goes back across the Potomac he may.... + + + ROBERTSON'S EXPULSION + + AN INTERESTING REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE + + _The School-Book Culprit's Speech in His Own Defense--His Attack + Upon Mr. Cathcart and The News and Courier--A Pleasant Colloquy + Between Hamilton and Leslie--The Close of the Discussion and Its + Result_ + + (From our special correspondent) + + Columbia, S. C. February 25.--This has been a regular field day + in the House, very nearly the entire session being devoted to a + discussion of the report of the committee on privileges and + elections concerning the guilt and expulsion of J. D. Robertson, + of Beaufort. + + Mr. Crittenden resumed, in a review of the evidence. He briefly + reviewed his own remarks of yesterday, and then proceeded to + quote from the letters of Robertson, while so endeavoring to + benefit the children of South Carolina, had never informed the + commission of his plans up to December 30th. One point Mr. + Robertson had made was that Ivison, Blakeman & Co. were + disappointed and for that reason they had made an attack upon + him. This, Mr. Crittenden said, was too thin, as the publishers + referred to were not that kind of men. He then concluded by + saying that he hoped the time had come when the people of South + Carolina would show to the world that the time had passed when + the adventurers could come from other portions of the country, + and with professions of love for the negroes and children of the + State, take advantage of their own pockets. The colored people + had learned better sense than to trust such people any longer. + + Curtis, who was acting speaker, here asked what construction the + House placed on Act 2, section 16 of the constitution, which + relates to the number of votes required to expel a member, from + the floor. Mr. Orr held that the Supreme Court had decided that + two-thirds of the number present were competent to expel. Some + one else claimed that it required two-thirds of all the members + on roll. The speaker here cited a case in the House Journals in + which it was decided that two-thirds of the members present was + sufficient. Mr. Brayton stated that two-thirds of the House and + two-thirds of the Senate were necessary to impeach a judge, and + he thought that as much consideration should be shown to the + members of the House. In justice to themselves they ought to + insist upon the passage of the following resolution: + + Resolved, that it is the sense of this House that in order to + expel a member a two-thirds vote of all the members elected is + required. + + Freeman, of Charleston, spoke against the resolution, taking the + same ground as that held by Mr. Orr. + + Bampfield rose to a point of order that it was the duty of the + chair to decide. If necessary an appeal could be had. + + The chair stated that if he decided it would be in favor of the + view that it required two-thirds of the members present. + + Freeman thought it very strange that no defense had been offered + by the friends of the accused, and proposed to amend Brayton's + resolution by striking out "elected" and inserting "present." + + Mr. Orr said that no resolution of ruling of the chair was + necessary as they had the decision of the Supreme Court on the + matter, and that was their law. Richardson's Supreme Court + Reports, volume 4, has already decided this question, and he + didn't see the use of construing the law when it was already + construed by such authority. + + Chancellor Johnson stated that the matter was purely a + constitutional question, and he quoted from the Constitution to + show that the House had the right to decide all such questions, + for itself. + + On motion the resolution of Mr. Brayton was laid on the table. + + Hirsch then called for a ruling from the chair, and the chair + decided that it would require two-thirds of the members present. + The Saint here became very much agitated, and requested that he + be allowed to speak in his own behalf, as no one else saw fit to + take up his cause. The request was granted, and he then spoke as + follows: + + Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I will in the outset + simply draw your attention to the fact that my accuser has never + put his foot on the soil of South Carolina. If the House will not + defend me the courts will. No witnesses have been called here, + and when I asked you for your protection I am taunted with the + fact that I have offered no defence. If I had been accused in a + trial justice's court I would have had the proofs, and would have + the right to meet my accuser face to face. But here, when my + reputation and the reputation of my innocent children are at + stake, I am proved beyond doubt, and by respectable witnesses, to + be a wilful falsifier and perverter of the truth. Take notice of + this telegram from an honorable house, Messrs. Armstrong, + Scribner & Co.: "We have heard threats that the books chosen + shall not succeed, and that you shall be ruined." This is not the + first time that Ivison, Blakeman & Co., have made a similar fight + to this in the North. They have done so hundreds of times. I ask + the patience of the House, which has my future weal or woe in + their hands, to hear me yet further. Strike if you will but for + Heaven's sake hear me. Another curious phase of this matter is + that the house of Ivison, Blakeman & Co., when it suits their + convenience, do not hesitate to publish confidential + communications. And I would say here that a member of this House + has done the same thing, viz, has divulged to the press what took + place in the committee room, for his own ends. + + Mr. Orr here rose and said that if Robertson referred to him he + told a malicious falsehood, and that he would get his pay for it. + + Robertson said he had no doubt he would get paid for it; that he + had not mentioned Orr's name, but if he saw fit to appropriate + the remark he could not help it. + + The speaker here interrupted, and put an end to the controversy. + + Robertson continued: That he had married into one of the best + families of the State, and that his blood was mingled with + theirs, &c. + + Holland, a coal-black representative, for what purpose or + actuated by what impulse must ever remain a mystery, here + interrupted, and asked if Robertson referred to him. Mr. + Robertson said no, he did not refer to him. This produced a roar + of laughter all over the House which the speaker had great + difficulty in suppressing. + + Robertson continued: I have written some foolish things, it is + true, but I am done with Cathcart and Ivison, Blakeman & Co. + Remember the words of the Holy Writ: "Judge not that ye be not + judged." I will now refer to the letter which the gentleman from + Greenville rolled as a sweet morsel under his tongue yesterday. + That letter was confidential, and you must remember that all this + trouble is made up out of confidential letters. Which of you + would be willing to have his confidential letters published? + Concerning Guerad, I certainly did offer to help him get a + situation, as he was worthy and needy. I was asked by him and + endeavored to get it for him; and who would not do the same? Mr. + Robertson then referred to his letter in _The News and Courier_, + which, he said, the publishers of the paper had done him the + justice to publish, and which contained a full account of the + whole matter in plain terms, without any attempt to conceal or + pervert the facts. + + Mr. Robertson's time here expired, but on motion of Whipper he + was allowed fifteen minutes longer. He continued: Recollect that + two constructions can be placed upon this matter. One will ruin + me and the other will not. Choose between them. + + Hamilton interrupted. What particular portion of the letters do + you deny? + + Robertson. What I object to in this investigation is that copies + of letters are given here purporting to be mine, when I cannot + tell whether they are mine or not. Gentlemen, what can I say + more? I built the first schoolhouse that was ever built in my + district, and supported the first teacher we had to teach the + colored children in it. And now, gentlemen for this I am to be + expelled; expelled because I have labored for the good of the + children of the State; because in my anxiety I wrote letters + which the secretary of the commission ought to have written + himself. Gentlemen I am done. "Let him that is without sin among + you cast the first stone." + + Hamilton. Keep down then, it is where you belong, and if you had + your deserts you ought to be down and out of the House. Hamilton + then went on, saying that he proposed to divest himself of all + personal feelings. He proposed to speak as he thought the people + would have him speak--justly. The first ground that he took + against Robertson was that he believed him guilty and thought + that every man in South Carolina believed the same and I will say + as he says, "Out of thy mouth thou shalt be convicted." No + private confidential letters could benefit the children of the + State; they benefit only the man who writes them. These letters + undoubtedly were written to benefit himself, not the children. I + express the sentiment of my people when I say that he is guilty + of murder, not of manslaughter. This man and such as he have + done an immense harm, and it is time we were getting rid of them. + We can't hold that class of men and be successful in politics. It + is with pain that I utter what I do. If this were some other + occasion, and the gentleman was from some other county, I ... of + ... Cathcart. Hayne then went into a review of the testimony, + concluding with the remark that as to the expulsion of Mr. + Robertson bringing disgrace upon his children he did not deny; it + was mournful that the sins of the fathers should be visited upon + their children. + + Black ... Davis then got up, and, as usual, talked a great deal + and said very little. The general tenor of the harangue, however, + was that if they expelled Robertson they would establish a + precedent that would work harm for the party. They would be + opening a door that they might not be able to shut when they + wanted to. That Republican material was scarce, and if they + punished this man it would discourage other white carpet-baggers + from coming down and help lead the party in this State. + + Freeman of Charleston, then followed in a strong speech against + Robertson. He said that the question was one of peculiar + significance. It was whether the colored men of the State were + able to lead themselves, and capable of upholding their + self-respect. He had remained silent until he had heard the + defence entirely exhausted, and he was forced to say that the + accused had in his defence done nothing but make an admission + that the charges were true. He then read a letter of Robertson's + dated June 2d. This, he said, was a confidential letter, and no + public servant had the right to write such confidential letters + to put money in their own pockets. If he (Robertson) knew that it + was the character of these Northern firms to defraud the people + of the different States, as he says he did, then why did he go to + them? If he knew that they were swindlers, why did he go to them + to strike a bargain for the State. Robertson had cast an insult + upon the colored men that would not be tolerated by any other + race upon the face of the globe. He had flung out to the world + the insinuation--nay, the assertion--that the colored members of + the Legislature were for sale on every question. He hoped that + the colored members would assert their self-respect and hurl back + the charge with scorn, and show to the world that they had some + sense of honor, and will not be duped by unprincipled + carpet-baggers any longer. + + Whipper then followed in a harangue in support of Robertson, + taking the old ground that the letters were not certified to, + and incompetent as testimony, &c., and wound up with a customary + slash at _The News and Courier_. + + Mr. Brayton, of Aiken, followed Whipper in a strong technical + argument in support of Robertson, in which he claimed that the + form of trial was illegal, and the testimony was insufficient and + ex parte; not touching upon the guilt or innocence of Robertson + at all. + + The accusers and defenders had exhausted their rhetoric and the + patience of their audience and themselves, so a vote was taken on + the question of expulsion, and resulted as follows--56 yeas and + 25 nays. A few moments later and the hall was silent and in + darkness. + + Nesbit and Pinckney, however, it seems, hadn't had enough of the + fight inside, but went to abusing each other about the course + they had pursued. Pinckney voted for expulsion and Nesbit against + it, and after some words they went to bruising each other in a + way that must have shocked the effigy of the father of their + country, around whose bronze form they shinned so mildly. The + entertainment broke up, however, before the gladiators had + entirely demolished each other. + + The discussion of the Robertson matter in the House, if it has + done nothing else, has very clearly demonstrated that the + majority of the colored people of the State are tired of their + carpet-bagger leaders, and do not propose to be led by them any + longer. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] These articles were arranged by Monroe N. Work. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + + _Fifty Years in the Gospel Ministry._ By THEOPHILUS GOULD + STEWARD. The African Methodist Episcopal Book Concern, 631 Pine + Street, Philadelphia, 1922. Pp. 520. + +This is an autobiography covering the period from 1864 to 1914. It +carries an introduction by Dr. Reverdy C. Ransom, the editor of the +_African Methodist Episcopal Church Review_. Inasmuch as it is the +record of a distinguished minister in one of the leading Negro +denominations, it throws much light on this period, not only in +ecclesiastical affairs but in matters touching the life and +development of this race during that period. This is apparent to one +observing that the book covers the author's twenty-seven years in the +pastorate, sixteen years as a chaplain in the United States army, +seven years as a professor in Wilberforce University, two of his trips +to Europe and one to Mexico. The book is illustrated, but it has no +index. + +Taking up the work of the General Conference of 1864, the author says +much to give the reader an insight into the characters and efforts of +the leading churchmen of his denomination at that time. Among those +passing in review are Bishops Quinn, Payne, and Nazrey, and others +like H. M. Turner and Alexander W. Wayman who later became bishops of +that denomination. Then follows his trip South, when the author had +the opportunity to participate in the early efforts for the uplift of +the freedmen, serving in Georgia and in South Carolina. He then tells +how he arose to a position of usefulness and later served larger +groups of communicants in Philadelphia and the District of Columbia. +Referring to his record as a chaplain in the United States army, the +author shows a larger acquaintance with the leading Negro statesmen +through whom he obtained the position. The account of his services in +this capacity, both in this country and abroad, and especially in the +Philippine Islands, sets forth information, not only as to what that +portion of the world was doing, but the reaction of this educated +Negro to this panorama. Other interesting experiences appear in the +account of his extensive travels. + +The value of the book is incalculable when one takes into +consideration the dearth of such literature bearing on Negroes. This +work takes rank with the recent volume of Bishop Coppin entitled +_Unwritten History_, for certainly there are to be found therein +interesting romances taken from the life of the Negro and recorded by +one of the race in the manner in which these things were impressed +upon him and found expression in his mind. This is the sort of +literature for which the public has patiently waited and it is +devoutly to be desired that other churchmen may find time to leave a +written record like these of Bishop Coppin and Chaplain Steward. For +anyone desirous of studying the history of the Negro in its various +ramifications, such works are indispensable. + + + _The Negro in Literature and Art._ By BENJAMIN BRAWLEY. Duffield + and Company, New York, 1921. Pp. 197. + +This is a revised edition of Professor Brawley's work which appeared +in 1918. It follows the general outline of the first edition and sets +forth additional facts but not sufficient to justify this claim to +revision. The work is biographical, largely devoted to the narrative +of the careers of Phyllis Wheatley, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles W. +Chesnutt, W. E. B. Dubois, William Stanley Braithwaite, Frederick +Douglass, Booker Washington, Henry O. Tanner, Meta Warrick Fuller, and +Charles S. Gilpin. The unsatisfactory short sketch of Gilpin +constitutes the best claim of the work to that of a revised edition. + +While this work does not show by historic or philosophical development +the evolution of the Negro mind as expressed in the achievements of +the race in literature and art, it has some value. To have a publisher +place before the public the sketches of so many prominent Negroes who +might otherwise remain unknown to the public is a service to be +appreciated. The world has too long considered the Negro a human +machine restricted to drudgery. Any successful effort, therefore, to +bring before the public from time to time the achievements of worthy +Negroes, although it may be a repetition of what may be well known to +the better informed few, must be welcomed as an undertaking having a +direct bearing on popularizing the record of a neglected seventh of +the population of the world. + +Let us hope, however, that in the near future some other author, +grasping more correctly the needs of the time, may set forth in +literary form the interesting story of how history has been influenced +by the Negro during the various stages of the world's progress and +especially how the Negro of today functions efficiently in the life of +Europe and America. The public will welcome too a work treating the +eloquent appeals of Negro orators, the beautiful poetry voicing the +strivings of this oppressed group, and its peculiar philosophy of life +constructed while enduring the ordeal of racial proscription. + + + _The Free Negro in Maryland, 1634-1860._ By JAMES M. WRIGHT. + Longmans, Green and Company, New York; P. S. King and Son, Ltd., + London, 1921. Pp. 362. + +This is a study in a neglected field of American history. Hitherto +very little has been done to inform the world as to the actual +contribution of the free Negro prior to the Civil War. Few persons +realize that there were half a million such Negroes in the United +States at that time. It is a mistake, therefore, to consider this +better selected group of the race so insignificant as not to influence +the history of the communities in which they lived. A number of +histories have been written since the Civil War, however, with a view +to meeting this need for a treatment of this neglected group. There +have appeared John H. Russell's _Free Negro in Virginia_ and +Brackett's _The Negro in Maryland_. But unfortunately such works have +been too rigidly restricted to the discussion of the Negro's legal, +social, and religious status as determined by the laws enacted for +these purposes in the South rather than to the study of the free Negro +himself. As it is well known that many of these laws were never +enforced, we are still at sea as to what the free Negro actually was +and what he was doing. + +While Professor Wright has not altogether succeeded in meeting the +requirements for this more scientific study of the free Negro, he has +done his task much better than those who have hitherto invaded this +field. In addition to covering the ground of other such studies he has +undertaken to give the historic background and by statistical method +he has presented valuable information as to the apprenticeship of +Negro children, the occupations and wages of free Negroes, their +acquisition of property, their education and their religious +strivings. + +In his long-drawn-out conclusion he does not seem to have an +altogether favorable impression as to the role played by the free +Negro in the State of Maryland. He shows that the Negro was led to +despise himself in keeping with the policy of regarding the white man +as the superior and the Negro as the inferior. Professor Wright says, +however, that the perpetuation of such a handicap for the most needy +part of the population was probably not sound social policy. Upon the +whites the effects were first to cause at least a formal realization +of race solidarity, and secondly, to intensify class lines within the +ranks, although not to define the "poor whites" as rigidly as in +certain of the sister slave States. On the whole, Professor Wright +believes that the free Negro was an asset to the State, but one laden +with many of the characteristics of a liability. "The managers of the +corporate body to which he (the Negro) belonged," says the writer, +"would have been relieved, could they have written him as an item off +their accounts. Nevertheless the sympathetic personal attachment of +many whites to individual negro servants, whether slave or free, was +permanent." Thus ends an informing book with several misconceptions, +but nevertheless fraught with valuable facts. + + + _Batouala._ By RENE MARAN. Albin Michel, Editor. Paris, 1921. Pp. + 189. + +This is a novel which was awarded the Goncourt prize in 1921. Inasmuch +as it is socially historical, it contains many facts throwing light on +the conditions of Africa. Born on the Island of Martinique where the +conditions of colonial rule were different from those obtaining in +Africa, the scenes of which inspired this indictment of the white +man's civilization, Rene Maran doubtless found the situation there so +revolting that it evoked from him this work. Without concealing the +faults of the natives, Maran discusses the robber concession companies +in Africa, forced labor, high taxes and exorbitant prices for goods +sold to the natives. Inasmuch as there were no railroads or "pack +animals," the Negroes themselves were impressed into a "pack-man +system" which together with the Tsetse fly has worked havoc in Africa. +The author maintains that this "pack carrying" has caused the death of +more than one million Negroes and cites as evidence that in one town +the blacks rebelled against this portage service because it was +considered better to die than to undergo such a hardship. The book is +intended to emphasize the importance of remedying these abuses and +suggests as the proper reform that the concessions granted these +private companies should be withdrawn and that nature should be given +the opportunity to repair the damage done by white men. + +This is a stirring note from a man of African blood speaking for +Africa from the point of view of the native himself. It is a distinct +contribution in that we have a different view from that appearing in +the works of white men who have travelled through that continent, +seeing it from the outside and then only "through a glass darkly." The +cause of truth in that quarter is now fortunate in having there a +number of intelligent Africans who, after having been trained in the +mission schools and in the best universities of Europe and America, +are now beginning to give the other phase of the social, economic, and +political questions in Africa. Many of the conditions which have long +obtained in that continent have continued for the reason that persons +on the outside who might have been struck with holy horror, had such +been known, have never learned and, therefore, can hardly realize that +such appalling conditions exist. For this valuable contribution, not +only from the literary point of view, but from that of the +investigator of social and economic problems, the public must feel +indebted to Rene Maran. + + + + +NOTES + + +The first Spring Conference of the Association for the Study of Negro +Life and History was held in the city of New York on April 3d and 4th. +There was a preliminary mass meeting on Sunday, the 2d, at the Mother +A. M. E. Zion Church, where Mr. James F. Morton, Prof. John R. +Hawkins, and Dr. C. G. Woodson delivered addresses which were +enthusiastically received. + +On Monday and Tuesday, the 3d and 4th, when the actual meeting began, +a larger number of persons from afar were present. The day sessions +were held at the 135th Street Branch Library where, on Tuesday +morning, Dr. George E. Haynes, Secretary of the Race Commission of the +Federal Council of the Churches of Christ, opened the discussion of +the question "Why one race should know the other one." Other persons +participating in the discussion and giving additional information as +to the bright prospects for the cooperation of the races in the +country were Bishop R. A. Carter, and Cleveland Allen who availed +himself of the opportunity to emphasize the importance of placing the +bust of Frederick Douglass in the New York Hall of Fame. + +At the first evening session held at the Concord Baptist Church in +Brooklyn the following evening there was a large attendance. The +meeting was opened by preliminary remarks by the Director. He was +followed by Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard University who +delivered an informing address on "Involuntary Servitude." Remarks as +to the importance of this organization and how the work may be more +successfully prosecuted were made by Bishop R. A. Carter of the C. M. +E. Church, Bishop Lee of the A. M. E. Z. Church and by Dr. George +Frazier Miller, Dr. H. H. Proctor, Dr. W. H. Brown, and Rev. J. B. +Adams. + +On the following day, the morning session opened with a discussion on +"How to promote the Study of Negro History in the Schools," led by Mr. +Thomas C. Williams of the Bordentown Industrial School. He brought +forward valuable statistics out of his own experience as a teacher in +this field and presented several suggestions and plans for the +promotion of this work. There followed some discussion of an informing +nature by Dr. I. Garland Penn, Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal +Church Board of Education for Negroes, and by Dr. W. Y. Bell, who +spoke of his researches in the sources bearing on the history of the +Negro in Africa. + +The Conference closed with an evening session at the Mother A. M. E. +Zion Church where addresses were delivered by Dr. I. Garland Penn and +Dr. C. G. Woodson. The address of Dr. Penn dealt primarily with the +Negro as a factor in church history. Beginning with the early +struggles of the denominations and their relations to the Negroes, Dr. +Penn enlightened the audience on facts which are not generally known +to the public. He closed his informing address with the expression of +faith in the importance of the church as a factor in the progress of +the Negro. The address by the Director had to do primarily with the +history of the Negro by cycles, showing the varying attitude of the +white man toward the Negro and the successful efforts of the Negroes +to rise in the midst of trying difficulties and to convince the world +of their worth. On the whole, this first Spring Conference was a +success and justified itself as an innovation. + + * * * * * + +The Quadrennial Address of the Bishops of the Colored Methodist +Episcopal Church to the Fourteenth Session of the General Conference, +held in St. Louis on the 3d of May, contains not only the information +bearing on the church but a valuable retrospect as to the conditions +among the Negroes after the World War. Among other topics are +mentioned racial retrospect, race prejudice and race superiority, the +aftermath of the war, the church and world conditions, and the +reaction of white Christianity to lawlessness. + + + + +THE JOURNAL + +OF + +NEGRO HISTORY + +VOL. VII--OCTOBER, 1922--NO. 4 + + + + +BRAZILIAN AND UNITED STATES SLAVERY COMPARED + +A GENERAL VIEW + + +Whether the Teutonic races are superior to the Latin races is a mooted +question, subject to prejudiced points of view. However, there is no +doubt that there actually exists a great difference in the +institutions of religion, law, language, customs, fashions, and moral +precepts between, let us say, the Anglo-Saxon and the Portuguese. In +other words, the English nation has evolved an English way of living, +just as the Portuguese have adapted themselves to governing society, +attacking nature in their own way. + +Now assume that these two nationalities with their unlike national +habits and traditions are planted in the new world. Assume the one as +living in a warm temperate clime, and the other under equatorial +conditions. Assume that the first nationality is self-sufficient to +establish a colony, and opposed to intermarriage with other races; and +then imagine the second case, where there exist a few colonists in +womanless settlements with consequent marriages between the native and +European common, and a large half-breed population as the result. With +such diversities in national character, in the make-up of the +individuals, in natural and social environment, could we expect the +two peoples to react similarly to a given social institution? No +wonder then, that slavery in the English colonies of North America was +very much unlike the institution as it existed in Brazil. + +Brazil was being tilled by slave labor long before the settlement of +Jamestown, and still boasted of hordes of slaves on its plantations as +late as a quarter century after the Emancipation Proclamation in the +United States had been issued. As early as 1585, Pernambuco could +claim 10,000 African slaves and Bahia something like three or four +thousand,[1] whereas the first shipment of slaves to the English +colonies in America was introduced into Jamestown harbor by a Dutch +ship as late as August, 1619.[2] + +In Brazil the slave trade received an impetus as a result of royal +restrictions and Jesuits' opposition to the enslavement of Indians, +thereby compelling the more law-abiding and docile settlers to turn +from exploiting the native labor and to seek its labor supply from +Africa.[3] The labor demands of the great sugar plantations, cotton +fields, tobacco lands, and later the mines, kept the slave poachers on +the Guinea and Angola Coast busy, so that by the middle of the +eighteenth century slaves were entering Brazil on a vast scale. From +1759 to 1803, according to Keller, the colonial registers give as +consigned from Angola to Brazil 642,000 Negroes. Thus, by 1800 fully +one half of the total Brazilian population of 3,200,000 was slave, and +by 1818 there were 1,930,000 slaves besides some 526,000 free Negroes +and mulattoes, in all about sixty-three per cent of the total.[4] By +the middle of the nineteenth century there was something like three +millions of slaves out of a population of seven and a half millions. +Lord Palmerston estimated the total number of slaves in the sixties as +being 3,000,000;[5] whereas a writer in the "Revue des deux Mondes" +puts the number between 2,500,000 and 4,000,000.[6] Dawson quotes the +number of slaves in 1856 as being approximately 2,500,000 or forty per +cent of the total population.[7] Apparently there is no actual census +available on the number of slaves for this period. Needless to say, +the slaves easily comprised from forty to fifty per cent of the +population, and if we add all those of mixed blood we have a majority +of the inhabitants of Brazil. + +Now let us turn to the Old South. Slavery we know progressed somewhat +in the southern colonies, and to a negligible extent in the New +England colonies. The "Asiento" in 1713, by which Great Britain at the +close of the War of Spanish Succession secured the right to supply the +colonies of Spain with 4,800 slaves annually,[8] augmented the slave +trade throughout the new world. Negroes were in demand in the rice +areas, cotton fields, and tobacco plantations. In 1710 there were only +50,000 slaves in the United States, the number increased to 220,000 in +1750, to 464,000 in 1770,[9] until by the year 1790 they numbered +697,624.[10] This number constituted one-fifth of our total +population. + +Slavery, however, was not a venerated institution in the Southland in +the eighteenth century. In fact, it was rather supported through the +force of habit and the fear of the results of emancipation. Then came +Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin. The South went cotton mad. +The United States now became the world's producer of raw cotton. +Henceforth, slavery was held "the indispensable economic instrument of +southern society."[11] + +In the first half of the nineteenth century, then, American slavery +was at its height. By 1850 the slaves numbered 3,204,313, about a few +thousand less than Brazil, which at the opening of the century had so +far led it in the number of slaves held.[12] Blake, writing in 1857, +shows that by the last census, however, unlike Brazil, the proportion +of black to white was not great, being in the neighborhood of fourteen +per cent. However, taking the nation in sections, the ratio of black +to white in the South was one to two, whereas in the North it was but +one to sixty-eight.[13] + +As to the extent of slavery in the two nations, in the United States +slavery was largely confined to the semi-tropical country south of the +Pennsylvania-Maryland line and the Ohio River. A slight form of +domestic slavery had existed in New England, and to a greater degree +in the Middle Atlantic Colonies, but was virtually unknown in the +mines and cattle ranges of the West. In Brazil slavery existed +practically everywhere the Europeans settled. There was no +geographical section, whose sentiment and economic interests were +antagonistic to slave holding. However, it was true that about the +plantations of Pernambuco and Bahia slavery existed on a far more +extensive scale than in the southern province of Rio Grande De Sul, +where slavery was practised at a minimum. + +In both the United States and Brazil there were diversified products +of slave labor. In Brazil sugar was the great slave labor staple; in +America, cotton. Besides cotton, the American slave was the cultivator +of tobacco, rice, sugar, hemp, and molasses. In Brazil the other +products were tobacco, cotton, and cattle, in addition to some cacao +and rubber. + +In the United States there were two types of slavery, one the storied +domestic slavery of the towns, and the southern country seat, where +the Negro was usually benevolently treated and loved as though one of +the family. This type of slavery was most common along the Mason-Dixon +line. The other type was determined by the large scale enterprises in +the cotton and rice fields in the "southern" South, where absentee +ownership was often the rule. Here frequently masters knew little +about their slaves, and the driving of the mobs of laborers gave +Harriet Beecher Stowe, no doubt, her concept of a Simon Legree.[14] In +Brazil slaves did every type of work. First of all, they furnished the +labor for the great sugar plantations of Pernambuco and also the +cotton districts of the north. In the provinces of the south of +Brazil, contrary to conditions in the United States, they were +employed on cattle ranches. In Minas Geraes they were utilized in the +mines. In the cities they carried on all the manual and menial work. + +Henderson tells us of his observations of the African in urban +occupations during the first decade of the last century in Rio. He +relates that owners would send out slaves to do work for other +employers, and to turn over their wages to their idle masters. He +relates that masters sent slaves in pairs and threes, bearing baskets +on their heads, soliciting work. This type was called "Negroes de +ganho." Others bore great tubs on their heads with which they drew +water from fountains to supply the inhabitants. At dusk the street was +crowded with slaves carrying the refuse of the city to the dumps. +Slave labor removed the imported goods from the docks. Few had the +help of wagons. The English had tried to introduce carts to help the +toiling slaves at the wharves, but the custom house clerks would have +none of them, as they were making a "haul" on the city by hiring out +their slaves, and wagons would lessen the amount of work to be +done.[15] + +In the United States slaves were owned by planters and private +individuals exclusively. In Brazil besides the planter class, large +plantations were owned by such religious orders as the Benedictine and +Carmelite friars, who treated their slaves with the greatest regard +for comfort and ease.[16] Furthermore, there were slaves belonging to +the government. As late as the outbreak of the American Civil War, +the annual report of the Brazilian minister of finance shows more than +1,500 government slaves.[17] One thing in favor of Brazil, however, +was that the horrible shortcomings of absentee ownership on large +plantations did not exist to any extent, since most of the proprietors +resided on their own respective estates.[18] + +Summing up the general condition of the Negro slave in both lands, we +notice that (1) Brazilian slavery antedated and postulated American +slavery; (2) that there were a larger number of slaves and a greater +proportion to the total population in Brazil than in America; (3) that +Brazilian slavery received its impetus through the cutting off of the +native labor supply and the growth of sugar cultivation; whereas +American slavery was stimulated by the invention of the cotton gin; +(4) that in both countries slaves were engaged in diversified +occupations, except that in Brazil besides agriculture and domestic +pursuits, slaves were employed in almost every variety of unskilled +and semi-skilled labor; (5) that in Brazil slavery was homogeneously +distributed rather than in sectional patches; and (6), finally, that +both the state and religious bodies owned slaves in Brazil. + + +THE SOCIAL SIDE OF SLAVERY + +The living conditions of the Negroes in both the United States and +Brazil varied in relation to the type of work. Domestic slaves in the +former were generally treated well in the households of their masters. +In Brazil the domestic slave was usually a Creole.[19] But our +interest centers largely on the manner by which the _agricultural_ +slave lived, for after all, in him lies the crux to the whole problem. +In both Brazil and America slaves were quartered on the great +plantations in rude huts. Their diet was simple. Corn meal, bacon, and +sweet potatoes were chief items in the diet of the American slave. In +Brazil the slave was fed farina (the flour of the mandioca root), salt +fish or salt meat, sometimes bacon, and in the mining districts corn +flour. In both countries the slave was rudely clad. In Brazil his +outfit consisted of a shirt and pants of cotton and a straw hat.[20] + +In the United States slaves on the large plantations began work at +sunrise, and toiled to the crack of the whip on the great plantations +until sundown. Women and children, only half grown, were compelled to +do their share in the fields. In Brazil conditions generally were +easier for the slave. The Portuguese planter was perhaps less anxious +to "drive" the work out of his bondsmen than the more enterprising +Anglo-Saxon. Accordingly, we are told that at three in the afternoon, +at least at Pernambuco, the heart of the sugar belt, work ceased, and +the slave had the remainder of the day to himself, time which many +slaves employed in cultivating a private plot of their own, hoping +some day to earn enough thereby to purchase their freedom. They, like +their northern brothers, were supervised in the field by a "feitor" or +taskmaster, usually white, though frequently a Creole, mulatto, +freedman, or even in cases, another slave.[22] + +Slaves in America welcomed Sundays and the days around Christmas as +periods of rest and recreation.[23] In Brazil not only did the slaves +have Sundays and Christmas, but something like over thirty holidays on +the Catholic calendar. Incidentally, showing there was still a breath +of humanity in a stifling age of oppression, it is declared in the +"Correio Braziliense" for December, 1815, on page 738, that although +the Portuguese had ceased to stop work on many of these holidays, the +thirty-five holidays were still enforced as days of cessation of +labor in Brazil in order that the slaves might still enjoy the days of +rest.[24] + +The Negro slave in Africa, according to DuBois, lived generally a +polygamous family life. When he came to the Southern Colonies his +whole family life was made irregular and unhappy, due to the evil +conditions of slavery there. The slave might marry on the plantation, +but the very next day he might be sold, and separated from his wife +and parents. The auction block is the foulest stain on the whole +parasitic institution of slavery in the United States. In Brazil the +sale of slaves from one master to another apparently was never as +extensive as in our own country.[25] Moreover, the sanctity of +marriage was far more highly regarded in Brazil than in the United +States. A slave, who wished to be married had first to learn the +requisite number of prayers; he must understand the confession, and +receive the sacraments. Then, having received the consent of the +master, he was married by the vicar. A slave might marry a freeman. If +the husband were free and the wife slave, the child of the union was a +slave; vice versa, a slave father and free mother produced a free +child.[26] + +In language, we find in both the Old South and Brazil, that the +Africans soon forgot their native dialects, and adopted the tongue of +their new home, and their language did not materially influence that +of their masters in America. + +Religion was a vital factor in slave life. In the Old South, religion +was at first discouraged among the slaves. There was a reason for +this, for masters knew that nowhere in Christian teachings were there +provisions for enslaving Christians.[27] Never was religion encouraged +to a great degree. In fact, as late as 1831, Virginia passed a +measure, declaring that neither free nor slave Negro might "preach, +exhort, or teach in any Negro assemblage." Nevertheless, religious +sentiment waxed ever stronger. Beginning with the taboos of the +deported tribal priest, and gradually becoming influenced by +Christianity, the great Negro Church[28] grew. Sometimes the Negroes +were allowed to worship under the same roof as their white +superiors,[29] but they usually had to steal away to some secret place +for this purpose. In Brazil, however, Christianization of the slaves +was an essential. Before the Negroes in Angola (Portuguese West +Africa) embarked on the slave vessel for Brazil, they were baptized +"en masse." Arriving in the new world, they were branded with the +crown, which proved that they had been baptized and that the king's +duty on them had been paid. Next, they had to learn the doctrines of +the Church and the duties of the religion they were about to embrace. +Slaves from the other parts of Africa were Christianized after a year +following arrival, during which time they had to learn certain +prayers.[30] Most interesting is the existence among the Brazilian +slaves of their own religious brotherhoods, to join which was the +ambition of every Negro slave. These brotherhoods had their own +versions of the Virgin Mary and Our Lady of the Rosary had her hands +and face painted black.[31] + + +SLAVE RIGHTS + +Properly speaking, a true slave has no legal rights. Perhaps the words +privileges and permits are happier. At any rate, the obligations and +restrictions in the Old South were far more stringent than those on +the plantations and urban districts of Brazil. Privileges and +restrictions for slaves in the South varied according to the laws of +the States; whereas in Brazil the centralized colonial government +tended to unify what slavery legislation there was. + +In both countries, theoretically, a master was liable for +indiscriminately killing his slaves or for practising cruelty. To be +sure, the penalty was slight for so great an offense, but public +opinion in Brazil, especially, more than once pointed its finger at +the brutal master. In practice, even the slightest defense of a +maltreated slave was rarely heard before the magistrates, for no slave +in the case of the South could bear witness against a white. In Brazil +the ouvidor of the province was the one to punish the cruel master, +but then, who would dare report?[32] In Brazil, if a slave was unruly +he was to be turned over to state authorities, and duly given a public +punishment.[33] + +In the Old South it was possible under certain circumstances for the +slave to buy his own freedom, that is, if the master was kindly +disposed. In Brazil, it is commonly affirmed that the master was +obliged to free his slave if the latter could furnish a sum equivalent +to his market price.[34] As a matter of practice, it was easy for the +master to deny freedom to his slave under such conditions, and the +slave for lack of strength would have to accept the outcome meekly. +Furthermore, Christie, British envoy extraordinary and minister +plenipotentiary in Brazil during the period of the American Civil War, +in a letter to Earl Russell in June, 1861, declares that no such law +actually exists on the statute books of Brazil, as that the slave has +the right to appear before a magistrate, have his price fixed and to +purchase his freedom.[35] + +Moreover, the Brazilian slave exercised some right to change masters. +The master set a price upon his slave. Then the slave with a note, +declaring the master's intentions, might seek out some neighboring +planter with a good reputation, and if the desired new master decided +to pay the price set, the old master, according to Luccock,[36] was +obliged to sell the slave. In practice the plan did not work out so +well, because one planter did not care to interfere in the other's +affairs, and often the evaluation of the slave could not be agreed +upon.[37] + +A slave could be and was manumitted in both the United States and +Brazil. In Brazil manumission could be accomplished in the following +ways: (1) the slave could purchase himself; (2) his master could +liberate him during his life; (3) or he could manumit him at his +death; (4) a Negro woman who had brought ten children into the world +by virtue of her tenth became free; (5) also, the price of a new-born +babe was so slight, that often the infant was purchased its freedom by +friends.[38] In fact, manumission had been so extensive, that by 1818 +mulattoes and free Negroes had become a considerable part of the +population.[39] In the United States there were 488,070 freedmen in +1860.[40] + +As for holding common ordinary citizen's rights, the Negro slave in +both countries was out of consideration. In the Old South, for +instance, a slave could be arrested, tried, and condemned with but one +witness against him, and without a jury.[41] In Brazil he was equally +as defenceless. Professional slave runaway catchers might pounce upon +a slave who was about his duty, imprison him, subject him to +indignities, on the ground that he was a fugitive, and return him to +his master, claiming money for their trouble. In such a sad case, no +one would take the slave's part, none would believe his story.[42] + +The privileges of the slave as to being secure against violent +treatment, of securing his own freedom, of selecting another master, +or of claiming any plain citizen's immunities whatsoever, then, were +very slight in both Brazil and the United States, but even more so in +our own Southland. + + +SLAVE RESISTANCE + +Docile as the African slave was, he was bound at times to attempt to +free himself from the drudgery and sufferings of his lot. Naturally +the most direct, impulsive, and simple method was escape. Hence, we +are brought to compare the fugitive slave problem in Brazil to the +same problem in the United States. + +In our own country the South had to combat an effective force which +did not exist in Brazil, namely, the antagonism of an Anti-slavery +North, which aided the Negroes by "underground railroads" to escape to +free territory, or to cross the Canadian line, where slavery was +prohibited. The Dismal Swamp in Virginia, and the Everglades of +Florida were favorite hiding places for fugitives.[43] In Brazil the +universal prevalence of slavery and the lack of opposition to the +practice by any considerable group up to the last days of its +existence gave the fleeing slave few friends. However, there was a +trackless wilderness to which he might flee. Especially qualified +runaway slave catchers were employed to trail such fugitives. + +The other method of resisting the institution of slavery was by +organized risings. Riots and local revolts occurred occasionally in +the Old South, but were never serious and were easily quelled. The +most noteworthy revolts of blacks in America were actually mere +spouts. In the first half of the eighteenth century, for example, New +York was thrown into hysteria at the rumors of a threatened Negro +plot,[44] out of which nothing materialized. Gabriel's riot planned in +Richmond, Virginia, in 1800, ended very much like that in New York. +Another incident was the attempt in 1822 of a certain Negro, Denmark +Vesey, to start an insurrection at Charleston, which utterly failed. +Nat Turner, a religious fanatic, was the cause of the most serious +uprising of all. In 1831 he organized a revolt in Virginia which cost +the lives of several score of whites before it was quelled.[45] The +other spontaneous turn of the worm was the _Amistad_ incident,[46] in +which Negroes of the slave ship _Amistad_ rose and took possession of +the ship, and ordered the crew to guide her back to Africa. Instead, +the crew steered the vessel into a hospitable harbor, thus baffling +its captors. The rising of the slaves of the _Creole_ in somewhat the +same manner was more romantic. + +All these pin pricks in the South are now to be contrasted to a series +of serious organized risings of slaves in Brazil, eruptions which at +times threatened the political control or integrity of a whole +district or province. In the United States the slave placidly +submitted. In Brazil he was at periods actually class conscious. + +In Pernambuco, the Brazilian government was actually challenged by +slave rebels. It was during the chaotic days of 1630-1654, when the +Dutch were in occupation of Pernambuco, and the Brazilians were at war +with them, that hundreds of slaves fled to the interior, where they +established an independent state, consisting of a cluster of fortified +villages. Establishing a rude form of administration and a primitive +adaptation of Christianity, they actually governed themselves. After +the Dutch had been fairly well beaten, the whites turned to make war +upon the villages. For fifty years the villages held out, until in +1697, Palmares, the last and most important of the fortresses, +capitulated.[47] + +Bahia lived in a perpetual fear of Negro uprising, and well were her +fears grounded, for here the Negro was most assertive against his +mistreatment. The population of Bahia in the first decade of the +nineteenth century is estimated by Henderson as being in the +neighborhood of 110,000, two thirds of which was slave. Once let the +slave get a start and with such odds in his favor the masters had best +beware. For this reason, slaves were prevented as much as possible +from organizing. No bondman might go on the streets of Bahia after +evening vespers, save with a pass from his master.[48] Yet the slaves +did at times organize. In 1808, when John VI, the Portuguese king, +arrived in Bahia, the slaves boldly communicated with him, asking +that the punishment of one hundred and fifty lashes be abolished.[49] + +A short time after this episode, matters came to a culmination. As was +usual at holiday time, slaves congregated in plazas, chose a chief for +the day, to whom they did homage. This was a customary feat, tolerated +by the authorities of the city. On this particular occasion, a friend +of Henderson noticed that a white man was being hanged in effigy. He +sniffed trouble. Only a few months later the Bahian authorities were +lucky, by timely arrests, to save the whole population from being +massacred by the enraged slaves in an impending insurrection, whose +purpose was nothing less than the wholesale slaughter of the entire +white population of the city, with the exception of the governor, +D'Arcos, whom the insurrectos were to raise as their prince. Already +they had murdered many whites in the outskirts of the city.[50] + +Thus, in the Old South, flight was the leading form of resistance to +the institution of slavery; whereas in Brazil the more effective form +of resistance by organized uprising was more frequently attempted. + + +THE RACE PROBLEM + +Before concluding the theme, it is imperative that we hurriedly skim +over the saddest and most serious by-product of United States slavery, +race prejudice. We are familiar enough with the limitations of the man +of color in the South today. In the days of slavery, discriminations +were just as severe, if not more so, against any man of black skin, +whether slave, mulatto, freedman, quadroon, or octoroon. The slightest +strain of black in a man's pedigree made him a "nigger." A freedman +was better than a slave only in an economic way. Otherwise he had +virtually no rights. He could not vote, marry a white, hold office, +give testimony in case of a white man on trial, and for militia +services was limited to fatigue duty. In many parts, however, the +freedman could keep his own money, possess land, have slaves, a wife, +and even own one gun to protect his home.[51] + +In Portuguese America it is often said that the race problem has been +allowed to solve itself, which is largely true. The slave in Brazil +was looked down upon as a menial laborer, rather than as an offshoot +of a lower race. Marriages between the lower classes of either race +were not scorned by society. Inter-racial marriages were legal, +Brazilian society favoring the marriage of the higher type of the +white to the lighter type of Negroid. Of course, among the highest +class of the land, the wealthy planters and officials, unions with +persons of non-genuine white ancestry were not relished. Here and +there existed race prejudice in mild form.[52] + +Mulattoes who were free were ranked above freedmen of pure ancestry. +The former were generally considered as white, for as a rule in Brazil +a man passed as white if he contained a fair degree of white blood in +his veins. These free mulattoes had a regiment of their own with their +own officers, as was the case with the blacks. Many wealthy planters +at Pernambuco were men of color. Many of the Creole blacks in this +region were mechanics, who sent out their slaves to do odd mechanical +jobs for the owner's profit. The best church and image painter at +Pernambuco was black. One of three commanders of the Brazilian forces +against the Dutch in the seventeenth century was Henrique Diaz, a +Negro. + +All told, race prejudice, as a vast problem, was a peculiar complement +of the Anglo-Saxon new world colonies' slave problem, for in virtually +no other country has slavery ever so viciously contributed to race +discord. Brazil, then, may pride herself upon emerging from a slave +sustained society, free from the sores of a hideous race conflict. + + +AN AFTERTHOUGHT + +In brief, it seems that the Brazilian institution of slavery was +softer, far less brutal than the United States system. On the other +hand, the United States slave system was probably more efficient, for +the inefficiency of the management of the plantations of sugar in +Brazil allowed the West Indies in the eighteenth century to take the +lead in the sugar, rum, and molasses exports. The United States, under +the slave system, secured pre-eminence in the production of the +world's greatest textile staple, cotton. + +It is to be regretted, of course, that slavery has persisted so long, +and still thrives in certain Mohammedan lands. It stands today +outlawed in the new world, but it will always be a source of regret to +progressive citizens of the United States that their country clung to +the institution up to within the memory of many yet living, and that +she did not relax her tight grasp upon the slave until forced to +immediate action in the stress of a fratricidal war. To humane +thinkers of Brazil, it will ever be a source of sorrow that their +nation has only been slave ridden within the present generation, and +even then, egged on to emancipation by the reproaches of an at last +awakened world. + +Slavery must have differed in details in one country from that in +another, but after all, it was shameful in Brazil, shameful in the +United States, just as it is shameful at any other spot underneath the +blue sky. + + HERBERT B. ALEXANDER + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Keller, Albert Galloway, Ph.D., _Colonization_, Boston, Copyright, +1908, p. 145. + +[2] DuBois, William Edward Burghardt, _The Negro_, New York, 1915, p. +164. + +[3] Keller, pp. 156-157. + +[4] _Ibid._ + +[5] Christie, W. D., _Notes on Brazil_, London, 1821, pp. 69-76. + +[6] Christie, pp. 69-76. + +[7] Dawson, Thomas C., _South American Republics_, two volumes, first +edition, vol. I, New York, Copyright, 1903, p. 481. + +[8] DuBois, _The Negro_, p. 152. + +[9] _Ibid._ p. 184. + +[10] _Negro Population in the United States, 1790-1915_, p. 33. + +[11] Ingram, J. K., _A History of Slavery and Serfdom_, London, 1895, +p. 285. + +[12] Bureau of Census (Dept. of Commerce and Labor), _A Century of +Population Growth_, Washington, 1909, p. 80. + +[13] Blake, William O., _A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade_, +Columbus, 1857, p. 808. + +[14] DuBois, _The Negro_, p. 190. + +[15] Henderson, James, _A History of Brazil_, London, 1821, pp. 73-74. + +[16] Koster, Henry, _Travels in Brazil_, second edition, in two +volumes, vol. II, London, 1817, pp. 247-259. + +[17] Christie, pp. 69-76. + +[18] Koster, p. 123. + +[19] _Ibid._, pp. 247-259. + +[20] Koster, pp. 247-259. + +[21] _Encyclopedia Americana_, 30 volumes, vol. 27, New York and +Chicago, 1919, pp. 395-396. + +[22] _Americana_, pp. 395-396. + +[23] Koster, pp. 229-231. + +[24] Koster, pp. 246-247. + +[25] Southey, vol. III, pp. 781-783, states that in Pernambuco masters +were opposed to selling their slaves. + +[26] Koster, pp. 246-247. + +[27] Brawley, Benjamin Griffith, _A Short History of the American +Negro_, N. Y., 1917, pp. 20-21. + +[28] DuBois, p. 197. + +[29] _Americana_, pp. 395-396. + +[30] Koster, pp. 238-239. + +[31] _Ibid._ + +[32] Koster, pp. 236-238. + +[33] Luccock, John, _Notes on Rio de Janeiro and the Southern Part of +Brazil_, London, 1820, p. 591. + +[34] Koster, pp. 229-231. + +[35] Christie, p. 578. + +[36] Luccock, p. 591. + +[37] Koster, pp. 233-235. + +[38] _Ibid._ + +[39] Keller, pp. 156-157. + +[40] Blake, p. 808. + +[41] Brawley, pp. 20-21. + +[42] Henderson, pp. 72-78. + +[43] Brawley, p. 90. + +[44] DuBois, p. 196 + +[45] _Ibid._ + +[46] Brawley, p. 90. + +[47] Dawson, p. 375. + +[48] Henderson, pp. 339-340. + +[49] Henderson, p. 340. + +[50] _Ibid._, p. 340. + +[51] Brawley, p. 22. + +[52] Koster, ch. XVIII + + + + +THE ORIGINS OF ABOLITION IN SANTO DOMINGO + + +Columbus discovered this island December 6, 1492. It is of the Great +Antilles of the Caribbean Sea, and lies between Cuba and Puerto Rico. +He called the island Hispaniola, but Hayti, or Haiti, was its original +name. It seems beyond the power of language to exaggerate its +beauties, its productiveness, the loveliness of its climate, and its +suitability as an abode for man. + +At the time of its discovery the island was divided into five states +or cacicats. Thus divided it was easily conquered by the Spaniards who +subjected the native Indians to slavery. Soon after the discovery, +Spain began establishing a plantation colony as opposed to a farm +colony. The work fell upon the subjected Indians, who vanished from +the island, in about 50 years, leaving the problem of labor to the +overseers and the colonists. To meet this need, the Spaniards repaired +this loss by bringing in Africans, supplied by the Portuguese, who at +that time occupied themselves with the slave trade. Hierrera, who +claimed to be an authority, said that one Negro would do more work +than four Indians.[1] In 1630, a number of French adventurers were +expelled by the Spanish from St. Christophe, which they had taken +possession of five years before under the leadership of Neil +d'Enambroe of Dieppe. Shortly afterward they established themselves at +La Fortue. In 1650 the Spaniards still held the inner and greater +islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica; though in +Hispaniola French buccaneers were laying the foundations of the +prosperous French Colony of St. Domingo. Smouldering resentment on the +part of the Spaniards soon burst forth in open hostility, exhibiting +more seriousness than before. Then followed savage contention between +Spain and France, the Spaniards disputing the rights of the French, +the French creeping steadily inward until 1697 by virtue of the +treaty of Ryswick an end was put to this struggle. Louis XIV obtained, +under this treaty, from Charles II of Spain, the cession of all the +western part of the island, which for forty years belonged to the +French by virtue of conquest. Spain kept the eastern portion of the +island, calling it Santo Domingo. This cession was of great economic +value to France, she increased her number of slaves and soon supplied +all Europe with cotton and sugar. Santo Domingo, Spain's portion of +the island, as compared with Haiti, was a sluggish community. Here +also Negroes increased as slaves and soon the population of these two +colonies was mostly Negro. + +The distinct line between master and slave, white and black, was to +become smeared. Soon there grew up four distinct classes. +Miscegenation, the result of the contact of European masters with +slave women, gave rise to a new class called mulattoes. These were +usually given their freedom, and it was the practice to liberate the +mother as well. This gave rise to another class, the free-blacks. The +mulattoes and free-blacks obtained with emancipation no political +rights whatever. At first this caused no worry or serious difficulty. +Some of the mulattoes received vast wealth from their fathers and +often they were educated abroad, usually in France. Some of the +free-blacks accumulated a little property but in a far lesser degree, +however. With the increase of mulattoes and free-blacks, and the +return of those mulattoes from studies abroad, dissatisfaction grew +into thought and subsequently into expression and agitation for +political rights. Behind and beneath the growing dissatisfaction of +these two classes, the mulattoes and free-blacks, was a resentful and +restless slave population. + +At the outbreak of the French Revolution, even before it, France had +in her possession eight slave holding colonies, San Domingo, +Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cayenne, Tabago, St. Lucie, the Isle of +France, and the Isle of Bourbon. The most important of these being +Martinique and Guadeloupe, with a white population of about 25,000, +contained about 150,000 slaves and a small number of free Negroes; and +then there was her flourishing colony of San Domingo. Martinique and +Guadeloupe were represented in the National Assemblies which brought +France into early contact with the issue rising out of racial +color.[2] San Domingo with its large population and economic +importance offered a more perplexing problem. The population there was +large. Moreau de St. Mery quoted the official figures of 1790 as +30,826 whites, 24,262 free Negroes and mulattoes, and 452,000 +slaves.[3] + +The legal status of slaves here was substantially the same as that of +slaves in the tropical colonies of other nations; in fact, the Western +European slave code remains practically the same. This slave colony +seems singular in being unfavorable to the health and life of the +natives. The annual excess of deaths over births amounted to about two +and one half per cent. Added to this death rate was the rapid spread +of the feverish desire for wealth at any cost among the peoples of +European countries. The slave trade was profitable. The demand for +slaves was continual, amounting at this period to anywhere between +30,000 to 35,000 a year in the French West Indies. Human life and +rights were subordinate to gold, despite the position assumed by these +nations as champions of Christianity. + +The question of mulattoes and freedmen and their descendants was +peculiar to San Domingo. The free Negroes and mulattoes were four +fifths the whites in number. When the offspring of illicit unions +between slave women and their masters attained their majority they +were emancipated, and in many cases their mothers were set free also. +As follows a system of servitude, + + "The Sons of gods take the Daughters of men, but + The Sons of men dare not touch the daughters of the gods." + +And thus it came about the number of these classes increased rapidly. +The poor laboring class of the community, corresponding somewhat to +the class of "poor whites" within the slave section of our country, +was made up of free Negroes. + +"According to the _Code Noir_ of Louis XIV, freemen and their +descendants were entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizens +of France. However, in defiance of the law, race prejudice had built +up during the eighteenth century a special body of customary rules for +their control, and this custom was recognized by numerous +administrative edicts and royal ordinances." Great effort was put +forth to keep the possibilities of uprisings at a distance. Any use of +fire arms was prohibited even the mulattoes, and the commissioned +officers of military service were kept white without exception. A +trace of Negro blood was a bar to individual attainment, even marriage +to a mulatto received its share of condemnation. A strong feeling of +social repugnance was being brought into play which outlawed all +social intercourse between the races. This sort of thing, going on in +so many different places--practically wherever the Western European +colonized--became imbedded in custom and in places was expressed in +law. + +While the _Code Noir_ of Louis XIV went even so far as to lay down +certain practices as the fundamental law of slavery, it was apparently +only a "law." There was a lack of the moral support necessary to +insure for it even a respectable amount of operation. There were at +work, however, forces which sought to create a widespread social +antipathy to slavery. This resulted somewhat from the situation in +England where there was a strong sentiment against slavery. The +Quakers in England, whose founder had been a fearless critic of the +institution, were foremost in the attack on slavery. In 1727 the +Society of Friends passed a resolution of censure against the slave +trade, and in 1758 its influence was strongly exerted to keep its +members from even an indirect connection with it. In 1765, Granville +Sharp began to look after the interests of Negroes who were claimed in +British ports as slaves, and in 1772 was instrumental in securing the +famous Somerset decision that, as soon as any slave set foot on +British soil he became free. In 1783 the Society of Friends submitted +to Parliament the first petition for the abolition of the slave trade. +In that same year Thomas Clarkson won the prize in a competition in +Latin composition at Cambridge upon the assigned subject, "Whether it +is right to enslave others against their will." His essay immediately +became a standard authority among opponents of the trade and the +institution. A greater consequence was that Clarkson himself was so +inspired he devoted his life to the cause of the blacks. In 1787 a +"Committee for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade" was +organized. It was composed chiefly of Quakers, having Granville Sharp +as President and Thomas Clarkson as its most prominent member. Their +work was organized to embrace appeals to the public and petitions to +the government. Wilberforce, a member of Parliament and an intimate +friend of Pitt, was to head the campaign in Parliament, while the +Committee was to solicit funds, collect information and arouse public +sentiment. This campaign lasted until the abolition of British slave +trade in 1806. + +This work in behalf of freedom soon extended to France. A little over +three months after the London Committee was formed it received a +letter from Jean Pierre Brissot, requesting that he and Etienne +Claviere might become associates of the committee for the purpose of +publishing French translations of its literature and collecting +subscriptions to be remitted to London for the good of the common +cause. The committee declined the offer of financial aid but elected +Brissot an honorary member and recommended that a society be formed in +France. Now both Brissot and Claviere were active figures in the +Revolution. Claviere was at one time minister of finances and Brissot, +most ardent of revolutionists, was a Parish Deputy during the Reign of +Terror, and a leader of the Girondins from 1789 to 1792. Accordingly, +a society was formed in Paris in February, 1788, under the name of the +Society of Friends of the Blacks, with Claviere as President. It +adopted the same seals as the Committee in England but was an entirely +independent organization. Directly its influence began to draw within +its folds powerful figures. The famous Comte de Mirabeau was a charter +member, Marquis de Lafayette, an officer who had served in the +American Revolution, and Condorcet, a member of the Convention, whose +report as a member of the Committee of Public Instruction of the +Legislative Assembly formed the actual basis of subsequent plans for +education, were among the first additions to its membership. Other +prominent members who came in later were Sieyes, Petion, Gregoire, +Robespierre, and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld. Mirabeau issued the +early publications of the society as supplements to his journal; at a +later time Brissot's journal, the "Patriote francaise," became the +organ of the society. + +With Brissot's return from a visit to America in 1788, the society +went seriously to work. In America he seems to have met some things +which clinched his convictions and determinations. Coincidental, the +National Assembly was about to meet, deputies were being elected, +cahiers were being written, and the country was stirred up over the +watchword liberty. This offered an exceptional advantage to the +society. What better opportunity could one anticipate to secure the +abolition of slavery and the slave trade, the most flagrant violations +of the principles of equality and liberty ever known? On February 3, +1789, Condorcet, at that time the President, addressed a circular +letter to all the bailiwicks of France, urging that there be inserted +in the cahiers a demand that the Estates-General destroy the slave +trade and make preparations for the ultimate abolition of slavery. The +results of this campaign were disappointing. As a whole the cahiers +made it perfectly clear to the Society and all concerned, that an +attack on slavery was not a matter vital to the mass of the nation, +and that success, if it came at all, must be due to the loyalty of the +Estates-General to the principles of equality and liberty, and to the +ability and energy of the little group of intellectual leaders who +made up the Society of Friends of the Blacks. This was the status of +the controversy. Anti-slavery agitation was confined to an +intellectual elite, promoted by an appeal to the mind. + +In the National Assembly the contest between Friends of the Blacks and +defenders of slavery began in connection with the application of a +delegation for admission to the Estates-General as representatives of +San Domingo. Early in 1788 there was formed in Paris an organization, +the "colonial committee" by name, composed of certain colonial +proprietors residing in France, a few merchants interested in colonial +trade, and a small number of actual residents of San Domingo, which +began an agitation for representation of the colony in the +Estates-General, which had been promised for 1792. The committee +circulated pamphlets and the like. It made a formal request of the +king for representation of San Domingo. The request was refused by the +Council of State. The agitators boldly drew up and sent to the colony +a plan for electoral assemblies. These assemblies were held without +any legal sanction, and thirty-one deputies were elected. + +The committee continued its work in France, and succeeded in securing +a demand for the admission of colonial deputies in at least fourteen +cahiers of primary assemblies. Repeated applications were made to +Necker and to the Minister of Marine, but without result, and when the +Estates-General opened the representatives of San Domingo had no legal +standing. Nevertheless part of the deputies presented themselves on +June 8, making application separately to each of the three orders. + +The third estate alone proved receptive. On June 20, eight San Domingo +deputies were allowed to take the Tennis Court Oath. On June 27 the +Committee on Credentials made a report unanimously recommending the +admission of the colonial deputation but declared itself unable to +agree on the number of deputies to which the colony was properly +entitled. The Assembly accepted the report, apparently without a +dissenting voice, and postponed discussion of the question of numbers +to June 3. This brought squarely before the Assembly the delicate +problem of slavery and the status of free-blacks under the new regime, +and brought upon the colonial delegation the wrath of the powerful +Society of the Friends of the Blacks. + +The Friends of the Blacks recognized in this San Domingo delegation a +foe. Mirabeau's newspaper challenged their right to count the slaves +as a basis of representation, and taunted them with bitter words. +"Either count your Negroes as men or as beasts; if they are men, free +them, let them vote, let them be elected to office. If they are +cattle, let the number of deputies be proportional to your human +population; we have counted neither our horses nor our mules."[4] + +Between the vote of admission on June 27 and the final debate on July +3 and 4 the Friends of the Blacks awoke to the importance of the +issue. Condorcet published a vigorous pamphlet denouncing the slave +holder and all his works. "We are tempted," said he, "to advocate a +law which shall exclude from the National Assembly every man, who, as +a slave holder, is interested in the maintenance of principles +contrary to the natural rights of man, which are the only purpose of +every political organization.... The natural rights of man to be +governed only by laws to which he has given his consent cannot be +invoked in favor of a man who is himself at the very moment violating +the law of nature." The pamphlet closes with the remark that the +planters can doubtless speak concerning their own interests, "but that +on their lips the sacred word 'rights' would be blasphemy against +reason."[5] + +When the question was reopened on July 3, Mirabeau took the lead in +the discussion, raising again the question of counting the slaves, and +arguing further that the so-called deputies really represented only +about one half the free population, since the whole body of free +blacks and mulattoes had been excluded from suffrage. The spokesman of +the colonial deputation was the Marquis de Gouy d'Arsy, a colonial +proprietor residing in Paris, from the beginning a leader in the +movement for colonial representation. Gouy made no attempt to defend +the principle of slave representation. He based his claim for the +admission of eighteen or twenty delegates on the wealth and commercial +importance of the colony. His weak point was the exclusion of free +tax-paying mulattoes from the electoral assemblies. He said that since +the mulattoes were natural enemies of the whites it would be dangerous +to give them any influence, an argument which made a bad impression on +the Assembly. The debate was finished the next day, and the number of +deputies was fixed by a compromise at six. The chief importance of +this discussion was the prominence which it gave to two questions that +the colonial deputies were anxious to keep smothered--slavery and the +civil status of the free Negroes. During the debate on June 27 the +Duke de la Rochefoucauld found opportunity to present the aims of the +Society of Friends of the Blacks, and requested the future +consideration of the problem of emancipation. Remarks by other +deputies to the effect that something be done to improve the condition +of slaves received hearty applause. + +The French Revolution plunged the island into a state of chaos. The +vast majority of the population of the western colony were slaves, and +the number of free blacks and mulattoes were nearly equal to the +number of whites. "The news of the Revolution had encouraged each +class of the colonial population to expect the realization of its +peculiar hopes. The planters desired freer access to the markets of +the world, the poor whites hoped for the advantages that their richer +neighbors alone enjoyed, the free blacks and mulattoes for civil +equality; even the slaves cherished hopes of liberty."[6] The clash of +interests brought on civil war in Santo Domingo. The situation here, +the richest of the sugar colonies, was serious; it soon received +special attention from the home government. A colonial assembly was +chosen, and did in miniature what the National Assembly undertook for +all France. It controlled royal officers and troops, attempted to +reorganize the administrative system and the courts, and even opened +the ports to products specifically excluded by a royal ordinance. The +question of the status of the free blacks had reached an acute stage. +As property holders their interests were identical with those of the +whites, provided the whites did not exclude them from a share in the +civil conquests of the French Revolution. The National Assembly +finally gave to the colonies an organization similar to the local +administrative system of France except that it delegated executive +powers to a governor. The constitution of the colony, once approved by +the national legislature, could not be changed without the demand or +consent of the local assemblies. To this local legislature was given +the responsibility for the making of laws on all matters except trade +and defense. If the governor did not withhold his consent in order +that the authorities at Paris should first be consulted, laws could be +put into force provisionally before they received the final sanction +of the National Assembly and the Crown. + +The free people of color petitioned the National Assembly for +political rights and privileges in 1789. On May 15, 1791, on the +question of the free blacks, the Assembly passed a decree declaring +that people of color, born of free parents, were entitled to all the +privileges of French citizens. When the news reached the island the +mulattoes and free Negroes rejoiced. The whites were opposed to any +such measure. Thereupon the governor of the island delayed +promulgating the decree while he communicated with the home +government. The free people of color were angered and civil strife +followed. The mulattoes took up arms against the whites. To complicate +matters, the slaves rose in insurrection in August, 1791. The whites, +finding themselves in a perilous situation, decided to accede to the +demands of the free people of color, who in turn promised to combine +with the whites to suppress the revolt. Meanwhile, in the last days of +the Assembly the friends of the planters succeeded in having the whole +matter referred to the colonial assemblies. The people of color, +mulattoes and free blacks, fled to arms again and joined the slaves, +leading bands of them against the whites or remained indifferent in +actual warfare. Then followed actual civil war. The French land owners +or "colons" called in the English to help them combat the blacks.[7] +The English came to their aid. By the end of 1793 the latter took +possession of a part of the island which seemed lost to France, being +occupied partly by Spaniards and partly by English, when Toussaint +L'Ouverture, the bondman leading the revolting slaves, espoused the +cause of France. Following months of bloody war, France, apprehensive +of a British invasion in full force, and not being able to put down +the insurgents, weary and tired of the struggle, conciliated. August, +1793, Universal Freedom was proclaimed--this measure was ratified by +the National convention early the following year. This was the first +time in the history of the world a legislative assembly ever decreed +the abolition of human slavery. + +The British, having taken Port-au-Prince and besieged the French +Governor at Port-de-la-Paix when the blacks under Toussaint +L'Ouverture defeated them and released the French Governor, abandoned +the island in 1797. L'Ouverture, who up to forty years of age had been +a slave, thus succeeded in ridding the island of the Spaniards and the +English. The French government rewarded him by appointing him +major-general and governor of the island. + +This left L'Ouverture Commander-in-Chief and virtually dictator of the +island. He set up a Republic, drew up a Constitution, which he sent to +Napoleon. For answer Napoleon appointed Leclerc governor of the +colony, and sent a formidable army to reduce the authority of +L'Ouverture. War broke out again. After several engagements +L'Ouverture surrendered and retired on his properties. He was +subsequently decoyed on board a French vessel, kidnapped and deported +to Paris. He was then placed by Bonaparte in a damp prison of the +fortress of Joux on the chilly heights of Jura where he died. In +September, 1802, the peoples of color took up arms against French +domination under the leadership of General Dessalines and swore to die +rather than remain subservient any longer.[8] By the end of 1793 +Rochambeau, who on the death of General Leclerc was put in command by +Bonaparte, was hard pressed in the city of Cape Haitien by black +troops and was compelled to capitulate and "the power of France was +lost on the island forever." On January 1, 1804, Haiti, as it was +better known, proclaimed its independence with General Dessalines as +ruler. Slavery was abolished forever. In 1822 Haiti, the western +colony, controlled the whole of the island; but in 1844 the eastern +part seceded and established an independent government known today as +the Dominican Republic. + + GEORGE W. BROWN + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Mossell, _Toussaint L'Ouverture_, p. xiii. + +[2] Hardy, _Negro Question in French Revolution_, p. 1. + +[3] Moreau de St. Mery, _Response, etc._, 72. + +[4] Hardy, _The Negro Question in the French Revolution_, p. 10. + +[5] Condorcet's _Works_. + +[6] Bourne, _Revolutionary Period in Europe_, p. 110. + +[7] _American Encyclopedia--Haiti._ + +[8] Mossell, _Toussaint L'Ouverture_. + + + + +CANADIAN NEGROES AND THE REBELLION OF 1837 + + +There are a number of interesting references in the literature of the +times to the part played by Negro refugees in defending the frontier +of Canada during the troubles of 1838. The outbreaks in both Upper and +Lower Canada in 1837 were followed by a series of petty attacks along +the border in which American sympathizers participated. Sandwich, on +the Detroit River, was one of the objectives of the attacking parties +and there were also threats on the Niagara River frontier. One of the +parties of "rebels" had taken possession of Navy Island, in the +Niagara River, and a small ship, the _Caroline_, was used for +conveying supplies. A Canadian party under command of Colonel MacNab +crossed the river, seized the ship and after setting it afire allowed +it to drift over the falls. This gave rise to an international issue +and was the occasion of much bluster on both sides of the line that +happily ended as bluster. All along the border on the American side +there were "Hunter's Lodges"[1] organized during 1838 and this +movement, joined with the widespread political disaffection, made the +times unhappy for the Canadian provinces. + +Sir Francis Bond Head, who was Governor of Upper Canada when the +troubles of 1837 began and whose conduct did not tend materially to +quelling the unrest, wrote his "apologia" a couple of years later and +in it he speaks of the loyalty of the colored people, almost all of +whom were refugees from slavery. He says: + + "When our colored population were informed that American + citizens, sympathizing with their sufferings, had taken violent + possession of Navy Island, for the double object of liberating + them from the domination of British rule, and of imparting to + them the blessings of republican institutions, based upon the + principle that all men are born equal, did our colored brethren + hail their approach? No, on the contrary, they hastened as + volunteers in wagon-loads to the Niagara frontier to beg from me + permission that, in the intended attack upon Navy Island, they + might be permitted to form the forlorn hope--in short they + supplicated that they might be allowed to be foremost to defend + the glorious institutions of Great Britain."[2] + +Rev. J. W. Loguen, in the narrative of his life, says that he was +urgently solicited by the Canadian government to accept the captaincy +of a company of black troops who had been enrolled during the +troubles. As the affair was then about all over by the joint effort of +the Canadian and United States governments, he did not accept the +offer but he makes this interesting comment: + + "The colored population of Canada at that time was small compared + to what it now is; nevertheless, it was sufficiently large to + attract the attention of the government. They were almost to a + man fugitives from the States. They could not, therefore, be + passive when the success of the invaders would break the only arm + interposed for their security, and destroy the only asylum for + African freedom in North America. The promptness with which + several companies of blacks were organized and equipped, and the + desperate valor they displayed in this brief conflict, are an + earnest of what may be expected from the swelling thousands of + colored fugitives collecting there, in the event of a war between + the two countries."[3] + +Josiah Henson, founder of the Dawn colony in Upper Canada and famous +as the reputed "original" of Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom, says in his +narrative that he was captain of the second company of Essex colored +volunteers and that he and his men assisted in the defence of Fort +Malden (Amherstburg) from Christmas 1837 to May of 1838. He says +further that he assisted in the capture of the schooner _Anne_, an +affair which took place on January 9, 1838.[4] + +John MacMullen, in his _History of Canada_, says that among the troops +on the border during 1838 "were two hundred Indians from Delaware, and +a body of colored men, settlers in the western part of the province, +the poor hunted fugitives from American slavery, who had at length +found liberty and security under the British flag."[5] + +A rather interesting aftermath of the rebellion is contained in an +item appearing in the _Amherstburg Courier_ of March 10, 1849, +reporting a meeting of Negroes in Sandwich township to protest against +the Rebellion Losses Bill.[6] Colonel Prince was thanked for his +opposition to the measure.[7] + +Eighty years after the rebellion the Negro men of Canada were again +called upon to fight, this time in another land and in a conflict that +was destined to affect every race and every land. The service that was +rendered in the Canadian army by the colored companies of pioneers +will some day receive due recognition at the hands of an historian. In +the meantime, it is not forgotten by the people of Canada. + + FRED LANDON + THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, + LONDON, ONTARIO + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] A convention of Hunter's Lodges of Ohio and Michigan, held at +Cleveland, September 16-22, 1838, was attended by seventy delegates. + +[2] Head, Sir, F. B., _A Narrative_ (London, 1839), page 392. + +[3] Loguen, J. W., _The Rev. J. W. Loguen as a Slave and as a Freeman_ +(Syracuse, 1859), pp. 343-345. + +[4] _An autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson_, "Uncle Tom," from +1789 to 1881 (London, Ont., 1881), page 177. A sketch of Josiah Henson +appeared in THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY for January, 1918 (Vol. III, +no. 1, pp. 1-21). This is condensed from his autobiography which +appeared in several editions. + +[5] MacMullen, John, _History of Canada from its first Discovery to +the Present Times_ (Brockville, Ont., 1868), pp. 459-460. He gives as +his authority Radclift's despatch, "10th January, 1838." + +[6] The Rebellion Losses Bill proposed compensation for those who had +sustained losses in Lower Canada (Quebec) during the troubles of 1837. +It was fiercely opposed in Upper Canada (Ontario) by the element that +regarded the French as "aliens" and "rebels." When Lord Elgin, the +Governor, gave his assent to the bill in 1849 there were riots in +Montreal in which the Parliament Buildings were burned. + +[7] Col. Prince was one of the leaders in the defense of the Canadian +frontier along the Detroit River during 1838, afterwards a member of +the Canadian Parliament. During the troubles of 1838 he ordered the +shooting of four prisoners without the form of a trial. The act was +condemned by Lord Brougham and others with great severity and is one +dark spot on the records of the Canadian forces during the trying +period. + + + + +LOTT CARY,[1] THE COLONIZING MISSIONARY + + +With Lott Cary and Colin Teague[2] sailing for Africa in 1821, a new +era of missionary expansion was begun by Negro Baptists. The +distinctive feature of this epoch, which may be termed modern, is the +fact that behind these men was the Richmond African Baptist Missionary +Society, which gave them support, such as it was, and to which +periodic reports were made. True enough, Lott Cary was under +appointment of the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist +Denomination in the United States of America but only that fact and +the sum of $200 in cash and $100 in books appropriated for his use up +to 1826[3] could not be sufficient evidence to claim him wholly as a +missionary of the General Missionary Convention although he did +receive some advisory instructions from its board.[4] Indeed, Lott +Cary was the first American Baptist missionary in Africa, the first +representative of a purely Negro missionary organization to labor +beyond the limits of the United States. + +PREPARATION FOR AFRICA + +Lott Cary was born on the estate of William A. Christian,[5] in +Charles City County, Virginia,[6] thirty miles from Richmond,[7] about +four years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. There +was no exact record kept of the time of his birth, although it appears +to have been about the year 1780.[8] + +His mother and father lived together on the great plantation of their +master, centering their attention on Lott, their only child. His +mother gave no public profession of religion although she died giving +evidence that she accepted the Christian faith. His father, however, +was a pious man, a respected member of a Baptist church.[9] As a +result, Lott received some early religious training which may have +influenced his later life. + +But there were temptings in his life; there were battles in his soul. +Why should a slave boy hope? Could he ever become free? Why not drink +life to the dregs? The chief among his playmates, he became the +mischief-maker of the place. Profligate, profane, polluter was his +title. Lott Cary tried to reform but he was only able to control +himself a few days. Before long, in 1804,[10] he was hired out by the +year as a common laborer[11] in the Shochoe tobacco warehouse at +Richmond.[12] There he grew more intemperate and profane and showed +little signs of reformation. + +It was not reformation that he needed but regeneration as was +evidenced one Lord's day in 1807[13] as he sat in the gallery of the +First Baptist Church[14] and heard the minister preach. He was +hopefully converted and was baptized by Pastor John Courtney[15] into +the fellowship of the church. There he heard a sermon on the third +chapter of the gospel of John which so inspired him that he obtained a +Testament in order that he might read for himself the Lord's interview +with Nicodemus. In a short time he knew the alphabet, and with very +little assistance from the men at the warehouse,[16] he learned to +read this chapter and also to write.[17] + +Cary was a changed man--industrious, thrifty, Christian. Whereas he +had been idle now he devoted his leisure time to reading and it is +said that one of the books that he read was Adam Smith's _Wealth of +Nations_.[18] By his application to reading and writing he was able in +a little time to make dray tickets and to act as shipping clerk.[19] +His work in the warehouse was "such as no person, white or black, has +equalled in the same situation.... He could produce any one of the +hundreds of hogsheads of tobacco the instant it was called for."[20] +For these services he was often given a five dollar note and the +privilege to sell small quantities of waste tobacco for his own +benefit.[21] He saved the money obtained in this way, and with the aid +of a subscription among his employers accumulated by 1813 $850 with +which he purchased freedom for himself and his two children.[22] + +The following extract of a letter from William Crane to the Rev. +Obadiah Brown of Washington City, which he forwarded to the +corresponding secretary of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, +corroborates, in the main, the foregoing statements as well as gives +some interesting sidelights on the lives of Cary and Teague: + + + _Richmond, March 28_, 1819. + + You will probably recollect, that I introduced you to two of our + colored brethren in this place, who are accustomed to speak in + public; one named Collin Teague, the other Lot Carey. Ever since + the missionary subject has been so much agitated in this country, + these two brethren, associated with many others, have been + wishing they could, in some way, aid their unhappy kindred in + Africa; and I suppose you have heard of their having formed a + missionary society for this sole purpose. Some letters published + in No. VI of the _Luminary_ (written by Kizell, the Baptist + leader in Sherbro Island and by some others) have served to + awaken them effectually. They are now determined to go themselves + to Africa; and the only questions with them are, in what way will + it be best for them to proceed? and what previous steps are + requisite to be taken? They think it necessary to spend some time + in study first. They both possess industry and abilities, such + as, with the blessing of Providence, would soon make them rich. + It is but two or three years since either of them enjoyed + freedom; and both have paid large sums for their families. They + now possess but little, except a zealous wish to go and do what + they can. Brother Lot has a wife, and several little children. He + has a place a little below Richmond, that cost him $1500, but + will probably not sell for more than $1000 at this time. Brother + Collin has a wife, a son 14 years of age, and a daughter of 11, + for whom he has paid $1300, and has scarcely any thing left. Both + their wives are Baptists; their children, amiable and docile, + have been to school considerably; and I hope, if they go, will + likewise be of service. Collin is a saddler and harness maker. He + had no early education. The little that he has gained, has been + by chance and peacemeal. He has judgment, and as much keenness of + penetration as almost any man. He can read, though he is not a + good reader, and can write so as to make out a letter. The little + knowledge he has of figures, has been gained by common + calculations in business. Lot was brought up on a farm; and for a + number of years has been chief manager among the labourers in the + largest tobacco ware house in this city. He has charge of + receiving, marking and shipping tobacco; and the circumstance + that he receives $700 a-year wages may help you to form an + estimate of the man. He reads better than Collin, and is in every + respect a better scholar. They have been trying to preach about + ten or eleven years, and are both about forty years of age.[23] + +Cary had been licensed to preach by the First Baptist Church, +Richmond, and he exercised his talent every Lord's day among the +colored people on plantations a few miles from Richmond.[24] It was +not many months before he was the highly esteemed pastor of the +African Baptist Church in Richmond. As a preacher, Cary was not +polished, but "his ideas would sometimes burst upon you in their +native solemnity, and awaken deeper feelings than the most polished, +but less original" and artificial discourses.[25] + +Lott Cary early exhibited the power of an organizer. In 1815, William +Crane, who was a member of the First Baptist Church, felt that his +ought to use his talent among the twelve hundred Negro members of that +congregation. Consequently, he and David Roper[26] gratuitously +opened a tri-weekly night school in the gallery of the old church with +Lott Cary, Colin Teague and fifteen or twenty leading members of the +church as pupils.[27] Now Crane was able to inspire such a group to +practical missionary service, for he himself had been repeatedly urged +to become a missionary and had had close contact with Luther Rice as +one of the managers of the General Missionary Convention. But it was +left to Lott Cary to excite among the Negroes a strong interest in +behalf of Africa. The result was the formation of the Richmond African +Baptist Missionary Society in 1815. Crane was the president or +corresponding secretary.[28] This was necessary, for since the various +uprisings of Negroes[29] were making Virginia a hotbed of discontent, +the city of Richmond was wary of having Negro meetings unless they +were sponsored by white persons. Crane represented the Society in the +General Missionary Convention,[30] formed in 1814, and remained its +delegate for about twenty years. + +At the first triennial session of the Convention at Philadelphia, in +May, 1817, a letter was read from the corresponding secretary of the +Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society and it was unanimously + + Resolved, that the said letter be noticed on the minutes of the + Convention, and that the Board, if they find it practicable, be + advised to institute an African Mission, conformably to the + wishes of the said African Mission Society; and that the + Corresponding Secretary of the Board be requested to communicate + this resolution together with an encouraging affectionate letter + to that society.[31] + +Feeling of sympathy for the African was high. Many slave-holding +Baptists felt that they owed the Negro a debt which they should +pay.[32] Moreover, the board of the Convention felt that the interest +in Foreign missions manifested by the Negro Baptists of Richmond was a +providential plan whereby the slaves brought from Africa might be +converted and returned to evangelize that continent.[33] Since, +therefore, mission work could be propagated in Africa in the English +language and for one quarter the expense required for other lands,[34] +the Convention felt no hesitancy in acknowledging the claims of +Africa. + +Luther Rice, while in Richmond during the winter of 1817, visited the +African Missionary Society. "It afforded me much pleasure, indeed," he +reported,[35] "to observe the zeal, and intelligence and capacity, and +success, discovered in the African Mission Society." + +As a matter of fact, the formation of the Richmond African Baptist +Society was an epochal event. The example was followed by the African +Baptist Church of Philadelphia[36] and by the Baptists of Petersburg, +Virginia.[37] The African mission spirit even permeated North Carolina +and Georgia, for during the years 1816 and 1817 the Negro Baptists of +those parts contributed $32.64 to the cause.[38] This contribution +far outstripped the donation of the white Baptists to the same cause. +During the same time they contributed only $14.27, $12.27 of which was +given by the newly formed African Mite Society of Providence, Rhode +Island.[39] + +Lott Cary resolved that it was his duty to go and preach the gospel in +benighted Africa. It was at Crane's night school that this intention +was made known. After Crane had reviewed the report of Burgess and +Mills, telling of their exploring tour on the coast of Africa, Lott +Cary said: "I have been determined for a long time to go to Africa and +at least to see the country for myself."[40] There is no doubt that to +some extent Gary was awakened to a deep sense of responsibility for +his brethren in Africa by that part of this report which dealt with +John Kizell, the Baptist leader in Sherbro Island, the president of +the Friendly Society established by Paul Cuffee, the escort and guide +of Burgess and Mills on their exploring tour, the man directly +responsible for the beginning of the impractical scheme of deportation +on the continent of Africa by the American Colonization Society.[41] + +But how was he to accomplish his object? Crane said,[42] "I had +thought of addressing the Corresponding Secretary on their (Cary and +Teague) behalf, for the patronage of the American Baptist Mission +Society, but again thought, that the Colonization Society might be +pleased with taking them under their care, and that their mission +might bear a more imposing aspect under the auspices of this society +than it would with the Baptists alone." Lott Cary was received by the +Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, May 1, 1819, and was accepted by +the American Colonization Society to work for them "without pay as +other engagements would permit."[43] + +The treasurer of the General Missionary Convention reported $2 for +Africa received September 21, 1819, from a friend in Nashville +Tennessee. The next year the society appropriated $200 in cash and +$100 in books. Contrasted with this was the $483.25 paid April 17, +1820, by the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society to the +General Missionary Convention to be appropriated for Africa.[44] Thus +the Convention served only as a clearing house for the funds +contributed from Richmond. With this in mind we can more clearly +understand the following order voted by the Baptist Board of Foreign +Missions in 1820: + + + With African Mission Society, Richmond, + To various exp. for Collin Teague and Lot Carey ... 500 25.[45] + + +Furthermore, the historian of the Convention up to the year 1840[46] +relates that the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society, of which +Lott Cary was the recording secretary, appropriated to the cause of +African redemption $700, all of its funds collected during the first +five years of its existence. For many years thereafter the Society +collected and contributed annually from $100 to $150 to the mission in +Africa.[47] + +Lott Cary was giving up much to be an apostle to his people--a +pastorate of nearly eight hundred members, a farm and house costing +$1,500 and a salary increase of $200 a year if he would stay.[48] But +he must go. There were promptings big and great. Cary and Colin Teague +are said to have wished to be where their color would be no +disparagement to their usefulness.[49] "I am an African," he is +reported to have answered an intelligent minister who asked him why he +was leaving,[50] "and, in this country, however meritorious my +conduct, and respectable my character, I cannot receive the credit due +to either. I wish to go to a country where I shall be estimated by my +merits, not by my complexion; and I feel bound to labor for my +suffering race." + +It is highly probable that Cary possessed no such race consciousness +as is portrayed in the foregoing reports of Crane and Gurley. True +enough, the occasion for such sentiment was there in the institution +of slavery but had Cary imbibed the spirit? On the one hand, the free +Negro was not wanted in Virginia as is evidenced by an act which made +unlawful the permanent residence in the State of any slave set free +after May 1, 1806. But, on the other hand, this act was not generally +enforced because of the economic value of many of the freedmen.[51] +Thus it is doubtful whether Cary, whose salary would be increased if +he remained in Virginia, and Teague, both effectual workmen whose +industry was needed, would have to go away to gain a higher status. + +Let us examine the facts further. Crane was certainly enthusiastic for +African colonization and Gurley was the secretary of the American +Colonization Society. Thus these statements, as well as similar ones +which follow, seem like attempts on the part of the friends of +colonization to make Cary say to the other free Negroes that +colonization was a desirable thing. Certainly such an attitude would +be a timely rebuttal of the anti-colonization sentiment of the Negro +ministry in general. + +Furthermore, this reason for going to Africa was not in accord with +the one given at Crane's night school. Then he wanted to see Africa +for himself; now he finds America no place for the Negro. He could +have changed his point of view, but did he? If he did change his +view, he had changed again in less than two years (March 13, 1821) +when he wrote as follows to the corresponding secretary of the Board +of Foreign Missions: + + If you intend doing anything for Africa you must not wait for the + Colonization Society, nor for government, for neither of these + are in search of missionary grounds, but of colonizing grounds; + if it should not suit missionary needs, you cannot expect to + gather in a missionary crop. And, moreover, all of us who are + connected with the agents, who are under public instructions, + must be conformed to their laws, whether they militate against + missionary operation or not.[52] + +Thus if Cary made statements which favor colonization he was very +inconsistent, for it was he who was chiefly responsible for the +colonists openly defying the Colonization Society in 1824. Nor could +Cary write so well. It is most likely, therefore, that Lott Cary +wanted to go to Africa simply to see the country and to do missionary +work. + +Prior to his public farewell, Lott Cary and Colin Teague were ordained +and they, with their wives, Joseph Langford and wife and Hilary +Teague, were organized in January, 1821, into a church. Lott Cary was +elected pastor. The constitution of this body which they were to plant +in Africa was modelled after the Samson Street Church of +Philadelphia.[53] + +Cary's farewell sermon, preached in the meeting house of the First +Baptist Church, Richmond, was well ordered, without the rant common to +some preachers of that day, dignified and pathetic, and left a lasting +impression on the audience.[54] Teague had often remarked to William +Crane, "Sir, I don't hear any of your white ministers that can preach +like Lott Cary." Crane was anxious to hear him and after listening to +his farewell message from Romans 8:32--"He that spared not his own +Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also +freely give us all things?"--he did not hesitate to declare: "I have a +most vivid recollection of the manner in which, towards the close, he +dwelt upon the word 'freely.' With thrilling emphasis he exclaimed +over and over, 'He gave them freely!' He rang a succession of perhaps +a dozen changes upon the word, in a manner that would not have +dishonored Whitfield."[55] + +Lott Gary closed his sermon with this thought: + + I am about to leave you and expect to see your faces no more. I + long to preach to the poor Africans the way of life and + salvation. I don't know what may befall me, whether I may find a + grave in the ocean, or among the savage men, or more savage wild + beasts on the Coast of Africa; nor am I anxious what may become + of me. I feel it my duty to go; and I very much fear that many of + those who preach the Gospel in this country, will blush when the + Saviour calls them to give an account of their labors in His + cause and tell them, "I commanded you to go into all the world, + and preach the Gospel to every creature;" (very emphatically he + exclaimed) the Saviour may ask where have you been? What have you + been doing? Have you endeavored to the utmost of your ability to + fulfill the commands I gave you, or have you sought your own + gratification, and your own ease, regardless of My commands?[56] + +A distinguished Presbyterian minister said to Gurley, "A sermon which +I heard from Lott Gary, shortly before he sailed for Africa, was the +best extemporaneous sermon I ever heard. It contained more original +and impressive thoughts, some of which are distinct in my memory, and +never can be forgotten."[57] Elder John Bryce, assistant pastor of the +First Baptist Church, afterwards confessed that he had never been so +deeply interested in a sermon.[58] + + +READJUSTMENT ON AFRICAN SOIL + +By the twenty-third of January, 1821, Gary and his church were ready +to sail.[59] At half past six in the morning[60] the _Nautilus_, +carrying 28 colonists and a number of children, left Norfolk, +Virginia, en route to Sierra Leone.[61] + +As the agents of the American Colonization Society, who made the +journey, had not completed their negotiations for the purchase of a +site for the settlers, the party remained at Freetown, Sierra Leone, +for some months.[62] From there Cary wrote the Corresponding Secretary +of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, March 13th: + + _Rev. and Dear Sir_ + + I am happy that an opportunity is now afforded me, to inform the + Board through you, the only proper medium of communication with + them, that we all arrived safe in Africa. We had a long passage + of forty four days, yet we were wonderfully preserved by the + great Ruler of the winds and the seas.... + + I am truly sorry, that the hopes and expectations of the Board + cannot be realized, as to our missionary labours; for, as it + pleased you to have us connected with the Colonization Society, + and the agents of the Society upon their arrival here, finding + their prospects of getting lands very gloomy, so much so that + they disowned us as colonists; and the government's agent had + captured Africans for whom he was bound, by the laws of the + United States, to procure a place, in order to settle them, or + until there can be a more permanent settlement obtained, the + agent received us as labourers and mechanics, to be settled with + them in order to make preparations for the reception of others; + we are therefore bound to the government's agent. He has rented a + farm, and put us on it, and we must cultivate it for our support, + and for the support of these Africans; and pay as much of the + rent as we can. And as this obligation will last until lands are + purchased by the agents of the Colonization Society, I am greatly + afraid it will not end soon; and until it does end, our mission + labours will be very few. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, when he came + on his mission into this world, was found often with a broad axe + in his hand: and I believe that a good many corn field + missionaries would be a great blessing to this country, that is + if they were not confined to the field by law and by necessity. + We are bound by both. I converse very freely with you on this + subject, because with me it is a very important one, and because + of the interest which the Board has taken in this mission.[63] + +Mrs. Cary, "a sensible woman and an exemplary Christian,"[64] was sick +at this time and soon died, leaving her husband the care of their two +children.[65] Despite this and the appalling circumstances of the +first settlers, they wrote to the Board rejoicing that they were in +the country of their forefathers and hoping that His gracious +approbation would crown their labors.[66] Lott Cary kept constantly in +mind the great object of his mission. He not only preached as often as +opportunity would permit but he established a mission among the +Mandingoes.[67] + +Nevertheless, there was danger for some time that the whole enterprise +would be abandoned. Whereupon, Captain Robert F. Stockton was sent to +Africa in the armed schooner _Alligator_ with full powers from +President Monroe and the American Colonization Society to make +arrangements for a new and permanent settlement.[68] On December 11, +he and Doctor Eli Ayres, the Society's agent, who had left America in +July, anchored off Cape Mesurado or Montserado and, with John Mills, +an English mulatto and slave dealer, as interpreter, made negotiations +with King Peter, the principal chief around the Cape, for the purchase +of a settlement. After much parleying and delay on the part of the +king and treachery on the part of Mills,[69] they finally exchanged +gunpowder, tobacco, rum, iron pots, beads, looking glasses, "four +Hats, three Coats, three pair Shoes"[70] and other minor articles not +worth more than $300 for that valuable tract of land[71] which was the +nucleus of what is now the Republic of Liberia.[72] + +Arrangements were made for the colonists to take possession of their +new home the 7th of February, 1822.[73] The territory, finally +including ninety miles of coast lying between the Junk and Sesters +Rivers and extending nearly seventy miles into the interior, +presented, on the one hand, an excellent opportunity to work among the +Bassa, Vey, Dey and Kroo tribes,[74] who numbered about 125,000, and +exhibited, on the other hand, many obstacles, for the natives were +hostile, and the rainy season was approaching, at the time when +provisions were scarce. + +The condition of the colonists was so appalling that many proposed to +return to Sierra Leone. Just a few more hours and the Cape would have +been abandoned, but when the Agent went ashore to prepare for +departure he was informed by Lott Gary that he was determined not to +go. Nearly all the colonists were induced to follow his example. + +In the event they suffered severely; nearly 1,000 natives attacked +them in November, 1822, but were repulsed. During this and similar +encounters with the natives, which lasted through the months of +November and December, Lott Cary cooperated wisely with the Agent, +Jehudi Ashmun,[75] and, although several of the colonists were killed +and wounded, with only 37 men and boys he, on one occasion, drove back +with considerable loss 1,500 wild and exasperated natives who were +bent on extirpating the settlement. Lott Cary compared the little +company of disturbed settlers to the Jews, who "grasped a weapon in +one hand, while they labored with the other" to rebuild the city. But +he is said to have asserted: "There never has been an hour or a +minute, no, not even when the balls were flying around my head, when I +could wish myself again in America."[76] + +These colonists planted their church at Monrovia and soon had under +way the nucleus of a flourishing Sunday-school.[77] Cary extended his +labors to communities far and near, and by 1823 had 6 converts.[78] +The following resolution adopted by the General Missionary Convention +speaks for itself the sentiment of that body respecting the work of +Cary and Teague up to May 7, 1823:[79] + + The committee states that the present condition and prospects of + the mission are encouraging. Brethren Cary and Teague are at + present much occupied in aiding in the establishment of the + colony at Cape Mesurado. Their conduct has been good and that of + the former, in particular, has been specially commended by the + Agent of the Colonization Society. The committee recommends that + an able white missionary be stationed, as soon as practicable, at + Cape Mesurado. The mission has a double effect. While it tends to + introduce the gospel into Africa, a mission establishment on the + coast will essentially aid in the suppression of the slave trade. + +In spite of the fact that his associate, Colin Teague, had returned to +Freetown, Sierra Leone,[80] Lott Cary was adding some few of the +natives to the church. In 1824, he baptized 9. One by the name of John +from Grand Cape Mount, a town about eighty miles distant, proved a +valuable helper by the good influence which he exerted. Some word from +Hector Peters[81] had touched him and he came to the American +settlement for instruction and baptism. Without being asked, he +related his experience to the church. + +"When me bin Sa' lone," he began, "me see all man go to church +house--me go too--me be very bad man too--suppose a man can cus +(curse) me--me can cus im too--suppose a man can fight me--me can +fight im too.--Well, me go to church house--the man speak, and one +word catch my heart (and at the same time laying his hand on his +breast)--I go to my home--my heart be very heavy--and trouble me +too--night time come--me fear me can't go to my bed for sleep--my +heart trouble me so--something tell me go pray to God--me fall down to +pray--no--my heart be too bad--I can't pray--I think so--I go die +now--suppose I die--I go to hell--me be very bad man--pass all turrer +(other) man--God be angry with me--soon I die--suppose man cus me this +time--me can't cus him no more--suppose man fight me--me can't fight +him no more--all the time my heart trouble me--all day--all night me +can't sleep--by and by my heart grow too big--me fall down this +time--now me can pray--me say Lord--have massey. Then light come in my +heart--make me glad--make me light--make me love the Son of God--make +me love everybody." + +John was baptized the 20th of March, 1825. The church neatly dressed +him, gave him an extra suit, about $10.50, 3 Bibles and 2 hymn books +and sent him on his way rejoicing.[82] + +The impetus received by the church was amazing. The membership by 1825 +had increased to 60 or 70 and two or three pious emigrants were +assisting in the work. This same year, Lott Cary directed the building +of a substantial meeting house which would have been completed +immediately if nails and boards could have been procured.[83] In a +letter from Monrovia,[84] dated April 24, 1826, he wrote a brother in +Norfolk: "We dedicated our meeting house last October; it was four +weeks from the time we raised it to the time it was dedicated. It is +quite a comfortable house, 30 x 20 feet, and ceiled inside nearly up +to the plates, with a decent pulpit and seats. I feel very grateful to +you for your services, and to the brethren and friends for their +liberal contribution."[85] + +This progress of the church might, at first blush, seem to say that +everything was in a state of tranquility and peace. This is far from +being the case. In the face of the record of Lott Cary as a Christian, +a pastor, a representative of the Richmond African Baptist Missionary +Society and a church builder in Africa, it is interesting to note the +invective hurled against him by Governor Ashmun in 1823. The +Governor's phraseology is unique. "Wretched," "morose," "obstinate," +"soured," "narrow," "disobliging," "moral desert," "a corroding +temper," and "destitute of natural affection," were some of the +epithets used as over against "more obliging," "affectionate husband," +"display of tenderness," "sweet and profound humility," "promoter of +every commendable and pious design," "every laudable habit," "moral +renovation," "habit of holiness," and "redeemed" when an understanding +was perfected in 1824.[86] + +The cause of the misunderstanding was of long standing. Agents of the +American Colonization Society prior to Ashmun's time were accused of +transmitting false reports to the board and of appropriating to their +own use the provisions and supplies of the colonists.[87] It is also +known that a commercial company of Baltimore, whose business it was +to prosecute the African slave trade, was jealous of the Society and +tried to undermine it. In addition, the trials and hardships +incidental to founding the colony had reduced many of the settlers to +want.[88] The most ignorant could thus fathom their condition: "We +suffer: if the Society have means and does not apply them to our +relief, it is without benevolence; if it have not means, it wants +power and in either case is unworthy of our confidence."[89] + +This lack of power showed itself in the helplessness of the government +to restrain the first vestiges of insubordination and to enforce the +law. Thereupon, the discontentment of Cary and one or two others +became widespread.[90] Probably the manhood consciousness of Cary +would not have asserted itself so soon had not the occasion arisen +between August 31 and September 25, 1823, when the principal Agent +attempted to redistribute the town lots of the earliest colonists who +alleged that they held them under a former sanction of the Agent and +so refused to have them redistributed. They resolved to appeal to the +board of the American Colonization Society.[91] Moreover, they openly +avowed that they would neither survey nor cultivate any of the lots +(thickly covered with undergrowth) assigned to them nor aid in any +public improvements[92] until they should hear from the board. On the +13th of December, Ashmun published the announcement that there were in +the Colony more than a dozen healthy persons who would not receive any +more provisions out of the public store till they earned them. Six +days later the Agent ordered the rations of the offending persons to +be stopped. Next morning a few[93] of the colonists assembled at the +Agency House and vociferously demanded the Agent to rescind his +order. Ashmun was immovable. The colonists straightway hastened to the +storehouse where rations for the week were then being issued and each +seized a store of provisions and went home.[94] Lott Cary had no small +influence and share in this seditious proceeding.[95] Toward evening, +the Agent addressed a circular "to all the colonists" declaring that +the impropriety of the morning's act would be communicated to the +board. He further exhorted all to go to work and not to commit such an +offence again for their sakes in this world or in the one to come. +Lott Cary was not to perform any of his ministerial functions "till +time and circumstances shall have evidenced the deepness and sincerity +of his repentance."[96] Gurley states that the leaders of the +sedition, led by Lott Cary, almost "immediately confessed and +deplored" their error.[97] + +It seemed in 1824 that the affair of the previous year would be +repeated when, on March 17, the rations were reduced one half. The act +was viewed by the colonists as oppression and they openly reproached +Ashmun. Through all of this period, the spirit of disorganization was +working so that the colonists furnished little support towards +developing the government.[98] + +In communicating the account of the disturbances to the board, Ashmun +wrote, March 15, that "the services rendered by Lott Cary in the +Colony, who has with very few (and those recent exceptions), done +honor to the selection of the Baptist Missionary Society, under whose +auspices he was sent out to Africa, entitle his agency in this affair, +to the most indulgent construction which it will bear. The hand which +records the lawless transaction, would long since have been cold in +the grave, had it not been for the unwearied and painful attentions of +this individual rendered at all hours--of every description--and +continued several months."[99] + +The General Missionary Convention was influenced very little, if any, +by the report, if, indeed, they had received it officially. At the +annual meeting of the Board of Managers, April, 1824, the committee on +the African mission had "no hesitation in recommending a careful +regard to this mission, which though it may seem to slumber for a +moment, in their opinion promises great and extensive usefulness." The +board recommended + + That a constant correspondence be kept up with the brethren there + by which their minds will be encouraged, and their hands + strengthened and through which information may be received of the + state of the Colony, the progress of the cause, and of the + earliest opportunities which may offer for introducing the Gospel + more extensively into the heart of Africa.[100] + +There is no further account of this misunderstanding other than that +from the pen of Ashmun. Mr. Taylor,[101] the biographer of Lott Cary, +remarks: "He (Cary) was compelled, to some extent, to act the part of +a mediator between the rebellious colonists, who considered themselves +injured, and Mr. Ashmun, the Governor. While for a moment he might +seem to act injudiciously, he possessed too much noble and generous +feeling to be guilty of a dishonorable act." The Rev. G. Winfred +Hervey[102] thinks that "in any controversy between mules and +muledrivers, the latter have several advantages among which one of the +most important is that they have the exclusive use of vocal attack and +defence. Cary was too prudent a man to publish an apology for +constructive sedition; and as he has not left us his own explanation +of any of the facts in the case, we have not all the materials on +which to base an impartial judgment." + +The agitation at length had its effect. It was directly responsible +for the establishment, in 1824, of a new form of government which was +approved by Cary and his fellow-citizens and in which the colonists +had a full expression.[103] Gurley[104] and Ashmun both testified that +Cary readily entered into the spirit of the new government.[105] Only +eight days, from August 14 to 22, were needed to organize a government +that should be energetic and feasible.[106] "Beneath the thatched roof +of the first rude house for divine worship ever erected in the Colony +stood the little company of one hundred colored emigrants, who had +ventured all things to gain for themselves and children a home and +inheritance of liberty and before God pledged themselves to maintain +the Constitution of their choice, and prove faithful to the great +trust committed to their hands."[107] Despite the seeming repetition +of the chagrin of past irregularities in September, 1824, however, the +board of the American Colonization Society passed a motion, April 2, +1825, to organize, on the 18th of the next month, a permanent +government for the colony.[108] + + +USEFULNESS OF THE MAN + +During these times Lott Cary continued to increase his popularity by +performing the pastoral duties of the Providence Baptist Church as +vigorously as he could.[109] He preached several times each week, and, +in addition, gave religious instruction to many of the native +children. A day school of twenty-one pupils was begun April 18, +1825.[110] By June, the number had increased to thirty-two, nineteen +of whom came from Grand Cape Mount, some miles distant.[111] Cary was +handicapped in this work by the lack of funds, by the demoralizing gin +traffic of the Europeans, by Mohammedanism, by the deadly climate and +by degraded fetichism,[112] yet, in the course of seven weeks, he +taught several children to read the Bible intelligently, although he +could not devote more than three hours a day to this work.[113] + +In the meantime, in keeping with the report of the Board of Managers +of the General Missionary Convention in 1823, Governor Ashmun wrote to +the American Colonization Society, March 20, 1825, that "the natives +have universally a most affecting persuasion of the superiority of +white men.... I cannot hesitate to say that the missionary, or +principal of the proposed establishment (_i.e._, a religious mission +for Africa), ought by preference to be a white man."[114] The little +colony of near 400 souls was suffering for an adequate educational +program. Excepting Governor Ashmun, there was not an individual there +who had ever received a plain English education.[115] Allowing that +and granting that there were few intelligent Negroes in the United +States,[116] Ashmun would have appeared more hopeful of Negro +leadership had he made his request to the board more general. + +Whether because of this appeal or not, it is singular to note that the +Rev. Calvin Holton, a graduate of Waterville College (now Colby +College), offered his service to the board the same year and, with 34 +emigrants,[117] sailed from Boston in the brig _Vine_, January 4, +1826. He was employed to establish and direct a Lancastrian system of +education for (1) the children of the colonists, (2) for the native +children living in the settlement, (3) for the recaptured Africans who +numbered about 120, and (4) for the young men and women who were +teaching or preparing themselves for this profession.[118] His work +was not of long duration for on the 2d of July, 1826, he died[119] and +was succeeded early in 1827 by the Rev. G. M'Gill, "an intelligent and +experienced coloured Teacher from Baltimore."[120] + +About this time the number of native boys who received instruction was +only 50. These were trained either to be interpreters to American and +European missionaries or religious teachers. Lott Cary had 45 scholars +enrolled in his school at Monrovia.[121] He was assisted by a lad of +fourteen years and by the Rev. John N. Lewis, another missionary sent +out by the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society, but who, from +lack of adequate support, turned to other business.[122] + +Lott Cary had a large task to perform with this school. As a matter of +fact, "the hopes of the African tribes," said Ashmun,[123] "from +Gallinas to Trade Town, are at present suspended upon it. Most of the +boys who attend it are sons of the principal individuals of the +country, and more than half can read the New Testament intelligently, +and understand the English language nearly as well as the settlers of +the same age." The expense of a native boy was estimated at $25 and of +a girl at $20.[124] + +Gurley believed that the schools were numerous enough and amply able +to afford instruction to every child in the colony. Although this +instruction was compulsory, it is not altogether evident, however, +that at any place save Monrovia a real educational program was begun. +Ashmun related that about six out of every ten emigrants were +illiterate and that just one pious individual assisted by two or three +utterly illiterate exhorters was the only instructor around the +settlement. "Not one in five of these people habitually attend, even +on Sundays, such religious instruction as they possess." Consequently, +he adds that the moral power exerted was not sufficient to offset "the +demoralizing influence of corrupt examples."[125] + +The Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society and Lott Cary, +however, were expending their funds liberally on the schools. The +surplus funds in the colonial treasury plus the subscription of $1,400 +from the colonists (including $300 subscribed by Ashmun) were spent +for education.[126] Yet from all sources enough money could not be +raised to continue all the schools begun. Cary, in 1827, removed the +day school from Monrovia to Grand Cape Mount. He made appeal after +appeal to send the light to Africa. To prove that the natives would +sooner steal the light than miss it he gives the following incident +that occurred in removing the school establishment to Grand Cape +Mount: + +"I had upwards of forty natives," he said,[127] "to carry our baggage, +and they carried something like 250 bars ($187.50); a part of them +went on four days beforehand, and had every opportunity to commit +depredations, but of all the goods that were sent and carried there, +nothing was lost except fifteen spelling books; five of them were +recovered again." + +Mr. Cary's letter to Mr. Crane will explain somewhat the circumstances +of the school at Grand Cape Mount. + + + _June 11, 1827._ + + On yesterday week, being our monthly meeting, I baptized one + young man, and after preaching in the afternoon, we had the + happiness to break bread together in the house of the Lord. I + don't like to be too sanguine, but I think he will be a blessing + to the church; his name is John Reavy (Revey)--came out in the + first expedition, and has been engaged in teaching a native + school on the Sherbro, with Nathaniel Brander, until the last two + years, which he has spent at Sierra Leone. + + For I fear I may not have another opportunity to write you again + soon, I must again call your attention to the immediate + establishment of a school at Cape Mount. Since writing the fore + part of this letter, I have received an order for books from Cape + Mount, which I have sent. I requested, at the same time, the + native Brother, John,[128] to come down immediately, and I would + try and arrange business so as to send up a teacher with him; and + on proposing the subject to Brother John Reavy, he is quite + willing to go up to commence the school as soon as the Brother + comes down. I expect to allow him $10.00 per month and find him. + My means at present will not justify these engagements, but I + know you will do what you can when there is an opportunity; if + you cannot send out tobacco or other articles, send out the + money. United States bank notes pass as well here as they do with + you. I shall try to keep the wheels going until you can send out + supplies. I want some writing paper and ink powder or ink, and + wish the Society (Richmond) would send me a bbl. of single nails. + You will please make my respects to all the brethren and friends, + and accept the same for yourself and the Board. + + LOTT CARY.[129] + + +After many months of delay[130] the school was established November +10, 1827, at Big Town, Grand Cape Mount. John Revey was in charge. +"The school room," says Cary,[131] "is nearly fifteen feet by thirty. +We made arrangements to have worship in it on the ensuing Lord's day, +and I had the honour to address a very attentive audience twice, +through brother John. After service I informed the congregation that I +should need their assistance the following day in preparing seats, +&c., and they turned out like men, and performed more labour by eight +o'clock, than I expected to have accomplished in the whole day. We got +seats prepared for about 60 children by 4 o'clock, and gave notice +that as the school would be organized on the day following, at 9 +o'clock, A.M., all persons wishing to have their children instructed +were requested to come at that time and have them entered, and the +number received was 37. I read and explained a short set of +regulations which I had drawn up; and as I had the king and his head +men present, I got them to sign the articles of agreement in the +presence of the whole congregation. For twelve months I think the +school will, of course, be expensive. The present arrangement is--I +agree to allow brother Revey $20 per month, and find him provisions, +washing, &c." + +Mr. Cary thought that by this arrangement the station at Grand Cape +Mount would net better results than the one at Monrovia. Neither he +nor the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society were able to +maintain both. Some funds were received[132] but it developed in about +a year that the school had to be given up for lack of funds and +assistants.[133] + +Other duties, moreover, required some time. Lott Cary realized from +the beginning of the colony that a missionary in Africa ought to be +more than a corrector of moral ills and a "doctor" of divinity; he +would be fortunate indeed if he could mend human bodies. As a result, +Cary was constrained to forego much of the joy which he had +anticipated from efforts to show men the living Christ by accepting +the position of Health Officer of the colony, August 31, 1822.[134] He +had no medical schooling but with the use of home remedies, patent +medicines,[135] and common sense, he was able to cure some. Until the +31st of August, 1823, he was practically the only physician in the +settlement (excepting Dr. Ayres who was present a part of the year +1822). After that Dr. Ayres returned on the _Oswego_ in the late +spring of 1825.[136] He and sixty emigrants who came with him were +soon suffering from the disease of the country and had to rely on the +medical experience of Cary. Eight emigrants died[137] and by December, +Dr. Ayres was compelled to leave the colony. The climate was so +unhealthy that hardly any one escaped its pestilence.[138] When, in +addition, the poor housing conditions, the inadequate sanitation and +the scanty hospital supplies[139] are considered, it is remarkable +that so many escaped death. + +Every ship[140] that brought emigrants meant more work for Cary. On +February 13, 1824,[141] one hundred and five emigrants arrived in the +ship _Cyrus_ and in less than a month every one was prostrate with the +fever.[142] "Astonishing," said Ashmun,[143] "that in this atmosphere +should exist causes so universal in their operation, as amongst all +the varieties of age, sex and habit, not to leave one in the whole +number without disease, and that in less than four weeks; and stranger +still, that the blast should be so tempered to the strength of the +constitution of every individual, as only to have swept off three +small children. Men may call these phenomena in human life, the +effects of the laws of nature; I choose to call them singular proofs +of the Providence of God over all his creatures." + +When the brig _Hunter_ arrived, March 13, 1825, with 66 settlers, +nearly all of whom were farmers,[144] all were stricken during the +first month. Although Cary himself was confined to his house nursing a +severe injury, only a few children were fatally affected.[145] + +Cary gratuitously spent about half of his time in caring for the sick +of the colony. This fact was a matter of course as no funds were +specially designated for this purpose. Cary was financially able to do +such a thing. He had defrayed no small share of his own expense[146] +in equipment for Africa, and when the colonists were in need of +medical aid, he spent much of his means in this direction.[147] In +1825 he still owned a house and lot near Richmond which he was +desirous of selling.[148] + +Lott Cary was so occupied with caring for the sick that his +prospective trip to America in the spring of 1826 had to be +postponed.[149] He was also physician to Governor Ashmun. The governor +was very ill in May after an exposure of four hours in attempting to +save the schooner _Catherine_ from destruction. "The prescriptions of +our excellent and experienced assistant physician, the Rev. L. Cary," +the Governor said,[150] "under the blessing of Divine Providence, so +far succeeded as to afford complete relief, only leaving me in a very +emaciated and enfeebled state, about the end of the first week in +July." + +All of this was just part of the work that Lott Cary had set himself +to accomplish. By his unselfish labors and untiring efforts he had won +the hearts of the natives. He had been indefatigable in his efforts to +uplift the colony. The morale of the settlement was greatly lifted. +Drunkenness, profanity and quarreling were unknown; the Sabbath was +observed with strictness.[151] Nearly the whole adult population had +come under the influence of Christianity. On the site of a once +desolate forest consecrated to demon worship was erected the +commodious chapel which stood as a monument of the overthrow of +heathenism and as a tribute to the Son of God.[152] + +But in the sight of this landmark of Christianity, the slave trade was +carried on extensively.[153] In 1825 from eight to ten, even fifteen +traders were engaged at the same time off the coast. In July +"contracts were existing for eight hundred slaves to be furnished in +the short space of four months within eight miles of the Cape. Four +hundred of these were to be purchased for two American traders. During +the same season, a boat belonging to a Frenchman, having on board +twenty-six slaves, all in irons, was upset in the mouth of the St. +Paul River and twenty of their number perished."[154] Between October, +1825, and April, 1826, no less than one hundred and eighty Negroes +were reclaimed from slave traders and taught the Scripture.[155] + +When Gurley visited the colony in August, 1824, he found the state of +religion and morality hopeful, defenses adequate, quiet Sabbaths and +physical improvements which indicated that a considerable amount of +labor had been done. For twenty-two months following, the jails were +in disuse.[156] By 1826 the people had developed from inexperienced +immigrants to efficient citizens. No family was without ample food +and wearing apparel. Wages were high and employment could be found +everywhere. The common laborers were receiving from $.75 to $1.75 a +day, while the mechanics got $2 a day. Houses were built and a +telegraph system was soon to be installed. There were also two corps +of militia, an artillery battery of fifty men and forty infantrymen. +These had charge of the fifteen large carriages and three small pivot +guns.[157] + +A printing press costing more than $1,000, in addition to the salary +of a printer, had been sent out. The citizens of Liberia expressed +their thanks by subscribing nearly $200 "toward the immediate issue +and support of a publick newspaper."[158] One thousand volumes of +books, a complete set of the North American Review, a gift of Editor +Sparks, and many other useful things were on hand.[159] + +Economic effort, however, did not at first play as conspicuous a part +in the missionary adventure of Lott Cary as it did in the lives of the +pioneers, George Liele and David George, who left this country +primarily to be able to make a living.[160] Nevertheless, the economic +feature developed after a time. The agricultural progress of the +country was rapidly promoted. The sultry and moist climate greatly +accelerated[161] the growth of coffee,[162] rice and cassada. The Rev. +Colston M. Waring was the first to attempt farming on anything like a +large scale. His crop of rice and cassada on a ten acre farm failed +and checked so bold an example from all except Lott Cary. He, too, +lost a promising crop in 1825 on the same kind of land because of the +birds and the monkeys.[163] This failure, however, showed him that +either farming as the natives adopted (scratching the surface of the +ground with a sharp stick) or more improved methods of thoroughly +preparing the soil had to be tried.[164] In the following year, Cary +enlarged his farm, had it cleared, dug it up with picks and hoes, and, +in June, sowed about three bushels of rice to the acre. At the first +cutting, on the 20th of October, it averaged 50 kroos (a measure +varying from 3 to 5 winchester gallons) per acre.[165] + +In one letter, he says:[166] "I have a promising little crop of rice +and cassada, and have planted about 180 coffee trees this week, a part +of which I expect, will produce next season, as they are now in bloom. +I think, sir, that in a very few years we shall send you coffee of a +better quality than you have ever seen brought into your market. We +find that trees of two species abound in great quantities on the +Cape." + +On the 7th of July, 1825, Cary reported a discovery of gold in the +sand near little Cape Mount.[167] The appearance of gold was certain +to develop the country commercially; some trade was already being +carried on. Endeavoring to participate therein, nine of the natives +built a ten ton schooner which carried from four to eight thousand +dollars' worth of goods each trip.[168] Doctor Alexander[169] relates +that between the first of January and the fifteenth of July, 1826, +fifteen vessels stopped at Monrovia. + +Nevertheless, there were some anti-slavery leaders in America who +seriously questioned the permanent utility and moral influence of the +colony of Liberia. One of these anti-slavery groups, composed of free +Negroes of Philadelphia, was led by Richard Allen, the founder of the +African Methodist Episcopal Church.[170] In a letter to a gentleman +in Richmond, Lott Cary makes mention, September 24, 1827, of the +agitation carried on by these Negroes of Philadelphia. "Before I left +America," he said,[171] "and ever since then, the coloured people in +about Philadelphia, have been making efforts in opposition to the +scheme of colonizing the free people in Africa; and as some of their +very recent publications have reached this place, I felt that in +justice to the cause, and my own feelings, I ought to undertake to +point out to them their situation." + +Unfortunately the letter closes shortly after this but singularly +enough our sources supply an "Address, _By the Citizens of Monrovia_, +to the free coloured people of the United States,"[172] which no doubt +is referred to in the letter. The name of Lott Cary is not attached to +this address, which boosts "the doings of the Colonization Society" +and which points out the political, social, economic, educational and +religious advantages enjoyed by the colonists. Nevertheless, the +document could not fully express the sentiments of the colonists +unless the feelings of the leaders were given. It is not too much to +presume that the address was gotten up by Lott Cary, the outstanding +leader of the colonists, but it is very doubtful whether he wrote it +in its present form. The correspondence of Cary reveals that he did +not express himself so clearly nor did he use so good English.[173] +The antithetical style reminds one of the writing of Ashmun.[174] + +Through all of the many affairs which Cary performed, he continued +pastor of the church at Monrovia. A missionary society was formed in +connection with the church in the spring of 1826. Cary was elected +president.[175] At the first anniversary[176] on Easter Monday, in +consequence of the failure of the Rev. Colin Teague to come from +Sierra Leone, Lott Cary preached the introductory sermon.[177] This +society contributed $50 for mission work during the year 1827.[178] By +the following year, the church contained one hundred members and two +ordained preachers, John Lewis and Colston M. Waring, besides +exhorters.[179] + + +FINAL WORK AND WORTH + +Lott Cary was none the less interested and active in the welfare of +the government. From the first settlement in Cape Montserado, he was +appointed Government Inspector at the same time he was selected Health +Officer[180] and consequently he knew something of the working of the +government. In September, 1826, he was unanimously elected vice-agent +of the colony. The colonial agent had great confidence in his +judgments, decisions and loyalty[181] and left the affairs of the +colony in Cary's charge when he was advised in 1828 to return to +America for his health.[182] + +"I was able," Mr. Ashmun wrote to the board,[183] "to arrange the +concerns of the Colony with Mr. Cary, even to the minutest +particulars, and I have the greatest confidence that his +administration will prove satisfactory, in a high degree, to the Board +and advantageous to the Colony." + +During the first six months, Cary's task was to see to it that every +man and working family were self-supporting. "To effect this object, +they must be furnished with a few simple tools--to pay for them if +they can--if not, to receive them gratuitously. Their allowance must +be withheld if they neglect or negligently follow the improvement of +their lands, and the building of their houses. Much may be done by +visiting the people separately, getting at their intentions and +circumstances and spurring, advising or reproving as they may require. +I am persuaded it will be useful, and in most instances possible to +get at least all the men out of the public receptacles and on their +lands before the rains set in." Respecting the buildings of the United +States, those of the colony, the arms, forts, printing establishment, +farms, Millsburg settlement, finances, etc., other particular +regulations were suggested.[184] Lott Cary kept Ashmun and the +American Colonization Society informed about the condition of the +colony.[185] On his death bed, Ashmun again expressed his confidence +in Cary and urged that he should be permanently appointed to conduct +the affairs of the colony[186] which now contained upwards of 1,200 +settlers.[187] + +The only trouble that Cary had while he was vice-agent was with the +natives.[188] The factory belonging to the colony at Digby, a +settlement just north of Monrovia, was robbed by them and general +hostilities threatened when satisfaction was demanded and refused. A +letter of protest to a slave dealer who had stored his goods in the +house where stores of the colony had been deposited was intercepted +and destroyed by the natives. Immediately, Cary prepared to defend the +rights and property of the colony. He called out the militia and began +with others, in the evening of November 8, to make cartridges in the +old agency house. In some manner, a candle was accidentally upset and +almost instantly the entire ammunition exploded, entirely destroying +the house. Eight people died; six of the number survived until the +next day; Lott Cary and one other until November 10, 1828.[189] + +The unbelievable news of the death of Lott Cary spread like a mighty +conflagration to the organizations which he represented. The following +is the resolution read and adopted at the annual meeting of the +Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society in 1829:[190] + + The loss which has been sustained, cannot in our estimation, be + easily repaired. This excellent man seems to have been raised up + by divine providence, for the special purpose of taking an active + part in the management of the infant settlement. His + discriminating judgment, his honesty of heart, and decision of + character, qualified him eminently, for this service. But, + especially, in relation to your society is his death to be + sincerely lamented. It will be recollected, that he was a + principal instrument in the origin of this society, and for + several years acted as its recording secretary. A little more + than eight years ago, he received his appointment, and sailed, as + missionary, in company with brother Teage, for the land of their + forefathers. His exertions as a minister in that land have been + of the most devoted and untiring kind. In the communications + which have been received by the Board, he seemed to possess the + most anxious concern for the salvation of the perishing + multitudes around him. Through his instrumentality a considerable + church has been collected together which seems to be in a + prosperous and growing condition. Sabbath and week day schools + have been instituted for the instruction of native children and + the children of the colony, which have proved eminently useful. + We were looking forward with confidence to the more perfect + consummation of our wishes, when that moral desert should rejoice + and blossom as the rose; but God has seen fit to cross our + expectations, in calling from his station this laborious + missionary. It becomes us to bow with submission to the stroke, + and to realize the saying of the apostle, "how unsearchable are + his judgments, and his ways past finding out." Although we were + not permitted to receive his dying testimony to the trust, we + have the fullest assurance that our loss is his unspeakable and + eternal gain. + +At the sixth triennial meeting of the General Missionary Convention, +1829, the committee on the African Mission made this report[191] which +in some particulars was paradoxical: + + This excellent man (it began) went to Africa, under the patronage + of the American Colonization Society, as well as of this + convention.... Could he have devoted his whole time to our + service much good might have been expected to have resulted from + his labors. But he was under necessity to assist in its + government and defense, as well as to act as its physician. + + It is a source of consolation to the friends of Mr. Cary that + though his life was terminated in an unexpected moment and in a + most distressing manner, the unwearied diligence and fidelity + with which he discharged the important trust confided to his + care--his zeal for the honor of religion, and the purity and + piety of his general conduct have gained him a reputation which + must live in grateful remembrance, as long as the interesting + colony exists, in whose service he lived and died. + + Your committee cannot help expressing their regret that so small + a portion of benevolent feeling has been exercised towards this + mission, and that so little has been accomplished during the + eight years of its existence. + +The next item of this report is an appeal for "some brethren of +competent talents" to go and labor there. + +There surely was ground for regret that so small a portion of +benevolent feeling was exercised towards this mission. Some +individuals did contribute now and then; "A Georgia Planter" sent a +part of $10;[192] a "poor woman" of the Rev. H. Malcom's congregation +sent $3 for the African mission;[193] "a friend to Africa avails of +jewelry for mission to Liberia, per Mr. E. Lincoln, $6";[194] the +Negroes connected with the First Baptist Church, Washington, sent +$15[195] and, no doubt, some others contributed. + +It is not quite clear, however, why William Crane, still representing +the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society in the Convention and +the Rev. James B. Taylor, a delegate from Virginia and later the +biographer of Lott Cary, did not challenge the statement that so +little had been accomplished during the eight years of the existence +of the African mission. + +The Convention then adopted the following recommendation of the +Committee: + + _Resolved_, That this convention cherish a grateful recollection + of the self-denying labors of our late lamented missionary to + Africa, Rev. Lott Cary, and that we sympathize with his family, + the American Colonization Society, and the church at Monrovia, in + the loss they have sustained in his death. + + _Resolved_, That it be recommended to the Board to take measures + for supplying the vacancy occasioned by the death of Bro. Cary as + soon as possible by an able white missionary, and that they + endeavor to the utmost of their power to promote the success of + this mission, as one in which the convention feel a special + interest. + + S. CORNELIUS, Chairman. + + +It was not until 1832 that the Convention saw the error of its +conclusion and declared that it must depend "principally on _colored +persons_, as missionaries and school teachers, in Africa."[196] +Despite this color-phobia of the Baptists, nothing can explain away +the fact that Lott Cary had lived helpfully and died honorably. +Gurley[197] and Hervey[198] would make him a man of genius who, had he +possessed educational advantages, would have won a worldwide +reputation as preacher, as general or as chief magistrate. This +square-faced, keen-eyed, reserved, cautious black held nothing back. +From Charles City County to Richmond, from slave to freedman, from +profligate to prophet, from sinner to saint, is a record that might +have gone unnoticed; but from America to Africa, from governed to +governor, from missionary to martyr is Lott Cary. + +For over a score of years the little village of Carytown was the only +memento of the man. But in 1850, the Rev. Eli Ball, an agent of the +Southern Baptist Convention, while visiting all the Liberian Baptist +Mission stations, found with difficulty the final resting place of +Lott Cary. The next year a marble monument was sent out and placed +over his grave.[199] + + MILES MARK FISHER + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This spelling seems more correct than either the short form, _Lot +Cary_, used by the Rev. D. Stratton, D.D. of St. Albans, West +Virginia, in his "Life and Work of Lot Cary, Missionary in Africa," or +the longer form, _Lott Carey_, used by the Rev. James B. Taylor in +"The Biography of Elder Lott Carey" and by many other writers for the +following consideration: There is no trace of Cary spelling his name +Lot Cary. In the American Baptist Magazine and Gammell's "A History of +American Baptist Missions" there are letters from or references to +Cary marked Lott Carey, which are no doubt presumptions on the part of +the printer or writer that the name is spelled like that of the Rev. +William Carey. If, on the other hand, Lott Cary spelled his name +either _Carey_ or _Cary_, that would only argue that his name would be +better spelled Lott Cary as a means of distinction from the Rev. +William Carey. "The Biography of Elder Lott Carey" written in 1837 is +the source of much that is known of the man but seems to draw heavily +from the "Life of Jehudi Ashmun, late Colonial Agent in Liberia, with +an Appendix Containing Extracts from His Journal and Other Writings, +with a Brief Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Lott Cary," written in +1835 by Ralph Randolph Gurley, Secretary of the American Colonization +Society. Many incidents of the life of Lott Cary are taken from the +life and writings of Mr. Ashmun. It would therefore seem consistent to +follow his spelling of the name. In this work, the name, Lott Cary, is +used frequently--even signed to a letter to Mr. Gurley--and many +references are made to it by Mr. Ashmun who probably knew Cary better +than anyone else. Only once in the entire work, on page 126, never in +the "Brief Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Lott Cary," is the name +spelled _Carey_. This could be a typographical error. Furthermore, Mr. +Randall who went to Africa as Governor of Liberia about a month and a +half after Cary's death said, respecting a native settlement, "I +propose to have it called after him, Carytown." (_The African +Repository_, Vol. V, p. 1.) Appletons' _Cyclopaedia of American +Biography_, Vol. I, p. 548, follows this spelling. + +[2] This name is also variously spelled--Collin or Colin and Teague or +Teage. The above spelling is from the American Baptist Missionary +Union in their Missionary Jubilee volume, pp. 215, 267. + +[3] _Proceedings of the Fifth Triennial Meeting of the Baptist General +Convention_, 1826, p. 22; Earnest, _The Religious Development of the +Negro in Virginia_, p. 95; $150 was appropriated for the mission May +23, 1823. Proceedings, 1826, pp. 22, 32. + +[4] _Report of the Board of Managers of the General Convention_ in +_The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, pp. 396 ff. + +[5] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[6] Hervey, _The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands_, p. 199. + +[7] Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, p. 147; Peck, _History +of the Missions of the Baptist General Convention_ in the _History of +American Missions to the Heathen_, p. 443. + +[8] Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 199. + +[9] _The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 11; Gurley, _op. cit._, +appendix, p. 147. + +[10] Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 200. + +[11] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[12] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 443. + +[13] _The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 11; Gurley, _op. cit._, +appendix, p. 147. + +[14] The gallery was reserved for the slaves connected with the church +and congregation. Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 202. + +[15] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[16] _Ibid._ + +[17] _The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 11; Gurley, _op. cit._, +appendix, p. 147; Peck, _op. cit._, p. 443. + +[18] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 148; Peck, _op. cit._, p. 443. + +[19] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[20] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 148. + +[21] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 443. + +[22] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. His wife +died shortly before this time, _The African Repository_, March, 1829, +p. 11; Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 147. + +[23] _Fifth Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions_ in +_The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. I, pp. 400f. + +[24] _The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 12. + +[25] _Ibid._, Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 148. + +[26] Cathcart, _The Baptist Encyclopaedia_, Vol. I, p. 288. + +[27] _The Missionary Jubilee_, pp. 17, 18, 19; Tupper, _A Decade of +Foreign Missions_, p. 875. + +[28] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 444; The Missionary Jubilee, p. 214; Tupper, +_op. cit._, p. 875. + +[29] The outbreaks of Toussaint L'Ouverture in Hayti in 1789 and +especially Gabriel in Richmond had not died away. Gabriel in 1800 +organized 1000 Negroes in Henrico County. The plot, however, was +betrayed by a slave Pharaoh and amounted to no lives lost except those +of Gabriel and Jack Bowles who were executed. A public guard of 68 +policed the city for some months afterwards. Cf. Ballagh, _Slavery in +Virginia_, p. 92. + +[30] From Article I of the Constitution of this body it is presumed +that the Richmond Society contributed "a sum amounting to at least one +hundred dollars" for their membership fee. + +[31] _Proceedings of the General Convention_, 1817, p. 134. + +[32] Gammell, _A History of American Baptist Missions_, p. 256. + +[33] _The Third Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign +Missions_, p. 180. + +[34] _Proceedings of the Baptist General Convention_, 1829, p. 34; +Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, pp. 30, 32. + +[35] Letter to Doctor Staughton, dated Philadelphia, April 30, 1818, +in the _Fourth Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign +Missions_. + +[36] _Third Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions_, +p. 180. + +[37] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary._ + +[38] August 5, 1816, the Negro Baptists of Warren County, North +Carolina, contributed $5.15; August 18, of the County Line +Association, Caswell County, North Carolina, $.69; September 1, of the +Shiloh Association, Culpepper, Virginia, $1.90; October 21, of the Pee +Dee Association, Montgomery County, North Carolina, $2.19; May 7, +1817, "a col. Wom." of Georgia, $1; June 2, "Coloured Brethren" of the +Sunbury Association, Georgia, $21; June 16, "a man of colour 15 +cts.--a woman of col. 6 cts." and August 1, "a man of col. 25 +cts."--_The Third Annual Report of the Baptist Board_, pp. 146-149; +_The Fourth Annual Report of the Baptist Board_, pp. 206, 208. + +[39] _The Fourth Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign +Missions_, pp. 206, 208, 210. + +[40] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 444; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 201. + +[41] Cf. Journal of Mills in Spring, _Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel J. +Mills_. + +[42] Letter dated Richmond, March 28, 1819, to the Rev. Obadiah B. +Brown, Washington City. + +[43] _The Missionary Jubilee_, p. 215. + +[44] _Sixth Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions_ in +_The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, p. 141. + +[45] _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, p. 141. + +[46] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 439; cf. also The Missionary Jubilee, p. +215. The constitution of the Richmond African Baptist Missionary +Society restricted its funds to Africa. + +[47] _The African Repository_, March, 1829; Gurley, _op. cit._, +appendix. + +[48] This would have increased his salary to $1000 annually. + +[49] Letter of William Crane to the Rev. Obadiah Brown. + +[50] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 148. + +[51] Russell, _The Free Negro in Virginia_, pp. 145-156. + +[52] _Seventh Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions_ +in _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, pp. 317f. + +[53] _Ibid._, p. 399; _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. +341; Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 159; Peck, _op. cit._, p. 439; +_The Missionary Jubilee_, p. 215. + +[54] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 444; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 202. + +[55] Hervey, _op. cit._, pp. 201f. + +[56] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 149. + +[57] _Ibid._, p. 148; _The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 12. + +[58] Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 202. + +[59] Earnest, _op. cit._, p. 95. + +[60] Journal of Cary in _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, p. 399. + +[61] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. III, p. 181. + +[62] Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 202. + +[63] _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, pp. 397f. + +[64] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 439. + +[65] Gammell, _op. cit._, pp. 247, 249. + +[66] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. II, p. 181. + +[67] Alexander, _A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of +Africa_, p. 245. + +[68] Latrobe, _Maryland in Liberia_, p. 9. + +[69] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, pp. 149f. + +[70] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[71] _The Fifth Annual Report of the American Society for Colonizing +the Free People of Colour of the United States_, pp. 55-64. + +[72] Liberia was named at the annual meeting of the Colonization +Society, February, 1825. Fox, _The American Colonization Society_, p. +71. + +[73] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 149; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 202. + +[74] Warneck, _Outline of a History of Protestant Missions_, p. 193. + +[75] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 149; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 203. + +[76] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 149; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 203; +_The African Repository_, March, 1829, p. 13; _The American Missionary +Register_, Vol. VI, p. 341. + +[77] Gammell, _op. cit._, p. 244; Peck, _op. cit._, p. 441. + +[78] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 439; Gammell, _op. cit._, p. 244. + +[79] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IV, p. 142. + +[80] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 341; Gammell, +_op. cit._, p. 244; Tupper, _The Foreign Missions of the Southern +Baptist Convention_, p. 277. + +[81] A Negro Baptist preacher who accompanied David George to Sierra +Leone from Nova Scotia in 1792. For a detailed account cf. Rippon, +_The Baptist Annual Register_, Vol. I, pp. 478-481. + +[82] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. V, pp. 241f.; _The American +Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, pp. 222f. + +[83] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, pp. 222f. + +[84] At the annual meeting of the American Colonization Society, +February, 1825, on motion of General Robert G. Harper, the settlement +was named Monrovia, in honor of the President of the United States. +Fox, _op. cit._, p. 71. + +[85] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, pp. 244f. In the Report +of the Board of Managers of the General Missionary Convention, May, +1825, "Lott Cary ... states that hostilities ... of the natives had +ceased.... He asks for assistance to complete the work (on the +church); and the Board feel pleasure in recommending the case to the +hearts of all who are interested in the melioration of the condition +of the African Race." Ibid., Vol. V, p. 216. + +[86] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[87] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 196. + +[88] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 213. + +[89] _Ibid._, p. 214. + +[90] _Ibid._, p. 213. + +[91] _Ibid._, _op. cit._, p. 182. + +[92] The laws of the Society required every adult male to work two +days a week for the public good while receiving rations from the +public store. This rule was dispensed with providing each colonist +would cultivate his own land. _Ibid._, p. 186. + +[93] _Ibid._, appendix, p. 150. + +[94] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 187. + +[95] _Ibid._, appendix, p. 150. + +[96] Fox, _op. cit._, p. 72. + +[97] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 150. + +[98] _Ibid._, pp. 190ff. + +[99] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 150. + +[100] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IV, p. 423. + +[101] Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 204. + +[102] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 203. + +[103] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 214; Hervey, _op. cit._, p. 204. + +[104] _Ibid., op. cit._, p. 215; _ibid._, appendix, p. 150. + +[105] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 143. + +[106] _Ibid._ + +[107] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 49. + +[108] _Ibid._ p. 246. + +[109] Gammell, _op. cit._, p. 247. + +[110] _The Missionary Jubilee_, p. 215. + +[111] The Veys inhabit this healthy country and are very intelligent. +They have a written language although no books. Peck, _op. cit._, p. +441. + +[112] Warneck, _op. cit._, p. 189. + +[113] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 441. + +[114] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 30. + +[115] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 341. + +[116] Cf. Jones, _The Religious Instruction of the Negro in the United +States._ + +[117] These emigrants with one exception were from Newport, Rhode +Island. Eighteen of them were, just before their departure and at +their own request, organized into a church. Gurley, _op. cit._, pp. +308, 310. + +[118] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 309. + +[119] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, p. 368; Gammell, _op. +cit._, p. 247; Peck, _op. cit._, p. 442; _The Missionary Jubilee_, p. +215. + +[120] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 356. + +[121] The schools and scholars in Liberia in 1827 were as follows: + + Rev. Mr. Gary's school for native children 45 + Rev. Mr. M'Gill's classes 16 + Mr. Stewart's school 44 + Miss Jackson's school 40 + Mrs. Williams' school 30 + Mr. Prout's school 52 + +Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 350. + +[122] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, pp. 272f.; _ibid._, +Vol. VII, p. 166. + +[123] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 357. + +[124] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. XXI, p. 183. + +[125] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, pp. 32, 35, 36, 37. + +[126] _Ibid._, _op. cit._, p. 356. + +[127] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VIII, p. 144; cf. also +Alexander, _op. cit._, pp. 248f. + +[128] Baptized eighteen months before by Cary. He was a native +evangelist at Big Town, Grand Cape Mount and styled himself John +Baptist. Letter of Cary dated Monrovia, June, 1827, to Crane. + +[129] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VII, pp. 305f. + +[130] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VIII, pp. 143f. + +[131] _Ibid._, pp. 53f. + +[132] The General Missionary Convention made a remittance of $90 on +February 15, 1828. _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VII, pp. 170, +176. + +[133] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 442. + +[134] Alexander, _op. cit._, p. 181. + +[135] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[136] _The American Missionary Register_, May, 1825, p. 142. + +[137] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 182. + +[138] _Ibid._, p. 190. + +[139] _Ibid._, p. 182. + +[140] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[141] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 142. + +[142] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 439; Stratton, _Life and Work of Lot Cary_, +p. 3. + +[143] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 190. + +[144] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 232. + +[145] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. V, p. 242. + +[146] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[147] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[148] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 340. + +[149] This trip was to influence the free people of color in the +United States to emigrate to Liberia. Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. +151. + +[150] Gurley, _op. cit._, pp. 340f. + +[151] Peck, _op. cit._, p. 554. + +[152] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, p. 216. + +[153] Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, p. 157. + +[154] _Ibid._, _op. cit._, p. 261. + +[155] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IX, pp. 212f.; Peck, _op. +cit._, p. 442. + +[156] _The American Missionary Register_, Vol. VI, p. 142. + +[157] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, p. 216. + +[158] _The Liberia Herald_ ran for three issues. Then the printer, Mr. +Charles L. Force, died. _Ibid._, pp. 214ff. + +[159] _Ibid._ + +[160] Rippon, _op. cit._, Vol. I, pp. 334, 482; Alexander, _op. cit._, +p. 41; Crooks, _A History of the Colony of Sierra Leone_, p. 36. + +[161] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 66. + +[162] _Ibid._, p. 56. + +[163] _Ibid._, p. 131. + +[164] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 132. + +[165] _Ibid._ + +[166] Alexander, _op. cit._, p. 247. + +[167] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 126. + +[168] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, p. 216. + +[169] _History of African Colonization_, p. 225. + +[170] Cf. Adams, _The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America_, p. +92; Cromwell, _The Early Negro Convention Movement_, pp. 3-5. + +[171] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VIII, pp. 53f. + +[172] Cf. _Letters and Addresses of Lott Cary_. + +[173] Cf. especially Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, pp. +153, 157. In speaking of going to Grand Cape Mount, Mr. Cary says, "I +should have went up last year ... we may anticipate a middling severe +struggle from the Mandingo priests who have been for years propagating +their system of religion among that nation. They are a kind of +Mahometan Jews--they are very skilful in the Old Testament...." _The +American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VII, p. 305. Moreover, there is no +known evidence that any other of the colonists could have written so +well. + +[174] Compare the Address of the Citizens of Monrovia to the free +colored people of the United States with the account given in Gurley, +_Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, pp. 136-138. + +[175] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VIII, p. 203. + +[176] $1 was the annual membership fee; 45 names were enrolled and the +money paid. $7.25 was collected at the door. Ashmun contributed $5 +extra. _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VII, p. 305n. + +[177] _Ibid._, p. 305. + +[178] _Ibid._, Vol. VIII, p. 170. + +[179] _Ibid._, Vol. IX, p. 195; Peek, _op. cit._, p. 443. + +[180] On August 31, 1822, Alexander, _op. cit._, p. 181. + +[181] _The African Repository_, Vol. V, p. 14. + +[182] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 153. + +[183] _Ibid._, _op. cit._, p. 385. + +[184] Gurley, _op. cit._, p. 385; cf. Journal of Lott Cary in Gurley, +_Life of Jehu Ashmun_, appendix, pp. 153-156. + +[185] Cf. Appendix L. + +[186] Gurley, _op. cit._, appendix, p. 159. + +[187] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IX, p. 212; Alexander, +_op. cit._, p. 279. + +[188] Alexander, _op. cit._, p. 261. + +[189] _The African Repository_, Vol. V, p. 10; Gurley, _op. cit._, +appendix, p. 160. + +[190] Alexander, _op. cit._, pp. 254f. + +[191] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IX, pp. 212, 215, cf. also +p. 195. + +[192] Cf. a letter to the treasurer of the Massachusetts Baptist +Education Society in _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VI, p. 181. + +[193] _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IX, p. 255. + +[194] _Ibid._, p. 214. + +[195] _The American Baptist Magazine_, p. 215. + +[196] _Proceedings_, 1832, pp. 10, 33. + +[197] _Op. cit._, appendix, p. 160. + +[198] _Op. cit._, p. 207. + +[199] Hervey,_op. cit._, p. 206. + + + + +COMMUNICATIONS + + +The correspondence of the editor often has an historical value as the +following communications will show: + + + February 13, 1922. + + _Dear Dr. Woodson:_ + + Your JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY has been so full of good material + that I hesitate to call attention to two things in the last + (January) number that seem unsuitable. + + The first is the leading article on Slave Society on the Southern + Society. For more than thirty years I have been combating with + all my might the theory of slave-holding sovereignty set forth in + that article. It is the essentially Southern view--a magnified + view and an unreal view. The article is practically a mild form + of the panegyric of the slave plantation which has been the stock + in trade of defenders of slavery for a hundred years. + + The reasons for slavery given on pages 1 and 2 do not accord with + the facts, and if they were true would have minimized the + protests against slavery, past and present. It is ridiculous to + say that white men endanger their lives by working in the South + when you consider how large a part of the cotton crop is raised + entirely by white men. + + The description of what was said to be the "usual" type of + plantation house does not in my opinion apply to more than two + hundred or three hundred plantations in the South at the outside. + I have traveled very extensively in the South and have never seen + more than three or four such mansions. The testimony of Olmsted + and other writers is that ordinarily the slaveholder's house was + poor and that he lived in a very poor fashion. As for the twelve + sons and daughters in the planters' families, and the fifteen to + twenty-five children in the negro families, it is perfect gammon. + Not one family in a thousand had such numbers. None but a very + few of the richest planters lived in the profusion described on + page four. As for the enrolment in colleges between 1859 and + 1860, and the incomes of the higher institutions, that is all + bosh. Francis Lieber was a German by birth, found his service in + South Carolina very uncongenial, and stood by the union. To + compare slavery to apprenticeship is an affront. The day's work + set down by Murat (whose history of the United States is a very + obscure work) is contrary to evidence North or South. Regular + nurseries were built only on a few large plantations. The + arguments in favor of slavery on pages nine and ten are stated + without qualification or contradiction. I deeply regret that a + Journal of Negro History should admit an article so full of + statements both untrue and dangerous to the Negro race. + + The experience of a Georgia peon "seems to me very doubtful. I am + personally acquainted with the story of Dade's stockade, and have + passed within a few miles of it, and I do not believe in the + least that there is now, or has been in the past thirty years, + any plantation in the South where families are brought up in + servitude. The only Ponce-de-Leon spring that I know is in + Florida, which is not on the road between Georgia and + Mississippi. The man seems to think that Chattanooga is on the + west side of the river. It is a dangerous thing to accept any + such statement without thorough investigation and calling upon + the relater to state exactly where these things happened, and + what was his course of travel. + + I should not venture to write so decidedly but that you have done + so much for the cause of the Negro race, and I don't like to see + you give ammunition to the enemies of your race. + + Sincerely yours, + ALBERT BUSHNELL HART. + + + 326 FLOWER ST., + CARTER G. WOODSON, Ph.D., CHESTER, PA., + The Journal of Negro History, June 26, 1922. + Washington, D. C. + + _My dear Doctor Woodson:_ + + The following list of Negro delegates to the Republican National + Conventions from 1868 to 1920, inclusive, from South Carolina, + may be of sufficient interest for publication. As the proceedings + of the conventions do not differentiate as to the racial identity + of the delegates it is necessary that this data should be + collected before it is too late, especially as it pertains to the + Reconstruction period. While a reduction in the numbers of + delegates from South Carolina, as well as from most of the + Southern States, was made by the Republican National Committee in + December, 1913, the State still sends a majority of Negro + delegates: + + 1868--Chicago, Ill., May 20-21. + Robert Brown Elliott, Henry B. Hayne, Stephen A. Swails, + Joseph H. Rainey, Wm. J. McKinlay, Robert Smalls, + Henry L. Shrewsbury. + + 1872--Philadelphia, Pa., June 5-6. + + At-Large--Alonzo J. Ransier. + 1st District--Stephen A. Swails, F. H. Frost, Henry J. + Maxwell. + 2nd District--Robert Smalls. + 3rd District--Robert Brown Elliott, Wm. Beverly Nash. + A. J. Ransier on Committee to notify nominees. + At the Convention of 1872, General Elliott was called + upon from the floor to address the convention. His + speech will be found in the proceedings of the convention. + + 1876--Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14-16. + At-Large--Robert Brown Elliott, Richard H. Gleaves. + 1st District--Stephen A. Swails, Joseph H. Rainey. + 2nd District--Wm. J. McKinlay. + 3rd District--Wm. Beverly Nash. + 5th District--Lawrence Cain, Robert Smalls. + Joseph H. Rainey on Committee to notify nominees. + + 1880--Chicago, Illinois, June 2-8. + At-Large--Robert Brown Elliott, Samuel Lee. + 1st District--Wm. A. Hayne. + 3rd District--Charles M. Wilder. + 4th District--Wilson Cooke. + 5th District--Wm. F. Myers, Wm. J. Whipper. + Messrs. Hayne, Myers and Whipper went down to defeat + with General U. S. Grant. All received medals for + their loyalty. + + 1884--Chicago, Illinois, June 3-6. + At-Large--Samuel Lee, Robert Smalls. + 1st District--John M. Freeman. + 2nd District--Paris Simpkins, Seymour E. Smith. + 4th District--Charles M. Wilder, Wilson Cooke. + 5th District--Eugene H. Dibble. + 6th District--Edmund H. Deas. + 7th District--Wm. H. Thompson. + Samuel Lee on Committee to notify nominees. Major + John R. Lynch, delegate from Mississippi, was elected + temporary chairman, the first and only time that a colored + man ever presided over a Republican National Convention. + + 1888--Chicago, Illinois, June 19-25. + At-Large--Wm. F. Myers, Robert Smalls. + 1st District--John M. Freeman. + 2nd District--Fred Nix, Jr., Paris Simpkins. + 3rd District--F. L. Hicks. + 4th District--Peter F. Oliver, F. A. Saxton. + 5th District--Charles C. Levy, Zachariah E. Walker. + 6th District--Edmund H. Deas. + 7th District--George E. Herriott. + Paris Simpkins on Committee to notify nominees. + Peter Oliver seconded the nomination of General Alger + for president. + + 1892--Minneapolis, Minn., June 7-10. + At-Large--Edmund H. Deas, Dr. Wm. D. Crum. + 1st District--John H. Fordham. + 2nd District--Paris Simpkins, Seymour E. Smith. + 3rd District--A. S. Jamison. + 4th District--Irwin I. Miller. + 5th District--Wm. E. Boykin. + 6th District--Rev. Joshua E. Wilson. + 7th District--R. H. Richardson. + + E. H. Deas on Committee to notify presidential nominee. + J. H. Fordham on Committee to nominate vice-presidential + nominee. + + 1896--St. Louis, Mo., June 16-18. + At-Large--Dr. Wm. D. Crum, Robert Smalls. + 1st District--Robert C. Brown. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon. + 4th District--Charles M. Wilder. + 5th District--Wm. E. Boykin. + 6th District--Edmund H. Deas, Rev. Joshua E. Wilson. + 7th District--Zachariah E. Walker, John H. Fordham. + E. H. Deas on Committee to notify presidential nominee. + + 1900--Philadelphia, Pa., June 19-21. + At-Large--Edmund H. Deas, Robert Smalls. + 1st District--Dr. Wm. D. Crum. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon, B. J. Dickerson. + 5th District--Wm. E. Boykin. + 6th District--Rev. Joshua E. Wilson, Wm. H. Collier. + 7th District--John H. Fordham. + E. H. Deas on Committee to notify presidential nominee. + + 1904--Chicago, Illinois, June 21-23. + At-Large--Edmund H. Deas, Dr. Wm. D. Crum. + 1st District--Wm. F. Myers, A. P. Prioleau. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon, E. J. Dickerson. + 4th District--Pratt S. Suber. + 5th District--Wm. E. Boykin. + 6th District--J. R. Levy, J. A. Baxter. + Dr. Crum on Committee to notify vice-presidential + nominee. + + 1908--Chicago, Illinois, June 16-19. + At-Large--Edmund H. Deas, Thomas L. Grant. + 1st District--C. M. English, P. T. Richardson. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon. + 3rd District--G. C. Williams. + 4th District--Dr. Wm. Tecumseh Smith. + 5th District--Wm. E. Boykin. + 6th District--J. A. Baxter, J. R. Levy. + 7th District--Wm. T. Andrews. + Thomas L. Grant on Committee to notify presidential + nominee. + + 1912--Chicago, Illinois, June 18-22. + At-Large--Wm. T. Andrews, J. R. Levy. + 1st District--Thomas L. Grant, A. P. Prioleau. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon. + 4th District--Thomas Brier. + 6th District--Rev. Joshua E. Wilson, J. A. Baxter. + 7th District--Dr. J. H. Godwyn. + Rev. J. E. Wilson on Committee to notify presidential + nominee. + + 1916--Chicago, Illinois, June 7-10. + At-Large--Dr. J. H. Goodwyn, John H. Fordham. + 1st District--Gibbs Mitchell. + 2nd District--Wm. S. Dixon. + 4th District--J. A. Brier. + 6th District--J. R. Levy. + 7th District--L. A. Hawkins. + J. R. Levy on Committee to notify presidential nominee. + W. S. Dixon on Committee to notify vice-presidential + nominee. + + 1920--Chicago, Illinois, June 5-9. + At-Large--W. S. Dixon, Dr. J. H. Goodwyn. + 1st District--Gibbs Mitchell. + 2nd District--J. M. Jones. + 5th District--G. A. Watts. + 6th District--I. J. McCottrie. + 7th District--L. A. Hawkins. + W. S. Dixon on Committee to notify presidential nominee. + I. J. McCottrie on Committee to notify vice-presidential + nominee. + + HENRY A. WALLACE. + + + 140 COTTAGE STREET, NEW HAVEN, CONN., June 26, 1922. + + DR. CARTER G. WOODSON, + 1216 You Street, N. W., + Washington, D. C. + + _My dear Dr. Woodson:_ + + Your studies in the history of the Negro people have greatly + impressed me with their value and I trust that they will be + continued in the many fields which call for new and careful + investigation. I think there is especial need for exact and + detailed information about the period of "reconstruction" in the + South. Reviewing in my memory the whole period since the civil + war I find a great change in prevalent opinion in the North + concerning the events of the reconstruction. It seems to me that + the champions of secession, of slavery and the southern + oligarchy, have been heard in justification of everything they + did and in arraignment of everything that defeated their designs + with an unsuspicious confidence that has enabled them to mislead + sentiment in the North, especially among the younger people. For + example: a Yale professor of history had an article in the New + York Times, a while ago, declaring that the constitutional + amendments conferring citizenship on the Negroes were wrong and + that the reaction against them in depriving the Negroes of the + vote was justifiable; to which I wrote a reply, mostly in the + language of Mr. Flemming, a native Southerner who had represented + Georgia in Congress, arguing that the amendments were not only + justifiable but indispensable, and the Times would not publish + it, so that I had to give it to the Post. There is a prevalent + opinion that the "carpet baggers" were a sort of monsters. I have + known some of them as estimable men and practical public spirited + citizens of a very high type: Judge Henderson of Wilcox County, + Ala. for example. + + Now if you can go to the roots of history in this period and + investigate the facts, with biographical sketches of leading men + as they actually were and authentic records of things that were + actually done, it might help to clarify history. + + The incessant whining and propaganda of Southern bigots devoted + to the old regime naturally have an undue influence on + sympathetic listeners. I am afraid that this influence will not + be counteracted as it ought to be till Negro investigators, + historians and journalists learn to tell their side of the story + with greater thoroughness. + + Very truly yours, + G. S. DICKERMAN. + + + NEW BEDFORD, MASS., MAY 15TH, 1916 + Room 6, Robeson Bldg. + + DR. CARTER G. WOODSON, + Washington, D. C. + + _My Dear Sir:_ + + In reply to yours of the 8th, please find herewith a contribution + in the line of my suggestion to Mr. Baker. I did not mean to + imply I had much material of that nature, and what is sent is + that I could readily find, and would need to take time to go + through my papers to really know what I have. If you can use it + all right; if not, consign it to the waste basket, and no + complaint will be coming. + + What I had more in mind was this: In many communities can be + found some one person who has contributed services of value to + race, none the less appreciable from the fact that their + interest and value seem circumscribed locally. That they are so + limited I do not believe, but think of each as the centre of an + ever widening, circling influence for good. To illustrate: + + Paul Cuffee was born at Cuttyhunk, Mass., in 1758; was an early + defender of the rights of colored men; when the selectmen of the + Town of Dartmouth, refused to admit colored children to the + public schools, and to make separate provision for their + education, he refused to pay his school taxes, was imprisoned, + and when liberated, built a school house at his own expense, on + his own land, employed a teacher at his own expense, and then + opened his school _without_ race discrimination, a privilege + which his white neighbors availed themselves of as his school was + more convenient and equally as good as those of the town. The + result was colored children ceased to be proscribed along + educational lines. He was a ship owner, builder and export + trader. His story has been published at length, in one of our + dailies, with all the documents in the case. It seemed to me that + such stories would be of general as well as local interest. If + you agree with me in this, Mr. Jourdain would without doubt + forward the clipping to you. + + The first colored school-teacher in Boston, was Prince Sanders, + Secretary African Lodge F. & A. M., the first Lodge of colored + Masons in America. He taught a colored school in the basement of + the old Joy Street Church from 1809 to 1812. The first colored + school, private, was opened in 1798, at the residence of Primus + Hall, corner of West Cedar and Revere Streets, Boston, and was + taught by a white man, by name, Sylvester. Its curriculum was + limited to the three "R's." + + I am sending you in mail with this a pamphlet copy of + "Proceedings" etc., on pp. 12, 16, 17, you will find statements + of services given by Prince Hall, of general as well as of local + interest and value. + + Yours sincerely, + FREDERIC S. MONROE. + + + + +DOCUMENTS + + + LETTERS, ADDRESSES, AND THE LIKE THROWING LIGHT ON THE CAREER OF + LOTT CARY[1] + + PHILADELPHIA, January 6, 1621 (1821). + + The Board of Managers of the General Convention of the Baptist + Denomination in the United States, to their coloured brethren, + Collin Teage and Lott Carey, present the assurance of their + sincere affectionate esteem. They have heard with pleasure, that, + by a vessel about to sail from Norfolk to the coast of Africa, an + opportunity is presented for accomplishing those benevolent + desires which, for many months past, you have been led to + entertain. At the present time, they possess a deep anxiety for + your preservation in a country where so many colonists have + frequently found a grave. They most fervently commend you to the + gracious protection of that God in whose hand your breath is, and + whose are all your ways. May you make the Lord your refuge, even + the Most High your habitation. It is a source of much + encouragement that you will be able to collect useful information + from the experience of your predecessors; and it is hoped that by + the advice of your brethren who have already reached the shores + of your forefathers, you will be enabled to adopt the most + prudent measures for the health and safety of yourselves and + families. + + The Board earnestly recommend, what they cheerfully anticipate, + that your conduct before your fellow passengers on the ocean, be + pious and exemplary. Endeavour to secure their good will by every + office of kindness; and, above all, cherish and discover a solemn + concern for their everlasting salvation. Arrived in Africa, you + will find much that will require patience, and prudence, and + mutual counsel. You will have to bear with prejudices that have + descended on the minds of the inhabitants, after having been + cherished for ages, and to instil the sacred truths of the gospel + with meekness and wisdom. While your conversation shall be + without blame, the Board advise you in your ministry to dwell + much on the doctrine of the cross, a doctrine which has been + found in every age of the church of Christ, the power of God. + + Have as little to do as possible with what may be called the + politics of the country. Be content with the silence so divinely + exemplified in the Lord Jesus and his apostles to render unto + Caesar the things which are Caesar's. Cultivate a tender regard + for each other. If difference of opinion on any measures occur, + never suffer it to produce alienation of affection. You have + already had opportunities of improving your minds by reading, and + the Board are gratified by the reflection that you bear with your + books that are calculated to add to your general and spiritual + knowledge. + + Give yourselves to reading still; and, above all, let the word of + God dwell in you richly. Be much engaged in prayer. If troubles + rise around you, the delightful thought that you have a Father, a + Saviour, in heaven, with whom you are so happy as to hold + communion, will not only soften their severity, but in a good + degree elevate you above their influence. + + Let nothing discourage you. Ethiopia shall stretch forth her + hands unto God. You are engaged in the service of Him who can + make the _crooked straight_, and the _rough places_ plain. + + The Board wish you, as you shall find opportunity, to write. They + will rejoice to hear that a church, on the principles of the + gospel, is founded as the fruit of your labours. They trust that + at no distant period, many such churches will rise, and the + solitary place be glad for them. They will be happy to facilitate + your prosperity to the utmost of their power. + + They pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with + you, with your families, and with all who sail or settle with + you; and that the American Colonization Society, and all its + sister institutions, may be rendered instrumental in diffusing + literary, economical, and evangelic light, from the Mediterranean + to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the Atlantic to the Red Sea + and Indian Ocean. + + By order of the Board, + WM. STAUGHTON, _Cor. Sec'ry._ + + + Seventh Report of the Board of Managers of the General + Convention, in _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, pp. 396f. + + A RESOLUTION + + A communication having been received from the Petersburg African + Mission Society, and also from brother Colston W. Waring, a + preacher of colour at Petersburg, desiring the patronage of this + Board in favour of the said Waring, as a missionary to Africa. + + _Resolved_, That the said communications impart pleasure to this + body, and that the Board will cheerfully countenance and + encourage the said Waring as their missionary to Africa, provided + the expenses of his outfit, &c. can be met by his own resources + and those of his brethren in that quarter. + + Sixth Annual Report of the Board, in _The Latter Day Luminary_, + Vol. II, p. 134. + + + A CONTRACT + + KNOW ALL MEN, That this Contract, made on the fifteenth day of + December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred + twenty-one, between King Peter, King George, King Zoda, and King + L. Peter, their Princes and Head-men, of the one part; and + Captain Robert F. Stockton and Eli Ayres, of the other part; + WITNESSETH, That whereas certain persons Citizens of the United + States of America, are desirous to establish themselves on the + Western Coast of Africa, and have invested Captain Robert F. + Stockton and Eli Ayres with full powers to treat with and + purchase from us the said Kings, Princes, and Head-men, certain + Lands, viz: Dozoa Island, and also all that portion of Land + bounded north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south + and east by a line drawn in a south-east direction from the north + of Mesurado river, We, the said Kings, Princes, and Head-men, + being fully convinced of the Pacific and just views of the said + Citizens of America, and being desirous to reciprocate the + friendship and affection expressed for us and our people, DO + HEREBY, in consideration of so much paid in hand, viz: Six + muskets, one box Beads, two hogsheads Tobacco, one cask + Gunpowder, six bars Iron, ten iron Pots, one dozen Knives and + Forks, one dozen Spoons, six pieces blue Baft, four Hats, three + Coats, three pair Shoes, one box Pipes, one keg Nails, twenty + Looking-glasses, three pieces Handkerchiefs, three pieces Calico, + three Canes, four Umbrellas, one box Soap, one barrel Rum; And + _to be paid_, the following: three casks Tobacco, one box Pipes, + three barrels Rum, twelve pieces cloth, six bars Iron, one box + Beads, fifty Knives, twenty Looking-glasses, ten iron Pots + different sizes, twelve Guns, three barrels Gunpowder, one dozen + Plates, one dozen Knives and Forks, twenty Hats, five casks Beef, + five barrels Pork, ten barrels Biscuit, twelve Decanters, twelve + glass Tumblers, and fifty Shoes, FOR EVER CEDE AND RELINQUISH + the above described Lands, with all thereto appertaining or + belonging, or reputed so to belong, to Captain Robert F. Stockton + and Eli Ayres, TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said Premises, for the use + of these said Citizens of America. And we, the said Kings, and + Princes, and Head-men, do further pledge ourselves that we are + the lawful owners of the above described Land, without manner of + condition, limitation, or other matter. + + The contracting Parties pledge themselves to live in peace and + friendship for ever; and do further contract, not to make war, or + otherwise molest or disturb each other. + + We, the Kings, Princes, and Head-men, for a proper consideration + by us received, do further agree to build for the use of the said + Citizens of America, six large houses, on any place selected by + them within the above described tract of ceded land. + + In WITNESS whereof, the said Kings, Princes, and Head-men, of the + one part; and Captain Robert Stockton and Eli Ayres, of the other + part; do set their hands to this Covenant, on the day and year + above written. + + (Signed) + KING PETER, X his mark. + KING GEORGE, X his mark. + KING ZODA, X his mark. + KING LONG PETER, X his mark. + KING GOVERNOR, X his mark. + KING JIMMY, X his mark. + (Signed) + CAPTAIN ROBERT F. STOCKTON. + ELI AYRES, M.D. + + Witness, (Signed) + JOHN S. MILL. + JOHN CRAIG. + + + AGREEMENT WITH J. S. MILL + + I HEREBY CONTRACT, for the consideration of one barrel of Rum, + one tierce of Tobacco, one barrel of Bread, one barrel of Beef, + one barrel of Pork, and one piece of trade Cloth, to give to + Captain R. F. Stockton and Eli Ayres all my right and title to + the Houses situated on the Land bought by them on Cape Mesurado. + + In Witness whereof, I have here unto signed my name, on this + sixteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred twenty-one. + + (Signed) JOHN S. MILL. + + Witness, (Signed) + CHARLES CAREY, X his mark. + WILLIAM RODGERS, X his mark. + + We promise to present to Charles Carey, one Coat. + (Signed) R. F. STOCKTON. + ELI AYRES. + + The Fifth Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, pp. + 64-66. + + + L---- C----. + + A black man, has been a member of this Colony since the beginning + of the year 1820. He made a profession of religion in America: + but never never since I knew him, either discharged its duties, + or evinced much of its spirit, till within the last ten months. + He was a man of good natural sense, but wretched in the extreme; + and the cause of equal wretchedness to his young family. His + wife, naturally of a mild and placid temper, failed in almost + every thing to please him, or prevent the constant outbreakings + of his morose and peevish humor. He was her tyrant--and so + instinct with malevolence, the vain conceit of superiority, + jealousy, and obstinate pride, as to resemble more an Arab of the + desert, or a person destitute of natural affection, than a person + by education and in name, a Christian. As a neighbor, his + feelings were so soured and narrow, as to render him disobliging, + suspicious, and equally an object of general dislike and neglect. + His heart was a moral desert--no kind affection seemed to stir + within it; and the bitter streams which it discharged had spread + a moral desolation around him, and left him the solitary victim + of his own corroding temper. + + Such an ascendant had these evil qualities over the other + faculties of his mind as in a great measure to dim the light of + reason, and render him as a subject of the colonial government, + no less perverse and untractable, than he was debased and + wretched, as a man. + + Several times have the laws, which guard the peace of our little + community, been called in, to check the excesses of his turbulent + passions, by supplying the weakness of more ingenuous motives. + Still this person discovered, in the midst of this wreck of + moral excellence, a few remaining qualities, on which charity + might fix the hope of his recovery to virtue, usefulness and + happiness. But these were few, and mostly of a negative kind. He + was not addicted to profane discourse. He allowed himself in no + intemperate indulgences. He observed towards sacred institutions + a cold, but still an habitual respect. And, strange as the fact + may seem, he was laborious in his avocations, even to severe + drudgery, and equally a stranger to avarice, and a passion for a + vain ostentation. Whether these relieving traits of his character + were the effects of habit, produced by the influence of former + piety; or whether they were the result of constitutional + temperament, or of education, is not for me to decide. But such + was L. C., until the autumn of 1824; when not only a reform but + an absolute reversal, of every perverse disposition and habit in + the revolting catalogue of his character took place. A more + obliging and affectionate husband I am convinced is not to be + found on the Cape, few in the world! And there is no appearance + of constraint, or affection in this display of tenderness. It is + uniform, untiring, cordial, and increasing, as far as it is + permitted to any one, except the Searcher of hearts, to judge. In + all his intercourse with his family, and neighbors, he carries + with him, an inimitable air of sweet and profound humility. You + would pronounce it to be the meekness of the heart springing from + some deep-felt sentiment of the interior of the mind. But so far + from abasing the possessor, in the estimation of others, this + very trait commands their respect, and their love. It gives to + him a value, which he never appeared to possess before. Ten + months have I now had daily opportunities to observe this altered + man in a great variety of circumstances, and some of them, it + must be confessed, sufficiently trying. In one instance, I have + had to regret, and censure the appearance of that perversity + which made an important part of his character. But happily this + fit of turbulence was of short duration; and some months have + passed since, without witnessing a repetition of the infirmity. + Were I this evening asked to name a man in the Colony, who would + most carefully guard against offending, or causing even a + momentary pain to any of his fellow-men, I should not hesitate to + say that in my judgment, the man is L. C. On this point I insist, + because it was precisely in his revolting and unfeeling + churlishness, that his greatest and most incurable infirmity + seemed to consist. I hardly need add, were silence not liable to + misconstruction, that the duties and ordinances of religion are + matters of his most devout and diligent observance. How often + have I been awaked at dawn of Sabbath, by his devout strains of + prayer and praise, sent up from the midst of a little company of + praying people, who at that hour assemble for religious exercises + in a vacant building near my residence. How sure am I to find him + reverently seated in his place, among the earliest who assemble + in the house of God. What an active promoter of every commendable + and pious design, is sure to be found in him. + + Every laudable habit, which had survived the general extinction + of all practical virtue, seems to have acquired additional + confirmation: and from the operation of higher principles, seems + to follow of course, and derive the best guaranty of its + continuance. I might go on to particularize; but it would only be + to fill up the outline already sketched, and which, whether + relating to his former or his present character, however, + imperfect, is strictly true. Ask of him the cause of so obvious + and surprising a change, and he humbly, but unhesitatingly + ascribes it wholly to the power of the Divine Spirit, operating, + he cannot tell how, but evidently by means of the word and + ordinances of God, upon his whole mind. Such was the origin of + this great moral renovation, and such are the agency and means by + which its effects are sustained, and under the operation of which + they are beginning to combine into a habit of holiness. He + rejoices in the hope of its duration to the end of life, solely + he would say from the confidence he has in the immutable love and + faithfulness of the Holy Being, who has wrought so great a work + in him. And let philosophers cavil and doubt, if they must; but + this man's example is a refutation in fact of a thousand of their + sceptical theories. He is a new man, and the change was effected + chiefly before discipline, or example, had time to work it. He is + an honest man, and soberly asserts that to his certain knowledge + he did not perform the work himself. But where is the example to + be found of _such_ and _so great_ a change, wrought by mortal + means? The history of the human race is challenged to produce it. + To God then who created man, to Christ who redeemed him, and to + the Holy Ghost who sanctifies him, be ascribed without abatement, + or reserve, the power and the grace displayed in this and every + similar instance of the conversion of a blind, and hardened and + wretched sinner. + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, pp. 136-138. + + + "June 16th, 1827. + "To the Rev. R. R. Gurley. + + "Rev. and Dear Sir, I transmit to you a few lines, which I trust + may find you well. The last emigrants that you sent out, has + fared remarkably well, as it respects the disease; we have only + lost two children. We have several cases of bad ulcers; and from + seeing advertised in the Compiler of Richmond, a medicine called + Swaim's Panacea, said to be a sure cure for ulcers; please try if + possible to procure some, and send out, for we should have very + healthy inhabitants at present, but for the prevalence of that + uncontrolable disease. We are also in want of Salts, Castor-oil, + Cream of Tartar, mignesea, and Mustard, as much as you can send + well put up. I am greatly in hopes to be over the next spring, + and try to wake up my colored friends in Virginia. We have a plan + in contemplation which if accomplished will, I think insure my + making one visit to America, that is, to purchase, or aid in the + purchase of a vessel to run constantly from this, to America, to + bring out our own supplies, emigrants, &c. I hope sir, when such + an attempt is made you will facilitate it all that you can. + + "I think that you would be pleased with the improvements that we + have made since you left if you were to make another visit to + this country--both our civil and religious state I think has + improved very much. No more but wishing that the blessing of the + Lord may attend you, both in your public and private life, and + the Board of Managers, in all their administrations. + + "Yours, &c. + "LOTT CARY." + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, p. 153. + + + APPENDIX F + + "MONROVIA, April 24th, 1826. + + "Rev. and Dear Sir: I received your letter sent to me by the + order of the Board of Managers of the American Colonization + Society; and I expected until a few days ago that the return of + the Indian Chief, would have enabled me in all respects to have + realized their wishes. But on a more minute examination of the + subject, Mr. Ashmun and myself both were apprehensive that my + leaving the Colony at present, would endanger the lives of a + number of the inhabitants; Mr. Ashmun, however, has made a full + statement to the Board, which I have no doubt will be + satisfactory to them. I think that through the blessing of the + Almighty, I shall be able to get the last expedition through the + fever with very little loss; we have lost only three, the Rev. + Mr. Trueman, from Baltimore, and two children belonging to the + Paxton family. But the emigrants who came out in the Vine, have + suffered very much; we lost twelve of them. The action of the + disease was more powerful with them than is common--they + unfortunately arrived here in the most sickly month in the year, + February. I am strongly of the opinion, sir, that if the people + of New England leave there in the winter, that the transition is + so great, that you may count upon a loss of half at least. They + may, in my estimation, with safety, leave in the months from + April to November, and arrive here in good time; I think it to be + a matter of great importance; therefore I hope, that you will + regard it as such. + + "I am respectfully yours, + "Lott Cary." + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, p. 152. + + +In April, 1826, Lott Cary made arrangements to embark for the United +States. The following is extracted from a letter addressed by Mr. +Ashmun to the Managers of the Colonization Society: + + "The Rev. Lott Cary, returning by the 'Indian Chief,' has, in my + opinion, some claims on the justice of the Society or Government + of the United States, or both, which merit consideration. These + claims arise out of a long and faithful course of medical + services rendered to this Colony, (the only such services + deserving much consideration, if we except those of Dr. Ayres and + Dr. Peaco, since the commencement of the settlement, in 1820). + + "It is perhaps known to the Board, that Mr. Cary has declined + serving any civil office, incompatible with a faithful discharge + of his sacred functions: and it may be added, that although one + of the most diligent and active of men, he has never had the + command of leisure or strength to engage in any Missionary + duties, besides the weekly and occasional services of the + congregation. More than one-half of his time has been given up to + the care of our sick, from the day I landed in Africa, to the + very moment of stating the fact. He has personally aided in every + way, that fidelity and benevolence could dictate, in all the + attentions which all our sick have in so long a period received. + His want of science acquired by the regular study of Medicine, he + has gone a long way towards supplying by an unwearied diligence + which few regular physicians think it necessary--fewer + superficial practitioners, have the motives for exercising. + + "Several times have these disinterested labors reduced him to the + verge of the grave. The presence of the other physicians has, + instead of affording relief, only redoubled the intensity of his + labors, by changing the ordinary routine of his attentions to the + sick with the exhibition of their own prescriptions. + + "Mr. Cary has hitherto received no compensation, either from the + Society or the Government, for these services. I need not add, + that it has not been in his power to support himself and family + by any use he could make of the remnants of his time left him, + after discharging the amount of duty already described. The + Missionary Board of Richmond have fed, clothed and supplied the + other wants of himself and family, while devoting his strength + and time to your sick colonists, and Agents in this country. + Justice seems to demand that he should be placed in a situation + as an honest man, to refund the whole or part of the fund thus + engrossed, not to say _misapplied_, to the Missionary Board. + + "I beg leave also to state, that on the 15th of February, 1826, I + came into an agreement with Mr. Cary, to allow him a reasonable + compensation for his medical services, devoted to the then + sickening company of Boston emigrants. His time has from the date + of that agreement, to the present hour, been incessantly occupied + in attending upon the sick." + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, pp. 151f. + + +On the 25th of June Gary wrote to Ashmun: + + "About three o'clock to-day, there appeared three vessels--two + brigs and a schooner. The schooner stood into the Roads, and one + of the brigs near in, but showed no colours until a shot was + fired by Captain Thompson; when she hoisted Spanish colours, and + the schooner the same. All their movements appeared so + suspicious, that we turned out all our forces to-night.--About + eight this evening it was reported that they were standing out of + our Roads; and at sunset, that the schooner had come to anchor + very near the 'All Chance,' from Boston; and that the brig which + had passed the Cape, had put about and was standing up, trying to + double the Cape; and that the third vessel (a brig) was standing + down for the Roads. The first mentioned brig showed nine ports a + side. From all these circumstances I thought best to have Fort + Norris Battery manned, which was immediately done by Captain + Johnson. I also ordered out the two volunteer companies to make + discoveries around the town, and the Artillery to support the + guns, and protect the beach; which orders were promptly executed, + and we stood in readiness during the night. At daylight the + schooner lay at anchor and appeared to be making no preparations + to communicate with us; I then ordered a shot to be fired at a + little distance from her, when she sent a boat ashore with her + Captain, Supercargo, and Interpreter. She reported herself the + Joseph, from Havana, had been three months on the coast trading, + but _not for slaves_, had one gun, and twenty-three men. Also, + that the brig was a patriotic brig in chase of her, and that + through fear she had taken shelter under our guns. The Captain + wished a supply of wood and water; but I told him I knew him to + be engaged in the slave trade, and that, though we did not + pretend to attempt suppressing this trade, we would not aid it, + and that I allowed him one hour, and one only, to get out of the + reach of our guns. He was very punctual, and I believe before his + hour." + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, p. 157. + + +A letter to the American Colonization Society through her Secretary, +July 17th (1828): + + Until we can raise crops sufficient to supply a considerable + number of new comers every year, such an arrangement (a vessel + large enough to run down to Cape Palmas and occasionally to + Sierra Leone) as will enable us to proceed farther to the leeward + than we have ever done, in order to procure supplies, will be + indispensably necessary; as there we can procure Indian Corn, + Palm Oil, and live stock. For these, neither the slave traders + nor others, give themselves much. Corn can be bought there for + from fifteen to twenty cents per bushel. Fifteen or twenty + bushels which I bought of Captain Woodbury, I have been using + instead of rice for the last two months. Besides, it can be + ground into meal, and would be better than any that can be sent. + Upon the supposed inquiry, will not the lands of the Colony + produce Corn? they will produce it in abundance; but with the + quantity of lands appropriated at present, and the means to + cultivate them, each landholder will, I think, be able to raise + but little more than may be required by his own family, and + consequently will have little to dispose of to new comers. (It + has been resolved by the Board of Managers to increase the + quantity of land alloted to each settler.) + + Permit me to inform the Board, that proposals have been made by a + number of very respectable citizens in Monrovia, to commence a + settlement near the head of the Montserado River, which would be + a kind of farming establishment; which, should it be the pleasure + of the Board to approve, would be followed up with great spirit, + and found to contribute largely towards increasing our crops, for + the soil is very promising. + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, p. 158. + + + ADDRESS + + BY THE CITIZENS OF MONROVIA, TO THE FREE COLOURED PEOPLE OF THE + UNITED STATES + + As much speculation and uncertainty continue to prevail among the + free people of colour in the United States, respecting our + situation and prospects in Africa; and many misrepresentations + have been put in circulation there, of a nature slanderous to + _us_, and in their effects injurious to _them_; we feel it our + duty by a true statement of our circumstances to endeavor to + correct them. + + The first consideration which caused our voluntary removal to + this country, and the object which we still regard with the + deepest concern, is liberty--liberty, in the sober, simple, but + complete sense of the word:--not a licentious liberty--nor a + liberty without government--or which should place us without the + restraint of salutary laws. But that liberty of speech, action, + and conscience, which distinguished the free, enfranchised + citizens of a free state. We did not enjoy that freedom in our + native country, and from causes which, as respects ourselves, we + shall soon forget forever, we were certain it was not there + attainable for ourselves, or our children. This then being the + first object of our pursuit in coming to Africa, is probably the + first subject on which you will ask for information. And we must + truly declare to you, that our expectations and hopes in this + respect have been realized. Our Constitution secures to us, so + far as our condition allows, "all the rights and privileges + enjoyed by the citizens of the United States," and these rights + and these privileges are ours. We are proprietors of the soil we + live on; and possess the rights of freeholders; our suffrages, + and what is of more importance our _sentiments_, and our + _opinions_, have their due weight in the government we live + under. Our laws are altogether our own; they grow out of our + circumstances; are framed for our exclusive benefit; and + administered either by officers of our own appointment, or such + as possess our confidence. We have a judiciary chosen from among + ourselves; we serve as jurors in the trial of others; and are + liable to be tried only by juries of our fellow-citizens, + ourselves. We have all that is meant by _liberty of conscience_. + The time and mode of worshipping God as prescribed in his word, + and dictated by our conscience, we are not only free to follow, + but are protected in following. + + Forming a community of our own, in the land of our forefathers, + having the commerce and soil and resources of the country at our + disposal; we know nothing of that debasing inferiority, with + which our very colour stamped us in America. There is nothing + here to create the feeling on our part--nothing to cherish the + feeling of superiority in the minds of foreigners who visit us. + It is this moral emancipation--this liberation of the mind from + worse than iron fetters, that repays us ten thousand times over, + for all that it has cost us, and makes us grateful to God, and + our American patrons, for the happy change which has taken place + in our situation. We are not so self-complacent as to rest + satisfied with our improvement either as regards our minds or our + circumstances. We do not expect to remain stationary,--far from + it; but we certainly feel ourselves, for the first time, in a + state to improve either to any purpose. The burden is gone from + our shoulders; we now breathe and move freely, and know not (in + our present state) for which to pity you most, the empty name of + liberty, which you endeavour to content yourselves with, in a + country that is not yours; or the delusion which makes you hope + for ampler privileges in that country hereafter. Tell us; which + is the white man, who, with a prudent regard to his own + character, can associate one of you on terms of equality? Ask + _us_ which is the white man who would decline such association + with one of our number, whose intellectual and moral qualities + are not an objection? To both of these questions we + unhesitatingly make the same answer: there is no such white man. + + We solicit none of you to emigrate to this country; for we know + not who among you prefers rational independence and the honest + respect of his fellow men, to the mental sloth and careless + poverty, which you already possess, and your children will + inherit after you, in America. But if your views and aspirations + rise a degree higher--if your minds are not as servile as your + present condition, we can decide the question at once; and with + confidence say that you will bless the day, and your children + after you, when you determined to become citizens of Liberia. + + But we do not hold this language on the blessing of liberty, for + the purpose of consoling ourselves for the sacrifice of health, + or the suffering of want, in consequence of our removal to + Africa. We enjoy health after a few months' residence in the + country as uniformly, and in as perfect a degree, as we possessed + that blessing in our native country. And a distressing scarcity + of provisions, or any of the comforts of life, has for the last + two years been entirely unknown, even to the poorest persons in + this community. We never hoped, by leaving America, to escape the + common lot of mortals--the necessity of death to which the just + appointment of Heaven consigns us. But we do expect to live as + long, and pass this life with as little sickness as yourselves. + + The true character of the African climate is not well understood + in other countries. Its inhabitants are as robust, as healthy, as + long lived, to say the least, as those of any other country. + Nothing like an epidemic has ever appeared in this colony; nor + can we learn from the natives, that the calamity of a sweeping + sickness ever yet visited this part of the continent. But the + change from a temperate to a tropical country is a great one; too + great, not to affect the health more or less,--and in the cases + of old people and very young children, it often causes death. In + the early years of the colony, want of good houses, the great + fatigues and dangers of the settlers, their irregular mode of + living, and the hardships and discouragements they met with, + greatly helped the other causes of sickness, which prevailed to + an alarming extent, and was attended with great mortality. But we + look back to those times as to a season of trial long past, and + nearly forgotten:--our houses and circumstances are now + comfortable, and for the last 2 or 3 years, not one person in + forty, from the Middle and Southern States has died, from the + change of climate. + + People, now arriving, have comfortable houses to receive them, + will enjoy the regular attendance of a Physician in the slight + sickness that may await them; will be surrounded and attended by + healthy and happy people who have borne the effects of the + climate, who will encourage and fortify them against that + despondency, which alone has carried off several in the first + years of the colony. But, you may say, that even health and + freedom, good as they are, are still dearly paid for, when they + cost you the common comforts of life, and expose your wives and + children to famine and all the evils of poverty. We do not + dispute the soundness of this conclusion neither--but we utterly + deny that it has any application to the people of Liberia. Away + with all the false notions that are circulating about the + barrenness of this country. They are the observations of such + ignorant or designing men, as would injure both it and you. A + more fertile soil and a more productive country, so far as it is + cultivated, there is not, we believe, on the face of the earth. + Its hills and its plains are covered with a verdure which never + fades--the productions of nature keep on in their growth through + all the seasons of the year. Even the natives of the country, + almost without farming tools, without skill, and with very little + labour, make more grain and vegetables than they can consume, and + often more than they can sell. + + Cattle, swine, fowls, ducks, goats and sheep, thrive without + feeding--and require not other care than to keep them from + straying. Cotton, coffee, Indigo, and sugar cane are all the + spontaneous growth of our forests; and may be cultivated at + pleasure to any extent, by such as are disposed. The same may be + said of rice, indian corn, guinea corn, millet, and too many + species of fruits and vegetables to be enumerated. Add to all + this, we have no dreary winter here, for one half of the year, to + consume the productions of the other half; nature is constantly + renewing herself, and constantly pouring her treasures, all the + year round, into the lap of the industrious. We could say on this + subject more; but we are afraid of exciting too highly the hopes + of the _imprudent_. It is only the industrious and virtuous that + we can point to independence and plenty and happiness in this + country. Such people are nearly sure, to attain in a very few + years, to a style of comfortable living, which they may in vain + hope for in the United States. And however short we come of the + character ourselves, it is only a due acknowledgment of the + bounty of Divine Providence, to say that we generally enjoy the + good things of this life to our entire satisfaction. + + Our trade and commerce are chiefly confined to the coast, to the + interior parts of the continent, and to foreign vessels. It is + already valuable, and fast increasing. It is carried on in the + productions of the country, consisting of rice, palm oil, ivory, + tortoise-shell, dye-woods, gold, hides, wax, and a small amount + of coffee; and it brings us in return the products and + manufactures of the four quarters of the world. Seldom indeed is + our harbour clear of European and American shipping; and the + bustle and thronging of our streets show something of the + activity of the smaller seaports of the United States. + + Mechanics of nearly every trade are carrying on their various + occupations. Their wages are high, and a large number would be + sure of constant and profitable employment. Not a child or youth + in the colony, but is provided with an appropriate school. We + have a numerous publick library, and a Courthouse, + Meeting-houses, School-houses, and fortifications sufficient, or + nearly so, for the colony in its present state. + + Our houses are constructed of the same materials, and finished in + the same style as in the towns in America. We have abundance of + good building stone, shells for lime and clay of an excellent + quality for bricks. Timber is plentiful and of various kinds, and + fit for all the different purposes of building and fencing. + + Truly we have a goodly heritage, and if there is any thing + lacking in the character or condition of the people of this + colony, it never can be charged to the account of the country. It + must be the fruit of our own mismanagement or slothfulness or + vices. But from these evils, we confide in Him to whom we are + indebted for all our blessings, to preserve us. It is the topic + of our weekly and daily thanksgiving to Almighty God, both in + publick and private; and he knows with what sincerity, that we + were ever conducted to this shore. Such great favours in so short + a time, and mixed with so few trials, are to be ascribed to + nothing but his special blessing. This we acknowledge. Judge then + of the feelings with which we hear the motives and the doings of + the Colonization Society traduced--and that too, by men too + ignorant to know what that society has accomplished; too weak to + look through its plans and intentions; or too dishonest to + acknowledge either. But without pretending to any prophetic + sagacity, we can certainly predict to that society the ultimate + triumph of their hopes and labours; and disappointment and defeat + to all who oppose them. Men may theorize and speculate about + their plans in America. But there can be no speculation here. The + cheerful abodes of civilization and happiness, which are + scattered over this verdant mountain; the flourishing + settlements which are spreading around it--the sound of + Christian instruction, and scene of Christian worship, which are + heard and seen in this land of brooding pagan darkness; a + thousand contented freemen, united in founding a new Christian + Empire, happy themselves, and the instruments of happiness to + others--every object, every individual, is an argument, is + demonstration of the wisdom and the goodness of the plan of + Colonization. + + Where is the argument that shall refute facts like these? and + where is the man hardy enough to deny them? + + _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. VIII, pp. 50-53. + + + JOURNAL OF LOTT CARY + + The Colonial Agent, J. Ashmun, esq., went on board the brig + Doris, March 26th, 1828, escorted by three companies of military, + and when taking leave he delivered a short address, which was + truly affecting; never, I suppose, were greater tokens of respect + shown by any community on taking leave of their head. Nearly the + whole (at least two-thirds) of the inhabitants of Monrovia, men, + women, and children, were out on this occasion, and nearly all + parted from him with tears, and in my opinion, the hope of his + return in a few months, alone enabled them to give him up. He is + indeed dear to this people, and it will be a joyful day when we + are again permitted to see him. He has left a written address, + which contains valuable admonitions to Officers, Civil, Military, + and Religious. The brig sailed on the 27th. May she have a + prosperous voyage. + + + Thursday, March 27. + + Feeling very sensibly my incompetency to enter upon the duties of + my office without first making all the Officers of the Colony + well acquainted with the principal objects which should engage + our attention, I invited them to meet at the Agency House on the + 27th, at 9 o'clock, which was punctually attended to; and I then + read all the instructions left by Mr. Ashmun without reserve, and + requested their co-operation. I stated that it would be our first + object to put the Jail in complete order, secondly to have our + guns and armaments in a proper state, and thirdly to get the new + settlers located on their lands; as this was a very important + item in my instructions. This explanation will, I think, have a + good effect; as by it the effective part of the Colony is put in + possession of the most important objects of our present pursuit; + and I trust through the blessing of the great Ruler of events, + we shall be able to realize all the expectations of Mr. Ashmun, + and render entire satisfaction to the Board of Managers if they + can reconcile themselves to the necessary expenses. + + + March 29. + + From a note received from Mr. James, dated Millsburg, I learn + that he visited King Boatswain, and that the new road from + Boatswain's to Millsburg will shortly be commenced.--The Headmen + expect, however, to be paid for opening the road. Messrs. James + and Cook, who came down this evening, state, that the Millsburg + Factory will be ready in a few days for the reception of goods, + and wished consignments might be made early. But as I had been on + the 27th paying off the kings towards the Millsburg lands, and + found that one hundred and twenty bars came so far short of + satisfying them, I thought best to see them together before I + should attempt to make any consignments to that place. + + Know all men by these presents: That we, Old King Peter, and King + Governor, King James, and King Long Peter, do on this fourth day + of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and + twenty-eight, grant unto Lott Cary, acting Agent of the Colony of + Liberia, in behalf of the American Colonization Society, to wit: + + All that tract of Land on the north side of St. Paul's river, + beginning at King James' line below the establishment called + Millsburg Settlement, and we the Kings as aforesaid do bargain, + sell, and grant, unto the said Lott Cary, acting in behalf of the + American Colonization Society, all the aforesaid tract of land, + situated and bounded as follows: by the St. Paul's river on the + South, and thence running an East Northeast direction up the St. + Paul's river, as far as he, the said Lott Cary, or his successor + in the Agency, or Civil Authority of the Colony of Liberia, shall + think proper to take up and occupy: and bounded on the West by + King Jimmey's, and running thence a North direction as far as our + power and influence extend. We do this day and date, grant as + aforesaid for the consideration (here follow the articles to be + given in payment); and will forever defend the same against all + claims whatsoever. + + In witness whereof we set our hands and names: + OLD X KING PETER, + LONG X KING PETER, + KING X GOVERNOR, + KING X JAMES. + + Signed in the presence of, + ELIJAH JOHNSON, + FREDERICK JAMES, + DANIEL GEORGE. + + + June 18, 1828. + + I found it necessary, in order to preserve the frame of the + second floors of the Government House, to have the frame and + ceiling painted, which is now doing. I have also been obliged to + employ another workman to make the blinds, or else leave the + house exposed the present season, as ---- refused to do it under + the former contract. On the 13th I visited Millsburg (named after + Mills and Burgess) to ascertain the prospects of that settlement; + and can say with propriety, that according to the quantity of + land which the settlers have put under cultivation, they will + reap a good and plentiful crop. The Company's crop of rice and + cassada is especially promising. The new settlers at that place + have done well; having all, with two or three exceptions, built + houses, so as to render their families comfortable during the + season. They have also each of them a small farm, which I think + after a few months will be sufficient to subsist them. But I find + from a particular examination, that we shall be obliged to allow + them to draw rations longer than I expected, owing to the great + scarcity of country produce, the cassada being so nearly + exhausted, that it is, and will be, impossible to obtain, until + new crops come in, much to aid our provisions, unless by going + some distance into the country. Therefore I think it + indispensably necessary, in order to keep the settlers to their + farming improvements, to continue their rations longer than I at + first intended; as I consider the present too important a crisis + to leave them to neglect their improvements, although it may add + something to our present expenses. + + The people at Caldwell are getting on better with their farms + than with their houses. I think some of them are very slow, + notwithstanding I have assisted them in building. The Gun House + at Caldwell is done, and at present preparations are making for + the fourth of July. I think that settlement generally, is rapidly + advancing in farming, building, and I hope, in industry. Our gun + carriages are done; the completion of the iron work alone + prevents us from mounting them all immediately. We have four + mounted, and I think we shall put them all in complete order by + the end of the present week. + + Captain Russel will be able to give something like a fair account + of the state of our improvements, as he went with me to visit the + settlements on the 13th and 14th, and seemed pleased with the + project at Millsburg, Caldwell and the Half-way Farms. + + Mr. Warner, who has been engaged nearly the whole of the last + twelve months on business of negotiation with the native tribes + to the leeward, is at present down at Tippicanoe, the place which + I mentioned in my former communications, as being a very + important section of country, since it would connect our Sesters + and Bassa districts together. He is not, however, now engaged in + business of negotiation, but only in business of trade. + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, pp. 153-156. + +In a letter to Mr. Ashmun, Mr. Cary wrote: + + Things are nearly as you left them; most of the work that you + directed to be done, is nearly accomplished. The plasterers are + now at work on the Government House, and with what lime I am + having brought down the river, and what shells I am getting, I + think we shall succeed. + + The Gun House in Monrovia and the Jail have been done for some + weeks; the mounting of the guns will be done this week, if the + weather permits. + + The Houses at Half-way Farms are done; the Gun House at Caldwell + would have been done at this time, had not the rain prevented, + but I think it will be finished in three or four days. The public + farm is doing pretty well. The Millsburg farms are doing very + well. I think it would do you good to see that place at this + time. + + The Missionaries, although they have been sick are now, I am + happy to inform you, recovered; and at present are able to attend + to their business, and I regard them as entirely out of danger. + + I hope we shall be able to remove all the furniture into the new + house in two or three weeks. + +Speaking of the celebration of the 4th of July under date of July +15th, Mr. Cary remarked to Mr. Ashmun: + + The companies observed strictly the orders of the day, which I + think were so arranged as to entitle the officers who drew them + up to credit. Upon the whole, I am obliged to say, that I have + never seen the American Independence celebrated with so much + spirit and propriety since the existence of the Colony; the guns + being all mounted and painted, and previously arranged for the + purpose, added very much to the grand salute. Two dinners were + given, one by the Independent Volunteer Company, and one by + Captain Devany. + +Mr. Cary wrote to the Secretary of the Colonization Society, July +19th, 1828: + + I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, + forwarded by Captain Chase of Providence, also your Report and + Repository, directed to Mr. Ashmun, but owing to his absence, + they have fallen into my hands; and permit me to say, that these + communications are read with pleasure, and that nothing affords + more joy to the Colony, than to hear of the prosperity of the + Colonization Society, and that you have some hopes of aid from + the General Government, which makes us more desirous to enlarge + our habitation and extend the borders of the Colony. + + I must say, from the flattering prospects of your Society, I feel + myself very much at a loss how to proceed, in the absence of Mr. + Ashmun, with regard to making provisions for the reception of a + large number of emigrants, which appears to be indispensably + necessary. Therefore, after receiving your communication, we + conceived the following to be the most safe and prudent course. + _First_, to make arrangements to have erected at Millsburg, + houses to answer as receptacles sufficient to shelter from one + hundred and fifty to two hundred persons, I have therefore + extended the duties of Mr. Benson so as to embrace that object. I + was led to this course from the following considerations. + _First_, from the productiveness of the Millsburg lands and the + fewness of their inhabitants. I know if Mr. Ashmun were present, + it would be a principal object with him to push that settlement + forward with all possible speed, and that for this purpose, he + would send the emigrants by the first two or three expeditions to + that place. I think that those from the fresh water rivers, if + carried directly after their arrival here, up to Millsburg, would + suffer very little from change of climate. _Second_, the + fertility of the land is such a temptation to the farmer, that + unless he possesses laziness in its extreme degree, he cannot + resist it; he must and will go to work. _Thirdly_, it is + important to strengthen that settlement against any possible + attack; and though we apprehend no hostilities from the natives, + yet we would have each settlement strong enough to repel them. + + I am happy to say, that the health, peace and prosperity of the + Colony, I think, is still advancing, and I hope that the Board of + Managers may have their wishes and expectations realized to their + fullest extent, with regard to the present and future prosperity + of the Colony. + + Gurley, _Life of Jehudi Ashmun_, appendix, pp. 156-158. + + +Letter to the treasurer of the Massachusetts Baptist Education +Society: + + Sir, + + Here is a mite enclosed for your society. It is part of the + proceeds of a cotton field, for benevolent purposes. I helped to + plough the ground, plant, hoe, pick, gin and pack the cotton with + my own hands. A part of the proceeds is for the Colonization + Society. My servants would shew their large white teeth, when, to + encourage them to do their work well, I informed them that this + cotton was designed to be a means of enlightening their brethren + in Africa. Don't you think that Christians by and by, will act + more like stewards with the property God has given them? I think + it better to give now and then a mite, which the Lord may have + bestowed upon me, to advance his cause, than to lavish it on + profligate and dissipated sons. Will not God at a future day + require the property he has loaned us? + + We see you Northern folks seem conscious of this, by the + exertions you are using to advance the Redeemer's cause. This has + become a fortunate legatee, in comparison with what it was fifty + years ago. + + We, down here, so near the equator, think we can discover the + upper limb of the millennium sun already. Will he not get clear + above the horizon by 1866. + + A Georgia Planter. + + _The American Baptist Magazine_, Vol. IV, p. 181. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] These extracts were collected by Miles Mark Fisher. + + + + +BOOK REVIEWS + + + _The Master's Slave--Elijah John Fisher_. By MILES MARK FISHER. + The Judson Press, Philadelphia, Pa. Pp. 194. + +This work is a biographical sketch of one of the most prominent Negro +Baptist preachers of his time. The author, the son of the subject of +the sketch, believes that too little has been said concerning the +Negro Church, which is largely responsible for whatever advancement +the race has made. To stimulate interest in this institution and to +give it the proper place in the history of the race, this biography is +given to the public. + +The book contains an introduction by Dr. L. K. Williams, the popular +successor of Dr. Fisher at the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago, where +the latter faithfully served many years. It contains also an +appreciation by Martin B. Madden, Congressman from Illinois, who +personally knew Dr. Fisher and speaks most commendably of his +character and achievements in that State. + +The actual sketch begins with the chapter entitled "Bound and +Branded," presenting the life of Dr. Fisher during the slavery of the +last decade prior to emancipation. Herein are set forth interesting +facts showing the connection of the Negro with Africa and his status +in the slave-holding South. The effects of the Civil War in this +section appear also from page to page. + +Then follows that part of his career when he as a youth undertook to +secure an education by which he might be qualified for the serious +duties of life. How he began as a teacher during the beginning of +Negro education of the Reconstruction period, and how he finally +became an exhorter and developed into a minister acceptable to the +communicants of his denomination, make the story increasingly +interesting. The sketch reaches its climax through a detailed account +of Dr. Fisher's work at Atlanta, Nashville, and Chicago, emphasizing +the last mentioned as the place of his most successful labor. + +The historian will find this work valuable in that it illuminates one +of the most interesting periods of Negro church history. It is not +only a sketch of one distinguished churchman but a narrative +presenting an important chapter of the story of the Baptists by +relating the many incidents connected with the leading churchmen and +ecclesiastical organizations interested in the uplift of the Negro +since the Civil War. This narrative, moreover, shows how the Negro +minister, in keeping with the exigencies of the time, often had to be +drawn into politics in self defense and that in the case of unselfish +service like that of Dr. Fisher, he may come out of the controversy +untarnished. + + + _History of the United States. Vol. V._ By EDWARD CHANNING. The + Macmillan Company, New York City. Pp. 615. + +This is the most recent volume of Professor Channing's eight volume +History of the United States from the very beginning of our history to +the present time. This particular volume covers the years from 1815 to +1848 and is entitled "The Period of Transition." It is written in +keeping with the standard of thoroughness characteristic of the author +and is made further informing by the use of ten valuable maps +illustrating important facts in American History. + +In this volume the author engages the attention of the reader with an +account of the wonderful century in which he writes. He then discusses +the westward movement of the population, urban migration, the rise of +labor unions, giving more attention to economic matters than his +predecessors have been accustomed to do in the treatment of this +period. A study of the documentary history of the United States has +convinced the author that these important factors in the making of +this country have been neglected. His treatment, therefore, is a +change in the point of view in American historical writing. + +This volume does not show the usual interest in slavery and abolition. +Only one chapter of this large work is devoted primarily to the +plantation life and abolitionism. The author discusses the lot of the +slave, accounting for his tendency to escape from bondage, the traffic +in human flesh, the free people of color, the colonization movement in +the South, and abolition in the North. This chapter culminates in a +discussion of the efforts of William Lloyd Garrison, the agitating +editor of the _Liberator_, of Wendell Phillips, the abolition orator, +of Prudence Crandall, the sacrificing worker, and of Elijah Lovejoy, +the martyr in the cause. Prof. Channing does not go into details as to +the achievements of the abolitionists. His account is merely +sufficient to connect this movement with other forces at work in the +country at that time. + +Most of this volume is devoted to changes in religion, education, +literature, and politics, effected by such outstanding figures as +James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. +Calhoun and Daniel Webster. The book shows an extensive treatment of +the territorial expansion of that time, especially the efforts to +secure Texas, California and Oregon, and the war with Mexico. On the +whole, this book has a decided economic and social trend. It is an +effort to account for the significant upheavals in our history through +connection with important industrial and economic events which have +materially influenced the history of the United States during the last +century. The book emphasizes the fact that current history can not be +easily written, that one must be far removed from situations in the +past in order to weigh the influences having a bearing thereon to +determine exactly how the country has become what it is today. + + + _Recent History of the United States_. By FREDERICK L. PAXSON. + Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. Pp. 588. + +This book beginning with the inauguration of Hayes shows how he +reestablished home rule in the South, thus clearing the way for a +realization of education and economic reconstruction of both South and +North. The author then treats the civil and border strife as expressed +in the Mexican Revolution of 1876, Indian wars, social unrest, +national labor unions, and the War with Spain. Then follows the +treatment of post-bellum ideals as expressed by literary periodicals +and new writers showing a revolution in literature, and especially in +historical writing. + +In his treatment of silver, greenbacks, railroad and mine booms, and +the like, he shows that the country had reached a new stage in its +development when a transition both economic and political was +apparent. This is made evident by his discussion of election frauds, +Republican factions, office holders in politics, the abuse of +patronage and the necessity for civil service reform. Next the author +takes up the era of prosperity, the disappearance of the frontier, the +land grants to railroads, the development of the telephone, telegraph, +typewriter, electrical appliances, and the like, in their bearing on +the industrial reconstruction of the whole country. + +The author then discusses events more in detail, directing his +attention to the tariff revision of the eighties, the "Mugwump +Campaign" of 1884, the Wild West, labor ideals, protection, populism, +the revival of the Democratic party through the leadership of +Cleveland, industrial unrest, political schism, the Spanish-American +War, business in politics, the career of Theodore Roosevelt, +government control, insurgency, the rise of Woodrow Wilson, watchful +waiting, neutrality and preparedness, the United States in the World +War, and the League of Nations. Some attention is also given to the +reconstruction and the election of 1920. + +While the work is a valuable treatise from the point of view of a man +who is trying to write the history of a particular race, it does not +come up to the standard of history of the United States in all of its +national and racial ramifications. So far as the Negro is concerned, +it merely refers to his undoing as a political factor in the +Reconstruction, the efforts for his education by northern +sympathizers, the rise of Booker T. Washington, the elimination of the +Negro as a factor in the South, the efforts to pass a force bill +protecting the Negro in the exercise of the right of suffrage, and the +continued control of the South of the Democratic party. A foreigner +who reads this work might wonder whether the Negroes by this political +upheaval have been exterminated or have emigrated from the country. +Any student of the history of the whole Southland knows that it is +centered largely around the Negro and any historian failing to take +this into account cannot be recognized as an authority. + + + _The Backbone of Africa. A Record of Travel during the Great War, + with some Suggestions for Administrative Reform._ By SIR ALFRED + SHARPS, K. C. M. G., C. B., formerly Governor of Nyasaland. + London, H. F. & G. Witherby, 1921. Pp. 232. + +This is the reaction of a public functionary to the scenes of colonial +life as they appeared to him from a different angle in a survey of the +whole continent and under the circumstances of a political upheaval. +He had in mind here the regions of Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Tanganyika, +Ruanda, the Congo, and the Upper Nile. The book is illustrated, well +written and suggestive throughout. It contains four valuable maps and +has an index largely of names. + +Writing from the point of view of the exploiter of Africa, the author +considers such questions as the disposition of the German Colonies +coming into the possession of England at the close of the Great War, +the question of restitution, the partition of Africa, the suggested +union of the Protectorates in Eastern Africa under a Governor +General, the partition of German East Africa, the redelimitation of +boundaries, problems of railway construction and a united East African +Colony. He discusses also the Home Government, native taxation, local +representation, land along with land laws, native rights, their +education, the labor problem, migration, industrial questions, and +missions. + +Treating the colonial policy in dealing with the natives, the author +shows some sympathy. He does not believe that the tax on natives has +been wisely imposed and, therefore, asks for a uniform and more +equitable system. To effect such a reform, however, he believes that +the local government with increased authority in its own affairs +should exercise such power rather than have such a policy determined +by the Home Government through its appointive executive and +legislators who act for the colonies though not of them. The question +of native ownership of spare land, he believes, should be carefully +considered, inasmuch as there has never been any real title to the +possession of definite blocks of freehold lands in Native Africa. +Native education also should be taken in hand and there should be +adopted a suitable scheme, applicable to all the Protectorates. + +"In the first place in one shape or another," says the author, "we +introduce a direct but immoderate impost such as a hut-tax or a more +general poll-tax, the money for which has to be earned. Next, we +endeavor to create new wants: clothes, ornaments, manufactured goods +and luxuries of all kinds. All this represents a gradual process of +regeneration, as the native is by nature very conservative and, +therefore, slow to adopt new tastes or acquire ambitions. But we +endeavor to raise his ideals and to inculcate the view we ourselves +hold: that man should not be satisfied with mere existence, like +beasts in the field, but should adopt civilisation and everything +that, in the main, we consider to be essential to civilised life. We +ask him, therefore, to produce something--other than for his own +immediate wants--whether it be by labour done for an employer, or on +his own account." + + + + +NOTES + + +The next annual meeting of the Association will be held in Louisville, +Kentucky, on Thursday and Friday, the 23d and 24th of November. The +day sessions will be held at the Branch Library on West Chestnut +Street and the evening sessions at the Quinn Chapel African Methodist +Episcopal Church on the same street. The management is endeavoring to +make this a national meeting effective in arousing universal interest +in the study of Negro life and history. + +During the academic year 1922-1923 Mr. A. A. Taylor, formerly +Instructor in Economics at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, +will devote a part of his time to research in the field of Negro +Reconstruction History as an investigator of the Association. The +remaining portion of his time will be devoted to the completion of +some graduate studies at Harvard University. + +Mr. Taylor is a product of the Washington Public Schools and of the +University of Michigan. He is the author of two articles recently +published in THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, namely, "Making West +Virginia a Free State" and "Negro Congressmen a Generation After." It +is expected that Mr. Taylor may find it possible to devote his future +to investigation under the auspices of the Association. + +Mr. Hosea B. Campbell, who during his four years at Grinnell College +held a Julius Rosenwald scholarship, has been awarded a fellowship of +$500 by the Association to prosecute at Harvard graduate studies in +Negro American and African History. + + * * * * * + +An authorized translation into English of Rene Maran's _Batouala_ has +been published and is being sold throughout the United States. It is +expected that in this form the work will more thoroughly inform the +American public as to the African situation and as to the ability of +this man of Negro blood to treat it. + +_Les Noirs de l'Afrique_, an historical essay on the people of Africa, +their customs and art, by Mr. Delafosse, appeared in Paris in 1921. + + * * * * * + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as +possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other +inconsistencies. The transcriber made the following changes to the +text to correct obvious errors: + + 1. p. 5, professsors --> professors + 2. p. 6, posssible --> possible + 3. p. 34, Haper's Ferry --> Harper's Ferry + 4. p. 51, tself --> itself + 5. p. 54, Douglas --> Douglass + 6. p. 61, banquent --> banquet + 7. p. 70, Geogre --> George + 8. p. 79, Ninteenth --> Nineteenth + 9. p. 81, Footnote #19, Grimke's --> Grimke's + 10. p. 81, No footnote marker for footnote #19. + 11. p. 110, ecnouragement --> encouragement + 12. p. 119, disfranchisment --> disfranchisement + 13. p. 122, subscripion --> subscription + 14. p. 133, Virgina --> Virginia + 15. p. 137, successivly --> successively + 16. p. 151, establisment --> establishment + 17. p. 154, Eliott --> Elliott + 18. p. 161, distinquished --> distinguished + 19. p. 208, Piqua, --> Piqua. + 20. p. 251, No footnote marker for footnote #10. + 21. p. 334, villified --> vilified + 22. p. 338, childern --> children + 23. p. 355, No footnote marker for footnote #21. + 24. p. 357, wheras --> whereas + 25. p. 376, Footnote #8, Mossel --> Mossell + 26. p. 381, missonary --> missionary + 27. p. 385, Footnote #29, Toussiant --> Toussaint + 28. p. 433, and and --> and + +Also, many occurrences of mismatched single and double quotes remain +as published. + +End of Transcriber's Notes] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal of Negro History, Volume +7, 1922, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL NEGRO HISTORY, VOL 7, 1922 *** + +***** This file should be named 24484.txt or 24484.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/8/24484/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Richard J. 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