Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sam W. and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
MARY S. PEAKE,
The Colored Teacher at Fortress Monroe.
BY REV. LEWIS C. LOCKWOOD,
FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE FREEDMEN AT FORTRESS MONROE, 1862.
WITH AN APPENDIX.
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
28 CORNHILL, BOSTON.
[Illustration: Mary S. Peake]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Birth and Parentage.--Education.--Religious
Convictions.--Prayers in the Tomb.--Union with
the Church.--Labors for the Poor.--Marriage. 5
CHAPTER II.
Commencement of the Mission at Fortress Monroe.--Flight
of the Rebels from Hampton.--Burning of the
Town.--The Place reoccupied by Freedmen. 16
CHAPTER III.
Opening of Religious Services and Schools.--Mrs. Peake
a Teacher.--Singing in the Schools.--Christmas Festival. 30
CHAPTER IV.
Failure of Health.--Religious Joy.--Farewell
Messages.--Death.--Funeral.--Conclusion. 39
APPENDIX. 53
MARY S. PEAKE.
CHAPTER I.
Birth and Parentage.--Education.--Religious
Convictions.--Prayers in the Tomb.--Union with the
Church.--Labors for the Poor.--Marriage.
The subject of this narrative was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1823.
Her maiden name was Mary Smith Kelsey. Her mother was a free colored
woman, very light, and her father a white man--an Englishman of rank
and culture. She was a very lovely child in person and manners, and as
she grew up, developed traits of character which made her a universal
favorite.
When she was six years old, her mother sent her to Alexandria, for
the purpose of attending school. She remained there in school about
ten years, residing with her aunt, Mary Paine. Mrs. Paine occupied a
house belonging to Mr. Rollins Fowle, and near his residence. This
gentleman and his family were distinguished for their kindness to
colored people. He frequently bought slaves who were in danger of
being sold into bad hands, gave them their freedom, and set them up in
business. John Paine, Mary's uncle, was one whom he freed in this way.
Mary was a great pet in Mr. Fowle's family, and was treated almost
like a daughter.
A schoolmate of hers, now residing in Providence, Rhode Island, says
Mary was a very amiable girl, and a good student. They for a time
attended a select colored school taught by a colored woman. Afterward
they attended a colored school taught by white teachers. The last
teacher was Mr. Nuthall, an Englishman. He taught till a law of
Congress enacted that the law of Virginia in relation to free colored
people should prevail in the District of Columbia. This was several
years before Alexandria was retroceded to Virginia. This law closed
all colored schools in the city. Mary was compelled to leave the
school in consequence of being informed of as having come from
Virginia.
While at school, Mary acquired a good English education, and, in
addition to this, a knowledge of various kinds of needlework, and also
dress-making. Her aunt was a devoted Christian, and no doubt had a
very happy influence on Mary. Her mother also was converted when Mary
was two or three years old. Under these influences she was early the
subject of serious impressions. Though fond of general reading and
study, there was no book she loved so well as the Bible. This was her
companion and text book, and she committed large portions of it to
memory.
When sixteen years old, having finished her education, she returned to
her mother, at Norfolk. Soon afterward, those religious elements which
had existed from early childhood--grown with her growth and
strengthened with her strength--became dominant by the grace of God,
and asserted their power over her.
Near her residence was a garden, connected with a large old mansion,
between Fenchurch and Church Streets. In this garden was a dilapidated
family tomb. It was impressed on her mind that she must go into this
tomb to pray. At the dead hour of night she sought this gloomy abode
of moldering coffins and scattered bones. As she entered and knelt in
the death cell, she trembled with a fear which her prayers could not
dissipate. Quickly and stealthily she retraced her steps, and hurried
back to her home. Yet the next night, this girl of sixteen had the
courage to seek the dismal place again, and the next night yet again,
with similar results. But at length light broke upon the darkness of
the tomb, and it became a place of delightful communion with her Lord;
whence it was afterward called "Mary's parlor." At the midnight hour,
she left the tomb, and broke the silence of the night with a jubilant
song, fearless of the patrol. The song was this strain of Watts, in
which many a saint has poured forth his soul:--
"Stand up, my soul, shake off thy fears,
And gird the gospel armor on;
March to the gates of endless joy,
Where Jesus, thy great Captain, 's gone.
"Hell and thy sins resist thy course,
But hell and sin are vanquished foes;
Thy Jesus nailed them to the cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.
"Then let my soul march boldly on,
Press forward to the heavenly gate;
There peace and joy eternal reign,
And glittering robes for conquerors wait.
"There shall I wear a starry crown,
And triumph in almighty grace;
While all the armies of the skies
Join in my glorious Leader's praise."
This strain fell on the waking ears of ladies in the house adjacent to
the tomb, and they inquired, "What sweet music is that? Who is
serenading at this hour?" Little did they know the spirit-promptings
of that song.
Soon after this, Mary went to visit some friends in Hampton. As she
entered the yard, and approached the house, she sang another
expressive hymn of Watts:--
"Firm as the earth thy gospel stands,
My Lord, my Hope, my Trust;
If I am found in Jesus' hands,
My soul can ne'er be lost.
"His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All whom his heavenly Father gave
His hands securely keep.
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove
His favorites from his breast;
Safe on the bosom of his love
Shall they for ever rest."
Her friends opened the door at the sound of the tender music, and as
they looked on her face, and listened to her song, they were overcome,
and could not restrain their emotions.
Soon afterward, she united with the First Baptist Church in Norfolk,
on Bute Street. The pastor was Rev. James A. Mitchell, who served the
church from the time of Nat Turner's insurrection till his death,
about 1852. He was emphatically a good man, and a father to the
colored people--a very Barnabas, "son of consolation" indeed. A
considerable portion of his church were colored people, and he would
visit them at their houses, take meals with them, and enter into their
affairs, temporal and spiritual, with a true and zealous heart. He
never loved slavery; his private opinion was against it, but he was
obliged to be cautious in the expression of his sentiments. He endured
great trials for this proscribed class, and was almost a martyr in
their behalf, his pastorate having begun just after Nat Turner's
insurrection, which caused great persecution and restriction of
privileges. But the Lord was with him, and made him to triumph.
Mary's mother says that she delighted to visit the poor in Norfolk,
and especially the aged. A very old man, in the suburbs, often came to
her door, and never went empty away; and frequently at evening she
would go and carry him warm tea, and in the winter she brought him
wood in small armfuls. When he died, he said he wanted Mary to have
all that belonged to him. Though he was scarcely worth three cents, it
was a rich heart gift.
Her Christian course was marked with usefulness. Self-denying devotion
to the glory of God and the good of others characterized her earlier,
as her later career. A deacon of the church on whom the writer called
when recently in Norfolk, says she had a strong desire for the
conversion of souls, and was often found exhorting them to repentance.
Other members of the church bore the highest testimony to her uniform
Christian deportment.
In 1847, Mary's mother was married to Thompson Walker, and bought a
house in Hampton, where they resided until the town was burned by the
rebels in 1861. Though sustaining herself by her needle, Mary found
time for many labors of love. Among other things, she originated a
benevolent society, called the "Daughters of Zion," designed for
ministration to the poor and the sick. It is still in existence.
Her house, like that of Mary and Martha of old, was a place of
spiritual resort. There the pastor, deacons, and other leading members
of the church found congenial society. She early began the exercise of
her gifts as a teacher. At that time, fifteen years ago, she had among
her pupils Thompson Walker, her stepfather, William Thornton, and
William Davis, all now able and eloquent exhorters. She was afterward
of great service to others, who are now efficient exhorters and
members of the church. Up to the time of the burning of Hampton, she
was engaged in instructing children and adults, through her shrewdness
and the divine protection eluding the vigilance of conservators of the
slave law, or, if temporarily interfered with, again commencing and
prosecuting her labors of love with cautious fearlessness, and this
in the midst of the infirmities attending a feeble constitution.
In 1851, Mary was married to Thomas Peake, formerly a slave, but
afterward a free man, light colored, intelligent, pious, and in every
respect a congenial companion, with whom she lived happily till her
decease.
The bereaved husband bears affectionate testimony to the strong mind
and sound judgment which dwelt in that feeble frame. He loves to speak
of his indebtedness to her richly stored mind for much of his
knowledge of the Bible. At his request, she would sit for hours and
relate Bible history. Others of our leading brethren also gratefully
acknowledge that they have drawn largely from the same storehouse of
biblical and varied knowledge.