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.