3. The location and something of the history of churches and
communities.
4. Something of the lines of thought and action prevailing in the
various gospel enterprises of the denomination.
It was not thought well to try to tell the same things many times over;
hence, some things are given in connection with _one_ Association and
other things in connection with _another_--all aiming at the same
end, namely: THE GIVING OF A TRUE PICTURE OF THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF
ALABAMA.
[Illustration: Rev. W. T. Bibb, A. B., Pastor Baptist Church, Oxmoor,
Ala.]
_IV. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES._
Adams, Rev. Stewart, of Greenville, Butler county, was the chief leader
and organizer in that section of the State for the first seventeen
or eighteen years of freedom. He was a pure-blooded Negro, and was
possessed of a fine personal appearance. His forehead was large and
broad, and the sparkle of his eye indicated the presence of mental
power. He could read and write fairly well, and in his speeches always
succeeded in conveying his thoughts to others. He was for some years
missionary in that part of the State under the American Baptist Home
Mission Society of New York, during which time he organized many
churches, which were united to form the Union Baptist Association.
His neatness in dress and caution in the use of words were everywhere
noticeable. It was sometimes thought that he was rather tenacious of
his opinions, but I think all his brethren credited him with honesty of
purpose, and hence he died in the love and respect of the denomination.
Allen, Rev. Wallace, of Greenville, was a very pious, hard-working
preacher in the Union Association. The young men delight to honor his
memory. The author has been unable to learn anything of his history or
lineage.
Anderson, Rev. N. P., is pastor at Ensley City.
Ashby, Rev. Nathan, of Montgomery, was born in Fredericksburg, Va.,
August 5, 1810. He knew nothing of his parents, and to the age of 16
he was under the care and direction of his grandmother. At this point
in his life he was sold, with some horses, to traders, who brought him
to Alabama. He says of this trip: “At first I was not aware that I was
sold, but thought (as I had been told so) that I was only helping the
man to put his horses well into the way. When informed that I was among
the stock sold, I wept bitterly at the thought that I could see my dear
grandmother no more. While in this state of grief, an old cake woman
came on, selling cakes. She, looking into my hand, professed to read as
follows: ‘Don’t cry, for you are born for good luck. The man who will
buy you will be more a brother than a master. Fear God and be obedient,
and you will do well.’ This counsel, no matter whence it came, removed
my fears, and I left off crying.”
When about 32 years of age he bought his liberty, paying for the same
the sum of $900. His good wife, Mrs. Nancy Ashby, had been freed a few
years before by a Mrs. Tate. Both being of an intellectual, industrious
and economical turn of mind, it was not long before they were well
under way to notoriety and prosperity. Touching her experience in
servitude, Mrs. Ashby tells the following: “When I was 16 years old,
my mistress, in urging me to be pure and faithful, promised that if I
would obey I should serve no one after her. So, when I was 24, she set
me free, giving me a daughter that had been born to me.”
Bro. Ashby was baptized by Mr. Shrovell in Monroe county, Ala., and
was ordained to the full charge of the gospel ministry just after the
close of the war, by Rev. I. T. Tichenor, D. D., and others. His labors
in the ministry, however, began about the year 1845, from which time
he increased in favor with God and man to the day of his death, in
1887. He led to the organization of the First Colored Baptist Church
(Columbus street) of Montgomery, in which, under his presidency, the
Colored Baptist State Convention was constituted in 1868. The last
seventeen years of his life he was an invalid from paralysis, and four
years of this time he was blind. During this time the writer frequently
visited him, and it would seem that his faith in God was mightier in
the days of his weakness than in the days of his strength. Heavenly
sunshine illumined all the way of the dark valley, even to the day of
his departure.
Bro. Ashby was a man of naturally fine parts. His sermons and speeches
were characterized by order, thought and doctrine. He was not an
emotionalist nor dreamer; with him Christianity was faith in the gospel
and right-doing. It affords the writer much pleasure to record that
each member of his family not only receives, but also contributes honor
to his valuable life and honored name.
Mr. Ashby was by trade a carpenter, by which means he was able to earn
fair wages, and was not long in coming into the possession of valuable
real estate.
In order to show the condition of a free colored man in Alabama prior
to the close of the late civil war, I submit a legal document here,
bearing upon the good man whose name is now before us: