The next Conference met at Morristown, N. J. It was a great delight to
return and meet my old friends and co-laborers. The reports of this
Conference showed a steady growth and advancement along all lines.
I am often reminded of the courage of Bishop Allen, who, when he and
his friends were declared a nuisance in the White church and while on
their knees in prayers were taken hold of, and ordered to the back part
of the church, went out and organized the A. M. E. Denomination. God
went out with him as results have shown. And on account of this most
un-Christian treatment which the founder of our church received, I have
given my life with redoubled zeal to its establishment in this land.
Our church has stood for an independence which has been an uplifting
power in the Race. While in some cases this may have been carried too
far by unwise persons, yet on the whole no one can gainsay that the
A. M. E. Church has been a Divinely appointed agency in the life and
labors of the Negro Race of the United States of America.
At this Conference I was made a Presiding Elder of the Trenton District
by Bishop H. M. Turner, D.D. I moved my family to Philadelphia, Pa.
With the aid of my friends, my family was pleasantly domiciled in
Philadelphia and I started on my first rounds as a P. E. This was the
most difficult part of my ministerial life. I found that there was no
church in the N. J. Conference that wanted to see the presiding elder.
They looked upon him as an unnecessary part of church machinery. They
considered him as a dependent on their gifts and that every time that
he came it meant “more money, more money.” My first quarterly meeting
was to have been held at the church at Mt. Holly but I found that
the pastor was not ready to hold the meeting, so it was postponed. I
went to another place and the pastor told me that “things were very
unfavorable there.” The result of my first round was that when I came
back to Camden, I had to borrow ten dollars. I attended during this
year the General Conference which met in the Mother Bethel Church,
Philadelphia. I witnessed the ordination of Revs. B. F. Lee, M. B.
Salter and James A. Handy to the Bishopric. The Conference created a
great deal of enthusiasm for the connection. I returned to my work with
the determination that I would do more for the Lord than I had ever
done before. I closed my Conference year with reasonable success. I
received as a salary $680 and $57 for traveling expenses. But I believe
that I succeeded in convincing the people that the presiding elder may
be of great assistance to the local church in doing its work in that
the minister is often not able to cope with things as they exist.
My report at the Conference which met at Princeton, N. J., was about
as follows: Trenton pastorate, new church built and 59 converts; new
church built at Trenton Mission; new church at Jordantown; mortgage
burned at Bordentown; church finished at Jamesburgh; the other work
was the routine work of the presiding elder. I was again appointed
presiding elder of the same district. During this year I had my
daughter, Ada, with me, having come North and brought her husband,
Albert A. B. Cooper. Bishop Turner gave my son-in-law an appointment
at Bethel, South Camden, which pleased us all very much. My wife and
children not being well pleased with their residence in Philadelphia,
I moved them to our own house in Camden. During this year as presiding
elder I took up a campaign against worldliness in the church. I found
that our young people were drifting off to places of amusement, such
as theatres, parks, etc. This work was carried on by the pastors in my
district and I am glad to say that there was a great change for the
better. I do not think that our young people are malicious or wilful
in such matters, but that it is largely on account of the indifference
on the part of their pastors. It is not enough to go into the pulpit
and enter into a tirade of denunciation and scolding; this will do more
harm than good; but reason must be employed. The world and the church
are at enmity, they never have been and never can be friends until the
world, as an individual, has been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
As long as this relation of hostility exists between the world and the
church, members of the church cannot be friendly to both. They cannot
be followers of the world and its ways and at the same time consistent
members of the church.
At the Newark Conference, I was quite sick, but able to get through
the work. My reports as presiding elder during this year were very
satisfactory. I was given an appointment as a pastor at this Conference
by Bishop B. T. Tanner, my station was South Woodbury.
Sick as I was, I was determined to attend the General Conference which
met at Wilmington, N. C. The trip was not a very pleasant one for me
although everything had been done to make it pleasant. We arrived at
Richmond, Va., and stopped twenty minutes for a meal. I was carried
into the dining room and seated with the brethren. I was impressed
there with the fact that the White people are not going to allow
anything that has the semblance of social equality. As soon as we
were seated a folding screen was placed about our little company so
as to cut us off from the White people in the dining room. This was
segregation in earnest.
I enjoyed the meeting of the General Conference very much. I was under
the care of a physician and able to attend each day’s session of the
long meeting. I was delighted to be with Mr. Joseph Sampson, my boyhood
friend and associate. He was Registrar of Deeds. I was rejoiced when I
learned from him of the mental improvement he had made. There were over
six hundred ministers and lay-delegates in attendance. They represented
the strong element of the church. There were theologians and scholars,
men skilled in the tactics of Christian warfare. I rejoiced that God
has such gatherings as this to work and plan for the general uplifting
of my people. As long as there are men who have determined that right
shall prevail and that the Gospel shall leaven the entire human race,
there is no doubt of the final issue. For we know what God’s will is
and that this will must be carried out by His loyal children.
After my return home I was sick for about two weeks but was able to
take up the work at South Woodbury. The first thing we did as pastor
and people was to plan for a new church building, the old one being in
a dilapidated condition. It took quite a while to get the people in
the notion of building, but we adopted our plans and began to work.
I found a great many splendid workers in this church, without whom I
would have labored in vain. I was at this place for three years and
when I left, the members were worshipping in a fine brick church. I had
succeeded in paying off a part of the debt, and had received into the
membership of the church about thirty-five members.
At the next meeting of the Conference I was sent to the station of
Burlington, N. J. I spent a most pleasant and profitable year with
these dear people. They did all in their power to make my life a
pleasure to myself and family. I left this work with the best wishes
of the members of the church. I left with the conviction too that they
were a noble band of the Lord’s workers and that the work would be in
the hands of men and women who would not let it lag for the want of
untiring, energetic workers.
In 1899 I was assigned by Bishop A. Grant to Hossanah A. M. E. Church,
East Camden, N. J. I labored here until 1901, having reorganized the
Sunday School and paid something on the church debt and added many
members to the membership of the church.
Beverly was my next charge. Here I built a new church. I found that
many of the White people of this community were in sympathy with
our work. They contributed of their money and did what they could
spiritually for the upbuilding of our work. A lady from Edgewater
Park gave me six hundred dollars for the building of the church and a
nice little sum for the pastor. She was Mrs. Taylor. The Presbyterian
minister at this place helped me a great deal in my work. I can surely
say that the presence of the Lord was with us and like David, exclaim,
“Whom have I in Heaven but Thee and there is none in all the earth, my
soul would desire, beside Thee.”
Sad, sad, are the recollections of the years from 1899 to 1904. I was
taxed to my utmost for the enlargement of the Kingdom of Grace in my
attempts to keep the young men and women from the sharks or pirates,
who would have dragged them down to hell. Their great sin was that of
Sabbath breaking. This led them to licentious living and almost every
other crime of immorality. At the same time the hand of affliction was
laid heavily upon me. And had it not been for the grace of God I should
have sunken beneath the waves of affliction.
My daughter, Ada Augusta Newton Cooper, the wife of Rev. A. B. Cooper,
died September 18th, 1899. She was thirty-eight years old. She was a
devoted, loving daughter and faithful wife. She passed away at Orange,
N. J., where she was engaged in her Christian activities. She was
a consecrated worker, a proficient teacher, authoress, and a most
valuable assistant to me for many years. She knew as well as I that
my education was sadly deficient, that I had come out of the briars
of slavery and all its curses, and in a very practical manner, she
was my education. For I had spared no means to have her thoroughly
educated. And always afterward she was conscious of the advantages that
I had given her and was constantly trying to pay off this great debt
of gratitude. But the time came when the Lord called her to a higher
service. He had need of her in another part of His Kingdom and called
her away. It is indeed one of the heavy crosses that we are called
upon to bear, when the Lord calls away from us the children whom He
has given us. Only those parents who have passed through these said
afflictions know anything of the pains and suffering. I cried out, “Oh,
Lord. I sink into the deep mire where no solid foundation is found. I
have come into the deep waters where the floods overflow me. Save me,
O, God, for the waters are overflowing my soul.”
On December 3, 1902, my devoted and loving son passed away. He had
lived a consecrated Christian life. He died at the age of twenty-one
years. He had taken a thorough course of training at Lincoln
University, Pa., and had entered the ministry of the A. M. E.
Denomination. He united with the Conference at Atlantic City and had
been assigned to the charge at Sea Bright, N. J., by Bishop A. Grant.
He was a loving son, fine scholar, strong preacher, and was beginning
life with all the prospects of a great usefulness. But the frost of
death rested on him and he went to sleep from the labors of the earth.
But we are sure that he awakened in that bright and happy land where
there is no death and that now he is engaged in a much larger and
better service than any that he could have rendered here below. I shall
see him again. We will soon meet to part no more. We will soon talk
together again and thank God, with the assurance, that father and son
will never be parted.
On February 8, 1904, my dear mother was called to the other home.
This was the woman who had done more for me than all on the earth
besides. She died at the age of ninety-two years. This, added to my
other afflictions and to the weight of my labors, seemed more than I
could stand. I had never realized what it was to be without a mother.
Although at the age of sixty I was still a son. I had never forgotten
that the law of my life was that of obedience. That it was my duty to
honor my father and my mother. So that my years had nothing to do with
the intensity of my filial love and devotion. I shall never forget her
looks when dying, with her eyes fixed on me, she said, “Do the work
of the ministry as becomes a minister of the Lord Jesus. See to it,
that no disgrace is brought on the cause which you represent by your
unworthiness.” To my brother Henry she said, “My work is done. Neither
of you can do me any good. Be earnest and true to your trust, and meet
me in the morning where parting is no more.” Then she sang with us:
“Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven!
Feed me till I want no more.”
“When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside.
Death of death and Hell’s destruction,--
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of Praises,
I will give Thee evermore.”
Then she left us. And from that day until the day when I promised to
meet her, I will be lonely without her.
On September 29, 1905, my youngest and last daughter fell asleep in
the arms of Jesus. On the morning she left us I came to her bedside.
Mrs. Jennie Wise Johnston, wife of the editor, Dr. H. T. Johnson, was
sitting by her bedside holding her hand. She was rubbing her hands
as if she could rub the warmth of life into them. The poor child
cried out, “Papa, Oh, papa!” These were her last words, she could say
no more. Oh those words, how they have rung in my ears and how the
echoes have come to me out of eternity, “Papa, Oh, papa!” Her mother
had stepped into another room to weep. I could not stand to see her
die. The cares and toils and sacrifices which I had made for her, the
love that had bound her to me, the joys which she had brought into my
life,--and now that Grim Death should be choking her--was more than
I could bear. I bowed my head and prayed and took the train for my
appointment in Jersey City. When I arrived I was handed a telegram
announcing that she had left us. I took the next train and came home.
This daughter at the early age of twelve years, like my other children,
had become a devoted Christian. Her early piety was marked and deep.
She lived until she was twenty-seven years of age. She had been a
teacher in the public school, Mt. Vernon St., Camden, for seven years,
a skilled musician and a competent Sunday School worker.
In passing through all these afflictions, I learned that it was a great
deal easier for one to say what he would do under such circumstances
than it was to do what one ought to do. I had often said to many under
the hand of affliction:
“Cast thy burden on the Lord, for He careth for you.”
I had never learned what that little word, “cast” meant. I found that
it was no easy thing to cast my burden on the Lord. It was no easy
thing to really say, “Thy will be done, not mine.” I would take these
burdens to the Lord, but when I came away I would bring them with me.
Ah! There is the point, I would bring them away with me! This I should
not have done, but thank God, I am becoming able to leave my burdens
with Him. I am too old to carry them now. And my dear reader, if you in
early life can learn to leave your burdens with the Lord, you will have
won the victory of victories. I know that these dear ones cannot come
to me but I can go to them and it will not be long until I go.
At Jersey City I entered upon my work with a fine body of workers
associated with me. Bros. A. S. Taper, W. H. Dougherty, J. Stokes,
Edward Holmes; sisters, Hannah Stokes, Mamie Taper, Hattie Dougherty,
Louisa Holmes, Anna Burk, Annie Dowers, and a host of other workers
were standing around me in this great field. They did all that they
could to make African Methodism a strong fort of the Lord Jesus Christ
and were bent on having a building that would be an honor to the
denomination.
A Mr. Beach became very much interested in the work, he was our trusted
treasurer and gave of his own money and influenced others to help us.
I made my home with Mr. John Smith and his wife. They did a great deal
to help the work along. While here we paid $500 on the church debt, and
left the lumber and brick for a new church on the lot which belonged to
the church and added over one hundred members to the church.
On April 12, 1905, I met the thirty-third session of the New Jersey
Conference at the St. James A. M. E. Church, Atlantic City, N. J. Rev.
B. W. Arnett, D.D., LL.D., was the presiding bishop.
The report of the presiding elders was indeed very encouraging,
showing that great revivals had been in the districts of the several
presiding elders, and that the church in all its departments of labor
and enterprise had made encouraging advancement. This Conference as
a great spiritual revival. There was great rejoicing on every hand.
The secretaries brought in fine reports of their departments of work.
We were made to feel that the church was getting back on the solid
ground of Methodism, the Old Time Religion which our fathers enjoyed. I
sometimes think that in our church work we have so much machinery and
so many schemes and plans, and are so bent on the money or material
side of the church and its life, that we have lost our spiritual power.
We need a great change in this respect. We must get back to the thought
that God is our all in all and that they labor in vain who would build
the house unless the Lord Himself build it.
During this meeting of the Conference some valuable statistics were
submitted on the Race which I submit for careful study. Of course
these will soon be supplanted by the U. S. Census Report, but many
will not have access to this report, so I give them here: The Negro
population of the U. S. in 1900 was 9,204,531; seventy per cent. work
on 746,000 farms; 21,000 carpenters; 20,000 barbers, and one-fourth
as many doctors; 10,000 ordained preachers; 15,000 masons; 12,000
dress makers; 10,000 engineers; 5,000 shoemakers; 1,000 lawyers; 4,000
musicians; 2,000 actors; since 1890 the illiteracy of the race has been
reduced from 57 per cent. to 44.5 per cent. These reports mentioned Mr.
Roosevelt as standing shoulder to shoulder with the immortal Lincoln as
the friend of the Race.
These facts and figures are a great inspiration to my people and I
hope that they will be inspired to take fresh courage and go ahead in
the great work and battle of life. My only purpose in putting into
print the record of my own life is to encourage the young men and women
to do something more to help themselves.
The doors of great schools are now open to the young men of the Race
and if they do not improve their opportunities, it is their own fault
and their own loss. The time has come when the people should not
tolerate ignorance and its shames in any of the professions. From
a personal acquaintance, I can most heartily recommend three great
men who will do all in their power for the young Colored men of this
country--Rev. Isaac N. Rendall, D.D., of Lincoln University, Rev. Dr.
Scarbourough, of Wilberforce University, Ohio, and Rev. Samuel G.
Miller. D.D., of the Bible College, of Philadelphia, Pa. These men have
made their reputation and are among the great instructors of the Race
and they stand in readiness to do what they can for the young people
of my Race. The three men mentioned stand for the higher education of
the people. They believe that what is good for the White man is equally
good for the Black man. On the other hand, if young men and women are
seeking to be educated along practical lines, I recommend them to
the great institution at Tuskegee, Ala., Dr. Booker T. Washington’s
school. With these great men and the advantages which have been
supplied by them, no young person can have an excuse for not rising to
a high degree of scholarship and efficiency in any line of work.
At the Conference at Long Branch I was appointed at Bordentown, N. J.
I had a pleasant reception here. Rev. J. H. Morgan was the retiring
pastor. He called on me and gave me some valuable advice as to the
work. I found that the church was divided by factions, but under God’s
blessing these were united and all worked together in perfect harmony.
We painted and paid for the parsonage and considerable was paid on the
church debt. Dr. Roundtree, the Presiding Elder of this district, was
of great assistance to me in my work.
Prof. James Gregory, principal of the Industrial School at this place,
an institution supported by the State of New Jersey, was also a very
valuable aid in the work of the church. He and his students were always
present at the Sunday services and helped very materially in all the
work of the church.
[Illustration: REV. J. H. MORGAN