EFFICIENCY OF NEGRO.
The records of the conduct of Negroes in office, with the exception of
the rascality of those in power in the South during the Reconstruction
Period, are creditable indeed, to the race from which they sprang.
Responsibility for the scandals attaching to the rule of the race in
some of the Southern States directly after the war are chargeable
not to the Negro but to the corruption of the white men who imposed
on the Negro by taking advantage of his ignorance and making him the
cat’s paw with which they attempted to extricate themselves from many
difficulties without the stain of dishonor.
The first Negroes to become members of the legislature of any State
in the Union were Edward G. Walker and Charles L. Mitchell of
Massachusetts in 1866. The records show they discharged their duties
with intelligence and honor.
The first holding a position under appointment by the government was
Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett of Philadelphia who was appointed minister
resident and consul general to the government of Hayti in 1869.
He was an educated Negro of great ability and was engaged in teaching
for many years. The “Hand Book of Hayti,” of which he was the author,
has been translated into many languages.
He was a member of the American Geographical Society and of the
Connecticut Historical Society.
The number of colored officers, clerks and other employees in the
service of the United States Government at the present time is 22,440
with salaries aggregating an annual income of $12,456,760.00.
The qualification of the large majority of these employees was tested
under civil service rules and so it is seen this large number got into
the service through merit alone.
Out of a population of 12,000,000 people, with a force of 20,000
trained in the government of the country it is idle to assume a
sufficient number for the proper administration of the laws of the
territory could not be secured.
In the matter of military genius and personal bravery as well as in
preparation for statesmanship by reason of education and patriotism the
records show the Negro to be well equipped.
There are eleven colored officers in the regular army of the United
States at the present time. Three Negroes have been graduated from West
Point.
At the order of the government for service in Mexico, the first to go
to the front in search of Villa and his bandits was the Tenth cavalry
composed of Negroes which has distinguished itself for service in this
punitive expedition as it distinguished itself at the battle of Las
Guasimas in Cuba when it came to the rescue of Colonel Roosevelt and
his Rough Riders.
The first to go to the front in the Spanish-American War, in 1898, were
the four NEGRO regiments, the Tenth Cavalry, the Twenty-fifth Infantry,
which took a prominent part in the battle of El Caney, the Ninth
Cavalry, which with the Twenty-fourth Infantry and the Tenth Cavalry,
rendered heroic service in the battle of San Juan Hill. The Ninth and
Tenth Cavalry have the reputation of being the best Indian fighters in
the United States Army.
It does not appear from the records of the Military Secretary at
Washington that the Negro is lacking in any essential quality for the
performance of the duty of a soldier.
The people of that section of the country where most of the argument
against his ability as a soldier originates were quite willing enough
to enlist him in the Confederate States Army, or that portion of the
race which had been made free previous to the Emancipation Proclamation.
In 1864 the Confederate Congress, at Richmond, passed an act making all
male Negroes, with certain exceptions, between the ages of eighteen and
fifty liable for the performance of such duties in the Confederate
Army, in the way of work in connection with the military defenses as
the Secretary of War might prescribe, and provided for them in rations,
clothing and compensation. Provision was also made at the same time for
the employment of 20,000 Negro slaves for similar duty by the Secretary
of War.
In November, 1861, at a review of 28,000 Confederate troops in New
Orleans, one of the most prominent regiments was colored, consisting
of 1,400 free Negroes. The members of the companies comprising this
regiment according to The Picayune of that city, supplied themselves
with arms without aid from the Confederate Government.
The worst that can be said against this regiment is that it existed at
all for the defense of a government that sought to continue its members
in perpetual slavery.
Nearly 200,000 Negro soldiers were employed in the United States Army
in the Civil War. These formed 161 regiments of which 141 were infantry
or cavalry, 12 heavy artillery and 1 light artillery.
The Negro troops fought gloriously in many of the bloodiest battles
of the war. Among the engagements in which they were particularly
distinguished for bravery and heroism were the battles of Milliken’s
Bend on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, in July 1863, the
assault on Port Hudson near Baton Rouge, La., in 1863, at Fort Wagner,
a Charleston, S. C., defence, in 1863, and at all the assaults on
Petersburg, Va., in 1864 as well as in the battle of Nashville, Tenn.,
fought in December 1864.
In the Revolutionary War as well as in the War of 1812, Negroes were
enlisted and served with such distinction in the latter as to inspire
the following address by General Andrew Jackson, afterwards President
of the United States.
“To the men of color--Soldiers: I knew before your enlistment that you
could endure the hardships of hunger and thirst and brave the dangers
of war. I knew that you loved the land of your nativity, and that, like
ourselves you had to defend all that is most dear to man. But you have
surpassed my hopes. I have found in you, united to these qualities,
that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.
“Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be informed of your
conduct on the present occasion; and the voices of the Representatives
of the American nation shall applaud your valor as your General now
praises your ardor.”
It was the distinguished service of two battalions of 500 Negroes that
elicited this eulogy from the Commander in Chief of the forces engaged
in the second war with England.
Commodore Perry used equally forcible language in his praise of the
bravery and conduct of the Negroes under his command at the battle
of Lake Erie. He said that Negro soldiers seemed to be absolutely
insensible to danger.
There were about 3,000 Negroes employed in the Revolutionary War by
General Washington. An equal or greater number were employed by the
British.
Some of the most heroic deeds of the war for Independence were
performed by the men of color. Major Pitcairn, in charge of the British
forces at the battle of Bunker Hill, was killed by a Negro named Peter
Salem. A petition was drawn by some of the principal officers of the
American Army to secure recognition by the Massachusetts Colony for
Solomon Poor, a Negro, for distinguished service at the battle of
Bunker Hill. Crispus Attucks, a Negro, was the first American to become
a martyr in the Boston massacre.
The Black Legion of Count D’Estaing saved the defeated American and
French Army from complete annihilation at the siege of Savannah on
October 9, 1779, by covering the retreat and repulsing the charge of
the British.
In every war fought on American soil, the Negroes whenever allowed to
participate, have displayed a courage and heroism that is not only a
credit to the race but a credit to mankind.
In poetry and literature, as well as war, the Negro has arisen to
distinction. Indeed, the first woman, either white or black, to attain
to literary distinction in this country was a Negro, a slave at that.
She was Phyllis Wheatly of Boston, who wrote poems on various subjects,
religious and moral, of high literary value. One of the poems was
addressed to General Washington and was appreciated by him as reference
to it by him was made in a letter to Joseph Reed under date of February
10, 1776. Through the endorsement of several men distinguished in
literature her poems were collected and published in London under the
title, “Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, by Phyllis
Wheatly, a Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatly of Boston, in New England.”
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, born in 1872, was a noted Negro poet.
William Stanley Braithwaite, author of “The Book of Georgian Verse” and
the reviewer of poetry appearing in the standard magazines is classed
among the geniuses of American verse writers.
“A Little Dreaming” is a volume by Fenton Johnson of Chicago that has
been favorably commented on in this country and Europe.
The most famous of the Negro Shakesperian scholars was Ira Aldridge
of Bel Air Maryland. He is said to have had no equal in the
personification of Othello, the Moor. He was awarded the Gold Medal
of the First Class for “Art and Science” by the King of Prussia, a
distinction that had never before been awarded to any but Humbolt,
Spentini, the composer and Liszt, the musician. His title in England
was that of “Royal Saxe Ernest House Order,” a title of higher degree
than that of “Sir” so much coveted in Britain. He was a member of the
Academy of Arts and Sciences of St. Petersburg.
Bert Williams, another Negro actor, bears the distinction of being the
“Greatest Comedian on the American Stage.”
The inventive genius of the Negro is to be seen in the records of the
patent office at Washington. These show the application of a wide range
of inventive talent, including agricultural implements, in wood and
metal working machines, in land conveyances on road and steel rail
tracks, in ocean going vessels, in chemistry and chemical compounds,
in electricity in all its wide range of uses, in aereonautics, in new
designs of house furniture and bric-a-brac, in mechanical toys and
amusement devices.
It is said that a Negro really invented the cotton gin, or gave to Ely
Whitney, who was the patentee of it, the suggestions which aided in the
completion of this invention. As early as 1834 a Negro, Henry Blair, of
Maryland, secured a patent on a corn harvester.
Soon after the Dred Scott Decision in 1857 the Patent Office rendered a
decision that a Negro could not take out a patent on an invention, but
since 1862, when the decision was rescinded, no restrictions have been
placed on the use of the office by Negroes and a great number of useful
inventions have been patented by them.
Robert Pelham, of Detroit, an employee in the Census Bureau, has
devised a machine that tabulates the statistics from the manufacturer’s
schedules in a way that displaces a dozen men in a given quantity
of work, doing the work economically, speedily and with faultless
precision. The returns in royalties from his invention, which is
patented, greatly exceeds the income Mr. Pelham receives from the
Government salary paid him for services in the office of the Census
Bureau.
At the present time there are nearly 50,000 Negro business enterprises
of various kinds, some requiring a knowledge of banking, insurance,
manufacturing, undertaking and hospital training.
The combined business of these enterprises total over one billion
dollars annually.
There are about 66 banks in all with a capital and surplus of over
$2,000,000.00.
Reference elsewhere made in this book to the progress of the Negro
in farming operations indicates that he is advancing more rapidly
in agriculture than any of the other pursuits. In educational and
church work it is shown, also, that he is well prepared to take care
of himself should the separation of the races ever become a reality.
The church denominational statistics show there are about 40,000
Negro Churches of Christ in America, with communicants numbering over
4,000,000. The value of Negro church property is about $60,000,000.00.
From $200,000.00 to $250,000.00 is spent annually on home missions.
For foreign missions the race spends from $100,000.00 to $150,000.00
annually.
By every test or qualification and efficiency the Negro, in government,
in the science of war, in the art of agriculture, in manufacturing,
invention, medicine, law and literature is well prepared to assume the
government of his race in a territory of his own. This insures him the
same protection from the persecution and injustices of the stronger
race that enabled the latter to succeed so famously when they, too,
in the course of human events, found it necessary to dissolve the
political bonds that united them to a dominant authority that gave them
no justice.
INCIDENTS IN MISS SCHOFIELD’S LIFE.
Martha Schofield’s conception of an education included a great deal
more than the mere matter of acquiring a fund of knowledge. She
taught that knowledge without the ability to use it was worthless,
and inspired every one coming under her influence with the necessity
for a means of practicing what they were taught. This made her work
intensely practical and enabled her students to succeed in overcoming
difficulties as they saw her overcome them. The operation of her
school, including the farm, the store and boarding house dormitories
became a part of the curriculum and each student was provided with
practical, concrete examples of every day business life with a solution
for each worked out before the eyes of the whole school. The success
which has and is attending the efforts of her students in many lines
of endeavor is one of the best arguments we have to advance for the
extension of practical instruction, especially among the Negroes who
have evidenced a singular ability in assimilating it and imparting its
usefulness afterwards.
While every Schofield scholar received a deep impression of the power
which knowledge gives no want of attention was directed to the evil
which invariably attends the wrong use of it. This developed a course
in moral philosophy which, it is to be supposed, is responsible
for the high average maintained by the graduates of this school in
the deportment of their lives. Not one of the many receiving their
education at the school has ever been convicted of crime or sentenced
to jail or servitude in a penal institution. This contradicts and
discredits the statement often heard that the education of the Negro
has been attended by an increase of crime among the members of the
race. While unsupported by the facts with regard to the students of
all other Negro schools the statement could have basis only in those
schools and colleges where the relation of morals to breeding is
ignored altogether or made of secondary importance only. Certain it is
that Martha Schofield impressed each one of her students with a higher
regard for truth and virtue than for anything else in this world.
Without the morality to live and act honorably education to her was a
curse, and she had the faculty of making her students a co-partner with
her in sharing her convictions along lines of right conduct and moral
grandeur as well as excelling in efficiency in all the arts taught.
Martha Schofield was impelled by a power in her heart which inspired
sympathy to give the very best of her life in help of the Negro. So she
was very particular in her work that what she imparted really should
inspire her disciples to think right and live right. This enforced the
necessity for a discipline that may be considered severe by some but
many are there today who bless her from the bottom of their hearts for
holding them strictly to account in their work that in the final result
they might be the possessors of a future worthy of the instruction
received at her hands. She never enforced iron-hand discipline without
the glove of charity and her advice always sparkled with such sincerity
and sympathy as to make it palatable.
Not only was the work of Miss Schofield opposed by the antagonism of
race prejudice, but opposed by a want of a precedent. There were few
Negroes of education to refer to as examples of what education may be
expected to do for one with the intelligence and industry necessary
to acquire it. Only a few years before Miss Schofield began her work
the instruction of Negroes was made unlawful by some of the States
in the South and as a result the greatest ignorance prevailed among
them. Not five per cent. could either read or write and quite a number
possessed no Christian name at all. They lived principally in one room
cabins, whole families of them, and subsisted on the coarsest and most
unwholesome food imaginable. There was no respect anywhere for sanitary
science laws and all this had the effect to greatly handicap Miss
Schofield at the beginning of her effort.
One of the rules of her school which she enforced early in her career
was that no child could enter school who did not have a name. As all
were eager to learn and made tremendous sacrifices that their children
might do so this rule produced a mild sensation among some of the older
people who had not the intuition to go about the work of obtaining a
name for their offspring. But the ruling finally served to obtain names
for all, and these in time became legal, some of them appearing just as
Martha Schofield gave them on the tax books to this very day.
Perhaps the origin of the name Rahab Obedience, for many years an
employe in Miss Schofield’s room, was one among the most unique.
Accompanied by her child, who had been sent home the day before for
want of a name, Rahab called early one morning on Miss Schofield and
expressed great distress over the possibility of her not being able to
comply with the entrance regulations and keep her little boy in school.
“Missus,” spoke Rahab, “Banjo be’n tellin’ me dat yo’ sais he mus’ hab
some trimmins’ ’fore he kin com’ to yo’ sc’ool an’ clear befo’ dee
Lawd, Missus, he aint got non’ ’side frum Banjo’ and hee jist caint git
non.’ Dat chile nebber aint had any daddy, Missus!”
“Every child that enters this school” said Miss Schofield, “must have a
name or be given one, else we can not teach him. Perhaps, we may give
your son a name.
“What is your name? All children without a father bear their mother’s
name.”
“Mer name, Missus?” queried Rahab in surprise. “I be’n tinkink yo’ no’
mer name lon’ time.”
“Yes, I know; but what is your Christian name--the other part of your
name? Rahab who?”
“O, yas’am, I ’noes w’at yo’ means now, but dats all de name I
habs--jest Rahab,” said the woman as she looked hopefully at Miss
Schofield for some means by which a name could be found for her son
and he be allowed to remain in school.
“Well, can’t you suggest some name for your son?” asked Miss Schofield.
“What name would you like for him to be known by?”
“We’l Missus,” said Rahab, “mer old marster allus tol’ us dat Obedience
wus der bes trate in de karecter of a cullud pusson an’ so I bleeves
I’d jest lak to hab mer boi call’d Banjo Obedience.”
“Very well,” replied Miss Schofield, “hereafter he shall be known as
Banjo Obedience and we shall know you as Rahab Obedience.”
“Dat’s jest alritee ef Banjo kin cum ter sc’ool wid dat name. Don’t
care w’at yo’ cal’ ’em nor how much yo’ beats ’em jest so yo larns em
sometings, som’ gud man’ers lak he ole marster had.”
In a very few days after this unusual interview Rahab herself was given
a position in the Schofield household where she was employed for many
years.
Among all the mourners at the funeral none there were more deeply
affected by the passing of Miss Schofield than the servants of her
household.
One of the most beautiful traits of Miss Schofield’s character is
to be seen in her treatment of the Negro servants in her employ.
The excellent service which “Aunt Amy” rendered to her gave her a
high appreciation of the Negro for domestic duties, and inspired the
sentiment now common over the country that the Southern white people
do not appreciate the value of Negro servants because they have never
had the dissatisfaction attending the employment of other domestics of
different nationality.
“Aunt Ann,” another employe for thirty-five years, equally
distinguished the race by excelling in the art of domestic service.
Rahab Obedience, Darius Bauknight and Charlotte, all so well pleased
Miss Schofield with the quality and quantity of their services that
each received recognition in her Will.
Martha Schofield was not only admired and loved by all her students
and servants--she was idolized by them. Wherever she went in the South
or North she always found a number to do her honor, and honor shown her
by the humblest and lowest of the Negro race was to all appearances as
much appreciated as that shown by the great poets and writers, many of
whom knew her and delighted in showing her the respect which one great
mind has for another.
Among the distinguished people who expressed a deep appreciation of her
strength of character and firmness of purpose in carrying on her work
was John G. Whittier, the Quaker Poet, who wrote her several pleasing
commendatory letters, and dedicated all his works to the spirit which
inspired her to carry on her work in the face of difficulties that
would have discouraged into inactivity anybody but Martha Schofield.
Other notable people who paid tribute to Miss Schofield were Lucretia
Mott, the distinguished reformer and Miss Francis Willard.
At her home in Aiken she was highly respected for her strength of
character in holding fast to her convictions and for her intelligence
and absolute honesty.
The following resolutions by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, a
white organization to which Miss Schofield belonged, were passed at a
recent session:
“RESOLUTIONS.
“Aiken, S. C., April 17th, 1916.
“_Whereas_, God, in His infinite wisdom, has seen fit to take from
us, our sister and earnest co-worker, Miss Martha Schofield; We,
the members of the W. C. T. U., Aiken, S. C., do hereby offer the
following resolutions:
“1st. That in her passing away the W. C. T. U. has lost one of its
earnest workers.
“2nd. That we extend to her neice and to her companion, Mrs. Taylor,
our deepest sympathy.
“3rd. That a page in our Minute Book be inscribed to her memory.
“4th. That a copy of these resolutions be sent to her neice, to Mrs.
Taylor and to the County papers for publication.
META SUMMERALL,
HATTIE P. HILL,
TWEETIE M. CARTER,
Committee.”
If one ever questioned whether the services of Miss Schofield were
appreciated by the colored people of Aiken all doubts must have been
removed by the demonstration of Negroes at the funeral on Monday,
February 3, and again on the same day as the casket was borne from the
Schofield home to the railroad station. The line of march included
over 1,000 school children and citizens and the mass was so great at
the train shed as to interfere with the movement of all traffic. As
the train moved off the citizens joined in the favorite song of the
lamented lady and sang so sadly and feelingly as to bring tears to the
eyes of all: “Steal Away, Steal Away to Jesus.”
Among hundreds of telegrams, letters and personal messages received
at the school following the death of Miss Schofield, the latter are
typical:
“I am here to give my testimony of the value of the life of Martha
Schofield to my race. She was one of the bravest, kindest women I
ever knew. It is true that Martha Schofield was a fighter. She dared
to contend for what she believed was right, but always took counsel,
weighed things carefully, and, when she took a stand that she believed
was right, believing she was right, there was no earthly power to
turn her from her course. Martha Schofield is not dead--she lives
in the memory of her students scattered all over South Carolina and
other States. She will live in the memory of their children and their
children’s children, for there are few colored homes in which her name
and deeds are not recounted in the family circle.”
LUCY LANEY,
Principal Haines Institute, Augusta, Ga.
“In the death of Miss Martha Schofield the Negroes have lost a true
friend of long standing, and the cause of the great social uplift here
in the South has lost an earnest and effective worker.
“Miss Schofield was my personal friend and adviser for many years.
I think she has accomplished a most unselfish life work and very
effective.”
WALTER S. BUCHANAN,
President Agricultural & Mechanical College,
Normal, Alabama.
Miss Schofield did a valuable, a useful, a noble work for my race,
and I am glad so many of the colored people in Georgia and South
Carolina have joined in the general chorus of sorrow and sympathy
in consequence of her death. A hundred years from now, when the
history of the South shall be written anew, the brightest page in the
story will be that on which shall be recorded the lives, labor, and
sacrifices of the white men and women from the North who came into the
South directly after the war and brought the torch of civilization to
a freed race and taught them the way of truth and righteousness.
PROF. S. X. FLOYD,
Principal Gwinnett School,
Augusta, Ga.
The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the faculty of the
Schofield school, in respect to the memory of Miss Schofield:
“_Resolved_, That the Schofield School most sorrowfully realizes that
in the translation of the spirit of this truly great woman, it has
sustained an irreparable loss. In the departure from our midst of this
illustrious character, we solemnly obligate ourselves to ever reserve
prominent places in our memories for the most worthy example set
before us by the founder and friend of the great work. The greatest
monument to the life of Miss Schofield is the school which bears her
name. This most splendid plant, now in the flower of its prosperity,
marks the fruitful result of the untiring zeal and the dauntless
courage possessed, and the patient efforts put forth by the Founder
who so faithfully labored for and among the freedmen of our community.”
[Illustration]
Transcriber’s Notes
Page 7: “envitable civil conflict” changed to “inevitable civil
conflict”
Page 8: “dsirable an end” changed to “desirable an end”
Page 10: “moral degredation” changed to “moral degradation” “in immense
volumne” changed to “in immense volume” “pitted their poor brothers”
changed to “pitied their poor brothers”
Page 12: “trenchent pen” changed to “trenchant pen”
Page 13: “at Tuskeegee” changed to “at Tuskegee”
Page 17: “life as made” changed to “life was made”
Page 18: “Wadlamaw to Edisto” changed to “Wadmalaw to Edisto”
Page 19: “instinct to enage” changed to “instinct to engage”
Page 20: “Brightnesss of Martha’s Pupils.” changed to “Brightness of
Martha’s Pupils.” “Nothwithstanding” changed to “Notwithstanding”
Page 24: “concluded trat” changed to “concluded that”
Page 27: “on Februay” changed to “on February” “by the municipalites”
changed to “by the municipalities” “oustide influence” changed to
“outside influence”
Page 29: “science is suppossed” changed to “science is supposed”
Page 31: “phenominal rise” changed to “phenomenal rise”
Page 40: “his dristrict” changed to “his district”
Page 41: “had preceeded” changed to “had preceded”
Page 42: “the communty” changed to “the community” “prompt and
preemptory” changed to “prompt and peremptory”
Page 44: “precipitated the demorilization” changed to “precipitated the
demoralization”
Page 45: “recognizing the advanage” changed to “recognizing the
advantage”
Page 46: “Mackie Meriwether” changed to “Makie Meriwether”
Page 47: “domoniac form” changed to “demoniac form” “most conspecious
part” changed to “most conspicuous part”
Page 48: “which followd” changed to “which followed” “resulted in
Conress” changed to “resulted in Congress”
Page 49: “firey speech” changed to “fiery speech”
Page 50: “reign of lawlessnes” changed to “reign of lawlessness”
Page 52: “gov-government’s” changed to “government’s?” “be arrainged”
changed to “be arraigned”
Page 53: “wha was given” changed to “who was given”
Page 54: “between the the” changed to “between the”
Page 56: “the maurauders” changed to “the marauders”
Page 60: “enconomic reasons” changed to “economic reasons”
Page 62: “the enforcemnet” changed to “the enforcement”
Page 64: “barbaraties of those” changed to “barbarities of those”
Page 66: “disfranchisemnt laws” changed to “disfranchisement laws”
Page 67: “that that” changed to “than that”
Page 69: “althuogh” changed to “although”
Page 71: “firmly deternmied” changed to “firmly determined” “make him
Emporer” changed to “make him Emperor”
Page 72: “his bethrothed” changed to “his betrothed” “his jounrey”
changed to “his journey”
Page 78: “generousnes of God” changed to “generousness of God”
“stragetic ability” changed to “strategic ability”
Page 81: “manuel of important information” changed to “manual of
important information”
Page 83: “is phenominal” changed to “is phenomenal”
Page 87: “inflamatory conditions” changed to “inflammatory conditions”
“she sympatized” changed to “she sympathized”
Page 89: “compeling those responsible” changed to “compelling those
responsible”
Page 93: “for off China” changed to “far off China” “espcially” changed
to “especially”
Page 95: “well enough inwormed” changed to “well enough informed”
Page 97: “own populatoin” changed to “own population”
Page 110: “the fitnss” changed to “the fitness”
Page 115: “seige of Savannah” changed to “siege of Savannah”
Page 116: “the genuises” changed to “the geniuses”
Page 117: “Patent Offce” changed to “Patent Office”
Page 120: “her diciples” changed to “her disciples” “palatible” changed
to “palatable”
Page 123: “Lucreta Mott” changed to “Lucretia Mott”