Amount of contingent money raised $2,976 85
Amount raised for the support of pastors 201,984 06
Amount raised for the support of presiding
elders 23,896 66
Amount of Dollar Money for general
educational purposes, etc. 28,009 97
Amount raised to support Sunday-schools
for the year 1876 17,415 33
Amount raised for the missionary society, 3,782 72
Amount raised in one year for building
churches 169,558 60
-----------
Total amount raised for all purposes, $447,624 19
STATISTICS OF MEMBERS.
_Ministers._
Number of bishops 6
" " travelling preachers 1,418
" " local preachers 3,168
" " exhorters 2,546
-----
Total ministerial force in 1876 7,138
Ministerial force in 1816 8
-----
Ministerial gain in 60 years 7,130
_Members and Probationers._
Number of members 172,806
" " probationers 33,525
-------
Total number of members and probationers 206,331
SUMMARY OF MEMBERS.
Total number of ministers 7,138
Total number of members and probationers 206,331
-------
Grand total membership 213,469
CHURCH PROPERTY.
Number of churches 1,833
" " parsonages 218
VALUE OF CHURCH PROPERTY.
Value of churches $3,064,911 00
" " parsonages 138,800 00
-------------
Total value of church property $3,203,711 00
ANNUAL CONFERENCES.
Number of annual conferences 25
SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
Number of Sunday-schools 2,309
" " superintendents 2,458
" " teachers and officers 8,085
" " pupils 87,453
" " volumes in libraries 129,066
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.
Number of parent home and foreign societies 11
" " annual conference societies 24
" " local societies 250
WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY IN 1876.
Number of students enrolled--males 375
" " " " --females 225
" " professors--males 3
" " " --females 7
The total receipts of Wilberforce University for the year was
$4,547.89.
The assets of Wilberforce University in 1876 were as follows:
Endowment notes $18,000 00
College property 39,000 00
Bequest of Chief-Justice Chase 10,000 00
Nine semi-annual and annual notes 900 00
Bills receivable 125 00
Horse, wagon, etc. 200 00
Cash in bank 1,000 00
----------
Total assets $69,225 00
The liabilities were only $2,973.42, leaving the handsome amount of
$66,251.58 of assets over the liabilities of the institution.
The General Conference of 1880 met in St. Louis, Mo., on the third day
of May. The following are some of the facts, as we glean from the
reports:
The Financial Secretary, Rev. J. C. Embry, reported that for the
fiscal year ending April 24, 1880, he had received $32,336.31 for
general purposes alone, and in the four years from April 24, 1876, to
April 24, 1880, he had received $99,999.42 for the general expenses of
the Church.
The General Business Manager, Dr. H. M. Turner, reported the receipts
in the Book Concern to be $50,133.76. This was the largest amount of
business ever reported by the Concern.
The receipts of the two departments were $150,133.18. The total amount
raised in 1826 was $1,151.75. The gain since that time has been
$148,981.43.
RECEIPTS.
Amount of contingent money $27,897 36
" " dollar money 33,400 00
" " missionary money 25,248 08
" " ladies' mite missionary money 2,296 06
" for Sunday-school purposes 115,694 40
" " pastors' support 1,282,465 16
" " pastors' travelling expenses 36,608 16
" " presiding elders' travelling exps. 7,338 20
" " presiding elders' support 106,817 20
-------------
$1,637,764 62
RECEIPTS.--(_Continued._)
Amount brought up $1,637,764 62
Amount for educational purposes 6,125 46
" " building and repairing churches 596,824 48
" " charitable and benevolent
purposes 20,937 02
-------------
Total annual collection $2,261,651 58
-------------
The amount for four years 9,046,606 24
The General Business Manager's report 51,000 00
-------------
Grand total for four years $9,097,606 24
STATISTICS OF MEMBERS.
_Travelling Preachers._
Number of bishops 9
" " general officers 4
" " travelling licentiates 434
" " travelling elders 445
" " travelling deacons 940
-----
Total number of travelling preachers 1,832
_Local Preachers._
Number of superannuated preachers 21
" " local preachers and exhorters 7,719
" " elders 42
" " deacons 146
-----
Total number of local preachers 7,928
_Members and Probationers._
Number of members 306,044
" " probationers 85,000
-------
Total number of members and probationers, 391,044
SUMMARY OF MEMBERS.
Total number of travelling preachers 1,832
" " " local preachers 7,928
" " " members and probationers 391,044
-------
Grand total membership 400,804
SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
Number of Sunday-schools 2,345
" " teachers and officers 15,454
" " pupils 154,549
" " volumes in library 193,358
CHURCH PROPERTY.
Number of school-houses 88
" " churches 2,051
" " parsonages 395
VALUE OF CHURCH PROPERTY.
Value of school-houses $26,400 00
" " churches 2,884,251 00
" " parsonages 162,603 20
-------------
Total value of church property $3,073,254 20
PAPER.
Number of subscriptions to "Christian Recorder" 5,380
In 1818 a publishing department was added to the work of the Church.
But its efficiency was impaired on account of the great mass of its
members being in slave States or the District of Columbia, where the
laws prohibited them from attending school, and deprived them of
reading books or papers. In 1817 the Rev. Richard Allen published a
book of discipline; and shortly after this a Church hymn-book was
published also. Beyond this there was but little done in this
department until 1841, when the New York Conference passed a
resolution providing for the publication of a monthly magazine. But
the lack of funds compelled the projectors to issue it as a quarterly.
For nearly eight years this magazine exerted an excellent influence
upon the ministers and members of the Church. Its coming was looked
forward to with a strange interest. It contained the news in each of
the conferences; its editorials breathed a spirit of love and
fellowship; and thus the members were brought to a knowledge of the
character of the work being accomplished.
At length the prosperity of the magazine seemed to justify the
publication of a weekly paper. Accordingly a weekly journal, named the
"Christian Herald," made its appearance and ran its course for the
space of four years. In 1852, by order of the General Conference, the
paper was enlarged and issued as the "Christian Recorder," which has
continued to be published up to the present time. In addition to this
a "Child's Recorder" is published as a monthly. About 50,000 copies of
both are issued every month.
The managers and editors in this department have been:
From 1818 to 1826--Right-Reverened Richard Allen, First Bishop of the
A. M. E. Church, served in the capacity of Bishop and General Book
Steward.
From 1826 to 1835--Rev. Jos. M. Corr. He was the first regularly
appointed General Book Steward, and served until October, 1836, at
which time he died.
From 1835 to 1848--Rev. Geo. Hogarth.
From 1848 to 1852--Rev. Augustus R. Green.
From 1852 to 1854--Rev. M. M. Clark, Editor; Rev. W. T. Catto, General
Book Steward, and Rev. W. H. Jones, Travelling Agent.
From 1854 to 1860--Rev. J. P. Campbell (now Bishop) served in the
capacity of General Book Steward and Editor.
From 1860 to 1868--Rev. Elisha Weaver served the most of the time as
both Manager and Editor.
From 1868 to 1869--Rev. Joshua Woodlin, Manager, and Rev. B. T.
Tanner, Editor. During the year 1869 Rev. Joshua Woodlin resigned.
From 1869 to 1871--Rev. A. L. Stanford served until above date, when
he also resigned, and Dr. B. T. Tanner was left to act in the capacity
of Editor and Manager until May, 1872.
From 1872 to 1876--Rev. W. H. Hunter, Business Manager, and Rev. B. T.
Tanner reappointed Editor.
From 1876 to 1880--Rev. H. M. Turner, Business Manager, and Rev. B. T.
Tanner again reappointed Editor.
1880--Rev. Theo. Gould, Business Manager, and Rev. B. T. Tanner was
for the fourth term appointed Editor.
In addition to the work done here on the field, this Church has been
blessed with a true missionary spirit. It has pushed its work into
"the regions beyond." In 1844 _The Parent Home and Foreign Missionary
Society_ was organized by the General Conference. Its first
corresponding secretary was appointed in 1864, John M. Brown,
Washington, D.C.; 1865 to 1868, John M. Brown; 1868 to 1872, James A.
Handay, Baltimore, Maryland; 1872, Rev. W. J. Gaines, Macon, Georgia;
1873, Rev. T. G. Stewart, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1874 to 1876,
Rev. G. W. Brodie; 1876 to 1878, Rev. Richard H. Cain, Columbia, S.C.;
1878 to 1881, Rev. James M. Townsend, Richmond, Indiana.
The following is the last report of the present missionary secretary:
RECAPITULATION.
_Receipts._
Collected for general work (including $300 from
the W. M. M Society) $2,630 35
Collected on the field in Hayti 1,221 54
Women's Mite Society (in addition to the above
$300) 364 31
Collected for domestic missions 3,743 87
---------
Total receipts $7,960 07
_Expenditures._
Total expended on salaries, travelling expenses,
printing, etc. $7,773 10
Balance in Women's M. M. treasury 48 97
Balance in general treasury 138 00
---------
$7,960 07
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES M. TOWNSEND.
The work of education has been fostered and pushed forward by this
Church. Wilberforce University is owned and managed by the Church, and
is doing a noble work for both sexes. More than one thousand students
have received instruction in this institution, and some of the ablest
preachers in the denomination are proud of Wilberforce as their _Alma
Mater_. The following gentlemen constitute the faculty:
WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY.
* * * * *
FACULTY.
REV. B. F. LEE, B.D., _President_,
_Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Systematic
Theology._
* * * * *
_Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Homiletics, and Pastoral
Theology._
J. P. SHORTER, A.B.,
_Professor of Mathematics and Secretary of the Faculty._
W. S. SCARBOROUGH, A.M.,
_Professor of Latin and Greek._
ROSWELL F. HOWARD, A.B., B.L.,
_Professor of Law._
HON. JOHN LITTLE,
_Professor of Law._
MRS. S. C. BIERCE,
_Principal of Normal Department, Instructor in French, and
Natural Sciences._
MRS. ALICE M. ADAMS,
_Lady Principal, Matron, and Instructor in Academic Department._
Miss GUSSIE E. CLARK,
_Teacher of Instrumental Music._
* * * * *
ASSISTANT TEACHERS.
CARRIE E. FERGUSON,
_Teacher of Penmanship._
D. M. ASHBY,
G. S. LEWIS,
_Teachers of Arithmetic._
ANNA H. JONES,
_Teacher of Reading._
* * * * *
REV. T. H. JACKSON, D.D.,
_General Agent._
In the summer of 1856 the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church decided to establish in that place a university for
the education of Colored youth. Its Board of Trustees consisted of
twenty white and four Colored men. Mr. Alfred J. Anderson, Rev. Lewis
Woodson, Mr. Ishmael Keith, and Bishop Payne were the Colored members.
Among the former were State Senator M. D. Gatch and the late Salmon P.
Chase. It was dedicated in October, 1856, when the Rev. M. P. Gaddis
took charge. He held the position of Principal for one year, when he
was succeeded by Professor J. R. Parker, who worked faithfully and
successfully until 1859. Rev. R. T. Rust, D.D., became President upon
the retirement of Mr. Parker, and accomplished a noble work. He
raised the educational standard of the school, attracted to its
support and halls friends and pupils, and gained the confidence of
educators and laymen within the outside of his denomination.
Unfortunately, his faithful labors were most abruptly terminated by
the war of the Rebellion. The college doors were closed in 1862 for
want of funds; the main friends of the institution having cast their
lot with the Confederate States. It should be remembered that up to
this time this college was in the hands of the white Methodist Church.
The Colored Methodists bought the land and buildings on the 10th of
March, 1863, for the sum of $10,000. The land consisted of fifty-two
acres, with an abundance of timber, fine springs, and a commodious
college building with a dozen beautiful cottages. And the growth of
the institution under the management of Colored men is a credit to
their Church and race.
Bishop D. H. Payne, D.D., was elected to the presidency of the
university, which position he has filled with rare fidelity and
ability for the last thirteen years. In 1876 Rev. B. F. Lee, a former
graduate of the college, was elected to occupy the presidential chair.
It was not a position to be sought after since it had been filled for
thirteen years by the senior bishop of the Church, but Mr. Lee was the
choice of his official brethren and so was elected. President Lee is a
native of New Jersey. He is about the medium height, well knit, of
light complexion, dark hair and beard of the same color that covers a
face handsomely moulded. He is plainly a man of excellent traits of
character; he is somewhat bald and has a finely-cut head, broad and
massive. He moves quickly, and impresses one as a man who is armed
with a large amount of executive tact. His face is of a thoughtful
cast, and does not change much when he laughs. There were many
difficulties to hinder his administration when he took charge, but he
surmounted them all. Under his administration the institution has
grown financially and numerically.
The following report shows the financial condition of the college at
the present time.
RECEIPTS.
June 20, 1880.
Balance in Treasury, Avery Fund $10,000 00
" " Rust Prize Fund 100 00
" " cash 63 82
----------
Total balance $10,163 82
RECEIPTS.--(_Continued._)
Balance $10,163 82
Received from Financial Secretary 200 00
" " tuition 1,604 49
" " dormitories 525 80
" " Unitarian Association 600 00
Received from loans 100 00
Received from interest from Avery Fund 800 00
Received from interest from Rust Fund 8 00
Received from General Agent 150 00
" " contributions 232 00
" " Philadelphia Conference 52 95
Received from Illinois Conference 30 00
" " bequest of John Pfaff 602 08
Received from miscellaneous 407 64
-------- $5,312 96
----------
Total receipts $15,476 78
==========
EXPENDITURES.
To salaries $3,166 15
" building and grounds 243 25
" furnishing building 177 37
" notes paid with interest 285 86
" lectures 600 00
" fuel 116 64
" Powers' Fund interest 114 90
" incidental 296 17
" insurance 219 00
" miscellaneous 144 21
---------
Total expenditures $5,363 55
Balance in bank--Avery Fund securities $10,000 00
Balance in bank--Rust Fund securities 100 00
Balance in bank--cash 13 23
---------- $10,113 23
----------
$15,476 78
==========
STATEMENT OF CASH RECEIPTS, FROM 1865 TO 1881.
1865 to 1866 $10,677 82
1866 to 1867 6,717 88
1867 to 1868 9,000 00
1868 to 1869 5,403 83
1869 to 1870 9,498 24
1870 to 1871 28,672 22
1871 to 1872 7,270 31
1872 to 1873 4,452 30
1873 to 1874 6,129 77
1874 to 1875 4,962 50
1875 to 1876 7,805 36
1876 to 1877 13,757 66
1877 to 1878 14,429 15
1878 to 1879 4,944 37
1879 to 1880 6,942 98
1880 to 1881 5,312 96
-----------
Total $145,977 35
The following-named persons are the bishops of the Church: James A.
Shorter, Daniel A. Payne, A. W. Wayman, J. P. Campbell, John M. Brown,
T. M. D. Ward, H. M. Turner, William F. Dickerson, and R. H. Cain.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church will remain through the years
to come as the best proof of the Negro's ability to maintain himself
in an advanced state of civilization. Commencing with nothing--save an
unfaltering faith in God,--this Church has grown to magnificent
proportions. Her name has gone to the ends of the earth. In the
Ecumenical Council of the Methodists in London, 1881, its
representatives made a splendid impression; and their addresses and
papers took high rank.
This Church has taught the Negro how to govern and how to submit to
government. It has kept its membership under the influence of
wholesome discipline, and for its beneficent influence upon the morals
of the race, it deserves the praise and thanks of mankind.[129]
FOOTNOTES:
[129] We have to thank the Rev. B. W. Arnett, B.D., the Financial
Secretary, for the valuable statistics used in this chapter. He is an
intelligent, energetic, and faithful minister of the Gospel, and a
credit to his Church and race.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
FOUNDING OF THE M. E. CHURCH OF AMERICA IN 1768.--NEGRO SERVANTS
AND SLAVES AMONG THE FIRST CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ERECTION OF THE
FIRST CHAPEL IN NEW YORK.--THE REV. HARRY HOSIER THE FIRST NEGRO
PREACHER IN THE M. E. CHURCH IN AMERICA.--HIS REMARKABLE
ELOQUENCE AS A PULPIT ORATOR.--EARLY PROHIBITION AGAINST
SLAVE-HOLDING IN THE M. E. CHURCH.--STRENGTH OF THE CHURCHES AND
SUNDAY-SCHOOLS OF THE COLORED MEMBERS IN THE M. E. CHURCH.--THE
REV. MARSHALL W. TAYLOR, D.D.--HIS ANCESTORS.--HIS EARLY LIFE AND
STRUGGLES FOR AN EDUCATION.--HE TEACHES SCHOOL IN KENTUCKY.--HIS
EXPERIENCES AS A TEACHER.--IS ORDAINED TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY AND
BECOMES A PREACHER AND MISSIONARY TEACHER.--HIS SETTLEMENT AS
PASTOR IN INDIANA AND OHIO.--IS GIVEN THE TITLE OF DOCTOR OF
DIVINITY BY THE TENNESSEE COLLEGE.--HIS INFLUENCE AS A LEADER,
AND HIS STANDING AS A PREACHER.
Phillip Embury, Barbara Heck, and Capt. Thomas Webb were the germ from
which, in the good providence of God, has sprung the Methodist
Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The first chapel was
erected upon leased ground on John Street, New York City, in 1768. The
ground was purchased in 1770. Subscriptions were asked and received
from all classes of people for the building, from the mayor of the
city down to African female servants known only by their Christian
names. Here the Colored people became first identified with American
Methodism. From this stock have sprung all who have been subsequently
connected with it. Meetings were held, prior to the erection of John
Street Church, in the private residence of Mrs. Heck, and in a
rigging-loft, sixty by eighteen feet, in William Street, which was
rented in 1767. Here Capt. Webb and Mr. Embury preached thrice a week
to large audiences. The original design to erect a chapel must be
credited to Mrs. Heck, the foundress of American Methodism. Mr.
Richard Owen, a convert of Robert Strawbridge, the founder of
Methodism in Baltimore, was the first native Methodist preacher on the
continent. The first American Annual Conference was held in
Philadelphia, Pa., twenty-nine years after Mr. Wesley held his first
conference in England, with ten members, precisely the same number
there were in his. They were Thos. Rankin, President; Richard
Boardman, Joseph Pilmoor, Francis Asbury, Richard Wright, George
Shadford, Thomas Webb, John King, Abraham Whiteworth, and Joseph
Yearbry. It began Wednesday the 14th and closed Friday the 16th of
July, 1773. All the members were foreigners, and in the Revolution
many of them were subject to unjust suspicions of sympathy with
England, in consequence of this fact alone. The aggregate statistical
returns for this conference showed 1,160, which was much less than Mr.
Rankin supposed to be the strength of Methodism in America.
On the 2d of September, 1784, Rev. Thomas Coke, D.D., LL.D., a
presbyter in the Church of England, was ordained by John Wesley, A.M.,
Superintendent or Bishop of the Methodist Societies in America. He was
charged with a commission to organize them into an Episcopal Church,
and to ordain Mr. Francis Asbury an Associate Bishop. He sailed for
America at 10 o'clock A.M., September 18th, and landed at New York,
Wednesday, November 3, 1784. Mr. Coke at once set out on a tour of
observation, accompanied by Harry Hosier, Mr. Asbury's travelling
servant, a Colored minister. Hosier was one of the notable characters
of that day. He was the first American Negro preacher of the M. E.
Church in the United States. In 1780 Mr. Asbury alluded to him as a
companion, suitable to preach to the Colored people. Dr. Rush,
allowing for his illiteracy--for he could not read--pronounced him the
greatest orator in America. He was small in stature and very black;
but he had eyes of remarkable brilliancy and keenness; and singular
readiness and aptness of speech. He travelled extensively with Asbury,
Coke, and Whiteworth. He afterward travelled through New England. He
excelled all the whites in popularity as a preacher; sharing with them
in their public services, not only in Colored but also in white
congregations. When they were sick or otherwise disabled they could
trust the pulpit to Harry without fear of unfavorably disappointing
the people. Mr. Asbury acknowledges that the best way to obtain a
large congregation was to announce that Harry would preach. The
multitude preferred him to the Bishop himself. Though he withstood for
years the temptations of extraordinary popularity, he fell,
nevertheless, by the indulgent hospitalities which were lavished upon
him. He became temporarily the victim of wine; but possessed moral
strength enough to recover himself. Self-abased and contrite, he
started one evening down the neck below Southwark, Philadelphia,
determined to remain till his backslidings were healed. Under a tree
he wrestled in prayer into the watches of the night. Before the
morning God restored to him the joys of His salvation. Thenceforward
he continued faithful. He resumed his public labors. In the year 1810
he died in Philadelphia. "Making a good end," he was borne to the
grave by a great procession of both Colored and white admirers, who
buried him as a hero--one overcome, but finally victorious.
It is said that on one occasion, in Wilmington, Del., where Methodism
was long unpopular, a number of the citizens, who did not ordinarily
attend Methodist preaching, came together to hear Bishop Asbury. Old
Asbury Chapel was, at that time, so full that they could not get in.
They stood outside to hear the Bishop, as they supposed; but in
reality they heard Harry. Before they left the place, they
complimented the speaker by saying: "If all Methodist preachers could
preach like the Bishop we should like to be constant hearers." Some
one present replied: "That was not the Bishop, but his servant." This
only raised the Bishop higher in their estimation, as their conclusion
was, if such be the servant what must the master be? The truth was,
that Harry was a more popular speaker than Asbury, or almost any one
else in his day.[130]
So we find in the very inception of Methodism in the United States the
Colored people were conspicuously represented in its membership,
contributing both money, labor, and eloquence to its grand success.
The great founder of Methodism was an inveterate foe of human slavery,
which he pronounced "the sum of all villainies," and in this
particular the Methodist societies in their earliest times reflected
his sentiments. The early preachers were especially hostile to
slavery. In 1784 it was considered and declared to be contrary to the
Golden Law of God, as well as every principle of the Revolution. They
required every Methodist to execute and record, within twelve months
after notice by the preacher, a legal instrument emancipating all
slaves in his possession at specified ages. Any person who should not
concur in this requirement had liberty to leave the Church within one
year; Otherwise the preacher was to exclude him. No person holding
slaves could be admitted to membership, or to the Lord's Supper, until
he complied with this law. But it was to be applied only where the law
of the State permitted.[131] These rules provoked great hostility, and
were suspended within six months.
The Church had, however, put the stamp of condemnation upon it. And
ever in a more or less active but always consistent manner opposed it,
until its final extirpation was accomplished, though not until the
Church had been several times divided in favor of and against it.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America was
organized in what is historically known as the Christmas Conference,
which convened in Baltimore at ten o'clock Friday morning, December
24, 1784, Bishop Thomas Coke, presiding. Rev. Francis Asbury was there
consecrated a bishop. In 1786 a resolution emphatically enjoining it
upon the preachers to leave nothing undone for the spiritual benefit
and salvation of the Colored people was adopted. The Church is a
limited Episcopacy. The bishops are elected by the General Conference.
They fix the appointments of all the preachers, but the conference
arranges their duration. The bishops hold office during good behavior.
The General Conference is the Legislative, and the bishops, presiding
elders, pastors, annual, district, and quarterly conferences, with the
leaders' and stewards' meetings, and the general and local trustees,
are the Executive Department. The ministerial orders are two: elder
and deacon. The offices of the ministry and rank are in the order
named,--bishop, sub-bishop, pastor, and sub-pastors. The ministry are
classified as Effective, Supernumerary, Superannuate, and Local. The
property of each congregation is deeded in trust for them to a Board
of Local Trustees, who may sell, buy, or improve it for the use of
said congregation. The stewards are officers whose labors are partly
temporal and partly spiritual. They are entrusted with the raising of
supplies, benevolence, and the support of the ministry. Exhorters are
prayer-meeting leaders and general helpers in the work of the
circuits.
Methodism began in a college and has been a great patron of education.
It has been largely devoted to the educational and religious culture
of the Colored people in the South and in Africa. There are sixteen
conferences of Colored members in the M. E. Church--fifteen in the
United States and one in Liberia. For the Liberian Conference two
Colored bishops have been consecrated, viz.: Francis Burns and
ex-President Thomas Wright Roberts, both deceased. The present bishops
are all white, one of whom annually visits Africa. The same is true of
conferences in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, India,
China, and Japan. The agency by which the Church prosecutes this work
is the Missionary, Church Extension, Freedmen's Aid, Education, and
Sunday-school Union societies. Books and periodicals are amply
supplied by its own publishing house, which is the largest religious
publishing house in the world.
In the sixteen conferences there are 225,000 members, 200,000
Sunday-school scholars, 3,500 day scholars, one medical, three law,
and seven theological colleges, and twelve seminaries. There is
$500,000 in school and $2,000,000 in church and parsonage property
owned by the Colored membership! The Colored members elect their own
representatives to the General Conference, and are fully represented
in all the work of the Church.
At the present time the Rev. Marshall W. Taylor, D. D., and the Rev.
Wm. M. Butler are the most prominent men in the Church. Marshall
William Boyd (alias) Taylor was born July 1, 1846, at Lexington,
Fayette County, Kentucky, of poor, uneducated, but respectable
parents. He was the fourth in a family of five children, three of whom
were boys, viz.: George Summers, Francis Asbury, and himself; and two
girls, Mary Ellen and Mary Cathrine. He is of Scotch-Irish and Indian
descent on his father's side. Hon. Samuel Boyd, of New York; Joseph
Boyd, of Virginia; and Lieut.-Gov. Boyd, of Kentucky, were
blood-relations of his, and all descended from the "Clan Boyd" of
Scotland. His mother was of African and Arabian stock. His
grandmother, on his mother's side, Phillis Ann, was brought from
Madagascar when a little girl, and became the slave of Mr. Alexander
Black, a Kentucky farmer, who at his death willed his slaves free. His
mother, Nancy Ann, thus obtained her freedom, and by the terms of the
will she was put to the millinery trade, which she fully mastered, and
meantime obtained an elementary knowledge of reading, writing, and
arithmetic. She married Albert Summers, and bore to him two children,
viz., George Summers and Mary Catharine. He ran away to prevent being
sold, and she afterward married Samuel Boyd, to whom she bore three
children, viz., Francis Asbury, Marshall William, and Mary Ellen. His
father, Samuel, was the son of Hon. Samuel Boyd, of New York. He was
noted for his independence of character; was a valuable but unruly
slave. He was allowed an opportunity to purchase his freedom, and this
he began to do, and had paid $250, three fourths of the price, when
his master sold him to Tennessee. He promptly ran away from his new
master, but unwilling to forsake his family, went back to Kentucky.
His master pursued and overtook him at Lexington, where he had
stopped. He refused to go back to Tennessee, and once more was
permitted to select a master, and finally to again contract for his
freedom, which he this time succeeded in obtaining. In consequence of
his mother's emancipation, Marshall was free when he first saw the
light of day. By occupation his father was a hemp-breaker, rope-maker,
and farmer. The last he elected to follow after he was free. He
employed his boys as farmers, but his mother strenuously opposed it,
wishing better opportunities than could be thus afforded for their
education. She at length succeeded in carrying her point.
In religion his father at first inclined to the Baptists, of which
Church he became a deacon in the congregation of Rev. Mr. Ferrill, of
Pleasant Green Church, Lexington. Later he became dissatisfied with
the Baptists, and united with the African Methodists at Frankfort, Ky.
He finally went back to the Baptist Church and died in that faith.
Marshall's mother, and all her people, so far as known, were
Methodists. His early training and first and only religious
impressions were Methodistic, which Church, after his conversion, he
joined. His father had no knowledge of letters, so that all his home
instruction came from his mother. Her text-books were the Bible,
Methodist Catechism, and Webster's Elementary Spelling Book. And in
these young Marshall became very proficient. He afterward attended
school daily to Rev. John Tibbs, an African Methodist preacher, who
came from Cincinnati to Lexington to teach free children and such of
the slaves as would be permitted to attend. Some masters granted this
permission, but the greater number refused it. Finally, some "_poor
white_" fellows, unable to own slaves themselves, mobbed the teacher,
rode him on a rail, tarred, feathered, and drove him from town. They
were called black Indians. It was impossible to secure another teacher
in Lexington for a day school, but Mr. George Perry, an intelligent
free Colored man, had the courage to teach Sunday-school, in the
Branch Methodist Church. It is now called Asbury M. E. Church.
Marshall attended, as did his mother and brothers. In 1854 the family
moved to Louisville, looking for a school. Finding none there, they
continued their journey about fifty miles above there on the Ohio
River, and landed at Ghent, a little village in Carroll County, Ky.,
opposite Vevey, Indiana. They indulged a hope that the children would
be allowed to attend the public schools at Vevey, but they were doomed
in this expectation. They spent two years at Ghent. Marshall and his
brother obtained instruction during this period from the little white
children who attended school, after hours, using "an old hay loft back
of a Mr. Sanders's Tavern" for a recitation-room, and paying their
teachers with cakes and candies bought with odd pennies gathered here
and there.
On the 1st of August, 1856, there was an Emancipation celebration at
Dayton, Ohio. Frederick Douglass was advertised to speak, and other
eminent Abolitionists were expected to participate. Marshall's mother
attended it. Soon after her return several slaves mysteriously
disappeared from the vicinity of Ghent. Among them was a very valuable
family belonging to Esquire Craig, of the village. Suspicion fastened
on the old lady who had been off among the "Abolitionists." She was
indicted by the Grand Jury, and thirty-six men filed into her cabin,
and while she lay sick in bed, read the indictment to her. They
ordered her to leave the place. She refused to go, claimed her
innocence, but to no purpose. "They chased Francis with guns and dogs
on the public streets in daylight; shaddowed the cabin and gave
unmistakable evidence of a diabolical purpose." She soon after
returned to Louisville.
Young Marshall became a messenger in the law firm of J. B. Kincaid and
John W. Barr. Here his chances were good, both of these gentlemen
aiding him in his studies. He did his work after school hours at the
office, and attended a school which was kept in the "Centre Street
Colored Methodist Church," until it closed.
Rev. Henry Henderson, a Colored Methodist preacher, now opened a
school in Centre Street, and Marshall was duly enrolled among his
pupils. On his retirement, Mrs. Elizabeth Cumings, a highly cultured
and pious lady, taught a private school on Grayson, between Sixth and
Seventh streets. He now went to her. She died soon after, when he was
sent to a Mr. William H. Gibson, who had already opened a school on
Seventh, between Jefferson and Green streets, in an old carpenter
shop. Here he continued until 1861.
In 1866 Mr. Taylor opened a Freedmen's School at Hardinsburg
Breckenridge Co., Ky. This was in an old church, the property of the
M. E. Church South. It had been donated for church purposes by George
Blanford. If used otherwise it was to revert to the donor. A Negro
school was obnoxious to the community. His was the first there had
ever been in the village, and notwithstanding the white people had
long since abandoned the property to the Colored people this question
was now raised in order to break up the school. It did not succeed, as
they easily proved that the original intent of the donor was not
violated, since Colored people still used the property as a church.
Failing in this the school was tormented by ruffians. Pepper was
rolled up in cotton, set on fire, and hurled into the room to set
every one coughing. Finally threats of personal violence were made if
he did not leave, but Mr. Taylor armed himself, defied the enemies of
freedom, and stayed. At last, on Christmas evening, Dec. 25, 1867, the
house was blown up with powder. The arrangement was to set off the
blast with a slow match so as to catch the house full of people, there
being a school exhibition that night. The explosion took place at
11:30 P.M., but owing to the excitement occasioned by the novelty of
such a thing as a "Negro School Exhibition," the crowd had gathered
much earlier than announced. The programme was completed before 11
P.M., and by this accident the school and teacher were saved. The old
wreck still remains a monument to color prejudice.
By the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau another school-house was soon
built, and the school proceeded. This was followed by a meeting-house.
The white people, whose sentiments were now rapidly turning,
subscribed liberally toward it.
In 1868 an educational convention was held at Owensboro, in Davies
Co., Ky., of which Mr. Taylor was elected president. He soon after
wrote a manual for Colored schools, which was generally used in that
section. In 1869 he attended the first Colored political convention
ever held in Kentucky, at Major Hall in Frankfort. He was one of the
Educational Committee, and submitted a report. This year he was also a
member of a convention at Jackson Street Church, Louisville, which
inaugurated the movement for the Lexington M. E. Conference. He was
licensed as a local preacher this year by Rev. Hanson Tolbert at
Hardinsburg, and was assisted in the study of theology by Rev. R. G.
Gardiner, J. H. Lennin, and Dr. R. S. Rust. He went to Arkansas as a
missionary teacher and preacher at the call of Rev. W. J. Gladwin, and
remained there one year. He organized several societies, of the
Church, taught school at Midway, Forrest City, and Wittsburg; took
part in the political campaign of that year; and was nominated, but
declined to run, for Representative from Saint Frances County.
He preached in Texas, Indian Territory, and Missouri; was put in peril
by the Ku Klux at Hot Springs; took the chills and returned to Ky., in
1871. He was then appointed to the Litchfield Circuit, Southwestern
Kentucky. In 1872 he united with the Lexington Conference of M. E.
Church on trial. He was ordained a deacon by Bishop Levi Scott at
Maysville, Ky., and sent to Coke Chapel, Louisville, Ky., and Wesley
Chapel, Jeffersonville, Indiana. He remained in this charge three
years, during which time he published the monthly "Kentucky
Methodist," and wrote extensively for the press. He was elected
assistant secretary, editor of the printed minutes of the conference,
and finally secretary. In 1875 he was sent as pastor to Indianapolis,
Ind. He was ordained elder by Bishop Wiley at Lexington in 1876, and
returned to Indianapolis. He took an active part in the political
campaign of 1876, and was sent to Union Chapel, Cincinnati, 1877-8. In
1879 the faculty of Central Tennessee College, at Nashville,
Tennessee, conferred upon him the title and credentials of a Doctor of
Divinity. He wrote the life of Rev. Geo. W. Downing.
In 1879 Dr. Taylor was appointed Presiding Elder of the Ohio District,
Lexington Conference. In 1880 he was sent as fraternal delegate from
the M. E. to the A. M. E. General Conference at St. Louis; he having
been previously elected lay delegate to the General Conference of the
M. E. Church in Brooklyn, New York, in 1879. He was the youngest
member of that body. Upon his motion fraternal representatives were
sent to the various Colored denominations of Methodists. He was
appointed in 1881 as a delegate from the M. E. Church to the
Ecumenical Conference at London, England. He was the caucus nominee of
the Colored delegates to the General Conference in Cincinnati in 1880
for bishop. He was always opposed to caste discriminations in Church,
State, or society. He has opposed Colored conferences and a Colored
bishop as tending to perpetuate discriminations. He does not oppose
the election of Colored men, but wishes that every honor may fall upon
them because of merit and not on account of their color. He has become
famous as an eloquent preacher, safe teacher, ready speaker, and
earnest worker; always aiming to do the greatest good to the greatest
number. Certainly the Methodist Episcopal Church has reason to be
proud of Marshall W. Taylor.
In this Church there are many other worthy and able Colored preachers.
The relations they sustain to the eloquent, scholarly, and pious white
clergymen of the denomination are pleasant and beneficial. It is an
education. And the fact that the best pulpits of white men are opened
to the Colored preachers is a prophecy that race antagonisms in the
Christian Church, so tenacious and harmful, are to perish speedily.
FOOTNOTES:
[130] Stevens's Hist. of M. E. Church, pp. 174, 175; also Lednum, p.
282.
[131] And there was not a single State where this rule could be
applied. Slavery ruled the land.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA.
THE COLORED BAPTISTS AN INTELLIGENT AND USEFUL PEOPLE.--THEIR
LEADING MINISTERS IN MISSOURI, OHIO, AND IN NEW ENGLAND.--THE
BIRTH, EARLY LIFE, AND EDUCATION OF DUKE WILLIAM ANDERSON.--AS
FARMER, TEACHER, PREACHER, AND MISSIONARY.--HIS INFLUENCE IN THE
WEST.--GOES SOUTH AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.--TEACHES IN A
THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.--CALLED TO
WASHINGTON.--PASTOR OF 19TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.--HE OCCUPIES
VARIOUS POSITIONS OF TRUST.--BUILDS A NEW CHURCH.--HIS LAST
REVIVAL.--HIS SICKNESS AND DEATH.--HIS FUNERAL AND THE GENERAL
SORROW AT HIS LOSS.--LEONARD ANDREW GRIMES, OF BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS.--HIS PIETY, FAITHFULNESS AND PUBLIC INFLUENCE FOR
GOOD.--THE COMPLETION OF HIS CHURCH.--HIS LAST DAYS AND SUDDEN
DEATH.--GENERAL SORROW.--RESOLUTIONS BY THE BAPTIST MINISTERS OF
BOSTON.--A GREAT AND GOOD MAN GONE.
The Baptist Church has always been a purely democratic institution.
With no bishops or head-men, except such as derive their authority
from the consent of the governed, this Church has been truly
independent and self-governing in its spirit. Its only Head is Christ,
and its teachers such as are willing to take "the Word of God as the
Man of their Counsel." From the time of the introduction of the
Baptist Church into North America down to the present time, the
Colored people have formed a considerable part of its membership. The
generous, impartial, and genuine Christian spirit of Roger Williams
had a tendency, at the beginning, to keep out of the Church the spirit
of race prejudice. But the growth of slavery carried with it, as a
logical result, the idea that the slave's presence in the Christian
Church was a rebuke to the system. For conscience' sake the slave was
excluded, and to oblige the feelings of those who transferred the
spirit of social caste from gilded drawing-rooms to cushioned pews,
even the free Negro was conducted to the organ-loft.
The simplicity of the Negro led him to the faith of the Baptist
Church; but being denied fellowship in the white congregations, he was
compelled to provide churches for himself. In Virginia, Georgia,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi the Colored Baptists were
numerous. In the other States the Methodists and Catholics were
numerous. There were few ministers of note at the South; but New
England, the Middle States, and the West produced some very able
Baptist preachers. The Rev. Richard Anderson, of St. Louis, Missouri,
was a man of exalted piety, consummate ability, and of almost
boundless influence in the West. He was the pastor of a large church,
and did much to mould and direct the interests of his people
throughout Missouri. He was deeply revered by his own people, and
highly respected by the whites. When he died, the entire city of St.
Louis was plunged into profound mourning, and over three hundred
carriages--many belonging to the wealthiest families in the
city--followed his body to the place of interment.
In Ohio the Rev. Charles Satchell, the Rev. David Nickens, the Rev. W.
P. Newman, the Rev. James Poindexter, and the Rev. H. L. Simpson were
the leading clergymen in the Colored Baptist churches. Cincinnati has
had for the last half century excellent Baptist churches, and an
intelligent and able ministry. There are several associations
embracing many live churches.
In Kentucky the Colored Baptists are very numerous, and own much
valuable property; but Virginia seems to have more Baptists among its
great population of Colored people than any other State in the South.
There are a dozen or more in Richmond, including the one presided over
by the famous John Jasper. One of them has, it is said, three thousand
members(?). But the District of Columbia has more Colored churches for
its area and population than any other place in the United States.
There are at least twenty-five Baptist churches in the District, and
some of them have interesting histories. The Nineteenth Street Baptist
Church is as an intelligent a society of Christian people of color as
there is to be found in any city in the country. Its pulpit has always
been occupied by the ablest ministers in the country. The Revs.
Sampson White, Samuel W. Madden, and Duke W. Anderson were men of
education and marked ability. And there is little doubt but what Duke
W. Anderson was the ablest, most distinguished clergyman of color in
the United States. And for his work's sake he deserves well of
history.
Duke William Anderson was born April 10, 1812, in the vicinity of
Lawrenceville, Lawrence County, in the State of Illinois, of a Negro
mother by a white father. His father, lately from North Carolina,
fell under Gen. Harrison fighting the Indians. Like so many other
great men he was born in an obscure place--a wigwam. At the time of
his father's death he was quite a young baby. He was now left to the
care of a mother who, in many respects, was like her husband, bold and
courageous for the truth, and yet as gentle as a child. It is
peculiarly trying and difficult for a mother who has all the comforts
of modern city life, to train and educate her boys for the duties of
life; and if so, how much more trying and difficult must it have been
for a mother on the North-western frontiers, seventy years ago, to
train her boys?
Destitute of home and its comforts, without friends or money; no farm,
school, or church, Mrs. Anderson began to train her two boys, John
Anderson and D. W. Anderson. Of the former, little or nothing is
known, save that he was the only brother of D. W. Anderson.
True to the instincts of her motherly heart, Mrs. Anderson was
determined to remain upon the spot purchased and consecrated by the
blood of her lamented husband. She could not divorce herself from the
approximate idea and object of her husband's life and death. He had
turned from the comforts of a happy home; had chosen hardships rather
than ease that he might realize the dream of his youth, and the object
of his manly endeavors--the right of suffrage to all. Her children
could not build their play-house of Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, or
Southey. All the instruction Duke William obtained came from his
mother. She was very large and healthy. Her complexion was of perfect
black. She was possessed of excellent judgment, patience, and
industry. She stored the young mind of her boy with useful
agricultural knowledge, of which she possessed a large amount.
An education does not consist in acquiring lessons, obtaining a
simple, abstract, objective knowledge of certain sciences. It is more
than this. It consists, also, in being able to apply and use rightly a
given amount of knowledge. And though D. W. Anderson was never
permitted to enter college, yet, what he got he got thoroughly, and
used at the proper time to the best advantage.
Nature was his best teacher. While yet a very young boy he was awed by
her splendors, and attracted by the complicated workings of her
manifold laws. He began to study the innumerable mysteries which met
him in every direction. He heard God in the rippling water, in the
angry tempest, in the sighing wind, and in the troops of stars which
God marshals upon the plains of heaven. In the study of nature he
exulted. He sat in her velvet lap, sported by her limpid waters,
acquainted himself perfectly with her seasons, and knew the coming and
going of every star.
God was training this man for the great mission which he afterward so
faithfully performed. No soul that was ever filled with such grand and
humane ideas as was that of Duke William Anderson can be crushed. He
knew no boundaries for his soul,--except God on one side and the whole
universe on the other. He was as free in thought and feeling as the
air he inhaled, or the birds in the bright sky over his head. His soul
had for many years communed with the God of nature; had been taught by
the mighty workings of truth, feeling, and genius within, and by the
world without, that he was not to be confined to earth forever, but
that beyond the deep blue sky, into which he so much longed to peer,
there dwelt the Creator of all things, and there the home of the good!
Like the "wise men of the East,"--knowing no other God but the God of
nature,--his primitive ideas of religion were naturally based upon
nature. In that wild and barren territory nature was impressive,
desolate, and awful. The earth, air, and sky incited him to thought
and stimulated his imagination. Every appearance, every
phenomenon--the storm, the thunder,--speak the prophecies of God. He
was filled with great thoughts and driven by grand ideas.
It is difficult to compute the value of the mother to the child. It is
the mother who loves, because she has suffered. And this seems to be
the great law of love. Not a triumph in art, literature, or
jurisprudence--from the story of Homer to the odes of Horace, from the
times of Bacon and Leibnitz to the days of Tyndall and Morse--that has
not been obtained by toil and suffering! The mother of Anderson,
having suffered so much in her loneliness and want, knew how to train
her boy,--the joy of her life. And he in return knew how to appreciate
a mother's love. He remembered that to her he owed every thing,--his
life, his health, and his early training. He remembered that in
childhood she had often, around their little camp-fire, enchanted his
youthful mind by the romance of the sufferings and trials of herself
and husband. And now finding himself a young man he was determined to
change the course of their life.
No work so thoroughly develops the body and mind, and is so conducive
to health, as farming; and, perhaps, none so independent. Anderson was
naturally healthy and strong, so that farming agreed with him. By this
he made a comfortable living, and soon demonstrated to his aged mother
that she had not labored in vain, nor spent her strength for naught.
For a number of years he farmed. His motto was "excelsior" in whatever
he engaged, and in farming he realized success.
As the father of Duke William Anderson had fallen under the U. S.
flag, it became the duty of the Government to care for his widow and
orphans. Accordingly, Duke William was sent to an Illinois school
where he received the rudiments of a Western education. A Western
education did not consist in reading poetry, or in examining Hebrew
roots, but in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography, and
history. There were no soft seats, no beautifully frescoed walls,
dotted with costly maps, or studded with beautiful pictures; not a
school with a dozen beautiful rooms, heated by hot air. In those days
a Western school-house was erected by the side of some public highway,
remote from the town. It was constructed of logs,--not of the logs
that have lost their roughness by going through the saw-mill, but logs
cut by the axe of the hardy frontiersman. The axe was the only tool
needed to fit the timber for the building. The building was about
twelve feet in height, and about sixteen by twenty. The cracks were
often left open, and sometimes closed by chips and mud. The floor was
made of split logs with the flat side up. At one end of the building
was a fireplace and chimney occupying the whole end of the house. At
each end of the fireplace were laid two large stones upon which to
rest the ends of the logs of wood, under all of which were laid
closely large pieces of flat stones covered with an inch or two of
mud. At the other end of the building was a door. It was constructed
of thinly split pieces of logs held together by pieces of hickory
withes which crossed each end of the door. This door was hung upon
wooden hinges, one part of which, instead of being fastened to the
door by screws, was fastened by little wooden pegs. The step at the
door was a short piece of log flattened a little on the top and braced
on the under side by small stones and pieces of chips. The roof was
made of long pieces of split timber, the flat side out and the edges
smoothed by the axe in order to make them lie snugly.
Such was the school-house in which D. W. Anderson was educated. And it
may be that the plain school in which he was educated loaned him that
modesty, plainness, and unostentatious air, which were among the many
remarkable traits in his character. The circumstances and society by
which boys are surrounded help to mould their character and determine
their future. To a healthy and vigorous body was coupled a clear and
active mind. He loved knowledge, and was willing to buy it at any
price--willing to make any sacrifice. He was an industrious student,
and possessed great power of penetration and acquisition. And every
thing he read he remembered. The greatest difficulty with students is
that they fail to apply themselves. A man may have the ability to
accomplish a given amount of work and yet that work can never be
accomplished except by the severest effort. It is one thing to possess
a negative power, but it is quite another thing to possess a positive
power. In this world we are set over against all external laws and
forces. We are to assume the offensive. We are to climb up to the
stars by microscopes. We are to measure this earth by our mathematics.
We are to penetrate its depths and lift to the sun its costly
treasures. We are to acquaint ourselves with the workings of the
manifold laws which lie about us. If we would know ourselves,
understand our relation to God, we must see after the requisite
knowledge. Suppose that Duke William Anderson had despaired of ever
receiving an education; sat down by the way in life and said: "There
is no use of troubling myself, I cannot get what I desire. I am
destined to be ignorant and weak all the days of my life; and if there
is any good thing for me it will come to me. I will sit here and
wait." Would the world ever have known of Anderson? His life would
have shed no perfume; his name would have been unknown and his grave
would have been forgotten.
But it was that courage which never knows defeat, it was that devotion
that never wavers, it was that assiduity, and it was that patience
that is certain to triumph, which bore him on to a glorious end, as a
summer wind bears up a silver cloud. At the age of seventeen he began
to teach school. What Colored man would have essayed to teach school
on the frontiers fifty years ago? But D. W. Anderson was born to rule.
He was of commanding presence, full of confidence and earnestness. He
entered upon his new duties full of hope and joy. This was something
new. There was a great deal of difference between handling the hoe
and the pen. He found that there was a great difference between the
farm and the school-house. But he was one of those boys who do every
thing with all their might, and he was at once at home, and soon
became master of his new situation.
Three laborious years were occupied in teaching. And they were years
of profit to teacher as well as to pupil. He labored hard to be
thorough; and he greatly improved and finished his own education
during his teaching.
About this time young Anderson met, courted, and married Miss Ruth Ann
Lucas.
Anderson soon made all necessary arrangements, and the nuptial
ceremony was solemnized by the village parson on the 30th of
September, 1830. With his bride he now settled down at home. For some
years he lived the life of a farmer. His mother was riveted to the
spot where her devoted husband fell at the hands of a besotted Indian.
But her son was of a progressive spirit. He longed to leave the old
home for one more comfortable. How strange that the old should sit by
the grave of the past, while the young never weary of chasing some
vague fancy!
He bought a tract of land, cleared it, and opened up a farm. He
planted a large orchard; became the owner of seven horses and all the
implements necessary to farming.
By his own industry and perseverance he had now acquired a neat little
home; on his farm he raised enough produce for the consumption of his
family, and still there was a large quantity left for the market.
Apples, potatoes, wheat, corn, and other commodities brought him
handsome returns.
On this farm were born five children, four of whom lived to adult age.
The oldest child, Luther Morgan, was born October 10, 1831. The second
child, Mary Catharine, was born in 1833. The third, George Washington,
was born in 1835. The fourth, Elizabeth, was born in 1837. And the
fifth and last child was born on the night of September 4, 1839, when,
also, the mother and child died.
This sad event filled a hitherto happy home with gloom, and bowed a
strong heart with grief. Anderson was a man possessed of a very tender
nature, though he was manly and resolute. His heart was fixed upon his
wife, and this sad providence smote him heavily.
During all these years, from his youth up, he had been very profane.
He knew no Sabbath, worshipped no God, and was himself the highest
law. He was filled with a grand religious sentiment, and only needed
the grace of God to bring it out, and the love of God to show him
where he stood.
The object of his youthful affection was gone. The faithful woman who
had walked for nineteen years by his side was no more; her eyes were
closed to mortal things, and she had ceased to be. He followed her
body to the grave, and there dropped a silent tear for her to whom he
had given his heart. It was the first funeral of anyone related to
him, and its lessons were sharply cut into his heart.
He returned to a desolate home, where the sad faces of motherless
children told that one whom they loved, and who had made home happy,
was gone.
His mind now turned to religious matters. He began to think of the
home beyond, of Jesus, who died for sinners, and wondered if he would
ever be able to see the loved one beyond the tide of death. As he
dreamed of immortality, longed for heaven, and wondered if Jesus were
his Saviour, he was filled with a deep sense of sin. He felt more
deeply a sense of sin. He felt more and more that he was unworthy of
the Saviour's love; and if he had his just dues, he would be "assigned
a portion among the lost."
For a long time he was bowed down under the weight of his sins, and at
length he found peace through the blood of Christ. He was renewed. The
avaricious man became liberal, the implacable enemy became the
forgiving friend, and the man of cursing a man of prayer. But it was
impossible for him to cease to grieve; so he thought he would sell the
farm and seek another home. The farm was sold, the horses and tools,
and every thing converted into money. The children were bound out, and
all arrangements were perfected to seek another home.
He paid a visit to Alton, Illinois, where he spent two or three years.
In those days Alton was the city _par excellence_ of Illinois, and
toward it flowed the tide of emigration. So favorably was he impressed
with Alton, that he was determined to make it his home. Accordingly,
he began to make preparations for moving the children. In the
meanwhile he formed the acquaintance of a widow lady in Alton with
whom he became very much pleased. She was a tall, handsome-looking
yellow woman, of cultivated manners, and of pleasing address.
Anderson's wife had been dead three or four years.
It was now August 17, 1842, and the hand and heart of Anderson were
offered Mrs. Mary Jane Ragens and accepted. With his new companion he
now returned to the scenes of his early days and to the four children
who joyfully awaited his return. He had made up his mind to settle in
Alton. He and his new companion began to prepare for the journey. The
family now consisted of the four children of Anderson and two children
of his wife, making a family of six besides the two heads.
During the time that intervened between the death of his first wife
and his engagement to the second, he taught school in Vincennes,
Indiana, Alton and Brookton, Illinois. The old home stood upon the
Wabash River, and was quite upon the line that divided the two
States,--Indiana and Illinois. His own children went to his school,
and were carried across the river on his back. On the other bank stood
the log school-house of which he was principal.
In those, days it was a matter of some comment to see a Colored man
who dared write his name or tell his age, but to see one who was
actually a schoolmaster was the marvel of the times. His teaching was
a matter of comment in Vincennes, but Vincennes was only a little
country town. But to go to Alton,--that city of great fame, then,--and
teach school, was an undertaking that required strong nerves. D. W.
Anderson had them. He never allowed himself to think that he was any
person other than a man and citizen clothed with all civil rights and
armed with God-given prerogatives. And so commanding was he, that a
man who stood in his presence instantly felt him a superior. Moreover,
the heated feeling and public sentiment which, on the night of
November 7, 1837, wrested from the hand of God,--to whom alone
vengeance belongeth,--a life, were not yet abated. Lovejoy, a
peaceable citizen, had been deprived of free speech and struck down by
the knife of the assassin; and could it be expected that a Negro would
be spared? The times were exciting and dangerous, and yet Anderson was
determined to take his place and work on in the path of duty, never
wincing, but leaving the results with God.
Before in his quiet home and farm life, nature was his peculiar study.
He had studied man in studying himself, but in the city of Alton he
could study men. He loved to walk through its long streets, watch its
hurrying pedestrians, and learn the manifold manifestations of city
life.
Having been converted just after the death of his first wife, but
never having connected himself with any church, he now joined the A.
M. E. Church of Alton. His views from the first were Baptistic, but
circumstances placed him among the Methodists. The elder in charge was
the powerful preacher, the successful revivalist, and the eminently
pious man, Rev. Shadrack Stewart. Some misunderstanding arose between
the minister in charge and some of the members, which resulted in the
withdrawal of the pastor, Rev. S. Stewart, Anderson and family, and
quite a number of the leading members. Minister and all connected
themselves with the Baptists. Anderson used often to say to his
family: "_That move placed me at home_." He was indeed at home, and
stayed there until he was called to his heavenly rest! He loved very
much to study the Bible, and to meditate upon its great truths. The
more he studied it the clearer duty seemed and the deeper and purer
his love grew for that beneficent Being whom he owned as Lord and
King.
It was now 1843. He felt that it was his duty to enter the Gospel
ministry. Naturally a modest man, he shrank somewhat from this voice
of God; but finally, in 1844, submitted to ordination. He was ordained
by the Rev. John Anderson, father of the late Richard Anderson, of St.
Louis, or by the Rev. John Livingston, of Illinois, though it is a
matter of some doubt as to who was present at his ordination.
He now moved to Upper Alton, and pitched his tent under the shadow of
Shurtleff College. His aim was always to excel. He had absorbed every
thing that had come within his reach, and now he had placed himself
where he could rub against "_College men_."
Some men have to study a great deal to get a very little; they lack
the power of mental absorption, and, consequently, have to wade far
out into the river of knowledge in order to feel the benefits of the
invigorating waters. Not so with Anderson; he was an indefatigable
student. He was always willing to be taught by any person who was able
to impart knowledge. Every new word that saluted his ear was forced
into his service; never mechanically, but always in its proper place.
If he learned a word to-day, to-morrow he would use it in its
grammatical relation to a sentence. He had no time for vacation; no
mental cessation, but it was one unceasing struggle for knowledge. And
no doubt his approximate relation to Shurtleff College helped to
impart a certain healthy tone and solidity to his style as a writer
and preacher which were ever strikingly manifest.
In a short time he moved out from Alton about twelve miles to the town
of Woodburn, Madison County, where he remained for a year, during
which time he taught school and preached occasionally. In 1845 he
bought an eighty-acre farm on Wood River, about five miles from Alton.
He moved his family on the farm, and began to make improvements. After
the farm had been put in good working condition, it was not hard for
Luther, the eldest child, to manage it. It might seem strange to the
boys of to-day, who are dwarfed by cities and cramped by a false
civilization, to know that Luther, a boy of fourteen, could follow the
plow and swing the cradle. But, nevertheless, his father could trust
most of the work of the farm to these young hands.
Duke William Anderson was a civilizer and a reformer. Wherever he
placed his foot there were thrift and improvement. He never was
satisfied with himself, or that which he did. He always felt when he
had done a thing that he could have done it _better_. He never
preached a sermon but what he felt that he ought to preach the next
one _better_. In his great brain were the insatiable powers of
civilization. He was prompt, rapid, decisive, and sagacious, working
up to his ideal standard. It was not his object to simply improve and
help himself; he was far from such selfishness. The basis of his
reformatory and benevolent operations was as broad as humanity and as
solid as granite. He never entered a community without the deep
feeling that it should be made better, and never lived in one except
his warm heart and willing hand went forth to minister to and
sympathize with all who were in need.
He felt keenly the bitter prejudice which pervaded the community from
which he had just moved, and was sensible of the weakness of the few
free Colored citizens who lived in that portion of the State. Wood
River was a healthy place to live; and the land was cheap and rich. He
was not shut up to any selfish motives, but was planning for the good
of his people. He knew that "in union there is strength," and if he
could get a number of families to move on Wood River he could form a
settlement, and thus bring the people together in religion and
politics, in feeling and sentiment.
This plan was no idle dream. In due time he gave notice, and offered
inducements, to the people to come. And they came from every section;
and in a few years it had grown to be a large and prosperous
settlement.
Duke William Anderson was the central figure in this community. His
colossal form, his clear mind, and excellent judgment, placed him at
the head of educational and religious matters. He was parson,
schoolmaster, and justice. All questions of theology were submitted to
his judgment, from which there was no appeal. All social and political
feuds were placed before him, and his advice would heal the severest
schisms and restore the most perfect harmony.
He now threw his great soul into the work of organization. He was
filled with a grand idea. He felt that the purity and intelligence of
the community depended upon their knowledge of the Bible and the
preaching of the Gospel. It was a grand idea, though he had to work
upon a small scale. It was this idea that made the Israelites
victorious; and Anderson was determined to impress upon this community
this primal truth. He knew that in knowledge only is there safety, and
in science alone can certainty be found. Before this idea every thing
must bow, and around it were to cluster, not only the hopes of that
little community, but the prayers of four million bondmen. He was
confident that in God he would triumph, and in Him was his trust.
The work was begun in the family circle. One evening it would be at
brother Anderson's house, and the next evening at another brother's
house, and so on until the meetings had gone around the whole
community. A deep work of grace was in progress. The whole community
felt the pervading influence of the Spirit, and large results
followed. Anderson was wrought upon powerfully. He felt to
reconsecrate himself to the Master, and live a more faithful life.
This feeling manifested itself in the lives of those who were
professors of religion, and the ungodly were anxious about their
salvation.
From a very few believers the company of the redeemed had largely
increased. One house would not accommodate them, and it became
necessary for them to hold their meetings outdoors. It became very
evident that this company of believers ought to be organized into a
church, and a pastor placed over them. Duke William Anderson was the
man to do this work, and, seeing the necessity of it, he immediately
organized a Baptist church.
He was a man who never desired to escape difficult duties--rather, he
always was on hand when hard burdens were to be borne. He approached
duty as something that, though at the time hard, brought peace in the
end. He loved the approbation of conscience, and never sought to turn
away from her teachings.
It is a task seldom, if ever, coveted by the ministers of to-day, to
attempt the building of a church edifice, though wealth, art, and all
modern facilities await their beck.
And one can easily imagine what a formidable task it must have been to
attempt the building of a church thirty years ago. He organized a
church out of those who had accepted the Gospel. And the next work was
the building of a house of worship. He put his great hand to this
work, and in a short time the house was completed and his people
worshipping under their own vine and fig-tree.
The house was unique, spacious, and comfortable, all in keeping with
the plain people and their unpretentious pastor.
There is a great deal in discipline, and Anderson knew it. Before the
organization of his church the people had been placed under no
discipline or charged with any special work. But now their leader
began the work of church discipline and practical preaching. The
feeling that every person was his own man, independent and free, under
the preaching of Anderson, gave way to the feeling that they were
members of one body, and Christ the head of that body. The unity of
the church was preached with great earnestness, and followed by large
results. It soon became evident that Duke William Anderson was no
ordinary man, and his fame began to spread. He had sought no
publicity, but in secret had toiled on in the path of duty.
During his labors in building a meeting-house and organizing a church
he had relinquished his hold upon the school; but now as the church
was erected and he had more time, he was against his will urged into
the school-room again. In the school-room he was as faithful as he was
in the pulpit. He sought, with marvellous earnestness, to do with all
his might that which was committed to his hands; and all his labors
were performed as if they were being performed for himself.
He was at this time pastor of a church, teacher of a school, and owner
of an eighty acre farm. If he were going to slight any work, it would
not be that of another, but his own. He watched the growth of his
little church with an apostolical eye, and nipped every false doctrine
in the bud. His excellent knowledge of human nature facilitated his
work in the church. He knew every man, woman, and child. He made
himself familiar with their circumstances and wants, and always placed
himself in complete sympathy with any and all of their circumstances.
He consequently won the confidence, love, and esteem of his people. In
his school he was watchful and patient. He studied character, and
classified his pupils; and was thereby enabled to deal with each pupil
as he knew their temperament demanded. Some children are tender,
affectionate, and obedient; while others are coarse, ugly, and
insubordinate. Some need only to have the wrong pointed out, while
others need the rod to convince them of bad conduct. And happy is that
teacher who does not attempt to open every child's heart with the same
key, or punish each with the same rod.
If there is one quality more than another that the minister needs, it
is downright earnestness--perfect sympathy with those to whom he
preaches. What does it amount to if a man preach unless he feels what
he preaches? Certainly no one can be moved or edified. But Anderson
was not a cold, lifeless man. He loved to preach, though he felt a
deep sense of unfitness. And it can be truly said of his little
church, as was said of the early church: "And believers were the more
added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women."
It was seen by the prophetic eye of Anderson that an association would
be the means of bringing the people together. Accordingly he went to
work to organize an association that would take into its arms all the
feeble communities or churches that had no pastor. In due time all
arrangements were perfected, and a call issued for the neighboring
churches to send their pastor and two delegates to sit in council with
the Salem Baptist Church on Wood River, to consider the propriety of
calling into existence such an organization. After the usual
preliminary services, Rev. D. W. Anderson stated the object of the
meeting, and urged the immediate action of the council in the matter.
After the usual amount of debate incident to such an occasion, the
proper steps were taken for the organization of an association to be
called the "_Wood River Baptist Association_," with Rev. Duke W.
Anderson as its first Moderator, to meet on Wood River annually. What
a triumph! that day was the proudest of his life! He had spoken to
the poor disheartened Baptists for fifty miles around, who were cold
and indifferent to the Master's cause: "Awake! and stand upon your
feet! Come with me to help the Lord against the mighty! Let us
organize for the conflict. There is much to do; so, let us be about
our Master's work." The call sent forth breathed new life into the
people, and was the signal for united effort in the cause of the Lord.
It was not enough that an association was formed, it was not enough
that a few churches were represented in that association; but it must
do definite work. It must organize where organization was needed; it
must send out missionaries into the destitute places, and give the
Gospel to the poor. Thus Anderson reasoned; and the association heard
him. Gradually the Wood River Association grew and extended its
workings throughout the entire State of Illinois.
It was evident that the associational gatherings were growing so large
that it was impossible to accommodate them. He advised the people to
build quarters sufficient to accommodate all. Accordingly two or three
rows of small houses were erected for the people to live in each year
during the time the association was in session. People now came yearly
from every part of the State. The great distances did not detain them.
Like the Jews who returned to Jerusalem every year to attend the
feast, they were glad when the time came to rest from their accustomed
duties and journey toward Wood River. It was a delightful gathering.
Brother ministers met and compared notes; while young men and maidens
gently ministered at the tables, and led the prayer-meetings.
They enjoyed those meetings. There were no conventionalities or forms
to check the spirit of Christian love. There was perfect liberty.
There were no strangers; for they were the children of one common
father. They were as one family, and had all things in common. The
utmost order and harmony characterized their gatherings. Not a cross
word escaped a single lip. Not a rude act, on the part of the boys,
could be seen. Boys, in those days, had the profoundest respect for
their seniors, and held a minister of the Gospel in all the simplicity
of a boy's esteem.
In the morning of the first day of their meeting the association was
called to order by the "_Moderator_," and opened with prayer and a
hymn. Then, after the usual business, a sermon was preached. In the
afternoon a doctrinal sermon was preached and discussed; and in the
evening a missionary sermon was delivered.
Like the Apostle Paul he could say to the ministers of his day, that
he had labored more abundantly than they all. He worked with his hands
and preached the Gospel, esteeming it an honor. The church over which
he presided had grown to one hundred and fifty active members, besides
a large and attentive congregation. This church had been gathered
through his incomparable assiduity. He had come into their midst with
a heart glowing with the love of God. He had shown himself an
excellent farmer, faithful teacher, and consistent Christian. He had
led one hundred and fifty souls to Christ. That was not all. In the
pulpit he had taught them the fundamental principles of Christianity,
and demonstrated those principles in his daily life. His royal manhood
towered high over the community, until he became to the whole people a
perfect measure of every thing that is lovely and of good report.
He had every thing just as he could wish. He was proprietor of an
eighty-acre farm, pastor of a flourishing church, schoolmaster of the
community, enthroned in the affections of the people for whose
well-being he had worked for seven years,--he might have remained the
unrivalled and undisputed king of Woodburn community. But
considerations rising high above his mere personal interests, led him
to make a great sacrifice in selling his farm, severing his relation
as pastor and teacher with a people whom he loved dearly, and who
regarded him with a sort of superstitious reverence. The object of the
change was that he might move to Quincy, Ill., where he might give his
children a thorough education. He secured a scholarship in Knox
College for his eldest son, Luther Morgan Anderson, and permission for
him to attend. He put his son George W., and daughter, Elizabeth
Anderson, to study in the Missionary Institute near Quincy. He now
gave his time to farming, preaching, missionary service, and
underground railroad work. His son, George W., says, concerning
Missionary Institute: "At Missionary Institute the atmosphere was more
mild, but such was the continued pressure by the slave-holding border
of Mo., offering large rewards for the heads of the Institution, as
well for those who were known to be connected with the underground
railroad, that the Institution after having done much good went
down."
The years of his residence at Quincy were full of public excitement,
peril, and strife. He was a spirited, progressive, and representative
man. This was the time of the Illinois Prohibition Law, making it a
criminal offence to aid or encourage a runaway slave. The slavery
question was being sharply discussed in all quarters, and began to
color and modify the politics of the day. Anderson was a sharp, ready,
and formidable debater, and was the most prominent Colored man in that
section of the country. He was gifted in the use of good English, had
an easy flow of language, was master of the most galling satire, quick
in repartee, prompt to see a weak point and use it to the best
advantage. He was a pungent and racy writer, and for a number of years
contributed many able articles to the "Quincy Whig." He never spared
slavery. In the pulpit, in the public prints, and in private, he
fought manfully against the nefarious traffic in human flesh.
Dangerous as was the position he took he felt himself on the side of
truth, humanity, and God, and consequently felt that no harm could
reach him. At this time, to the duties of farmer, pastor, and
contributor he added the severe and perilous duty of a missionary. He
canvassed the State, preaching and lecturing against slavery. Often he
was confronted by a mob who defied him, bantered him, but he always
spoke. He was in every sense the child of nature, endowed with
herculean strength, very tall, with a face beaming with benevolence
and intelligence. He appeared at his best when opposed, and was
enabled by his commanding presence, his phenomenal voice, and burning
eloquence to quiet and win the most obstreperous mob.
It was quite easy for a man to be carried away by the irresistible
enthusiasm of the excited multitude, and think the rising of the
animal spirits the impulses of his better nature. But, for a man to be
moved from within, to feel the irresistible power of truth, to feel
that except he obeys the voice of his better nature he is arraigned by
conscience--though the whole world without is against him, such a man
is a hero, deserving of the gratitude and praise of the world.
There were heroes in the days of Anderson, and he was worthy of the
high place he held among them. He was possessed of genius of the
highest order. He appreciated the times in which he lived. He was
equal to the work of his generation, and did not shrink from any work
howsoever perilous. He worked between the sluggish conservatism of the
anti-slavery element on the one hand, and the violent, mobocratic
slave element on the other. Hence, the school of religious and
political sentiment to which he belonged had few disciples and
encountered many hardships. It was a desperate struggle between an
ignorant, self-seeking majority and an intelligent, self-sacrificing
minority. It often appears that vice has more votaries than virtue,
that might is greater than right, and that wrong has the right of way.
But in the light of reason, history, and philosophy, we see the
divinity of truth and the mortality of error. We look down upon the
great spiritual conflict going on in this world--in society and
government,--and seeing the mutations of fortune we think we see truth
worsted, and sound the funeral requiem of our fondest hopes, our most
cherished ideals.
But the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly
fine. Time rewards the virtuous and patient. It was faith in God,
united with a superior hope, that gave him strength in the darkest
hours of the "irrepressible conflict."
He was a faithful and indefatigable worker; and the State Missionary
Society honored him by thrice choosing him as State Missionary. About
this time he became an active member of the "Underground Railroad."
His presence, bearing, and high character carried conviction. He made
men feel his superiority. He was, consequently, a safe counsellor and
a successful manager. He was soon elevated to an official position,
which he filled with honor and satisfaction. Many slaves were helped
to their freedom by his efforts and advice. He was bold, yet discreet;
wise without pedantry; humble without religious affectation; firm
without harshness; kind without weakness.
The conflict between slavery and freedom grew hotter and hotter; and
the spirit of intolerance became more general. Anderson had proven
himself an able defender of human freedom and a formidable enemy to
slavery. But it _seemed_ as if his efforts in the great aggregate of
good were unavailing. His high hopes of educating his children were
blasted in the burning of Missionary Institute by a mob from Missouri.
It was evident that the slave power would leave no stone unturned in
order to accomplish their cowardly and inhuman designs. It was not
enough to destroy the only school where all races could be educated
together, to disturb the meetings of the few anti-slavery men who
dared to discuss a question that they believed involved the golden
rule and hence the well-being of the oppressed,--they put a price on
his head. He was to be hung to the first tree if caught upon the
sacred soil of Missouri. He was secretly, though closely watched. One
of his sons writes: "He took a deep interest in the Underground
Railroad in connection with a Mr. Turner and Vandorn of Quincy, and a
Mr. Hunter and Payne of Missionary Institute. These gentlemen, I
believe, with the exception of Mr. Payne, are alive and extensively
known in the North."
He was not lacking in the qualities of moral or physical bravery. He
could not be bought or bullied. He was unmovable when he felt he was
right. The bitterest assaults of his enemies only drove him nearer his
ideas, not from them. He might have lived and died in Quincy if he had
not greatly desired the education of his children, who were denied
such privileges in the destruction of the institute.
At this time intelligent, to say nothing of educated, ministers were
few and far between. St. Louis was blessed with an excellent minister
in the person of the Rev. Richard Anderson. He was a man of some
education, fine manners, good judgment, and deep piety; beloved and
respected by all classes both in and out of the church, white and
black. The Rev. Galusha Anderson, D.D., who pronounced the funeral
sermon over the remains of Richard Anderson, says he had the largest
funeral St. Louis ever witnessed. His servant, who had been an
attendant upon the ministrations of Richard Anderson, said mournfully,
when asked by the doctor if they missed him: "Ah, sir, he led us as by
a spider web!" Richard Anderson saw Duke William Anderson and loved
him. He saw in the young man high traits of character, and in his rare
gifts auguries of a splendid career. He saw the danger he lived in,
the hopeless condition of public sentiment, and advised him to accept
the pastoral charge of the Baptist church in Buffalo, N. Y., where
also he could educate his children.
Buffalo was an anti-slavery stronghold. The late Gerrit Smith was
chief of the party in that section of New York. By his vast wealth,
his high personal character, his deeply-rooted convictions, his
wide-spread and consistent opposition to slavery, he was the most
conspicuous character in the State, and made many converts to the
anti-slavery cause. Buffalo was the centre of anti-slavery operations.
Many conventions and conferences were held there. It was only
twenty-four miles to the Canadian boundaries, hence it was the last
and most convenient station of the U. G. R. R.
It was now about 1854-1855. The anti-slavery sentiment was a
recognized and felt power in the politics of the Nation. Anderson
appeared in Buffalo just in time to participate in the debates that
were rendering that city important. He took the pastoral charge of the
Baptist church and high standing as a leader. He remained here quite
two years or more, during which time he used the pulpit and the press
as the vehicles of his invectives against slavery. He did not have to
go to men, they went to him. He was a great moral magnet, and
attracted the best men of the city. The white clergy recognized in him
the qualities of a preacher and leader worthy of their admiration and
recognition. The Rev. Charles Dennison and other white brethren
invited him to their pulpits, where he displayed preaching ability
worthy of the intelligent audiences that listened to his eloquent
discourses.
His stay in Buffalo was salutary. By his industry and usefulness he
became widely known and highly respected. And when he accepted a call
from the Groghan Street Baptist Church, of Detroit, Michigan, his
Buffalo friends were conscious that in his departure from them they
sustained a very great loss.
It was now the latter part of 1857. The anti-slavery conflict was at
its zenith. This controversy, as do all moral controversies, had
brought forth many able men; had furnished abundant material for
satire and rhetoric. This era presented a large and brilliant galaxy
of Colored orators. There were Frederick Douglass--confessedly the
historic Negro of America,--Charles L. Remond, Charles L. Reason,
William Wells Brown, Henry Highland Garnett, Martin R. Delany, James
W. C. Pennington, Robert Purvis, Phillip A. Bell, Charles B. Ray,
George T. Downing, George B. Vashon, William C. Nell, Samuel A. Neale,
William Whipper, Ebenezer D. Bassett, William Howard Day, William
Still, Jermain W. Loguen, Leonard A. Grimes, John Sella Martin, and
many others. Duke William Anderson belonged to the same school of
orators.
The church at Detroit had been under the pastoral charge of the Rev.
William Troy, who had accepted the pulpit of the Baptist church in
Windsor, Canada West, and started to England to solicit funds to
complete a beautiful edifice already in process of erection. At this
time John Sella Martin had obtained considerable notoriety as an
orator. He had canvassed the Western States in the interest of the
anti-slavery cause, and was now residing in Detroit. He was baptized
and ordained by Brethren Anderson and Troy, and took charge of the
church at Buffalo.
Detroit lies in a salubrious atmosphere, upon Detroit River, not far
from Lake Erie; and at this time was not lacking in a high social and
moral atmosphere. The field was the most congenial he had yet labored
in. He found an excellent church-membership, an intelligent and
progressive people. He was heartily welcomed and highly appreciated.
He entered into the work with zeal, and imparted an enthusiasm to the
people. He developed new elements of strength in the church. He
attracted a large, cultivated audience, and held them to the last day
he remained in the city. His audience was not exclusively Colored:
some of the best white families were regular attendants upon his
preaching; and they contributed liberally to his support. Detroit had
never seen the peer of Duke William Anderson in the pulpit. He did not
simply attract large congregations on the Sabbath, but had a warm
place in the affections of all classes, and a personal moral
influence, which added much to the spirituality of the church. In
every church, thus far, he had been blessed with a revival of
religion, and souls had been added as "seals to his ministry." Detroit
was no exception to the rule. Under his leadership, through his
preaching and pastoral visitations the church was aroused, and the
result a revival. Many were added to the church.
It was now the spring of 1858. John Brown, the protomartyr of freedom,
by his heroism, daring, intrepid perseverance, inspired,--swallowed
with one great idea, had stirred all Kansas and Missouri to fear, and
carried off eleven slaves to Canada and set them free. He had
established his headquarters at Chatham, Canada West, and begun the
work of organization preparatory to striking the blow at Harper's
Ferry. Brown held his first convention at Chatham--only a few hours'
ride from Detroit--on May 8, 1858, at 10 o'clock A.M. The convention
was composed of some very able men. The following-named gentlemen
composed the convention: Wm. Charles Monroe, President of the
Convention; G. J. Reynolds, J. C. Grant, A. J. Smith, James M. Jones,
Geo. B. Gill, M. F. Bailey, Wm. Lambert, C. W. Moffitt, John J.
Jackson, J. Anderson, Alfred Whipple, James M. Bue, Wm. H. Leeman,
Alfred M. Ellsworth, John E. Cook, Stewart Taylor, James W. Purnell,
Geo. Akin, Stephen Detlin, Thomas Hickinson, John Cannet, Robinson
Alexander, Richard Realf, Thomas F. Cary, Thomas W. Stringer, Richard
Richardson, J. T. Parsons, Thos. M. Kinnard, Martin R. Delany, Robert
Vanrankin, Charles H. Tidd, John A. Thomas, C. Whipple, J. D. Shad,
Robert Newman, Owen Brown, John Brown, J. H. Harris, Charles Smith,
Simon Fislin, Isaac Hotley, James Smith. Signed, J. H. Kagi. The
following is the list of officers elected:
Commander-in-chief, John Brown; Secretary of War, J. H. Kagi; Members
of Congress, Alfred M. Ellsworth, Osborn Anderson; Treasurer, Owen
Brown; Secretary of Treasury, Geo. B. Gill; Secretary of State,
Richard Realf.
The reader will see that two Andersons are mentioned, J. Anderson and
Osborn Anderson. [Who these gentlemen are, the author does not know,
nor has he any means of knowing.]
Rev. D. W. Anderson's ministry in Detroit was a success both in and
out of the pulpit, both among his parishioners and among those of the
world.
His wife was in every sense a pastor's wife. She bore for him the
largest sympathy in his work; and cheered him with her prayers and
presence in every good cause. She was intelligent and pious, loved by
the church, honored by society. She found pleasure in visiting the
sick, helping the poor, comforting the sorrowful, and in instructing
the erring in ways of peace.
It is almost impossible to compute the value of a pastor's wife who
appreciates the work of saving souls. If she is a good woman her
influence is unbounded. Every person loves her, every person looks up
to her. There are so many little things that she can do, if not beyond
the province of the pastor, often out of range of his influence. Mrs.
Anderson was all that could be hoped as a pastor's wife. She was of
medium size, in complexion light, rather reserved in her manners,
affable in address, very sensitive in her physical and mental
constitution. Much of Anderson's service in Detroit must go to the
account of his sainted wife. And it may not be irrelevant to remark
that every minister of Christ's influence and success is perceptibly
modified by his wife--much depends upon her!
Eighteen years of happy wedded life had passed. It was the autumn of
1860. Mrs. Anderson's health was failing. Her presence was missed from
the church, from society, and at last on the 23d of October, 1860, she
died.
On the 18th of March, 1861, he married again, Mrs. Eliza Julia Shad,
of Chatham, Canada. He turned his attention to farming for a while, in
order to regain his health.
At the close of the war he went South and taught in a theological
institution at Nashville. Soon after he began his work here he
received and accepted a call from the 19th Street Baptist Church of
Washington, D. C. Washington was in a vile condition at the close of
the war. Its streets were mud holes; its inhabitants crowded and
jammed by the troops and curious Negroes from the plantations. Society
was in a critical condition. There was great need of a leader for the
Colored people. D. W. Anderson was that man. He entered upon his work
with zeal and intelligence. He carried into the pulpit rare abilities,
and into the parish work a genial, kindly nature which early gave him
a place in the affections and confidence of his flock.
As a preacher he was a marvel. He generally selected his text early in
the week. He studied its exegesis, made the plan of the sermon, and
then began to choose his illustrations and fill in. On Sunday he would
rise in his pulpit, a man six feet two and a half inches, and in a
rich, clear, deliberate voice commence an extemporaneous discourse.
His presence was majestic. With a massive head, much like that of John
Adams, a strong brown eye that flashed as he moved on in his
discourse, a voice sweet and well modulated, but at times rising to
tones of thunder, graceful, ornate, forcible, and dramatic, he was the
peer of any clergyman in Washington, and of Negroes there were none
his equal.
He showed himself a power in the social life of his people by being
himself a living epistle. He encouraged the young, and set every one
who knew him an example of fidelity and efficiency in the smaller
matters of life.
His early experiences were now in demand. The entire community
recognized in him the elements of magnificent leadership. He was in
great demand in every direction. He was elected a Trustee of the
Howard University, of the Freedman's Saving Bank and Trust Company,
Commissioner of Washington Asylum, Sept. 3d, 1871, and Justice of the
Peace, 8th of April, 1869, and 9th of April, 1872. The vast amount of
work he did on the outside did not impair his usefulness as a pastor
or his faithfulness as a minister of the Gospel. On the contrary he
gathered ammunition and experience from every direction. He made
every thing help him in his preparation for the pulpit. His deep
spiritual life, his nearness to the Master gave him power with men. No
winter passed without a revival of grace and the conversion of scores
of sinners. Thus the work continued until the house was both too small
and unsafe. Plans were drawn and steps taken to build a new church
edifice.
On the first Sunday in March, 1871, the old house of worship, on the
corner of Nineteenth and I streets was abandoned, and the congregation
went to worship in the Stevens School building. The corner-stone of
the new building was laid on the 5th of April, 1871, and the new
edifice dedicated on the 19th of November, 1871, five months after the
work had begun. The dedicatory exercises were as follows:
At eleven o'clock precisely. Rev. D. W. Anderson, pastor in charge,
announced that the hour for the religious exercises to commence had
arrived, and he took pleasure in introducing his predecessor. Rev.
Samuel W. Madden, of Alexandria, Va., who gave out the 934th hymn,
which was sung with considerable fervor and spirit, the entire
congregation rising and participating; after which, Rev. Jas. A.
Handy, read from the 6th chapter, 2d Chronicles, and also addressed
the throne of grace.
"Lift up your heads, ye eternal gates" was admirably rendered by the
choir, when the following letter was read from the President:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, }
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 1871. }
"To Rev. D. W. ANDERSON, No. 1971 I Street,
"SIR: The President directs me to say that your note of the 8th
inst., inviting him to be present at the dedication of your
church, was mislaid during his absence from the city, and was not
brought to his notice till to-day. He regrets that his
engagements will not admit of his attendance at the time you
mention. He congratulates your congregation upon the completion
of so handsome a place of worship, and hopes that its dedication
may prove an occasion of deep interest to all who share in a
desire to promote the spread of the Christian religion.
"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"HORACE PORTER, _Secretary_."
Rev. Henry Williams, of Petersburg, Va., who was announced to preach
the dedicatory sermon, selected the following words: "And he was
afraid, and said: How dreadful is this place! this is none other but
the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
Prominent among those present, who had been invited by Rev. Mr.
Anderson, were His Excellency Governor H. D. Cooke, Hon. N. P.
Chipman, Delegate to Congress; A. L. Sturtevant, Esq., Chief of
Stationery Bureau, Treasury Department; Ed. Young, Esq., Chief of the
Bureau of Statistics; Hon. A. K. Browne, Col. Wm. A. Cook, Dr. A. T.
Augusta, and Wm. H. Thompson, Esq., of Philadelphia. While, seated
around the altar, were Rev. Leonard A. Grimes, of Boston; Rev. Samuel.
W Madden, of Alexandria, Va.; Rev. Geo. W. Goins, of Philadelphia;
Rev. Jas. A. Handy, Washington; and Rev. Wm. Troy, Richmond, Va. At
three o'clock, Rev. Leonard A. Grimes officiated and delivered an
eloquent sermon.
A work of grace followed the dedication of the church; and from month
to month souls were converted. On the 21st of January, 1873, he wrote
the following letter to a Baptist minister residing in Chicago:
"1921, I Street, WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 21, 1873.
"REV. R. DEBAPTIST:
"DEAR BROTHER: I write to inform you of a wonderful outpouring of
the Spirit of God in the 19th Street Baptist Church of which I am
pastor. Without any especial effort, up to the last few days,
there have been one to five converted every month, for the past
seven years, in the congregation. This led too many to think that
that was enough. At our watch-meeting I asked how many there were
who would come to the front pews and kneel before God as a token
to Christians to pray for them, and ten came. We had no other
meeting until my weekly lecture, the first Thursday night in
January after it. I saw a great feeling and called again; and
there came twenty-two. The brethren and sisters decided to hold
meeting the next night, and there came thirty-two who were
converted. Now, at this date, Monday night, 20th, there came
forward 'ninety-seven'; and there were over a hundred on their
knees praying. Twenty-two found peace in believing last night.
"We are all well. Pray for us. Write soon.
"Yours ever,
"D. W. ANDERSON."
He was taken sick on the 7th of February, 1873, and after a painful
illness of eleven days, he fell asleep on the 17th of February, full
of years and honors, and was gathered to the fathers. On the Monday
evening, just before he died, he told his wife, daughter, and a small
company of friends who surrounded his death-bed: "It's all well," and
then, at 7:30 P.M., quietly "fell on sleep."
The news of his death cast gloom into thousands of hearts, and evoked
eulogies and letters of condolence never before bestowed upon a Negro.
His death was to the members of his church in the nature of a personal
bereavement. The various interests to which he had loaned the
enlightening influence of his judgment and the beneficence of his
presence mourned his loss, and expressed their grief in appropriate
resolutions. His life and character formed a fitting theme for the
leading pulpits; and the Baptist denomination, the Negro race, and the
nation sincerely mourned the loss of a great preacher, an able leader,
and a pure patriot.
At the request of many people of both races and political parties, his
body was placed in state in the church for twenty-four hours, and
thousands of people, rich and poor, black and white, sorrowfully gazed
upon the face of the illustrious dead. The funeral services were held
on the 20th of February, and his obsequies were the largest Washington
had ever seen, except those of the late Abraham Lincoln. The church
was crowded to suffocation, and the streets for many squares were
filled with solemn mourners. Thus a great man had fallen. The officers
of the Freedman's Bank passed the following resolutions, which were
forwarded with the accompanying letter from the president:
"OFFICE OF THE FREEDMAN'S SAVINGS AND TRUST }
COMPANY, WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 20th, 1873. }
"At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Freedman's Savings
and Trust Company, held this date, the following resolutions were
adopted:
"1st. _Resolved_, That in the death of the Rev. D. W. Anderson,
Trustee and Vice-President of this Company, we sustain the loss
of a most excellent Christian man, and an officer of highest
integrity. In all his relations to us he was an endeared
associate, and an honored, intelligent, co-worker: ever firm in
purpose and faithful to those for whom he labored. Our long
intercourse with him impressed us with the increasing value of
his services to the church of which he was pastor, and to _this
institution_.
"We also hereby express our sincere sympathy with his immediate
friends, and especially his afflicted family.
"2d. _Resolved_, That, as an added expression of our esteem, this
Board will attend and take part in his funeral services, _as a
body_.
"3d. _Resolved_, That these resolutions be spread upon our
Records, and that a copy of the same be transmitted to his
family."
"PRINCIPAL OFFICE, }
FREEDMAN'S SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY, }
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 21, '73. }
"To Mrs. D. W. ANDERSON.
"_My Dear Sister_: Allow me to transmit to you the enclosed copy
of resolutions passed by the Board of Trustees of the F. S. and
T. Comp., _with_ the sincerest assurances of my _personal_
sympathy.
"Very respectfully, yours, etc.,
"I. W. ALVORD, _President_."
The Board of the Commissioners of the Washington Asylum passed the
following resolutions of condolence:
"WHEREAS, it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this
life the Rev. D. W. Anderson, late President of this Board:
therefore,
"_Be it resolved_, That in his death we have lost an honorable
and faithful associate, a genial and kind-hearted friend, whom we
delighted to honor and respect for his many virtues and sterling
worth. In him the poor have lost a sympathizing friend; the
criminal an even dispenser of Justice, and the Government one of
its most efficient officers.
"_Resolved_, That we tender our most sincere sympathy to his
bereaved family, and condole with them in this sad dispensation
of Divine Providence.
"_Resolved_, That the resolutions be entered upon the Journal of
proceedings of this Board, and a copy sent to the family of the
lamented deceased.
"A. B. BOHRER,
_Sec. B. C. W. Asylum_.
"Mrs. D. W. ANDERSON, Present."
The Young People's Christian Association, which he had founded, have
spread the following resolutions of respect upon their minutes:
"_Whereas_, It has pleased the Supreme Ruler and Architect of the
Universe to remove from our Association our beloved and estimable
brother and Corresponding Secretary D. W. Anderson, whose
Christian life was a beacon light, for all associated with him to
follow, being humble, patient, forbearing, and forgiving,
Therefore,
"_Resolved_, That in his death we have lost an humble and true
Christian, possessing the same prominent characteristics which
distinguished the Saviour of Mankind, doing good whenever he
believed he was serving his Heavenly Master, administering to the
poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, binding up the
wounds of those offended, and laboring zealously for the
salvation of souls, but while we feel the severe stroke of death
that has stricken down one of our best members, we bow humbly to
the will of Divine Providence, 'who doeth all things well,'
believing that He has summoned our brother to dwell with Him in
peace and happiness and to join the Army that is continually
singing praises to Him who rules both the Heavens and the earth,
so we cheerfully bow and acknowledge that our loss is his eternal
gain.
"_Resolved_, That we tender to his bereaved family our sincere
and Christian sympathy in this their hour of bereavement, and
pray that He who has promised to be a Husband to the Widow, and a
Father to the Fatherless, may keep and protect them.
"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be engrossed and
sent to the family of our deceased brother, and that the same be
entered upon the records of the Association."
And the church testified their love and sorrow in the following
beautiful resolves:
"BAPTIST CHURCH,
CORNER of 19TH & I STREETS,
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 28, 1873.
"_Whereas_, It has pleased the Almighty God, the Supreme Ruler of
the universe to remove from us our much esteemed and beloved
Pastor,
"REVEREND D. W. ANDERSON,
"therefore, be it,
"_Resolved_, That we deeply deplore and lament the loss of so
great and noble a pioneer in the cause of Christ, one who, like
Christ, although scorned, traduced and ill-treated by enemies,
went forward and labored in and out of his church for the
promotion of the work of his Father in Heaven.
"_Resolved_, that as a Church we feel the severe stroke that has
summoned from us our dearly beloved Pastor; but knowing that our
loss is his eternal gain, we cheerfully submit to the will and
order of that God who does all things well, that God who controls
the destinies of nations, kingdoms, and empires, that God who
'moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.'
"_Resolved_, That we will endeavor by the assistance of our
heavenly Master to live up to the teachings and examples set by
our shepherd, thereby believing that when we are summoned to
appear at the bar of God we will meet our Pastor in that grand
Church above where 'sickness, pain, sorrow, or death is feared
and felt no more,' 'where congregations ne'er break up, and
Sabbath hath no end,' where 'we will sing hosannas to our
heavenly King, where we will meet to part no more forever.'
"_Resolved_, That we, the Church, extend to the bereaved family
our heartfelt sympathies, and that a copy of these resolutions be
sent to them, and also entered on the Church journal.
"LINDSEY MUSE, _Moderator_.
"DAVID WARNER, _Clerk_."
The Mite Society of his church erected a monument to his memory in
_Harmony Cemetery_, bearing the following inscriptions:
"The Christian Mite Society of the 19th Street Baptist Church
render this tribute to the memory of their beloved pastor. We
shall go to him, but he shall not return to us.
"Rev. D. W. ANDERSON,
"Born April 10th, 1812. Died Feb. 17th, 1873.
"'I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.'
"He was ordained in 1844, and after a ministry of 21 years
settled with the 19th Street Baptist Church of Washington, D. C.,
where he fell asleep in the midst of a great revival.
"For the cause of education, the welfare of the poor, the
promotion of humanity, liberty, and the conversion of the world.
"He labored faithfully until the Master called him hence."
This beautiful life was studded with the noblest virtues. From
obscurity and poverty Duke William Anderson had risen to fame and
honors; and having spent a useful life, died in the midst of a great
revival in the capital of the nation, holding more positions of trust
than any other man, white or black; died with harness on, and left a
name whose lustre will survive the corroding touch of time.
The Rev. James Poindexter, of Columbus, Ohio, and the Rev. Wallace
Shelton, of Cincinnati, are now and have been for years the foremost
Baptist ministers of Ohio. Both men came to Ohio more than a
generation ago, and have proven themselves able ministers of Christ.
But of New England Baptist ministers Leonard Andrew Grimes is of most
blessed memory.
It was some time during the year 1840, when disputings arose--about
what is not known--within the membership of what was known as the
"First Independent Baptist Church," of Boston, Mass., which resulted
in the drawing out from the same of about forty members. This party
was led by the Rev. Mr. Black, who had been, for some time, pastor of
the church he now left. They secured a place of worship in Smith
Court, off of Joy Street, where they continued for a considerable
space of time. It was not long, however, after they began to worship
in their new home, before their highly esteemed and venerable leader
was stricken down with disease, from which he subsequently died.
This little band was now without a leader, and was, consequently,
speedily rent by a schism within its own circle. But in the nucleus
that finally became the Twelfth Baptist Church, there were faithful
men and women who believed in the integrity of their cause, and,
therefore, stood firm. They believed that "He who was for them was
greater than all they who were against them." Though few in number,
they felt that "one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten
thousand to flight," was a very pertinent passage when applied to
themselves. And those who have been blessed to see that little
"company of believers" grow to be an exceedingly large and prosperous
church of Christ must be persuaded that God alone gave "the increase."
For a long time this little company struggled on without a leader.
They were called upon to walk through many discouraging scenes, and to
humble themselves under the remorseless hand of poverty. Unable to
secure, permanently, the services of a clergyman, they were driven to
the necessity of obtaining whomsoever they could when the Sabbath
came. And what a blessed thing it was for them that they were placed
under the severe discipline of want! It taught them humility and
faith--lessons often so hard to acquire. They bore their trials
heroically, and esteemed it great joy to be counted worthy to suffer
for Christ. When one Sabbath was ended they knew not whom the Lord
would send the next; and yet they never suffered for the "Word of
God." For He who careth for the lilies of the field, and bears up the
falling sparrow, fed them with the "bread of life," and gave them to
drink of the waters of salvation. "Unto the poor the Gospel was
preached."
After a few years of pain and waiting, after the watching and praying,
the hoping and fearing, God seemed pleased to hear the prayers of this
lonely band, and gave them a leader. It was whispered in the community
that a very intelligent and useful man, by the name of "Grimes," of
New Bedford, could be retained as their leader. After some
deliberation upon the matter, they chose one of their number to pay a
visit to "Brother Leonard A. Grimes, of New Bedford," and on behalf
of the company worshipping in "an upper room," on Belknap Street--now
Joy Street--Boston, extended him an invitation to come and spend a
Sabbath with them. In accordance with their request he paid them a
visit. Impressed with the dignity of his bearing, and the earnestness
of his manner, the company was unanimous in an invitation, inviting
"the young preacher" to return and remain with them for "three
months."
The invitation was accepted with alacrity, and the work begun with a
zeal worthy of the subsequent life of "the beloved pastor of the
Twelfth Baptist Church." Brother L. A. Grimes had been driven North on
account of his friendly and humane relations to the oppressed. He had
been incarcerated by the laws of slave-holding Virginia, for wresting
from her hand, and piloting into the land of freedom, those whom
slavery had marked as her children--or, rather, her "_goods_." A soul
like his was too grand to live in such an atmosphere. In keeping the
golden rule, he had insulted the laws of the institution under whose
merciless sway thousands of human beings were groaning. He would live
no longer where his convictions of duty were to be subordinated to,
and palliated by, the penurious and cruel teaching of the slave
institution. So, after having been robbed of his property, he left, in
company with his family, for the fair shores of New England. He had
sought no distinction, but had settled down to a quiet life in New
Bedford. But a man of his worth could not stay in the quiet walks of
life; he was born to lead, and heard God call him to the work his soul
loved.
His quiet, unpretentious ministry of "three months" shadowed forth the
loving, gentle, yet vigorous and successful ministry of a quarter of a
century; a ministry so like the Master's, not confined to sect or
nationality, limited only by the wants of humanity and the great
heart-love that went gushing out to friend and foe. Those who were so
happy as to sit under his ministry for the "three months" were quite
unwilling to be separated from one whose ministry had so greatly
comforted and built them up. In the young preacher they had found a
leader of excellent judgment, a pastor of tender sympathies, and a
father who loved them with all the strength of true manly affection.
How could they retain him? They were poor. How could they release him?
They loved him. After much prayer and pleading, Brother Grimes was
secured as their leader, with a salary at the rate of $100 per annum.
He returned to New Bedford and moved his family to Boston. His salary
barely paid his rent; but by working with his hands, as Paul did, and
through the industry of his wife, he was enabled to get along.
During all this time this little company of believers was without
"church organization." At length a council was called and their prayer
for organization presented. After the procedure common to such
councils, it was voted that this company of Christian men and women be
organized as the "Twelfth Baptist Church." The church consisted of
twenty-three members.
On the evening of the 24th of November, 1848, occurred the services of
the recognition of the church, and the ordination of Rev. L. A. Grimes
as its pastor. The order of exercises was as follows:
Reading of Scriptures and prayer, by the Rev. Edmund Kelley; sermon,
by the Rev. J. Banvard, subject: "The way of salvation," from Acts
xvi, 17: "The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men
are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of
salvation"; hand of fellowship to the church, by the Rev. T. F.
Caldicott; prayer of recognition and ordination, by the Rev. John
Blain; charge to the candidate, by the Rev. Nathaniel Colver; address
to the church, by the Rev. Rollin H. Neale; concluding prayer, by the
Rev. Sereno Howe; benediction, by the pastor, Rev. Leonard A. Grimes.
The exercises were of a very pleasant nature, and of great interest to
the humble little church that assembled to enjoy them. It was an
occasion of no small moment that published to the world the "Twelfth
Baptist Church," and sent upon a mission of love and mercy, Leonard
Andrew Grimes! It was an occasion that has brought great strength to
the Colored people of Boston, yea, of the country! It was the opening
of a door; it was the loosening of chains, the beginning of a ministry
that was to stretch over a period of twenty-five years, carrying peace
and blessing to men in every station. And may we not, with propriety,
halt upon the threshold of our gratitude, and thank that wise Being
who gave him, a blessing to the church a friend to humanity?
Happy, thrice happy, was the little church that had wedded itself for
life to one who had laid himself upon the altar of their common cause.
These relations and manifold responsibilities were not hastily or
rashly assumed. The little church felt keenly its poverty and
weakness, while its new pastor knew that the road to prosperity lay
through fields of toil and up heights of difficulty. Before him was no
dark future, for the light of an extraordinary faith scattered the
darkness as he advanced to duty. What man of intelligence, without
capital or social influence, would have undertaken so discouraging a
project as that to which Leonard A. Grimes unconditionally brought the
sanctified zeal of a loving heart? To him it was purely a matter of
duty, and it was this thought that urged him on with his almost
superhuman burdens.
But to return to the "upper chamber," and take one more look at the
happy little church. It was not the pastor's object to begin at once
to perfect plans to secure a place more desirable to worship in than
their present little room. His heart longed for that enlargement of
soul secured by a nearness to the divine Master. His heart yearned
after those who were enemies to the "_cross of Christ_." His first
prayer was: "O Lord, revive thy work!" and it was not offered in vain.
A season of prayer was instituted for the outpouring of the Spirit.
The pastor led the way to the throne of grace in a fervent and
all-embracing prayer. A spirit of prayer fell upon his people. Every
heart trembled in tenderest sympathy for those who were strangers to
the "covenant of mercy"; every eye was dampened with tears of
gratitude and love; every tongue was ready to exclaim with Watts:--
"'T was the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin."
The church had reached that point in feeling where the blessing is
sure. They heard the coming of the chariot, and felt the saving power
of the Lord in their midst. It was a glorious revival. There were more
converted than there were members in the church. Oh, what joy, what
peace, what comfort in the Holy Ghost was there in that "upper
chamber"! What tongue or pen can describe the scene in that room when
over thirty souls were gathered into the fold! A pastor's _first_
revival! What rejoicing! The gathering of his first children in the
Lord! Ask Paul what conscious pride he took in those who were his
"epistles," his "fruit in the Gospel," his "children" in Christ
Jesus. It lifted Brother Grimes up to the heights of Pisgah in his
rejoicing, and laid him low at the cross in his humility. "The Lord
had done great things for him, whereof he was glad"; And they "did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and
having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved."
The rooms in which they began now proved too small for their rapidly
increasing membership. They agreed to have a building of their own. It
was now the latter part of 1848. The business eye of the pastor fell
upon a lot on Southac Street; and in the early part of 1849 the
trustees purchased it. Preparations for building were at once begun.
It seemed a large undertaking for a body of Christians so humble in
circumstances, so weak in numbers. But faith and works were the
_genii_ that turned the tide of prosperity in their favor. They
decided that the ground and edifice should not exceed in cost the sum
of $10,000. The society proposed to raise two or three thousand within
its own membership; three thousand by loan, and solicit the remainder
from the Christian public. Previous to this period the public knew
little or nothing of this society. Brother Grimes had come to Boston
almost an entire stranger, and had now to undertake the severe task of
presenting the interests of a society so obscure and of so recent
date. But he believed in his cause, and knew that success would come.
He had known Dr. Neale in Washington City, during his early ministry;
they were boys together. They met. It was a pleasant meeting. The Rev.
Mr. Neale vouched for him before the public. It was not particularly
necessary, for Brother Grimes carried a recommendation in his face: it
was written all over with veracity and benevolence.
Joyfully and successfully he hurried on his mission. He made friends
of the enemies of evangelical religion, and gathered a host of
admirers around him. The public saw in him not only the zealous pastor
of an humble little church, but the true friend of humanity. The
public ear was secured; his prayer was answered in the munificent
gifts that came in from every direction. Every person seemed anxious
to contribute something to this noble object.
It was a beautiful morning! The sun never shone brighter, nor the air
smelled sweeter or purer than on that memorable first day of August,
1850. The first persons to usher themselves into the street that
morning were the happy members of the "_Twelfth_ _Baptist Church_."
Every face told of the inward joy and peace of thankful hearts. Those
who had toiled long through the days of the church's "small things,"
felt that their long-cherished hopes were beginning to bud.
Long before the appointed hour the members and friends of the church
began to gather to participate in the "laying of the corner-stone of
the Twelfth Baptist Church." It was a sweet, solemn occasion.
"Rev. Drs. Sharp, Neale and Colver, together with the pastor of the
church, officiated on the occasion. The usual documents were deposited
with the stone, and the customary proceedings gone through with, in a
solemn and impressive manner."
The occasion lent an enthusiasm for the work hitherto unknown. They
were emboldened. The future looked bright, and on every hand the times
were propitious. Gradually the walls of the edifice grew heavenward,
and the building began to take on a pleasing phase. At length the
walls had reached their proper height, and the roof crowned all. Their
sky was never brighter. It is true a "little speck of cloud" was seen
in the distance; but they were as unsuspicious as children. The cloud
approached gradually, and, as it approached, took on its terrible
characteristics. It paused a while; it trembled. Then there was a
death-like silence in the air, and in a moment it vomited forth its
forked lightning, and rolled its thunder along the sky. It was the
explosion of a Southern shell over a Northern camp, that was lighted
by the torch of ambition in the hands of fallen Webster. It was the
culmination of slave-holding Virginia's wrath. It was invading the
virgin territory of liberty-loving Massachusetts. It was hunting the
fugitive on free soil, and tearing him from the very embrace of sweet
freedom.
When the time came to enlist Colored soldiers, Leonard A. Grimes was
as untiring in his vigilance as any friend of the Fifty-fourth
Regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, while the members of his church
were either joining or aiding the regiment. So highly were the
services of Brother Grimes prized that the chaplaincy of the regiment
was not only tendered him, but urged upon him; but the multifarious
duties of his calling forbade his going with the regiment he loved and
revered.
The ladies of his congregation were busy with their needles, thus
aiding the cause of the Union; and no church threw its doors open more
readily to patriotic meetings than the Twelfth Baptist Church. And
during those dark days of the Union, when all seemed hopeless, when
our armies were weak and small, the prayers of a faithful pastor and
pious people ascended day and night, and did much to strengthen the
doubting.
The fugitive-slave law and civil war had done much to weaken the
church financially and numerically. Many who fled from the
fugitive-slave law had not returned; the young men had entered the
service of the country, while many others were absent from the city
under various circumstances. But notwithstanding all these facts, God
blessed the church--even in war times,--and many were converted.
The struggle was now ended. "The Boys in Blue" came home in triumph.
The father separated from child, the husband from wife, could now meet
again. Those who were driven before the wrath of an impious and cruel
edict could now return to the fold without fear. What a happy occasion
it was for the whole church! The reunion of a family long separated;
the gathering of dispersed disciples. The occasion brought such an
undistinguishable throng of fancies--such joy, such hope, such blessed
fellowship--as no pen can describe.
At the commencement of the Rebellion the church numbered about 246;
and at the close of the Rebellion it numbered about 300,
notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances under which she
labored. The revivals that followed brought many into the church, and
the heart of the pastor was greatly encouraged.
At first it was thought that the entire cost of the land and building
would not exceed $10,000; but the whole cost, from the time they began
to build until the close of the war, was $14,044.09. In 1861 the
indebtedness of the church was $2,967.62; at the close of the war it
was about $2,000.
During all these years of financial struggle the church had ever paid
her notes with promptness and without difficulty. And now that the war
was over, freedom granted to the enslaved, and the public again
breathing easy, the little church, not weary of well-doing, again
began the work of removing the remaining debt. The public was sought
only in the most extreme necessity. The ladies held sewing circles,
and made with the needle fancy articles to be sold in a festival,
while the members of the church were contributing articles of wearing
apparel, or offering their services at the sale tables. The proceeds
were given to the society to pay its debts; and it was no mean gift.
From 1865 to 1871 the church grew rapidly. Revivals were of frequent
occurrence; and many from the South, learning of the good name of Rev.
Mr. Grimes, sought his church when coming to Boston. But it was
apparent that their once commodious home was now too small. The pastor
saw this need, and began to take the proper steps to meet it. It was
at length decided that the church should undergo repairs; and the
pastor was armed with the proper papers to carry forward this work.
The gallery that was situated in the east end of the church was used
chiefly by the choir and an instrument. In making repairs it was
thought wise to remove the organ from the gallery, and put in seats,
and thereby accommodate a larger number of people. Then, the old
pulpit took up a great deal of room, and by putting in a new pulpit of
less dimensions, more room could be secured for pews. This was done,
with the addition of a baptistry, the lack of which for nearly
twenty-five years had driven them, in all kinds of weather, to Charles
River. Every thing, from the basement up, underwent repairs. The pews
were painted and furnished with book-racks. The floors were repaired,
and covered with beautiful carpet; while the walls and ceilings were
richly clothed with fresco, by the hands of skilful workmen. In the
centre of the ceiling was an excellent ventilator, from which was
suspended a very unique chandelier, with twelve beautiful globes, that
were calculated to dispense their mellow light upon the worshippers
below. But to crown all this expensive work and exceeding beauty thus
bestowed upon the house, was the beautiful organ that adorned the
southwest corner of the church, just to the pastor's right when in the
pulpit. It was secured for the sum of two thousand five hundred
dollars. All was accomplished. The old house of worship was now
entirely refitted. No heart was happier than the pastor's the day the
church was reopened.[132] The new and elegant organ sent forth its
loud peals of music in obedience to the masterly touch of the
"_faithful one_," who for more than twelve years was never absent from
her post of duty, and whom none knew but to love and honor.
What supreme satisfaction there is in the accomplishment of a work
that comprehends, not the interests of an individual, but the
interests of the greatest number of human beings! The labors of Rev.
Mr. Grimes were bestowed upon those whom he loved. He had toiled for
his church as a father does to support his family. And no pastor,
perhaps, was ever more paternal to his flock than Leonard A. Grimes.
He was a man wondrously full of loving-kindness,--a lover of mankind.
It has been the rule rather than the exception, for a long time, for
churches to carry heavy debts; and when a church is free from debt, it
certainly furnishes a cause for great rejoicing. It was so with the
Twelfth Baptist Church. For a long time--more than twenty years--the
church had been before the public as an object of charity. For more
than twenty years the people had struggled heroically amid all of the
storms that gathered around them. Sometimes they expected to see "_the
red flag_" upon their house of worship, but the flag Was never raised.
The debts of the church had all been removed. The house was absolutely
free from every encumbrance; the people owned their church.
But the little church of twenty-three had become the large church of
six hundred. The once commodious house was now too small for the
communicants of the church. The pastor began to look around for a
place to build, and considered the matter of enlarging the present
house of worship. He had expended the strength of his manhood in the
service of his church; he had built one house, and had never denied
the public his service. It would seem natural that a man whose life
had been so stormy, yea, so full of toil and care, would seek in
advanced age the rest and quiet so much desired at that stage of life.
But it was not so with Brother Grimes. He was willing to begin another
lifetime work, and with all the freshness of desire and energy of
young manhood.
It was now the latter part of the winter of 1873. A revival had been
for a long time, and was still, in progress. Converts were coming into
the church rapidly. The heart of the pastor was never fuller of love
than during the revival. He seemed to be in agony for sinners to be
saved. He impatiently paced the aisles, and held private and personal
interviews with the impenitent. He disliked to leave the church at the
close of the services. He remained often in the vestibule, watching
for an opportunity to say a word for the Saviour. Brother C. G. Swan,
who preached for him once, said: "I never beheld a more heavenly face;
it seemed as if his soul were ripe for heaven."
Those who saw him in the pulpit the last Sabbath he spent on
earth--March 9, 1874--will not soon forget the earnestness and
impressiveness of his manner. On Wednesday, March 12th, he left the
scene of his labors to discharge a duty nearest to his heart. He took
$100 from his poor church, as a gift to the _Home Mission Society_,
that was to be used in the _Freedman's Fund_.
On Friday evening, March 14th, he reached home just in time to breathe
his last in the arms of his faithful, though anxious wife. Thus he
fell asleep in the path of duty, in the midst of a mighty work.
The news of his death spread rapidly, and cast a shadow of grief over
the entire community. The people mourned him.
The morning papers gave full account and notice of his death. The
following is one of the many notices that were given:
"DEATH OF AN ESTEEMED CLERGYMAN.
"The Rev. L. A. Grimes, the well-known and universally esteemed
colored clergyman, died very suddenly last evening, at his
residence on Everett Avenue, East Somerville. He had just
returned from New York, where he had been to attend the meeting
of the _Baptist Board of Home Missions_, of which he was a
member. He had walked to his home from the cars, and died within
fifteen minutes after his arrival. The physicians pronounce it a
case of apoplexy. Mr. Grimes was pastor of the Twelfth Baptist
Church, on Phillips Street, in this city. During the twenty-six
years of his ministry in Boston he had won the confidence and
regard, not only of his own sect, but of the entire community.
His labors for the good of his oppressed race attracted public
attention to him more than twenty years ago, and this interest
manifested itself in the generous contributions of Unitarians,
Episcopalians, and Universalists in aid of his church. During the
thirty-four dark days of the infamous Fugitive-Slave Law, and the
excitements occasioned by slave hunts in Boston, Mr. Grimes had a
'level head,' and did much to keep down riotous outbreaks from
those who then were told that they had no rights that white men
were bound to respect. Fortunate, indeed, will be the church of
the deceased, if his successor, like him, shall be able to keep
them together, and lead them in righteous ways for a quarter of a
century."