Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Charles Aldarondo
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
The American Missionary
OCTOBER, 1894.
VOL. XLVIII. NO. 10.
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL.
ANNUAL MEETING, 345
LOWELL, 346
FINANCIAL STATEMENT, 347
CAPITAL AND LABOR, 348
THE ALASKA MISSION, 349
DEATH OF HON. A.C. BARSTOW AND OF REV. GEO. S. SMITH, 350
THE SOUTH.
THE WALDENSES AT VALDESE, N.C., 351
NOTES FROM THE MOUNTAINS, 354
"NOLICHUCKY JACK'S" DESCENDANTS, 355
PROMISING OPENINGS FOR SCHOOL AND CHURCH, 356
SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES, 357
CAPPAHOSIC'S SIXTH COMMENCEMENT, 359
PRAYERFUL AND INDUSTRIOUS FAMILY, 361
A VISIT TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, 362
THE INDIANS.
MISSION SERVICES AT TWO KETTLE VILLAGE, 363
INDIAN MISSION COLLECTIONS, 366
THE CHINESE.
THE PRESENT DISTRESS, 366
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
ANNUAL MEETING--A FEW WORDS TO BOYS, 368
WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS, 371
RECEIPTS, 373
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,
Bible House, Ninth St. and Fourth Ave., New York.
* * * * *
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.
Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter.
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT, MERRILL E. GATES, LL.D., MASS.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
Rev. HENRY A. STIMSON, D.D., N.Y.
_Corresponding Secretaries._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _Bible House, N.Y._
Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., _Bible House, N.Y._
Rev. F.P. WOODBURY, D.D., _Bible House, N.Y._
_Assistant Corresponding Secretary._
Rev. C.J. RYDER, D.D., _Bible House, N.Y._
_Recording Secretary._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _Bible House, N.Y._
_Treasurer._
H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., _Bible House, N.Y._
_Auditors._
PETER McCARTEE.
RICHARD S. BARNES.
_Executive Committee._
CHARLES L. MEAD, Chairman.
CHARLES A. HULL, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
CHARLES A. HULL,
ADDISON P. FOSTER,
ALBERT J. LYMAN,
NEHEMIAH BOYNTON,
A.J.F. BEHRENDS.
_For Two Years._
SAMUEL HOLMES,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
WILLIAM H. STRONG,
ELIJAH HORR.
_For One Year._
WILLIAM HAYES WARD,
JAMES W. COOPER,
LUCIEN C. WARNER,
JOSEPH H. TWICHELL,
CHARLES P. PEIRCE.
_District Secretaries._
REV. GEO. H. GUTTERSON, _21 Cong'l House, Boston, Mass._
Rev. JOS. E. ROY, D.D., _151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill._
Rev. W.E.C. WRIGHT, D.D., _Cong'l Rooms, Y.M.C.A. Building, Cleveland, Ohio._
_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._
Miss D.E. EMERSON, _Bible House, N.Y._
* * * * *
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to the
Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances, to the
Treasurer; letters relating to woman's work, to the Secretary of the
Woman's Bureau.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post office orders, may be
sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Bible House, New York, or, when more
convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House,
Boston, Mass., 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill., or Congregational
Rooms, Y.M.C.A. Building, Cleveland, Ohio. A payment of thirty dollars
constitutes a Life Member.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label," indicates the
time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on
label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made
afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please
send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former
address and the new Address, in order that our periodicals, and
occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH, the sum of ---- dollars, to the 'American
Missionary Association,' incorporated by act of the Legislature of the
State of New York." The Will should be attested by three witnesses.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XLVIII. OCTOBER, 1894. No. 10
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
ANNUAL MEETING.
Our annual meeting at Lowell, Mass., October 23d to 25th, promises to be
an occasion of great interest. A large proportion of the addresses will
be from missionaries. The work throughout the year has been greatly
blessed, despite the difficulties it has had to meet from lack of
adequate means. The meeting opens at three o'clock, Tuesday afternoon,
and the annual sermon will be given by Rev. Charles H. Richards, D.D.,
of Philadelphia, in the evening, followed by the communion service.
* * * * *
ARRANGEMENTS FOR OUR ANNUAL MEETING.
A partial and tentative programme of our Annual Meeting has been
prepared. Times are provided for open discussion or the "free
parliament." But it is deemed necessary to secure some able writers and
speakers to prepare reports and deliver addresses on special and
important topics.
We are happy to announce that at this writing a number such have
promised attendance. Among these we may name the President of the
Association, Merrill E. Gates, LL.D., President of Amherst College; Rev.
Chas. M. Lamson, D.D., Hartford, Conn.; Rev. DeW. S. Clark, Salem,
Mass.; Rev. Dr. McKenzie, of Boston; Dr. Lyman Abbott, of New York; Hon.
Frederick Douglass, of Washington; and his Excellency, Governor
Greenhalge, of Massachusetts. Some others have been invited from whom
favorable answers are expected.
A marked feature of this meeting will be the unusual number of
missionaries and workers from the field, who will give living pictures
of things as they are. Following the happy precedent of other years,
each of the co-operative Congregational societies will be represented by
a speaker chosen by itself. These addresses will be brief, and will
manifest the feelings of harmony and comity existing between these
societies.
The meeting promises to be an interesting and valuable one. The topics
discussed are of vital importance to the work, and the addresses will be
worthy of the topics. Lowell is accessible, and its welcome will be
cordial.
* * * * *
LOWELL.
The city of Lowell has long enjoyed a national, even world-wide
reputation, as the leading center for the manufacture of cotton fabrics.
And, while this industry offers employment to something like 25,000 men,
women and children, there are also enterprises in great variety that do
not use cotton fibre in any way, yet find work for ten to fifteen
thousand more toilers. The principal corporations are the Lawrence,
Tremont and Suffolk, Merrimack, Boott, Massachusetts, Hamilton and
Appleton, beside the Middlesex, where shawls are made, and the carpet
mills, where the famous Lowell carpets are woven. While the city is a
veritable beehive of industry, yet the people find time for recreation,
and have wisely provided breathing places in different parts of the
city, where they can recuperate mind and body. The prominent pleasure
resorts are Fort Hill park, the North and South commons, Park Garden,
the boulevard--extending three miles along the bank of the Merrimack
River--and Lakeview, an attractive watering-place some five miles out
from the center. This latter place is reached by means of the Lowell and
Suburban Street Railway, an electric line, which also connects the
neighboring villages of North Chelmsford, Dracut, North Billerica and
Chelmsford Center. A ride to any one of these places costs but twenty
cents for the round trip, and the Lakeview line is especially
interesting at its terminal.
The city's moral and educational interests are also well provided for,
as evidenced by the following: 30 churches, 47 primary schools, 10
grammar and 1 high school, besides a training school for teachers, and a
manual training-school for boys; also a prospective State normal school.
We also have three or four hospitals, an old ladies' home, and a home
for young women and children. The police protection consists of a chief,
his deputies, captains and sergeants, and about one hundred patrolmen.
The fire system of the city is excelled by none in the country, and is
well worthy a careful inspection.
Lowell is not favored with a great many pretentious edifices on her
public streets, but the most prominent are the new City Hall, High
School, Memorial Building, State Armory, St. Anne's Church and the
Federal Building. The city is already furnished with a thorough water
system, but, desiring a better quality of water than that taken from the
Merrimack River, she has had a large number of artesian wells driven,
and they now furnish about 3,000,000 gallons of water per day. All the
principal streets are well lighted by electric lamps, and the
residential portion by gas.
The Merrimack River affords a means of enjoying aquatic sports, there
being rowing boats, canoes, sail boats and steamers in abundance. Two
very enchanting spots up the river are Tyng's Island and Harmony Grove,
and if one desire a longer trip by water he may ride to Nashua, N.H., by
steamer or other boat.
The population of Lowell is probably about 80,000, and excepting in
specially hard times there are few persons to be found in want of a
situation. These are only a few of Lowell's salient points, but enough
is here given to convey to the visitor a very fair idea of the city's
make-up.
* * * * *
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
We wish to present to the friends of the American Missionary Association
a full statement of its financial affairs, its debt, its retrenchments;
its still greater debt and the still greater retrenchments that will be
inevitable unless during the coming year its receipts can be greatly
increased. It is not our aim to make a startling cry for transient
relief, but for a steady increase of receipts to remove debt and insure
the stability of the work.
At the close of our last fiscal year, September 30th, 1893, we reported
a debt of $45,028.11. In that year we received aid from the Government
for Indian work. During the eleven months of this year we have received
no aid from the Government, but our receipts from other sources have
increased over those of last year, and we have cut down our
expenditures, so that if we had received the Government aid as last year
our debt on the eleven months of the current year would be only
$5,409.80, but with that loss the actual indebtedness of these eleven
months is $23,937.10, which added to that of the last year makes the
total debt August 31st $68,965.21. From present indications we can
hardly hope for any material reduction of this amount during the current
month, and hence the prospect is that this sum must be reported at our
annual meeting.
A grave contingency confronts us as we enter (October 1st) on the new
year. Our great work, which has lifted thousands of young men and women
from ignorance and poverty into hopeful and useful lives, and which has
brought cheer and help to multitudes of homes where poverty has reigned,
must be carried forward; and our debt, which has hung as a weight upon
this work, must be wiped out. A constantly increasing debt must be
avoided at any cost. The next six or eight months (the harvest months
for collections) must decide the question. If pastors of churches will
lay the matter to heart and secure regular and increased collections,
and if benevolent friends of these struggling races will bear them in
remembrance by special contributions, an uplift of hope and help will be
given where now they are threatened with discouragement in their great
conflict with poverty, ignorance and race prejudice.
* * * * *
CAPITAL AND LABOR.
Capital and labor are twin brothers, but they have been alienated almost
from childhood, and the strife between them waxes warmer and warmer,
and, like all other vexed questions, will never be settled till it is
settled right.
There are various forms of these troubles--now in the coal mines, now on
the railroads, and now in the shops--but there are aspects of the
struggle which put on national traits and overthrow empires. The French
Revolution was a struggle between capital and labor. The capitalists
were the aristocracy, and they monopolized also intelligence and power.
With these advantages they ground down labor till patience was changed
to implacable rage, and the reaction brought forth the most serious and
terrible massacres recorded in history.
Our great civil war of 1861-65 developed one aspect of the conflict
between capital and labor. The slaveholders were the capitalists, and
with them also were the intelligence and power. These levers were used
to crush down the laborer into the severest form of slavery known among
men. Labor was patient, but large sympathy was developed in the North in
favor of the slave. This alone would not have brought on the war.
Southern capitalists gloried in their power, and, accustomed to absolute
domination over their slaves, assumed the same attitude of superiority
over their fellow-citizens of the North. They ruled in Congress,
dominated over the press and the pulpit, and, ambitious to extend their
dominion, demanded larger territory for the extension of the slave
system. When this was refused, they set up an independent standard and
brought on the war. The end was disastrous to the South. The capitalists
were well-nigh ruined and the slaves were set free.
On this same plain, growing out of the embers of that same conflict,
another and almost as threatening a struggle is rising up before us. The
white race in the South still largely controls capital, intelligence and
power, and these forces are again used to hinder the impoverished
laborer. The white man holds office, from which the black man is
excluded, who is denied opportunities and privileges which crush his
manhood. The contest is again unequal, and the outcome must take one of
two forms. Either the oppressed laborer will rise in rebellion--and
whatever may be the ultimate result the conflict will be dreadful--or,
on the other hand, the laborer, denied education, a comfortable home and
a chance to accumulate property, will sink into an utterly hopeless
degradation, a curse to himself and to the whole South.
What is the remedy for all this? There is a remedy, and if applied
promptly may save the nation from either of the catastrophes we have
named, and that is: Give the black man a chance to acquire property,
education and power equal to his white neighbor, and the elements of the
struggle are gone. This is the work the American Missionary Association
is attempting to do. It meddles not with theories, or parties, but aims
quietly to give the needed help to the Negro.
* * * * *
OUR ALASKA MISSION.
Letters received from Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jackson and Mr. Lopp give us the
gratifying assurance that the mission is by this time opened under
favorable auspices. Dr. Jackson found on reaching Alaska that Mr. Lopp
had visited the mission at Cape Prince of Wales this spring and
discovered that the buildings, furniture and supplies were in good
condition. Mr. Lopp, in response to our request, has consented to return
to the Cape and re-open the mission. He greatly regrets that an ordained
minister was not sent, and expresses the earnest hope that another
season this necessary addition will be made, but he consents to return
and do the best he can. He has little fear of violence from the natives,
finding them completely intimidated by the threats of the captain of the
revenue cutter "Bear."
The experiment of introducing the reindeer into Alaska is thus far very
encouraging. Mr. Lopp has had a herd under his care at Port Clarence,
and although the winter has been unusually severe one hundred and fifty
fawns were added to the herd. The Government has promised to our mission
at Cape Prince of Wales this season one hundred reindeer, and Mr. Lopp,
with adequate help, will have the care of them. The ultimate success of
this experiment with reindeer in Alaska is one of great promise. It
indicates a food and clothing supply for the natives, with increased
facilities for transportation, thus laying the foundation for growth in
population and in civilization.
It will be remembered that of the three men connected with the horrible
murder of Mr. Thornton, two were at once arrested by the natives and
shot. The third, Titalk, who was the leader, escaped for the time. Mr.
Lopp thus describes his death: "After the 'Bear' had left for the South,
Titalk came back to the cape, and his uncle, Te-ed-loo-na led him up on
the hillside near the grave of Mr. Thornton, and asked him how he should
put him to death, strangle him, stab him or shoot him. The boy preferred
to be shot, so he commanded him to hold his head down and then shot
him."
Mr. Lopp furnishes another evidence of the disposition on the part of
the leading natives to guard the interests and property of the mission:
"On one occasion during the winter Chief Eliguok heard that a boy had
broken into the school-house, and he announced his intention to kill the
boy, but upon investigation it was found to be a false report."
We trust that in the good providence of God, this mission will be made
prosperous and be greatly enlarged, that its missionaries will be
preserved in safety, that the natives will become more orderly, that the
influence of the school and mission may bring to them peaceable fruits
of civilization and Christianity.
* * * * *
HON. A.C. BARSTOW.
We record our tribute of sorrow at the death of Hon. A.C. Barstow, which
occurred September 5th. He was for many years intimately and usefully
connected with the growth and prosperity of the city of Providence,
R.I., which was his home and where he died. He was a man of wide
sympathies in Christian and patriotic work, having held responsible
offices in his native State, and was connected with other public
movements, like that of the Board of Indian Commissioners, of which for
a time he was president. He was a devoted Christian man, active in the
church of which he was a member, and deeply interested in the missionary
and benevolent boards of the Congregational churches. He was for a long
time a vice-president of our Association.
* * * * *
REV. GEORGE S. SMITH.
"Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ!
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master's joy!"
This may be fittingly said of Rev. G.S. Smith, who for thirteen years
was pastor of the Congregational Church at Raleigh and McLeansville,
N.C., and who entered into rest on the 12th of last August. Memorial
services were held on the 26th of August in the church where he had long
and faithfully conducted the worship of his people. Addresses were made
by those who had been intimately associated with him in his work, which
testified to the earnestness and success of his ministry. The best proof
of his work is to be seen in the intelligence and virtue of the
community in which he labored.
Our field missionary in a recent visit speaks in this way: "It is very
rare to find colored people under such discipline and so orderly and
intelligent in meetings. The faces of the old people are sunny and
sweet, they are so attentive and appreciative and so responsive. The
young people were at the meeting in large numbers. It will give you an
uplift from your work to spend a day or two with the people of this
place in meetings such as they now hold."
THE SOUTH.
* * * * *
THE WALDENSES AT VALDESE, N.C.
SECRETARY C.J. RYDER.
This new field of work, which was reported for the first time at our
annual meeting last year, is one of unique and especial interest. Two
years ago the steamship Kaiser Wilhelm arrived in New York with one
hundred and sixty-six Waldenses among her steerage passengers. These
people came from the Piedmont valley and mountain regions of Italy.
Their purpose in coming to America was to establish for themselves homes
in our own mountain region of the South. This little company that came
down from the deck of the Kaiser Wilhelm were the pioneers in the
establishment of their colonies in this new land. They were rather the
Pilgrim Fathers of this Waldensean movement. Before the actual colonists
had come, Rev. Chas. A. Tron, D.D., pastor of the Waldensean Church, and
member of the Board of Evangelization in Italy, had been to the mountain
regions of North Carolina, and after careful investigation had purchased
a tract of land for these Waldensean colonists.
Soon after the coming of these Waldenses, correspondence was opened with
them by the American Missionary Association. The colony was to be
planted in the midst of our great mountain field, and we had every
confidence that the coming of these conscientious and devoted Christian
colonists would be of real helpfulness in our work there. Rev. C.M.
Prochet, D.D., whose name is well known to the readers of this magazine,
and to the Christian public generally, came to look after the interests
of the Waldensean colony not long after their first settlement. In
conference with Drs. Tron and Prochet, and after learning thoroughly the
condition of their colony, an appropriation was voted by the Executive
Committee to assist them in the beginning of their work, as they were in
great need of such help.
These Waldenses have begun their settlement in America in a wise and
sensible way. Let us notice their business-like arrangement before
speaking of the interesting educational and religious work which has
developed among them with the assistance of the Association.
They have purchased five thousand acres of land. In dividing this land,
they first set aside a portion for a church and manse, together with a
small farm for the use of the pastor. Then they set aside a good,
commodious site for the school-house. After this a considerable portion
of the land, three thousand five hundred acres in extent, is divided
into farms of fifty acres each.
In addition to this first company who came on the Kaiser Wilhelm, others
have come at various times until there is a considerable colony there.
These people are poor. They come from the splendid stock of Waldenses
who have been so potent a factor in freeing thousands in France and
Italy from the degrading superstitions of Romanism. As all our readers
know, the Waldenses have stood for religious freedom from first to last
The fibre of their character has been tested through many a conflict.
Dr. Edward Everett Hale, who told the story of the Waldensean heroism
and devotion in the beautiful legend "In His Name," brings out the noble
features of their character in soft, yet bright colors. It is most
fitting that our Congregational churches through the Association should
welcome this new colony and extend to them the right hand of Christian
fellowship. This they have done.
As soon as the colony was established and the people were felling the
forests and building their humble homes, they applied to us for
assistance for the support of the pastor and teacher. The colonists
themselves made large sacrifices, and only asked us to assist them in
the support of their religious and educational leaders.
Rev. Enrico Vinay, a native of Italy, was their first pastor. Mr. M.A.
Jahier, was selected as their teacher. Mr. Jahier, together with Dr.
Tron, was in conference with us in New York, and the simple, Christian
character and progressive educational ideas of the Waldensean teacher
charmed and impressed us all. He went into the field and opened a school
and Sunday-school at Valdese, as the colonists call their mountain
village.
The Rev. Enrico Vinay remained with the people for nearly a year, being
in regular correspondence with the officers of this Association. He was
then called to another field, and Rev. B. Soulier was chosen as their
pastor. Mr. Soulier is also a native of Italy. He is a thoroughly
educated young man, and speaks English readily. He was educated in his
own school in Italy, and completed a course at Edinburgh University in
Scotland. His work is proving most successful.
Such is the interesting and providential beginning of our work in
conjunction with these Waldenses in this field. We have this new problem
upon our hearts and treasury. Who can say that God has not led us into
this work, and opened this opportunity for helpful and sympathetic
co-operation with these earnest Christian people who have settled in our
southern mountains?
In the reports which have been regularly received from this field, very
many items of great interest have been recorded. The Waldenses, above
everything else, are Christian patriots. They love the fatherland and
they love also America, the land of their adoption. In one of the
reports from Mr. Jahier, the following interesting information is given:
"Sunday, June 24th, I preached to a good and attentive congregation. I
had the Sunday-school at half past eight and the preaching at ten in the
morning, and prayer-meeting at four in the afternoon. At this last
service I went to a farm called Baziglia. It is named for a place in one
of the valleys of Piedmont--a place which is noted as a fortress during
the persecutions of the Waldensean Church. It was the refuge of the
Waldenseans when they reconquered their native country after their exile
in Switzerland, Germany, etc., and in memory of that famous place, two
or three families gave to their farms the same name. The Fourth of July
was celebrated here at the school-house. There were forty-four children.
I spoke to them of the independence of the United States of America, its
founders, its Declaration of Independence, etc. For July and August it
is impossible to have the day school; it is too hot, but I will continue
the night school, D.V., at least for two or three nights a week. The
Sunday-school will go on as usual--no vacation for the Sabbath school."
The old fortress of Baziglia witnessed many heroic efforts of the early
Waldenses, both in defense and attack. The name is very dear to the
children of the earlier heroes, who have established Valdese in this
land, and so named some of their farms and homes Baziglia. The glimpse
given us in the quotation above, of the life in this Waldensean colony,
is an impressive picture and a most hopeful prophecy. These Waldenses
can not prove "dangerous foreigners" who come to our shores with earnest
Christian plans and purposes, and read the Declaration of Independence
to their children on their first Fourth of July in America!
Photographs of the buildings at Valdese were recently sent to our
office. Among others was one of the manse and one of the school-house.
These two buildings are of especial interest to our constituency,
because we help the pastor and teacher. Over the school-house in which
our pupils gather was floating the stars and stripes. These earnest
people who celebrate the Fourth of July, who read publicly our
Declaration of Independence, who plant the stars and stripes on the top
of their school building, are the kind of foreigners that we need, and
they certainly merit our most cordial assistance in the beginning of
their life in our land.
In church polity the Waldensean Church differs slightly from our
Congregational sisterhood. The local church is independent in the
direction of its affairs. They have a "Board of Evangelization" which
has supervision of their churches. Dr. Tron, a member of this board and
president of the American branch, has properly great influence with the
local church. The Waldensean Church naturally looks to Dr. Tron and Dr.
Prochet for counsel and direction. This church at Valdese recognizes
itself as in fellowship with our great Congregational body, and
especially with the local churches of North Carolina.
This new and interesting field has opened more and more largely during
the past year, as additional colonists have come to our shores. Despite
the financial embarrassment of our treasury, we rejoice that we have
been able to assist these brave and patriotic Christian people in
establishing themselves in this mountain region of the South. We believe
the opportunity of assistful co-operation with them is one that God has
opened to us. We have every confidence that the descendants of Pilgrims
and Puritans will rejoice in the privilege of assisting those in whose
hearts there is the same passionate desire for religious freedom, and
who are the children of equally heroic stock.
* * * * *
NOTES FROM THE MOUNTAINS.
BY MISSIONARY WALTON.
In one of my visits to a neglected home I found a little orphan boy of
ten years whom I invited to our mission Sunday-school, and he seemed
pleased to know he had a friend. I had told them, during my visits, of
our little Sunday-school, and as I was leaving I gave him a little
Sunday-school card with a beautiful verse of scripture and asked him if
he could read, whereupon, he answered, "No;" then I asked his
foster-mother if she would teach him the text--she promised, as by this
time she too was getting interested. I left them seemingly glad for the
little time I had spent with them in their home.
Some time after this I was going down town, moving briskly along, when a
small boy came plump up against me, saying, "Hello, mister! don't you
know me? You're the Sunday-school man which was to our house. I know
you." "O yes, I know you now," and I said, "tell me about yourself." "I
have been to Sunday-school four Sundays, and have a nice teacher, and
enjoy going very much; we are in a little class and have lesson-picture
papers, and I like it so much I want to go every Sunday and all the
time. I know a boy who does not go to Sunday-school, and he has promised
to go with me next Sunday."
Saturday evening, June 2d, it was my privilege to meet with the Mossy
Grove Christian Endeavor Society. About forty-five young people were
present and took a hearty part in the meeting--quite a number joined in
prayer during the twenty minutes' prayer service. This service was all
the more interesting because a work of our planting, and from a very
small beginning has grown and is full of Christian earnestness.
This was the home of the "unfortunate man" I had found as I went through
the mountains. It was my privilege to look into that man's face and note
the change that had come to him. In the Sunday-school I was teacher of
his class. He seemed interested in the lesson and showed evidence of
being a changed man. As I preached of the "sprinkled blood" he somehow
appreciated all the more how he had been rescued. In the house-to-house
work among this people I found many encouraging results and think our
work there will develop until we have a church organization.
In one county I found a number of people off by themselves in a little
nook of a valley, but not over two miles from Sunday-school and church,
yet not attending. As I went into their homes and talked about their
opportunities and duties, many promises were given that the future would
find them more active for themselves and children. One man who had not
been in Sunday-school for four years made a humble confession, and
pledged that he would go to work. He spoke of his early life with its
Christian activities, and now when he has a family he has neglected to
take them and go to the house of God. So many men are waiting for
somebody to lead them to their duty--they see it and know it--but have
not moral courage to go forward unless encouraged in some special way.
On Children's Day I was in Pleasant View, and am sure if our Northern
friends could have looked in and have seen the bright, happy children
that were engaged in their first Children's Day service they would have
been encouraged and rejoiced. Of course the service was far from
perfect, but while this was true they were having a new experience. I
had told them about Children's Day, and urged them to use our order of
exercises, which they did, but the songs and recitations were too hard
for most of them; yet, as I saw the real effort and interest, I could
not restrain the "well done." But this was not all; I was again to be
surprised when the names were called and the "little envelopes"
presented with their "little Children's Day offering." They were happy
in the thought of doing something for the good people who had aided
them. They are very poor people and cannot do much, but a great change
has come over them since I first found them. Our Christian Endeavor
meeting that day was one of profit and help to all. One little boy about
ten years old led in prayer.
During the month there have been two hopeful conversions and many
evidences of spiritual strengthening and growth. On the other hand,
hundreds are waiting for some one to help them "while the water is
troubled." In all the meetings of the month there has been a marked
evidence of spiritual interest.
* * * * *
"NOLICHUCKY JACK'S" DESCENDANTS.
REV. JOS. E. ROY, D.D.
After I had preached recently at Naperville, Ill., Sunday morning, upon
our mountain work, using the big map, a couple of ladies came forward
and introduced themselves as descendants of John Sevier, the Huguenot
"commonwealth builder" in the mountains of Tennessee, the hero of King's
Mountain, as I had represented him to be. One of the ladies was Mrs.
Knickerbocker, her husband being one of the most respected citizens of
that place--his own stock being that indicated by his name. She is now,
as she has been for many years, the lady principal of the college in
that town connected with the Evangelical Association Church. Her mother
was a Sevier and her father, Rev. John Cunningham, a Presbyterian
minister from Jonesboro, East Tennessee, who came early to Illinois to
get away from slavery, and who served acceptably that Congregational
Church of Naperville. She was a granddaughter of John Sevier. The other
descendant was Miss Sevier, a great-great-granddaughter, a cultivated
young lady, who was a teacher in a college in Ohio.
It was at least a noticeable coincidence that out here upon these
western prairies two of those worthy representatives should confront the
preacher, who found his response to be, "Well, I didn't say anything bad
about John Sevier, did I?" What a grand coalescing of blood was that
which in the gathering of our nation brought Knickerbocker and Huguenot,
Scotch, Irish and English and Germans, with congenial Danes and Swedes,
into our people's life. It was also a bond of union, North and South,
too strong to be separated by civil strife. It is an element in the
make-up of the South that will ever be a conservative force in behalf of
theology, of law and order, of Puritan institutions.
* * * * *
PROMISING OPENINGS FOR SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
FROM A MOUNTAIN MISSIONARY.
I write to acquaint you with the facts concerning Columbus, N.C., both
as regards church and school work. You are already aware of the good
work accomplished there by our Brother Olinger. Something like thirty
young people were converted through his efforts, and now the call comes
for the organization of a church. The only church organization there has
monthly meetings only and a minister uneducated.
The County Commissioners have signified their willingness to turn over
the upper room in the Court House for church purposes, until some other
arrangement could be made.
The most active person in the new enterprise is a member of another
denomination, but is in favor of a Congregational church, as it would
most likely meet the wants of new-comers of different churches.
As regards the school matter, I understand that a friend proffers to
give to any church or individual who will establish and maintain a
college an excellent site of ten acres, on a prominence affording a
beautiful view of the surrounding country; and it is further reported
that he will give, in addition to the site, one thousand dollars.
Columbus is situated in a very thickly populated section of the country,
and Mr. Stearns, of Cleveland, Ohio, has erected two school buildings
suitable for primary work, and already has employed two Congregational
teachers at his own expense. The results obtained after two years' work
are marvelous, thus showing that the mountaineers are extremely anxious
to obtain an education; and in proportion to the increase of facilities
for so doing, the results would increase.
* * * * *
SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES.
BY REV. GEORGE W. MOORE.
Three thousand people were present at the Commencement exercises of
LeMoyne Institute, Memphis. That vast audience paying an admission fee
on an inclement evening to attend the closing-exercises gives evidence
of the strong hold LeMoyne Institute has on the people.
The essays and orations were thoughtful addresses on the practical
questions of the day. The meeting of the alumni association evinced the
high regard in which Professor Steele and his corps of teachers are held
by the graduates. The association expressed their intention to aid
Professor Steele to sustain departments of the industrial work that had
to be given up on account of hard times.
An amusing and interesting incident, which illustrates the struggles of
many of the parents to educate their children as well as their faith in
God, occurred at the alumni dinner of Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
At the close of the Commencement, Rev. H.H. Holloway, of Turin, Ga., the
father of one of the graduates, was called upon for an after-dinner
speech. Mr. Holloway told of a letter he received from President Cravath
when he felt compelled, owing to the hard times, to have his son John,
who had been in the University only four months, return home. Mr.
Holloway, being unable to decipher the president's writing (the
president's chirography resembles that of the late Horace Greeley--ED.),
asked a Southern minister of his village to read it. The minister read
the letter, and advised him not to waste his son's time with a college
course; this did not prove good logic to Mr. Holloway, as he observed
that this minister's son was taking a college course of study without
wasting his time.
We will let Mr. Holloway tell the rest of the story of the letter and
his prayer in his own words: "Not being satisfied with the minister's
advice I went that night down into the woods and knelt beside a
hickory-tree, with the letter spread out, and prayed as follows: 'Lord
here is a letter from Dr. Cravath; I suppose you know him. Here is his
letter which I cannot read, but I am told that you can read as well in
the dark as you can in the light. Dr. Cravath says for me to do all I
can for my son, and look to you for the balance. Now I cannot do
anything for my son; if he is to be aided you must do all, for one thing
is certain I have no money; you have left none with me, and I do not
know with whom you have left it. Now, dear Lord, I leave this whole
matter with you. In your own way and time do for my son what seems best.
I cannot do anything. I ask it all for Jesus' sake. Amen.' I repeated
about the same prayer the following night, and then left it all with the
Lord. In about two weeks I received a letter from my son stating that
some one had put two hundred and fifty dollars in the bank at Nashville
to his account to aid him through college. I considered it the direct
answer to my prayer. This is the proudest day of my life to see my son
John graduate from Fisk University. May the blessing of God rest upon it
and upon the Association which founded and fosters it."
There was an unusual number of the parents of the graduates at this
Commencement. Some of the addresses and scenes recalled the words of the
aged Simeon when our Lord was presented in the temple. There were
fathers and mothers who at great sacrifice had come from Alabama,
Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and other States to see this famous school
and witness the graduating exercises of their children. They spoke out
of hearts full of gratitude to their Northern friends for making it
possible for their children to fit themselves for their life-work in the
schools of the American Missionary Association.
An ordination service of special interest was held at Atlanta, Ga., in
July, when Mr. H.H. Proctor was ordained to the gospel ministry as
pastor of the First Church. He is twenty-five years old, one of "Uncle
Tom's" sons, and is a graduate of Fisk University and Yale Divinity
School. This was the first ordination held in this church, and the first
Negro pastor to serve it, as all the former pastors were Northern men.
Already all departments of the church have taken on new life, and the
future is full of hope. This is one of our largest and most influential
churches of the South, and starts out auspiciously with Pastor Proctor,
as a self-supporting church.
The Second Church of Memphis, Tenn., which has been self-supporting for
a number of years, reports a year of prosperity under its new pastor,
Rev. George V. Clark. The building has been renovated, and over fifty
persons added to the church. The church at Chattanooga, Tenn., with Rev.
Jos. E. Smith as pastor, has made heroic struggles during these hard
times as a self-supporting plant. At times the struggle has seemed
greater than they could bear, but in the midst of all they have been
cheered and sustained by the Lord. The new parsonage at Marietta, Ga.,
gives Pastor Lane a pleasant home. Our church at this point is near the
Kenesaw Mountains, where Sherman shouted to his soldiers, "Hold the
fort, for I am coming."
The people at Louisville were glad to have the field missionary expound
our New Testament polity to them at the second anniversary of the
dedication of their chapel. Pastor Harris has some earnest workers in
his church. Dr. Whedbee, the superintendent of the Sunday-school and the
president of the Christian Endeavor, is a graduate from Howard
University. He has an excellent practice, and is a devoted Christian
worker.
I must close these notes with an example of church work that shows what
can be done in our Southern field when pastors and people have a wise
direction and a mind to work. I find the following record in the minutes
of the Tennessee Association for 1893. "Nashville, Howard Chapel. The
church is not prosperous. Services have been discontinued. An effort,
however, is to be made to revive and develop the life and power of the
church." This effort took form in the appointment by the Association of
Rev. J.E. Moorland, of Washington, D.C., as pastor last October. The
appointment was made for ten months, with a view of continuance if the
work proved fruitful. What has been the result of these ten months just
ended? The church has been revived, its membership increased to
seventy-five, congregations large and growing, a nourishing
Sunday-school and mission school, two preaching services on the Lord's
day, and a vigorous Y.P.S.C.E.; a wide-awake mid-week service, a woman's
missionary society, and a sewing-school for girls. The church edifice
has been renovated at a cost of three hundred dollars, and a parsonage
is being erected. For intelligence, Christian character and progressive
work, this church is considered the best among colored people in the
city.
* * * * *
CAPPAHOSIC'S SIXTH COMMENCEMENT.
BY DEACON SAMUEL HOLMES.
May 31st was a proud day for Gloucester County, Va., for not only was
Hon. Frederick Douglass to give the annual address, but the new
dormitory called "Douglass Hall" was to be used for the first time. With
only the roof on and but partially covered, still the lower story had
been temporarily floored and seated so that a thousand persons could be
accommodated. Although the previous twenty-four hours had been dark and
rainy the crowd had been gathering all the time--many of whom
accompanied the Holly Grove Brass Band in early morning to escort Mr.
Douglass and other visitors from the river to the school building.
After breakfast the school went on with its regular forenoon work,
interesting the visitors, who also inspected the barn, the workshops and
farm. By noon the campus and vicinity was a wonderful sight, while the
outskirts reminded one of an old-fashioned general training in
Connecticut, with its booths and tables. An official count of teams on
the campus as reported to me was, 357 horse, 7 mule teams, and 1 ox
team. Many of these had driven fifty or sixty miles, and generally
carrying the fodder behind or tied under the wagons. There were from
1,500 to 2,000 people on the grounds and vicinity.
At 1:30 p.m., after a well prepared lunch for the trustees and invited
guests, they were escorted by the school, headed by the band, to the new
hall, which was soon filled to its utmost capacity. With excellent music
by the school and band, followed by prayer, came not the least important
part of the programme, the collection and pledges towards completing the
building. Including the admission fee of twenty-five cents from
outsiders, the money raised was over three hundred dollars, besides over
eight hundred dollars in good pledges, of which two hundred and fifty
dollars were from Mr. Douglass and his relatives present. Then followed
an address on "Self Help," by a young man graduate, and another by a
young woman on "A New Picture," contrasting the present surroundings
with the time when she first entered the school in its beginnings under
Mr. Weaver, in a small log-house with one door and two windows. These
addresses would have done credit to many older institutions.
Mr. Douglass then followed with his incomparable lecture on "Self-Made
Men." One could but feel in seeing his magnificent physique and his
manly bearing as he proceeded, that he was a most notable example of his
subject, while to report his lecture, with its impromptu sallies of wit
and wisdom, would be almost impossible. He instanced many men as
illustrations and especially interested his audience with stories of
personal interviews with Lincoln, Seward, Greeley, Stanton, Grant and
others during and after the war.
But most thrilling was the story of a slave boy and his following him
from his early years, his learning to read and write, his conversion and
desire to become a preacher, praying for three or four years, every
morning, noon and night, that God would set him free, and how that his
prayers were not answered till he prayed with his heels. At about
seventeen years he ran away, reaching Massachusetts, where he publicly
told his story, till, hearing that the slave catchers were after him, he
fled to England, where he lectured till his English friends purchased
him from his late master for $750, when he returned to his native land
and worked in the anti-slavery cause till by the war every bondman was
free. He has since served his country as U.S. Minister to Hayti, U.S.
Marshal at Washington, and in other positions of trust, and also tried
to serve his race to the best of his ability. It needed not that he
should further identify himself, but if so he could do it by the scars
on his back and the "bill of sale" of himself in his pocket.
Mr. Douglass believed most heartily in Cappahosic, and has two very
efficient granddaughters there, one at the head of the culinary
department, and the other as teacher.
Short addresses followed by Rev, Mr. Spiller, of Hampton, Va., Mr. Lewis
Douglass, and the editor of the _Afro-American_, Rev. M. Alexander, of
Baltimore, Md. The writer told of, and is glad here to bear witness to,
the noble, self-denying labors of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver and their corps of
teachers and scholars during these struggling years, as also to the
growing and earnest help of the people around them in sustaining the
school to so large a degree. They appreciate most highly the fostering
care and help of this Association, and hope that within a few years they
may be able to take the entire pecuniary burdens upon themselves.
Mr. Holmes told of the breaking of the ground for the new building last
winter, under very trying difficulties, with little to draw upon but
their oft-proved Bank of Faith and Prayer, and of Mr. Weaver's coming
North for help, and his return, telling his wife he hardly ever felt so
discouraged. She handed him a letter which came in his absence. On
opening it, he exclaimed, "Bless the Lord! here is a check for $250."
Reading the letter, he shouted, "Praise the Lord! it is $2,500," and he
has been praising Him ever since and praying for more, for he needs
about twice as much to complete and furnish the building, which is 70x46
feet, and three stories high.