EMORY UNIVERSITY
THE SONS OF ALLEN.
BISHOP HICHARD ALLEN.
— THE
SONS OF ALLEN
— BY -
REV. HORACE TALBERT, M. A.
TOGETHER WITH A SKETCH OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF
WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY,
WILBERFORCE, OHIO.
XENIA, OHIO.
THE ALDINE PRESS,
1906.
Copyright. 1906.
by
Horace Talbert.
DEDICATION.
O the great Afriean Methodist Episcopal Church
throughout the world ; to the memory of its
founder, Richard Allen, whose Christ-spirit and
dauntless courage made him a builder for time and
eternity; to its constantly increasing membership and
friends who gladly attest the vitality of its teaching
in the formation of perfect Christian character, this
book is affectionately and respectfully dedicated.
Thi-; Attiiok.
PREFACE.
HE Wise Man truly said "of making many books there is
no end," and never were books good, bad and indifferent,
more multitudinary than at the present day. But I offer
no apology for adding to the number. For the story of a good
man's life, however imperfectly it may he told, is the sowing of
a good seed, destined to influence, directly or indirectly, the inter¬
ested reader. And the possible good that may come to the young
men and women of our Church from the perusal of the heroism,
patience, determination and ultimate success as found in this little
collection of sketches is the primal cause of its existence ; and if
one heart is encouraged to perseverance in duty's pathway, how¬
ever rough and thorny it may be, the author will feel more than
repaid for the time, labor and personal sacrifice represented by
the book.
Not yet fifty years from slavery, these sketches portraying the
proud success of lawyers, doctors, authors, editors, ministers,
business men, scientists, college students, etc., are worthy of re¬
demption from obscurity as an earnest of still greater things
promised by the future. And I well know that there are hun¬
dreds of others whose life-stories are well worth careful preserva¬
tion, but time and circumstances forbade their garnering by me.
A number of the sketches are meagre in incident, owing to
the fact that many persons conversant with the lives of these
noble men were lax and indifferent about furnishing the data and
v
events, and it was virtually out of mv power to gather fuller
and more intimate knowledge concerning■ them ; this fact, together
with the many important calls upon mv time has embarrassed
and retarded the work. And to manv, who perchance will criti¬
cise the sketches as lacking in incidents, I kindlv sav, von knew
that I desired them and failed to respond to mv plea. To those
who have given material and svmpathv to the work, I return
my earnest and sincere gratitude for their aid.
I again sav that the book has been prosecuted amid a steady
pressure ol other duties imperative in their nature, and part of
the time when the shadow of bereavement rested on my home;
but it goes to the public .with the sincere wish that it may win
admiration and remembrance for the worthy lives inscribed upon
its pages, and carry with it the blessing of the great Father
served bv all. ™ .
Ihk Author.
VI
INTRODUCTION.
By William S. Scarborough, A.M., Ph.D.
THE SONS OF ALLEN.
HE Rev. Horace Talbert, B.A. M.A., the author of the fol¬
lowing pages, is a graduate of Wilberforce University
( Classical Course ) and is pre-eminently qualified for the task
he has taken in hand. He is a man of strong and vigorous
mind, of scholarly attainments, and is a logical and forceful
preacher — indeed a theologian of no mean type. By education
and association a part and parcel of the great Church of Allen
and Payne. Prof. Talbert is among the strong men of our Zion
from whom we may expect great things.
After leaving his Alma Mater, by appointment he went East
where he spent several years in Boston, Cambridge and other
centers in that section of country, and where he had special oppor¬
tunity of adding to an already well stored mind. He did not fail
to make the best use of the advantage offered. The experience
gained there constituted a grand outfit with which to begin life
and was of especial service to him in his future work.
From the East he was called to a Professor's Chair in his
Alma Mater, ( Classical Department) thence to the responsible
position of Financial Secretary and Business Manager of the In¬
stitution, a position which he now holds, and one in which he has
rendered invaluable service to the University. It was he who
secured, through the munificence of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the
beautiful and substantial library building which now adorns
the campus of the University. The bequests of Mr. George W.
vii
Hardester, of Lrbana, Ohio, and Mr. James Callanan, of Des
Moines, Iowa, were also secured through him.
It is with great pleasure, therefore, in compliance with the
request of the author, that I offer a brief note of introduction
to his book. "The Sons of Allen" is its title, and a more
appropriate name could not have been chosen.
Allen and his sons mean much to the Race, much to the
world. If Bishop Allen had not lived, we would not have had,
possibly, the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
If Martin Luther had not lived we might not have had a
Reformation. Yet it is possible to conceive of both without either
of the great leaders mentioned. For if God had willed it other¬
wise, he would have provided other means, other agencies to
accomplish the same end. But he did not. Richard Allen lived,
and he lived for a purpose. He played his part well. God had
reared him and set him apart for that end. He will, therefore,
alwavs live in the hearts and memories of those who are the re¬
cipients of his benefactions. Generations unborn, as they come
into being, and as thev come on the stage of action, will call him
blessed. Well mav they do so.
Richard Allen was more than a mere reformer, more than
the mere founder and organizer of a great Church. He was a
man, everv inch a man, a man of ideas, of principles, a man of
convictions, and the courage of the same. Though without the
training of the schools, he had native abilitv — and best of all
hard, common sense. Richard Allen had no superior among his
fellows. He was pre-eminentlv a leader. He despised shams, and
hated Race prejudice in all of its forms.
When therefore oppressed because of his Race and color,
he seized the opportunity quickly, and as a result the African
Methodist Episcopal Church sprang into being, and now, with
nearlv a million members and communicants its influence is felt
the world „over.
Who would not be proud of the Sons and Daughters of
Allen's Church, its Bishops, its Clergy, its Laity — all that it
represents0 Here we find some of the ripest and best brain pro¬
duced by the Negro people. Who would not be proud of a
Church that makes it possible for this brain to receive the verv
VIII
highest development in all lives that make for the good of the
Race, for the good of mankind; of a Church that knows neither
color nor color prejudice? Of a Church that recognizes the Fath¬
erhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man?
God grant that such a Church may have no end of days,
and that it may continue to grow and flourish. Its destiny, its
future, howrever is in the hands of its sons and daughters.
It was onlv when Israel became an apostate — when she
refused to heed the advice given her that God forsook her. He
plead with her long and patiently through his prophets without
avail. She had become wedded to her idols, so God let her alone.
Histor}r does sometimes repeat itself. Allen's children have a
precious legacv. Let them appreciate the responsibility and yet
fear God and keep his commandments.
March, 1906.
IX
INDEX.
Page
The Allen Pilgrimage 22
The Church of Allen as a Factor in the Development of
the Race 24
Extracts 28
Wilberforce University, Her Rise and Progress 263
The Growth of African Methodism 284
Alexander, Rev. W. G., D.D 38
Allen, EiisHOP Richard 17
Allen, Rev. G. W., D.D 142
Anderson, Rev. W. T 240
Arnett, Bishop Benjamin William 182
Atwater, Anak Thomas 137
Avery, John Moses 164
Bentley, Rev. Daniel S., D.D 186
Biggers, Rev. W. T., A.M., 88
Boone, Rev. Charles Henry 114
Bryant, Rev. Martin Stalky 193
Brown, S. Joe, A.M., LL.D., 80
Brown, Rev. George Frederick 92
Brockett, Rev. Joshua A 63
Brooks, Rev. Reuben B., D.D, 40
Brookins, Rev. Robert Burns 194
Burgan, Rev. Isaac M., D.D 54
Butler, Rev. D. M 113
Caliman, Rev. David F 66
Carolina, Rev. Francis B 68
Carson, Rev. B. M 100
Christy, Rev. Levi Edward 146
Coleman, Rev. John Clay 86
XI
Pack
Coston, Rkv. W. Hilary, D.D 232
Cox, Rev. J. R 198
Cook. Rev. William Uhcatuk, D.L) 140
Cooper, Rev. John Wesley 202
Cray, Rev. Isaac Charles 151
Curry, Rev. P. F 110
Davis, Rev. Henderson 206
Derrick, Bishop William B 226
Dickerson, Rev. John 216
Dickerson, Rev. John Henry 77
Douglas, Prof. H. B 105
Edwards. Rev. W. Henry, D.D., 236
Fenwick, Dr. Louis Madison 124
Fountain, Rev. William A 132
Gaines, Bishop Wesley J., D.D., 165
Gazaway, Rev. John Wesley 172
Gibson, William H., Sr 102
Goins, Rev. Joshua Van Buren, D.D., 218
Gould, Rev. Theodore 35
Grant, Rev. Henry Albert 237
Grant, Bishop Abraham 56
Grimes, Rev. W. W 158
Gwynn, Rev. Joseph 174
Hamilton, Rev. John F 50
Highgate, William Baldwin 74
Hill, Rev. Andrew Henry 65
Hubbard, Rev. James H 144
Hunt, Rev. P. C., D D., 98
Hunter, Rev. William Hammett, D.D 36
Hurley, Rev. Robert French, D.D., 148
Jackson, Rev. Adam 90
Jackson, Rev. Thomas Henky, D.D., 200
Jenifer, Rev. John T., D.D 220
Johnson, Rev. William Decker 244-
Jones. Rev. Joshua H., A.M., D.D., 253
Jones, Rev. Otho Eli, D.D., 76
Kkaling, Prof. H. T 60
Lampton, Rev. Edward W., D.D., 120
xii
Page
Laws, Rev. W. D.D. 48
Lewis, Rev. John Wesley 210
Lee, Bishop Benjamin F., D.D., 180
Lee, Nathaniel Hammond 112
Lindsay, Rev. James A., D.D. 170
Luckie, Peter Alphkus 215
Masterson, Prof, George Ellsworth 82
Maxwell, Hon. C. L 70
Maxwell, Rev. J. P 96
Mixon, Rev. Winfield Henri, D.D. 44
Morley, Rev. Jonesimus, B.A., 117
Morris, Rev. J. E 150
Moten, Rev. D. S 248
Moorr, Rev. D. P 106
Msikinya, Rev. Henry Colburne 136
McDonald, Rev. J. Frank 250
Nicholson, Rev. George W., D.D., 58
Newsome, Rev. Henry Nasby, D.D., 134
Ngcayiya, Rev. Henry Reed 84
Norris, Rev. J. W 78
Parks, Rev. Henry Blanton, D.D., 212
Payne, Rev. James Henry Davis 241
Pearson, Rev. W. B 62
Phillips, Rev. W. A J., D.D., 196
Porter, Rev. George Wellington, D.D., 94
Pryor, Rev. Paul Still 122
Rankin, Rev. James W 108
Ratliffe, Rev. Louis William 110
Roberts, Rev. B. W., D.D., 126
Robinson, Rev. O. D., D.D., 176
Salter, Bishop Moses B 199
Sampson, Kev. George C 53
Scarborough, Wili.iam S 159
Scott, Rev. John.sR , D.D., 154
Scott, Rev. Timothy Dwight US
Scott, Rev. O. J. W., D.D., 168
Seals, William H. S 222
Seaton, Rev. Daniel P 42
xiii
PAGE
Shields, Rev. S. W., P.E., liSS
Singleton, Rev. R. H., D.D., 156
Sishuba, Rev. Isaiah Goda 190
Smith, Bishop Charles Spencer 72
Smith, Rev. Seth Desmond Waldema 204-
Smith, Rev. Thomas J. Broad-Ax 238
Stewart, Rev, Nicholas Bernard, D.D 208
Sutton, Rev. J. M 152
Sydes, Rev. Marion Francis 24-6
Talbert, Rev. Horace 256
Thomas, Rev. William H., M.A., 93
Tolliver, Rev. Phillip, D.D 224
Townsend, Rev. J. M., D.D., 128
Traverse, Rev. Matthew W., D.D., 138
Turner, Bishop Henry M 32
Tyree, Bishop Evans 234
Walker, Rev. James W., D.D., 162
Welch, Rev. Isaiah Henderson 130
Winslow, Mr. Clyde 203
Woodson, Rev. Thomas Wesley 131
Wright, Rev. Carter 46
Xaba, Rev. Jacobus Gilead 229
Yeocum, Rev. William Henry 178
XIV
THE SONS OF ALLEN.
BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN.
FOUNDER OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
N HOLY ZEAL, in singleness of purpose, in purity of heart,
in the joyous faith with which privation, toil and persecu¬
tion were met, the life of Bishop Richard Allen embodies
the words of him who wrote, "none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of
the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
On the fourteenth day of February, 1760, a slave woman
belonging to the household of Benjamin Chew in Philadelphia,
held in her arms a new born son, whom she little dreamed was to
be the founder of the great African Methodist Episcopal Church
throughout the world.
Richard was still a little boy when his parents and four of
their children were sold to a man residing near Dover, Delaware;
but he describes his new master as tender and humane to his
slaves though not a Christian.
The religious experience of Bishop Allen began in his child¬
hood ; lie early knew the rapture of loving faith, the darkness of
doubt and the burden of unconverted souls around him ; he
delighted in his membership with the Methodist Society and was
spiritually blest in the class-meetings held in the forest near the
eitv of Dover.
The fact that he and his brother were permitted to go to
meeting on every other Thursday was criticised by their master's
neighbors, who said that such privileges would be ruinous to
B - 17-
them ; whereupon to show their owner that religion meant
fidelity to duty they would stay at home when the crops seemed
to demand their care. This loyalty was noticed by the master
and he declared "that religion made slayes better and not worse,"
and consented to Richard's request that some of the Methodist
preachers might come and preach at his house ; and it was
through the influence of one of these men of God that he pro¬
posed that Richard and his brother should buy their time, pay¬
ing him 60£ gold and silyer.
This chance of freedom was heralded with joy, and
Richard went to work cutting cord wood, but the unusual toil
so blistered his hands that tliev were almost helpless ; he prayed
to the Lord for help, and in a few days his hands were well and
he was often able to cut two cords a day. He then worked in a
brickyard, did day's work, anything to swell the little pile that
meant manhood and freedom, but wherever he was his heart
was continually lifted in prayer, " sitting, standing or lying."
Driving a salt wagon in the time of the Continental war, he
had his regular stops and preaching places on the road.
After the proclamation of peace, he traveled through a
part of Delaware and New Jersey preaching the Gospel of Christ,
often compelled to stop and cut wood or perform other labor,
lor he had but little money, and like St. Paul he desired to sav,
"these hands have ministered unto mv necessities." He more than
once suffered from rheumatism, and his feet were blistered by
continual walking. But he always found an open door of kind¬
ness, and hearts and hands ready to comfort and relieve.
His congregations were more often composed of white than
colored people, and there was no thought of race distinction as
they crowded around the altar, moved by his words of power,
anxious to confess their sins and find peace at the Cross.
A present of a horse proved a great source of help. He
traveled into Pennsylvania, meeting his first congregation at
Lancaster, where he " found the people in general dead to
religion and scarcely a form of godliness;" after preaching at
Little York he went to Maryland.
In December, 1784-, he attended the first General Conference
of Methodists in America. It was held at Baltimore, and
- 18--
eminent divines from England were present. Here the Society
merged into the Episcopal Methodist Church ; ministers were set
apart in holy orders and some claimed the dignity of the gown;
this formalism was greatly deprecated by Rev. Allen and in after
years he traced to it the decline in religious zeal of the church.
It is pleasant to note the cordial relations that existed
between Rev. Allen and his white brethren in the pulpit.
Bishop Asbury asked him to travel with him through the South,
but told him he could not mix with the slaves and that he
would often have to sleep in the carriage ; the proposition was
declined on the ground that in case of possible illness he might
fail to receive the kind treatment desired.
In February, 1786, Rev. Allen was preaching in Philadelphia
where he saw the need of evangelistic services among his own
people, as but few of them attended public worship; he estab¬
lished prayer-meetings and organized a small religious body of
forty-two souls; to them he suggested the erection of a church
for colored people, but only three colored men, who like himself
were members of St. George's Church, approved the plan; in a
short time the separate prayer-meetings of the Negroes were for¬
bidden by the Elder. Rev. Allen says in his little autobiography
that the colored people " were considered as a nuisance."
The congregation of St. George's Church began to look
with disfavor upon the increased attendance of the black race
upon its Sunday services, and they were moved from the seats
usually occupied by them and placed around the wall ; one Sun¬
day morning the sexton ordered them to the gallery, and several
of the trustees finding them too far in front, tried during prayer
to force them from their knees and push them farther back.
At the close of the prayer the colored people present left the
church in a bodv. This outrage led ultimately to the building
of the first African church in America.
Its erection brought a storm of persecution about its pro¬
jectors. Threats of public dismissal from the great body of the
church were made against them, and the white Elder was
vehement in his efforts to stop the work. But many warm and
sincere friends were found among the white people. Dr. Benjamin
Rush and Mr. Robert Ralston proved especially true in their
-19-
friendship, the latter acting as treasurer of the new eliureh fund.
Rev. Allen, as the first proposer of the African Church, had
the honor of putting the first spade into the ground when the
cellar of the edifice was dug. After the completion of the
building came the decision as to the denomination with which it
should be connected. The majority of the congregation voted
in favor of the Church of England ; Rev. Allen and Rev.
Absalom Jones made a small minority that desired an alliance
with the Methodists ; for notwithstanding the harsh treatment
received from that organization he recognized it as the church
most powerful in reaching and influencing the common people. But
the majority carried the day, and the church went into the
fold of the Church of England. In 1793, being then the only
colored minister in the city, he was solicited to take charge of
the new church; but allegiance to his Methodist convictions
forbade it.
The desire for a Methodist Church for his people daily grew
stronger ; purchasing the frame of an old blacksmith shop, he
moved it to a lot on Sixth near Lombard street, and had it
fitted up for church purposes. In July, 1784-, the little building
was consecrated by Bishop Asbury, and the first African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church was established.
The Church was induced to enter the white Conference.
For ten years all went well, when unexpectedly a white presiding
Elder demanded the keys and church books, and forbade the
holding of sacred services only when specially permitted. The
congregation claimed the premises, but found, to their surprise,
that incorporation with the Conference had deprived them of the
right of ownership. Legal advice was taken, and it was
ascertained that if two-thirds of the Church so desired, with¬
drawal from the Conference was properly in order ; it was
effected without the knowledge of the Elder and a rumpus
followed. For several years there were constant annoyances
from some of the white Methodist charges who insisted upon
furnishing the church with ministerial supplies and wanted exor¬
bitant amounts from the congregation in payment. One resident
Elder asserted his right in preaching and caring for the church,
and upon being requested to confer with the trustees, replied
- 20 -
that, " He did not come to consult with Richard Allen or other
trustees, but to inform the congregation that on next Sunday
afternoon he would come and take the spiritual charge," but
he found the pulpit occupied at the appointed hour. Another
Elder appealed to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus,
to know why the pulpit was closed against him. This brought
about a law-suit which was decided in favor of the Church.
This state of affairs did not exist alone in Philadelphia,
but was the experience of the colored people in Baltimore and
other places, who had now organized places of worship for their
own people.
But in 1816 many difficulties were removed bv the calling
and organizing of a Conference, which placed the African Methodist
Episcopal Church among the legallv recognized religious bodies
of the world.
Rev. Richard Allen endeared himself to many of the citizens
of Philadelphia during its terrible visitation with vellow fever in
1793 ; he nursed the sick and buried the dead with a Christian
courage and tenderness that enrolls him among the heroes of
the earth.
He lived to see the seed planted by his love and faith grow
into a mightv tree that shall never wither, for its roots are
fed by the love and care of the immortal Son of God; and in
the glorious hope of a blessed immortality, at the age of
seventy-two vears, this fearless and valiant Christian man closed
his eves upon earthlv scenes. March 2(>, 1831, was the day of
his translation.
2t ~
THE ALLEN PILGRIMAGE.
PROGRAMME OF THE FIRST GRAND PILGRIMAGE
TO THE TOM Ii OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS I>K AD, BISHOP RICHARD ALLKN,
FOUNDER AND FIRST BISHOP OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BY MEMBERS OF THE THIRD
EPISCOPAL DISTRICT, IN COMPANY WITH
OTHERS WHO DESIRED TO GO.
THE EXERCISES WERE HELD AT MOTHER BETHEL CHURCH, SIXTH
STREET, BELOW PINE, PHILADELPHIA, PA., ON TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY I 4, 1905, ON THE I45TII ANNIVER¬
SARY OF BISHOP ALLEN'S BIRTH.
AFTERNOON M E ETIN C,.
Devotional Exercises, conducted by Theodore Gould and
Horace Talbert.
"Richard Allen as an Educator," Rev. I. W. L. Roundtrec, I).I).,
Newark, N. J.
"Richard Allen as an Emancipator and Benefactor of His Race,"
Rev. G. C. Sampson, Clarksburg, W. Va.
"African Methodism in New Jersey," Rev. J. L. Hammond,
Camden, N. J.
Bishop B. W. Derrick, D.D., and Dr. Barnabus, of the Church of
the Catacombs at London, England, addressed this meeting.
- 22 -
PROGRAMME — Continued.
evening meeting.
Invocation.
"The Allen Pilgrimage; its Purpose and Influence," Rev. C. M.
Tanner, D.D., Allegheney, Pa.
"The Itineranev as a Factor in the Development of Methodism,"
Rev. W. H. H. Butler, D.I)., Harrisburg, Pa.
" The A. M. E. Church as a Factor in the Development of our Racial
Life," Rev. D. S. Bentley, D.D., Pittsburg, Pa.
"The Motives by which Allen was Actuated in Founding the
A. M. E. Church," Rev. R. W. Fickland, D.I).,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Prof. C. W. Clark conducted the music.
On the morning of February 14th a sight-seeing tour was
made to old St. George's Church, Independence Hall, Book Con¬
cern and other points of interest.
Committee of Arrangements,
W. B. Anderson,
R. H. Bumrv,
W. H. Brown,
P. A. Scott, Secretary,
C. M. Tanner, Chairman.
-23-
THE CHURCH OF ALLEN AS A FACTOR IN
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE.
PART OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED I«Y REV. I). S. BENTLEY, D.I).,
AT TIIE FIRST ALLEN PILGRIMAGE CELEBRATION, IN
PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 14, 1905.
ICHARD ALLEN, the founder of the African Methodist
P^piseopal Church, was the embodiment of noble eharac-
teristies that enabled him to infuse an ideal manhood and
womanhood into a people whose past was dim with antiquitv
and overshadowed with ignorance, and stained with the immoral
habits and customs of their condition and environment; a
people without hope of ever being lifted from shame and
servitude except in some mysterious way by the power of Him
who balances the spheres and holds the elements in control.
Through Allen's achievement we rise to a greater knowledge
of the God that raised him up for the wonderful work ; a work
that reveals him not only as a champion for his black brother,
but also as one who stood for the cause of human rights and
religious libertv for every soul 011 the face of the earth.
More than a centurv has passed since the exodus from
St. George's M. E. Church, (which, to sa}r the least, was, to all
intents and purposes, a strike for religious freedom) and within
that space of time has developed a wonderful church organiza¬
tion whose power is felt throughout the world.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church in its structure,
its politv vigorously carried out, stands to-day as an imperish¬
able monument to the memory of its heroic founder. Its demoe-
- 24-
racy of doctrine is, perchance, proving the strongest Church
agency in solving the so-called Race Problem. For while in
its inception it has sometimes been called a " Race Church,"
and its mission from the day of its birth until the present time
has been essentially to a people ostracized and discriminated
against in nearly every walk in life, no person was ever excluded
from its communion on account of race or national distinction.
Its birth was of absolute necessity and by the laws of necessitv
it must live to accomplish its work of destruction of race
barriers and race injustice. For the Christian civilization of a
great republic like ours cannot dignify and promote its highest
possible greatness without the concentration of all mental,
moral and religious forces upon those sublime principles which
have for their basis, "God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, and
Man our Brother." In this particular mission the Church of Allen
shares the hopes and fears of all who believe in the principles of
a Government, " Of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Racial advancement, in many things, is like that of an oak,
slow in development but grand in potentiality ; and while our
material growth does not satisfy our highest ambition, nor
measure up to our greatest expectation, yet when viewed in the
light of the trying ordeals to which we, as a people, have been
subjected, the heights reached are phenomenal when compared
with other races of the world who possessed advantages far
superior and means more ample.
When wc emerged from the smoke of the struggle that
liberated four and a half millions of people from abject servitude,
the Church of Allen became the most practical agency in the
hand of God in meeting those emergencies which came with the
new conditions of American life ; and the system of moral,
mental and religious training inculcated by it has continued to
adjust itself to everv new condition and demand of the Race.
To those who would question the validity of this asser¬
tion we point with pride to the schools, colleges, universities
and statelv church edifices, whose existence relate not only the
historv of aggressive and successful effort, but measure up to
the required standards of the age. A great Educational system
which meets the demands of the Race with a financial depart-
- 25 -
ment out of which is paid more than half a million of dollars
annually to carry forward the work so well begun, is, in itself,
an object lesson to the world. And the sincerity of the desire of
our Race to attain the highest ideal of citizenship is attested by
the practical, as well as the ethical lines along which this education
of our young people is directed; the theological and literary
departments in our institutions are close neighbors to the rooms
in which the student is taught the science and art of the indus¬
trial world about him in which he is to play an important part.
To the influence of the Church of Allen may be ascribed
much of the advanced religious thought of the times so vital to
the permanency of national life and the development of a
national conscience ; its lessons of Christian faith, self-govern¬
ment and virtuous life are mighty factors in the establishment of
character, both individual and national.
The historv of the colored American is virtually embraced
in the years stretching from 1787 to 1905. The founding of
the little African Methodist Church in the city of Philadelphia
was truly the Plymouth Rock of his religious independence,
which in time was to become the corner stone of his intellectual
and personal freedom ; the one enfolded the other.
There is no diminution in the influence of this Church and
its founder upon the lives and hearts of men to-day. His soul
purified bv the holy fire of Divine love and luminous with the
white flame of consecration to the visible advancement of the
Church of God, his heart tender with the wrongs inflicted upon
his race and strong in an abnegation that meant persecution and
suffering, constituted him a worthy leader in a cause that
meant alliance with God in the salvation, both spiritual and
physical, of a people that to-day delight to revere and bless his name
But great as is the honor due him, and gladly given, it
must be shared with those upon whom his mantle fell when he
was called to the Church Triumphant; heroic souls who, through
the storm and stress of the early days of church establishment,
uncomplainingly and patientlv met defeat and persecution
with undaunted hearts, confident that thev were building for
eternity and that the cause dearer to them than life, would be
blessed with golden results by the Lord they served. Wonder-
- 26 -
iully has their faith been rewarded, for the African Methodist
Episcopal Church to-day stands at the head of all activities of
good in the elevation of our people and the development of a
citizenship that is an honor and power in the land in which we live.
The golden age of our race lies not in the past but in the
future, and the Church of Allen is one of the gates of blessing
through which we enter into possession of its limitless promise.
- 27 -
EXTRACTS
TAKEN FROM AN ADDRESS ON "THE ITINERACY AS A FACTOR IN
THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODISM," DELIVERED 1SY REV.
WILLIAM II. H. BUTLER, D.D., AT HETIIEL A. M. E.
CIIURCH, PHILADELPHIA, PA., FEBRUARY 14,
1905, ON THE OCCASION OF THE ALLEN
PILGRIMAGE CELEBRATION.
ETHODISM, both in its inception and development, is
remarkable for the complexity of interests to be con¬
served, as well as for the specific and peculiar agencies
necessary for its elaboration.
The summarizing of a set of rules for the regulation of the
conduct and life of church members (as our "General Rules"),
with the attachment of punitive laws for their infringement,
would have been impossible of successful accomplishment, with¬
out a strong centralized form of ecclesiastical administration ;
itself subject to still higher inspection and change as regards the
units constituting its membership.
The danger of misuse or abuse of delegated administra¬
tive and disciplinary authority is thereby reduced to a minimum,
and a problem, the gravity of which can scarcelv be estimated,
has been happily solved bv the svstem of the Itinei'acy, Metho¬
dism's just pride.
The history of the unprecedented growth and development
of Methodism in all lands and among all peoples, is a trust-
worthv witness to the necessity and efficacy of the Itineraev as a
Church agency. To properly consider it as a developmental
factor it must be regarded from three standpoints : The Episco¬
pacy, Presiding Eldership, and Pastorate. Reversing the order of
- 28 -
presentation the Pastorate is the saered office nearest to the
people, the masses, for whose benefit Methodism was primarily
intended; realizing also that both the Presiding Eldership and
Episcopacy exist by the reserved authority and powers vested in
the Itineracv.
Methodism denies that either the individual preacher, or
society, has the right to limit the sphere in which the talents and
services of one called of God, and accredited by the Connection,
shall be employed while ministering to the flock of Christ and
upbuilding the kingdom of God on earth. It maintains the
Ministry is God's gift to His church, and it is for this reason
"that all who continue to labor with us in the vinevard of the
Lord" are solemnly forewarned that they "should do that
part of the work which we advise, at those places and times
which we judge most to His (God's) glorv." In this admoni¬
tion lies the basic principle of the Methodist itineracy ; to its
observance is largely due the marvelous spread and development
of Methodism, which means the bringing of the greatest good
to the greatest number, which is verily a literal following of the
great Teacher, who Himself" went about (itinerarium ) doing good."
Methodists believe in calling into service the various gifts
of those divinely called to preach, viz, the evangelizing, the seed
sowing, the watering, the indoctrinating and the preservation
of the standards of Christian living; and because it is difficult,
if not impossible, to find all these spiritual qualifications
embodied in one man, and inasmuch as each and every church
needs care along all of these specified lines, the Itinerant s\rstem,
in turn, brings to each the help desired; the evangelist to awaken,
the pastor to feed and teach, the doctrinarian to confirm in the
faith, and the disciplinarian to set spiritual and temporal affairs
in orderly array.
We re-affirm the strength and power of the Methodist
Itineracv, and all honor is due those unselfish men of God who
come up to Conference, year after year, "not knowing what shall
befall them," glorying in their high privilege to spread abroad a
Saviour's love and satisfied if they may spotlessly and safely
keep the sacred charge committed to them.
The Presiding Eldership was a natural outgrowth of the
-29-
rapid development of Methodism, and like the Episcopacy, was
necessary for the proteetion of ministerial and lay interests whieh,
though really mutual, might easily, under certain contingencies,
become bitterly antagonistic and destructive of the peace, if not
of the very existence, of Methodism.
To travel throughout his district, to superintend every part
ot his work, is an Episcopal function and prerogative ; but in its
widest sense this would mean the investigation of the spiritual
and temporal affairs in each separate church society, a duty
manifestly impossible for one man to accomplish, owing to
the rapid increase of Methodist organizations; hence the ap¬
pointment of Presiding Elders, who, as Episcopal subordinates,
are assigned certain limited territory in which every pastor is
visited once a quarter; his relation to his charge investigated,
reports heard from the various church boards, and the maintain¬
ing or severing of the relation of pastor and people is mainly
dependent upon the reports made to the Bishop at the meeting
of the yearly Conference. The Presiding Eldership is a strong
factor in the success of the Methodist church.
As to the efficiency of the Episcopacy as an itinerating
agency in the spread of Methodism there can be but one opinion.
From the time of the sainted Richard Allen, the first of an illus¬
trious line, to the scholarly and consecrated bishops of the A.M. E.
Church to-dav, is an unbroken service of devoted lives illumi¬
nated with holy and unfailing zeal for the advancement of the
Redeemer's kingdom through the power and might of the teach¬
ings of John Wesley. The African Methodist Episcopal Church is
rich in the legacv of the heroic lives of its Bishops, and if our
church lines are daily taking in new territory, if Methodism is
advancing its banners among the religious organizations of the
world, much, very much, of the credit and praise must be given
to the sagacity, the foresight, the wisdom, the holy enthusiam of
the noble men that have constituted the highest ecclesiastical
authority of the church at large.
Who can estimate the perils from which our dear church
has, perchance, many times been saved through the prayerful
deliberations of our Bishops, or the direful consequences of ill-
advised and hasty legislation bv our General Conferences, but for
-3°-
the wisdom and conservatism of the Episcopal Quadrennial
Address, and their impartial rulings over the lesser councils of
the church.
Under the immediate care of the Episcopacy are the
Missionary, Educational and other vital interests of the church.
Their exalted position removes them from the bustle and excite¬
ment attending the contact with petty details, yet their hands
direct and govern all that affects the ministry and laitv in their
relation to the church and so serene has been this high authority,
so wise its deliberations, that for eighty-nine years there has
occurred no schism in the African Methodist Episcopal Church at
large, albeit that body is world-wide in influence and has attained
historical import.
No just estimate can be placed upon the impetus that the
Episcopacv has given to the development of Methodism bv
praver, the laying on of consecrating hands in the ordination of
the ministry, by travels, sermons, and addresses.
In what balance can be weighed the world-embracing labors
of Daniel A. Payne, Alexander W. Wayman, Jabez P. Campbell,
Thomas M. D. Ward, William Paul Quinn, Henry McNeal Turner,
Benjamin W. Arnett, William B. Derrick, Levi J. Coppin and
others of worthy fame ? Each and all have served the cause of
Methodism as founder, evangelist, preacher, pioneer, historian,
orator and missionary. It is impossible to estimate the value
and magnitude of their work. The church never can know what
it owes to the labor, zeal, devotion, and saintly character of its
bishops. Many of them rest from their labors, but their work
for the church so dear to their hearts wreathes their names with
flowers immortal. They have heard the glad "Well done" in the
glorious splendor of the Church Triumphant, but eternity holds
for them the jovous gratitude of myriads of saved souls who
w ill rise up to call them blessed.
BISHOP HENRY M. TURNER.
POSSESSING the love and
honor of the great re¬
ligious body over which
he wields ecclesiastical au¬
thority, Bishop Henry McNeal
Turner is a man eminent by
reason of broad intellectual
gifts and achievements, fervid
piety and rare executive ability.
His parents, Hardy Turner
and Sarah Greer Turner, were
residing in the vicinity of
Newberry Court House, South
Carolina, at the time of the
birth of their son, February
1, 1834. On his mother's side
he was connected with one of
the best families among those
commonly spoken of as "Free Negroes."
Educational advantages were very limited and he was
early placed among the toilers in the cotton field, but unflagging
determination made him master of the reader and the copy-book;
at fifteen years of age he was employed as a servant in a law
office at Abbeville Court House, and his willingness to act as
Mercury between the young advocates and their sweethearts won
the favor and interest of the office force and he was helped to a
knowledge of History, the Bible, Astronomy, Arithmetic and
Geography; but since his tinion with the Methodist Church
South, in 1848, the purpose of his life was to be one "set
apart" for its service, and upon receiving license to preach in
-32"
1853, he itinerated for several vears through South Carolina,
Georgia and other Southern States. In 1858 he transferred his
membership to the A. M. E. Church and joined the Missouri
Annual Conference; later he was transferred to the Baltimore
Conference, and for four years was stationed in the eitv of
Baltimore, and while there studied Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Theology
and German at Trinity College, and took a special course in
Elocution from Bishop Cummings of the Protestant Episcopal
Church.
In 1863 he left the pastorate of Israel Church, Washington,
I). C., to take the chaplaincy of the First Regiment, U. S. colored
troops, being the first colored Chaplain commissioned in the war.
He was mustered out in September, 1865, to receive from Presi¬
dent Johnson a commission as Chaplain in the regular army, but
served in an official capacity in the Freedman's Bureau in
Georgia, resigning in a short time to return to the ministry.
But his able brain was needed outside of pulpit limits in
that disturbed, almost chaotic, period of American history, and
for a time he engaged busily in the work ot organizing schools
for colored children. After the enaction of the Reconstruction
Laws by Congress, he called the first Republican Convention in
Georgia, and made many eloquent speeches in the interests of
the partv. An election to the Constitutional Convention was
followed by two terms in the Georgia Legislature. During the
administration of President Grant he received the appointment
of postmaster at Macon, and was afterwards appointed Inspector
of Customs and connected with the United States Secret Service
Bureau.
In 1876 the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church
made him General Manager of its Publishing House in Philadel¬
phia, and four years later the same body in convention at
St. Louis, Missouri, raised him to the Bishopric; the obligations
of this office have caused him to travel extensive!}', and confer¬
ences have been organized by him in Sierra Leone, Liberia,
Transvaal and Queenstown.
In the line of literary work Bishop Turner has placed his
church under manv and great obligations to his pen ; he is the
author of a little volume, " Methodist Polity," and has com-
piled a hymn hook and written a catechism, besides various
lectures and orations; two newspapers, now authoritative organs
in the church, were born in his fertile brain.
During his ministerial connection with the church, Bishop
Turner claims to have received over one hundred and six thou¬
sand persons into church fellowship in this country, Canada,
Africa, and West India Islands.
Bishop Turner has two sons, born of his first marriage to
Miss Eliza Ann Peaeher in 1856 ; in 1893 he was wedded to
Mrs. Martha Elizabeth DeWitt, and upon her death, the widow
of the late Bishop A. W. Wayman became his wife in 1900.
Bishop Turner is entitled to write a long list of letters
after his name, as the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon
him the degree of LL. D.; Wilberforce University that of I).I).;
and from Liberia College came that of I). C. L.
-34-
REV. THEODORE GOULD.
3
'IFTY years of unceasing
activity in the service
of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, have won
for the Rev. Theodore Gould
the reverent praise and will¬
ing admiration of the thou¬
sands that have been directed
and led on the " highway of
holiness" by his earnest life
and words. The tranquil look
011 venerable face tells
the
passeth
has been comfort
during the half-century of
storm and trial.
Rev. Theodore Gould was
born August 12, 1830, and waslicensed to preach in 1853 ; six
years later receiving Deacon's Orders, consecration to the Presid¬
ing Eldership following in 1861.
With the exception of six years connection with the New
Jersey circuits and a three years pastorate at Fleet Street A. M. E.
Church, Brooklyn, the first twentv-seven years of his ministry
were passed in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, a large portion
of the time being given to different pastorates in Philadelphia.
In 1887 he was transferred to the New England Conference,
then going from a three years pastorate in Boston to Bethel
Church in New York City ; returning to the Philadelphia Con¬
ference in 1892, to be eventually given the Presiding Eldership
over the Philadelphia District in the bounds of the Philadelphia
Conference.
It is the purpose of this veteran of the church to shortly
publish a detailed account of his ministerial labors, which will
be warmly welcomed by the church at large.
-35-
REV. WILLIAM HAMMETT HUNTER, D.D.
himself with Catherine Street A. M. E. Church in Newark, and
determined to become a minister; his first preaching was in the
pulpits of the churches at Elizabethtown and Rahway. In 1854
Bishop Quinn assigned him to the Penningtonville Circuit, but he
was afterwards transferred to the Baltimore Conference and
given a charge at Georgetown, D. C.
Feeling that a more profitable experience would come from
greater intellectual qualifications, he entered Wilberforce Univer¬
sity, remaining there three years, but during that period was
zealous in the interests of his beloved Zion, establishing preach¬
ing places, the present charge at Lebanon, Ohio, proving the
soundness of his work.
His education completed, Dr. Hunter returned to the Balti¬
more Conference, and was sent to Water's Chapel, Baltimore;
while filling this appointment he received from President Lincoln
a commission as the first colored Chaplain in the United States
HE DARK shadow of
slavery but lightly
touched the life of Dr.
Hunter, as his father bought
himself, wife and family, when
William, the eldest child, was
but a mere lad, and brought
them North to find a home on
free soil.
Raleigh, N. C., June 21, 1831.
After coming North his father
settled in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
and William obtained employ¬
ment as smelter and refiner in
a jewrelry manufacturing es¬
tablishment in Newark, N. J.
William was born in
The young man identified
-36-
army, an honor of which he is justly very proud. Faithfully and
earnestly did he sow the Gospel truth in the camps of the " bovs
in blue."
At the close of the war, Dr. Hunter was assigned by his
Conference to important charges in Washington, D. C., Wilming¬
ton, N. C. and Pittsburg, Pa. For several years he superintended
the business affairs of the Book Concern of the A. M. E. Church,
being transferred at the expiration of his term to the New
England Conference, and stationed at Boston, which pastorate
was followed by one at New Bedford; but the Virginia Confer¬
ence wanted him, and he was sent to the city of Richmond,
going afterwards to other leading charges in the State, to event¬
ually return to the Baltimore Conference, to be made, at the
close of a successful pastorate at St. Pauls, D. C., a Presiding
Elder. His life of active service in the church was finished with
the termination of his Eldership, and he was placed on the list
of superannuated ministers.
He lives in comfort in his beautiful home at Anacostia, D. C.,
rejoicing in the consciousness of a life well spent, and that his
work will in the morning of eternity, bring him an exceeding
"great reward."
REV. W. G. ALEXANDER, D.D.
AS A CHRISTMAS gift,
Rev. W. G. Alexander
D. D., came to his
parents, Lewis and Celia
Alexander, in 1856.
His early schooling was
obtained in the public schools
of the District of Columbia,
after which, on the recom¬
mendation of Dr. Chas. B.
Purvis, he entered Howard
University where his ability
and studious habits won
much commendation from his
able instructors.
He became a member of
the Baltimore Conference
during its session at Union
Bethel (now Metropolitan) under Bishop J. M. Brown and was
ordained Deacon and Elder by Bishop D. A. Payne, at Hagers-
town, Maryland, in 1883.
Dr. Alexander began his ministry with a zeal peculiarly his
own, and with a determination to succeed, that has ripened
into large upbuilding of the interests of the church, and the
mental and social progression of his race.
He has with great success filled important appointments at
West River and Frederick, Md., Portsmouth, Va., Montgomery
and Birmingham, Ala., and Columbus, Atlanta and Macon, Ga.
In connection with his spiritual work has been constant care
and interest in the building and remodeling of churches and
parsonages in his pastorates.
While stationed in Virginia, Governor Fitzhugh Lee honored
him with the Curatorship of Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute, and his capable services won for him liberal comraen-
-38-
(lation from those in high places. In 1889 he was selected bv
the Bishop's Council at Charleston, S. C., as Fraternal Messenger
to the C. M. E. General Conference at Little Rock, Ark., and his
address to that assembly brought him wide-spread praise and
fame.
The presidency of Payne University sought him, but he
declined the flattering position, preferring to work in the rank
and file of the itineraev ; and he was one of the distinguished
representatives of his race at the Congress of Religions at the
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893. Four years later he
was elected Dean of the Theological Department of Morris
Brown College where he acceptably filled the Chair of Biblical
Literature.
As a leetui'er upon religious themes Dr. Alexander has but
few equals in the field; and his eloquence has thrilled the students
of Ttiskeegee, Clark University, Spellman Seminary and other
prominent educational centres in the land. To his forethought
and interest in his race, the influential Southern Afro-American
League, organized at Macon, Ga., owes its existence.
Among the numerous honors conferred upon him, none are
more highly esteemed than the degree of Doctor of Divinity
bestowed by Wilberforce University, and he is, at the present
time, greatly interested in his duties as Dean of Turner Theo¬
logical Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.
Besides being liberally endowed with unusual literary ability
that has brought several thoughtful publications from his pen, as
"Living Words," "(The Negro in Commerce and Finance," "The
Model Sundav School," Dr. Alexander possesses the art of
musical composition, and was selected by Bishop D. A. Payne to
write musical settings to three of the Bishop's original hymns.
Dr. Alexander not long ago celebrated the "silver" anni¬
versary in his ministerial work.
-39"
REV. REUBEN B. BROOKS, I). D.
IX YEARS before the
birth of the subject of
our sketch, December
18, 1860, in Leon County,
Florida, his father, Daniel
Brooks, bought his freedom,
but his mother remained a
slave until freed by the Eman¬
cipation Proclamation.
Reuben learned to read at
his Sunday school, as in
those days much of the
instruction imparted \v a s
similar to that of the week¬
day school, and he became
very familiar with the con¬
tents of Webster's blue-back¬
ed Speller and Saunder's First
Reader, and soon committed to memory the two hymns that
were a fixed part of the regular exercises, " I want to be an
angel," and "Come thou fount of every blessing."
At fourteen years of age he was forced to leave the public
school and go to work on a farm, as his father was dead and
lie was the chief support of his mother ; but Providence placed
in his hands a catalogue of Cookman Institute, and he procured
the books that made the course of study in that institution, and
at night after the hard day's toil was over, would gloat over
their intellectual treasure ; thus, when he had reached his nine¬
teenth year he was able to successfully pass an examination for
school teacher, and until 1883, was employed in the public
schools of his native State. The next four years were given to
mercantile interests, after which he published a paper and opened
a real estate office in Ocala, Florida, later, for one year, filling
the office of Inspector of Customs at Key West.
-40-
Since 1882, the year of his conversion, he had been licensed as
an Exhorter and Local Preacher, and in 1893 entered the itineracy
of the A. M. E. Church, and has done excellent work in a
number of pastorates of the Florida Conferences. His sermons
have convinced hundreds of the beauty and truth of the Chris¬
tian life, and his energy and persuasiveness have proved very
effective in freeing churches from debt and strengthening new
organizations. He is now serving his second year as pastor in
Macedonia, Florida.
Rev. Brooks has for four years most satisfactorily filled the
office of Secretary of the Florida Conference, and was elected
Recording Secretary at the last General Conference. The degree of
Doctor of Divinity was the gift of Morris Brown College.
Rev. Brooks, has been twice married. His first wife, Miss
Nannie Smith, to whom he was united in 1880, dying in two
vears ; in 1884, Miss Jennie Denkins became his wife, and with
their little flock of five children, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks live happy
and useful lives in their pretty home at Jacksonville, Florida.
-41 -
REV. DANIEL P. SEATON.
N'
'0 MAN IS more widely
and favorably known
in the African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church than
Rev. Daniel P. Seaton, who is
as well versed in medical lore
as he is in theology.
He was born of free par¬
entage in Reistertown, Balti¬
more County, Maryland. By
a private teacher he was
taught to read and write.
Leaving his native place when
about fifteen years of age, he
went to New York, where he
obtained a common school
training.
He was still quite young
when he was licensed to exhort by the Quarterly Conference of
the Vine Street A. M. E. Church in Buffalo, N. Y. But feeling a
need of more education he took a high school course before join¬
ing the New York Conference.
His first appointment was at Morristown station, but
Bishop A. W. Wayman soon transferred him to the Philadelphia
Conference, stationing him at Wilmington, Delaware. In
two years he was sent to Frankford Church, Philadelphia; while
in this city, his over-mastering love for study led him to take a
medical course at the American University of Medicine, winning
a diploma in 1871.
A number of the most influential pastorates in the A. M. E.
Church have been strengthened and prospered through the minis¬
try of Rev. Seaton ; among them are St. Stephens, Wilmington,
N. C. ; Union Bethel, Washington, D. C. ; and Bethel Church,
Vermont street, Indianapolis.
- 42 -
Dr. Seaton has traveled extensively both at home and
abroad ; visiting the great eities of continental Europe, and was
the first colored tourist to the land of the Saviour's wonderful
earthly life.
While in Europe he was several times invited to deliver
addresses that electrified immense audiences with their thought
and eloquence, and widely extended his fame as an orator.
In 1888 he had the honor of being sent as a delegate by
the Baltimore Conference to the World's Sunday School Conven¬
tion in London, England. At its close he indulged in a second
glimpse at the manifold attractions of Italy, Switzerland, Ger¬
many, France, Holland, Belgium and Scotland. In '92 and '93
he was privileged to gratify a long-cherished desire, and circum¬
navigated the globe. He occupied the pastorate of the A. M. E.
Church at Norfolk, Va., upon his return, going from there to
Portsmouth. He is now Presiding Elder of Potomac District,
Baltimore Conference.
In the many and varied duties of his life, he has found time
to add to American literature a delightful book, entitled, The
Land of Promise."
43
REV. WINFIELD HENRI MIXON, D.D.
3
'OR " PUSHING AND
PULLING" along the
work of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church,
no man has a greater reputa¬
tion than the subject of this
sketch. He is noted far and
wide for his readiness at all
times to help in all good
work, and so strong is the
faith of others in his ability
to plan and execute, that he
has but little time that he
can call his own.
Dr. Mixon was born near
Selma, Dallas county, Alaba¬
ma, April 25, 1859; was con¬
verted in 1876, was licensed to
preach the same year, and entered the traveling- connection of
the Conference that met at Iluntsville, in December 1879.
As pastor he has served efficiently at Decatur, Pratt City,
Brown Chapel, Montgomery, Columbiana and other important
places ; was twice Presiding Elder of Birmingham District, and is
now busy with the cares of the same office in Camden District.
Dr. Mixon has won the regard of the church for the capa¬
bility evinced by him in his work as Minister and Elder, and also
for his success as an organizer.
Extensive travel in the United States and abroad has added
wide culture to his art as an orator, and he ranks among the
distinguished speakers of the A. M. E. Church.
For man\r j^ears he has been one of the active trustees of
Wilberforce University, and that institution is peculiarly dear to
him, for in 1896 he wooed and won its lady principal, Miss E. L.
Jackson, lor his wife ; but she, and two bright little sons, have
-44-
preceded him to the home in heaven. From the same college
came his degree of Doctor of Divinity.
The establishment of Payne Universit}' at Selma, Alabama,
was largely due to his foresight and zealous interest. Devoted
to the work of the Sunday School, he was honored with the
presidencv of the State Sunday School Convention of Alabama ;
and no man in that part of the countrv is more often called
upon to help on all lines of Christian work than is Dr. Mixon.
Yet his manifold duties, someway, leave him time for excellent
literar\' achievements, as he is the historian of his State, and
has published several valuable books, the last being a "Historv
of the A. M. E. Church in Alabama,"
The Third Alabama Conference of his Church is indebted to
him for its establishment, and he is planning the organization of
a Fourth Conference.
Like many of his ministerial brethren, Dr. Mixon stands
high in Masonic circles.
-45-
REV. CARTER WRIGHT.
I
EV. CARTER WRIGHT
had reached his fortv-
third year before engag-
ing in the active ministry ot
the African Methodist Episco¬
pal Church.
He was born in slavery,
in the city of New Orleans,
July 30, 1833, but fortunately
the chains of servitude were
held by kind and considerate
W hands, and he escaped the
' . 1
terrible suffering that fell to
the lot of many of his people
in bondage.
In 1841, a change of own¬
ership moved the residence ol
his parents and family to
Lexington, Kentucky, and a little later they all spent several
vears with their master's household in Florence, Ital}', where
young Carter attended an English school.
Their return to the United States was in 1845, landing in
Philadelphia ; owing to the kind interest of some English people,
his mother had provided herself with free papers, which proved a
happy precaution, for in 1847 the odious Fugitive Slave bill was
passed.
When he was about twenty-two years of age he decided to
locate in New Haven, Connecticut, where he caught the New
England love of the ocean, and made several voyages to the
West Indies.
In 1860 he experienced the divine forgiveness of his sins,
and joined Bethel Church in the beautiful "City of Elms," and in
three years was licensed to preach. But feeling it a sacred duty to
aid his country in her dark hour of peril, the following January he
-46-
enlisted in the 29th Connecticut Colored Volunteers, and passed
through the fiery ordeal of eight hotlv contested battles. At the
close of the war he returned to New Haven and found employment
at Yale College, where he remained until he identified himself with
the itineracy of the A. M. E. Church by joining the New England
Conference in 1874, at which time he was ordained as Deacon by
Bishop Shorter and appointed to the pastorate of the A. M. E,
Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
He afterwards preached in Portland, Me., again in Bridgeport,
Conn., Cambridgeport, Mass., Providence, R.I., receiving the office of
Elder from Bishop J. M. Brown in 1882. Transference by Bishop
Cain to the Philadelphia Conference came in 1885, and for four
years as Pastor and Presiding Elder he was busy in the Harris-
burg District; he was then placed by Bishop H. M. Turner in the
Pittsburg Conference, since which time he has filled some of the
most important appointments in the jurisdiction of that assembly ;
the new church at Cannonsburg was begun during his pastorate
in that place.
He is now the honored Presiding Elder of Washington
District of the Pittsburg Conference, working with a zeal and
enthusiam that may well be emulated bv younger men.
-47-
REV. W. J. LAWS, D. D.
K
S A PULPIT and plat¬
form orator, Rev. W.
J. Laws has won much
public commendation, and his
services as a speaker have been
in requisition on many im¬
portant occasions.
He was born in Fredcrica,
Delaware, February 18, 1847,
but at an early age was taken
to Philadelphia, where his
childhood was fostered by the
kindly influences of Bethel
A. M. E. Church; at seventeen
years of age the searching
sermons of Bishop A. W.
Way man led to the accepta¬
tion of the Divine Redeemer as
his personal Saviour and a connection with the membership of
the A. M. E. Church in New York City, entering at once upon
the duties of Choir Singer and Sunday School Teacher. Three
years afterwards he was licensed to preach, but more thoroughly
prepared himself for pulpit work by a four years course at
Lincoln University, where the distinction of being the first
President of the Philosophian Literary Society gained for him a
gold medal.
After his graduation in 1871, Bishop J. P. Campbell, at the
meeting of the New York Annual Conference, ordained him as
Deacon, but he was immediately transferred to the New England
Conference and stationed at Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was
ordained to the Eldership by Bishop James A. Shorter.
Appointments followed at New Haven, Connecticut ; Providence,
Rhode Island; and New Bedford, Massachusetts; when he was
again transferred by Bishop John M. Brown to the Illinois
Annual Conference, receiving an assignment to Bethel Church,
Chicago, where he remained four years. His itineracy then
embraced the churches at Galesburg, Illinois ; Keokuk and Des
Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis. He stayed but a few months in the
last named city, as Bishop Way man sent him to St. James Church,
Dallas, Texas ; going after the close of a successful five years
pastorate to Corsicana, and thence to the Metropolitan Church
at Austin, Texas.
Dr. Laws has four times represented his Church at the Gen¬
eral Conference, and twice has the degree of Doctor of Divinity
been conferred upon him, the last time by Guadaloupe College,
Sequin, Texas.
He had the honor of delivering the address of welcome at
the Republican National Convention at Chicago, in 1884.
More than once the name of Dr. Laws has been mentioned
in connection with the Bishop's office, but his extreme conserva¬
tism is said to bar his way to ecclesiastical preferment.
He is now President of Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas.
REV. JOHN F. HAMILTON.
(IE)
kVERSHADOWED by the
tragic sadness of slav¬
ery the childhood of
Rev. John F. Hamilton was
passed. His grandparents,
originally free people in Africa,
had been trapped to this coun¬
try to undergo the horrors of
slave-servitude in Maryland,
where in 1846 the subject of
this sketch was born.
He was but a few months
old when an older brother and
sister lost their lives in a fire
that destroyed " the Quarters,"
and his mother was scarred
and maimed for life in the
heroic rescue of her infant son.
His parents belonged to different masters, and the father
was only permitted to spend three weeks out of the year with
his family; none of her children were ever sold away from the
mother, for she grimly told her master, Richard Bowie, "The
day you sell one of my children, that day I cease working for
you."
She was a woman of strong character, deeply religious, and
is numbered among the founders of the Bethel A. M. E. Church,
in Baltimore. She lived to see her son a prominent and honored
minister in the church so dear to her, and on her death-bed sent
him the characteristic message, " Tell John I could not wait ;
and tell him to meet me in heaven."
When John was about fifteen years of age, he was hired
out to W. R. S. Giddings, of Baltimore, who one morning start¬
ed to his farm accompanied by the boy ; suddenly changing his
mind, he returned to the city, saying that they would go to-
" 5° ~
morrow. But the free life of his ancestors seemed, all at once,
to rush through the veins of the lad, and he resolved to be "free"
or die ; when night fell he slipped into a box car with a few
ginger cakes in his pocket, and in three days was a "wandering
Hamite" in Pittsburg, from which place he went to Guernsey
County, Ohio, where he made his home.
He does not remember how he learned his letters; but Rav's
Intellectual Arithmetic and Wright's Analytical Orthographv fell
into his hands, which were placed along with his Bible, making
a library that was studied at odd moments until literally their
contents became his mental possession.
In July, 1864, he entered the Union army (in which his
father lost his life as a soldier) and was discharged August, 1865,
with badly impaired health. In the Fall of '72 his name was
enrolled as a student of Wilberforce University, with the small
capital of $35, in his possession, but the kindness of one of his
teachers enabled him to remain until the close of the school year.
In September he began teaching, and his ability placed him at
the head of the colored school in Bellaire, Ohio. But in little
over a year he entered upon his life work as a Minister of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and was ordained as Deacon, at Bellaire, in
December, 1878, by Bishop Wavman. He joined the North Ohio
African Conference, but upon the advice of Bishop Campbell,
again took up the profession of teaching, retaining it until
assigned to the charge at Warren Mission, which meant the
giving up of an income of $78 a month for the meagre salary of
$86 a year; but he quaintly says it was a change "from com¬
motion to quiet."
Rev. Hamilton afterwards occupied as pastor, pulpits in
Youngstown Circuit, and in 1890 was made Presiding Elder of
Cleveland District. In April, 1893, while in charge of the church
at Delaware, he broke down from nervous exhaustion, and the
following year was superannuated.
He has twice been elected a Trustee ot Wilberforce Univer-
sitv, but the honor that he prizes next to his call to the ministry
was being asked to write and read the Memoirs of Bishops Arm¬
strong and Pavne, and Reverends March and Stewart at the
Annual Conference in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1894,
-5i -
Rev. Hamilton was married January 2.~>, 1S(U>, to Miss
Nancy M. Ransom, of Washington, Ohio. Their marriage was
childless, but two adopted daughters, Miss Mary B. Worton, and
Mrs. Nettie A. Kirk, wife of the Secretary of Paul Ouinn College,
have blessed their lives with tenderest love and care.
Rev. Hamilton is, on account of ill health, a superannuate of
the North Ohio Conference and is very comfortably located at
Delaware, Ohio.
REV. GEORGE C. SAMPSON.
ar
'HE SUBJECT of this
sketch is an honored
permanent trustee of
Wilberforce University, and for
thirtj'-six years has been one
of the most earnest of the
many devoted ministers of the
A. M. E. Church.
He was born at Hamilton,
0., February 16, 1846, and in
his twentieth year consecrated
himself in loving service to
God as a preacher of His word.
Three years were devoted to
study at Adrian College,
Michigan, and while there, in
December, 1869, he w a s
licensed to preach.
Upon his return to his home the following year, he increased
his mental strength and financial support by two years of
teaching in the schools of Falmouth and Paris, Kentucky ; but
the death of his father, in 1872, compelled a return to his home,
and he determined to abandon the school-room for the itinerant
service of the Church, and in April joined the Ohio Conference at
Zanesville.
His first appointment was Bridgewater Circuit, and during
this pastorate he added to his store of theological tenets by
attending the Presbyterian Western Theological Seminary.
The ministerial work of Rev. Sampson has been chiefly in
northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. He is now pastor of
Allen Chapel, Indianapolis, Indiana. His unfailing interest in
educational matters is appropriately recognized in his retention,
for a number of consecutive years, on the Board of Education
of the First Educational District.
Rev. Sampson was a delegate to General Conference in 1884.
-53-
REV. ISAAC M. BURGAN, D.D.
(§
OCTOBER 6th, 1848, is
the date of the birth of
the subject of this
sketch, which took place near
Marion, North Carolina. There
the first years of his childhood
were passed, and he was still
a lad when he went to Ten¬
nessee, where he entered the
free schools of the State.
When he was twenty-one
gi years of age, he studied for
some months at a select school
J in Bowling Green, Kentuck)^
frm/ after which several years were
E^jH / spent in the public schools of
^Evansville, Indiana, and the
State Normal at Terre Haute.
He tanght his first school in 1875 at Lost Creek, near Terre Haute.
Holding a membership in the A. M. E. Church at Evansville,
Indiana, in 1876 he was licensed to exhort, and the following
year received a preacher's license and was ordained to Deacon's
Orders by Bishop J. A. Shorter, and admitted into the connection
of the Indiana Conference at New Albany.
Conscious of a need for wider reading in theology, in 1878
he matriculated at Wilberforce University, and for five years was
a close student, but }'et found time to fill many pulpit appoint¬
ments.
Finishing the course in 1883, fifteen days after his gradua¬
tion he was called to the Presidency of Paul Quinn College,
Waco, Texas, which place was most acceptably filled bv him for
eight years, when he resigned to return to the itineracv of the
Church so dear to his heart.
His first charge was at Oakland, California, going from
-54-
th ence to Richmond, Indiana, afterwards to Vincennes in the same
State.
But in 1896 he was again asked to fill the President's
Chair of Paul Quinn College and acceptation seemed an impera¬
tive duty, where he served until 1904 as its hard-working head,
his strong mentality inciting the pupils to strenuous intellectual
labor, his sympathetic nature winning their confidence and his
firm will encouraging their faith in themselves and the future.
He was sent by the college as Ministerial Delegate to the General
Conference of 1900.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was received by him in
1884, from Philander Smith College, at Little Rock, Arkansas.
-55-
BISHOP ABRAHAM GRANT.
J
'OR SEVENTEEN years
Bishop Abraham Grant
establishment, and was
enrolled as a pupil in the night school at Cookman Institute.
In October 1868, while present at a camp meeting at Lake
City, he was led to accept Christ as a personal Saviour, and
joined the A. M. E. Church at Jacksonville, Florida, taking up
gladly the duties of steward and class-leader that came to him.
A license to preach was granted him in April 1873, and the
following December he was ordained to Deacon's Orders, and in
March, 1876, set apart as Elder. During his residence in Jackson¬
ville he received the appointment of Inspector of Customs, and
also served as Count}- Commissioner of Duval County.
In 1878 he was transferred to Texas, and assigned pastor¬
ates at San Antonio and Austin ; he was then made Presiding
Elder and elected Vice President of the Board of Trustees of Paul
Ouinn College.
His elevation to the Bishopric came in May 1888, and the
Ninth, Sixth, Seventh, First and Seventh Districts have been un-
-56-
der his ecclesiastical jurisdiction; the first time the Seventh Dis¬
trict included the State of Florida, the second time South Carolina
was taken within its boundaries.
Bishop Grant's official duties have carried him across the
seas ; twice he has been in Europe and he has presided over Con¬
ferences at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Monrovia, Liberia, West
Coast Africa.
His shoulders have been thought broad enough to carry
other weighty burdens, so he was for years the Presiding Officer
of the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University; for twelve
years he was at the head of the Church Extension Board of the
A. M. E. Church, and for a time one-third as long was President of
the Publication Board of the A. M. E. Church (Philadelphia) and
President of the Board of Trustees of Morris Brown College,
Atlanta, Georgia; for three years he had the casting vote of
the Board of Trustees of Allen University, Columbia, South Caro¬
lina, and Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Florida.
In April, 1900, he was a member of the Ecumenical
Missionary Conference held at New York City, and in October of
the following year was one of the Ecumenical Council Methodist
Conference, at Washington, D. C.
He is now in charge of the Fifth Episcopal District, which
includes Missouri, Kansas and Colorado Conferences.
-57-
REV. GEORGE W. NICHOLSON, D.D.
was prepared at the Howard Normal School in Baltimore,) for
thirteen vears, combining it with his first ministerial duties, for
since 1878 he was connected with the Baltimore Conference as
local preacher.
In 1879 his Conference elected him to a scholarship at
Wilberforce University, where he studied until his graduation in
1883, with the degree of B.D. While pursuing his studies at
this institution, he received from Bishop Shorter the temporary
appointment to succeed Elder ( now Bishop ) Arnett at St. Paid
A. M. E. Church, Columbus, Ohio, the latter having been elected
Financial Secretarv of the A. M.E. Church. Upon the return of
Rev. Nicholson to the school, Bishop Shorter offered him the
pastorate of Holv Trinity A. M. E. Church at Wilberforce.
His collegiate course completed, he was transferred by Bish¬
op Payne to the Virginia Conference, but at the close of eight
years itineracy in its territory, was again transferred to the Bal-
HE father of the subject
of this sketch was for
many vears a minister in
the Baltimore Conference of the
A. M. E. Church; and his sou
is nobly wearing the mantle
of consecrated service that
fell from the older servant of
the Church at his translation
to a better world.
Rev. George W. Nicholson
was born in Baltimore, Mary¬
land, April 24, 1851. Con¬
verted in his sixteenth year,
he was early impressed with
his duty to preach the gospel
of Christ, but he continued
teaching, (for which work he
-58-
timore Conference, and for five years performed the duties of
Presiding Elder in his home District.
In 1900, Pavne Theological Institute conferred upon him
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The same vear he was elected
a Delegate to the General Conference, and served as a Member of
its Educational Board. A.t this time he is serving a most success¬
ful pastorate in the Baltimore Conference.
-59-
PROF. H. T. KEALING.
ST
'HE VERY able manage¬
ment of the A. M. E.
Church Review for the
past nine years marks the
editor, the subject of this
sketch, as one of the ablest
and most influential journal¬
ists of the country.
He is a Texas man, born
in the capital of the State,
April 1, 1859. His educational
/ attainments are wide, starting
m ' M t^1 e
\:MA ^W a course at Straight
University, New Orleans, La.,
with a diploma won at Tabor
College, Tabor, Iowa, in 1881.
His work as teacher was
begun immediately after the completion of his college career,
starting in the public schools of Waco, Texas; which place he
resigned to accept the position of First Principal in Paul Quinn
College, where he taught for three years and was then made
Assistant Principal of the Colored State Normal School at
Prairie View, Texas, going at the end of three years diligent toil
to Austin, in which city he was eventually promoted from Prin¬
cipal of the Grammar School to that of the High School, reach¬
ing at last the position of Supervisor of all the Colored Schools.
He held this responsible place until called to take the Presidency
of Paul Quinn College. The General Conference in 1896 called
him to the Editorial Management of the A. M. E. Church Review,
and the president's chair was exchanged for the "quill and
scissors," a work for which he is most eminently qualified, both
by education and natural gifts.
Professor Kealing is also widely recognized as a speaker of
-Go-
unusual force and charm, and is always enthusiastically greeted
at large educational assemblies and religious convocations. His
speech at the meeting of the National Educational Association
in Topeka, Kansas, when in behalf of Texas he responded to the
address of welcome, will never be forgotten by the hearers in
that great convention.
He has twice been elected President of the Texas State
Teachers' Association, and had the honor of being the only
colored member of the World's Pair Educational Committee in
1893.
In 1901 he was sent as delegate to the Ecumenical Con¬
ference at London, England, and with Bishop Tanner, spoke in
behalf of the A. M. E. Church at that wonderful gathering. He
was solicited to lecture in England, but home obligations for¬
bade an acceptance of the tempting offer. The following year he
carried fraternal greetings from the Bishops' Council ol theA.M.E.
Church to the General Conference of the M. E. Church South,
sitting in Dallas, Texas.
- 61
REV. W. B. PEARSON.
'IKE SAMUEL of old, the
subject of this sketch
was consecrated by his
pious parents, in infancy, to
the service of the Lord.
He is a son of the tropics,
having been born on the Island
of Jamaica, West Indies, in
1865. At the age of seven
years he was sent to the dis¬
trict pay school, and while a
little child gave his heart into
the keeping of his Heavenly
Father, and began to serve Him
before his tender feet had been
wounded in the paths of sin.
In school he proved an
apt scholar, and was especially
distinguished by his attainments in mathematics and Biblical
knowledge, and when he had reached his twelfth year he stood
at the head of his Latin class.
Entering Calabar College he very successfully passed the
Cambridge ( England ) examinations, and studied for two years
in that Institution ; afterward he completed his schooling at
Paddington, London, England, and won merited honor for him¬
self in that great school.
Two years of travel on the continent and in Africa fol¬
lowed, after which he returned to Jamaica, where he married
Miss Frances Gale, daughter of the sainted Adam Gale.
Coming to the United States, he connected himself with the
New England Conference, but at the last meeting of that church-
body he was given the arduous and responsible position of
Superintendent of Missions of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in the Leaward Islands.
Rev. Pearson takes high rank among his clerical brethren
as a fearless and logical speaker, and is also recognized as pos¬
sessing strong ability as a financier.
- 62 -
REV. JOSHUA A. BROCKETT.
EVEREND Joshua A.
Brockett, the General
Secretary of the Afri¬
can Methodist Episcopal
Church Statistical Bureau of
Negro Trades, Industries and
Professions, organized at the
last General Conference in
Chicago, was born in 1861,
in Currituck County, North
Carolina. His school oppor-
Wtunities being extremely limit¬
ed, the kindness of friends
opened to him the doors of
the best schools in New Eng¬
land where he obtained a
liberal education, finishing at
the Boston School of Oratory.
He began his christian work as Assistant Secretai'y of the
Young Men's Christian Association, of Newburyport, Mass¬
achusetts, from which position he went to the itineracy of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church ; first, however, filling for
some time the responsible positions of Assistant Principal of the
North Carolina State Normal School, and the Presidency of the
Building and Trades College, Southern Pines, before engaging in
the direct work of the ministry.
As Pastor and Presiding Elder, Rev. Brockett has held
numerous important charges in Virginia and Alabama, and was
taken from a Presiding Elder's appointment in the last named
State to occupy the Chair of Theology and Elocution in Turner
Theological Seminary, Morris Brown College. For five years he
lectured and taught with dignity and efficiency, and upon his
resignation of the professorship was made Presiding Elder in the
Georgia Annual Conference, an appointment held by him at the
present time.
-63-
The tame of Rev. Broekett as a pulpit and plaUorm orator
is far wider than the limitations of his work, and he is elassed
amonjf the successful and popular men of his race. He is an
enthusiast in the temperance cause, and in his earlier days, while
a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was associated with
Rev. Francis Peabody of Harvard University, and other eminent
men, on the executive committee for the prohibition work.
His family consists of his wife, five daughters and one son,
and the mutual love existing makes it an ideal home.
™ 64 -=
REV. ANDREW HENRY HILL.
ar
'HOUGH lie has served
but sixteen years in the
ministry of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church,
Rev. Andrew Henrv Hill, of
Fort Smith, Arkansas, lias
established a reputation for
earnest, enthusiastic, success¬
ful work for his Saviour.
He was born June 7, 1870
at Brintwood, Tennessee, and
Wwas only two \'ears of age
when his father moved to
Arkansas, where he had the
good fortune to be brought
up on a farm and receive an
elementary education in the
public schools.
Converted at the tender age of twelve, the Ministry at
once became the purpose of his lite, and in 1889 license to preach
was given him ; but desiring to increase his intellectual attain¬
ments before engaging actively in ministerial work, he entered
Branch Normal College, at Pine Bluff, and was afterwards sent
by the South and East Arkansas Conferences for three years of
study at Wilberforee University. Returning to his native State
he began his itineracy at Fort Smith, being appointed to the
second largest Colored Methodist Congregation in Arkansas.
Rev. Hill is gi'eatly beloved by his Church,' and a future of
wide usefulness in the ministry and of honor to his race lies be¬
fore him. He is now President of Shorter College, Little Rock,
Arkansas.
-65-
REV. DAVID F. CALIMAN.
EYEREND David F. Cali-
nian possesses the gift
considered so desirable
by the psalmist of old, that of
"the pen of a ready writer,"
as eight prizes for excellence
of thought and expression
have fallen to him in literar\'
contests in Conference socie¬
ties.
He is an Ohioian by birth,
his native place being the
Lett Settlement, in Muskin¬
gum County, where he was
born July 11, 1853. His early
life was passed in working on
a farm through the summers,
and attending district school
during the winter months ; at the age of nineteen he had the
privilege of four months study in the public schools of Zanesville,
Ohio, after which lie taught for nine years in the schools at
Middleport, Barnesville and Troy.
His conversion took place at Middleport, Ohio, in 1873;
in 1881 he was licensed to preach b}r Dr. W. J. Johnson, and two
years afterwards joined the North Ohio Conference, at Lebanon,
and did effective pastoral work at Marvsville, Mt. Vernon and
Delawarej and further qualified himself for his profession by tak¬
ing a three years course at the Ohio Wesleyan University, during
which time he was ordained Deacon and Elder.
Bishop Payne, in 1891, transferred him to the Pittsburgh
Conference, and for four years he preached at Chartiers Street
Church, Allegheny, Pa., with great success; the conversion of
one hundred souls blessed his pastorate at Williamsport, at the
close of which, as Presiding Elder of Allegheny District, he
-66-
labored hard and with happy results for the advancement of
rel igious interests in his appointed field.
Rev. Caliman is noted as a singer of unusual sweetness, a
magnetic speaker and a fearless expounder of Bible truths. He
was sent to the General Conference at Columbus, Ohio, and for
five years held the Chief Secretaryship of the Pittsburgh Con¬
ference. He is now located at Washington, Pa., where he has
largely increased the membership of his charge and aroused a
special interest in Church Missions.
- 67 -
REV. FRANCIS B. CAROLINA.
LIFE work of the
ill subject of this sketch,
who is at present Pre¬
siding Elder over Forest City
District of the South Arkan¬
sas Conference, has been one
of persistent agressiveness
against the enemies of right¬
eousness.
His was born at Colum¬
bia, South Carolina, December
13, 1837. In 1885 he was
received into the Methodist
Church South. In 1866 his
name was placed among the
charter members ot the A.M.E.
Church organized at Colum¬
bia by Bishop R. H. Cain ;
and four years afterward, Rev. Thomas W. Long, of Florida,
licensed him to preach and assigned him to Gainesville Mission,
and in December, 1870, he was welcomed into the Florida Con¬
ference. A church was built at Gainesville and Archer during this
pastorate.
He was then stationed for several years at Lake City Cir¬
cuit, and while there was elected City Alderman, receiving every
vote cast by both parties. During the winter of 1873-4, he served
as Chaplain of the State Legislature, and for twelve months was
Government Tax Assessor.
He preached next at Palatka, Florida, where he erected
a church and was again made City Alderman. In 1878 he
received the appointment of Presiding Elder by Bishop J. P.
Campbell to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Elder John W.
Wyatt; but the following year, bv request of Bishop T. M. D.
-68-
Ward, he was transferred to the South Arkansas Conference, in
whose jurisdiction he served as Pastor and Elder.
In 1882 he was connected with the North Mississippi Con¬
ference, but in two years was again a member of the Arkansas
bod}-; later came transference to the North Louisiana Confer¬
ence where he remained one year, but in 1892 was back again in
Arkansas, a member of the South Arkansas Conference, with
which he is still connected as Presiding Elder, having served in
that relation the Districts of Clarendon, Monticello, Pine Bluff,
Helena, Clarendon, and is now over Forest City District.
Rev. Carolina, in 1884, was a Delegate to the Ecumenical
Conference at Baltimore, Marvland, and has four times been sent
to the General Conferences,— Atlanta, Indianapolis, Wilmington
and Chicago.
- 69 -
HON. C. L. MAXWELL.
DT FEW MEN of his
^J|j race have attained the
■ ^ honor and high posi¬
tion that life has brought to
the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Maxwell is an Ohio-
ian by birth, his childhood's
home being in Fayette County,
where he received the splendid
out-door training under the
benediction of nature that
comes to boj^s who live on a
farm. By studious application
to his books he prepared him¬
self for teaching, and in his
nineteenth year began work
in the school-room where he
was eminently successful. The
legal profession was more alluring, and after taking a law course
at Wilberforce Universit\r, and before he had reached his twenty-
second year he was a full-fledged attorney in Xenia, Ohio.
But clients did not fill his pockets with the gold that was
a fair equivalent for thoughtful advice as rapidly as desired, so
he again went to teaching, accepting the Prineipalship of the
Pleasant Street School in Springfield, Ohio, where he won much
praise as an instructor and disciplinarian during four years of
faithful work. But his heart was with his law books, and after
prospecting through the South, he concluded that, after all,
Xenia was the place for his ambition and labor.
It proved a happy decision. This time fortune smiled upon
the young barrister, and a prosperous business was built up by
his careful attention and thorough understanding of the needs of
his clients. His popularity with the citizenship of the place elected
him to the position of City Clerk which he held for several terms.
-70-
He was also honored with the Grand Worthy Secretaryship of
Ohio Masons and appointed Recorder of Xenia Commander}',
Knights Templars.
Much interested in national polities, Air. Maxwell has been
a prominent figure among Ohio politicians, and was a member of
the National Republican Convention that met at Chicago. For
his ardent party devotion and fealty to principle, President
Harrison made him Consul General to San Domingo, which high
official trust he held until the Fall of 1904, his conduct of the
affairs of his important station meeting the unqualified approba¬
tion of the State Department and his host of friends.
Mr. Maxwell is distinguished in bearing, social in manner,
and open-hearted to his friends. His domestic relations are most
happv and fortunate, his wife, who was Miss Cousins, of Xenia,
gracing his beautiful home with culture of mind and manner,
and kindliness of heart. Their son and daughter have been
finely educated, and the former now holds the position of Sec¬
retary to the Consul General who succeeded his father at San
Domingo.
Mr. Maxwell is a staunch Methodist, and serves on the
Official Board of St. John's A. M. E. Church, Xenia. He was a
delegate to the General Conference in 1892.
Mr. Maxwell is and has been for years Dean of the Law
Department at Wilberforce University.
-71-
BISHOP CHARLES SPENCER SMITH.
A NATIVE of Canada,
where he was born at
Colborne, March 16,
1852, Bishop Charles Spencer
Smith stands as one of the
strongest and most influential
men in the ministry of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church. His father was Com¬
missary Sergeant of a colored
regiment in the English army
and saw active service during
the Mackenzie rebellion of
1837.
Bishop Smith is pre-emi¬
nently a self-made man. His
scholastic privileges were
limited to the primary educa¬
tion obtained in his bovhood in the school at Bowmanville,
Canada ; but natural ability, keen observation and extensive
reading united with rare spiritual qualities, have richly fitted him
for the exalted station that is his in the Church to-day.
He began his life-work as a school teacher. Birt his pur¬
pose was to enter the ministry, and he left the Anglican Church
in which he had been baptized, and in August 1872, was licensed
as a Local Preacher of the A. M. E. Church. Two \rears after¬
ward he was elected to the House of Representatives of the
Alabama Legislature.
In August, 1882, he founded the great Sunday School Union
of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and for eighteen
3'ears the onerous duties of Secretary and Treasurer of the organ¬
ization were his special care ; to these labors were added the
Publishing of all the Sunday School Literature used by the A. M. E.
Church.
-72-
Bishop Smith was a Delegate to the Second and Third
Ecumenical Councils of the Church, and in 1894 he visited the
west and south-west coasts of Africa, the terminal point being
St. Paul de Loanda; some months afterward he enjoyed a cruise
to the West Indies, stopping at Cuba, San Domingo and Havti.
The General Conference in session at Columbus, Ohio, in
1900, elected him to a Bishop's Chair, and placed him in charge
of the Twelfth Episcopal District comprising the Conferences of
Ontario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Havti, San Domingo, Wind¬
ward Islands, British Guiana and Cuba ; the following vear
while attending the Third Methodist Ecumenical Conference at
London, England, he visited Sheffield and Hull as one of the
speakers at the platform meetings held in those cities.
In December, 1903, Bishop Smith was speciallv honored
in being chosen as Messenger from the Church at Large, to
bear the greetings and felicitations of that great body to the
Republic of Hayti on the celebration of the Hundredth Anniver-
sarv of its Independence, January 1st, 1904.
Bishop Smith has given the impressions and reflections of
his Oriental journeyings in a charming volume, entitled "Glimpses
of Africa's West and South-West Coast." He is known through¬
out his people for his devotion to all that tends to their welfare
and elevation. Few have studied the many-sided race question
with more fairness and intelligence.
Mrs. Lucy Thurman, an older sister of the Bishop, is
prominent in the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union and in 1895 visited England as the guest of Lady
Somerset.
-73-
WILLIAM BALDWIN HIGHGATE.
m
§ teachers of Ins race, was born
He had started finely in
.
the public schools of his native
city, but when he was twelve
years of age his parents moved
to Philadelphia; his schooling
there was brief, as in 1867
he went to Lincoln University,
Pennsylvania, where he work¬
ed for two years before
beginning his collegiate
course. He was graduated in
1873, standing fifth in a class of eighteen. It is one of the
pleasant remembrances of those da}rs that Bishop Dickerson and
Dr. W. Decker Johnson were among his college mates.
His very successful career as teacher began in Oxford, Missis¬
sippi; but a position in the State Recorder's office at Yazoo Citv,
followed b}T editorial responsibility on the Yazoo City Herald, drew
him away from the teacher's desk for several years until he was
persuaded to accept the Presidency of the State Normal School
at Holly Springs, where for thirteen years his life and precepts
were the inspiration of the ambitious students.
In 1886 he went as instructor for one year to the school
at Kansas City, Missouri, going then for three years of faithful
toil in the schools at Warrensburg, in which city he secured the
erection of a large school building for his pupils; then came
four years service in the schools at Carrollton. During his
residence in Carrollton he united with the A. M. E. Church and
-74"
began at once to take an active interest in all departments of
Christian work.
For the past ten years Professor Highgate has been the
successful and greatly esteemed Principal of the Colored School at
Saint Charles, Missouri, and is unwearying in his endeavors to
instill high purposes of life and thought in the hearts and minds
of his pupils.
-75 -
REV. OTHO ELI JONES, D.D.
AMONG the promising
younger ministers o i
the African Methodist
Episcopal Church is found the
name of Rev. Otho Eli Jones,
who, though not yet forty
years of age, already adds the
degree of Doctor of Divinity
to his title of Reverend.
He is a native of Ohio, and
was born at Winton Place,
Hamilton Co., April 20, 1870.
After teaching several years in
the public schools of Kentucky,
he entered Wilberforce, Univer¬
sity, and while there exper¬
ienced conversion and united
with the A. M. E. Church.
In 1895, Rev. C. Bund}-, Presiding Elder, granted him a
license to preach, and he was also received on trial by the Ohio
Annual Conference, and given an appointment at South Charles¬
ton, O., where he remained three years ; two years later he was
ordained as Deacon at Columbus, 0., by Bishop B. F. Lee, after
which he studied theology at Payne Seminary, graduating as
valedictorian of his class. The same year he was elected
Instructor at Wilberforce University, but was soon transferred by
Bishop Lee to the North Ohio Conference, and stationed at
Warren Chapel, Toledo, his ordination as Elder coming from
Bishop Lee, at Mt. Vernon in 1899.
But his ability as a teacher was so highly prized by his
Alma Mater that he received an almost imperative call to the
Chair of Pastoral Theology and Hebrew at Payne Theological
Seminary, which he most ably filled for two years, also preach¬
ing a greater part of the time every Sunday in the neighboring
village of Cedarville. But in 1901 he resigned the position, and
was transferred by Bishop Arnett to the California Conference,
stationed at Oakland, wdiere he is serving a successful pastorate.
-76-
REV. JOHN HENRY DICKERSON.
'HE subject ot this sketch
was born in Madison,
Madison County, Flor¬
ida, Sept. 14,1862, and enjoyed
school privileges throughout
his childhood and youth.
The preaching of a strang¬
er in his home pulpit daring a
revival season brought him to
a realization of the axvfulness
of sin, and Thursday, July 4,
\ J 1880, proved indeed a " day
\ jM! of freedom " to his soul, as it
' tj&jjSSy was the date of his " new
birth," baptism, and connect-
agw ion with the African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church.
In August, 1885, he was licensed to preach by Rev. T. W.
Walker of the East Florida Conference, and the next summer
assigned to San Mateo Circuit; the following February the East
Florida Conference received him on probation and sent him to East
Palatka Circuit, and in March, 1888, he was taken into full con¬
nection by the Conference, ordained as Deacon by Bishop D. A.
Payne, and placed over Mt. Moriah Station at Jacksonville. Two
years later, at the meeting of the Conference at Gainesville, Bishop
B. W. Arnett laid upon his shoulders the sacred duties of Eldership.
The itineracv of Rev. Dickerson has been altogether in the
State of Florida, and he is regarded as one of the most useful
pastors in the ministry of the A. M. E. Church In that part of
the field. In a number of appointments he has united school-
teaching with his pastoral work, for which he is ably qualified,
as he has studied at both Cookman and Edward Waters Col¬
leges. He has held several offices of trust in the Florida Con¬
ferences, and was a delegate to the General Conference in 1904.
Rev. Dickerson is an ardent lodge man, and has held high
official positions in the Masonic order. A Mason's Benefit Assoc¬
iation was organized by his thoughtfulness, and he has paid out
many thousands of dollars.
- 77-
REV. J. W. NORRIS.
N RELIEVING churches of
^11 the weight of debt and
building up congrega¬
tions, Rev. J. W. Norris, now
occupying the pulpit of Allen
A. M. E. Church in the city of
Baltimore, stands among the
very successful men in the
ministry of our denomination.
He was born August 8th,
1842, in Jefferson County, Vir¬
ginia. The year after the
close of the rebellion he went
to Carlisle, Pa., where he de¬
cided to locate. In 1870 he
experienced a change of heart
and united with the Carlisle
A. M. E. Church, with the
resolution of making the Ministry his life work ; and having
been successively licensed as Exhorter and Eocal Preacher, Bishop
D. A. Payne, in 1877, admitted him to the Philadelphia Confer¬
ence; but upon the advice of the Bishop he took a two years'
course in theology at Eincoln University before engaging in minis¬
terial work.
Transference to the Baltimore Conference came in 1889,
and occupation of four of its leading pulpits has loaded the
3'ears with care and responsibility. His pastorate of Trinity
A. M. E. Church, Baltimore, bore fruit in the collection of $26,000
and two hundred and ninety souls added to the roll of the
Church ; during three years of service at St. Paul, Washington,
D. C., the amount of $10,000 was raised by his untiring effort.
He remained five years at Ebenezer Church, Baltimore, and
increased its already large membership and collected $38,000 for
church work.
-78-
The twenty-seven vears of itineracv of Rev. Norris in the
Philadelphia and Baltimore Conferenees, place to his credit the
large amount of over $100,000 collected by him for payment on
church debts, outside of what his congregations have given for
church benevolences.
As a priest of hymen his record cannot be excelled, as the
chains of matrimony have been thrown bv him over fifteen hundred
persons, uniting one hundred and fifty hearts within the short
time ot five weeks and two days during his pastorate in Wash¬
ington, D. C.
Rev. Norris is thoughtful in remembrance of the social side
of life, and delights in carrving the Gospel to the homes of his
parishioners, and is noted for his kindness to those of his flock
who are ill.
-79"
S. JOE BROWN, A.M., LL.D.
m
-R. S. JOE BROWN,
although counting
Phis life, has already won en¬
viable distinction as a mem¬
ber of the Legal Fraternity of
He is a son of Iowa, hav¬
ing been born July 6, 1875, at
J the pretty villiage of^KeosaU'
on his own resources, but he
was full of Western grit that
evinced itself in the determination to acquire a thorough educa¬
tion ; and at the age of nineteen years, the Ottumwa High
School graduated him with the honor of Class Orator. He was
the only negro member of the class. Matriculation at the State
University followed, remaining until he was sent forth with a
well-earned diploma and the degree of A.B., the first time in the
history of the Institution that its dignitaries had conferred an
academic honor upon a colored student. He was also elected an
honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of the college.
Doors of responsibilitv opened to him, and he accepted the
Principleship of the Public Schools at Muchakinock, Iowa, from
which place he was called to the Chair of Ancient Languages in
Bishop College, Marshall, Texas ; which position, in 1899, was
resigned for the purpose of studying law at his Alma Mater,
finishing the prescribed coxirse in two years time, receiving the
degree of LL.B. In June, 1902, he was recalled to the University
- 8o -
for the bestowal of the degree A.M., being the first Xegro thus
honored by the College.
Mr. Brown is assoeiated with Mr. George H. Woodson in
the practice of his profession in Albia, Iowa, and these gentle¬
men enjoy a large share of the lucrative and high class business
of the place. Mr. Brown does not neglect his religious obliga¬
tions, but gives glad service to the Church and Sunday School of
the A. M. E. denomination. He was an Alternate-Delegate, in
1904, to the General Conference in Chicago. He is most con-
geniallv married, his wife being formerlv Miss Sue Wilson, of
Buxton, Iowa, a woman noted for unusual intellectual ability
and great devotion to the Church ; she was several times elected
District Superintendent of Sundav Schools of the Iowa District of
the A. M. E. Church.
- 81 -
PROF. GEORGE ELLSWORTH MASTERSON.
A
S teachers in our public
schools, as professors
in our colleges, the
young colored men and wo¬
men are keeping equal step in
attainment and proficiency
with those of the heretofore
more favored white race, and
the subject of our sketch,
though still young in years,
has already- by natural ability
\|HHL r' and assiduous application
\ L y gained the front rank as
V Hfl instructor of college students.
iHRSm. Br Prof. Masterson is a na-
ImWr tive of the Buckeye State, and
was born March 20, 1871, on
Hillsman's Ridge, not far
from Georgetown. He was brought up on a farm, work¬
ing during the summer and attending an ungraded public
school through the winter months.
The passage of the mixed school law opened to him the
superior advantages of the High School at Georgetown, which
he entered in 1887, and for three years was one of its most pains¬
taking pupils, winning the prize of Salutatorian on Commence¬
ment Day, 1890, proving that brain, not complexion, is the just
measure of ability. He at once applied for a teacher's certificate,
passed a successful examination, and was given the school that
he had first attended as a pupil.
In 1892 he was admitted to the Sophomore Class of Wilber-
force University, and during his three years of collegiate instruc¬
tion, often performed the duties of assistant teacher. The year of
his graduation, 1895, he was offered the Chair of Science in
Morris Brown College, which he left in 1901 to accept the Pro-
- 82 -
fessorship of Mathematics in the Normal Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Alabama, where he is still teaching.
Prof. Masterson is a member of the A. M. E. Church,
devoted to its prosperity in all of its departments of Christian
work, and possesses the cordial esteem and appreciation of all
who know him.
-83-
REV. HENRY REED NGCAYIYA.
^j^HE son of a local min-
■ 11 ister and class leader in
the AVesleyan Methodist
Church, Rev. Henry Reed
Ngcayiya was born Oct. 16,
1863, at Qawrava's Location
near Fort Beaufort.
Religious influences sur¬
rounded his childhood and he
enjoyed the advantages of a
day school until he reached
his sixteenth year, when for
two years he was employed in
a cloth shop, sandwiching it
with a few month's service as
a soldier in one of the frequent
tribal wars of the country.
The next three years he was
engaged in studying the higher branches at Heald Town, after
which, for eight consecutive years, he taught with pleasing suc¬
cess in the Government schools of the country, laying down the
work, in 1890, to accept the position of Translator of Native
Languages and Assistant Clerk in the Court of Civil Commissioners
and Resident Magistrates; during his clerkship he had the Minis¬
try ever in view, and embraced every opportunity of adding to
his store of knowledge, sometimes paying $5 a month for pri¬
vate tuition in the classics, mathematics and sciences.
The ministerial labors of Rev. Ngcayiga began in 1896, and
his experience in far-off Africa lias not run as smoothly as that
of most of his American brethren. Opposition to the church, in
places, has been bitter and intense. He was one of its valient
defenders in the great Secession Movement of 1899 to 1901, and
was a victorious defendant in a law suit in which the plaintiff,
also a minister, sought to compel him to give up a church. Like
-84-
St. Paul, he has known imprisonment for the cause of Christ,
having been kept in confinement for eight (lavs at Oueenstown,
in 1900, for trying to organize a Church of the A. M. E. faith
but came out a winner, as two hundred persons joined him in
establishing at Oakraal, Kamastown, the best station of the
A. M. E. Church in Cape Colonv.
Twice he has had the responsibility of interviewing the
Orange River Colonv Government for the purpose of obtaining
religious privileges for the Church and stopping the persecution of
its ministers.
Rev. Ngcaviva was a member of the committees that, in
1899 and 1900, submitted addresses to Sir Alfred Milner and Sir
Henry Lock, the respective Governors of Cape Colony.
Organization of churches has been a major part of the
ministerial work of this good man, he having established more
than a dozen religious Stations, Circuits and Missions in Graham-
town District.
Coming as a Delegate to the General Conference at Chicago,
in 1904, he was warmly welcomed as a brother whose " doctrine,
manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, charitv, patience,
persecutions, afflictions" will in God's own time bring him an
"eternal weight of glory."
85
REV. JOHN CLAY COLEMAN.
His early education was
obtaired in the c o m m o 11
schools of the rural districts.
He was only sixteen years of age when he was placed in
charge of a rural mail route, and throughout a year's faithful
service he never failed to be on time but once, and that was
owing to the overflow of a river. In 1888, with the aid of a
stereoptican, he gave Bible talks and lectures through the
country districts of seven Southern States, and so popular were
they with the people that his list of subjects was enlarged to
take in Missionary and other departments of Christian work,
and four years were spent in this profitable service ; about this
time he essayed his first experiments in literarv or more especiallv
journalistic work, and so fascinating did it prove that he has
never entirely abandoned it.
His ordination as a Minister of the A. M. E. Church took
place in 1895, but he further qualified himself for the pulpit bv
several vears study at Victoria College, Ontario.
His itineracv has been confined to the Canadian field, and
HE blessing of Christian
parentage is seen in the
consecrated life of the
subject of this sketch, who was
born February 1, 1871, near
Durant, Holmes County, Mis¬
sissippi. His father and mo¬
ther were eminent for piety,
and the restraining influence
of the church surrounded his
vouth, though he did not
yield to the saving influences
of the Holy Spirit until he
had reached his twentieth
-86-
he has proven very successful in the organizing of new congrega¬
tions. His relations with the ministers of all denominations
throughout the Dominion is exceedingly cordial, and he was
elected Chairman at the meeting of white Methodist preachers in
Halifax in 1903-4. He finds spare time for literary work and
has made valuable contributions to the Canadian Encyclopedia
of "African Methodism in Canada," which is told in thirty-two
volumes.
A signal honor conferred upon Rev. Coleman was the
invitation from the Governor of Nova Scotia, to serve upon the
Reception Committee that welcomed the Duke and Duchess of
Cornwall and York in 1901.
87
REV. W. T. BIGGERS, A.M.
a
O Rev. W. T. Biggers the
fairies that are said to
watch over the infancy
of fortunate children, were
singularly lavish with beauti¬
ful gifts, bestowing upon him
the art of turning truth into
melodious poetry, and the
magic power of the artist's
brush ; he is also an able
journalist, but these priceless
W gifts are held secondary in
importance to his work as
Minister and Pastor.
He was born in Marshall
Count\% Tennessee, May 3d,
1871, but while he was still a
small lad his parents located
in Oswego, Kansas, in which place he was privileged to attend
the public schools.
At the age of eighteen years he embraced the Christian life
with the resolution of entering the Ministry of the A. M. E.
Church, and in the Spring of 1892 he received a license as Local
Preacher in Winfield, Kansas. It was while in this place that lie
paid special attention to his art studies, teaching it later in
Guthrie, Oklahoma City and Elreno, Oklahoma.
His first regular appointment was at Coffeyville, Kansas.
In 1896, in Kansas City, he was ordained Deacon bv Bishop
James A. Handy.
Thus far the Ministerial labors of Rev. Biggers have been
confined to the West, and varied somewhat in experience, as for
a while he was Alternate Chaplain of the State Reform School,
in Hutchison, Kansas.
During his Pastorate at St. Paul Church, in Argentine, Kan-
-88-
sas, he continued his theological studies at Western University,
and in 1899 was raised to the Presiding Eldership in Omaha,
Nebraska, by Bishop B. T. Tanner.
More recently he has been in charge of a Church in Port¬
land, Oregon and also doing successful Evangelistic work on the
Pacific Coast, especially at Seattle, Washington. At the present
time he is Pastor of Allen Chapel, Omaha, Nebraska, and with
the assistance of his wife, is editing a monthly journal, " The
Christian Wavfarer." An object very dear to the heart ot
Rev. Riggers, is the establishment of a Home for the Aged and
Worn-out Clergvmen of the A. M. E. Church.
89
REV. ADAM JACKSON.
'IKE the prophet Samuel,
the Rev. Adam Jackson
heard the call of the
Lord in his childhood, exper¬
iencing conversion when lie
was but eight years of age.
Rev. Jackson is a native of
Madison, Morgan County,
Georgia, and his early years
were passed in that State.
^^59 his home was changed
to Alexandria, La.,
place he was verbally licensed
to a
* ■ fjHW' Bankston, Mississippi, led him
■m fW ■. to make his home in that
village, where for six years he
eagerly embraced every oppor¬
tunity of turning sinners to the way of righteousness, rejoicing
when his usefulness was increased by a verbal license to preach.
In 1866, he took up his residence in Wesson, Miss., and the
same year Bishop H. M. Turner (then Presiding Elder of Georgia)
made him an authorized Minister of the Gospel, the following
year witnessing his ordination as Presiding Elder, the ceremony
taking place in St. James Chapel, New Orleans, by the hands of
Bishop J. P. Campbell.
His first work as Presiding Elder extended over a district
of nearly three hundred miles in eastern Mississippi, and his three
years of service were filled to overflowing with the organization
of churches, licensing of preachers, and the promiscuous and
important duties that came to a Presiding Elder forty years ago.
At the termination of his Eldership he became an incumbent of
the pulpit of Zion Chapel in the Citv of Natchez, which he found
-go-
weighted with a debt of $8,000, but his wise and able exertions
reduced it to $2,275.
This charge was followed bv pastorates in Vieksburg,
Greenville, Natchez, Tallahassee, Baton Rouge, Plaquemine, New
Orleans, Jackson, Woodville, Summit, Meridian, Cold Water,
interspersed with the duties of the Eldership in the Districts of
New Orleans and Jackson, being now located at Greenville.
Nearly fortv years of active work in the itineracv lie behind
him, each and all testifving to consecrated, unfaltering allegiance
to the sacred purpose of the Church ; and by reason of this fidel-
itv he sees awaiting him at the end of the years, the " new name,"
and the "crown of life."
-91 -
REV. GEORGE FREDERICK BROWN.
11
EV. GEORGE FREDER¬
ICK BROWN was born
April 14, 1856, in Boon-
ville, Missouri, where, in youth,
he was a diligent pupil in the
common schools of the town,
afterwards entering the High
School at Baxter Springs, Kan.
When only ten years of
age he knew the happiness of a
"change of heart," and united
\ " ' / with the A. M. E. Church, in
V ** / which, as he grew older,
t 3 / various offices of trust were
\ $ v„ ^/ laid upon him, serving as
Sunday School Superintendent
for twelve years.
After receiving preliminary
licenses as Exhorter and Eocal Preacher, he was, in 1884, admit¬
ted to the Missouri Annual Conference at Independence; ordained as
Deacon at Omaha, Nebraska, in October, 1886, and the same
month in 1893 witnessed his ordination as Elder by Bishop
James A. Handy in Kansas Citv.
Among the Ministerial appointments held by Rev. Brown
are pastorates in Pacific City, Missouri; Nebraska City, Nebraska;
Bonner Springs, Topeka, Hutchison, Kansas, and other strong
charges, all of which have been blessed by the revival spirit dur¬
ing his incumbency. Success has attended his efforts in paving off
church obligations and in building houses of worship.
He was Alternate Delegate to the General Conference at
Chicago, in 1904.
-92-
REV. WILLIAM H. THOMAS, M.A.
version took place in his seventeenth year, and he resolved to
follow in the footsteps of his revered father, and become a
Preacher of the Revealed Word.
The foundation of his education was laid in the public
schools of the State of New York, matriculating later at Lincoln
University, also studying at Boston University. In 1875 he
entered the New England Conference where his ten vears of
itineracy have been in connection with that Church authority.
The A. M. E. Church, at Jamestown, Rhode Island, owes its
existence to his faithful labor.
Rev. Thomas is Treasurer of his Conference, a responsibility
that for many years rested in the hands of his father, who was
called from earth in 1903.
Rev. Thomas is wide awake to the advancement of his
race, and always identifies himself with the party whose aim is
municipal reform in whatever city he may be located.
The degree of M.A. was conferred upon him in 1897, by
Lincoln University.
^*TTIE SON of a Minister
ill whose full name he
bears, and who is of
sainted memory in the New
England Conference of the
A. M. E. Church, Rev. William
H. Thomas is one of the most
earnest of the younger pas¬
tors in the service of the
Church.
He was born at Utica,
New York, October 22, 1871.
His childhood and youth were
influenced by the happy envi¬
ronment of a Christian home,
and he was early taught to
love the A. M. E. Church and
its sacred services. His con-
-93-
REV. GEORGE WELLINGTON PORTER, D.D.
EY. George Wellington
Porter D.D., stands
foremost among the
able Ministers ol his Church
who have taken an active
part in State and National
Politics, believing that it is the
dittv of men with fixed relig¬
ious principles to use their
influence and votes wherever
good can be accomplished.
WHe is a son of Tennessee*
having been born in Paris,
Henry County, October 2>~>,
1859. In his nineteenth year
he changed the place of pupil
for that of Country School
Teacher, gradually making his
way into the graded schools of his home state, Tennessee, and
Kentucky and Missouri.
On August 8, 1883 he was converted at Union City, Ten¬
nessee, wdiere he was in charge of the city school ; he united at
once with the A. M. E. Church and resolved to enter the Ministry.
A license to preach was handed him on November 2, 1890,
by Rev. D. E. Asbury, at Paris, Tennessee, and two weeks after¬
ward, at the same place, Bishop A. W. Wayman received him
into the Conference of West Tennessee.
Among the Conference appointments of Dr. Porter were
charges at Huntingdon Mission, Crossland Circuit, St. Peter
Station, Clarksville, where he remained five years, being the first
A. M. E. Minister to serve that length of time consecutively in
Tennessee. He was then made Presiding Elder of Clarksville
District by Bishop Tanner, which position he resigned to accept
the Pastorate of Bethel A.M. E. Church at Vicksburg, Mississippi,
where he is now stationed.
-94-
At different times Dr.Porter has been a prominent figure in the
polities of his state, twice going to the Republican National Con¬
vention as a Delegate from Tennessee. In 1898-99 he published a
weekly paper at Paris, Tennessee, which was the first and only
Negro journal ever issued in that community, and exerted a
great influence in strengthening Republican interests and principles.
Dr. Porter was a strong factor in the election of Dr. Evans
Tyree as Senior Bishop of the five Bishops elected at the General
Conference at Columbus, Ohio, in 1900 ; he has been a delegate
to every meeting of that ecclesiastical body since his connection
with the Ministry.
He was Chairman of a Committee that waited on the late
Governor Longino on matters relative to the St. Louis Exposi¬
tion, and in 1902 was a Commissioner to the great Atlanta
Congress, taking an active part in its proceedings.
-95 -
REV. J. P. MAXWELL.
^■THE name of Maxwell is
ill well known among the
citizens of Central Ohio,
as several of the family have
attained positions of honor in
political, ministerial and pro¬
fessional life.
The birthplace of Rev. J.
P. Maxwell was about ten
miles south of Washington
Court House, in Fayette
County, Ohio. He was one of
eleven children, all of whom,
but one, lived to establish
Christian homes.
His father was a Minister
in the Ohio Conference, and
the atmosphere of the home
was permeated with a strong and sweet religious faith ; he
speaks of his mother as "one of the most faithful and devoted
Christians I ever knew."
Though his childhood and youth were fostered under these
rare influences, he did not yield to the whisperings of the Holy
Spirit until he reached his twenty-second year; his conversion
took place at the home of a neighbor, and he thus tells of the
happiness that flooded his being. " As I was on my way home,
I remember that although it was raining, I have never since
looked upon a night that seemed so beautiful ; whether due to
my spiritual condition, or to the moon's soft and mellowed light
gently shining through the overhanging clouds, I do not know
and cannot say, but to me, the rain, as it gently fell, seemed like
golden beads or gems. All earth appeared to have robed itself in
a beatity, a radiance, such as I had never gazed upon before."
The privileges of an Exhorter were conferred upon him about
-9 6-
1809, but for two winters lie taught in the public schools of
Warsaw, Kentucky, directly across the river from his home in
Indiana, where he resided five years. In 1875 he was granted a
Local Preacher's license by Elder ( now Bishop j C. T. Shaffer.
His first regular pastoral work was at Marvsville, Ohio, in
the summer of 1883, when he was appointed to fill out the
unexpired term of Rev. John Jackson, who had been called to his
eternal reward. But in August of the same vear he was elected
Secretary of the Executive Board of Wilberforee Universitv, and
fit once entered upon its weighty and responsible duties; to these
were soon added the work of a Postmaster, and for a number
of years he was indefatigable in his efforts to advance the inter¬
ests and influence of that trulv great school.
He often filled the pulpit of Holy Trinity, the A. M. P2.
Church of the college settlement, founded and named bv Bishop
I'avne, and recalls with devout gratitude a revival that came
to the Church during his Ministry, when he and Bishop Payne
one Sabbath morning welcomed one hundred and five new-born
souls into the communion of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It
was while Rev. Maxwell was connected with Wilberforee that
he was ordained both Deacon and Elder.
In 1895 he was called upon to serve as juror in the United
States Court in Cincinnati.
He was a Lay Delegate at the General Conference at Wil¬
mington, North Carolina, in May, 1896, and Secretary of the Lay
"Caucus "that nominated H. T. Kealing and John R. Hawkins,
both laymen, for the respective positions of Editor of the A. M. E.
Review and Secretarv of Education, which offices they still fill.
Rev. Maxwell is now in the itinerant service of the Ohio
Conference and is closing his third year as Pastor of Quinn
Chapel, at Chillieothe, Ohio. He is most congenially married, and
savs, " My wife, who has walked life's pathway with me for
thirty-six years, sharing its joys and sorrows, richly deserves to
share with me the satisfaction and reward of whatever of good
I mav, under God, have accomplished." They are blessed with
three devoted children, all of whom have been graduated from
Wilberforee Universitv, and are successful teachers in the world.
- 97 -
REV. P. C. HUNT, D.D.
A
SELF-MADE man, a
church builder, a keen
financier. He knows
no failure."
So reads the summary of
a friendly pen concerning the
character of the popular Pre¬
siding Elder of the Houston
District, Texas Conference.
The eldest child in a family
of seven children, Rev. P. C.
Hunt was born in Hardeman
County, Tennessee, December
22, 1860. At the age of
twelve he was led to conse¬
crate his young life to God
and the Church. His parents
being unable to give him the
education so ardently desired, he started out when he had
reached his sixteenth year, with their blessing, and the small
fortune of seven dollars and fifty cents in his pocket, to discover
what the future had awaiting him.
He made his way to Holly Springs, Mississippi, attended
the State Normal School for one year, and then entered Tangaloo
University, where he remained four years, but the failure of his
eyesight prevented his completion of the full college course.
In 1882 he was licensed as Local Preacher by Rev. A. A. W.
Hill, Presiding Elder of the West Tennessee Conference, but went
to Texas and taught school near La Grange, transferring his
Conference Membership, in December, 1883, to the West Texas
Conference that met at that time in San Antonio, with Bishop
R. H. Cain as presiding officer. Within the next three vears
Bishop Way man ordained him as Deacon and Elder.
The itineracy of Dr. Hunt started at Luling, Texas, and
-98-
tlie succeeding years were filled with successful work on Columbia
and Georgetown Circuits, with pastorates in Dallas and Hous¬
ton, varied with the experience of Presiding Elder over the Cor-
sicana District, and in which capacity he is now serving Hous¬
ton District.
In 1898 he received from Paul Quinn College the honorary
degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Hunt has been particularly successful in securing the
erection of new churches in his special field of labor, and in the con¬
ducting of revival services. In the midst of many and pressing-
duties he finds time to attend to his obligations as Trustee of
Paul Quinn College and Wilberforee University, and has three
times been present as Delegate at the meetings ol the General
Conference of the Church.
99
REV. B. M. CARSON.
spirit of determina-
/II tion that led the slave
bov to flee from bond¬
age, in Kentucky, to a land of
freedom, is the same that has
guided him through many
deprivations and discourage¬
ments to stable success as a
Minister of the A. M. E.
Church.
Rev. B. M. Carson was
born in Kentucky, July 15,
1844', and well knew what it
was to have the eternal " No"
said to every hope and aspi¬
ration of his young life. The
only real happiness that came
to him in his slave days was
the knowledge of the everlasting love of his Heavenly Father
that flooded his heart at the time of his conversion.
He was resolved to learn to read despite the stern prohibi¬
tion against it ; making and selling a scrub brush for fifteen
cents he clandestinely purchased a spelling-book, which he carried
concealed about him, and learned the letters, one by one, from
the white bo}rs of the neighborhood. After learning to spell
moderately well, for the sum of fifty cents each, he imparted his
store of orthography to a number of slave boys, the place of
instruction being an abandoned hut in a field, and the school-
term comprising "four months of Sundays."
In 1863 he was sold for $675. At the same sale his heart
was rent at the sight of his mother on the auction block, and
having saved $75.00 he was allowed to help his father in buying
her freedom. He also determined to be a free man himself, and
go to Canada, " having seen in a vision the way of escape and
- ioo-
the long road leading from bondage." After emancipation lie
entered the public schools at Hamilton, Ohio, and was later a
student at Wilberforce University.
As a Minister Rev. Carson has been blessed in his work.
The Holv Spirit has attended his preaching and many have
been brought into the Church. His most signal success has
been during his pastorate at Youngstown, Ohio. Going to
that little city in October, 1901, he met a membership of
only fifty-three persons, and a low condition of things, spirit¬
ually and generally. His first year's labor added eighty-two
names to the roll of the Church, and the membership has con¬
tinued to grow until it is more than four times as large as when
he took the charge. A parsonage of eight rooms, with modern
conveniences, likewise attest his zeal in making the appointment
a desirable one along all lines.
Rev. Carson is ever on the alert to the progress of his race,
and realizes that the growth of his beloved Church means also
the spiritual, intellectual and social elevation of his people, con¬
sequently a double purpose inspires his consecrated life.
- 1 01 -
WILLIAM H. GIBSON, SR.
0'
'HE autobiography of
this most excellent man
should be found in the
library of every colored man
interested in the history and
advancement of his people,
for its pages present a vivid
picture of their deprivations
while in bondage, together
with glimpses of pathetic
patience, rare heroism, un-
W swerving loyalty to principle,
and high ideals of true man¬
hood.
Mr. Gibson is a native of
Baltimore, in which city he
was privileged to attend a
select school, also receiving
instruction from two eminent ministers. In June, 1847, he was
asked to go as teacher to Louisville, Kentucky, starting almost
immediately. For six months he was associated with Robert M.
Lane in the management of a school, but the following January
he opened an independent school in the basement of the Fourth
Street M. E. Church, situated in a more central part of the
city. This radical departure at first met the angry opposition
of those desiring to keep the Negro in a condition of ignorance;
but strong influence was brought to bear in favor of its estab¬
lishment, and eventually hundreds of slaves, holding written per¬
missions from their masters, were, with the free children,
instructed in the rudiments of learning.
Mr. Gibson did not escape the prejudice and hostilitv
alwavs manifested towards free Negroes in a Slave-State. Louis¬
ville was fully as intense in bitterness as her sister cities farther
south. He was a Charter Member of the first Masonic Lodge of
- 102 -
free colored men in the eitv, who were forced for three years to
hold their meetings at New Albany, Indiana, crossing the river
at midnight, often periling their lives, walking the five miles
that lay between them and New Albany.
In 1862 Mr. Gibson became identified with a school at
Indianapolis, Indiana, which was made up mainly of contraband
children, and was supported by the Quakers and private subscrip¬
tions. This school was closed in a short time and he returned
to Kentucky as Recruiting Sergeant for the 55th Massachusetts
Colored Regiment. This work proved ineffectual. Though scores
of Negroes desired to enlist in the Union army, thev were deter¬
red by the threats and menaces made against them, and Mr.
Gibson was compelled to return to Indiana for the enrollment of
colored soldiers.
After the war he taught for nearly a year and a half in the
schools of Leavenworth, Kansas, and was then prevailed upon
by old friends to again make his home in Kentucky. In a shoi't
time,— during the administration of President Grant, — he received
the appointment of United States Postal Clerk, which he held
for eight months, resigning then on account of the constant
threats made against his life, which kept his family in a state of
anxiety and alarm. Of his start in this work he quaintly
savs:—"As the first negro mail agent in the State, I was equal
to Barnum's Animal Show, for the people at every station
gathered bv hundreds, and climbed upon the cars to get a view
of the black animal who dared to invade their territor\\" At
one time he barely escaped lynching by the Ku Klux Klan. He was
openly attacked on the car, and for the last three months of his
service was daily guarded by Government soldiers. He then
accepted a position with the Freedman's Bank, of Louisville, and
remained in its employ tmtil its doors were closed. As ganger he
served faithfully under President Garfield, going into the grocery
business when the Government passed into Democratic control.
Later he was engaged as night-watchman by the Bank of Ken¬
tucky, the oldest institution of the kind in the State, aud still
holds that responsible place.
Mr. Gibson has won more than local renown as President
- 103 -
of several successful Alusieal Festivals, and lias also been con¬
gratulated as the author of words written for musical setting on
special occasions. His connection with the Masonic and other
Orders has lifted him to high offices of trust find accountability.
He has gone as Delegate to the General Conference of his Church,
and sat in the great National Councils of the Republican party ;
as a Christian philanthropist, and a true man, he is zealous in
all that brings honor and progress to his race.
Mr. Gibson, in July, 1882, was married to Miss Jennie
Lewis, of Louisville, Kentucky, and their home is a center of
sincere, refined hospitality.
- 104 -
PROF. H. B. DOUGLAS.
^■THROUGH the unremit-
1 | I ting sacrifice, encourge-
ment and devotion of
his mother and elder brother,
Prof. H. B. Douglas was pre¬
pared for his life-work as a
teacher.
He was horn April 20,
1861, near Shelbvville, Bed¬
ford Count}", Tenn, and when
nineteen years of age received
his first certificate to teach.
For twenty-five years he
has been an energetic, success¬
ful instructor in the schools
of his native State, having
taught in nearlv every Dis¬
trict of the Counties of Sequat¬
chie and Marion, and at present holds the position of Principal
of the School in South Pittsburg.
Prof. Douglas was converted in April, 1894, and is an
earnest and useful member of the A. M. E. Church, many offices
in the polity of that organization having been entrusted to him.
For seven years he has filled the Superintendency of a large and
flourishing Sunday School. He embraces every opportunity to
advance the religious and intellectual condition of his race.
He has gone many times as Lay Delegate to his District
Church Conferences, and was sent in this capacity to the General
Conference at Chicago, in 1904.
In August, 1903, Professor Douglas was a Member of the
Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows that con¬
vened at Knoxville, Tennessee. He is an eager partisan of all that
is right, and possesses the confidence of his fellow-teachers and
pupils,"and of all that are associated with him in public and
social life.
- 105-
REV. D. P. MOORE.
w
'HE parents of Rev. D. P.
Moore were slaves, and
his birth-place, Dallas
County, Alabama, about ten
miles from the pretty little
city of Selma. His early
education was obtained in the
public schools at Summerfield,
in his native State, his father
sending him, when older, to
Lincoln Normal University, at
W Marion, Alabama. At the com¬
pletion of his school days he
taught for ten years in the
rural districts of Dallas and
Perry Counties in the same
State.
Under the preaching of
Rev. B. L. Coleman, pastor of the A. M. E. Church at Summer-
field, young Moore, in September, 1881, found personal salva¬
tion in Christ, and became an active and interested member and
worker in both the Sunday School and Church. In April,
1887, he was licensed to preach by Dr. M. E. Bryant, Pre¬
siding Elder of Selma District; two years afterward he was
taken into the North Alabama Conference at Greensboro, and
ordained as Deacon, in 1891, by Bishop W. J. Gaines.
Clanton Mission was his first charge, but in 1892 Bishop
Abraham Grant made him spiritual overseer of Calera Circuit,
and in a pastorate of three years he lifted a mortgage of four
hundred dollars, built a beautiful new church and numericallv
strengthened the congregation.
Ordination to the Eldership by the hands of Bishop Grant
came in 1895, and he was stationed successively at St. Luke
A. M. E. Church, North Birmingham, and Gaines Chapel, Annis-
- io6 -
ton, Alabama. These pastorates were eminently satisfactory to
both charges and minister. In November, 1900, he entered upon
a three year's service as Presiding Elder of Florence District, and
is now connected in the same relation to Birmingham District,
daily magnifying his sacred office with a blameless life, and with
a heart and purpose devoted to the upbuilding of the Redeemer's
Kingdom.
Rev. Moore for seven years held the office of Statistician
and for two years that of Chief Secretary of the North Alabama
Conference, and was sent as Delegate in May, 1904, to the Gen¬
eral Conference at Chicago.
- 107 -
REV. JAMES W. RANKIN.
or
'HE subject of this sketch
was born of slave par¬
ents who were desirous
that their son should acquire
the education which had been
deprived them. He learned
his alphabet at a night school;
his first book was purchased
with money that his mother
hoarded from the sale of eggs.
The birth-place of Rev.
/ ""'O Rankin was near Demopolis,
./ Alabama, where he made his
II ' / advent November 14, 185*4.
: The Emancipation Proclama-
tion opened the doors of the
school-house to him, and lie
advanced very rapidly in his
studies.
During a residence from 1875 to 1877, in Brookhaven,
Mississippi, he was converted and joined the A. M. E. Church,
and started on a line of preparation for the Ministry, studying
in the citv schools at Memphis, Tennessee, afterwards matriculat¬
ing at Eemoyne Institute.
His connection with the North Mississippi Conference began
in 1878, at which time he was ordained Deacon (under the Mis¬
sionary rule) by Bishop J. P. Campbell; the next year the same
ecclesiastical authority made him an Elder.
Rev. Rankin, after serving six years in the Mississippi Con¬
ference, was transferred to the North Louisiana Conference, and
in 1886 was appointed Presiding Elder of Shreveport District,
where he strengthened and developed the work to such an extent
that a division of the field was necessary, the new part, known
as the Monroe District being placed under his care for two years.
He was then given charge of Lake Providence District, in
which lie helped to establish Delhi Normal Institute, serving
lor a time as Trustee and President.
Failing health caused a transference from the malarial
region of Louisiana, to Texas, where he itinerated in the churches
at Hearne and Houston, doing effective work in building his
charges up spiritually, and helping them, when necessary, to can¬
cel financial obligations. He also served as Presiding Elder of
Houston District. He has also held successful pastorates at Cor-
sicana, and Waxahachie Station, the latter being in connection
with Ft. Worth Conference.
In June, 1897, Rev. Rankin was honored with the degree of
Doctor of Divinity by Paul Quinn College, of which he is a
Trustee. He has gone five times as Delegate to the General Con¬
ferences of his Church, and served for eight years on the Parent
Home and I^oreign Missionary Board. He is now a valued
Member of the Sunday School Board of his Church.
- 109 -
REV. LOUIS WILLIAM RATLIFFE.
CHRISTMAS day, 18+8,
saw the advent of a
son in a slave cabin in
Roxborongh, North Carolina,
who was as fondly loved as are
more fortunate children born
in freedom. But for only nine
short years was Louis William
Ratliffe to know the blessing
of his parent's affection, for
they were separated by the
cruelty of the system of ser¬
vitude.
He was nineteen years of
age when he came to Ports¬
mouth, Ohio, where he enter¬
ed the public schools. In 1869
he professed a saving hope in
Christ and united with the African Methodist Episcopal Church ;
two years afterward his work taking him to Indianapolis,
Indiana, he placed his Church letter in Bethel A. M. E. Church,
and in time became a popular Class Leader, and was shortly
licensed as Local Preacher. In 1876 he was admitted to the
Indiana Annual Conference at Hill's Chapel, Grant County.
His first pastorates were New Garden, Coryden, Jackson
and St. Joseph in the State of Michigan. He was then trans¬
ferred to Indiana where he preached successively at Jeffersonville,
Ivnightstown, Mt. Vernon, Bloomington, Logansport, Terre
Haute, Kokomo, New Albany, Indianapolis, Princeton and Ander¬
son, spiritual and financial success attending his work. From
1890 to 1894- he served as Trustee of Wilberforce University.
Rev. Ratliffe was married in 1873 to Mrs. G. A. Hall, of
Indianapolis, who has proven a true helpmate to her husband in
- i io -
his pastoral labors. Mrs. Ratliffe was the first President ( and
was kept in office for ten years ) of the Indiana Conference
Branch Mite Missionary Society, organized in 1886, by Bishop
J. P. Campbell, at Vincennes, and was also the first Delegate
from that State to the National Parent Home and Foreign Mite
Missionary Society at its meeting in Philadelphia. Two sons
have been born of this marriage.
Rev. Ratliffe was recently given a diploma from the Theo¬
logical Department of Morris Brown College.
111
NATHANIEL HAMMOND LEE.
T THE venerable age
yfcjL of eighty years, Mr.
^ ^ Nathaniel Hammond
Lee is living in glad content,
under his own "vine and fig
tree," in the beautiful town
of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
honored and venerated by all
who know him.
He was born in slavery
April 25, 1825, in Harford
County, Maryland. In 1847
he became a resident of a
free State, making his home in
Boston, Massachusetts. On
May 6, 1850, he was united
in marriage to Miss Mary
Williams, of Fredericksburg,
Virginia. A large family of children blessed their union.
Not until he had almost reached his fiftieth year, 1874, did
Mr. Lee know the power of saving grace in his heart, at which
time he became an earnest christian worker, joining Charles street
African Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston, where for many
years he was a conscientious and efficient Steward and Trustee.
He often speaks with gratitude of the Divine power and care
that have preserved his life in times of accident and peril.
For nearly forty vears Mr. Lee was an appreciated employe
of the firm of Stephen Litton & Company, of Boston. He now
lives comfortablv and happily in his own home at Cambridge,
and bids fair to attain the advanced age of his mother, who
was privileged to celebrate her one hundred and third birthdav.
Rev. George Washington, a preacher of the A. M. E.
Zion Church, in New England, was a brother of the subject of
this sketch.
- I I 2 -
REV. D. M. BUTLER.
EV. D. M. Butler was
born March 10, 1849,
in Frederick Count}',
Maryland, and experienced a
realization of the Divine for¬
giveness of sin when he was
but fifteen years of age, and
was taken into the member¬
ship of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church at Burkets-
Wville, Maryland, by Elder
Daniel Rideout. In a short
time he was appointed Assis¬
tant Class Leader and elected
a Church Steward.
Going to Springfield, Ohio,
in March, 1870, he identified
himself with the North Street
Church, and his services were almost immediately utilized in
several church offices.
His life and aspirations were directed to the Ministry of
his Church, and in 1877, Rev. R. G. Mortimer granted him a
license as Local Preacher. Two years afterwards Bishop A. W.
Wayman admitted him to the Ohio Conference, at Circleville, his
first charge being at Oberlin, Ohio.
He was soon ordained as Deacon and Elder, and he has
itinerated with great fidelity and marked success at Cadiz, Day¬
ton, Steubenville, Lockland, Chillicothe, Urbana and Findlay, and
is now serving our great Church at Toledo, Ohio.
H
- 113 -
REV. CHARLES HENRY BOONE.
c
'IKE many of liis breth¬
ren in the Ministry of
the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, the early
life of Rev. Charles Henry
Boone was passed in working
on a farm during the spring
and summer months, and
devoting the winter season to
the acquirement of the rudi¬
ments of an education at a
district school.
He was born in Franklin
County, Ohio, about the year
1870. While a little fellow he
was inclined to the considera¬
tion of the more serious things
of existence, and in his fif¬
teenth year was soundly converted to God and enrolled his
name in the Membership of the A. M. E. Church.
In 1887 he entered the public schools at Springfield, and in
1891 was privileged to matriculate at Wilberforce University,
taking the Scientific and Classical Courses, completing them in
1898. His college days meant much of continued hardship and
daily privation ; his finances at times were extremely contracted,
and more than once his dinner consisted of but a little bread and
meat or a raw cabbage.
On March 23, 1899, Dr. John Coleman licensed him as a
Minister of the A. M. E. Church. Conscious of the great respon¬
sibility devolving upon him, he entered Payne Seminary, master¬
ing the regular Theological Course in one year's time.
His first Pastoral experience was at Martin's Ferrv, Ohio
where he remained but three months, being then transferred to
- 114-
the Kentucky Conference, at which time, September, 1900, Bishop
Tanner ordained him as Deacon.
In Kentucky the door of opportunity opened into the school¬
room instead of the church, and in 1901 he began a work that
quickly caused him to be recognized as a leading educator. The
next year led to his selection as Principal of Turner Institute
and the John G. Mitchell Bible Training School at Shelbyville,
Tennessee, retaining his connection with his Conference. In
1902 he was given Elder's Orders by Bishop B. T. Tanner, at
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and was also appointed to the Pastor¬
ate of the Church in Shelbyville, where he carried on with vigor
and enthusiasm his very successful work in Turner Institute, in
connection with his Ministerial labors. He is now Pastor of St.
Paul Church, Nashville, Tennessee.
-115-
REV. P. F. CURRY.
<£'
OLUMBIA, South Caro¬
lina, is the native city
of Rev. P. F. Curry,
where he was born May 12,
1868. He is a graduate of
Cookman College, Jackson¬
ville, Florida, and also of
Gammon Theological Semi¬
nary, Atlanta, Georgia.
He was happily converted
in his tenth year. It was a
memorable day in his life
when a license to preach was
given him, and he was admit¬
ted to the Macon, Georgia,
Conference, by Bishop W. J.
Gaines, on November 16, 1890,
completing his equipment for
the itineracy. Ordination as Deacon and Elder quickly followed.
The Ministerial labors of Rev. Curry have been entirely in
the State of Georgia, with appointments at Spring Hill, Smith-
ville Station, Wavcross Station, Brunswick Station and Bethel
Church, Savannah. He is now the zealous Presiding Elder of
Millen District.
Rev. Curry is a valued Trustee of Morris Brown College.
In 1903 he was elected Ministerial Delegate to his home Con¬
ference, and the next year was sent to the General Conference at
Chicago.
- 116 -
REV. JONESIMUS MORLEY, B.A.
EV. J. Onesimus Morle}'-
is the spiritual overseer
of St. Paul's African
Methodist Episcopal Church
at Hamilton, Bermuda, West
Indies, and, although com¬
paratively young in years and
experience, has been made Pre¬
siding Elder of the District.
He is a native of those beau¬
tiful tropical islands, and was
Wfor several years a successful
teacher in the Government
School.
A license to preach was
given him by Dr. M. M. Moore
in 1894, at Winter Park,
Florida, and on the fourteenth
day of June, in the following year, he was honored with an
invitation to preach the District Conference sermon ; this discourse,
based upon Proverbs 8:3, brought him much renown, and it
was pronounced " a masterpiece of profound thought and beauti¬
ful oratory."
Desiring to increase his Biblical and Theological lore, he, in
1896, matriculated at the Wesley an Theological College at Mon¬
treal, Canada, being the only colored student in the Institution,
where, at the end of three year's close mental application, he
was graduated with high tokens of esteem from his instructors
and fellow-students, A future of great usefulness and honor lies
before him.
-117-
REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT SCOTT.
/Vf\RDAINED as a Minister
lltl of the African Metlio-
dist Episcopal Church,
and having successfully filled
several pastorates, yet it is as
an educator that Rev. Timothy
Dwight Scott has obtained a
prominent place among the
leading men of his race; one
that is not excelled in merit
by any Instructor in the land.
He was born in Circleville,
Ohio; June 21, 1860, and since
his twelfth year has been
actively and usefully identi¬
fied with the A. M. E. Church.
As a diligent and studious
pupil he won high grades in
the public schools of his native town, but desirous of greater
intellectual culture without it proving to heavy a burden on his
devoted parents, he entered Wilberforce University in 1881, and
paid for most of his tuition with money earned on Saturdays in
a barber shop in Xenia; he was graduated from the Classical
Department of the Institution in 1886.
He began his splendid record as teacher with one year's
service as Principal of the Colored High School at Circleville,
holding the same position at Parkersburg, West Virginia, for
five years; afterwards he occupied with marked ability, for three
years, the Chair of Natural Science at Wilberforce University.
He has for the past nine years been employed, at a handsome
salary, as Principal of the East Main Street High School, Xenia,
Ohio.
Professor Scott's Ministerial experience has been intertwined
with his profession as teacher. He received his license to preach
- 118-
from Rev. C. E. Newsome, at Circleville, Ohio, in August, 1887.
Deacon's Orders were given him September 30, 1889, by Bishop
Daniel A. Payne, at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and Bishop B. W.
Arnett, on October 7, 1894, at Wheeling, West Virginia, ordained
him as Elder.
He has itinerated very successfully in the A. M. E. Churches
at Parkersburg, West Virginia, VVilberforce and Xenia, Ohio ; his
great interest in the Sunday School cause has led to his holding
for a decade the responsible position of President of the Ohio
Conference African Methodist Sunday School Institute. In April,
1895, Governor William McKinley made him Chaplain of the 9th
O. N. G., and Governor Asa S. Bushnell, in 1897, again commis¬
sioned him to the office.
Rev. Scott, on September 4, 1903 lost by death his wife,
who was formerly Miss Mary S. McKinley, of Maeon, Georgia,
to whom he was married December 27, 1887. She was a woman
whose beauty of face reflected the loveliness of heart and soul
within, and her strong mentalit}' and intellectual culture made her
a charming personality. Five little children were left motherless.
-119-
REV. EDWARD W. LAMPTON, D.D.
EV. Edward Wilkerson
m. first African Methodist Preach-
I ^ #whB er in Kentucky, and the life
/ •* S i*wSk of his grandson has in many
■ Christian courage and fidelity
mason, which trade was als<^
learned by the son. His con¬
version in September, 1874, at the town of Milliken's Bend,
Louisiana, (which event was almost tragic in its happening, the
Divine power causing him to leap from the horse that he was
riding with a cry for mercy and pardon), filled him with the
desire to make the Ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church his life-work. He at once began to qualify himself for
the sacred office, and was admitted to the Annual Conference, at
Greenville, Mississippi, where he was ordained Deacon. Bishop
Ward, at the eighth session of the North Mississippi Annual Con¬
ference raised him to the Eldership.
The itineracy of Dr. Lampton has been one of constant
loyalty to right, and success has followed his steps. His brethren
in the pulpit have bestowed upon him every official position in
the Conference. In 1892 he was sent to the General Con¬
ference at Philadelphia. He was the first Treasurer of J. P.
Campbell College, and at present is Vice President and Chair¬
man of the Committee on Wavs and Means of that Institution.
Dr. Lampton is an ardent upholder of the Masonic Order,
and has twice been elected Grand Master of Stringer Grand
Lodge of Mississippi. His decisions have marked his great ability.
In national politics he has always stood for the good of the
party, and expressed contempt for trickery and injustice. He was
a Delegate from the State-at-Large to the National Convention
at St. Louis that nominated McKinlev and Hobart.
As member of the Committee sent to the Governor of
Mississippi, it was the logical eloquence of Dr. Lampton that
prevented a division of the school fund, thus securing a common
school education to the Negro children of the State ; his argu¬
ments and persistence likewise saved Alcorn A. and M. College to
the Colored People of the same State, and retained the corps of
Colored Teachers in the Institution. For this splendid service
the College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Liberal
Learning, the degree of Doctor of Divinity having previously
been given him by Shorter University at the close of his Theo¬
logical studies, at which time he won the class medal.
Dr. Lampton is at present efficiently serving the African
Methodist Episcopal Church as its Financial Secretary, one of
the most important offices within the gift of the General Con¬
ference.
Well known as a forcible and influential speaker, Dr. Lamp-
ton is equally strong with his pen, as his brochure entitled
"Sacred Dynamite on Baptism" will testify.
Dr. Lampton is very happy and fortunate in his immediate
home life, whose genial hospitality has been tested by many,
both friends and strangers. His race is honored by his earnest,
Christian manhood, and he honors his race by continuous
devotion to its well-being and well-doing.
- 12 r -
REV. PAUL STILL PRYOR.
EY. Paul Still Pryor
was born March 6,
1865, in Pike County,
not far from Troy, Alabama,
being the elder son ot Rev. R.
S. Pryor, who was for many
years Pastor of the Baptist
Congregations in Brundidge,
Troy and other towns in
Alabama. Much of his early
life was passed upon a planta-
\ ? 'ijfebt W v tion; his school privileges
V were few and his education
*/ was mainly obtained from a
private white instructor, Mr.
Albert Smith.
In his eighteenth year
young Pryor located at Union
Springs, Alabama, where for two years he was employed as
a drayman, after which he clerked and kept books in a grocery
belonging to his brother. Later he embarked in the mercantile
business for himself.
His conversion, in 1888, made the Ministry the supreme
object in his life, and on March 18, 1891, he was licensed as a
Minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, by Rev.
E. H. Dixon, Presiding Elder of Union Springs District, and the
same }rear joined the Alabama Conference, Bishop W. J. Gaines
presiding.
The following year Bishop A. Grant gave him his first
appointment at Suspension Mission, where he built a church. In
1893 he went to Bethel and Powell Missions, near Huntsboro.
The same year he received Deacon's Orders from Bishop Grant.
Two year's connection, as pastor, with the Troy Circuit,
witnessed the ingathering of sixty souls to the Church, and the
-122-
building of" two new houses of worship. His pastorate at Clop-
ton Church added one hundred and fifty persons to its member¬
ship.
His itineracy in other places was rewarded with similar
success, the people experiencing spiritual and material blessings,
the latter materializing in the shape of remodeled churches, new
parsonages and the wiping out of church debts.
In 1899 Bishop H. M. Turner ordained him as Elder.
His energy brought new life to the Church at Dothen ; he
lifted it out of a cloud of debt, built a parsonage worth $750,
and the same vear entertained the Annual Conference.
Rev. Pry or is at present Presiding Elder of Columbia Dis¬
trict, and also Editor of the Henry County Appeal. He resides
in Dothen where he is the owner of valuable property.
He was a Delegate from his Conference to the last Gen¬
eral Conference in Chicago.
- 121 -
DR. LOUIS MADISON FENWICK.
3
'EW persons, irrespective
of race, possess the
broad, thorough pre¬
paration for their life-work as
does Dr. Louis Madison Fen
wick, the subject of this
sketch.
He was born in Gentry
County, Missouri, August 29,
1858, of deeply religious
parentage, and obtained his
early education in the High
School and College at Oska-
loosa, Iowa, afterward enter¬
ing Penn College in the same
city. In 1884 he joined the
Conference at Keokuk, Iowa,
and was assigned to the
Princeton and Knoxville Circuit, Illinois, where he did excellent
work in freeing both charges from debt. The same record was
made at Minneapolis. In Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Bedford and
Creston, Iowa, churches were built ; eight charges in Illinois were
either made to rejoice over new houses of worship, or the
remodeling of old ones, by his wise management of financial con¬
ditions; in Evanston, Illinois, his last charge, he raised more
money than any of the pastors of the Church before him had
ever succeeded in doing.
But a natural love for medical science, and a desire to min¬
ister to the physical comfort of his fellow creatures by alleviat¬
ing their suffering, and healing their diseases, led him, in 1894,
to enter the Barnes Medical College at St. Louis, Missouri, from
which he was graduated four years later, standing fifth in a
class of one hundred and seventy-six, and being the first Negro
to receive a diploma from that Institution. For two years he
— 124 -
was associated as Assistant Clitiican with the College of Physi¬
cians and Surgeons in St. Louis, and also served most efficiently
in the City Hospital.
Not satisfied with his attainments in his new prolession, he
obtained, also, by hard study, a diploma from the National
College ot Electro-Therapeutics and Electro-Physics in Indiana¬
polis, and is now an eminent and competent physician in the
city of Chicago.
- 125-
REV. B. W. ROBERTS, D.D.
Zg^ALLED to an eternal
I I reward while his sun
of life was still high in
the heavens, Dr. Roberts has
left to the Church so clear to
him, the record of one who
served "as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ."
He was born July 26th,
1852, at Monticello, Jefferson
County, Florida. In his eigh¬
teenth year he accepted Christ
as his personal Saviour, and
was licensed to preach Sep¬
tember 15th, 1871, by Rev.
Wm. Bradwell of the Florida
Conference.
Before he reached his
twenty-third birthday he had received ordination as Deacon and
Elder, and been appointed to Ministerial work in the Bahama
Islands, from which he returned to an itineracy in his native
State, holding charges at Madison, Tallahassee, Appalachicola
and other large centers. In 1883 came transference to Texas
and an assignment to St. Paul A. M. E. Church at Waco, with
after appointments at Austin and San Antonio and also extensive
work as Presiding Elder.
Dr. Roberts, in December, 1871, was united in marriage to
Miss Diana W. Williams, of Monticello, Florida, with whom he
lived most happily till her death in March, 1893. On March 11th,
1902, he was again wedded to Miss Leona B. Ferguson, of Ohio,
who survives him.
As Ministerial Delegate, Dr. Roberts attended five consecu¬
tive sessions of the General Conference of the Church, and had
been elected to the General Conference at Chicago that met in
- 12 6 -
May following his translation to a higher sphere, which took
place February 1st, 1904.
Throughout his life Dr. Roberts alwavs found some duty
awaiting his coming. Besides his labors as Pastor and Preacher
he taught school during the early \rears of his Ministry, served
at different times as Justice of the Peace, Countv Commissioner,
Member of Board of Education, and was for a while Inspector
of Customs for the port of Key West. For nearly thirty years
he was a Trustee of Paul Quinn College, and at the time of his
death Chairman ot its Executive Board.
-127 -
REV. J. M. TOWNSEND, D. D.
?
'RINCIPLE not Policy,"
has been the inner
motive power that
has lifted the subject ol this
sketch to the enviable place of
eminence and confidence given
him by the membership of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church and the public at
large.
\ ' 1 lie only son of William
\ ' an<l Mary A. Townsend, Dr.
.. ^mWm W / "" " / Townsend was born at Galli-
polis, Ohio, August 18th, 1841.
Rr ^'"Jr / He was converted and joined
the Church when only twelve
years of age; after four years
of successful work as teacher,
in 1871, entered the Ministry of the A. M. E. Church.
The itineracy of Dr. Townsend has been mainly in the State
of Indiana, in which he has twice been assigned to charges in
Richmond and Indianapolis, serving also in Terre Haute ; but he
has also held pastorates in Chicago, Cincinnati and Columbus,
Ohio.
Politics and political life have ever been full of charm to
Dr. Townsend, but from the standpoint only of the sacred and
mighty power that lies in a man's ballot, and for years he was
a foremost figure in Indiana State politics. He was elected to
the State Legislature and held the office of Recorder of the Gen¬
eral Land Office, never once forgetting that fidelity to conscience
and duty was the expression of good citizenship.
The Church has been quick to recognize the Christian char¬
acter and natural ability of Dr. Townsend, for although he was
a student at Oberlin, he is in the main a self-made man, study-
mg and learning- whenever and wherever opportunity offered.
He was a Member of the World's Ecumenical Conference in
1881, and has gone as a Delegate to everv General Conference
of the Church, save one, since 1876. For eight years he served
as Secretary of Home and Foreign Missions, and the present
Missionary Department of the Church was founded bv him.
The first permanent work of the Church in Hayti, San Domingo,
the West Coast of Africa, and in Indian Territory is due to his
energy and far-sightedness.
Dr. Townsend is regarded as a most earnest preacher, an
excellent pastor and a winning evangelist. Over six thousand
men and women have been taken by him into the fold of the
Church. All of his work is permeated with optimistic faith in a
future of honor and greatness for his race.
- I 2Q -
REV. ISAIAH HENDERSON WELCH.
rfyyo man in the Ministry
of the African Metho-
dist Episcopal Church
is more devoted to the pro¬
gress of his race than is the
subject of this sketch, who
was the founder and first
President of Way man Insti¬
tute, Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
He was born on the east¬
ern shore of Maryland, June
22, 1845. Work on a farm
near Bellfonte, Pennsylvania,
occupied his early }rears. As
he grew older the desire for
an education was strong
within him, and he entered
Wilberforce University under
the guardianship of Bishop D. A. Payne. Two }rears of his
college course were completed, when the mad allurements of war
proved more powerful than books, so he ran away and enlisted
with the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, but was later trans¬
ferred to Co. C. 55th regiment. Wounded in the charge on James
Island and battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina, he was assigned
to the Freedmen's Bureau under General 0. 0. Howard, and set
to work writing contracts between ex-slaves and their former
masters.
Returning to Wilberforce at the close of the war he was
graduated as valedictorian of the class of '70, and the same year
ordained as Elder by Bishop Payne and assigned to the pastoral
charge of Emmanuel A. M. E. Church, Mobile, Alabama, in
which city he organized a second A. M. E. Church.
Rev. Welch is a man of general utility, having been called to
various fields of labor. Outside of his many appointments as
Pastor and Elder, he has been a School Teacher and held the
appointment of Clerk of Customs at Pensacola, Florida. In this
city the Church at the Navy Yard is a witness to his zeal and
earnestness in his Master's cause.
- 130-
REV. THOMAS WESLEY WOODSON.
8
EV. Thomas Wesley
Woodson is one of the
popular Ministers of
the North Ohio Conference,
and holds the responsible
position of Statistical Notary
in that organization.
He is a native of Jackson
County, Ohio, and was born
in that locality, February 15th,
\ / 1853. His early education was
' J obtained in the public schools,
I I j and a course at Wilberforce
/ University prepared him for
# / the serious and weighty duties
of the pulpit of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church.
In September, 1887, he was
admitted to the North Ohio Conference, Bishop Campbell presid¬
ing. He has done efficient service in all the charges committed
to his care. He is now stationed at North Street A. M. E. Church,
Springfield, Ohio, one of the most flourishing Congregations in
the State.
Rev. Woodson was a Delegate to the last General Confer¬
ence at Chicago, and is a Life Trustee of Wilberforce University.
His earnestness in the Sunday School Cause has placed him in
the Presidencv of the North Ohio Sunday School Institute. Of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows he is a valued member,
and has been given a high official position in one of the Ohio
Lodges.
- x31 -
REV. WILLIAM A. FOUNTAIN.
'HE daily walk and con¬
versation of pious par¬
ents were of untold in¬
fluence in forming the Chris¬
tian character of the subject
of this sketch, and leading
him finally into the ranks of
the Ministry of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rev. William A. Fountain
was horn at Elberton, Georgia,
I October 29th, 1870. He re-
V. ceived instruction at Clark
W'A TljMUniversity, Morris Brown
nHHL College, and was graduated
from Allen University, South
Carolina, in the class of 1892,
in which he bore off the palm
as Valedictorian. Entering the school-room, for twelve years he
was a faithful and conscientious instructor of the young, but the
call of the Church ever sounded in his ears, and he asked and
obtained a license to preach from Dr. J. S. Flipper.
In 1898, he was registered as a non-resident student of
Central University, Indianapolis, Indiana, and after three years of
close study was given the degree of Bachelor of Divinity; he,
during this period, doing Pastoral work at Washington Station;
again registering at the same Institution, and combining study
with Ministerial effort at Marietta, in two year's time received
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
The oratorical gifts of Rev. Fountain have brought his ser¬
vices into requisition upon important occasions, and in 1901 lie
was called upon to make a literary address at Allen University,
and also to preach the Baccalaureate Sermon at the Commence¬
ment Exercises of the Public Schools of Washington, Georgia,
-132-
1904 saw him among the lecturers at Tnrner Theological Semi¬
nary of Morris Brown College, which Seminary, the }rear before,
honored him with the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology.
Rev. Fountain is most cordially liked bv his fellow minis¬
ters, and has twice been elected Chief Secretary of his Conference,
and sent an equal number of times to the General Conference.
As Presiding Elder he is now doing lasting and good work in
Athens District.
- I33 ^
REV. HENRY NASBY NEWSOME, D. D.
He is the first-born son of George and Rachal Newsome,
his birth taking place September 10th, 1866, in Russell County,
Alabama. He attended, during boyhood, the common schools of
Crawford and Girard, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia, after¬
ward studying Hebrew, Greek and Latin under private instruct¬
ors, and taking a course in Theology at Morris Brown College.
A religious environment was ever about him. He literally
grew up in the shadow of the Church. He was a teacher in the
Sunday School at thirteen years of age, and at seventeen was
Superintendent instead of teacher. He was also an Instructor in
the Public Schools. Two years afterward he was converted, and
in 1888, was admitted to the Alabama Conference and stationed
at Hopewell Mission, where he found twelve members worship¬
ing under a bush-arbor. In four months a neat church was built,
and when at the end of two years he was assigned to another
charge, there were fifty more names on the roll of Hopewell
more money for the A. M. E.
Church than any young man
in the State of Alabama. He
is a great revivalist and is
intellectually able to entertain
an}r audience, and is able, and
will hold anything this grand
old church may give him.
He is what I call a wonder,
and is Alabama's Napoleon."
This glowing estimation of
one of Dr. Newsome's brother
Ministers, is but a reflection
of the sentiment of the Church
at large concerning him.
Church.
- 134-
This initial success was indicative of that which has
attended all his pastorates. Wherever he went churches were
erected or repaired, debts lifted and the membership wonderfully
increased. At Enon Circuit he built a thousand dollar church
and put a 610 pound bell on it within the limit of twelve
months. His success at Opelika was phenominal, spiritually and
financially. In December, 1901, he was sent to Mobile, Alabama,
where he found the congregation staggering under an incubus of
four thousand dollars of debt, but by July, 1903, every cent was
paid, and there was much rejoicing when the mortgage was
burned. In less than three years pastorate of this charge, Dr.
Newsome has already added four hundred names to the church
roll, raised over $13,000, purchased a new parsonage, and the
church has a small steadv revenue from the rent of the old par¬
sonage.
Dr. Newsome represented the Alabama Conference at the
General Conference at Columbus, Ohio, in 1900, and the Central
Alabama Conference at the meeting of the same Church body at
Chicago, in 1904.
But, perchance, the work that he holds nearest to his heart,
and that he regards as the greatest privilege to perform for the
Church, is advancing the cause of the South African College.
In this cause he is never weary, and as its Treasurer welcomes
the coming of every dollar, knowing well that it is a sound
investment in God's own work.
Dr. Newsome has a very happy home, his cultured wile
being formerly Miss Susie Ella Knox, of Brundidge, Alabama.
Two sons and three daughters are the joy of their parent's love.
- !35 -
REV. HENRY COLBURNE MSIKINYA.
"^T/N him we find a man who
^|S suffers no compromise
for Christian principles."
What higher encomium can he
passed upon a Minister of the
Lord Jesus Christ ?
The parents of Rev. Msi-
kinya were converted under
the preaching of Bishop Tav-
lor, and he was born into the
happy influences of a Chris¬
tian home at Nxukwebe
( Healdstown ), a Missionary
Station in South Africa.
Young Msikinya was a
diligent pupil in the native
school he attended, and as
soon as he became of age he
entered the Native Training Institute of the Wesleyan Church at
Healdstown, where he ranked as one of the best students in the
college, afterward passing the examination for Government
Teacher with honor. In the latter part of 1891 he was called to
teach at Kimberlv, and has memories of six years faithful work
connected with the place.
The highest desire of his heart was to be a Minister of the
A. M. E. Church, believing that he was Divinely called so to labor.
In America alone could fitting preparation be made for the sacred
work, and in the noble University of Wilberforce he spent four
vears of hard study.
At the present time Rev. Msikinya is Principal of Bethel
Institute at Cape Town, and he fully realizes the importance and
responsibility attached to his position. Ilis life and words will
be of mighty power in shedding Gospel light upon many hearts
in the "Dark Continent."
- i36~
ANAK THOMAS ATWATER.
MONG the many able
iJk teachers of the Color-
^ ^ ed race, no one is
more worth}' of honorable
mention than the subject of
this sketch, who was born
August 21st, 1872, in Upson
County, Georgia, near the pres¬
ent site of Yatesville.
Making the best of the
limited opportunities for edu¬
cation that came to him in
youth, in his nineteenth year
he entered Atlanta University,
where he remained for seven
years, working his way,
teaching during the summer
vacations. At the completion
of the course he was graduated from the New York Teachers'
Professional School, receiving his diploma in 1898.
While a student in Atlanta University he was won by the
Holy Spirit to an allegiance to his Divine Master, and united
with the A. M. E. Church, and has always honored his profes¬
sion by an earnest, consistent life, serving, at different times, as
Steward and Sunday School Superintendent.
In 1899, he, with a few trustees, founded the East Rome
Graded Normal Industrial School, and has been at the head of
its teaching force since its organization, delighting in leading the
youth of his race to higher levels ot intellectual and spiritual
truth.
Professor Atwater is often called upon to address large
assemblies, as he is noted for his gift of oratory.
He was sent, in 1904, as a Delegate Layman to the Gen¬
eral Conference in Chicago.
- T37 -
REV. MATTHEW W. TRAVERSE, D.D.
^■1 R. Matthew W. Traverse
<4 P| was born in Baltimore,
- ^ Maryland, on the last
da}- of the year, 1855. He
took advantage in his boy¬
hood of all the schooling open
to colored youth in that day,
studying at the Douglas Insti¬
tute and Normal School in
the city. When he reached his
fifteenth year, he was put to
work in a brick-yard during
the summer and in an oyster-
house in the winter, attend¬
ing night school whenever
opportunity offered.
His conversion, in 1868,
turned his purpose in life to
the Ministry, and in 1876 he was licensed as a Minister of the
A. M. E. Church. The next February he started South to begin
his work as Teacher and Pi'eacher, and to please his friend, Dr.
Fisher, a Presiding Elder of Savannah, located in Georgia,
where he was assigned to the charge of several Circuits. He
identified himself with Macon Conference, but at the close of a
two year's pastorate was transferred to the Georgia Conference
and stationed at Smithville and Leary Circuit, but did not
remain here long owing to the frail health of his wife.
In 1884, Bishop James A. Shorter transferred him to the
Baltimore Conference, and after three year's Circuit work he
preached at Allen Chapel, Washington, D. C., and built a new
Church at Cumberland. Great success attended his Ministry
at Hagerstown, Maryland, from which charge he was trans¬
ferred by Bishop Gaines to the West Kentucky Conference.
After a year's Pastorate at Avery Church, Memphis, Tennessee,
- 138 -
he was made Presiding Elder and stationed at St. Paid, Atlanta,
Georgia, to eventuall\r return to Columbia, Tennessee. At that
time raee hostility in the State was at fever heat, and the
uncompromising defense of his people by Dr. Traverse brought
upon him the hatred of his opponents, and, fearful of a tragedy,
Church authority transferred him again to the Baltimore Con¬
ference and assigned him to Payne Memorial Church, Baltimore,
where he quickly became one of the most popular preachers in
the city. He has since served at Mount Moriah Church,
Annapolis, Maryland.
Dr. Traverse is the editor of a popular little sheet, known
as "The Weekly Guide," published at Baltimore in the interest of
his race. Besides his editorial and pulpit obligations, Dr. Tra¬
verse is officially connected with several societies working along
Church lines, and every hour has its imperative dutv. He has
served as Trustee of Wilberforce University, and received the
degree of Doctor of Divinity from Livingston College.
His wife, to whom he was married in 1878, was Miss
Mary E. Hall, and they have an interesting family of four bovs
and five girls. He is well off, financially, and ranks high in Ma¬
sonic and Pythian circles.
139
REV. WILLIAM DECATUR COOK, D.D.
ton, North Carolina, February 17th, 1860, educated in the
public schools of his native town, afterwards going to Shaw and
Howard Universities, preaching as often as his studies would
permit.
His regular itineracy began in the North Carolina
Conference, being early the recipient of Deacon and Elder's
Orders; appointments were filled in the Churches of Fayetteville,
Durham and Kinston, after which he was called to other fields
of labor, preaching at Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware;
Mother Bethel, Philadelphia; Bethel, New York City, and other
strong Churches. The handsome Church at Norfolk, Virginia, is
a monument to his active purpose and ability. The old edifice
was torn awav, and in little over a year the present Church was
dedicated. It comfortably accommodates fifteen hundred people,
and its cost was $38,000. Before he left over half of the debt
was paid.
®IIE value of the life and
influence of Rev. Wil¬
liam Decatur Cook is
apparent in the position held
bv him in many of the Edu¬
cational and Benevolent Insti¬
tutions of the Church; being
a Life-Trustee of Wilberforce
University, a Charter Member
of Kittrell Institute, Vice
President of the A. M. E.
Church Extension Board,
Director of Howard Orphan
Asylum, Brooklyn, Newr York,
and Trustee of the Sea Shore
Home for the Aged at Atlan¬
tic City.
He was born in Warren-
- 140 -
While pastor of the Bridge Street Church at Brooklyn,
New York, his practiced assistance resulted in the burning ol a
mortgage that for thirty years had crippled the usefulness of the
Church, the lifting of all other indebtedness, and at his depart¬
ure $600 lay in the Church Treasurv.
Dr. Cook rejoices most in the fact that during his twenty-
seven 3'ears of Ministerial labor over two thousand persons
have professed a saving knowledge of Christ, won bv his earnest
exhortations and sermons.
Dr. Cook has been sent five times as a Delegate to the Gen¬
eral Conference. The University of Wilberforee conferred upon
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
- 141 -
REV. G. W. ALLEN, D.D.
rHE brainy editor of "The
Southern C hris t i an
Recorder," one of the
leading papers of the A. M. E.
Church, is counted among the
foremost men of his race in
purpose and achievement.
Born near Smith Station,
Alabama, August 10th, 1850,
he has been a strenuous advo¬
cate of the rights of his
\ * dfli W people in the Southland all
his life.
For fifteen years he taught
school in Bullock County in
his home State, and became
so thoroughly identified as a
thinker and progressive man
thfit in 1874- he was sent to the Alabama Legislature. He was
re-elected for a second term but was "counted out" by the
opposition.
The succeeding seventeen years saw him Principal of the
Public Schools in Girard City, and also serving as Pastor at
several Mission Points near Girard, which his energy made strong
enough to support local pastors. Three of the best A. M. E.
Churches in Eastern Alabama were built by his tireless endeavor.
In 1899 he was made Presiding Elder of Montgomery Dis¬
trict by Bishop Turner, holding the place for four years. He was
then assigned in the same official capacity to Union Springs
District, but there was another important work awaiting him.
The General Conference at its session at Chicago decided that he
was the man to manage " The Southern Christian Recorder,"
both editorially and financially, and it was placed in his hands.
Dr. Allen is one of the wealthiest men of his race in the
- 142 -
South, and has weathered financial storms that would have
wrecked men less brave and confident of ultimate success. At
one time he mortgaged his property in Girard to buy lumber for
the building of Gaines Chapel, an A. M. E. Church in the same
city. When the time came for payment he and the Church alike
were unable to meet the note, and his propertv was sacrificed.
He felt the loss greatly, but "looked to God and went to work
for more," and now owns valuable property in Girard, Phenix
City and other places. He is a Director in the Oueen City Real
Estate Company, of Columbus, Georgia.
- 143 -
REV. JAMES H. HUBBARD.
EV. James H. Hubbard
stands in the front line
of noble servitors of the
A. M. E. Church, having for
forty-five eventful vears been
proclaiming the truth of a
Divinely revealed religion from
its pulpits.
He was born July 22d,
1838, in the beautiful city of
Baltimore, Maryland. When
/ seventeen years of age he de-
\\ j termined to seek his fortune in
/ tlie; far West, when a journey
over the mountains and limit-
less prairies meant much more
of peril and discomfort than
it does at the present time.
While attending a protracted meeting in Nevada, conducted
by the Rev. William Morrow, he was led by the Holv Spirit to
seek forgiveness of his sins at the altar, and with the peace that
followed came a desire to consecrate his life to the cause of his
Divine Master.
Joining the A. M. E. Church, at Sacramento, whose pulpit
at that time was filled by a Missionary Elder, Rev. T. M. D.
Ward, his thought and energy were constantly directed toward
preparation for pulpit work. In 1860 he i_eceived from Bishop
Ward a license to preach, and since that red-letter day in his his-
torv he has been a devoted follower of the risen Christ, faithful
always in his efforts of "rightly divining the word of truth."
Rev. Hubbard was an untiring worker in the organization
of the California Conference that was effected by Bishop J. P.
Campbell in 1865. An interesting incident connected with this
event is that Rev. Hubbard was one of the first three Deacons or-
- 144 ~
dained by Bishop Campbell for Christian work on the Pacific
Coast. The candidates for the sacred office were Peter R. Green,
James H. Hubbard and John T. Jenifer; and they were "set apart"
in the order named, — Peter, James and John. They are all still
living, faithful veterans in the church. In 1869 Rev. Hubbard
was invested with the office of Elder.
He was privileged to be an energetic assistant of Bishop Jas.
A. Shorter in the establishing of the Kansas Conference in 1876,
and eleven years later labored in the organization of the Colorado
Conference by Bishop John M. Brown.
Rev. Hubbard has been connected as pastor with charges in
San Francisco, Sacramento, Leavenworth, Atchison, Fort Scott,
Kansas City, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Leadville and
other important points.
For seven years he served as Presiding Elder, traveling rot
less than ten thousand miles a year through the thinly settled
Districts of the extreme West. He has attended three times, as
Delegate, the General Conferences of the Church.
Rev. Hubbard's great secret of successful work lies in the re¬
vival spirit that constantly abides with him; hundreds having
been brought to the penitential altar through his powerful preach¬
ing, and became useful adherents of the church.
j
- 145 -
REV. LEVI EDWARD CHRISTY.
(ff
,N the free side of the
Ohio river, there was
born in Salem, Indiana,
April 5th, 1850, a son to
Drayton and Eliza Christy.
His primary education was
obtained in private colored
schools, and he recalls with
affection and high esteem the
instructors of his childhood.
W| Two years after the death
of his mother, in 1863, his
father moved to Xenia, Ohio,
where the young lad had the
benefit of fine public schools
under the instruction of that
most excellent teacher, Profes¬
sor John R. Blackburn.
At the close of his school days, Mr. Christy went to Indian¬
apolis, where he obtained employment in the home of General, af¬
terwards President, Benjamin Harrison. But his desire for learning
did not leave him. He attended a night school, preparing his les¬
sons with his book propped up on the wood pile while he sawed
industriously away; or, tacked it on the wall over the table, as
he conjugated verbs or gleaned historical facts while the dishes
came sparkling from the hot water in the pan.
His diligence was rewarded by an appointment, in 1870, as
Principal of Tinker Street Public School. But the need of teach¬
ers in the South attracted him, and he accepted a position in Ar¬
kansas, remaining there until he came North to complet< his
education at Wilberforce University.
His studies did not prevent Cupid from wounding him
with his tiny arrow, and the wound remained incurable until he
had wooed and won Miss Ella N. Roberts, a teacher in the
- 146 -
Xenia Public Schools, for his wife. They went to Arkansas, and
he again taught the same school that he had previously.
Then for several years he was emploj^ed in the schools at
Indianapolis, taking the while, special courses of study under tu¬
tors from Yale. He also assisted in the editorship of the Indian¬
apolis World, and was employed in the Bureau of Assessments
under Hon. Thomas Taggart.
But the Ministry of the A. M. E. Church had been an ob¬
jective point since his conversion in boyhood, and in 1894 he
was admitted to the Indiana Conference, beginning his itineracv
at Davenport in 1899. Since that date he has served several
charges with great efficiency.
- 147 -
REV. ROBERT FRENCH HURLEY, D.D.
The war to young Hurley meant what it did to all his
race, the precursor of liberty, and though but sixteen years of
age, he joined the Second New York Cavalry. Before a year had
elapsed news came of the recruiting of colored troops in Wash¬
ington, D. C., and with heart on fire with patriotic ardor, he
hastened to the National Capitol, and enrolled his name on the
roster of Company B, First United States Colored Troops.
Faithful, loyal service was his throughout those eventful years
from the time of his enlistment to the day of honorable discharge
at Roanoke Island, September 29th, 1865. He then joined his
parents in their new home on land always consecrated to freedom.
Connecting himself with the A. M. E. Church at Zanesville,
Dr. Hurley felt within his heart the Divine command to promul¬
gate the Gospel Message, and in 1869 entered the Ohio Confer¬
ence, receiving the appointment of Traveling Minister. Realizing
that he stood in need of greater qualification for his work he
took a course of study at Delaware College.
- 148 -
$
HE name of Rev. Robert
French Hurley, D.D.,
will go into the history
of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, not only as
one of its most able Ministers,
but also for his unswerving
allegiance to the best interests
and advancement of his race.
He was born September
16th, 1846, in the village of
Gainesville, Virginia, where he
resided until eight years of age,
when his parents moved near
Leesburg, remaining there
until after the breaking out
of the Civil War, when they
went to Zanesville, Ohio.
His itineracy began, in 1872, in Tennessee, and from the
very start, both in and out of the pulpit, he strove most stren¬
uously for the alleviation of the ills and wrongs of his people.
In 1884 he was transferred to New Orleans, where even
greater responsibilities in his work devolved upon him. But so
fearless and capable did he prove, that at the close of his second
year's pastorate he was called to succeed Dr. W. B. Derrick, at
Sullivan Street Church in New York City. From this city he
went to Boston, afterwards serving in other cities of New
England.
Again he was transferred to a distant field ol labor, com¬
ing west to Springfield, Illinois, later to Detroit, Michigan, to be
made at the close of his Pastorate in this citv, Presiding Elder
of the Michigan Conference. But Indiana wanted him and he
was stationed in Indianapolis, going eventually from that city
to Trenton, New Jersey.
Doubtless the most prominent period in Dr. Hurley's Minis¬
terial experience, were the years spent in the South, at a time when
a "lost cause" made the antagonism of the defeated ones burn
with hot injustice against the black man. That he obeyed the
Scriptural injunction to be " wise as serpents, and harmless as
doves," is proved by his receiving, while in Tennessee, the nomi¬
nation for Congressional Elector on the Garfield ticket for the
Memphis District. Some of the Memphis papers urged him to
run for Congress, and he also declined a nomination to the Legis¬
lature of the State at a time when a nomination was para¬
mount to an election. It is impossible to separate his zeal for
his Church from his enthusiastic interest in the welfare of his race.
Not a few honors have dropped into Dr. Hurley's Minis¬
terial pathway. He has been talked of for the Bishopric, had
the degree of D.D. conferred upon him by Paul Quinn College,
honored with the office of Department Chaplain of the G. A. R.
of the State of New York, and since 1880 has been a Delegate to
every General Conference of the Church. He is a Mason in high
standing, and his two books on "The Church in Politics; or,
Practical Christianitv," and "The Negro in America," show
thorough understanding of his subjects, fine literary ability, and
have won generous praise from their hosts of readers.
- 149-
REV. J. E. MORRIS.
EV. J. E. Morris was
If* born November 24tli,
1866, at Highville,
Lancaster County, Pa. His
childhood and youth were
spent in farm toil with the
exception of the time in which
he was acquiring his education
at Washington, Pa. Just be¬
fore attaining his majority,
he accepted a situation as
foreman in the stocking de¬
partment of the Lancaster
Rolling Mill, Lancaster, Pa.,
which he held for five years,
going when twenty-five years
of age to Pittsburg, where he
worked in the puddling de¬
partment of the Black Diamond Steel Works of Andrew Carnegie
and Morehead Brothers' Mills.
While a resident of Pittsburg he was united in marriage to
Miss Emma Gilkerson, of Allegheny City, Pa., their union being
blessed with four daughters, Irene, Mahulda, Lois and Josephine.
Feeling that he was called to the work of the Ministry, lie
received his license to preach from the hands of the late Rev. C.
Asbury, D.D., at Chartiers Street A. M. E. Church, in 1895, and
joined the Pittsburg Conference the same year at Wilkesbarre, Pa.
He has filled, as Pastor, with great success, the pulpits of
the A. M. E. Church in the following places: Olean, N. Y., West
Middletown, Pa., Parkersburg, W. Va., Clarksburg, W. Va.,
Tyrone, Pa. and is now doing faithful and efficient service at
Bellefonte, Pa.
He has held the honorable position of President of the
Literary Society of the Pittsburg Conference, and is one of the
Trustees of Wilberforce University.
- IS°~
REV. ISAAC CHARLES CRAY.
EV. Isaac Charles Cra}r
was born at Thomas-
ville, Georgia, and like
Samuel of old, given to the
Lord in his childhood. Much of
his early life was passed in
the beautiful seaport city of
Savannah, in which place he
attended Beech Institute.
His conversion took place
when he was but eleven years
of age, and so clear was the
evidence of the presence of the
Holy Spirit to his mind, that
he recognized it as a call to
enter the Ministry of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church.
But for the support of himself and a widowed mother,
when only sixteen years of age, he adopted the profession of
Teacher, not entering the Ministry until after his marriage.
For eighteen years he has had the joy of "breaking the
bread of life" to hungry souls, and of leading them into the
kingdom of God, and his success has been great.
His Ministerial labors have been mostly restricted to the
State of Georgia, and many Churches owe their organization
and edifices to his untiring: zeal.
-151 -
REV. J. M. SUTTON.
i£
'IKE many of his breth¬
ren in the Ministry, Rev.
J. M. Sutton is a native
of the Sunny South, being
the son of Silas and Elmira
Sutton, who at the time of
his birth, in 1865, were resid¬
ing in Holly Grove, Monroe
Count}-, Arkansas. During his
youth he had the benefit of the
Public Schools in that County,
\ J and later, was, for two years,
\ ;M St* V B enrolled as a student at South-
V I'mi / land College, in Phillips
\3 '» J SL . , / County, of the same State.
At the age of eighteen
years he became a Christian,
identifying himself with the
A. M. E. Church, under the pastorate of Rev. Henry Harris.
Resolving to consecrate his life to the Ministry, he was
licensed to preach in 1887, by the Presiding Elder, Rev. W. H.
Rector. Prior to this event he supported himself by teaching in
the Public Schools of Monroe and Phillips Counties. He studied
theology with Rev. Dr. F. Lawson of the Presbyterian faith.
Rev. Sutton's first Pastoral work was on Poplar Grove
and Old Town Circuits, where he labored for three years. He
was then sent to Marianna Station, of South Arkansas Con¬
ference, for three years, during which period the Church edifice at
that place was remodeled under his supervision. For the next three
years he was a busy man at Warren Station, West Arkansas Con¬
ference, for in addition to his pulpit duties and social obligations,
he erected a comfortable parsonage, and organized a Masonic-
Lodge and Eastern Star Chapter.
The following four years found him in charge of the Church
-152-
at Monticello Station, South Arkansas Conference, where again
his architectural bent was evinced in the remodeling of his Church,
the congregation cheerfully raising $1500 for the improvements.
The Annual Conference was cordially entertained in this Church
during his Ministry.
In 1892 Deacon's Orders were conferred upon him bv Bishop
B. T. Tanner, and two years afterward he was ordained Elder
by Bishop H. M. Turner. For three consecutive years he also
served South Arkansas Conference as Chief Secretary.
Joining the Annual Conference at Holly Grove, in 1900,
Mr. Sutton's field of labor was changed by Bishop R. R. Disney
assigning him to Felton, Mississippi.
In 1902 he ' was elected Delegate to* the Young Peoples'
Congress at Atlanta, Georgia, going in the same capaeitv the
following year to its gathering in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Mr. Sutton's oratorical gifts are widely recognized as is
shown in his having been invited to deliver the Annual Sermon
at the Commencement Exercises of the Presbyterian Seminar\r at
Monticello in 1901; also preaching the Baccalaureate Sermon at
Harrison Academy, Wilmar, Arkansas, in 1903.
Possessing a great fondness for music, with a thorough
understanding of the art, Mr. Sutton has for the last six vears
been appointed Musical Director of Southeastern Arkansas, and
three Musical Normals have been conducted under his personal
direction ; he is also a Trustee of Shorter College at Little Rock.
In 1904 he was sent as a Delegate to the General Confer¬
ence at Chicago.
" 153 "
REV. JOHN R. SCOTT, D. D.
son of an able Meth-
I I I odist Minister, whose
name he bears, Dr. John
R. Scott was born September
19th, 1862, in Columbia,
South Carolina.
After completing the course
in the Grammar Department
of Stanton School, he was for
several years a student in
Cookman Institute, Jackson¬
ville, Florida.
After his con version lie felt
called of God to the Ministry
of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, and in 1879
entered Wilberforce University,
remaining until his graduation
in 1883, having received his license to preach three years before.
During his stay at Wilberforce he was of great assistance in
building up the Divinity School of the College, and held the Prin-
cipalsliip for three years.
In 1884 he engaged in regular pastoral work, connecting
himself with the East Florida Annual Conference, being ordained
in the next two years as Deacon and Elder.
For ten years he served loyally and most efficiently in car¬
ing for the charges assigned him. It was while he was Pastor
of the Church at St. Paul Station that a call came to the Presi¬
dency of Edward Waters College, a position that enabled his
genius and ability to bring much of prosperity to the Institution.
It being represented to him that men of sterling worth
were needed in the Legislative Assemblies of the State, he allow¬
ed his name to be brought forward for office, and was sent from
Duval County, Florida, to the Legislature, where for two years
- 154-
he was as loyal to the best interests of the country, as his fath¬
er, who before him had served in the Legislature of South
Carolina.
In 1895 he was transferred to the South Florida Confer¬
ence, and the same year appointed Presiding Elder of Sanford
District, and about the same time was elected a Member of the
City Council of Jacksonville.
In the midst of his success as a Minister and leader of his
people, a shadow fell upon his career. He resigned the Presiding
Eldership. But the Criminal Court honorablv acquitted him of
the charges brought against him, and the Citv of Jacksonville
showed its belief in his innocence by returning him to the City
Council by an increased majority.
His case came before the Annual Conference Committee who
agreed that the evidence offered did not sustain the charges, but
that Dr. Scott deserved rebuke for unministerial conduct, and sus¬
pended him until the ensuing Annual Conference, when that
body, adopting the Committee's Report, dismissed him from the
Ministry.
Dr. Scott thereupon connected himself with Grant Chapel
Church, and represented that Church in the Electoral College in
1903, and was there elected Leader of the bay Delegation to the
General Conference at Chicago; and at the gathering of that
august assembly he was made Permanent Vice President of the
Laymen's Council. Prior to this, Dr. Scott had gone as a Dele¬
gate to every General Conference, from 1888 to 1904, and the de¬
gree of Doctor of Divinity was an honor, in 1895, from Wilber-
force University.
He now holds the office of First Division Deputy Collector
to which he was appointed in 1898 by Hon. J. E. Lee, Collector
of Internal Revenue. But he often, as Local Preacher, fills a pul¬
pit in various Churches, and his intellectual strength is given to
the advancement of his Church and race.
- >55"
REV. R. H. SINGLETON, D. D.
EY. R. H. Singleton, D.
D., who for five years
has been Pastor of the
large and influential congre¬
gation at St. Philips Monu¬
mental Church, Savannah,
Georgia, was born shortly
after the close of the Civil
War, September 11, 1865, on
the Island of Hilton Head,
South Carolina.
His parents possessed but
little of this world's goods,
but were determined that
their son should receive all
the educational advantages
in their power to bestow;
and he completed the pre¬
scribed curriculum of study at Giles Academy, on Hilton Head,
in 1879, later taking a special course in Greek and mathematics
under the tuition of Professor George F. Curtis, also studying
Hebrew with Rabbi J. Weiner. In 1901 he was a member of the
class graduated from the Theological Department of Moms
Brown College, from which Institution he received, in 1904, the
honorable and merited degree of Doctor of Divinity.
His religious life began with his happy conversion to Christ,
November 28, 1888, becoming a member of St. Pauls A. M. E.
Church in Brunswick, Georgia, during the ministry of Rev. P. H.
M. Brookens. In 1890, licenses to Exhort and Preach were
granted him, followed in December of the ensuing year by his
ordination as Local Deacon. His itineracy began at Thomasville,
Georgia, in December, 1892; four years later he was ordained as
Elder.
Dr. Singleton has held the following appointments. Five
-156-
busy years were spent at Brunswick, Georgia, where he organ¬
ized and built Payne's Chapel, leaving there a fine, prosperous
Church. A pastorate of two years was given to Wavcross Sta¬
tion, then he succeeded the lamented Dr. A. A. Whitman at St.
Philips Monumental Church in Savannah, Georgia, the pioneer
congregation of the State.
Honors from the Church at Large have flowed freel}- into
Dr. Singleton's hands. For seven years the responsibilities of the
office of Chief Secretary of his Conference have demanded his
time; and the important duties attending a Trusteeship, and
Membership of the Executive Board of Morris Brown College,
call for much consideration from him.
He was elected by his Conference to the last session of the
General Conference held in Chicago, in 1904, and was also Secre¬
tary of the State Delegation.
Dr. Singleton is a fluent and effective speaker and is in con¬
stant demand for addresses to Schools and Colleges. He was
married to Mrs. Josephine Hymes, April 18, 1889, and their
home life is ideal.
-157-
REV. W. W. GRIMES.
'HE childhood of Rev. W.
W. Grimes was passed
in Virginia, his native
State. While quite a lad he
entered Storer College, West
Virginia, where he laid the
foundation for an education
that later included a Theo¬
logical Course that prepared
him for the sacred work of
the Ministr}r to which he
■ „ r early devoted his life.
a** It^/ Receiving his diploma in
t t *' / 1875, he engaged in the work
of pedagogy, teaching for fif-
•> y/ teen years, with great success,
in the Public Schools of West
Virginia, Mar\dand and Texas.
But always uppermost in his heart and thought was the
wish to carry out to fulfillment the life-long desire of joining the
ranks of those specially consecrated to the Lord's work as Min¬
isters of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; having the
conviction that the step would open a wider field of tisefulness,
and also enable him to be of greater service to his race.
In October, 1889, he connected himself with the Annual
Conference of the A. M. E. Church then in session at San An¬
tonio, Texas, Bishop A. Grant presiding, and was sent, March,
1890, to do his first work as a fully qualified Minister of Christ
to San Diego, California.
He has labored faithfully and efficiently, winning many soids
for the Master in the Conferences of Puget Sound and Califor¬
nia, but in October, 1900, was transferred from Bethel Church,
San Francisco, to the Ohio Conference, where he is activelv en¬
gaged in Christian work.
-158-
WILLIAM S. SCARBOROUGH.
S an authority on Greek
/■A literature and the Lan-
guage, Professor Will¬
iam S. Scarborough, head of
the Classical Department of
Wilberforce University, has
received the endorsement of
the savants of the land.
This cultivated scholar is
a son of Georgia, having been
born in the city of Macon on
February 16th, 1852.
Several years prior to his
birth, his father, Jesse Scar¬
borough, was given papers of
freedom by his master, and
provision made for his journey
North, if he desired to leave
the South; but as his wife, Frances Scarborough, remained in
slavery, affection constrained him to sta}r with her. William was
born into servitude and his early years were spent in Macon.
He was but six years of age when he evinced a desire to
learn, and with his books tucked under his arm would go off to
school where he was taught to read, and in course of time ac¬
quired a fair knowledge of arithmetic, grammar and geography;
his parents possessing an acquaintance with these elementary
branches would surreptitiously aid him with his lessons and con¬
stantly incited him to diligent study. Strange to say, he received
instruction in penmanship from an old South Carolinian, who was
a rebel of the deepest dye. During the war, his ability to write
was often called into requisition by slaves making stolen visits
to his parent's home, as he would make out "safe-permits" or
passes for them, signing his master's name, which enabled them
to go back to their cabins without any trouble.
- »59'
Professor Scarborough recounts with gratitude a providen¬
tial escape from a terrible death 111 his boyhood. On the rourth
of Julv, I860, when returning home irom witnessing a military
parade, as he was passing through a long, covered bridge, he
was seized bv two drunken men who proceeded to hold him out
of an opening over the rushing waters, when he was rescued by
a passer-by.
He was but ten vears of age when elected Secretary of a
prominent organization of colored people in Macon, its meetings
during the war being allowed by the whites if the members were
provided with permits. In this office he earned a tiny salary. At
this time, when not engaged in study, he worked at the shoe¬
maker's trade, and just before the close of the war he served one
year as a regular apprentice.
Even then his intellectual attainments were recognized by
those about him, and daily was he called upon to read the
papers to the workmen and explain the movements of the con¬
tending armies.
Professor Scarborough remained in the Macon schools until
1869, when, at the age of seventeen years, he entered Atlanta
University to prepare for higher education, and in two year's
time was readv for Oberlin College, Ohio, from which institution
he was graduated in 1875. Returning to his old home in Macon,
his services were engaged by the American Missionary Society
for a while, later teaching Greek and Mathematics in the Lewis
High School; but in September he again sought Oberlin and de¬
voted several months to Theology, Hellenistic Greek and Hebrew,
receiving in the winter a call to the Principalship of Payne Insti¬
tute, Cokesburg, South Carolina, which school has since been
merged in Allen University at Columbia, in the same State.
His vacations during his college course were spent in teach¬
ing in various schools in Ohio and Georgia, the experience gained
richly preparing him for greater achievements in the future in the
educational world.
In the Fall of 1877 Professor Scarborough was added to
the Faculty of Wilberforce University and placed at the head of
the Classical Department, a position that has brought him "Teat
renown, and his learning and excellence as an instructor are of
- 16o -
incalculable benefit to the school. Possessing a more than pass¬
ing knowledge of Sanscrit, Old Slavonic, Zend and other ancient
tongues, the Greek language is his favorite study, and there are
but few persons who are as thoroughly at home in it as is Pro-
lessor Scarborough. So thoroughly has it been mastered bv him
that he is as ready in its use as he is m the English language.
He is the author of a text-book entitled, "First Lessons in
Greek," which is the first Greek work ever published by a colored
man. Some time ago he was asked, at a high salarv, to go to
Africa and study the languages of that great continent, but he
preferred to remain in America.
The genius and time of Professor Scarborough are not con¬
fined to his school duties. He is a frequent contributor to the
leading magazines on subjects that command the attention of all
progressive minds. The recognition of his intellectual ability and
attainments are shown by his connection with various celebrated
learned societies such as the American Social Science, American
Archeological, American Modern Language, American Philologi¬
cal, and others of like character. But there is no membership
esteemed higher by him than that of the African Methodist Epis¬
copal Church, of which he is a devoted son. He went as a dele¬
gate from this body to the Centennial of Alethodism held in
Baltimore, Maryland, in December, 1884, and also to the Ecu¬
menical Conference in London, in 1901, where he frequentlv
addressed large audiences.
Two leading colleges have delighted to honor Professor
Scarborough with high degrees, Oberlin, his Alma Mater, confer¬
ring those of A.B., and A.M., and that of LL.D. coming from
Liberia College, West Africa.
This eminent scholar is most congenially married, his wife
also having a reputation as a writer of no small fame. She was
graduated from the Oswego Normal School, New York, and is
Dean of the Normal Department of the same Institution in which
her husband so ably teaches. They reside in a beautiful home at
Wilberforce.
K
- 16 i -
REV. JAMES W. WALKER, D.D.
Hi
-AY 15th, 1867 is the
natal day of Rev. Jas.
W. Walker, D.D., and
Cokesburg, South Carolina,
the place of his birth. His
parents were Isaac and Maria
Elizabeth Walker, who were
noted for their fervent piety
and sincere devotion to the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church. Thus his childhood
and youth were surrounded by
a deeply religious atmosphere
which permeated and strongly
influenced his life; and it is
not strange that while a mere
boy he gave himself in con¬
secration to God, and resolved
to spend the years allotted to him in telling a sin-sick world of
the healing Cross of Christ.
He received his license to preach at St. Patd's African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church, in Cokesburg, November, 1884, when not
yet twenty years of age, having been partly qualified for the
work by diligent attendance at Payne Institute, Cokesburg;
Brewer Normal, Greenwood, and Allen University, Columbia,
South Carolina.
His experience and finances were increased by four years of
faithful teaching in the Public Schools of his native State and
Georgia.
Mission Churches on South Carolina and Georgia Circuits
engaged his first Ministerial labors, after which three profitable
years were spent at Gammon Theological Seminary, finishing the
prescribed course of stud}' in May, 1890.
His first settled Pastorates were two years each at Fort
- 162 -
Gaines and Atoc Station, Georgia; he was then transferred to
Mobile, Alabama, where for four vears he broke the "bread of
life" to the congregation at Emanuel Station, returning to
Bethel Station in the same city after a Pastorate of five vears
over the Church in Selma, Alabama.
Churches strengthened and grew under his wise supervision,
and his Race received constant encouragement from him for
advancement along the lines of mental, social and spiritual
growth.
An honor that has fallen to but few, was his election as
Alternate Delegate to the last Ecumenical Council at London,
England; and several years ago Wilberforce University was
pleased to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Walker also has in his care, as Treasurer, the Building
Fund of Payne Universit}^ and managed the finances during the
recent erection of a building, costing $10,000, on the campus.
The sermons of this eminent Minister are based always on
sound theological lore, and he is regarded as one of the very
useful men of the Church.
- 163-
JOHN MOSES AVERY.
K
T THE head of Waters
Industrial Academy in
Burke County, North
Carolina, where he was born
near Morgantown, Oct. 10th,
187G, John Moses Avery is
devoting the strength and
powers of his young manhood
to the instruction and eleva¬
tion of the boys and girls of
his Race.
His childhood was passed
on a farm and he was early
imbued with the thought of
usefulness to others in after
life; this idea was strength¬
ened and consecrated by his
conversion in 1892, and con¬
nection with the membership of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Preparation for duty was made at Kittrell College, where
he paid his way in work for seven years, being graduated with
honor in 1900, going almost immediately to the Principalship of
the Graded Schools in Hickory, North Carolina; resigning the
next year to accept the important position now held by him in
the school that is the result of his personal thought and
endeavor.
Mr. Aver\r has been a happy benedict for nearly three years,
his wife being formerly Miss Lulu L. Aiken of Reidsville, N. C.,
a graduate and later an Instructress in Kittrell College.
- 164 -
BISHOP WESLEY J. GAINES, D.D.
^*THIS eminent warrior for
I I \ Gocl was born in Wilkes
County, Georgia, Octo¬
ber 4th, 3 840, the seventh
of fotirteen children that were
given to William and Louisa
Gaines in the slave cabin of
that Southern State. Godly
people were these humble
slave parents, and though the
father belonged to the M. E.
Church South, and the mother
was a faithful adherent to
the Baptist faith, their wed¬
ded life of fifty-eight vears
was one of harmony and
affection, never disturbed by
the bitterness of doctrinal
discussion. Their united aim was the conversion of their child¬
ren, and one of the earliest and most precious remembrances of
Bishop Gaines' childhood is that of his mother praying for him
under a tree in these words: "Oh God, make this, my boy,
Wesley, such a man as Thou wouldst have him be. Make him
Thjr son for Jesus sake."
At the age of nine years the little slave boy gave his heart
to God, and his earnest, consecrated life is evidence of a Divine
answer to his mother's prayer.
The fact that Wesley was of frail physique exempted him
from earhr being put at continuous labor, thus giving him larger
opportunities for learning to read and write, which he did with,
out the knowledge of his master. The few elementary books in
his possession were kept carefully concealed. Hearing the
approach of the patrollers one night, the little boy hid his
treasures in an ash hopper, and to his great grief a heavy rain
- 165-
fell and the lvc thus formed ruined his hooks. His sorrow over
his loss was so deep that his father gave him all the money in
his possession, three dollars and fifty eents, with which he pur¬
chased a Geography, English Grammar, "Peter Farley's" History,
a copy book, pen and ink.
The first letter ever written by Wesley was to his brother
Stephen in Washington; having no money he mailed the letter
without stamping it, and ran from the office as fast as his little
feet could carry him. Stephen was notified by the postmaster
and forwarded the postage for the letter. His reply stimulated
Wesley to greater zeal in his studies.
In 1855 he moved to Stewart County, Georgia, where lie
remained one rear, going thence to Muscogee County, where he
lived until he entered upon the work of the Ministry, which
sacred office had been his dearest ambition since childhood. He
began the rhetorical work of the sacred profession when a mere
lad, bv preaching the funeral sermon of every dog, chicken and
bird that died on the plantation.
While 011 the Muscogee plantation he was married to Miss
Julia A. Camper, August 20th, 1863, whose love, after forty
years of happy union, is still the joy and blessing of the Bishop's
life. One child, a daughter, Mary Louisa, has blessed their home.
License to preach was granted him in June, 1865, by Rev.
]. L. Davis of the M. E. Church South; and by a happy coinci¬
dence his oldest brother, Rev. William Gaines, was also ordained
in the same month by Bishop D. A. Paj-ne, at Hilton Head,
South Carolina, and appointed Missionary of the State of
Georgia. Through the influence of this brother voung Wesley
had been led to unite with the A. M. E. Church.
In 1866, he was ordained Deacon bv Bishop Payne at
Savannah, Georgia, and admitted to the then South Carolina
Conference, and the next year at Wilmington, North Carolina,
Bishop Wayman made him Presiding Elder.
All of Bishop Gaines work as a Minister of the Gospel has
been done in the State of Georgia, having held appointments at
Florence Mission, Atlanta, Macon and Columbus, and several
times was returned to Macon and Atlanta. During his first
Pastorate at Atlanta he built Bethel A. M. E. Church that now
- 166 -
has a membership of more than two thousand souls. At Maeon
he raised an indebtedness of $4,500, and at Columbus built St.
James A. M. E. Church at a cost of $10,000.
During these busy years of service he found time for mental
culture, studying Theology with Rev. Henderson, the able and
liberal-minded Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in
Athens, Georgia, and at a later period with Rev. Joseph S. Key,
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South; rhetoric and other
branches were also pursued under various instructors. In 1883,
Wilberforce University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor
of Divinity.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church at Large was not
slow in recognizing the spiritual strength and intellectual attain¬
ments of Rev. Gaines, and this appreciation was shown in the
bestowing upon him of Episcopal honors and responsibilites by
the General Conference at its session in Indianapolis, in 1888.
As Bishop he is found worthy of the trust, and is doing
grand work in the Second Episcopal District which includes the
Conferences of Baltimore, Virginia, North Carolina and West
Carolina.
- 167-
REV. O. J. W. SCOTT, D.D.
T Gallipolis, Ohio, a beau-
TJk tiful little city located
^ ^ on the north side of
the Ohio river, on the last
dav of Julv, 1867, Rev. Oscar
J. W. Scott, the subject of this
sketch was born.
He was privileged to
attend school throughout his
childhood, and later entered
Ohio Wesley an University,
from which he was graduated
with the highest honors in
oratory and the degrees A.B.
and A.M. To these degrees
Drew Theological Seminary
added that of B.D., the Uni-
versity of Denver contributed
15.0. and S.T.B , and Payne Theological Seminary gave the
crowning one of D.D.
The entire Ministry of Dr. Scott has been marked by singu¬
lar ability and unceasing labor, and the fact that he is now in
charge of the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church, at Washington, D.
C., evidences the confidence felt by high church authority in his
power to preach, influence, and build up a congregation. And
this iaith has not been misplaced. The Metropolitan has always
stood as a stronghold of the African Methodist Episcopal Com¬
munion, but in the short space of sixteen months that Dr. Scott
has been the faithful watchman on its walls, he has added over
four hundred persons to its membership, lowered a debt of thirty-
one thousand dollars to nineteen thousand, and financiered a
fund of nearly two thousand dollars into the Church treasury.
Equally interested in the social development of the Church, he
has introduced a system that has led to greater cordiality among
- 168 -
the members, brought about ail acquaintance with strangers, and
cares generously for the poor and ill of the congregation.
Yet so loyal a student is he, that rarely does a day slip by
without his gleaning some truth from his beloved books; and so
thorough his knowledge of music and law, that either, adopted
as a profession, would prove a successful bread winner.
His wife, formerly Miss Nettie Poindexter, of Columbus,
Ohio, is an accomplished musician, and often plavs the piano or
organ in the revival meetings conducted bv her husband. Before
her marriage she was instructor on the piano and organ, and
also Assistant Chorus Director at the Ohio State Institution for
the Blind.
Two of the leading colleges in the countrv have offered Dr.
Scott high and flattering positions in their faculties, but as
devoted as he is to books and study, much stronger is his love
for souls and the desire to win them for the Kingdom of his
Divine Master.
As a speaker Dr. Scott has but few equals, and his eloquent,
powerful discourses bear the impress of earnest thought and
investigation. He has great faith in the possibilities of the future,
and the thought of to-day is eagerly scanned as a prophecy of
wondrous development of an unfolding age.
Cordial in manner, possessing a thorough knowledge of
men, with the sun of life still shining directly overhead, Dr. Scott
promises to win even greater distinction for himself, and in so
doing prove an illustrious factor in the advancement of his Race.
- i 6 9 -
REV. JAMES A. LINDSAY, D.D.
sr
'HE privations of poverty
surrounded the child¬
hood of Rev. James A.
Lindsay, but he was more
than rich in the possession of
devout Christian parents, who
earl}' impressed him with the
thought that to "be good''
was the greatest and most
important thing in life.
He was born in Union
WCounty, South Carolina, Sep¬
tember, 10th, 1864, his par¬
ents being Ellison J. and Lucy
Dogan Lindsay, whom it is
his delight to remember with
great honor and affection.
In the little village of
Jonesville, his home place, he acquired the rudiments of an educa¬
tion which he early resolved to widely enlarge.
But this determination meant constant self-sacrifice and
unceasing toil; and the hot vacation months were spent in the
forests cutting wood, the sweat and blistered hands forgotten as
the toiler realized that every stroke of the axe brought nearer the
longed for books and coveted opportunity. The graded schools
creditablv passed, "What next?"
While resting one day under a venerable chestnut tree that
cast its grateful shade in a cotton field, he decided upon a col¬
lege course. The resolution brought action, and he entered Clark
University with only eighteen dollars in his pocket, but rich in
hope and grit. The days were filled with recitations, stove-wood
cutting and general work on the campus, with the evenings given
to hard study. The art of type setting was acquired. College
days were followed by ten years of teaching in the schools of
- 170 -
Georgia and South Carolina. Converted when a lad of fourteen
years, he had never lost sight of his vouthful ambition of "some
da}r" occupying a pulpit in the A. M. E. Church; and it was a
glad hour when he received his diploma from Gammon Theologi¬
cal Seminary.
Rev. Lindsay's pastoral work has been chiefly in the State
of Georgia, and at this time he is Presiding Elder of Macon Dis¬
trict in that State. But he is a diligent man outside of his mam-
pulpit obligations. As time would allow he has taken special
courses in French, Greek, Hebrew, Literature and other valuable
branches. The press is often enriched bv his contributions; sev¬
eral profitable pamphlets and tracts have come from his pen, and
he has now in preparation a book entitled, "The Man of Galilee."
He h as gone three times as a Delegate to the General Con¬
ference, and in 1904 was a prominent candidate for the Editor¬
ship of the Southern Christian Recorder. He has served for a
number of years as Trustee and Member of the Executive Board
of Morris Brown College, and is also Recording Secretary of the
Church Missionary Board that meets annually in New York City.
REV. JOHN WESLEY GAZAWAY.
A CENTURY of earnest,
consecrated service in
the Christian Ministry,
places the Gazaway ancestry
high among the many faith¬
ful, illustrious toilers in the
pulpits dedicated to the spread
of Methodist doctrines and
faith. For many years the
grandfather of the subject of
this sketch gave his time and
love to the parent Methodist
Church, and his father loyally
preached the Sacred Word as
a son of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, thus
influencing their descendant
by word and example to fol¬
low in their footsteps.
John Wesley Gazaway was born in Zanesville, Ohio, Septem¬
ber 1st, 18-4-0. His conversion took place in his home city March
9th, 1850, during the pastorate of Rev. A. R. Green. He at once
identifiedJiimself with the membership of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, and fifty years of devoted service to its com¬
munion crown his name as one who has followed his Divine
Leader with no laggard step or uncertain voice.
He received a Local Preacher's license from Rev. M. M.
Smith in 1869. Two years later through Bishop Payne he joined
the traveling connection of the Church, and the intervening years,
to the present time, have been gloriously filled with self-denving,
persistent efforts to advance the cause of Christianity, and richly
has he been blessed in his work.
Rev. Gazaway has held important charges in Ohio, Indiana,
Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and at one time was Presiding
- i 72 -
Elder in the Springfield Distriet of the North Ohio Conference.
Ouinn Mission Church, Lexington, Kentucky, and Allen Chapel,
Springfield, Ohio, owe their organization to his indefatigable
energy. The handsome Brown Chapel in Allegheny City, Penn¬
sylvania, ( built after the destruction of the former church b\r a
storm in the Spring of 1902, ) that cost over twenty-five thous¬
and dollars, owes its erection to his never-relaxing- enthusiasm
and determination of purpose. In fourteen months he raised
over five thousand dollars towards the building of the new edi¬
fice, and during his occupancy of its pulpit about seven thousand
dollars of indebtedness were paid. His Presiding Elder said at
that time that Rev. Gazaway raised more money at one rally
"than was ever raised in the history of the Pittsburg Conference."
Wherever Rev. Gazaway is sent he at once seems to win
the confidence of the whole community. This statement is sup¬
ported by an incident that occurred at the beginning of his present
pastorate in Zanesville, Ohio, where he found a debt of five hun¬
dred dollars embarrassing his people. He at once started to set
in motion ways and means for its liquidation; but greatly to his
surprise and pleasure a wealthy gentleman of the city sent him
the full amount as a gift, only asking that his name be withheld
from the public.
Rev. Gazaway is an ardent friend and supporter of Wilber-
force University, was one of the founders of its Theological
Department known as Payne Theological Seminary, and is an
interested Member of its Board of Trustees. Some years ago the
Institution honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
As a Delegate he has attended, with but two exceptions, all the
General Conferences of the A. M. E. Church from 1876 to 1904..
Devoted to all that pertains to the advancement of his race,
Rev. [. W. Gazaway is an exponent of true Christian manhood,
and conscientious ministerial labor.
-173 -
REV. JOSEPH GWYNN.
0 strong the innate pur-
pose and ambition of
the lives of many men,
that they early begin to ac-
complish much of good in
building up the moral forces
of the world. This is eminent¬
ly true of Rev. Joseph Gwynn,
the subject of this sketch,
whose life, not yet numbering
four decades (having been
Wborn May 27th, 1872, in Bal¬
timore County, Maryland, ) is
a constant protest and influ¬
ence against all and every
form of evil.
His determination to be a
"soldier for righteousness"
took form in the hour of his conversion, which occurred March
4th, 1894, at Bethel Church, in the city of Baltimore, under the
earnest, convincing preaching of Bishop A. W. Wayman. To
resolve was to act. Entering the communion of Mt. Zion A. M.
E. Church at Long Green, Maryland, within two years he was
doing faithful work as a Local Preacher, receiving his license from
the hands of Elder L. M. Beckett, July 25th, 1896. Prior to this
event, he had organized in his father's home, a society known as
"The Neighbors' Moral, Intellectual and Beneficial Association,"
through whose agency was founded two Sabbath Schools and
one da}r school in the vicinity of Hartley and Summerfield, Mary¬
land, respectively.
Desiring greater qualifications for the future, in September,
1896, he became a student at Wilberforce University where he
remained five years, interspersing his studies with Pastoral Work
at Jeffersonville and Selma, Ohio. February 24th, 1901, Bishop
- 174-
B. F. Lee ordained him as Deacon in the University Chapel, and
the following June he received his diploma which carried with it
the degree of Bachelor of Divinity.
His first pastoral work was at Elkton, Marvland, where he
built up the congregation and erected a parsonage. Bishop Lee,
in 1908, consecrated him to the Eldership.
Rev. Gwynn is the author of two valuable little books,
"The Holy Sacraments" and "Pastors of Missions. " He is also
the leader in the publication of "The Problem," issued in the
interests of his Race. In this work he is very ably assisted by
his wife.
REV. O. D. ROBINSON, D.D.
EV. 0. D. Robinson, D.D.,
is one of eight sons
born to Isaac and Leti-
tia Robinson, at Hamilton,
Bermuda, and his natal day
fell on February 4, 1858. In
obedience to the law of his
country he was enrolled as a
pupil of the schools at the ten¬
der age of five years, and was
still young when apprenticed
to a tailor, learning the trade.
But young manhood lay
all before him when he sailed
for America, where he knew a
more liberal education await¬
ed him, and a wider and more
promising field in which he
could win success in life.
Since the hour ot conversion a place in the Ministry of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church had been his heart-desire.
In 1884 he was licensed to preach b}r Rev. Richard Harper,
Pastor of St. John's A. M. E. Church, in Nashville, Tennessee,
after which he studied in Fisk University, and, in 1887, was
graduated as Valedictorian of his class from the Theological
Department of Howard University, Washington, D. C.
His first Ministerial appointment was at Mt. Pisgah A. M. E.
Church in the National Capitol, going thence to Hillsdale, D. C.,
where he built a new Church; then followed a Pastorate of two
years at Hagerstown, .Maryland, where he secured the erection
of a brick parsonage and paid off $2000 Church obligations.
While at Hagerstown he was ordained as Deacon and Elder.
The beautiful Church on Lexington Street, Baltimore, Mary¬
land, was built during his four years work in that city, Bishop W.
- 176-
J. Gaines then transferring him to the Philadelphia Conferenee and
stationing him at Germantown, Pennsylvania, where he remained
but a few months, as Bishop Grant sent him to Bethel Church,
Wilmington, Delaware, which Pastorate was marked by an
addition of two hundred and seventy persons to the Church
membership and the raising of a large amount of money for
Church debts. For seventeen months he then served as Presiding
Elder, and, in 1900, went as Delegate to the General Conference.
By special request, Dr. Robinson was transferred by Bishop
Grant to the South Carolina Conference and given charge of
Mt. Zion Church in the City of Charleston. His itineracy
in this place was exceedingly successful, the large amount of
$16,750.20 being raised through his efforts for Church purposes.
The first Christian Endeayor Society in the city was organized in
his Sunday School. He is now preaching at Bethel Church
Georgetown, South Carolina, and is doing good work. He is
especially successful in winning souls for the Master, and his
charge is noted for its very generous contributions to Missionary
and Educational Benevolences. In 1904 he was again sent as
Delegate to the General Conference at Chicago.
Dr. Robinson is a Trustee of Allen University, Columbia,
South Carolina, from which Institution came the honored degree
of Doctor of Divinity.
The home life of Dr. Robinson is singularly happy; his wife,
formerly Miss Iytlia L. Lewis, of Washington, D. C., being the
inspiration of much of his successful work. He says, "By the
grace of God and the gentle influence of my wife, I'm what I am."
J
- 177 -
REV. WILLIAM HENRY YEOCUM.
HE early life of Rev. William Henry Yeocum was full oi the
repression of personality, the humiliation and the privation
that are ever the accompaniments of enforced servitude;
but his aspirations were greater than his deprivations, and his
history is a forcible illustration of what the human will can ac¬
complish when set along the line of unbending resolution.
His birth took place, Sunday morning, May 2d, 1848, near
Springfield, Kentucky. His father was a Minister in the M. E.
Church, a freeman, having purchased his liberty of his master,
but his mother remained in bondage until freed by the Emanci¬
pation Proclamation.
William Henry was a house servant, and one of his chief
tasks was to wait on the older white children, one of whom, a
bov about his own age, started to teach him to read, which act
of kindness was sternly forbidden by the father of the young
instructor. But his conversion in his twelfth year, while attend¬
ing a "bush meeting," brought much of comfort and joy to the
slave bov, and led to his ultimate entrance into the Ministry of
his Church.
In 1862 he passed into the possession of a man residing at
Danville, Kentucky, with whom his stay was brief, as two years
later he responded to President Lincoln's call for the enlistment
of colored troops, and was not mustered out of service until
March, 1867, his regiment being sent, at the close of the war, to
duty on the border line of Mexico. He returned to Kentucky and
cared for his mother till her death in 1869.
His lack of education did not deter him from entering the
Ministry. He was a member of Asburv A. M. E. Church at
Louisville, and in 1871, was licensed to Preach, and sent to
Owensboro, Kentucky, where he remained one year. His experi¬
ence as a preacher during these twelve months was certainly
unique. Unable to read, friends had read the third chapter of
St. Matthew's Gospel, over and over, to him, until he knew it
by heart, and that portion of Scripture was the basis of every
-178-
sermon while he was at Owensboro. He said: "I gave m\r peo¬
ple this for breakfast, dinner and supper, and if they wanted any
dessert, between meals. I gave it to them every Sunday, and
preached all the funerals from that one chapter."
At the close of his first vear's work he stated to the Con¬
ference his need of an education, and a resolution was passed by
that body to aid him in a course at Wilberforce University.
October 2d, 1872, he placed his name on the roll of the Prepara¬
tory Department of that Institution, with seven years of hard
mental toil ahead of him, but at his graduation he carried off
the French and Hebrew prizes and the glad consciousness that
he was now in possession of an ample equipment for his work.
He had mainly supported himself bv working for his teachers,
preaching sometimes at country churches, and doing farm labor
in vacation time.
He was transferred to Providence, Rhode Island, and for
over thirty years has been a faithful itinerant in the East.
Rev. Yeocum, in September, 1881, married Miss Ida M.
Bishop, of Lima, Ohio, whose intellectual and musical gifts have
been of wondrous help to her husband in his Ministerial profes¬
sion. Besides his pulpit and pastoral work, Rev. Yeocum is a
frequent contributor to the religious and secular press of the
country.
- '79 -
BISHOP BENJAMIN F. LEE, D.D.
TRONG, natural ability,
an unconquerable deter¬
mination to achieve
the best in life, consecrated
devotion to Christian princi¬
ples, have brought the subject
of this sketch from the myriad
privations and discourage¬
ments attending youthful pov¬
erty, to an exalted place among
the leaders of the great Afri¬
can Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Bishop Lee is the son of
Abel and Sarah Lee. He was
born September 18th, 1841,
in Doultown, New Jersey, in
which place he obtained his
primary education; but desirous of widening his knowledge of
books and life, in 1865, he entered Wilberforee University with
the full realization that these years of study meant not only a
period of conscientious, arduous mental toil, but involved a con¬
flict for the necessities of life as well. But belonging to the choice
army of "invincibles" he tilled the University farm, cared for the
horses, receiving private instruction from the faculty till he joined
the regular classes of the school. He was a member of the first
class in Theology organized in the University, and in 1872 was
graduated as its valedictorian. His college life knew no relaxa¬
tion, for vacations and hours not given to study were spent in
teaching or manual labor.
In 1862 Bishop Lee had identified himself with the member¬
ship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and six years
later was licensed to preach; ordination to Deacon's Orders came
in 1870, followed by consecration to the Eldership in 1872.
- 180 -
So thorough and satisfactory had been his work as a stu¬
dent while at Wilberforee that the year following his graduation
he was called to the Chair of Pastoral Theolog\r, Homiletics and
Ecclesiastical History of the University, which he so ably filled
that in 1875, upon the resignation of Bishop D. A. Payne as
President of the College, he was elected his successor.
Honors were showered upon him. In 1876 the General Con¬
ference sent him with Dr. John G. Mitchell and Rey. James A.
Johnson to bear fraternal greetings from the African Methodist
Episcopal Church to the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church; in 1880 he went as Delegate from the General
Conference to the Methodist Ecumenical Council, and was chosen
by the western section of the General Ecumenical Committee,
(embracing the American Continent and Islands, ) a member of
the Permanent Committee of Arrangements.
The marked literary ability of Bishop Lee kept him for
many years Chief Editor of "The Christian Recorder," his keen
intellect seeming to intuitively recognize the needs of that influen¬
tial and popular church organ. He is also distinguished as a
linguist, having attained marked proficiency in several languages.
So widely known became his mental strength, executive
capacity, Christian character and enthusiasm in the advancement
of his Race, that there was approbation in the Church at large,
when the General Conference, in 1892, sitting in Mother Bethel
Church, at Philadelphia, elevated him to the Episcopacv of the
Church of Allen, an honor well conferred, for the work in each
District to which he has been assigned has been richly blessed in
increased power and influence of the Church, and a widening of
its boundaries in many directions. At present he has charge of
the Ninth Episcopal District, comprising the Conferences of Ten¬
nessee, East Tennessee, West Tennessee, Arkansas, West Arkansas,
East Arkansas and South Arkansas.
In his domestic relations Bishop Lee is very happy, having
in 1873 been united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Ash, of Mobile,
Alabama, a graduate of Wilberforee University, and a woman of
rare culture of mind and winning character.
— 181 —
BISHOP BENJAMIN WILLIAM ARNETT.
"three-score and ten" boundary-line of life, for he appears a
much younger man. He was born March 6th, 1838, at Browns¬
ville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Converted in his eighteenth year, he qualified himself for
the Ministry of the A. M. E. Church, receiving his license to
preach March 30th, 1865, from Rev. J. D. S. Hall, of the Balti¬
more Conference, at Washington, D. C. On April 16th, 1867, he
was taken on probation by the Ohio Conference, at Lexington,
Kentucky, and assigned to Walnut Hills, Cincinnati; the follow¬
ing April he was ordained as Deacon by Bishop W. P. Quinn, at
Columbus, Ohio, and two years afterward, at Xenia, Ohio,
Bishop D. A. Payne bestowed upon him the office of Elder.
From Walnut Hills he went to Toledo, Ohio, and was
afterwards appointed to charges at Allen Temple, Cincinnati; St.
Paul, Urbana, Ohio; and St. Paul, Columbus, Ohio; his itineracv
^*P"HE name of Bishop Ben-
lll jamin William Arnett
will be remembered in
the historv of Ohio as a man
great and wise enough to
introduce a bill into the State
Legislature abolishing the
"Black Laws" of Ohio, and
it was chiefly through his
earnest endeavors that Scien¬
tific Temperance Instruction
was made a prominent feature
in the Ohio Public Schools.
To look at the vigorous
physical frame of Bishop
Ai'nett, and hear his strong
clear voice, it is hard to
realize that he is nearing the
covering about twelve years, school-teaching being connected
with his work while at Toledo.
The labors of Bishop Arnett have not been limited to the
duties of Pastor and Teacher. His time, voice, pen and strength
have been devoted to great questions and issues that pertained
to the advancement of his Race and the best interests of the
Nation. Endowed by nature with the gift of persuasiveness,
which a broad culture and logical studv has strengthened, his
to to '
recognition as a thinker and speaker is shown by the almost
constant demand for his presence at National and State politi¬
cal and philanthropic assemblies.
He was a member of the National Equal Rights League,
Syracuse, New York, October 4th, 1864; of the Equal Rights
Convention, Cleveland, Ohio; Secretary of National Convention,
Washington, D. C., December, 1866; Chaplain of National Con¬
vention of Colored Men, Louisville, Kentucky, September, 1882;
Delegate to National Y. M. C. A. Convention, Washington, 1871;
Chairman of the Committee of Resolutions in the Congressional
Convention held at Toledo, Ohio, in 1872.
As an organizer he cannot be surpassed. The orders of the
Sons of Hannibal, Sisters of Protection, Mutual Aid Society and
other associations at Brownsville, Pa., owe their existence to
him. Lodges of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows were
instituted through his efforts at Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio, and
at Covington and Harrodsburg, Kentucky', and other places.
Great honor has been given him bv prominent organizations.
In 1874 he was Grand Orator of the Order of the Good Sama¬
ritan and Daughters of Samaria for the States of Indiana and
Ohio; in August, 1875, he was raised to the Sublime Degree
Master Mason and Arched in 1877; Knighted by the Taylor
Commandery at Columbus, Ohio, in 1878; Grand Orator at
Biennial Movable Committee of G. U. 0. of 0. F. at Cincinnati,
in 1884; Grand Chaplain Royal Arch Chapter of Ohio in 1879;
Grand Lecturer of the Knights of Wise Men of the World at
Nashville, Tennessee. Held the same office in the Councils of the
Independent Order of Immaculates in the same city. Is a Good
Templar, and has been District Master of the Sons of Temper¬
ance; is identified also with other organizations.
-183-
Bishop Arnett's friendship lor the Sunday School Cause is
well known. He has gone as Delegate to State and National
Sunday School Conventions, and in 18S0 was elected by the
Sunday School Union, ol Ohio, as its representative at the
Robert Raike's Centennial at London, England. Nine years
afterward the Inter-Denominational Sundav School Union, of
South Carolina, sent him to the World's Convention in the
same citv.
Bishop Arnett is devoted, soul and body, to the Republican
Partv, and in close political contests has done much to hold the
fealtv of his Race to its interests. And the party has gladly
awarded him a high place in its councils and liberally shared
with him its honors. In 1878 he was a Vice President of the
Ohio Republican State Convention, and delivered a ratification
speech in Music Hall, Cincinnati; was a member of the Reception
Committee appointed to welcome Hon. James G. Blaine to
Greene Countv, Ohio, in 1886-87; in 1886, he was, while in
San Francisco, the guest of honor at a reception given by the
Central Republican Club of that city.
His reputation as an orator has brought him wide renown,
and he has often been called upon to deliver addresses before
very distinguished assemblies. In September, 1886, he delivered
an address, by invitation, to the Republican State Convention at
Denver. He was one of the principal orators at the Centennial
Celebration of the First Settlement of the Northwest Territory,
at Marietta, Ohio, in April, 1888, and made the address at the
Jubilee of Freedom in September of the same vear at the Cen-
nennial Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. Other assemblies, equally
notable, have enjoyed his eloquence.
The literary work of Bishop Arnett is mainlv historical
and statistical. It is said that he has furnished his Race and
Church more literature along these lines than any man in the
United States. For ten years he compiled and edited "The Bud¬
get," and is now engaged upon a History of his Race and the
African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The first years of his Episcopacy gave him ecclesiastical
authority in the South; in November, 1893, the death of Hishop
I). A. Payne placed him in charge of the Conferences of Ohio,
- 184 -
North Ohio and Pittsburg; the next vear, owing to the death of
Bishop Wavman, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan were added to
his jurisdiction, and at the General Conference of 1896, he was
returned to the Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa Conferences.
Four years afterward he was appointed to the Third Episcopal
District, consisting of the Conferences of Ohio, North Ohio,
Pittsburg and California.
Bishop Arnett's pleasant home is near Wilberforce Univer¬
sity, of which school he is a steadfast friend, and has done much
to advance its prosperity; one of the handsome buildings on the
campus is honored with his name. His wife, who was Miss
Mary L. Gordon, to whom he was married in May, 1858, at
Brownsville, Pa., presides most graciotisly over his household,
and five sons and two daughters honor their parents with
affection and respect.
REV. DANIEL S. BENTLEY, D.D.
®HE valuable little book¬
let, "Brief Religious
Reflections," has made
the subject of this sketch
known and beloved by scores
of Christian hearts, who have
never heard his voice nor
looked upon his face.
Rev. DanielS. Bentley, D.D.,
was born September 20th,
1850, in Madison County,
Kentucky. His schooling was
attained at Berea College.
While there he was converted,
and received the rite of bap¬
tism from Rev. John G. Fee,
the founder of the Institution.
In September, 1869, he was
licensed to preach, and was assigned to Danville, Kentucky,
where he continued his Theological studies under the supervision
(if Prof. R. \V. Landis, of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
The first fourteen years of his Ministry were passed in his
native State, and he has reason to believe that his labors in
various Missions and Circuits, with his Pastorates in Danville,
Louisville and Frankfort, were blessed with the conversion of
more than one thousand souls.
In the Fall of 188-1, Dr. Bentley was transferred to the Indi¬
ana Conference, and after three years of faithful service, Bishop
J. P. Campbell again transferred him to Wylie Avenue A. M. Ii.
Church, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His pastorate while here
was wonderfully blessed; his influence being the means of draw¬
ing five hundred persons to Christ, two-thirds of whom united
with the Church of which he was pastor. At the close of his
three year's work, Bishop D. A. Payne made him Presiding Elder
- 186 -
of tlie Pittsburg District of the Pittsburg Conference, which office
he filled for three years.
Dr. Bentlev has also been an incumbent of pulpits of the
A. M. E. Church in Allegheny City, Washington and Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and Divine approval has rested upon his work.
He is a frequent contributor to the religious press, and has
a second edition of his little booklet about ready to be issued.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him
by Livingston College, North Carolina, and several other enviable
honors have fallen to him, one being a Vice-Presidency at the
great Parliament of Religions, at Chicago, in 1893; another his
appointment by the Board of Bishops of his Church as Alternate
Delegate to the Ecumenical Council that met in London, Eng¬
land, in 1900.
- 187 -
REV. S. W. SHIELDS, P. E.
EV. S. W. Shields is
noted in Ministerial cir¬
cles of the A. M. E.
Church for his power as a
revivalist, and the abilitj^ to
coax dollars from the pockets
of the people in a good cause.
He was born in Raleigh,
North Carolina, October 15th,
1855, and, at the close of the
Rebellion, found himself a boy
\ f I * / W in the world without relatives
jMor But
MarKlgi!r an was
purpose in his childish brain,
and at ten jrears of age he
began the study of Webster's
blue back spelling book, in
Sunday School, and during the week was instructed in a school
taught by a white man, with whom, later, he studied medicine.
But his conversion turned his mind to the Ministry, and,
in 1SS2, he joined the Alabama Conference, at Troy, Alabama,
Bishop Wavman presiding, and was sent on Bladen Springs Cir¬
cuit, his two year's work there being blessed with the conversion
of eighty souls, and a liberal addition to the treasury of the
Church.
During his connection with this Conference, his earnest
exhortations brought over three hundred persons into the fellow¬
ship of the Church, and the blessed revival spirit followed him
when he was transferred to the North Alabama Conference.
Ninety souls professed a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
during his two 3'ear's pastorate at Greensboro, and one hundred
and eighty names were placed on the Church record of Big Bethel
Church, Mobile, while he ministered to it for three years. From
Mobile lie went to the pulpit of Brown Chapel, at Selma, Ala¬
bama, the leading charge in the State, and his labors were
crowned with the conversion of one hundred and forty-five
persons.
This wonderful success has accompanied his entire Ministry.
Several years ago he was transferred back to the Alabama Con¬
ference, and was ordained Presiding Elder, which office he holds
at the present time. He has been Treasurer of Payne University
for four years, and was a Delegate to the General Conference, at
Columbus, Ohio, in 1900.
Rev. Shields has followed after manv eminent men in the
pidpit, and excelled them all in raising funds for Christian work.
- 189 -
REV. ISAIAH GODA SISHUBA.
ul1
'HE plain story of the
life and work of Rev.
Isaiah Goda Sishuba is
vibrant with the same love
and faith that made the mar¬
tyrs of the early Church joy¬
fully give their lives for the
cause of Christ.
He was born of royal an¬
cestry, at a village of Wukuwa,
in the District of Queenstown,
Cape Colony, South Africa,
October 24th, 1865. His
grandfather, Sishuba, whose
tribal throne was supported
by the Cape Government and
who reached the advanced age
of one hundred and twenty
years, was succeeded by Isaiah's father, Joshua Gada, who was
the first man in his villages to accept the Gospel, and to become
a Local Preacher.
When about eight years of age, his parents placed him in
the home of a kinsman residing at Kamastone, a Wesleyan Min¬
ister, and here the boy received his first regular schooling; but
when Rev. Pamla was given another charge, Isaiah returned to
his home, where a day-school had been established by Mr. Gil¬
bert Chalmers. Upon reaching his fourteenth year, he was sent
to a school in Lovedale, afterwards continuing his studies at
Zonnebloen, Capetown. His education completed, he returned
home and for three years assisted his father in the management
of a large farm.
Deep in his heart was the desire to preach and teach, and
he left the farm to become a School Master and Cateehist in the
English Church at Hopetown, later changing to the Primitive
- 190 -
Methodist Church at Jamestown, to be eventually transferred to
Smithfield, Orange Free State, now Orange River Colony. Here
Dutch rule compelled the carrying of a pass, an unpleasantness
to which he never became accustomed. His work while here was
greatty blessed. His congregation and school consisted almost
entirely of Besuthos and Dutch, and he was compelled to learn
their tongues; a year's diligent application made him so profic¬
ient in both that he used them in the pulpit and school-room
with but little difficulty.
In 1889, a blessing "far above rubies" came into his life,
and in his marriage to Miss Anna X. Qabazi, Rev. Sishuba
possessed a consecrated, educated helpmate, whose love and
encouraging faith proved unfailing strength to him in the dark
days of persecution. Five sons were born of this marriage, three
ot whom are living.
In 1896, Rev. Sishuba cut loose from the Primitive Metho¬
dist Church, and organized an Independent Church, which, as he
says, "was free and open to any Nation, Color and Tongue."
This, to his mind, was necessary, owing to the growing inhar-
mony on account of the drawing of the color line, both in the
Church and out. Most keenly felt by him were the slights that
came from his white brethren of the pulpit. He savs: "The ques¬
tion or the action of drawing a color line in the Church of Christ,
made me doubt that the Master would approve. Reading my
New Testament and tracing the life of Christ, I found that he
made no distinction, he treated all people alike, and amongst his
disciples I found that Simon was a Canaanite, and received the
same privileges, care and affection as the other disciples."
This step of Rev. Sishuba was followed by over two hun¬
dred of the members of his congregation; and one hundred and
thirty-eight pupils were enrolled in his day school, and sixty at
night.
Persecution from the white Ministers and their followers,
both white and black, raged about him. His name was pro¬
claimed in public places as one "teaching the natives to rebel
against the flag;" but an investigation by those "in authority"
proved that his only dissentient words were, "there is no color
line in Christianity."
- 191 -
Fortunately the sympathy and good-will of many leading
white citizens were with him, and a Chureh site was procured
without much difficulty. The ensuing vear he and his congrega¬
tion connected themselves with the Ethiopian Church, which in a
few months was amalgamated with the A. M. E. Church.
He was soon inducted into the office of Deacon, and, in
1898, Bishop H. M. Turner, recently arrived from America, con¬
secrated him to the Eldership, and he was placed in charge of
Johannesburg District in the Transvaal.
The eventful Boer War arose in the Fall of 1899, intensify¬
ing the hatred between Dutch and English. Martial law drove
the latter from Johannesburg, and as a subject of the British flag,
Rev. Sishuba was among the exiles. The English, as victors,
were far harsher than the Dutch had been in their treatment of
the natives, the color line being more sharply drawn.
Upon his arrival at Oueenstown, he found Rev. Dwane and
other Ministers organizing a secession movement from the Church.
He was asked to join them. He affirmed his allegiance to the
A. M. E. Church. About this time he, with Rev. Ngcayiva, went
to Capetown to plead with the Government for a removal of the
restrictions that had been laid upon the Ministers of their Church,
such as forbidding them to perform the marriage service for
members of their congregations.
At a large Church meeting the seceding element came back
into the fold and harmony was restored.
He was now Presiding Elder of Oueenstown District. In
December, 1908, a joint meeting of the Transvaal and Cape
Colony Conferences was held at North Alewal, one of his Stations,
at which he and Rev. Nycayiya were elected Delegates to the Gen¬
eral Conference at Chicago, in May, 1904.
- 192 -
REV. MARTIN STALEY BRYANT.
EV. MARTIN STALEY BRYANT is classed among the forceful
1#^ men in the Ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in the Middle West, of which region he is a
native, having been born at Ashley, Missouri, February ly, 1844.
His religious life began with his conversion and union with
the Church in September, 1866, at which time was formed the
resolution to enter the Ministry. This event took place in 1868
at Louisiana, Missouri, Rev. J. C. Embry granting him a
Preacher's License. In 1873 his name was recorded on the Con¬
ference Roll at St. Louis, and in October of the same year
he was assigned to Wentzville Mission. The next year he
met the Conference at Kansas City where he was ordained
Deacon and stationed at Lincoln, Nebraska, and Kansas City.
But the severe and prolonged illness of his eldest child compelled
him to leave the ministrv for a while and seek more remunera¬
tive employment, in order that comforts might be supplied to the
invalid. For two years he worked at the blacksmith's trade,
returning to the Conference in 1876, and receiving an appoint¬
ment to Mexico, Missouri. In 1880, while filling a pastorate at
Gallatin, he was given Elder's Orders, and in two year's time
built new churches at Clarksville and Paynesville and largely
increased the congregations in both places. He was made Presiding
Elder of Hannibal District. In 1892 he was elected Delegate to
the General Conference at Philadelphia, and appointed on the
Church Extension Board which he faithfully served for four \'ears.
He afterwards attended meetings of this ecclesiastical body at
Wilmington, North Carolina, and Columbus, Ohio.
Rev. Bryant has itinerated at Sedalia, Missouri, where he
built a new parsonage, and in Kansas City, Missouri. Trans¬
ference to the North Missouri Conference placed him in charge of
pulpits in another part of the State. He is now the popular
Presiding Elder of Columbia District, and is a Member of the
Missionarv Board of the Church.
M
~ 193-
REV. ROBERT BURNS BROOKINS.
1
EV. Robert Burns Brook-
ins was born in Camak,
Georgia, December 12th,
1855, and was honored with
the name of the greatest of
Scotch poets. He received his
education at Cookman Insti¬
tute, Jacksonville, Florida.
At the age of eighteen
years he was led to embrace
the Christian life, and allied
himself with the membership
of the A. M. E. Church in
Suwannee County, Florida,
receiving the rite of baptism
from Elder Pearce.
The duties of Class-Leader
prepared him, in a measure, for
more important Church work, and when, in 1876, he was Licens¬
ed to Preach, in Fernandina, Florida, by Rev. W. M. Sampson, he
had an intelligent idea of the responsibilities devolving upon him.
His itineracy began in 1877 (after his ordination as Deacon
by Bishop J. P. Campbell, at the first session of the East Florida
Annual Conference at Palatka, Fla)., where in the short space of
two years he built two churches and added sixty-four converts
to the roll of the Church militant.
In 1880, the additional duties of Elder were laid upon his
shoulders by Bishop Campbell, but the honor brought to the re¬
cipient a greater realization of the sacred importance of his calling.
The loss of his wife and six children by death in Florida,
caused him to ask for fields of labor outside of that State, in
which he had held pastoral charges in Green Springs, Fernan¬
dina, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tallahasse and other points, and
future years brought him toil, with the blessing of great spirit-
- 194-
ual reward, in Orangeburg and Marion, South Carolina; Mtis-
kogee, Indian Territory; Fort Smith, Arkansas, where as pastor
and Presiding Elder his work in every place has been crowned
with the exultation only felt by those "that turn many to right¬
eousness."
On September 27, 1900, Rev. Brookins again became a ben¬
edict, Rev. J. R. Ransom, P. E. of the Omaha District, perform¬
ing the ceremony that made Mrs. Winifred Harrad, of Omaha,
his honored wife.
Rev. Brookins is noted for logical, powerful and extremely
fervent sermons, that appeal with equal force to the intellectual
and emotional natures of his hearers; and his earnest life will
be a potent factor in the intellectual, social and spiritual eleva¬
tion of his Race.
- '95 -
REV. W. A. J. PHILLIPS, D.D.
EV. W.A.J. Phillips, I). D.,
is among the fortunate
few who u nderst a 11 <1
the art of steering congrega¬
tions out of the troubled
waters of debt and placing
them "high and dry" 011 the
rock foundation of spiritual
and financial prosperity.
He was born near Little
Washington, Rappahannock
County, Virginia, but upon
reaching manhood ran away
to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
where he engaged in steam-
boating.
He was converted in 1853,
and united with the Church,
assuming the duties of Class Leader, Sunday School Superin¬
tendent, and other Church offices as he was needed, and in time
receiving a License to Preach from Rev. L. Gross.
Rev. Phillips was one of the organizers of the Pittsburg
Conference and was assigned to Allen Chapel in that city, after¬
ward doing Missionary work in West Virginia; he rebuilt the
Church that had been destroyed in a wind storm, at Uniontown,
Pennsylvania, entertained the Conference, and left it with but
a small debt to pay. Other appointments in Pennsylvania were
held by him, in all of which he built or remodeled the Churches
and eased the people of debt. He served for a time as Presid¬
ing Elder of Allegheny District, and upon the abolishment of
the office was assigned to Monongahela Station, but in 1880
was transferred by Bishop H. M. Turner to the Arkansas Con¬
ference, and stationed at Bethel Church, Little Rock, to be, four
years afterward, given charge as Presiding Elder of Fort Smith
District, and so satisfactory has proved his work, that he has
- 196 -
been continued in the office to the present time. His field of
labor covers the following Districts: Newport, Little Rock, Arka-
delphia, and Camden, building nine new Houses of Worship and
remodeling eleven in the last-named District. He is again the
Spiritual Overseer of Fort Smith District.
The intellectual and executive ability of Dr. Phillips has
been willingly recognized by the Conferences with which he has
been connected. Seven times have they sent him to the General
Conferences. In 1891 he was a Member of the Ecumenical Con¬
ference at Washington, D. C., and was also on the Advisory
Council of the Parliament of Religions and a Secretary of the
A. M. E. Church at the Congress of Religions, at Chicago, in 1893.
Dr. Phillips is President of the Board of Trustees of
Shorter College, Manager of its Publishing Department, and had
much to do with the planning and erection of its main building;
he is also a Trustee of Wilberforce University.
" '97 "
REV. J. R. COX.
(3
'HE subject of this sketch,
who is now a success¬
ful Presiding Elder in
Mexico, was born in North
Carolina, in 1864. In that
State he received his early
education, and at the age
of eighteen years went to
Georgia to follow the pro¬
fession of School Teaching,
and was employed in the
Public Schools of Early
County, of that State.
Believing that he was
Divinely called to Preach the
Word of God, he had, by 1897,
— passed through the initiatory
offices of Exhorter and Local
Preacher, and that year was put on trial in the Traveling List of
the Georgia Conference. In 1899, at a meeting of the Georgia
Annual Conference in the City of Savannah, he was ordained
Deacon by the Right Reverend H. M. Turner of the Sixth
Episcopal District, the office of Presiding Elder coming to him
two years later at the Annual Conference held at Brunswick,
Georgia. In 1902 the Bishops were so assured of his thorough
consecration to the Master's work, that he was honored with
the Presiding Eldership in the Home Mission Field in Mexico.
- 198 -
BISHOP MOSES B. SALTER.
^■THE life of Bishop Moses
III B. Salter has been one
of constant vigilance in
the service of the Church, and
his crown of success sparkles
with the blessed light of many,
many souls saved unto life
eternal.
He was born in Charles¬
ton, South Carolina, February
13th, 1840, and while a boy
learned the watch-maker's
trade. In 1856 he united with
the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, and the next
year experienced the happiness
of saving faith that crystal
lized into a determination to
enter the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ; he transferred his
membership to the A. M. E. Church and in 1866 connected him¬
self with the South Carolina Conference, receiving within the
next two j'cars the orders of Deacon and Elder and an appoint¬
ment to Aiken Station, serving the second year as Presiding
Elder. Wishing a knowledge of higher studies, he, in 1870,
matriculated at Wilberforce University, and shortly after his leav¬
ing school was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla Smith.
Preferring to labor in the South, he returned to his native
State, and was sent by his Conference to Beaufort, which pastor¬
ate was followed by charges in Columbus and Savannah, Georgia ;
Marion and Charleston, South Carolina, with one year's experi¬
ence as Presiding Elder of Georgetown District.
In 1892 he was honored by elevation to the Bishopric of
the Church, and in that capacity has watched over the spiritual
and interests of theA. M. E. Church of South Carolina, Tennessee
and Texas. He is now Presiding Bishop of Mississippi Louisiana.
Bishop Salter during his Ministry of thirty-eight j-ears, has
welcomed nine thousand persons into the communion of the A.
M. E. Church.
- 199-
REV.THOMAS HENRY JACKSON, D.D.
nessed the consecration of his heart and life to his Heavenly
Father, and the advanced Theological Course was added to his
academic studies.
I)r. Jackson was a member of the first class graduated from
Wilberforce University in 1870. It had been stimulated in its
work bv the promise from President Payne of a professorship to
the one receiving the highest grade in study; Dr. Jenifer was given
the first diploma, but the Professor's Chair fell to Dr. Jackson,
and for eleven years he was a beloved and highly appreciated
Instructor in the School.
Dr. Jackson was admitted to the ranks of the Ministry of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865, during his col¬
legiate work, and has served various pastorates in Ohio, Little
Rock, Arkansas and Columbia, South Carolina; his merited de¬
gree of Doctor of Divinity was given by Wilberforce Universitv.
Every meeting of the General Conference since 1872 has been
- 20O -
versity, no one reflects greater
honor upon his Alma Mater
bv nobleness and usefulness in
life and scholarly attainments
than the subject of this sketch.
Dr. Jackson was born in
the "City of Brotherly Love"
March 13th, 1844, and was
but fourteen years of age when
he went West to enroll him¬
self as a student at Wilber¬
force University, in which
college he was again a student
o o
in 1864 from Louisville, Ken¬
tucky. The next vear wit-
attended by him, and his counsel and suggestions have proven
an incalculable help to that large body of Christian workers.
As a writer on important subjects Dr. Jackson is well known,
especially throughout the Church, and his familiaritv with Church
History and intimate knowledge of the Hebrew language, united
with his sound common sense and broad views of life, render him
particularlv adapted for the high office and duties of Dean of
Shorter Universitv, at Little Rock, Arkansas, now held bv him.
-201-
REV. JOHN WESLEY COOPER.
or
'HE large number of good
earnest men in the cor-
porate body of the great
Methodist Church who bear
the name of the saintly founder
of its faith, is evidence of the
influence of his work and life
upon the characters of the
"namesakes" who, with
steady hands, carry the torch
of Gospel Truth up and down
- rfsj'- ll / the dark places of the earth.
** M earnes"tness and fervor
for the sacred cause of the
\ /
N^yfl|''irapl:-/ Church, its African Methodist
ESs V|sZ Episcopal branch has no more
devoted son than Rev. John
Wesley Cooper, whose Minis¬
try is connected with the Conferences of the States of New York
and New Jersey.
He was born March 8th, 1840, in Burlington, New Jersey,
and entered the New York Conference when he was twentv-seven
years of age, receiving an immediate appointment to the Church
at Oswego, New York, and since that date has been an enthusi¬
astic laborer in the vineyard, finding much for his hands to do,
but serving with loving, patient willingness as "unto the Lord."
For thirty-eight years he has been in the itineracy of the
Church, being ordained to the Presiding Eldership, over the New¬
ark District, by Bishop John M. Brown, in 1888.
- 202 -
MR. CLYDE WINSLOW.
colleges and schools
I | I devoted to the mental
and social culture of the
African Race are yearly send¬
ing out young men and women
whose strength of character
and scholarly attainments are
rapidly finding places of trust
for them in the commercial
world; and Mr. Clyde Wins-
low, Secretary to the Presi¬
dent of Wilberforce University,
is one meriting the confidence
reposed in him.
He was born in humble
environments, July 5th, 1877,
at South Charleston, Ohio,
but his parents were resolute
in their determination that their son should become an educated
man; and, at the cost of much personal sacrifice on their part,
he was sent through the Public and Normal Schools, afterwards
taking a course at Williams Business School in Springfield, Ohio.
He then procured an excellent situation, as stenographer, with
the lumber firm of D. E. Swan & Company of that city, winning
their confidence to such an extent that he soon became one of
their most trusted clerks; remaining with them until he entered
upon the work nearest his heart, that of the school-room.
In 1900 he was persuaded to accept the position now held
by him, viz: Private Secretary to the President of Wilberforce
University.
Mr. Winslow is not yet thirty years of age, and a life of
great usefulness and helpfulness to his Race is predicted from his
sterling Christian manhood. He is a Trustee of Holy Trinity
Church, at Wilberforce.
- 203 -
REV. SETH DESMOND WALDEMA SMITH.
arv; whereupon he wrote to Bishop J. P. Campbell, of Philadel¬
phia, and persuaded him to send an additional man to Nova
Scotia, Rev. John R. Morgan receiving the assignment.
After his ordination to Deacon's Orders by Bishop Nazrev,
in 1870, he took charge of Port La Tours Mission, which em¬
braced a District of one hundred and fifty miles, lying between
the Jordan river and Waymouth Falls; his first year's salary
amounted to $32, but the Lord graciously rewarded his labor by
a large ingathering of souls to the Kingdom. The following year
he was ordained Elder by Bishop Nazre}', at St. Johns, New
Brunswick, and, under the Missionary ride, in 1872, built two
churches at Shelburn, Nova Scotia.
In May, 1880, he came as Delegate from the British M. E.
Conference to the General Conference, at St. Louis, and was act¬
ively interested in bringing about the union between the two
great bodies according to Articles of Agreement previously decided
- 204 -
He had just reached man¬
hood when he came to Ameri¬
can shores, and was licensed
to Preach in Zion A. M. E.
Church, in Liverpool, Nova
Scotia, followed by his imme¬
diate appointment as Mission-
African ancestry', was born at
St. Croix, in the tropical
Danish West Indies, where he
received his early education
and was for some time en¬
gaged as Assistant Teacher in
an Episcopal School in St.
Thomas.
EV. Seth Desmond Wal-
dema Smith, a descend¬
ant of English and
upon, and was appointed a member of one of the first commit¬
tees that met at Chatham, Ontario, to consider organic union.
Upon recommendation of this committee Bishop Nazrev visited
Bermuda, St. Thomas, D. W. I., Demarara, S. A. and the Islands
of the sea; but the Bermudian Government refused to recognize
the British M. E. Ministers, whereupon an appeal was made to
Queen Victoria, which was graciously granted by her Majesty.
Rev. Smith has held important charges in several of the
large Canadian cities, and his work was blessed many times by
a wonderful outpouring of God's spirit. His congregations were
always encouraged to build or remodel Church buildings; through
his efforts discouraging debts were wiped out and parsonages
added to Church properties.
He was for many years an inflential Member of the Canada
Grand Lodge, Independent Order of Good Templars, but, in com¬
pany with other prominent men, withdrew at the session of the
Grand Lodge in Montreal when the color line was introduced,
the withdrawing element, headed by Honorable G. W. C. T., Jos¬
eph Malius, of Scotland, organizing the R. W. L. Grand Lodge of
Canada, in which Rev. Smith was elected Grand Worthy Coun¬
cillor, next to the highest office in the Lodge. He was also hon¬
ored with the appointment of Right Worthy District Deputy
Grand Chief Templar of the Right W. G. L. of Scotland, Inde¬
pendent Order of Good Templars.
Rev. Smith is recognized as one of the strongest advocates
of temperance in the A. M. E. Church.
- 205 -
REV. HENDERSON DAVIS.
ar
'HE son of an earnest
Minister of the Gospel
now gone to his reward,
Rev. Henderson Davis was
born in Frankford, Pennsyl¬
vania, March 8th, 1848.
At the early age of twelve
years he consecrated his life
to God, and was given a
Local Preacher's license before
he had reached his eighteenth
V I J / birthday; his first work as
\ J tk Pastor being on Port Repub-
\V j Jm/ he Circuit. A year or two
\ 1 tf/ later he was ordained Deacon
^0 M/ t'y Bishop Campbell, at Car-
lisle, Pennsylvania. Two years
afterwards Bishop James A.
Shorter raised him to the Eldership.
A Pastorate at Bordentown, New Jersey, was among his
first charges and while there he raised the handsome sum of
$1500, towards the building of a new Church. From Borden¬
town he was sent to Freehold, New Jersey. As he alighted at
the station, he was met by an anxious and zealous sister of his
Church, bearing the information that on the previous Sunday
there had been a big rally "of the Zion people," who had boasted
that the A. M. E. Church in that place was dead and buried.
Rev. Davis comforted the mourning sister with the assurance that
the next Sunday would be the resurrection day of the A. M. E.
Church in that town. The prophecy was true. In less than two
weeks wandering sheep were found and led back to the fold, and
at the close of a three year's Pastorate it was a vigorous
organization numbering one hundred and sixty members.
His next appointment was at Elizabeth, New Jerse}r, where
- 206 -
he remained three years; his work was blessed by great revival
seasons, that added one hundred and forty names to the Church
A transference to the New York Conference placed him in
charge of the Church at Lockport, New York, that boasted a
handsome structure but only counted a working force of five
souls; these faithful ones constituted his first congregation.
Heroic and strenuous effort was demanded. He gave it. A
revival added fort}' saved souls to the membership; but before
the close of the Church-year he was sent by Bishop Brown to
Elmira, New York, to win a beautiful new African Union Church
over to the A. M. E. Connection. He proved equal to the task>
and the Church is one of the most influential in the New York
Conference.
Ecclesiastical authority decided that he would be a good
man to help bring about a happier state of feeling between the
A. M. E. and B. M. E. Churches, and consequently he was trans"
ferred to the Ontario Conference, and located at Chatham.
Assuming a neutral position as to the disputed points, he so
wisely and kindly exerted his influence, that concessions were
made, wounds healed, and the A. M. E. Church placed on firm
ground. He remained in Chatham four years, and was then
transferred by Bishop B. T. Tanner to the Nova Scotia Confer¬
ence and given a charge at Halifax Station. At the end of three
years he returned to the United States, filled a three year's
appointment at Chelsea, Massachusetts, and was then sent for
another six years toil in Canada. He was again transferred
to the United States, in 1901, and since that date has been doing
effective work for the Church in Indiana.
roll.
- 207 -
REV. NICHOLAS BERNARD STEWART, D.D.
Scotland, and from this venerable Institution came his cherished
degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Preferring to locate on this side of the broad Atlantic, he
was ordained at Chatham, Canada, by the late Bishop Richard
Randolph Disney, in 1884, and for his eminent qualifications ap¬
pointed Secretary to Bishop Jabez Pitt Campbell.
But all things seemed to point to his special fitness for
work in foreign fields, so returning to South America, he organ¬
ized the A. M. E. Church in the City of Paremaribo, Dutch
Guiana; established it in the Spanish City of Portan, Trinidad,
and also planted it in the islands of Tobago, the Barbadoes and
the Bahamas, the latter coming under the Bishopric of Dr.
Benjamin W. Arnett.
Coming again to the United States, he was connected with
the New Jersey Conference, but later transferred to the Missis¬
sippi, and assigned charges in several of the large cities in the
HE Fourth of July, 1875,
was indeed a day of re¬
joicing to Rev. Nicholas
Bernard Stewart, for it marked
his turning aside from sin to
serve the Living God, and the
birth of his desire to enter
the Christian Ministrv.
Rev. Stewart is a native
of Georgetown, Demerara,
British Guiana, South America;
his early education was re¬
ceived in the Protestant Epis¬
copal Church School, Bishop
College. Deciding to preach
the Gospel, it was his privi¬
lege to study theology in the
University at Edinburgh,
- 208 —
State. He has also been appointed to Pastorates in Canada,
Washington, D. C. and New York City.
Dr. Stewart has several times gone as Delegate to the
General Conferences of the Church, and has been both Dean and
Financial Agent of Campbell College.
His culture in ancient and modern languages is very wide:
he reads without difficulty, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and
speaks fluently the Spanish and Hindistani tongues, and can
preach with ease in the vernacular of the "Bush Negroes" of
Dutch Guiana.
A valuable work entitled "Miracles of Creation vs. Evolu¬
tionary Philosophy," is a child of his brain.
M
- 209 -
REV. JOHN WESLEY LEWIS.
or
'O worthily bear the ven¬
erated name of the
founder of Methodism,
the subject of this sketch was
born at Delaware, Ohio, Dec¬
ember 12th, 1844.
After passing through the
common schools, he was ap¬
prenticed, at the age of fifteen
years, to the plasterer's trade,
Wbut preferring the employment
of tailor, took up that trade
and worked as a journeyman
until he was thirty years of
In September, 1864, he
joined the Union ranks, enlist¬
ing in Company A., 12th U. S.
C. I., and though his term of service did not extend over many
months, he fought valiantly in the battles of the Nashville
campaign.
His conversion took place in the Winter of 1866, in the old
Church in his home town of Delaware; and with change of heart
was born the desire to belong to the band of those whose lives
are devoted to the promulgation of Gospel joy.
Licensed as Local Preacher by Rev. Jesse Asburv, in 1876,
his first charge was the home Church in Delaware, and during
his pastorate of one year the old building was torn down and
the walls of a new edifice raised, to be completed under other
pastors.
The Ohio Conference, Bishop Way man presiding, the next
year accepted him as a member on trial ; the same Bishop soon
ordained him as Deacon, which was followed, in 1881, by his
promotion to the Presiding Eldership.
The size of the Ohio Conference necessitated a division, and
the name of Rev. Lewis was placed on the list of the new North
Ohio Conference, and for sixteen years he filled important pastor¬
ates in its field of labor.
In 1896 he was transferred to the Ohio Conference where
he remained for three years, returning in 1899 to the North Ohio
Conference, and was stationed for eleven months at Sandusky,
supplying a vacancy. He has held charges in Mansfield and Mar¬
ion, and is now doing good work at Kenton, Ohio.
Rev. Lewis has been twice married, his first wife, who was
Miss Anna M. Gross, dying April L6th, 1878; five children were
born of this union, three of whom are living. In May, 1879, he
was united in wedlock to Miss Martha M. Nelson at Chillicothe,
Ohio.
-211-
REV. HENRY BLANTON PARKS, D.D.
S organizer, debt-raiser
and church-bu i 1 der,
Rev. Henry Blanton
Parks is recognized as a leader
in the A. M. E. Church of this
country. He seems to be spec¬
ial^ gifted with ability to
accomplish great things along
these very necessary lines of
Church work.
He was born July 4th,
1859, in Campbell County,
Georgia, and passed his earlv
life with his father in farm
toil, a life that gave him the
foundation of splendid, vigor¬
ous health on which he built
the achievements that have
crowned his efforts. His father was a man remarkable for strong
mental power and fervid piety, delighting in books, and by hard
and persistent study acquired a thorough understanding of the
Latin tongue. After the emancipation he became Pastor of the
A. M. E. Church at Cartersville, Georgia, and looked forward to
the pleasure of giving his two sons a collegiate education. His
death verv materially changed the future for his little familv, and
the accidental drowning of his brother made Henry the sole sup¬
port of his sadly bereaved mother. Loyal was he to his obliga¬
tion as a son, and his mother in her pleasant home in Atlanta,
is generously and devotedly cared for by her only child, and she
has all the pride and joy of a fond mother in his great success ;
while Dr. Parks asserts that his attainments were onhr made
possible by her constant self denial during his days of struggle.
He attended Store's School in Atlanta, an Institution sup¬
ported by the American Missionary Society. After his father's
— 2 I 3 —
death, he worked for a dental firm before and after school hours,
studying at night. From the Mission College he went to Atlanta
University where he remained two years, then began teaching at
Sugar Hill, though he was not yet eighteen years of age.
His conversion brought a resolution to enter the Ministr}^,
and he was granted a Local License and placed in charge of the
Church at Sugar Hill, joining in a few months the North Georgia
Conference in session at Madison, Bishop J. P. Campbell presiding.
The strong individuality and intelligence of the young Min¬
ister drew the interest of Bishop T. M. D. Ward, of Louisiana,
who was a guest of the Conference, to him; the Bishop had come
to urge some of the younger men to return with him to fill the
places of those who had been swept off by the scourge of yellow
fever. Henry Blanton Parks volunteered and fearlessly carried
the consolation of God's word to many desolate homes. Bishop
Ward assigned him to St. Peter's Chapel, New Orleans, a Church
that ranked third in importance in the Conference District. Rev.
Parks held it in charge for four years, increasing it from a mem¬
bership of seventy-five persons to a flourishing congregation, and
lowered a debt of $5,000 to $1,500.
He received Deacon's Orders at Baton Rouge in 1879; and,
in 1881, Bishop R. H. Cain ordained him Elder at New Orleans.
One important charge after another was given to him, and suc¬
cess in building up congregations and lowering church debts
attended him wherever he was located.
In 1886, at the request of Bishop Ward, he was sent to
St. Matthew's Chapel, Greenville, Mississippi, where he only
remained for a few months, being transferred to Bethel Church,
Vicksburg ; a handsome parsonage stands as a monument to his
zeal during his long pastorate in the latter city. But Bishop
Ward, who never lost sight of this enterprising young Minister
felt that St. Johns Church at Topeka, Kansas, that was strug¬
gling with $5000 of bonded and floating debt, needed his vim
and enthusiasm and sent him thither. The Bishop was right, for
in the short time of four months, Rev. Parks wiped out the
bonded debt of $4000, and when in eighteen months he was
transferred to St. Johns, Omaha, he left the Topeka congregation
happy and prosperous in anew Church costing $18,000.
- 213-
Similar results followed his work in Omaha and at Allen
Chapel, Kansas City.
But his time and labor had not been confined specifically to
these objective points. He was a member of various Boards and
Councils; Secretarv and Treasurer of different Conferences; Mem¬
ber of sundry Church Committees; duties that his methodical,
exact and comprehensive mind cared for in due order and time,
with the precision and accuracy required. So quickly was he
able to grasp the details and means necessary for the quick bring¬
ing of results, that, in 1896, at the Conference in Wilmington,
he was elected Secretarv of the Board of Home and Foreign Mis¬
sions. His zeal and executive ability have already produced great
results in arousing the interest of the Church to the importance
of the work, and increasing the donations to the Cause. Two
books on Foreign Missions have come from his pen He was the
organizer of The Bishop Henry McNeil Turner Crusaders of the
20th Centurv, the first societv of its kind; an Order of Negro
Churchmen pledged to the support of Missions in Africa by more
than mere Church subscriptions.
Dr. Parks has been a Trustee of Wilberforce University for
nearly twenty years. At the Students' Volunteer Movement for
Missions, held in Cleveland, in 1896, with over 2200 delegates
present, I)r. Parks was Chairman of the African Council, and
took in as delegates five native African students of Wilberforce.
Dr. Parks resides in Kansas City. His family consists of
his wife and three daughters. Mrs. Parks was formerly Miss
Frozine Portier, of New Orleans.
- 214 -
PETER ALPHEUS LUCKIE.
(!l>
,NE of the most earnest
members of the class
graduated from Wil-
berforce University, in June,
1904, was Mr. Peter Alpheus
Luckie who came from British
Guiana, South America, to
the land whose flag means
golden opportunity for all
men.
\ jgffp I I His early years"were passed
\ » / in hard toil on a sugar plan-
\ I .. «*»* ' ^SSm/ tation, and it was while thus
V ^'T VfW engaged and observant of the
\ / ignorance and degredation of
n. | the workers around him, that
^ the impulse came to rise to
better and higher things.
This led to an attendance at a private night school, started for
the benefit of a few young men of the Colony, afterwards enter¬
ing the High School of Mr. A. A. Thome, M. A.; and later to
his great joy and satisfaction the way was opened for his coming
to the United States and entering Wilberforee University.
Mr. Luckie has traveled extensively in the British Isles and
France, and the kindness of friends made in these trips has
enabled him to complete his collegiate course. He has returned
to his native country and begun the work of elevating his
people.
-215 -
REV. JOHN DICKERSON.
dl
(N 1834, three }'ears before
the birth of their son,
Garland and Harriet
Diekerson, the parents of Rev.
John Diekerson, came from
Louisa Count}', Virginia, to
Chillicothe, Ohio, where on
April 10th, 1837, he was born.
After his conversion he
joined the membership of the
A. M. E. Church in Circleville)
WOhio, and was licensed as an
Exhorter. Recognizing his
country's claim to his valor,
he enlisted in Company G, 4th
U. S. C. T. and served until
honorably discharged at the
end of the war, when he again
returned to the Ministry and was licensed as Local Preacher by
Rev. Phillip Tolliver.
September, 1877, he entered the Ohio Conference at Urbana,
and was appointed to Westerville Circuit, remaining there three
years, receiving in the second year of this Pastorate the order of
Deacon from Bishop Wayman, at Cleveland, Ohio. His second
assignment was Smithfield Mission; the dividing of the Confer¬
ence the same year threw this charge into the North Ohio Con¬
ference, in which body he has alwa}'s itinerated. In 1881,
Bishop Campbell ordained him as Elder.
Rev. Diekerson has held Pastorates at Urbana, Lima,
Hamilton, Mt. Vernon, and other important points in the Con¬
ference; during his occupancy of the Church at Steubenville he
built one of the finest parsonages in the State. He served five
vears as Presiding Elder over the Springfield District, and is now
Presiding Elder of the Columbus District.
- 2x6 -
He has twice gone to the General Conference as Delegate
and Alternate, and his popularity in his own Conference is
attested bv the frequency with which his name is found on Con¬
ference Committees. He is a warm friend of Wilberforce Univer¬
sity and Payne Seminary, and embraces everv opportunity of
advancing their interests.
Rev. Dickerson was happily married, in I860, to Miss Mary
E. Ward. Five children have blessed their home, four of whom
are living. Two of the sons are practising phvsicians.
- 217 -
REV. JOSHUA VAN BUREN COINS, D.D.
31
fT IS difficult to believe
that a Minister of the
Gospel in this country,
in the last half of the nine¬
teenth century, could suffer
the atrocities that have made
up part of the ministerial ex¬
periences of the subject of this
sketch while "witnessing for
the truth."
\ I Born in Xenia, Ohio, Feb-
WkJ ruary 2d, 1848, his conversion
W at the age of fourteen years,
/ was regarded 1)}' him as a
Church at Peepee, Ohio, "and
for forty-two years has been
a loval upholder of its tenets of faith.
Julv, 1863, saw him enlisted in the United States Army,
serving five years, and it was his happy privilege during that
time to lead many of his soldier comrades to a saving faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Honorably discharged in July, 1870, at Fort McKavitt,
Texas, he went to San Antonio, and the same year was Licensed
to Preach, admitted to the one Conference then existing in Texas,
at that time in session at Bryant, and was ordained as Deacon
by Bishop James A. Shorter; four years afterwards Bishop John
M. Brown at the meeting of Conference in Austin, conferred upon
him the rights of Eldership.
The early years of the itineracy of Dr. Goins abounded in
discouragements so numerous, and suffering so great, that had
his faith in God been less, he surely would have considered as
vain, his efforts to extend the borders of the Methodist faith.
- 2 18 -
In connection with his work as Minister he taught school
for several consecutive years, his place of instruction sometimes
consisting of a brush arbor or the shade of leafy trees; the pro¬
mulgation of the Divine Word was met with ridicule and violent
opposition; and more than once, antagonism grew to such white
heat that he suffered from hunger, was refused shelter, compelled
to sleep like one of God's servants of old, on the ground, with a
stone for a pillow. Once he was arrested for preaching "false
doctrine," but was permitted by the authorities to plead his own
cause, and won acquittal. He was shot in the thigh; a bed on
which he slept was saturated with kerosene; men waited for him
in lonely places with ropes to hang him ; his churches and brush
arbors in which he preached were burned or destroved at night ;
but patiently, with a heart of compassion for those who would
so cruelly wrong him, he never faltered in the blessed work of
saving the lost.
And God wonderfully rewarded His faithful servant. There
are to-day in the big "Lone Star" State and neighboring terri¬
tory one hundred and fifteen A. M. E. Churches that owe their
organization to his steadfast faith and indefatigable enterprise;
in his itineracy through Texas, Louisiana and Indian Territory
he has taken nine thousand and seven hundred persons into
Chtirch fellowship, married two thousand people and officiated at
one thousand and ninety funerals.
Delhi Institute at Delhi, Louisiana, of which he was Presi¬
dent four years, was founded by him. For twent\- years he has
been a Trustee of Paul Quinn College, and three times he has
gone as Delegate to the General Conference of the Church. He
has held important offices in the Annual Conferences of his State,
and as the oldest active itinerant Minister in Texas possesses the
affection and veneration of thousands of Christian hearts.
- 219 -
REV. JOHN T. JENIFER, D.D.
or
'HE oppression of Mary¬
land bondage surround¬
ed the youth of Rev.
John T. Jenifer, his birth tak¬
ing place at Upper Marlbor¬
ough in that State, March
10th, 1835; but despite his
many privations he managed
to acquire the rudiments of a
common education.
\ JPHHHf/ Experiencing conversion in
V 1856, his desire for a self
respecting manhood was great-
W ly strengthened, and, in 1859,
; ./ he unceremoniously left Balti-
more in search of "liberty and
learning," traveling towards
New England, locating in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, where he studied for two years and was
given a License to Preach.
Attracted by the possibilities of the outermost West he
sailed for California in 1862, and received an appointment to the
Church at Sacramento City, which was followed by charges in
other important California towns ; he combined school teaching
with his Ministerial work on Placerville Circuit.
In April, 1865, Bishop J. P. Campbell ordained him as Dea¬
con, in the city of San Francisco, and the same year he was hon¬
ored with the Assistant Secretaryship of the First California
Conference.
The desire for a more thorough education was strong within
him; out of his combined salaries as Minister and Teacher he
had saved $900, and securing transference to an Ohio Confer¬
ence, he, in January, 1866, matriculated at Wilberforce University,
completing the course in 1871. During his collegiate experience
he was Secretary of the Institution, hut was not exempt from
Ministerial duty, often supplying the pulpits in neighboring Cir¬
cuits; in 1869 the office of Deacon was bestowed upon him b}r
Bishop D. A. Payne.
His itineracy began at Little Rock, Arkansas, and the duties
of his pastorate did not prevent him from being an eager parti¬
san and upholder of the rights of his Race in the fight that won
recognition of Colored Teachers in the Colored Schools. A charge
at Pine Bluff was succeeded by a re-appointment at Little Rock,
at the close of which he was transferred to Charles Street A. M.
E. Church, Boston, Massachusetts, and his capable management
while there, freed the congregation from $30,000 indebtedness.
This appointment was succeeded by a Presiding Eldership in con¬
nection with the New England Conference and a charge at New¬
port, Rhode Island, after which he was stationed at Quinn Chapel,
Chicago; here he built a new church costing $75,000, which was
all paid for at the close of his pastorate with the exception of
$21,000. Since then he has held and added to the congregations
of charges in Washington, D. C. and Baltimore.
Rev. Jenifer has been sent as Delegate to each General Con¬
ference since 1872, and in 1900 was elected General Secretary of
that great Ecclesiastical body. He was on the Advisory Council
and Reception Committee at the Auxiliary Congress of African
Ethnology at the World's Columbian Exposition. He has been
specially interested in the prosperity of Wilberforce University,
and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from that Institu¬
tion, in 1878.
He was happily married on June 6th, 1871, to Miss Alice
V. Carter, the accomplished Assistant Principal of Gaines High
School.
-231-
WILLIAM H. S. SEALS.
'EW teachers stand
higher for intellectual
O
attainments and suc¬
cessful achievements in their
profession than the subject of
this sketch.
When but a little boy in
Georgia, in which State he
was born, in Hancock County,
April 6, 1854, he resolved to
acquire an education and posi-
/ tion in the world, despite the
/ long rough road of poverty
\ yvlitv that lay between him and
t'le object of his ambition.
jW/' But possessing the true
elements of manhood, deter¬
mination and perseverance, he
made his way through privation, discouragement, and ofttimes
seeming defeat, to an eminence in his chosen profession, that has
won for him merited regard and praise.
After graduation from the Normal Department of Wilber-
foree University in 1879, Professor Seals was, for five years, con¬
nected with the teaching force of the St. Louis public schools,
adding to his labors by a continuance of advanced studies under
the instruction of Professor Schyler, of the white High School; in
1884 he accepted the position of Principal in Lincoln School,
Ouincy, Illinois, where ten years of splendid effort were rewarded
by marked success along all lines of school work; while in this
city he completed a course in German, in Professor L. S. Dodge's
School of Languages.
From Quincy he went to a similar position in the Sabine
Normal and Industrial Institute at Gladewater, Texas, where he
remained until 1892, at which time he became Head Teacher in
Lupkin School, No. 2, where he is engaged at the present time.
During the collegiate course of Professor Seals, at Wilberforce
University, he united with the A. M. E. Church, receiving the bap¬
tismal seal from President (now Bishop) B. F. Lee, in the beau¬
tiful little stream that flows through the college grounds. He has
enjoyed his election as Lay Delegate to the General Conferences of
his Church that met at Baltimore and Indianapolis in 1884 and
1888 respectively.
Professor Seals is somewhat of an enthusiast in lodge mat¬
ters, being Past Grand Secretary of the Roval Arch Masons of
the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Illinois and Iowa; Past R. E.
G. Commander of the Knights Templar, and Past Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of Illinois; he also belongs to Thirty-third
Degree Scottish Rite and Mystic Shrine, and is an active member
of the G. U. 0. of 0. F.
That he is cordially appreciated by his fellow teachers was
shown by his election, in 1900, as President of the East Texas
Colored Teachers' Association, holding the office for three years.
In 1874 he married Miss Sue Hudson, of Arkadelphia,
Arkansas; they have one daughter, who is a teacher and a fine
musician.
- 223 -
REV. PHILLIP TOLLIVER, D.D.
3N the exaltation of spirit
with which the great
African Methodist Epis¬
copal Church looks out upon
its marvelous growth and
prosperity in spiritual and
temporal affairs, that splendid
organization must ever
remember that its vantage-
ground is due to the fidelity,
patience and heroism of the
Ministers of her early days.
Had they proved less faithful,
less self-sacrificing, less ambi¬
tious for the promulgation of
God's love and mercy, the
Church would not be flying so
many banners of glorious con¬
quest along the highway of salvation.
The eight}r-one years embraced in the life of Rev. Phillip
Tolliver, D.D., connects the early history of the Church with the
present day. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 10th,
1824-, and can scarcely recall a day in his four-score years that
was not blessed with the realization of son-ship to his Heavenly
Father. For he was brought up in the Sabbath School, (in time
holding the Superintendency of one for seven years,) early experi¬
enced a change of heart, and entered the fold of the A. M. E.
Church with heart and resolution bent upon becoming one of its
Ordained Ministers.
License to Preach was granted him by Rev. William New¬
man, and his first charge was at Xenia, Ohio, where he filled the
unexpired term of Rev. Edward Davis, who died in that city.
His Pastorates have been successtul appointments in Ripley,
Gallipolis, Ironton, Portsmouth, Hamilton, Toledo, Urbana,
- 224 -
Zanesville, Lancaster, Rendville, Cambridge, Greenfield; all
important Church-points in Ohio. Still connected with the Ohio
Conference, it is as one honorably released from active service,
who looks back with joy unutterable to over a thousand souls
saved by his Ministry unto the iovs of eternal life, which is
already gloriously dawning upon his sight with its rewards of
immortality and unending joy.
o
- 225 -
BISHOP WILLIAM B. DERRICK.
w
'HEREYER he is known
the name of Bishop
Derrick stands for
consecration to his calling as
an ambassdor of the Risen
Christ, extensive scholarship
and fine culture, and devotion
to the advancement of his
Race in the attainment of the
best, the highest ideals of
American life.
No man of the Race to-
\y da}- is more thoroughly im-
wHw'i ^Hj W bued with our National spirit
Bp/ of enterprise and progress
^than Bishop Derrick, and yet
this great country is only his
by adoption, as he was born
July 27th, 1843, in the Island of Antigua, British West Indies, a
decade after the English Government had proclaimed freedom to
the slaves within those tropical isles.
The Derrick family with which his father, Thomas J. Derrick,
was connected, were wealthy and influential planters, cultivating
many acres in the islands Antigua and Angulia; the Bishop's
mother was a woman of rare sweetness of disposition, and
possessed a versatility ol mind that made her a most interesting
conversationalist.
The education of their son was a matter of great moment
to his parents, who early placed him in a private Moravian
school at Graceland, where he made rapid progress, his natural
gift of oratory receiving special cultivation by his Instructors,
this talent winning him much applause at the annual examina¬
tions which were always largely attended by interested visitors.
In 1856 he entered a select high school where he remained three
years.
- 226 -
Knowing that intelligent use of the hands was as essential,
manv times, as education of the mind, his parents, at the close
of his schooling, apprenticed him to a blacksmith, but, after he
had mastered the trade, William won their reluctant consent to
go to sea, which was given with the proviso that he must
thoroughly learn the art of navigation.
His first voyage to America was made in 1860, and came
near being disastrous, as the ship was driven ashore at Turk's
Island, but fortunately escaped wreckage, completing its trip to
New York; his nautical experience brought him several times to
the New England coast, and once, while at Boston, he met with
an accident that resulted in a broken leg.
The cause of the North in our Civil War strongW appealed
to him and he enlisted for three year's service on the flag-ship
Minnesota, of the North Atlantic Squadron, serving as valiantly
and loyally as though the Stars and Stripes was his own home
banner.
The close of the war found him strong in the resolution to
remain in this country and become a Minister of the Gospel, as
many things caused him to feel that he had been Divinely called
to the sacred office. Joining the membership of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church at Washington, D. C., he was
licensed by its Pastor, Rev. John M. Brown, (later to become
Bishop John M. Brown,) to preach, and he also qualified to act
as Missionary Agent. In 1867 Bishop Payne admitted him to
the regular traveling connection and stationed him at Mt.
Pisgah in the District of Columbia, in which place he received
ordination to the Deaconate. This Pastorate was followed by
transference to the Virginia Conference, with which body he sus¬
tained Ministerial relations for a number of years, serving faith¬
fully and with great sticcess as Pastor, Presiding Elder (to
which office he was consecrated at Portsmouth by Bishop Jabez
P. Campbell,) and Conference Secretary, holding the last named
position from 18 70 to 1879, also attending as Delegate every
meeting of the General Conference until he became a decisive
voice in its councils.
Rev. Derrick's election to the highest Ecclesiastical seat in
the Clrirch took place at Wilmington, North Carolina, May,
- 227 -
1SD0, and his unselfish promotion of the interests of this mighty
religious organization lias materially increased its power and
influence, and reflected honor upon his name. He is especially
active in all that pertains to the education of the young people
of his Race, and Campbell and Shorter Colleges both owe their
existence to his zeal and effort. The "Allen Legions" of the
First Episcopal District, which gave Payne Seminary two thou¬
sand dollars, was the happy thought of Bishop Derrick.
The tender reverence underlving his busv, crowded life was
manifested by his placing the body of Richard Allen, the saintly
founder of the A. M. E. Church, in a crypt in Mother Bethel
Church at Philadelphia, Pennsvlvania, a place that is daily
visited bv reverent and affectionate hearts.
Bishop Derrick is now in charge of the Third Episcopal
District, comprising the Pittsburg, North Ohio, and Ohio Con¬
ferences. Wilberforee Universitv lies within his jurisdiction, and it
is almost needless to sav that this fine school occupies a large part
of his interest, time and energv. He at once aroused the Churches in
his territorv to the realization of the value and importance of the
work accomplished by this Institution, and the Christmas col¬
lections following his pleas have poured hundreds of dollars into
the Tniversity treasury. He is now enthusiastically engaged in
bringing about a widespread interest in the "Golden Jubilee" of
the School to be held in June, 1906.
In polities Bishop Derrick casts a Republican vote, and his
wonderful eloquence has many times brought wandering fealty
back to the party whose broad principles rest upon Constitu¬
tional Rights.
In his home environment Bishop Derrick is very happy;
his wife, to whom he was united at the beginning of his Minis¬
try, was formerly Miss Mary E. White of Norfolk, Virginia, a
woman of pleasing culture, and of superior family connections.
A more amplified life of Bishop Derrick is soon to be given
to the public.
-228-
REV. JACOBUS GILEAD XABA.
MONG the founders of
the African Methodist
^ Episcopal Church in
Pretoria, South Africa, stands
Rev. J. G. Xaba, pre-eminent
i as a Scholar and Divine, and
i\ whose name is luminous with
I the fires of persecution, rank¬
ing him close to those who
I "suffered for righteousness
I sake " in the days of the
first Apostles.
This earnest man is a
Member of the Zulu tribe in
Africa, but is fortunate in
being a descendant of con¬
verted grandparents, and his
father having been an Evange¬
list in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He enjoyed the privilege
during his youth of attending Public School and College in his
native town, Etendate, Natal.
Two years after his conversion, in 1876, he was busy in
the Lord's work as a Minister of the Gospel; but feeling the
need of more liberal mental attainments, be spent over two years
in mastering a Classical Course at Healdtown, Cape Colony,
continuing his studies after he had resumed Ministerial labors by
privately acquiring a thorough knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and
Theological tenets. His work as City Missionary under the
British Government and British Foreign Bible Society necessitated
a familiarity with the Dutch tongue.
On April 5, 1885, he was ordained as Deacon at Preter-
maritzburg by the hands of white Ministers of various Churches,
and in 1887 was sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to
- 229 -
Orange Free State, remaining" in Harrysmith five years, trans¬
ference being then made to Heilbrun.
At this time the eolor line was growing more definite and
the native Pastors were subjected to most embarassing and
humiliating treatment from their white Ministerial brethren;
being assigned to separate Conferences, having financial and
other important matters kept from their consideration, and
their most cultured and experienced Ministers made subservient
to white licentiates.
Manv of the Christian natives realized that the hour was
ripe for the founding of an Independent Ethiopian Church, and
in November, 1892, Rev, Xaba, assisted by Rev. Mokone,
gathered a congregation in Pretoria. Three months later at
the meeting of the Weslevan Conference in Kronstadt, he, with
a following of seven hundred, publicly renounced allegiance to
the Church of England, Dutch Reformed and Wesley an Metho¬
dist Churches. This secession created no disturbance as it was
thought that the movement would die from innate weakness,
but as it continued to grow in numbers and spirit, persecution
waxed fierce and strong. Efforts were made to drive him from
the country, and many times he was locked behind prison bars.
A remarkable incident attended his first imprisonment. At
the dinner hour when the prisoners recognized him among their
number, tliev, assisted bv some of the local patrolmen, beat down
the gates and effected his release, Rev. Xaba held a prayer meeting
on the spot and sin-hardened souls were led to a pardoning
God. The indignation of the white Churches was poured in a
hot flood upon all the native Preachers and Teachers who had
allied themselves with the new organization.
The first Conference of the Ethiopian Church was held at
Pretoria in September, 1894; here Rev. Mokone (who had been
ordained Elder in the Weslevan Church ) and Rev. Kanvani
ordained Rev. Xaba as Elder.
In 1896 Rev. Mokone received a letter from his niece, Miss
Charlotte Manve ( a student at Wilberforce Universitv, Xenia,
Ohio, U. S. A ), which told of the wise politv and prosperity of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and its entire control bv
the Colored Race. Investigation followed, and in 1896 Rev. Xaba
and Rev. Dwane wefe appointed Delegates to inspect the work¬
ings of the Church in this country; but through some misunder¬
standing Rev. Xaba failed to come. Two years later Bishop
Turner went to Pretoria and assisted in receiving many thou¬
sands into the now firmly established African Methodist Epis¬
copal Church of South Africa.
Rev. Xaba stands very close to the hearts of the Members
of the Church in that distant land; they realize that its pros¬
perity and advancement is largely due to his self-sacrifice and
courageous spirit. He, at present is Presiding Elder of Orange
Colony, in which District sixty-five Ministers of his Church are
actively engaged.
- 231 -
REV. W. HILARY COSTON, D.D.
if
'OR ten years, Rev. W.
Hilary Coston, the
present popular Pastor
of Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church at Hagers-
town, Maryland, and the able
aspirant for the Editor's Chair
of "The Christian Recorder,"
attended the public schools
and aided in his support by
boot-blacking; carrying in his
W heart all the while the deter¬
mination to acquire the best
and widest education avail¬
able in the land.
In 1875 he entered Yale
Preparatory School where he
remained until 1880, when he
was sent by the New England Conference for four years of study
at Wilberforce University, completing his college career by dili¬
gent application from 1S84 to 1887, at Yale Seminary. He then
entered with enthusiasm upon his work as a fully Ordained Min¬
ister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, being success¬
ively connected with the Iowa, Ontario, Pittsburg, North Ohio
and Baltimore Conferences, great success attending his efforts in
building up. both spiritually and materially, his respective charges;
in the time that he was associated with the Baltimore Confer¬
ence he rebuilt the church at Catonsville, Maryland and paid off
a mortgage of forty year's standing on the church propertv in
Hagerstown in the same State.
During the Spanish-American war he served as Chaplain to
the valiant "Ninth Immunes," United States Volunteers, and
from 1899 to 1904 held the same high position in the Ohio
Division, U. S. R. N. G.
- 232 -
Fond of literature, Rev. Cost on has found leisure amid his
many and varied duties to give several valuable productions of
his pen to the press, being author of "A Freeman, Yet a Slave,"
"The African Abroad," and "Spanish-American War Volunteer."
Over three thousand copies of the last named work have been
sold. He also edited for five years the first magazine ever pub¬
lished for colored women and children, known as "Ringwood's
Home Magazine."
No abler or more devoted man to his Race and Church can
be found in the Ministrv of our beloved Zion.
-233-
BISHOP EVANS TYREE.
w
"ITH Life's sun still
midway in the heav¬
ens, a large feeling of
gratutalion should fill the
heart of Bishop Tvree as he
looks back from his well-
merited, high position in
Church authority, upon a past
so full of trial and discourage¬
ment, that it might well have
\ / caused a man of feebler reso-
f i / lution to turn aside into
f I —"/ easier, more promising paths
of success. But it was the
HBBk. M. y consecration of his will to God
ar,c^ steadfastness to duty that
has crowned him with honor
and usefulness.
Bishop Evans Tvree was born August 19, 1854, in De Kalb
County, Tennessee, and led to give his heart to God when but
twelve years of age. So genuine was his conversion, so intense
his desire to lead others "into the kingdom," that Rev. J. W.
Early, in 1869, licensed him as a Minister of the African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church. Three years afterward he was admitted
into the Traveling Connection, and before he reached his twenty-
third year had been ordained as Deacon and Elder.
Of the difficulties and privations that beset the early minis¬
try of this earnest servant of the Church, the story is best told
in his own words: "I have known what it was to follow the
plow from Monday morning to Saturday afternoon and then
preach to my congregation on Saturday night and all day Sunday.
"During the hard winter months the collection from mv
church would only be from fifty cents to a dollar and a half a
week; and I was compelled to load bags of corn, bales of cotton
- 234-
and hogsheads of tobacco to support my family, and then go
three miles through the cold and snow to recite my lessons and
then make my appointments on Sundays and Sundav nights, and
many times mv mid-week meetings."
"To him that overcometh!" Wonderfully has this promise
been verified to Bishop Tyree. With love to God and man as his
lode-star, the difficulties, privations, hardships of early life have
proved stepping stones to eminent ecclesiastical position, wide
public confidence, and untold influence for good. In May, 1900,
he was elected to the Bishopric and is now in charge of the
Tenth Episcopal District of the Church, whose jurisdiction takes
in the Conferences of Indian Mission, Oklahoma Territory, Cen¬
tral Texas, Texas and West Texas.
REV. W. HENRY EDWARDS, D.D.
EY. W. Henr\r Edwards, D.D., was born in February', 1864-,
in Egypt Ridge, Bolivar Countv, Mississippi. He was for
several years a pupil in the public schools; his education
was then broadened with a term at Southland College, Helena,
Arkansas; three vears of studious application at Fisk University,
Nashville, Tennessee; and a vear of special work at Roger
Williams Universit\\
For five vears he was engaged in school teaching in his
native town, but in 1882 joined the Ministerial ranks of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, receiving his license from
the Presiding Elder, Dr. Albert Jackson, having been converted
and admitted to the Church four years before. In 1888, the death
of his father left to his care the beloved mother, and, like John of
old, he provided affectionately and generously for her wants.
The itineracv of Dr. Edwards began with his connection
with the North Mississippi Annual Conference. In L892 Bishop
I?. T. Tanner ordained him as Deacon, and the ensuing year
found him an Elder through the authority of Bishop B. W. Arnett.
All through the Ministerial labors of Dr. Edwards, he has
been specially interested in the building of new Churches, and
three handsome edifices in his pastorates testify to his zeal in
that direction. The crowning ornament to be found in every
charge held by him is the constant, faithful, spiritual work, at¬
tested bv the scores of converts, whom his earnest exhortations
have guided into the "paths of righteousness."
For eight years Dr. Edwards has been one of the Secre¬
taries of his Conference, and is also Grand Chaplain of M. W.
Stringer Grand Lodge, of Mississippi, a Mason, a member of A.
F. and A., and a valued brother in the fraternity of Knights
Templar.
In 1904, McKinley Memorial University of Vincennes, Indi¬
ana, conferred upon him the distinguished degree (if Doctor of
Divinity.
- 236 -
REV. HENRY ALBERT GRANT.
W
'HE subject of this sketch
is an incumbent of the
pulpit of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church
at Uniontown, Pennsylvania,
and is doing excellent work
in building up his charge.
Rev. Grant was a student
at Wilberforce University dur¬
ing the presidency of Bishop
Daniel A. Payne, and received
his License to Preach from
Bishop Lee, at that time pas¬
tor of Holy Trinity, at Wil¬
berforce, Ohio. His theological
studies were completed later
at the Western Theological
Seminary in Allegheny City, Pa.
The first Pastorate of Rev. Grant was in connection with
the Ohio Conference, being successively located at North Lewis-
burg, Marion and Mechanicsburg, Ohio, his efforts receiving the
seal of Divine approval in the winning of many souls to Christ.
He was then transferred to the Pittsburg Conference and stationed
at Brown Chapel, Allegheny City, where his earnest admonitions,
and heart-felt prayers were answered in the conversion of four
hundred and fifty souls.
This gracious revival spirit has followed the Ministry of
Rev. Grant during his pastorates in many of the leading Churches
in the Pittsburg Conference, and he is often called upon to assist
in Evangelistic services in sister churches.
As a writer Rev. Grant is well known throughout the
A. M. E. Church, his pen being usefully employed upon religious
and Race questions.
- 237 -
REV. THOMAS J. BROAD-AX SMITH.
'€
rNROLLED in the old
school of Ministers, Rev.
Thomasjefferson Broad-
Ax Smith is pre-eminent for
deep religious conviction mani¬
fested by a godly life and
unswerving fidelity to the
tenets of the great Church in
which he gladly serves as one
"set apart" for the proclama-
°f the fullness of salva-
/ 'y ' tion.
\ M ^ / i' ^ ff His father, Thomas Adison
\/l -//, -1 Smith, was a native-born Afri-
% r can; his mother, whose maiden
name was Steward, came from
North Carolina, and their son,
the subject of this sketch, first
saw the light of day at Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, in 1S37.
When he was but twelve years of age the power of Infinite
Love touched his heart, and connecting himself with the member¬
ship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the purpose of
his life was bent towards becoming one of its most earnest
Ministers.
The active work of Rev. Smith as an Ambassador of God
began at Elmira, New York; his ordination to the Eldership took
place at Avery Mission Church in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania;
in 1869 he went as a Delegate from John Wesley A. M. E. Church
to the General Conference at Washington, D. C. The vear pre¬
vious he had added to his store of religious knowledge by a
course of study at the Theological Seminary in Allegheny City.
Notwithstanding the manifold duties devolving upon him
in his Ministerial and Pastoral work, Rev. Smith, for a long time,
-238-
was Publisher and Manager of "The Pittsburg Colored Citizen"
and later "The Pittsburg Wasp."
Rev. Smith is at present Local Elder and Missionary in
Wylie Street A. M. E. Church, Pittsburg. He finds much inspira¬
tion and encouragement in the loving helpfulness of his wife, for¬
merly Miss Rebecca Jane Smallwood, of Alleghenv City, Pennsyl¬
vania, who as an evangelist, deaconess and pl^sician, a veritable
tower of strength in winning souls for the Kingdom.
- 239 -
REV. W. T. ANDERSON.
E
'OVE of study and the
apprehension that a
knowledge of Medical
Lore many times increased a
Minister's usefulness in his
pastoral work, led the subject
of this sketch to the acquiring
of attainments in both pro¬
fessions.
Rev. W. T. Anderson was
born in Texas, August 20,
1859, and started his collegi-
\ " J i .Vu|9ate work at Wilberforce Uni-
versity, in Ohio, going later
to Howard University, at
^Washington, D. C., where he
won a diploma, to which he
added another from the Home¬
opathic Hospital College, at Cleveland, Ohio.
His finely-trained mental powers, magnetic individuality
and zeal in his work brought him desirable Pastorates in Ohio
and Mississippi, and excellent results have attended his Minister¬
ial labors. In 1897 he received the appointment of Chaplain to
the Tenth Cavalry, which position he still holds.
Rev. Anderson is a Permanent Trustee of Wilberforce Uni-
versit}', and was a Delegate to the last General Conference at
Chicagro.
- 240 -
REV. JAMES HENRY DAVIS PAYNE.
ITH the snow of over three-score and ten winters upon
his head, and the weakness of age telling upon his
once stalwart frame, Rev. James Henrv Davis Pavne is
still as devoted to the sacred cause of his Divine Master as in
the days of \routhful ardor and ambition. Even more, for a
varied experience in life has revealed to him the unfailing strength
and ever-present help of the great Heavenly Father, and the
blessedness that flows from a living faith in the Source of all
Good.
Rev. Payne was born July 10th, 1832, in Mason County,
Kentucky, not far from the little city of Maysville, his mother
being a slave and his father Rev. Philip Payne, a free man and a
successful Minister of the Baptist Church, with which denomina¬
tion his mother, also, was connected, until a short time before
her death (which took place in Felicitv, Ohio,) when she united
with the A. M. E. Church.
In 1846, six years after the death of his father, voung
Payne was so fortunate as to escape from slavery into Ohio,
which State was at once adopted as his home.
His conversion, which took place in 184'J, was a wonderful
event in his life. For vears he had been resisting the influence of
the Holy Spirit, but in the month of November of that year, in
a hotel in Sandusky, Ohio, where he was employed as cook,
Divine Grace flooded his soul and with the new birth came a call
from God to the Ministry. For several years he remained out of
the Church because of indecision as to the denomination preferred
by him, but in March, 1851, after fervent prayer and thought,
it was clearlv revealed to him that the A. M. E. Church
was the one to which his life-service should be pledged.
He was at once appointed Class Leader and in the following
September was Licensed to Exhort.
In 1853 he received his first orders as Local Preacher from
Rev. E. Epps, and in August, 1855, was admitted to the Ohio
Conference and sent by Bishop D. A. Payne to Meadsville Mission,
Pennsylvania, which included also the care ol the Church at
Erie City. Successful revivals attended the appointments.
The hands of Bishop Nazrev, in 1858, ordained him as
Deacon and he was assigned to Pittsburg and Beaver where he
had glorious manifestations of God's grace in the conversion ot
manv sinners, but his health becoming impaired in the "Smoky
City," the Bishop transferred him to the Hillsboro Circuit, at
that time the largest in the Conference, embracing the Churches
at Hillsboro, "Wilmington, Washington Court House, Greenfield,
" o ' o ' '
Leesburg, Richland, Grassv Branch and Brush Creek, requiring
three weeks to make the round. "Sometimes walking, some¬
times riding horseback, sometimes riding in the cars; sometimes
preaching every night in the week, and three times on Sundays."
It is almost needless to sav that the revival spirit followed this
consecrated labor.
In 1860 a Church was organized by him, not far from
Georgetown, which he served as Pastor for twro years.
Rev. Payne, in 1864, enlisted in the 27th Regiment U. S.
Infantry, and served as Quartermaster, Sergeant, and Chaplain,
the close of the war preventing his official appointment to the
last named office, for which he had received the endorsement of
every officer. For one year after the mustering out of the regi¬
ment he worked as plasterer and brick-layer, and then resumed
Ministerial labors at Flemingsburg Mission, Kentucky, still
retaining his connection with the Ohio Conference, and in ten
years was returned by Bishop Payne to the Piqua Circuit, being
transferred, in 1870, to the Indiana Conference, preaching suc¬
cessively at Davenport, Iowa and Cambridge City, Indiana.
In 1872 Bishop Wayman ordained him as Elder. During his
connection with the Indiana Conference Rev. Payne purchased a
Church in Connersville, also one in Fort Wayne.
He was again transferred, in 1873, to the Illinois Con¬
ference and held for two years important charges in its juris¬
diction, returning then to Ohio to engage in Evangelistic work
which was greatly blessed in many places. The regular work of
the Ministry was resumed by him in 1884, in the State of Ken¬
tucky, he joining first the West Kentucky Conference, later work¬
ing in the Kentucky Conference, being transferred again, in
- 242 -
1.895, to his old camping ground, the Ohio Conference, and was
sent by Bishop Arnett to Marietta and Belpre, afterwards hold¬
ing the incumbency of pulpits at Westerville, Jamestown, and
South Charleston.
Family affliction prevented his accepting the appointment
to Jackson Mission in 1901, but in 1903 he was placed on the
New Richmond Circuit, where he is laboring faithfully, his
advanced age not preventing his watchful, unceasing care over
the interests of his beloved Zion.
- 243 -
REV. WILLIAM DECKER JOHNSON.
POKP^N of more than
once as a probable
possessor of Bishop's
Orders, Rev. William Decker
Johnson, President of Allen
University, Columbia, South
Carolina, is eminently qualified
by character and attainments
for every duty that the great
African Methodist Episcopal
, M ffl Church may lay upon him.
\C% LiaHe was born in Calvert
\ -•'.3 County, Maryland, in 1842,
\" J and received an education of
\^l F. ; ■ I £/ ample scope at Lincoln Uni-
versity, from which he was
graduated in 1868. Having
entered the Ministry of the
Church referred to above, he began active work in connection
with the Florida Conference the year following the close of his
College life, but in 1873 was transferred to the Georgia
Conference.
Rev. Johnson's Christian spirit and comprehensive outlook
upon the needs of the young people of his Race, in 1884, at the
meeting of the General Conference at Baltimore, elected him
Secretary of Education; he brought new life and systematic
management into this important department of Church labor,
and had the honor of presenting the first Educational Report to
the General Conference at its convention at Indianapolis in 1888.
For twelve years he ably filled this important post of duty
without neglect of his Ministerial obligations which were made
more onerous b}' the duties of Presiding Elder in Valdosta
District of the Georgia Conference.
As President of Allen University, Rev. Johnson is meeting
-244-
\vi th unshadowed success. A true Scholar, with particular fond¬
ness for History and Philosophy, keenlv alive to the intellectual
requirements of the day, the voung people under his charge are
encouraged and stimulated in every effort towards the attain¬
ment of strong, vigorous, useful soul-life.
Dr. Johnson has 1)een honored with Classic and Literary
Degrees by several of the leading schools in the land.
- 245 '
REV. MARION FRANCIS SYDES.
ar
'HE youngest of three
sons born to Franklin
and Caroline Sydes,
the subject of this sketch was
welcomed at their home in
Eddvville, Illinois, August IS,
1866.
At the completion of his
studies in the Public Schools
he began preparation for the
medical profession, but event¬
ually decided to devote his
Wlife to the Ministry of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church, his conversion and
connection with that denomi¬
nation taking place in his
nineteenth year.
In December, 1887, he received License to Preach from Rev.
Henry Brown at Shawneetown, Illinois, and in August, 1889,
was admitted into the Illinois Conference, filling Pastoral
appointments in Clinton and Normal Circuit and Paris Station;
transferred to the Ohio Conference in 1890, he studied for a
while at Wilberforee University, later attending a school in Hills-
boro at the time when the Ohio Wesleyan had a branch in that
little city; here he paid special attention to Greek and ranked
first in his class.
In 1892 Bishop Payne conferred Deacon's Orders upon him
and two \-ears afterward Bishop Arnett consecrated him to the
Presiding Eldership. After fifteen years of faithful service in
Ohio pulpits, Bishop Derrick transferred him to the Pittsburg
Conference, where he is now engaged in devoted Ministrations to
the congregation of Bethel A. M. E. Church in Monongahela Citv.
The interest and ability of Rev. Sydes in public affairs was
- 246 -
proven in his receiving the appointment, in 1900, of the office of
Census Enumerator of the 95th District of Ohio, and other
important municipal positions have been held by him.
Rev. Sjrdes was congenially married on November 30th,
1895, to Miss Isanda M. Thomas of Normal, Illinois. A little
daughter, Ruth May, blesses their home.
- 247 -
REV. D. S. MOTEN.
or
'HE pastoral work of this
wideawake, cultured
son of the African Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church has
been mainly in the "Lone
Star" State, where he is spec¬
ially distinguished for his
success in interesting young
people in religious matters,
particularly in service growing
out of united effort in Chris¬
tian Endeavor lines. Rev.
Moten is a young man, just
entering the splendid promise
of middle life, having been born
November 5th, 1865.
His education has been
unwontedly liberal, embracing
instruction in the public schools, Howard Institute, Paul Quinn
College, Wilberforce University, completing his Theological Course
at Payne Theological Seminary, in which Institution he was later
a tutor in Hebrew, being especially proficient in the languages.
The first Ministerial efforts of Rev. Moten were connected
with the last three }Tears of his college course when he supplied
the pulpits of Shorter and Lee Chapels, his work proving of
spiritual and financial edification to these charges.
The office of Deacon was intrusted to him bv Bishop D. A.
Payne; Bishop B. W. Arnett consecrating him, at a later Confer¬
ence, to the Eldership, transferring him at the same meeting to
the Texas Conference and assigning him to the pulpit of the
A. M. E. Church at San Antonio, where two years of untiring
labor bore golden fruit; similar success attended a Pastorate at
Terrell.
Rev. Moten is now the popular Pastor of the Church at
Fort Worth, and is achieving his usual success in arousing young
people to a realization of their duties and privileges as Christians.
His ability has won marked regard outside of pastoral limi¬
tations, gaining for him high places of honor, among them: Con¬
ference Trustee of Wilberforce Universitv; Member of the General
Church Board of the Southern Christian Recorder; Secretary of
the North Hast Texas Conference; and for more than six vears
the Chaplaincv of the Texas Volunteer Guard.
- 249 -
REV. J. FRANK McDONALD.
31
[N AN humble slave cabin,
roofed with green willow
rafters covered with
boards, that stood beneath
the swaying branches of a
cottonwood tree in Lafayette
County, Missouri, Rev. J.
Frank McDonald came into a
childhood of bondage during
the uneasy, restless years pre¬
ceding the War of the Rebel-
V"4''/ hon. The desire for freedom
burdened his childish heart,
and at the age of twelve years
he resolved to find it. With
characteristic humor and
pathos he says, "One night I
overheard my mother praying
to God to free her and the children. The next morning I opened
a pra}rer-meeting with my brain in thinking and my legs in active
praying, and when I closed that prayer-meeting I found myself
safe within the lines of the 'boys in blue.'"
He was led by gratitude to present himself for enlistment
before an United States recruiting officer, but met rejection owing
to his youth. He at once engaged as a body-servant with a cap¬
tain in the Second Colorado Regiment, whom he loyally followed
through the smoke of battle, unterrified by the scream of shell or
the showers of bullets and shot that fell around him. To his
unbounded joy he was eventually accepted as a soldier in a corn-
pan}' of Light Artillery, and enthusiastically took the oath of
allegiance to the flag that stood for human freedom.
Receiving his army discharge at Fort Leavenworth, Kan¬
sas, July 25th, 1865, he entered school at Independence, Missouri;
- 250-
but he was not yet ready for the restrictions of the school-room,
and in the Fall of the same year joined the United States Navv
for four years.
But the future had a different life in store for him. While
in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1874, he attended a revival service
conducted by Rev. T. Wellington Henderson, D.D., and was so
powerfulh- influenced by the Hohr Spirit that he gave his heart
to God and united with Allen Chapel, at the same time dedi¬
cating his life to the service of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church. For awhile he attended Prof. J. H. Cole's school at
Lexington, Missouri, during the period receiving licenses as Ex-
horter and Local Preacher; prior to his connection with the Mis¬
souri Conference at Columbia, Missouri, Bishop James A. Shorter
presiding, he gained experience and increased his material good
as a School Teacher.
In 1878 he was united in marriage to Miss L. Louise Sand-
ford, of Macon, Missouri, and the same year was ordained Deacon,
at Jefferson City, bv Bishop Shorter; two vears afterwards
Bishop Ward consecrated him to the Eldership.
For twenty years as Pastor and half as many as Presiding
Elder, Rev. McDonald has done effectual work in connection with
Missouri Conferences ; a work that will bless for time and eter¬
nity the scores of lives that have been turned by his presentation
of truth into the glad and safe paths of righteousness.
His ability placed him at the head of the Western Christian
Recorder when it was first published, and, in 1900, when the
paper was made a Connectional journal at Columbus, Ohio, he
was made Managing Editor, without salary, and the duties of
the responsible position are still conscientiously and efficiently
performed by him.
Dr. McDonald, for Wilberforce University in 1903 conferred
upon him a right to the honored degree of Doctor of Divinitv,
has three times represented the Conferences of Missouri and Nortli
Missouri in the General Conference, and the Bishops, in 1901,
appointed him Alternate Delegate to the great Ecumenical Coun¬
cil in London, England.
As a student I)r. McDonald cannot be surpassed. A lack of
extensive collegiate privileges has been supplied by him with vig-
- 251 -
orous and ceaseless application to his books; watching eagerly
over the spare minutes that he might turn them into treasuries
of golden thought and valuable information ; and today few men
in the A. M. E. Church can boast of wider knowledge of Bibli¬
cal, historical and philosophical literature than that held bv
Dr. McDonald.
- 252 -
REV. JOSHUA H. JONES, A.M., D.D.
EY. Joshua H. Jones
who, to-day, stands
at the head of the
first Negro University in Amer¬
ica, and most ably engineers
and cares for its important
and complex interests, was
born June 15th, 1856, at Pine
Plains, South Carolina, at a
time when the ominous shad¬
ow of approaching war rested
heavily upon the country.
WWell he remembers the stirring
days of the great Rebellion,
the marching of soldiers to
the front, their haggard faces
that told the story of defeat
on their return to their homes
at the end of the struggle; he recalls the excitement attending
Sherman's historic march from "Atlanta to the Sea," and his
boyish face was among a great assembly of Negroes that, in
1865, listened for the first time to the reading of the immortal
Proclamation that forever broke the shackles of bondage in this
wide Republic. The scenes of that day are indelibly impressed
upon his heart.
Dr. Jones remained with his mother on the old plantation,
experiencing the poverty and hardships that followed the close of
the war. During this period he united with the African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church, fully realizing the importance of the step.
Young as he was, the thoughts of the omnipresence and omnis¬
cience of the Creator, the finalitv- of conduct, the beauty and
importance of Truth, were deeply and often pondered bjr him
and constituted the substance of his creed. At the age of fifteen
vears he taught in the Sunday School, and in a few months was
" 253 -
elected to the Superintendenev, and bv the time he attained his
eighteenth vear had served in all of the Lav Offices of the Local
Church and was Licensed to the Ministry.
The acquirement of an education became his greatest
ambition. Debarred from the Public Schools, he was continually
on the alert for opportunities of learning and soon mastered the
elementary branches. A book was nearlv always in his pocket
for perusal in unoccupied moments, and the pine knots in the
wide fireplace of the cabin illuminated the open page while his
companions played and gossiped.
At the age of twentv-one vears he entered the Preparatory
Department of Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina,
finishing the required work in 1880. After a year spent in
Teaching and Preaching he returned to the University and took
up the College Course, remaining until he was graduated in 1886
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Then came two years of
zealous application at Howard University, Washington D. C.,
followed with the course of the Divinity School at Wilberforce,
Ohio, graduating with the degree B.D., which Institution later
honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, Claflin
University having previously conferred upon him the degree
Master of Arts.
The Ministerial labors of Dr. Jones have been connected with
man}- of the prominent pulpits in the A. M. E. Church. But he
has also been a recognized leader in all things that have for their
object the elevation of mankind in general and the Negro Race
in particular. Especially active has been his energy along educa¬
tional lines, and this interest made him a valuable member for
six years of the School Board in the City of Columbus, Ohio,
where he did efficient service in securing the employment of
Colored Teachers in the mixed schools of the city. As Trustee of
Wilberforce University, before his election to its Presidency, he
was President Mitchell's right-hand man in securing the estab¬
lishment of the Normal and Industrial Department of that
famous school.
The six years that Dr. Jones has been the central figure in
the government of Wilberforce University, have witnessed con¬
stant growth and prosperity in every department of the Institu-
- 254-
tion. His scholarship, experience, quick recognition of the value
of suggestions made bv those associated with him, appreciation
of the requirements of the school, willingness to "spend and be
spent" in the interests of the University, and kindred qualifica¬
tions rank him with the best College Presidents in the country.
Dr. Jones has four children, whose success and usefulness in
life fill his fatherly heart with just pride. His eldest son, who
bears his father's name, was graduated at Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island, and is now on the Reportorial Staff
of the Providence Daily News; his second son, Gilbert H., won a
diploma at Wilberforce University and is Principal of the High
School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Alexander was also graduated
from Wilberforce University and is also at the head of a High
School in Metropolis, Illinois; his only daughter, Elizabeth, is the
wife of a Minister of the A. M. E. Church, Rev. W. P. Q. Bird,
Pastor of the A. M. E. Church at Lansing, Michigan, where she
is actively engaged in Christian work.
- 255 -
REV. HORACE TALBERT.
October, 1864-, a scries of
^1 religions meetings were
conducted in old Asburv
Chapel in the city of Louis¬
ville, by Rev. George Downing,
an evangelist from Lexington,
Kentucky. At one service,
selecting for his text St. Paul's
importunate plea, "O wretched
man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of
this death ? " his earnest words
and exhortations sank so
deeply into the heart of a lit¬
tle boy before him, that the
child was constrained to turn
to the Great Source of forgive¬
ness and love, and to-day
Prof. Talbert del ights to recall the happiness and peace that
came to him, after several da\rs of seeking, in the blessed reali¬
zation of pardon and acceptance from his Heavenly Father.
William Talbert and Jane Ellen Dory, his wife, were slaves,
and to them on the twenty-first day of September, eighteen hun¬
dred and fift}T-three, was born their son Horace, the sixth of
seven children. Shut out by their servitude from all knowledge
of books, by natural endowment they possessed the elements that
go to the making of noble natures and strong characters, and
the united wish of their hearts was the early turning of their
children into the paths that lead to eternal life. Of his mother
Rev. Talbert lovingly says, "she planted the seeds of piety and
truth in my heart," and her prayers in his behalf are most ten¬
derly cherished remembrances of his early days.
Even before his conversion this little eleven-year-old bo\'
had an ardent longing to become "some day " a Minister of the
- 256 -
Gospel oi Jesus Christ. Conversion turned the wish into resolu¬
tion, to the great joy of his parents, who sacrificed many things
to prepare their son for his sacred vocation. He first attended
the school of Rev. Basil L.
Brooks, in Asburv Chapel, but
on the transfer of the pastor,
he entered the well-known
school of Prof. William H. Gib¬
son, at Quinn Chapel. A little
later necessity compelled him
to work during the Spring and
Summer in a tobacco shop, but
he was enrolled as a student in
a night school. He was em¬
ployed during the winter on
a steamboat on the Southern
rivers, his wages being care¬
fully hoarded and laid by to
defray the expenses of a col¬
lege course.
He had become a com¬
municant at Asbury Chapel
during the pastorate of Rev.
Jordan W. Early, who soon noticed the boy's diligence in the
study of the Sabbath School lessons, and, writh others, was con¬
vinced that young Talbert possessed no ordinary mind.
Influential friends urged him to enter Berea College, but
about this time his pastor, Rev. Robert G. Mortimer, who was
conducting a High School in the basement of his church which
was attended by some of the best young men in the city, was
asked to take charge of the Language Department of Wilberforce
University, and a number of his pupils decided to go with him,
and Horace, then in his eighteenth year, was invited to join the
party of students, consisting of William H. Gibson, Jr., W. Pratt
Annis, W. H. Pope, James Owens, John Satterwhite and others;
he accepted and by the middle of September, 1870, was vigorous-
lv prosecuting his studies in the English Department of the School.
In October, 1871, he was given License to Exhort by Prof.
- 257 -
MRS HORACE TALBERT.
Mortimer, of Holy Trinity, and four years later received Local
Preacher's Orders from Rev. John A. Clark, pastor of IIolv
Trinitv Church at Wilberforce, and was taken into the Ohio Con¬
ference at Springfield, Bishop
Payne presiding, and later ap¬
pointed, by Bishop Wayman,
Assistant Pastor to Rev. J.
G. Yeiser on the Springboro
Circuit.
In two years more he had
completed his studies in the
English and Classical Depart¬
ments of Wilberforce Univer¬
sity, and on the day of his
graduation, June 17th, 1877,
Bishop Wayman assigned him
to the Pastorate of the A.
M. E. Church at Cynthiana,
Kentucky, to fill an unex¬
pired term. The following
September he was ordained
to the Deaeonate at Midway,
Kentucky, and returned the
same month for a winter of study in the Theological Department
of his Alma Mater.
It was his great desire to complete his college course at
Princeton College, and in April, 1878, he went East with Bishop
Payne, but, owing to providential circumstances, the journey was
extended to Boston, where he was placed in charge of the A. M. E.
Church at Cambridge, and thus given opportunity to take spec¬
ial studies in Greek, Hebrew and Philosophy at the celebrated
Boston University.
His consecrated spirit and untiring vigor bore great and
happy results during this pastorate, and to him the church owes
the name it now bears,—St. Paul.
Ordination to the Eldership came in June, 1878, and his
next charge was to Maley Street Church, L3mn, Massachusetts.
Erom this citv he was sent by Bishop J. M. Brown, to Bridge-
-258-
MOTHER TALBERT.
port, Connecticut, where a year's work produced much excellent
fruit; transference to the New Jersey Conference and an appoint¬
ment to the Church at Bordentown, New Jersey, coming in the
Fall of 1881. Here he completed the beautiful edifice begun by
his old Wilberforce room-mate, Rev.
E. Winston Taylor, erected a Sabbath
School Room, and brought four hun¬
dred souls into Church membership,
and secured the Frisby parsonage;
the little Church at Crosswick, four
miles distant, also under his care, was
greatly strengthened.
While in this work, the Bishops,
in session at Cape May, ordered the
organization of the Sabbath School
Union, which was effected at Bute
Street A. M. E. Church, Norfolk, Vir-
the author at 17. and Rev. Talbert was elected
its first Recording Secretary. Rev.
Talbert was next transferred to the New York Conference and
stationed at Hamilton Street Church in the Capital of the State,
the Pastor of which Church always took his turn as Chaplain
of the Legislature.
The A. M. E. Church at Elrnira, New York, was then for¬
tunate in securing him as pastor, and through his efforts and the
help of the well-known attorney, David Bennett Hill, (famous
for his declaration "lam a Democrat,") the congregation became
the happy owners of the beautiful property which stands on the
corner of Fourth and Dickerson streets. Successful Pastorates at
Owego, New York, and Jamaica, Long Island, followed, remain¬
ing at the last named place for three years, during which time
he organized St. Johns Church, in East New York, and purchased
lots and erected a handsome edifice at Westbury Station, Long
Island, which was under his Pastoral care. He also founded the
New York Conference High School, and assumed the Editorship
and Management of "The African Watchman" and served as
Presiding Elder of the Brooklyn District.
Buffalo, New York, was his next scene of labor, in which
- 259 -
the old cabin home
cit\r he organized a society of young men and women which has
accomplished great good for the Church and Race.
From Buffalo he was called to the Chair of Languages at
Wilberforce University, but his broad
mental culture and unusual Executive
abilitv soon convinced the Trustees of
the School that he was a man who
could accomplish splendid things for
the University if placed in a larger
sphere of usefulness, and, in 1897, he
was elected Seeretary of the Institu¬
tion, a place which he still holds to
the great benefit of the School. For
the long-sightedness of Seeretary Tal-
bert, his power of discerning what is to the best interests of the
University, his ability to discover the weak places that must be
strengthened, his wisdom of judgment, his sagacity in planning
for the future, his conscientiousness and honesty of dealing, his
kindly cultivated manner in presenting the aims and needs of
the Institution, which is regarded by him as special work for
God. These and other qualifications, make him the right man for
the responsibility en¬
trusted to him. It is
said that he has col¬
lected more money for
the College than any
agent ever connected
with it. He has travel¬
ed extensively through
the East and West in
its interests, and has
won hundreds of
friends for the School.
It was through his
personal lnflucticc cic™ the talbert home at ilbebforce.
cording to the following letter that the new Carnegie Librarv at
Wilberforce was secured.
- 260 -
New York, 15th Feb., 1904.
Hon. Horace Talbert,
Secretary Wilbureorce University,
130 West 33d Street, New York,
Dear Sir : —
Mr. Carnegie has considered the facts you set forth about Wilber-
force University, and relying on your statements on behalf of the
Institution that the Library will be liberally supported, Mr. Carnegie
will be glad to pay for the erection of a Library building to cost
Fifteen Thousand Dollars. Very Truly Yours,
Jas. Bertram, P. Sec'y.
Mr. Carnegie has
given the $15,000, and
the handsome new
Library Building on
the campus now
stands a monument to
his generosity.
Through Professor
Talbert's solicitations
also, Mr. James Cal-
lanan, of Des Moines,
Iowa, left by will
$5,000 to the School,
and Mr. Geo. W.
Hardester, of Urbana, Ohio, bequeathed $6,000.
He also persuaded President Roosevelt to detail First
Lieutenant B. O. Davis, of the 10th Cavalry, United States
Troops, as Instructor
of Military Science
and Tactics at the
University, and now
has a bill in Congress
of the LTnited States
for an appropriation
that will be of mater¬
ial benefit to the
School in all of its
Departments.
The home-life of
Secretary Talbert is
" the boys.
an exceedingly happy
- 261 -
THE FAMLIY.
one. On September 4-th, 1879, he was united in marriage to
Miss S. Frankie Black, at Washington, I). C., whose accom¬
plishments and grace of womanhood have been blessings in his
busv career. Fourteen children have been born of their union,
ten of whom survive to gladden their parent's hearts with loving,
willing obedience, and promise of great usefulness in future years.
The Talbert home was planned bv Mrs. Talbert and built,
for the most part, bv the two older bovs, Eugene Hunter and
Henry Payne, who were trained in the Carpentrv Department at
Wilberforce, under Prof. L. W. Baker.
- 262 -
WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY,
HER RISE AND PROGRESS.
HIS splendid School, second in culture and Christian influ¬
ence to none in the land, was born in the hearts and con¬
sciences of the Members of the Cincinnati Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, at its meeting in Hillsboro, Ohio,
Bishop
James A. Shorter.
Dr. John 0.
Mitchell.
Bishop
Daniel A. Payne.
FOUNDERS OF WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY.
September, 1853. It was only fitting that so grand an enter¬
prise should be conceived in the little city, that a quarter of a
century later was to inaugurate the most unique and remarkable
temperance movement in the annals of the world —The Woman's
Crusade.
Few schools welcomed colored students at that time. Real¬
izing this, in September, 1844, the Ohio Conference of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church, awake to the needs of the young
people of its Race, appointed a Committee to select a site for the
- 263 -
establishment of a Denominational School 011 the Manual Labor
Plan. A fine farm of nearly two hundred acres, located about
fourteen miles west of the City of Columbus, was purchased, and
a school known as Union Seminary opened. It was poorly
equipped and the instruction given proving as inferior as the
equipment, it was not many years until the project was, of
necessit}', abandoned.
The Cincinnati Conference, at its Hillsboro Session, appointed
a Committee consisting of the Reverends John F. Wright, Augus¬
tus Eddy, Asbury Lowery, Granville Moody, J. T. Mitchell,
Wm. I. Fee and Chas. Elliott, men distinguished for Christian
thought and practice, to investigate and formulate a plan for
the Educational Advancement of the Colored People of Ohio, the
report to be given at the next Annual Meeting of the Conference.
So intense was the interest of this Committee in the cause, that
Rev. Asburv Lowerv visited Union Seminary with the intention
of handsomely endowing it from his own purse. He was sadly
disappointed to find it lacking in nearly all the required essen¬
tials of a good school.
In August, 18r>-t, the Committee met in Cincinnati and
made these two resolutions on the basis of their report: "First,
to recommend the establishment of a Literary Institution of a
high order, for the education of Colored People and the prepara¬
tion of Teachers; and, Second, to recommend that an attempt be
made on the part of the Methodist Episcopal Church to secure
co-operation with the African Methodist Episcopal Church in
promoting education among the Colored People."
The report met the commendation of the Cincinnati Confer¬
ence, which appointed Rev. Jno. Wright agent of the contemplated
college, and also instructed its Delegates to the General Confer¬
ence (to meet the coming May, 1856) to enlist the sympathy
and interest of that great Christian body, and so effectually was
the work of the Delegates performed, that the report was accept¬
ed without a dissenting vote.
The following August a Board of Trustees, twentv-four in
number, was organized in the law-office of Hon. Moses I). Gatch,
at Xenia, Ohio, a Member of the Senate in the Ohio Legislature;
the honored name of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, at that time
- 264 -
Governor of Ohio, and whose eventful life was distinguished bv
rare devotion to the sacred cause of abolitionism, is found on
this Board of Trustees of the first University for Colored Youth
in America. As the Cincinnati Conference had asked and wel¬
comed the co-operation of the Conferences of the African Metho¬
dist Episcopal Church, four members of this Board were colored
men, Bishop Daniel A. Payne, Rev. Lewis Woodson and Messrs.
Ishmael Keith and Alfred Anderson, chosen for their intellectual-
itv, sound common sense and comprehensive grasp of the time
and occasion. No difficulty was experienced in finding a location
lor the school, which in accordance with the suggestion of Rev.
Uriah Heath, of the Cincinnati Conference, was named Wilber-
force University, in honor of the great English Apostle of Human
Liberty.
Some of the friends of the School were rather doubtful as
to the propriety of using the term "University," inasmuch as the
enterprise, as vet, was but an experiment; thinking that School,
Academy or even College would be in better taste; but bolder
hearts realized that all work based upon the sure foundation of
the eternal principles of right and justice carries within it the
seeds of life and progression, and that "University" alone could
worthily express the wonderful results to flow, in future years,
in a ceaseless stream of blessing from its portals, and Wilberforce
Universitv was named ; and every successful student, every honor
- 265 -
James A. Shorter Hall.
O'Neil Hall.
won and bestowed, is a pledge of victorious faith, not only alone
to the noble founders, but also to him under whose venerated
name the school is known to the world at large.
About three and one-half miles from the prettv Countv-seat,
Xenia, Ohio, situated almost midway between Columbus and
Cincinnati, was a pleasure resort, known by the Indian name of
Tawawa Springs. The locality and surrounding country are rich
in historic and legendary traditions of the red man. Scarcely
two miles distant the doughtv hero, Simon Kenton, ran the
gauntlet near the tiny village of old Chillicothe, now known as
Oldtown. The Shawnees raised their wigwams, built their
camp fires, hunted, fished and fought under the shade of majestic
trees still standing.
Many streams and springs still bear the soft, romantic
names given them long ago by these children of the forest. Near
the handsome, commodious hotel and cottages that had been
erected sparkled the clear waters of a chalybeate spring whose
Shawnee name signified "bath of gold," in reference to the shining
metallic hue of the stones under the flowing waters, and scarcely
a hundred yards distant another pool of ever-fresh, soft, limpid
water is still called "tears of silver," so named probably by its
first discoverers from the traditionary silver mine which the In¬
dians held to be a hidden treasure in the rocks. The resort was
a favorite one with Cincinnati's best and wealthiest citizens.
The buildings had been ideally placed on the edge of a line
- 266 -
of cliffs that make this section of Ohio the most picturesque in
the State, along which Massev's Creek winds its crooked ^wav
to the Little Miami river, not quite three miles distant, with a
multitude of cold health giving springs bubbling forth from fern-
decked ravines, and magnificent woodland stretching on either
side to fertile, sun-kissed valleys. No more beautiful or suitable
place for the environment of young people seeking culture of mind
and heart, could have been found on the earth.
Fifty-four acres of land were purchased, the hotel remodeled
for recitation rooms and various school purposes, and the cot¬
tages utilized as dormitories. In October, 1856, the Institution
was dedicated to its great work by Rev. Edward Thompson,
D.D., L.L.L)., at that time President of the Ohio Wesley an Uni¬
versity, later to be raised to the Episcopacy of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Under the care of the Cincinnati Conference,
great pains were taken in the procuring of able and efficient
instructors.
Rev. M. P. Gaddis, Jr., was the first Principal, but in June,
1857, he was succeeded by Mr. J. K. Parker, an educator of note,
to be followed in June, 1859, by Rev. Richard S. Rust, whose
rare foresight, strong mental powers, scholarly attributes and
"■reat executive ability fast increased the success and prosperity
of the School.
In 1800 the number of students enrolled was over two hun¬
dred, all filled with ambition to attain the high scholarship that,
- 267 -
trom the first, had been established bv the Paeultv. Many
were from the South, a large per eent. of them being the natural
children of the planters.
The breaking out of the Civil War apparently darkened the
prospects and future of Wilberforee. No money came from the
South, the Cincinnati Conference was unable to assume the finan¬
cial responsibility, and in July, 1862, its doors were closed — to
open when ?
It was a dark hour for the friends of the University, for
they were justly enthusiastic over the marvelous work accom¬
plished in six short years. The religious influence of the school
had been phenomenal, for hundreds of the students had entered
the Christian life, and gone out into the world with new aspira¬
tions for noble manhood and womanhood. Some were to attain
distinction for usefulness: Hogan as an Evangelist; Shorter and
Jackson as College Professors; Cain as Missionary, Congressman,
Pounder of Paul (Juinn College, and Bishop of the African Meth¬
odist Church; Havslit, as the great Preacher of New England;
Hunter, first Chaplain of the United States Army, and many
others are honored names with the Colored Race, and thev are
sons of the early davs of Wilberforee University. March l()th,
1<SC>3, was a tragic day in the history of the School. The Hoard
of Trustees meeting .at Wesley Chapel, Cincinnati, decided that
the Institution must be sold for enough to meet its indebtedness.
A large sum had .already been offered for its use as an asylum.
President Rust suggested to Bishop Daniel A. Pavne that it would
be a wise thing for the African Methodist Episcopal Church to
become its owner. Bishop Payne asked time lor deliberation,
and was given until noon of the following day, the 11th of
March. Never was soul placed in greater straits; time and dis¬
tance forbade a moments conference with any of the leading men
of his people. But this man, small in stature, knew the heart of
his Church, and the love of his Race for the University that
stood to them for the highest ideals in life. To refuse meant a
step backward. With grave, resolute face, realizing the great
issues at stake, he met the Trustees at the hour appointed and
in a voice trembling with emotion said, "In the name of the
Lord, I buv the property of Wilberforee University for the African
- 268 -
Methodist Episcopal Church." As one voice a inightv "Amen"
came from those assembled, and involuntarily every knee was
bent as the former President of the School asked the blessing of
the great Father of all men on the decision of this devoted repre¬
sentative of his Race.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church nobly ratified the
purchase of Bishop Payne though it meant an obligation of ten
thousand dollars. By the eleventh day of the following June the
Churches in the Baltimore and Ohio Annual Conferences had
raised two thousand dollars toward the first payment; individ-
Wheeling
Gant,
Yellow Springs, O.
Endowment
$5,000.00
Geo W
Hardester,
Urbana, Ohio.
$7,000 00
Bishop J. P.
Campbell,
Philadelphia.
Endowment
$1,000 00
ual subscriptions given Bishop Payne within a few days after
the purchase amounted to over $500, Mrs. Mariah Shorter head¬
ing the list with $100. April 25, 1S65, subscriptions were re¬
ceived from Reverends Henry M. Turner and David Smith, each
giving $50, and $30 each from Reverends Henry Brown, John M.
Brown, James A. Handy, W. H. Waters, S. M. Hammond, M. F.
Sluby, D. W. Moore, B. T. Tanner, Gilbert Waters, Isaac Brown
and Henry Rhodes; all splendid gifts that in more than one
instance represented personal sacrifice on the part of the donor.
The title deed was placed in the hands of the Committee
representing the African Methodist Episcopal Church; this Com¬
mittee consisting of the well-known and highly regarded James A.
- 269 -
Shorter, Rev. John G. Mitchell and Bishop Daniel A. Payne. The
Institution was then incorporated under the Laws of the State
of Ohio, after which a charter was secured which provided that
inasmuch as the deed specifically gave the University to the Afri¬
can Methodist Episcopal Church, that two-thirds of the Members
of the Board of Trustees shall always be ot that Religious De¬
nomination, and likewise declared that no distinction on account
of Race or Color should ever be made with the Trustees, Faculty
or Students. Truly a Christian platform.
Bishop Daniel A. Payne was the first President of the Uni¬
versity under the new regime, and an abler man never stood at
college helm. He has been called "the noblest representative" of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A profound theologian,
of scholarly attainments in philosophy and the sciences, a fine
linguist in ancient and modern tongues, thoroughly acquainted
with the best literature, not only of the English language but
that of Germany and France, his intellectuality won for him
most cordial recognition from distinguished scholars of other
lands.
Intensely devoted to the advancement of his Race, he stood
in his day at the head of every Educational Movement in his
Church, and has left a lasting impression and influence for good
on the University so dear to his heart. Professor John G. Mitchell,
a graduate of Oberlin and Principal of a Grammar School in Cin¬
cinnati, was placed at the head of the teaching force in the Uni¬
versity, which began its work again in July, 1863, by teaching
elementary English studies to the children of the neighborhood,
who in a body marched from their school-room in Smokv Row
to the Chapel and were enrolled as students of the University.
Of this number but three survive, John A. Clark, ( whose energy
had kept the school together, ) Andrew Holland and Mrs Cor¬
nelia Austin Walden. Mrs. Walden had the honor of being the
first student assigned a room in the dormitory of the original
building. In a few months the attendance increased so rapidly
that two additional teachers were employed, the choice falling
upon Mrs. Fannie Mitchell and Miss Esther T. Maltby, both
women of noble culture, the latter being made Assistant Princi¬
pal, for which she was eminently qualified by strong Christian
- 270 -
character and intellectual training at Oberlin College. In a short
time the responsibilities of the School fell entirely upon her shoul¬
ders, as Professor Mitchell was sent out as Financial Agent for
the Institution.
It is fitting that the good women whose cheery counsels,
encouragement and aid in all ways were of untold yalue to both
teachers and students in these days of struggle for the existence
of the school, should haye an established place in its record of
praise and honor.
The saintly characters of Eliza Payne, Mariah Shorter,
Endowment, Endowment,
$10,000.00 $10,000 00
Nancy J. Rouse, Ann Phillips, Margaret Dayis, Catherine Delane}-
and Hannah McDowell live as immortals in the memories of the
early students of Wilberforce. Mrs. McDowell, affectionately re¬
called as "Aunt Mack," organized a Sabbath School in connec¬
tion with the University, holding its sessions in her home, Bishop
Payne's residence; she was assisted in the good work by Mr.
Isaac Lot, whose log cabin fronted "Evergreen Cottage."
A little settlement of notable folk had clustered around the
college grounds, attracted both by the desire of educating their
children and the beauty of the location. Of these are recalled
Rev. Charles Satehell, a Baptist Divine of wide reputation; Rev.
Edward Davis, who at the time of the founding of Wilberforce
- 271 -
was Principal of Union Seminary ; Air. John Griffin, whose earlier
explorations in California and Australia made him a man of
wealth; Rev. David Smith, truly a "patriarch in Israel," for up
to the time of his death, at the very advanced age of one hun¬
dred and six years, he counted longer service in the Itinerant
Ministry than any other living man. At the opening of the
Spring Term, in 1S65, seventy-five pupils were on the College
roll. Classes were making marked progress in the ancient lan¬
guages and higher branches of science and mathematics; the fame
ot the school was increasing and the sky of promise was appar¬
ently without a cloud.
On the fourteenth day of April, 1S65, a majority ot the
pupils and all of the faculty, with the exception of Miss Maltbv,
were in Xenia, participating in the joyous enthusiasm that swept
over the Country at the Fall of Richmond and the near prospect
oi peace, when, like a clap of thunder from a clear sky, came
the startling cry " Wilberforce is burning." The students hastened
to their beloved University to rind it in flames, evidently the
work of incendiaries.
The early morning hours of the next dav brought tidings
ot the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, which added
to the already bitter grief of their hearts.
But Wilberforce University was not dead. As one has writ¬
ten, " Before the smoking pile had grown cold a resolution was
passed to rebuild," and by the close of the year a large, hand¬
some new brick building was well on the wav, although it was
not entirely completed and dedicated until 1876.
The college was not closed; a cottage was turned into a
recitation hall, and both teachers and students made light of in¬
conveniences attending their cramped environment, prosecuting
their educational work with even greater ardor than before the
catastrophe. Joseph P. Shorter, the most advanced student, was
placed at the head ot the school, with Thomas H. Jackson as
assistant, Professor John G. Mitchell having been assigned the
responsible work of soliciting from the public financial aid in be¬
half of the Institution. In one way the destruction of the school
building was a blessing, as general interest and sympathy were
aroused concerning it, and generous contributions flowed into its
- 272 -
treasury. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase bequeathed it $10,000;
in 1870 Congress made an appropriation of $25,000; the Ameri¬
can Unitarian Association contributed a lecture fund of $6,000,
and a bequest of $10,000 came from Dr. Charles Avery's estate.
During the thirteen years of Bishop Payne's administration the
amount received was $92,875.
At the close of the school work, in 1869, the students
gave a public literary entertainment on the college campus, the
following programme pleasing the assembled multitudes, the date
being Wednesday, June 30th.
Programme.
Music, Prayer by Bishop Wayman Music
Oration, "No One Lives for Himself,"
S. R. Bailey.
Essay, Memoritor. "Watching the Tides,"
Miss M. E. Ashk.
Music.
Oration, "Onward and Upward,"
J. W. Beckett.
Oration "Value of Hope,"
J. Butler.
Music.
Oration "America's Soliloquy,"
J. E. Carter.
Selection, " Charge of the Light Brigade,"
St. Cyprian Delaney.
Music.
Oration "Work of the Hour,"
S. T. Mitchell.
Essay, Memoritor. " Let There be Light,"
Miss E. F. Roxborough.
Oration, "Watchman, What of the Night,"
T. H. Jackson.
Music.
Discussion, . . "Ought Ministers of the Gospel to Engage in
Party Polities,"
J. I'. Shorter and I. H. Welch.
Music.
Benediction isy Bishop Campbell.
- 273 -
On Thursday, June 30th, 1870, the first regular Com¬
mencement Exercises of the University were held according to
the accompanying programme.
Programme.
Singing College Choir
Prayer.
Singing.
Oration, "Onward With the Cross,"
Rev. J. T. Jenifer, New Bedford, Mass.
Essay "Womanhood,"
Miss Hallie Brown, Wilherforce.
Singing.
Oration " Rationality of Religion,"
Rev. Thos. H. Jackson, Louisville, Ky.
Essay "Womanhood,"
Miss Josephine E. Barber, Washington D. C.
Singing.
Essay, "Womanhood,"
Miss Lizzie E. Linchecome, Hagerstown, Md.
Oration,. ."Executive Thought and Valedictory Address,"
I. H. Welch, Bellefonte, Pa.
Singing.
Baccalaureate Address by President Daniel A. Payne.
Awarding of Diplomas.
Benediction.
- 274-
In 1876 a stress of literary work compelled Bishop Pa\rne
to give up the Presidency of the University, his resignation
being: accepted with great reluctance by the Trustees, for he had
most materially advanced the interests of the School along all
lines. During the thirteen years of his incumbency, fifteen hun¬
dred and fifty-three pupils took advantage of the educational
benefits of the Institution. His teachers were among the best,
being brought from England, Scotland, Oberlin, Amherst, Holyoke,
Oswego. He resided on the campus, and that he was often found
at work in the recitation room may be gathered from his report
to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in 1876. He sa3Ts, "I have regularly filled the chair of
Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Systematic Theology;
have taught the French Language and Literature all the time;
occasionally taught German and Hebrew, Botany and Universal
Histor}', to which, if you add Analytical Orthography and Ortho¬
epy, you will see the kind of educational work your President
had to perform in addition to the responsibilities of government."
Rev. Benjamin F. Lee, now the distinguished Bishop of the
Ninth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church was a worthy successor of Bishop Payne to the Pres¬
idency of Wilberforce University; a scholar in every sense of the
word; possessed of experience as a teacher, having filled the Chair
of Pastoral Theology, Homiletics and Ecclesiastical History in
- 275 -
his Alma Mater, the University that called him to its head. He
was emphatically the right man in the right place, and entered
with enthusiasm upon his work. His administration of eight
years was characterized by indefatigable industry, official wisdom,
unerring judgment and great personal sacrifice for the sake of
the one thousand one hundred and seventy-nine voting people
that came to the doors of the University for mental and spiritual
elevation during his incumbency. He had the heart-pleasure of
seeing many men and women go out from under his care to fill
honored and useful places in the world, and live noble lives of
devotion to God and their Race.
During his eight years of service the financial receipts of
the school amounted to $79,200,80. Called in 1884- to the
Editorship of the "Christian Recorder," Rev. Lee was succeeded
in the Presidency of Wilberforce University bv Professor Samuel
T. Mitchell, likewise a gifted son of the school, having been
graduated in 1878. He came to the position from the Presidency
of Lincoln Institute, at Jefferson City, Missouri.
For seventeen years he held the reins of government. Wis¬
dom marked his administration, for the University made steady
progress in everything that is required of a School of the
Twentieth Century to make it ideal in character and influence.
A monument to the sagacious judgment of President Mitchell
exists in the establishing by the Ohio Legislature on March 19th,
1887, "The Combined Normal and Industrial Department at
Wilberforce University," which is supported bv the State, being
placed on the same financial basis with other State Educational
Institutions, receiving annually about $17,800.
Pavne Theological Seminary was also founded during his
administration. It is controlled by its own Faculty and Board
of Directors. The death of President Mitchell in April, 1901,
was keenly felt bv all connected with the School, and came as a
deep personal sorrow to the young men and women whose
hearts and minds will ever bear the influence of his saintly
character, rare personality and cultivated mentality.
The choice of the Trustees for the fourth President of Wil¬
berforce University fell upon a Member of their own Iioard, and
also one of the Alumni of the Theological Department, Rev.
- 276 -
Joshua H. Jones, a man of fine intellectual attainments, Claflin
and Howard Universities having in earlier life counted him
among their students; of rich, valuable experience as a Minister
of the African Methodist Episcopal Chtirch; of spotless char¬
acter, enthusiastic for the attainment of the best in life for the
young people in his charge, understanding what is needful for
them in the development of character. President Jones does
not suffer nor lose an inch of territory in comparison with his
great predecessors; day and night he is possessed by one all-
engrossing idea, the advancement of Wilberforce University in
every and all things that mean moral, intellectual and material
good. And to-day from its proud heights of true success, Wilber-
Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie.
$15,000.00
force University can justly and honorabty claim to stand for the
highest culture of mind, and the fullest development of Christian
manhood and womanhood, recognizing the truth that the two
are necessary to the formation of character.
Students now come to Wilberforce from far off Africa,
South America, the West Indies, and from every State in our
wide Republic. More, alas, every year, than can be accom¬
modated in the school; and if friends of education could see the
sad, sad faces of the young people who are of necessity turned
away, thev would help Wilberforce University to extend her
walls, until the heart-desire of every ambitious boy or girl could
be realized, and no school in the land offers them finer oppor-
-277-
trinities for thorough preparation for life than does Wilberforee.
Its Classieal, Theological, Scientific, College Preparatory, English
Preparatory, Business, Theological, Art, and Normal Courses are
guided and taught by teachers of broad culture and tested
experience. Practical, every-day work is demanded of students
in the Industrial Department, which has its special branches of
Stenography, Type-Writing, Cooking, Millinery, Printing, Car¬
pentry, Sewing, Blacksmithing, Brick Making and Laving,
Wheelwrighting and Scientific Agriculture The fertile acres that
have been added to the college grounds being tilled and improved
bv the students.
As additional incentives for devotion to studv and thorough
selt-improvment, Annual Prizes from funds donated for this pur¬
pose are given to pupils furnishing the best essavs on prescribed
subjects, and to those attaining the highest proficienev in Greek,
Latin, Carpentry, and Dressmaking.
It may be added that the Literarv and Industrial Exhibit
of the University at the World's Columbian Exposition, at
Chicago, won a Columbian Diploma and Medal.
Wilberforee University is the only School for Colored
Youth possessing a Military Department, and through it two
great objects arc accomplished. First, patriotism is more
staunchly developed in the breasts of the young cadets beneath
the blue uniforms with the splendor of "Old Glory" floating over
their heads. And, secondly, the daily drill gives an erectness of
carriage and elegance of bearing, that distinguishes the student
throughout life.
No more attractive College Campus can be found than that
of Wilberforee University, the beautv of its natural environment
has been briefly told, but its buildings a!so attract bv their
solidarity and architectural proportions, with broad spaces of
woodland or lawn between them. Shorter Hall ( built during
Bishop Payne's administration, on the site of the building
destroyed bv fire,) Howell Hall, O'Neil Hall (erected while Pres¬
ident Mitchell was at the head of the School,) Arnett and Gallo-
wav Halls built under the direction of the Combined Normal and
Industrial Board,) the Dormitory Cottages and other tasteful
buildings devoted to special branches of the Industrial Arts,
- 278 -
attend the success and rapid growth of the School. A handsome
Carnegie Librar}^ was erected in 1905. This structure is a splendid
testimonial to the interest and enthusiam of Rev. Horace Tal-
bert, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, and one of the fore¬
most men of his Race, in advancing the prosperity of the Uni¬
versity, for it was through his representations and influence
that Mr. Carnegie was led to make the magnificent gift.
Wilberforce has just reason to be proud of her past, and of
the bright, intellectual, progressive men and women that have
engineered it so safely and successfully from shipwreck on the
rocks of discouragement into the clear, calm waters of success
and prosperity.
Fbederick William Booker T.
Douglas. McKinle\. Washington.
HONORARY ALUMNI.
Its Secretaries have been men of sound integrity, mental
ability and farsightedness; thoroughly conversant with the needs
of the Institution and the responsibility of their duties. Those
preceding Secretary Talbert were Rev. John T. Jenifer, Hon.
Andrew J. Holland, Rev. Benjamin F. Lee, Rev. John A. Clark
and Rev. James P. Maxwell.
The Roll of Honorary Alumni of the College is graced with
names of National and State fame. The late President William
McKinley and Hon. Frederick Douglas were of the number and
by their presence at Annual Commencements evinced their
interest and hearty co-operation in the liberal aims of the
Institution. Others of this band are the Bishops of the African
- 279 -
Methodist Church, George T. Watkins, D.D., James II. A. John¬
son, D.D., Theophdus G. Steward, D.D., John G. Mitchell, D.D.,
J. M. Meek, D.I)., Cornelius Ashnrv, I). I)., Rev. \Y. I). Johnson,
Sylvester Weeks, D.D., J. C. Enibrv, D.I), Theodore A. Thompson,
D.I)., I. H. Welch, I). D„ C. P. Nelson, D.I)., Henry Hartley, D.I).,
T. W. Henderson, D.D., Seipio Roberson, D.D., D. H. Snowden,
D.I)., E. X. Yelland, LL.D., Peter H. Clark, A.M., C. L. Maxwell,
LL.D., Charles Young, LL.D., J. P. Green, LL.D., Mr. A. S.
Frazer and Senator J. R. Foraker. Not alone in business and
professional ranks are the Alumni of Wilberforee University
found: Chaplains in the U. S. Army are William H. Hunter, D.I).,
(appointed by President Lincoln, October 10th, 1S63,) Rev. G.
W. Prioleau, Rev. B. W. Arnett, Jr., Rev. W. H. Coston and
Rev. W. T. Anderson; some have seen active service with
their regiments, and all stand readv for dutv at their Countrv's
call. A large number of women graduates of the School are
leading active, influential lives as Teachers in Colleges, Seminaries,
and Graded Schools, and as Instructors in various branches of
the Industrial Arts. Miss Hallie 0. Brown, of the Class of '73,
called bv her friends the " Oueen of Elocutionists," has won
National fame as a Teacher of Oratorical Expression, and her
abilitv has been shown marked appreciation in the Foreign
Countries through which she has leisurelv traveled. Mrs. Marv
Ashe Lee, the cultured wife of Bishop Benjamin F. Lee, is a con¬
tributor of beautiful poetic fancies to the literature of the dav.
She, with Mrs. S. Frankie Talbert, the wife of Secretary Talbert
and of charming personality, were the first women of Ohio to be
elected Members of a Township Board of FMucation, Mrs. Lee
holding the office for two years and Mrs. Talbert for five years
longer. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Jackson Mixon, Mrs. Mary E. Davis
Yeiser, Mrs. Anna H. Jones Coleman, Mrs. Zelia R. Ball Page,
Misses Copeland, Jenkins, Georgiana L. Whyte, Lizzie Baker Guy,
Sadie E. Black Hamilton, are others whose names merit honor
and regard for great usefulness in life. The list is long and
notable.
Scholarships from Wilberforee have been held by many men
and women whose intellectual gifts and success in life have brought
fame and eminence to them. Among the best known so favored are
- 280 -
Prof. J. R. Gibson and Miss Luella Johnson of Texas, Prof. E. A.
Delaney of Georgia, Prof. T. D. Scott of Ohio, and Miss Virginia
Copeland, who was one of the two applicants that successfully
distanced twenty-six College graduates in a Teachers' examina¬
tion in St. Louis.
The present Faculty of Wilberforce University is strong in
intellectuality and sterling character. At its head is President
Joshua H. Jones, A.M., D.D., who fills the chair of Intellectual
Philosophy and Logic. Vice-President William S. Scarborough,
A.M., LL.D., Ph.D., Professor of Ancient Languages. Karl E.
Finch, A.B., Professor of Mathematics; Bruce H. Green, Ph.B.,
|
|
l
T
Hallie Q Brown.
S. T. Mitchell.
£
V
A
GRADUATES.
Professor of Natural Sciences and Instructor in German and
French. Edward A. Clark, A.M., Professor of English and
Instructor in Physical Science. Francis A. Lee, A. B., Instructor
in Ancient Languages and French Campbell L. Maxwell, D.C.L,
Dean of the Law Department, (Mr. Maxwell served as Consul
General to San Domingo by appointment of President McKinley.)
William F. Trader, LL.B., Professor of Law. First Lieutenant
B. 0. Davis, Professor of Military Science and Tactics; appoint¬
ment made by President of the United States. Mrs. Samuel T.
Mitchell, and Mrs Martha Carter, Matrons. Rev. George F.
Woodson, D.D., Professor of Systematic Theology and New Testa,
meut Greek. Rev. A. W. Thomas, S.T.B., Professor of Hebrew
and Introduction. Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner D.D, LL.D., Lee-
turer on Ecclesiastical History and Dogmatic Theology. Bishop
Benjamin W. Arnett, I).I)., LL.I)., Lecturer on Ethics and Psy¬
chology. Bishop Benjamin F. Lee, D.I)., Ph.D., Lecturer on
Church Polity and Ecclesiastical Law. Bishop C. T. Shaffer,
D.I)., M.D., Lecturer on Africa. Rev. T. H. Jackson, D.D., Lec¬
turer on Homileties. John K. Hawkins, Lecturer on Practical
Ethics. Sarah C. Bierce Scarborough, M.Pd., Principal Professor
of Pedagogics and Literature. R. C. Bundy, Instructor in
Mechanical Drawing. George T. Simpson, Instructor in Vocal
Music Voice Culture. Charles S. Smith, Instructor in Steno¬
graphy and Typewriting. Charles H. Johnson, Instructor in
Drawing, William B. Busch, Instructor in Bookkeeping. William
H. Marshall, Instructor in Printing and Binding. A. Irene Bond,
Instructor in Dressm iking and Plain Sewing. Lizzetta M. Pinn
Welch, Secretary of Faculty, and Instructor in Domestic Science.
W. P. Welch, Instructor in Carpentry and Cabinet Work. Wil¬
liam M. Ilunnieutt, Instructor in Shoemaking. Minnie Battles,
Instructor in Millinery. T. C. Davis, Instructor in Blaeksmith-
ing. Hallie 0. Brown, Special Instructor in the Art of Expression.
Joseph P. Shorter, A.M., Superintendent of the C. N. and I.
Department.
Commencement Week at Wilberforce University is the event
of tiie Summer in that part of Ohio. Visitors come from all
directions to hear the distinguished speakers whose addresses
are an attractive part of the exercises preliminary to gradua¬
tion dav. Commencement Day is, of course, the banner day of
the week, and it is the occasion that no one ever forgets. The
immense canvas auditorium under the noble forest trees; the
stately halls and the pretty modern homes of the professors that
seem to breathe a cordial welcome to the stranger; the inspiring
music; the thoughtful, enthusiastic faces of the students, and
their easy, dignified delivery of oration or essay, combine to
make an ineffaceable memory exceedingly pleasant to recall. The
fame of the students of this University has spread far beyond
its own borders. In the State Oratorical Contest, at Columbus,
in 1894, W. L. Boards won first honors for Wilberforce; in the
National Oratorical contest at Pittsburg, 1895, Warner White of
the same University was given second place by the judges, and
- 282 -
the school affirmed its right to the first honor also, as Charles
Morris, of Boston, Massachusetts, the successful winner of the
first place had received his training from \'outh upward at Wil-
berforce University.
Forty-nine young people constituted the Senior Class of
1905, going out from us mentally and morally equipped for the
crucial experiences of life. Through different channels Wilberforce
University has nearly fifty thousand dollars endowment funds to
be used for specific educational purposes, and royally does she
provide the best for the intellectual needs of her voung men and
women. Thorough preparation for life is the strongest, the most
F. S. Delaney, A.B.
/
John Gibson.
GRADUATES.
convincing testimony that can be offered in attestation ot the
work accomplished by this splendid school. Its graduates are
found as presidents, professors and instructors in the colleges,
seminaries and public schools of the land; they are physicians,
ministers, lawyers, editors, bankers, merchants, farmers, excellent
mechanics and artisans; good husbands and fathers, tender
wives and mothers ; faithful in all of life's duties be they great or
small.
The Formation of Character is the aim, the success, of
Wilberforce University.
-283-
THE GROWTH OF AFRICAN METHODISM.
The principal asset of value in the life of Richard Allen, in
1787, when he opened the little, remodeled blacksmith-shop in
the city of Philadelphia, as an Independent Church, founded oil
the polity of the Methodist Church as established bv the Wesley's,
was faith in God. A faith that the early Apostles might have
envied; a faith that persecution, storm and trial were powerless
to shake or weaken, for it was wrapped around the eternal pro¬
mises and drew its life from the source of Infinite Strength.
It was a similar faith in the hearts of- Allen's followers
that made the present power of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church a possibility, for there was little in their outlook of hope
or pledge of future might and influence. Ostracism and perse¬
cution from their white Methodist Brethren were not the only
foes to be encountered; the illiteracy and poverty of their own
Race were appalling forces to be met and overcome; but their
simple, child-like trust in God's power and willingness to help
never wavered, never faltered, and tliev were salelv and trium¬
phantly led to the shining heights of victory.
A volume of many, many pages would be necessary to tell
even cursorily of the marvelous growth of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church during the hundred and nineteen years of its
existence. The seed sown by Richard Allen has multiplied a
thousand-fold and the heaven-pointing spires of his beloved
Church are gilded by the sunlight on both hemispheres.
The Minutes of the First General Conference, held in 1821),
in Philadelphia, have been lost, but at the second gathering of
that Ecclesiastical Body, four years later, in the same city, reports
were read showing that the Church had extended its territory
as far west as Cincinnati, Ohio, and comprised a membership
of nine thousand and eighty-eight persons. At the last General
Conference, held at Chicago in 1904, delegates were present from
evcrv State and Territory in the United States, and from Canada,
Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Havti, San Domingo, British Guiana,
Cuba, the Windward Islands, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa,
- 284 -
and the Transvaal, representing- a Lay Membership of 1,238,4.01
persons, and a Preaching Foree of 12,960 Elders, Ministers and
Deacons, for whose support the Church, during the last quad-
rennium, contributed $1,042,191.52; the insignificant blacksmith-
shop having multiplied into Churches and parsonages valued at
nearly eleven millions of dollars.
In May, 1810 , when Richard Allen was crowned with
Bishop's Orders, his most prophetic vision could not have fore¬
seen that in the short space of sixtv-four vears the greatness of
the territory of his beloved Zion would necessitate the unceasing
care and labor of fourteen Bishops; and to-dav, if those who
have passed over the mystic river know aught of the work and
progress in their former earthly home, the heart of the First
Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church must thrill
with gladness unutterable as he sees the Institution organized by
him for the worship of God and saving souls from sin, seeurelv
holding its place in the world as God's agent in all that is good,
elevating, humane and beneficial to humanity. Its Missionarv
Board rejoices in the effective work accomplished in both Home
and Foreign Fields; its Sundav School Department constantly
reinforces the Church Membership with loyal and enthusiastic
reci'uits; its Educational Board views with just pride the achieve¬
ments of the schools under its special charge, Wilberforee Univer¬
sity ranking highest, followed by Morris Brown College, Allen
Universitv, Paul Ouinn College and other Institutions of lesser
note, all doing excellent work, and to whose maintenance the
Church yearly contributes thousands of dollars.
The Church Extension Board jubilates over the increasing
number of houses of worship being built in different quarters of
the globe; the Publication Board through its monthly and weekly
journals keeps the Church Membership in touch with its wide
progress and the great Religious and Educational movements of
the world. Societies and Leagues ( historical, literary and bene¬
ficiary,) are of potent force in directing the mentality and benev¬
olence of the wonderful organization into broad, deep channels
of advanced thought and Christian sympathy.
Still greater glory and usefulness rests in the unfolding
years for the great African Methodist Episcopal Church. The
- 285 -
law of its being is its simple creed, "God our Father; Christ our
Redeemer; Mail our Brother." Sin, unrighteousness and prejudice
are destined to vanish before the white banners of its mighty
host whose weapons are Love and Light, both are of God and
cannot fail.
"The future's gain
Is certain as God's truth."
- 286 -