E ' 85 "IT iiiil iiiliiil illiii' 'i— t il)lil!i iljffiiil :il!|piii!i|lil iWiiiiii itiii IIP is "'* iiii 'iiiii! " Iiiii UiH iiiiiiiiis iliili .0 o '^r. • " " V^ # V .O- J- .\ .x^^ <^. ■^o o^ ,0- ^ cf- * v\^ V'. ■> * ^ .■\, ■ = ''^^^ \^'^ z <> -V A.^ "., ,-0- (.' ^. >' ^\ ■^ o J> • TS^ -J>^ \ .0- cf- -^ 0> s^-' ^ ' " * ., ", ' -^ ^. ■• ..^ \. 1 B * '^ .^^ \V ? ^'^^^ ,nO o,, r. ^ ^. " - - ' ' r:>^'' - ^ = #■% ' ... ,. >0 o^ %,x^' ■ ci-_ ■'/■^*^-<^ n' -'?- o\-' l'^ <^ ,V •/■' -^^ V Oo. .-V 'ID ^OO^ ^ v- '■K 'ry^ '>. -y '•i- .\- :\ '^A. a . ^5 -n^^ V )ii'jjico )(' . ■4ie£n LIFE OF THE Rev. ELISHA W. GREEN, t ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF The Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute— now the State University at Louisville; Eleven Years Moderator of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association; Five Years Modera- tor OF the Consolidated Baptist Educa- tional Association and over Thirty Years Pastor ok ihe Colored Baptist Churches of Maysville and Paris. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. MAYSVILLE, KV , . . . ' THE REPUBLICAN PRINTING OFFICE, 1888. ^ :i 31 laay y h -? '■l C^n^ Entered according to Act of Congress, 1888, Bv THE Rev. E. W. GREEN, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. V A /.. PREFACE. For some time I have considered prayerfully the matter of writing a sketch of my past days, but not so much of the present, for it speaks for itself. When I am dead some profound, scholarly and energetic historian can portray my present days to the ages yet not born. I have only endeavored, as far as I could remember, to tell the most interest- ing incidents of my life as a slave and my life as 'a minister of Jesus Christ. If in this I have failed, then 1 ajjologize to those under whose eyes these lines may chance to fall. I am by no means a learned man, neither a historian nor a scholar. What little I know was the result of the opportunities of a slave. I secured Brother Butler's service to write while I dictated. Brother Butler is responsible for many utterances of elegant diction of speech. His services have been of much value. Many of my associate ministers have gone down to the grave. Adams, Lee, Monroe, Braxton, Clarke are now sleeping the sleep of the dead, and yet Dupee and Campbell and myself survive them. But our days are passing away and it may be soon that we shall rest with them. By the grace of God, if I live in the future as I have in the past, I can, when I come to die, say like Paul: " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." I ask God's blessings upon this volume wherever it may chance to fall. E. W-. Green. Maysvillc, Ky., i88y. BISHOP DUPEE'S LETTER. Dedicated to Bishop E. W. Green, of Maysville, Ky. October i8, 1886. • In 1 85 1 I made the personal acquaintance of Elder Elisha Winfield Green, then pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Maysville. We met in Lexington, where a most intimate and loving acquaint- ance was formed, and it has ripened into that brotherly love that Paul speaks of in Hebrews xiii-i. Brother Green is a Baptist of Bible type, and a Christian gentleman of the highest order — an able and success- ful minister of the New Testament. He has been pastor of the church of Maysville ever since the year 1S44, and has devoted his time to that and to the High-street Baptist Church of Paris ever since the year 1865, and has supplied both of the churches as pastor with satisfaction and success. Truly astonishing, for he has preached in the following named places in protracted meetings : For the Rev. London Farrel, of Lexing- ton; Elder Henry Adams, of Louisville; Elder James Monroe, of Frankfort; Elder Wallace Shelton, of Cincinnati, and he has preached in Paducah for the writer, and many and very many other places, and in all he has been successful and the Lord has-blessed his labors abund- antly. He was a distinguished minister in the State Baptist Convention and General Association, and filled an important office in both. For a number of years he was Moderator of the Mount Zion Baptist Associa- tion and he is now Treasurer of the Consolidated Educational Baptist Associadon. Brother Green's value to his people as a Christian gentleman, as an efficient minister of the gospel and a successful pastor, and as an intel- ligent and useful citizen, cannot easily be estimated. He has few ene- mies, but like Paul, they hate him without a cause. He is a faithful and fearless expounder of the Word of God — a minister and advocate of the doctrine of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and of the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints. Now, in regard to his marriages, he was exceedingly lucky in his first marriage with Miss Susan Young, for she certainly was an excep- tionally good Christian lady and wife, with whom the Bishop spent all the days of her marriage relation with that degree of happiness characteristic of Abraham of old. And he says he has begun a repeti- tion of the same kind of blessing and happy Hfe in his second marriage. Now I pray that God may keep and preserve him and bring him after labor to reward is the earnest prayer of his friend and co-laborer in Jesus Christ. George Dupee, Washington-street Baptist Church, Paducah, Ky. TRIBUTE OF A FRIEND. Mavsville, Kv., December 2, 1887. Rev. E. IV. Green, Pastor First Colored Baptist Church : Having learned of your autobiography and history of the church, 1 think it my duty as a friend of almost half a century to say a few words. 1 have known the Reverend Mr. Green since I was a boy, when I came to Maysville to go into business in the wholesale house of John P. Dobyns. He was an employe \\\ the house, like myself, for many years. I had the opportunity of studying him perfectly. He was always kind and courteous, faithful antl honest, and a true Christian. He prepared himself for the ministry during the time and organized his church and built his house of worship — which has been since torn down and rebuilt — and he now has one of the largest and handsomest churches in the city. His works have been of more benefit to his race than everything else combined. May he live many years to continue his good work and when he leaves his present home may it be to enter a far better and more glorious one above, and receive the crown of eternal life at the right hand of God, is the prayer of his old friend, JOHN M. STOCKTON. I CHAPTER I. WAS born in Bourbon County, near Paris, Ky., six miles to the right of that place, on the Georgetown turnpike. The date of ^ my birth I am not prepared to mention, because the book that had the ages in it was burned. I lived in Bourbon County until I was ten years old; then I came to Mason County, where I now reside. Some instances which took place in Bourbon while I was there I have forgotten, and a few I remember yet. For instance, the following: The name of tlie man I lived with in Bourbon was Judge Brown. My mother, sisters Charlotte and Harriet and the balance of the children were then divided among the heirs of Dobbyns — sister Evaline to Silas Devaush; brother Marshall to the same man; brother Alvin to Thomas Perry ; brother Henry to Thomas Dobbyns ; brother Elijah to Enoch Pepper. I might say here, so far as to the incidents of slavery and the other acts of this time, I have no knowledge to present in this sketch that in my estimation would be of interest to any one. In 1828, as near as I can remember, I went to Mayslick, Ky., a small town distant about twelve miles from Maysville, in the same county. Mayslick is one among the oldest towns in the State. I think it has been noted for a Baptist Church since the year 1792. I went to that place and lived with J. L. Kirk, who married my young mistress, lane P. Dobbyns. While with him, of course, as usual where slavery existed, I saw very rough times. While there I cooked, washed, spun flax and yarn, and did all the house-work the same as a woman. Here was where a man became a woman if such ever were possible in the history of the world. I lived here about four years — from 1828 to 1832. When Mr. Dobbvns had been dead awhile, mv old mistress married Mr. Weaker Warder. My sister and four children and myself were sold in Washington, Mason County, Ky., at a sheriff's sale. When we were put up to be sold, .Mr. Oliver Kale refused to "cry" us off, and a man by the name of Charlie Ward supplied the place, .\fter the selling, we then broke up at our old home and my mistress rented THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, a place on the Lexington turnpike, where she remained three or four years. She then married the Rev. Waher Warder, as I have stated elsewhere. This act of selling colored people was considered by many as being of a low character, while there were those who thought it right, and to sell a negro was nothing more than selling a mule. After my mistress had married Mr. Warder, we then moved near the North Fork, on a farm that formerly belonged to Benjamin Fitzgerald. I remained with Mr. Warder some time, until his death. I will mention an instance which occurred before I left Bourbon. It should have been mentioned before this, but I happen to think of it since. I well remember that at one time before leaving Bourbon County 1 attempted to attend Sabbath school — well, in fact, I did attend a kind of Sabbath school, gotten up by some of the blacks on the place and in different portions of the neighborhood. 1, with some others, went and about the time we had gotten in a good way enjoying our- selves, the Patrollers came and whipped all of the grown persons in the schoolhouse. But, being very small, when they came in I ran out, passing under the arms of one that was standing in the door. Having escaped 1 then had about a mile to go and I ran so terribly fast that when I reached home I was well nigh out of breath. I often look back at that time and now, whenever I pass that place, I draw the scene fresh in mind. About this time the colored people had meetings out in some place to themselves, and would prepare for the Patrollers. If it were near a road, they would go to each side of the road and stretch a grapevine across it about as high as a horse, so as to strike a man about his breast. Those in the house would come out, sometimes with chunks of fire to make the men get from the door. The men, of course, not seeing the grapevine, would run into it and thus were thrown from their horses and the jmrty would get clear. The object of the slaveholders was not to have the l)lacks gather in meetings or anything else, because, .said they, when together that way, they (the negroes) would make plots to run off. Another horrible crime I must mention here. About this time slave- traders would go to Virginia and buy up the negroes. Upon one Sab- bath morning, I saw one with twenty-five or thirty colored men hand- cuffed and chained. There were three or four wagons within which were a host of women and children. Lawyer Payne, who was not then a member of any church and who owned slaves himself, said that a colored person should never again be brought through the city in that fix on Sabbath morning. And on another occasion I saw in Mayslick WRI'ITEN BY HIMSELF. another company of forty or fifty men, chained in the same manner as those mentioned before. There were some five or six wagons loaded w ith women and children. The foremost man looked to be about sev- enty years old, and he was singing: "Hark from the tomb.'' Mrs. Ann Anderson, a white woman who was sitting at the window, could not help crying. Indeed it was enough to have moved a heart of stone. It would, in my estimation, have moved the feelings of the most treach- erous man or woman in the cause of slavery. It was a scene upon which I looked with horror, the objects of the scene being my brethren, according to divine creation, the same blood running in their veins as in mine, and, being under the same yoke of bondage, I felt for them deeply in my soul. Puit I was unable to assist them in the least. 1 cannot picture the scene as it of right deserves, because my language is such that it will not permit. But indeed the scene was horrible to be- hold. I believe that the stain of slavery and its degrading impressions will long linger in the minds of generations yet unborn. I was converted on the farm of Mr. Walter Warder, about three miles to the left of Mayslick, Mason County. When converted I was [)lowing. It was one Friday morning, between 9 and 10 o'clock. Shortly after my conversion, I was taken down with scarlet fever. It was about six months after that I was baptized at Nicholas' Ford, on the North Fork of Licking river, 1)y the Rev. Walter Warder.* In 1835 ^ married Miss Susan Young. In 1838 I left my wife in the neighborhood of Mayslick as a servant of Mrs. Sissen and came to Maysville. They did not get along together very well, and Mrs. Sissen sold her, as she thought, to Mr. Peck, of Washington, Ky., who was trading in colored people, or rather slaves, because in those times we were not known as colored people. She sold my wife with the expecta- tion of sending her south, or "down the river," as the expression was. My master, John P. Dobbyns, gave the negro-trader the money and sent him out there. He bought and brought her to Maysville and, being unable to keep her, he sold her and three children to John C. Reid. I do not know how long Mr. Reid kept them, but I su[)p()se about ten years. My master l)Ought her back again, leaving her in the hands of Reid, with the three children. She remained with John P. Dobbyns until he failed financially. Having made a final failure, they put her and the children up at the market for sale. For better informa- tion I will insert the following paper, which speaks itself: =■'1 once saw Mr. Warder bapti/e forty persons before breakfast. THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, To the Public: Elder Elisha Grten, the bearer hereof, is a minister in good and regular standing, ol the Baptist Church, and an acceptable pastor of the African Church (Baptist) of the city of Maysville. By the pecuniary misfortune of the gentleman who owned his wife and children they were thrown upon the market for sale, and Elder (ireen was induced by the advice of many friends to become the purchaser of his wife and two children, at the price of $850. His means (although he and his wife labor faithfully and live economically) will not enable \\\m to meet the payments as they become due, and he has been counselled to seek as- sistance to enable him to meet his payment. We commend him to the kind consideration of the Christian public, and particularly to the mem- bers of the Baptist Church. Maysville, Ky., November i, 1858. H. Ray, Pastor of the Baptist Church, Maysville. Samuel S. Miner, John McDaniel, John Hunt, A. M. January, Thomas A. Ross, Ror5ERT A. Cochran, John Shackleford, Samuel C. Pearce, Michael Ryan, Samuel W. Wood, James A. Johnson, Lewis Collins. These thirteen men, whose names are signed to the ijaj^er, were very generous, shown from the fact that when I told them I could not purchase my wife and children, they drew the money from the bank and said it was for me, saying: "If you never pay it, we will never trouble your family. " I worked and made the money and paid it back in calls in the bank. Mr. Collins, one of the gentlemen on the list, told me to come and take this house in which I am at present. He charged me $4 per month as the rent. He said that when I had paid him $300 in rent, he would give me a deed to the property. But for the fact that I was $850 in debt because of my family, I was a httle cautious about doing so. When I had paid for my family, property had advanced several dollars. He had been offered $500 for the house that I was in. I then, in order to possess it myself, gave him $500 for the property. One lesson I learned from this, and that was that it will not pay to rent. I had not been in Maysville long until I began a prayer meeting in the house of old sister Jennie Marshall, on Short street. A few brethren and sisters and myself continued to hold meetings in sister Marshall's WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. house until the congregation became too large. We rented a house from Aunt Rosy Brannum. We stayed here till it became too small for the congregations. We then got a house for five years from Mr. Spalding, which house now stands by the side of the new church. I suppose you will be pleased to know how and by what movements I came to be a preacher, and also the incidents that pushed me forward to the occasion. I was sexton of the white Baptist Church for sixteen years, and while associated with them, seeing different displays and other movements in church, hearing various men preach, 1, of course, was somewhat struck with the idea of doing something for (lod. 1 was not only sexton of the church, but a worshiper in there among the whites. They saw in me the gift to preach, and two or three of the deacons went to John P. Dobbyns, my master, and got the authority to license me. I knew nothing of it. This is the form of the license granted in those days to colored ministers, especially to myself: At a regular meeting of the Maysville Baptist Church, May lo, 1845, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: Be it Resolved, That Elisha Green, the property of John P. Dobbyns, of this city, has full liberty and permission from this day to exercise his gifts in the public before the colored population of this city or any others before whom in the providence of God he may be cast. E. F. Metcalf, Church Clerk. Thomas G. Keen, who was then pastor here, met to ordain me, but 1 refused to be ordained. I was not ordained until about two years after this. Dr. Helm, Mr. Larue and Thomas G. Keen com- posed the council for ordination. On one Lord's day I was called to go up to the mouth of Cabin Creek to preach a funeral, and not know- ing, Mr. Means, who is the undertaker now in Maysville, got a com- pany and went up there for the purpose of protecting me. When 1 had gotten through preaching I came out of the door of the schoolhouse and my opponent walked around me and looked as though I was a lion. About this time one of my members moved to Ripley, O. I do not think she had been there long until she was taken sick and her sickness resulted in death. Whereupon, I was invited to attend her funeral. Upon receiving the invitation, I went down to the river with a pass. They refused to take me across on account of the "Fugitive Slave Law." Finding that 1 could not get across, I came back up town and got Mr. Thomas Matthews to stand responsible for my value should I have escaped, as they anticipated. Finally I got across the river. I said to the Captian of the ferry-boat: "Were it not that 1 had a funeral to attend at Rii)ley I would go THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA \V. GREEN, back home, because," continued I, "they are so afraid that I would run off. I have had a dozen chances to run off. I do not want free- dom in that way." In 1855 I went to Lexington, Ky., to assist Bishop George W. Dupee. When I had finished my service in Lexington, I went to Georgetown, about twelve miles from L,exington on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. Bishop Dupee requested me to go and fill an ap- pointment for him, as he was sick. When I arrived the church was crowded. I went into the pulpit, read a chapter, sang and prayed. I was in the act of taking my text when unexpectedly a white man came in with a stick in his hand. Having come about half way up the church, he knocked on the floor and asked if there were any white men there. The answer was " No." He then shook his stick at me and said: "•You come out of that pulpit, then." Said I: "Very well," and I came out. I was stopping with Brother Vinson. Early the next morning Elder Larue, pastor of the white Baptist Church of Georgetown, who was also at my ordination, came to see me. He asked if I were in the house. Finding that 1 was there, said he: "Tell him that I want to see him." I came out according to request. He asked me when I was going home. I told him that I was going home to-day, for I was satisfied with Georgetown. When I said this to him, he replied to me, "You can stay here and lireach as long as you wish." I think I staid there and preached three nights after this. My work in Georgetown being finished for the present, I returned to Lex- ington from whence I had gone. Having an appointment to fill in Paris, I, in company with Bishop Dupee, went to the ticket office to obtain a ticket for Paris. I went to the office, called for a ticket, but failed to get it. The ticket agent said that he did not know me and therefore could sell me no ticket. He asked if there was any one near by that knew me and could be responsible to him for my purchasing a ticket. I told him that "Here is General Shafer, who lives in Mays- ville; he knows me." The ticket agent said that he did not know Shafer. Well, I got no ticket at last. Bishop Dupee told me to stand by the train till it started and then get on, " for," continued he, "you will get half way to Paris before the conductor gets to you, and should he put you off, you can walk the balance of the way." When the train came up I got on, as I had been advised, without a ticket. Sure enough when the train got about half way to Paris, the conductor comes walking down the aisle very pleasingly. Holding out WRITTEN HY HIMSELF. his hand, said ho: •'(jive mc your ticket." 1 told him that the ticket agent would give me none and therefore I had none. L'pon this, he in(|uired where I was going. I told him '"to Paris." In order to cut olT the conversation. 1 asked him what the price was. He told me that it was eighty-five cents and passed on. 1 never saw him any more till al)out two years afterward, when going to Lexington again. He was sitting in the same car, not far from me. I told him that I had been wanting to see him since 1855. Looking much surprised, said he, " What for?" 1 told him according to law he should have put me off the train, and then asked his reasons why he did not. He told me that mv face satisfied him. I told him: " When I was on your train that (lav 1 thought vou would watch me to see whether I got off at Paris." He said that he never thought of me any more. CHAPTER II. THE "Underground Railroad" deserves to be mentioned here. The President of this movement, Mr. Carbin, lived in Avondale, (). I went there to dedicate a church. While preaching, I dis- covered in the congregation an old lady sitting in the middle portion of the church with an old fashioned Methodist bonnet on. At the time I never knew who the woman was, but took good notice of her bonnet. The next day being Monday, I thought before leaving to visit my niece. In passing Mr. Carbin's house, he asked if I were the preacher. I replied that I was. He invited me in. I accepted the invitation and went in. When I was seated, he called his wife, who was in another room. He told me that his wife was out yesterday and heard me preach. I replied that I noticed during my preaching a lady sitting in the church with an old fashioned bonnet on. Said he, " Yes, that was she." He said that he had been the President of the " Underground Railroad" for a number of years, and began telling a joke on his wife. He said: "I must tell you a joke on my wife. There was a family that came from the south up here to spend the summer. They had with them a very nice voung colored lady who did not wish to go soutli any more. I studied and could not fix any plan to get her from slavery without creating a disturbance," and that he did not want to do. So finally he told his wife about it. She said that she could fix a plan to get her. He said that his wife saw the girl and posted her that upon a certain day when the whites had sat down to dinner for her to leave and come to our house. The girl did so, and upon the first opportu- nitv she came over. His wife got a common sized pillow, made a fine dress and dressed the pillow ; put a bonnet over it as a head for it, secured a vail for the girl, one for the baby. She dressed very fine and started the girl before her, having the pillow as a baby. They went to tlie starting point, put the girl on and tore the baby up, came back WRITTEN HV HIMSKLt. nome, took the vail from her face. The)' never did know who it was. Thus the girl escaped from slavery into a land of freedom. This " Underground Railroad" was not, as some thought, a rail- road under the ground, but only assistance rendered a slave to obtain his freedom, or to escape from slavery to the land of freedom. When 1 came to Maysville in February of 1838, I was hired to Leach & Dobbyns. While here sometimes I would be called u|)on to weigh salt and sugar, and in this way I learned the figures. I would weigh hemp and many articles about the house. As 1 thought that I had been called to preach I desired to read the word of God. I spent ' all the time that I could spare from my w(jrk at night and the time I had during the day at reading. I kept my book in the third story. In the summer season, when work was slack, 1 would go up there endeavor- ing to study and read the Bible.* Being frequently called from my studies, they not knowing what I was doing, my boss woidd say to me, " What in the h — 1 are you doing up there?" Well, I went on after this for some years, having been much benefited. I commenced preaching in Flemingsburg (a small village about six miles from Johnson's Station) in 1853. I was compelled to preach wherever I could get a chance. While at Flemingsburg, there being quite an extensive movement to get a colored Baptist Church. I went into the Methodist Church and preached in there, having been granted the use of their house of worship. While preaching in this church 1 did very well for some time until they (the Methodists) saw that the influence of the Baptists, through my instrumentality, was becoming strong. Thev contracted that I should preach in the church on a certain Sunday, as I was obliged to be at home at night. Frequentl\ they would hold class-meeting till 12 o'clock, and therefore this cut off my i)reaching in the morning. As they had meeting in the evening again, Mr. Hendricks, the Presbyterian ])astor, would frecpiently let me have his church. When it was so that I could not get this, I would be favored with the Christian Church. By this time the white Baptists saw that I wa> in the act of doing good, when they favored me with the use of their church regularl)-. I continued preaching here till 1855, at which time I was called to the church at Paris. When 1 left this place there were about thirty that had [irofessed Christ uader mv administration. I -The first Bible th.^t 1 md throii ,'h twi ;e is on mv t il)i i now Th it Irts been f )rtv yeirs ago. lO THE LIFK OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN. fre into the mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him ; and he taught them saying." In the conversation that passed between us there were many things said. Elder Ayers said that there was no jjromise of salvation this side of baptism. In refutation of that assertion, 1 pointed him to tenth chapter of Acts, where Cornelius re- ceived the "Gift of the Holy Ghost" while Peter was talking to him. Then the congregation was dismissed. When I came home I wrote a number of pamphlets, after this style, headed: " To the Public." "I appear before the public in regard to a religious controversy which took place November ii, 1871, at the Christian Church in Paris, Ry., between Elder H. M. Ayers and myself. I had no idea of the discussion until I reached the church. I have thought it my duty to let the public know something about it, as I believe his object was to kill me off, but he waked up the wrong passenger. If Mr. Ayers wished a discussion why did he not do as I would have done? I would have invited him to my room. But I suppose he did not consider me worthy, and therefore he thought he would kill me off in the Christian Church. But he did not do it. Now, not that I have any unkind feeling toward Mr. Ayers, but I will point him not to the New Testa- ment only, but to the Old. I will call the attention of the public to the word of God. Mr. Ayers asked me a question, and that was if I be- lieved that a man was baptized for the ' remission of sins.' I asked him if I imderstood him to say that sins were washed away in baptism. I told him that I did not. And I shall give him a few passages of Scrip- ture. Acts xvi:29 : ' Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.' But Paul and Silas did not tell him as Mr. Ayers; ' not to do that for that was the way that the 40 THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, Baptists do, and he must not do it; he must get up, it will not do to mourn that way.' As Mr. Ayers said, I want you all to read the Bible. In Acts xix:6 you will find: 'When Paul had laid his hands upon them the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied.' But Paul did not baptize them with water. The apos- tles did not baptize them over again to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter tells us 'that He (God) put no difference between us and them, purify- ing their hearts by faith.' Now, I wish Mr. Ayers would do like them, and I think he and I would get along better. The Bible says ' if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.' But Mr. Ayers reads backwards. He brought it before the church first. Now I shall ask him one question : ' Was Jesus baptized over?' I think not. If Jesus were baptized over, Paul did not do it and our Heavenly Father acknowledges John's baptism. But Mr. Ayers will not. I hope Mr. Ayers will read the Bible. Read, if you please, the fourth chapter of John. I hope Mr. Ayers is not a Pharisee. For 'When, therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.' Here it is said he made disciples. Will Mr. Ayers tell us how he made them? And now I point you to some chapters in the Bible which I want you to read. They are these : ' This is my blood of the new testament, which I shed for many for the remission of sins.' Read the twentieth chapter of John and the twenty-second verse and you will not see any water there. " The Bible says 'the blood of Jesus and not the water.' I have not called on any of my white brethren to assist me in this. But should I, they would. I heard an elder once say that if a man fooled you the first time it was his fault and the next dme it was your own fault. Elder Ayers will never fool me again in his church. May this brief episde find its way to the hearts of many is the l)rayer of your unworthy servant, E. W. (tREEN." Sometime after this controversy with Elder Ayers the Rev. E. \V. Hammond, pastor of the M. E. Church of Paris, protracted a meeting in which there were well nigh 400 added to the church. Many of these desiring to be immersed or baptized, the church had a pool dug. Rev. Hammond baptized some and others he sprinkled. I'he follow- ing Sunday I preached in my church at Paris. In the process of which I said that baptism by immersion had planted a battery at the M. E. Church. I said this because the Rev. Hammond had said there were seven ways to baptize. Mr. Hammond was editing a small paper called the District Monitor. When I came home I was shown the fol- lowing item in his paper: There is quite an extensive movement on the part of the younger and more progressive members of the Baptist Church in Paris in favor of a change of pastors. They want an educated minister. We hope their wants may be gratified. Paris needs more light. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 4I There was no truth in that item. The young members of Paris church had said no such thing. On my return to Paris, at my next regular appointment, I was in company with Brother Plenry Crosse, an intimate friend of mine and a meml)er of Rev. Hammond's church, and who has since died. I told Brother Crosse that Rev. Hammond had published me in his paper. He said that he thought not. I con- tended that it was so, when the Rev. Mr. Hammond comes u]). Brother Crosse asked him if he said anything concerning me in his paper. He said he did publish a litde something about the church of which I was pastor. Then I told him that what he had published was not true, and that he must correct it. If he did not I would. I came home and waited nearly a month for Mr. Hammond to correct the statement which he had made. I then wrote the following: Once more I ai)])ear before the i)ul)lic for the pur[)Ose of correcting some false statements that the Rev. K. W. Hammond, e(litU rabk* time. This noble minister of Jesus Christ departed this life on the 26th of February, 1876. When the day came for tlie funeral the church was i)acked and all out of doors was thronged with people to hear the last words in due respect to the body of that noble Christian minister. The Rev. J. F. Thomas, another eye wit- ness, wrote the following to the Baptist Herald^ the Baptist organ edited by the Rev. (j. W. Dupee, ofPaducah: Georgetown, Ky., February 27, 1876. The funeral of Elder R. Lee, pastor of the Colored Baptist Church, (Georgetown, who departed this life February 23, 1876, at 6 o'clock a. m., was largely attended by a vast concourse of people. The corpse was taken to the church at 10 o'clock a. m, for review by the assembled congregation, and at 12 the coffin was closed and services commenced. The Rev. J. F. Thomas, of Lexington, read the twenty-third Psalm. The Rev. R. Martin, of Frankfort, offered prayer. The Rev. M. M. Bell, of Lexington, read and sang the 1 1 i8th hymn — "vServant of God, Well Done" &c. After singing the above hymn Elder (ieorge W. Du])ee, of Paducah, gave a synopsis of the life and labors of Bishop Lee, stating that he had been engaged, if tlie longest liver, for twenty- five or thirty years to preach the funeral of Brother Lee. He first met the deceased near the P,ig Springs in the fall of 1845 — thirty years ago this fall. Bishop Lee was born July 25, 1825; died February 23, 1876, aged fifty years, five months and twenty-three days. He embraced religion when young and joined the Presbyterian Society in 1842 and remained with it until 1862, when he was baptized in the fellowship of 46 THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, Pleasant Green Baptist Church, Lexington, by Elder G. W. Dupee. He was ordained August 7, 1862, by Elders W. Pratt, J. S. Smith and G. W. Dupee, and was called to pastor the Second Baptist Church in Georgetown in the fall of the same year. His labors there were very successful. He baptized into the fellowship of this church 975 persons in fourteen years. Having been called to divide his labors with the Second Baptist Church of Versailles he entered upon such duty the first Lord's day in January, 1864, where his labors met with like success. But a few weeks before his death he resigned his pastorate with that church, having baptized 619 persons. Total number baptized for the two churches, 1,594. Brother Dupee ])romised to give a full report of the labors of Bishop Lee in the April number of the Baptist Herald. The speaker read for his text 2d Timothy, iv:7-8. We cannot give a detail of sermon, but we will say this much: the speaker displayed tiie power of oratory that he is well known to y)ossess. He said : "Thirty years ago Reuben Lee, the slave of old Mr. Samuel Wallace, heard that form of doctrine which was delivered and obeyed it from the heart. It was not his fault that he did not at first join the church of Jesus Christ, but being a slave he had to join the Presbyterian Society. But as soon as he got possession of himself he joined the Pleasant Green B;iptist Church in 1862 and entered upon the work of a minister of the gospel. '^ At the conclusion of Elder Du])ee's discourse Elder H. .McDonald, pastor of the white church, was invited by Elder Dupee to make some re- marks, which he did with a feeling eloquence characteristic of the man. Elder E. W. Green was the last speaker. He adverted to his first acquaintance with Brother l>ee and of the pleasantness he had with him. He filled up and took his seat. Thousands of peoi)le, white and colored, followed the remains to the grave. When the benediction was pronounced the multitude dis- persed until the great day. May we all be ready. J. F. Thomas. The Rev. G. VV. Dupee in the same issue of the Herald said : "Here the members and friends had prepared the church suitably, it being heavily draped. A fine metallic coflin and everything showed their intelligence and also the great respect they entertained fi)r their lamented pastor. The ministering brethren were generally invited, we understood. The following named bishops were present, to-wit : E. W. Green. R. Martin, L. C. Natas, J. Johnson, J. F. Thomas, M. M. Bell, C. Smothers, J. K. Polk* L. Burley, M. Madison, P. Vinegar, D. Hickman, S. Lee, N. Williams, J. Jackson, L. Lewis and H. McDonald, pastor of the white church. A number of students from (xeorgetown College, members of the churches of Versailles, Lexington, Paris, Frankfort, Midway and from various churches about through the country. The scene was truly appalling. His last words in the pul])it, just fifty-seven hours before he died, were that he knew that he had been born of the spirit of God — that Paul had two sons in the gospel, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 47 Timothy and Titus — so have I (alhiding to J. K.. I'olk and John Vine- gar.)" I need add no more to this subhme and solemn scene, but close it by saying that the Rev. Lee was in every way an example for the be- lievers. He was a true gospel minister in action, soul and purpose of heart. I can say that the Baptists of Kentucky have lost a faithful minister in the work of the Master. A\'ould that our ministry of to-day was such — that the same earnest zeal for the salvation of men and the jjrogress of God's cause could be found in our younger ministers of the present age. The Elkhorn Association got into a kind of tangle and could not pay for their minutes. They sent a committee to the Mt. Zion District Association, asking if we would consolidate with them. The Associa- tion set a time to consider the matter. The time came and the meet- ing was held in the Haptist Church at Paris. The Executive Boards of both bodies were the authorities in the matter. P.-XRis, Kv., July 30, 1879. At a joint meeting of the Executive Boards of Mt. Zion and Elk- horn District Associations, convened in High Street Baptist Church, credentials from their Associations authorizing them to consolidate the two bodies, were produced. The devotional exercises were conducted by Elder E. W. Cireen, after which he was elected Moderator and Brother E. M. Manion Secretary. On motion it was order d that a committee be a])pointed to draft resolutions favoring consolidation. The committee produced the following preamble and resolutions: "Whereas, the several district associations in this section of the state are becoming weak, be it '■'^ Resolved, That the Elkhorn and Mt. Zion District Associations be consolidated and that this body be known hereafter as the Consoli- dated Baptist Educational .Association; that the (\)nstitution of the Mt. Zion be recognized as the Constitution of the Consolidated Baptist Edu- cational Association. '■'■Resolved, That the Consolidated Baptist Educational Association meet at Covington. Ky., Wednesday before the third Lord's day in July, 1880. U'e further recommend that some steps be taken to establish a school at Scott's Station, or elsewhere in Kentucky, and that the Executive Board of the Consolidated Baptist Educational Associa- tion be the committee to carry out the resolution. '■'■Resolved, That the Rev. E. W. Green be Moderator of the Con- solidated Baptist Educational Association; J. Johnson, Assistant Mode- rator; J. W. Calamese, Recording Secretary; L. I). Henderson, Cor- responding Secretary; William Smith, Treasurer. 48 THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, J. F. Thomas, E. W. Green, C. Smothers, J. K. Polk, W. B. Blackburn, J. Johnson, Committee. The Rev. W. B. Blackburn was one of the most energetic and active men in the business of the Association. I could take him and do as much business as some six men. At the meeting of the Consolidated Baptist Educational Association with the Baptist Church of Covington, it was shocked by the a^bsence of the Rev. W. B. Blackburn, the pastor in charge, who had died the April previous. The following resolutions in respect to hi^ death were adopted : Whereas, God, in His allwise providence, has moved from the world our much beloved and revered brother. Bishop W. B. Black- burn, of Covington, and Whereas, This, the Consolidated Baptist Educational Association of which he was a member, while bowing in submission to the will of Ciod, misses him in her deliberations; and Whereas, The loss of our brother in the vineyard of the Lord has caused us to grieve much, therefore be it Resolved, That through his demise we have lost an earnest soldier of the cross, an eloquent expounder of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, an able defender of the doctrine of the Baptist Church, a man whose heart was ever ready to assist the poor, raise the fallen, cheer the faint, and in whom was personification of all that is true. Be it further Resolved, That our association wear the usual badge of mourning and that we cast the mantle of charity over his faults, be they few or many, and think only of his virtue, feeling assured that he passed over the river to welcome us across. Be it further Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the several city papers and a copy sent to his mother and family ; that we condole his bereft mother and bid her await with patience the time when she will be permitted to join him on the other shore "where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Be it further Resolved, That each church in the bounds of this Association hold a memorial service in favor of him and that to-morrow afternoon It be held in this Association. W. J. Simmons, D.D., J. K. Polk. J. L. Dudley, Brothers L. D. Henderson, O. A. Nelson, W. M. Ward composed the committee for the above resolutions. Accordingly, Sunday at the afternoon session, the Association and citizens of Covington and Cincinnati assembled in the First Baptist Church to participate in his memorial service. It was a grand, solemn and large gathering. When the Rev. J. L. Dudley WRITTEN HY HIMSELF. 49 had announced those who were to jjarticipate in the services, the Rev. J. K. }\)\k sang the hymn "Servant of (jod well done." The Rev. J. W. Calaniese offered prayer. 1 opened the services, choosing for a text Job .\iv:i4 — '• If a man die shall he live again?'" I was followed by the Re\-. Messrs. J. K. Tolk. J. lolinson, j. \V. Calamese and William .Miller. Thus passed another scene of solemnity in the Baptist Churcli in ('ovini'ton. CHAPTER VI. IN September of 1880 I received a dispatch from Maysville to come at once, that my wife was " spitting blood" and was not expected to live. I left Paris at once for home. It was the Lord's will and I got there a short time before she died. I conversed with her concerning her prospects for heaven and speaking of the goodness of (iod. Said she, in substance: " My time is at hand, and all is well." While it was upon me a heavy stroke of sorrow, yet I bowed in humble submission to the will of (Iod that in His providence He was doing all things well in separating us. Finally she fell asleep in Christ. The following article concerning her death was printed in one of the city papers : "Sister Susan Green, wife of our venerable father in the gospel. Elder E. W. (ireen, of Maysville, departed this life September 13. [880. She professed religion fifty years ago and received the ordinance of baptism at the hands of the Rev. Walter Warder. Thirty-five years ago she was married to Elder (ireen and together they lived happily for that long space of time. Sister Green's life was not an uneventful one. She suffered much, both physically and mentally. She was born a slave, and after marrying was at one time compelled to witness that most dreadful of all sights — the carrying away of her own child (a son) to the slave markets of the south. The little fellow was tied to a stake barefooted and almost naked in winter. She bade him a tearful adieu, her heart bleeding and yearning for her child which the accursed yoke of slavery prevented her from claiming as her own and whom she never saw again. Surely the Lord loved her for he has chastened her. She meekly said 'Thy willl be done.' Some two years ago the Lord laid his hand upon her again. This time she received a paralytic stroke, which disabled her for awhile. A few weeks ago she was able to stand alone, for the first time since she was stricken. A few days ago she WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 5 1 was confined to her bed by her last illness. Every possible remedy was used and all were unremitting in their attentions to her wants, but in spite of all that was done she continued to sink. Shortly before her death, feeling the hour was nigh, when her desire to be with Christ would be gratified, she called her niece, Sister Nelson, to her side and told her the hymns which she desired to be sung at her funeral, viz: 'On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,' 'Come brothers and sisters that love one another.' She bade all farewell and sank to sleep in the arms of Jesus and awoke in that happy place 'where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.' Her funeral services were con- ducted by Elders John Johnson, of Cynthiana; James Thomas, of Paris, and J. W. Calamese, of Washington. Elder Johnson's text was First Corinthians, xv:55— 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' It was an able discourse. He was followed by Elders Thomas and Calamese with very appropriate remarks. At the conclusion of the services the remains were carried to their last resting place, followed by a large concourse of i)eople. Surely a mother in Israel has gone and we can only wait for our time to cross to meet her where parting is no more. She has left a husband and children to mourn her loss, but that dear husband is not as one without hope, for he looks forward to the time when he can meet her on the banks ot sweet deliverance. We who knew her but a short while can add our testimony and say with the inspired writer: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, yet from henceforth saith the spirit for they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them.' " The writer of this article was 1). L. V^ Moffett, to whom 1 give due credit for the manner and spirit thereof. Not long after the death of my wife my daughter Maria was stricken very severely, which re- sulted in her losing her mind and thus having to be taken to the Lex- ington Asylum, where she died in a short time. In the Cincinnati riot of April, 1884, my son Thomas was killed by some misfortune, what it was I am unable to say. On the 8th of June, 1883, I left home for Paris, the following Sunday of course being my regular day there. When 1 got to Millers- burg the train was boarded by the Rev. 0. T. (iould. President of the Millersburg Female College, Professors Bristow and Carrington, con- nected with the same institution, and a number of lady students from the college. Colonel Morrow, an intimate friend of mine, rose up po- litely and said to Gould: "You may have my seat." "No," said he. "I'll make this nigger get up." When he said this he and Professor THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA W. GREEN, Bristow took hold of me with the expression: "Come oiit of here." I said to them: "I paid for this seat in Maysville. I will hold it to Paris or die in my tracks/' "Then you won't come out?" I told him " No ; that if he had asked me like a gentleman I would have come out, but before I would be pulled out like a dog I would die." He then asked: "Did you call me no gentleman?" Said I : " No sir; had you asked me like a gentleman I would have got up." The Rev. John Barbour, who is a gentleman and Christian, when [ ^ot to Paris came to me and asked if I were going to let that ghost off. I told him that I was not. "Well," said he, "if you want my testimony you can get it, for I saw it all." Bristow came up to Mr. Harbour and said to him : "Do you take this old scoundrel's part? If }<)u do, I will give you what the nigger got." Mr. Barlx>ur told him that he was traveling, and desired to keep out of difficulties with any one. I got off the train and went down in town, (Paris,) when Mr. Charlton .\le.\ander came hunting me. VVhen he met me, said he: "You were in a fuss on the train this evening." I told him that I was. Continued he ; " What are you going to do about it?" Itold him that 1 thought that I would go home and consult with m}- friends. He said : " No ; you have friends here. Go up to Mr. Lock- hart's and get out a warrant for 'assault and battery.' " He went with me and I did so. He told me to go down to the lower livery stable and that I would find Colonel Morrow, who knew all the party, and if he were not at the stable to go to his house. I did as instructed. Tlie Colonel had just left for home. I went to his hcmse and was invited in and given a seat. He asked me if I knew the party. I told him that I did not. "Well," said he, " I know them all.'' He gave me a number of names, stating that on the morrow he was going to Millersburg and would return on the evening train and present to me the balance. It was such a peculiar affair that I must give the opinion of Gould, Bristow and the press generally. Let us hear the statement of Mr. Gould in the Mays- ville Bulletin: Mr. Editor: Commencement duties have prevented me heretofore from noticing the many misrepresentations of my encounter with Rev. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 53 Elisha (rreen, a man of color, upon the Maysville and Lexington train, June 8, 1883. At the time referred to I had twenty-eight young ladies under my care. Attention to the baggage detained me so that I was the very last to board the train, doing so only after it was pretty well under headway. As soon as 1 entered the ladies' coach 1 noticed con- siderable excitement and heard such exclamations as "It is a shame!" " He ought to be put out!" "If he does not get up he ought to be made to." The matter was exjjlained when I saw from the rear door two of my young ladies standing in the aisle and a big black negro man complacently occupying a seat to himself. I looked and there was not a vacant seat in the car except the one beside the negro. In many places the young ladies were sitting three u])on a seat and several gen- tlemen were standing in the passway, having given up their places. Among them standing were Professors Bristow, Carrington, Payne. McClinlock. ^^'addel and Pijier and my own son. As the two young ladies had already been standing some moments directly at the end of the seat on which the negro sat it was evident that he had no intention of offering them the place. I therefore walked back to him and said to him: " I wish you would give your seat to these young ladies, because if you do not there will be a disturbance." He promptly rei)lied.thar he would ncjt. " \'er.y well," said I, '• when the conductor comes we will see whether you do not." I then sent for Captain Martin, who was in the front coach, and waited no little time for his coming, since he did not come directly, but stopped to take up all the tickets by the way. While I was thus waiting and the young ladies still standing the negro informed me that if the conductor compelled him to give them his seat he would make the railroad company suffer for it. When Con- ductor Martin at last reached us I appealed to liini whether the young ladies must stand and let the negro sit. His reply was that he could do nothing. ••.Ml right," said I, "'then I will see what I can do." Leaning over the back of the seat I took the negro by the arm, saying : "Come, get out of here." At once, and with considerable violence, he struck me and loosened my grasp. Then it was that Professor Bristow, who was sitting on the arm of the second seat in front of us, and who had neither spoken to the darkey nor been at any time near him, seeing him viciously strike me, rose up and struck the fellow over the head with a small hand bag. Professor Bristow hit him but once and Mr. C"arrirgton never touched him at all in any way, manner, shape or form. Nor did I touch his person other than to take him by the arm as already described. 1 did not know who the fellow was. I did know, however, that he was a big black negro and that two young ladies were standing while he sat. Having never been accustomed to see such an indignity as that put upon a lady, that she must stand through a ride of eight miles while a negro man lolls at his ease, I couid not bring myself tamely to submit to it. I do not believe that there is a gentleman in Iventucky who would stand idly by and see his wife and daughters thus insulted. These young ladies came from the e.xtrenie south, hundreds of miles from their homes, with neither father nor mother near, but depending upon me for protection from insult and 54 THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA \V. GREEN, injury. I had been recreant to my trust and unworthy the position which I occupy had I not, after exhausting apjjeal to the negro and conductor, myself attempted his ejection from the seat. If any man has fallen so low as to think white women should stand while negro men keep their seats then him 1 have insulted, and really I do not care if I have. Yours, &:c. , Geo. T. Gould. Millersburg Female College, June 19, 1883. Here Mr. Gould's statement ends. I take the liberty to say that there is not an ounce of truth in the thing. I am a negro, as Mr. Gould says, but I would rather be a big bhick negro with the character and reputation I have, and one that tells the truth, than an educated dude of a white man that can lie faster than the Recording Angel in heaven would have patience to write. There is an expression which says: "A lie can go a mile while truth is putting his boots on." Let us turn to another statement of the affair by one of Mr. Gould's colleagues — Professor Bristow. The Daily Bulletin of Thursday, June 21, 1883, contained the following: The following explanation of the assault on the Rev. Elisha (ireen, of this city, is printed in the Paris Kciifiukian as coming from Professor Bristow : "Meeting Professor Bristow, of the Millersburg Female College, and a pleasant party of young ladies on Saturday's train, we asked him to record the names in our note book, which he did as follows: Pro- fessor F. L. Bristow, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Miss Jennie Sanders, Parks- burg. West Va. ' All seated and no Rev. African molested,' added he. We then asked him as to the facts of the case in regard to the diffi- culty with the colored man Green. ' As we went into the car,' said he, 'several persons made way to let the young ladies have seats and we expected the darkey to do likewise, and after waiting sometime asked him if he did not intend to take another seat and let the ladies have his. He was positive that he would not do so. We waited for the conductor to make Green act the part of a gentleman, but the con- ductor did not feel authorized to interfere with him, and we said that we would force him to act the part of a gentleman. Mr. Gould attempted to draw him out of the seat when Green struck at him, and I tapped the darkey with this light satchel. I knew nothing of his being a preacher or crippled, as he is a very large, robust-looking darkey, and . I notice gets about very well. I think any man, white or black, that won'j; readily accommodate ladies, ought be made to do so. I knocked a darkey down once in Little Rock, Ark., who would not give way to ladies in the street. I did tell a man, (said to be the Rev. John Bar- bour) who sided with Green, that I could accommodate him.'" This ends the statement of Professor Bristow. I made a statement in the beginning of the case, but I wish to make the one that I wrote to WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 55 the paper when the act was committed, because it was then fresh in my memory. • I wrote to the Bulletin, of this city, by re(|uest, as fol- lows : On Kriday, the 8th day of June, having occasion to go to Paris, where I have a charge in connection with the Maysville church, I bought a ticket to that place and occupied a seat on one of the cars of the 12:30 p. m. train until I got to Millersburg. At that place a man, whom I afterwards learned was Dr. (i. T. (rould, of the Female Insti- tute at Millersburg, with several other men and a number of young ladies, came into the car and for several minutes were busy seating seating themselves. I paid no particular attention to them as there were vacant enough seats for all, and presently all were seated except two ladies. Colonel Robert Morrow, who occupied the seat immediately behind me, arose and offered it to them. Hut one of the teachers, Pro- fessor IJristow, said: "No. I don't want your seat; Til make this nigger get up." And with that he siezed me suddenly by the collar and said: "Come out of here," and at the same time Dr. Gould caught me by the arm. I told them I had paid for that seat from Maysville and did not intend to be driven out like a dog. I had no notice that it was wanted, and would have given it up if I had been asked politely, and if there had been no other seats in the car I should have offered it to them. I try to be polite on all occasions, and I do not think any per- son in this city who knows me will ever say that I have been intention- ally impolite to any one. When I told Professor Bristow that I'did not intend to be driven out of my seat he stepped into the aisle and into the second seat ahead of me and struck me three or four times over the head with a valise while Dr. Gould and some other person held me. At this i)oint Colonel Morrow and some other gentlemen, among them Conductor John Martin, interfered and saved me from further injury. There was one cut on the top of my head and cuts on two of my fingers. At Paris, on the following Monday, I procured warrants against the men who assailed me on the charge of "assault and battery," and I shall be present at the proper time to present my case against them in court. Y.. W. Green. Under my article the editor penned the following: "Rev. Elisha Green is sixty-five years of age and has been a minister of the gospel for thirty-nine years, all of that time pastor of the Maysville Colored Baptist Church, and since 1855 has also had charge of the church at Paris. He is a (juiet and unobtrusive man and is esteemed and re- spected not only by his own race, but also by the white population of Maysville. He was injured several years ago in a railroad accident and has since been a cripple." Having given the statements of Dr. Gould, Professor Bristow and myself, 1 will give the opinion of the press in general. The Lexington Transcript o{ ]\\x\Q 19, 1883, had the following: 56 'IHE LIFK OF KF.V. ELISHA W. (;REEN, Northern pai)ersto the contrary, there is a deep-seated sense of justice to the black man in the breast of our best white men that arouses their in- dignation in this community upon a broad and catholic principle of right in which color and social condition do not at all enter. The Reverend President, G. T. Gould, of Millersburg, who struck the old black preacher, Elisha Green, has in the public estimation so proclaimed himself a bad citizen that any college or church that carries him will have to do it as Sinbad did the old man of the sea. That institution cannot flourish until that man and the other two associated with him are dismissed from its employ. Such men are not proper characters to en- trust with young girls. This man (lould is the same party that Mrs. Tarrant, of our city, and other lady teachers in his school declined to be associated with, on the ground of ungentlemanly conduct in him. A mule and plow at this season would have been a more fitting situation for the development of the reverend fellow's genius and manners than one in which he is liable to be looked to as an example of decorum by our best young ladies. Now, to affirm the statement made by the Lexington Transcript, I will give the following, comuig from a citizen of Maysville : \Vnien Rev. (reorge T. Gould lived in Maysville some years ago he was well thought of by members of all denominations. But since he has been teaching the Female Seminary in Millersburg various reports |)rejudicial to his reputation have obtained circulation and among many persons credence. Whether the charges of intemperance have been true or false his conduct on the afternoon train last Friday in assaulting Elisha Green, the well-known colored Baptist preacher of this city, was a most unwarrantable outrage. We have only to say of Elisha Green that his character as a man, honest, truthful, peaceful, religious, is one that Mr. Gould and many other white ministers might covet. Miscon- duct in this community, where his life as a slave and free man were passed, has been above reproach and beyond suspicion. On Friday last he paid for a passage from this city to Paris, and took the seat to which his ticket entitled him. He occupied it without molestation and without disturbing any one until he reached Millersburg, where the car was boarded by the Rev. Dr. Gould, his assistant Professor Bristow, and about thirty young ladies found seats. Gould demanded that Elisha (ireen should surrender the seat he occupied, which he declined to do. They appealed to Conductor Martin, who told them that (rreen had paid for half of the seat and had a right to keep it and he would not remove him; that if either of them desired the other half he would see that Cireen yielded it ; that he was a respectable man, a minister of the gospel and should not be disturbed. Martin then left the car and (rould and Bristow continued their altercation with Green and finally both assaulted him, beating him over the head with satchels. If the facts be as stated to us it was a most unmanly outrage, degrading to Mr. (rould's character as a minister of the gospel, and as a teacher of youth unworthy of any one professing to be a gentleman. It was j)ure, una- dulterated cowardly ruffianism and none guilty of it ought to be VVKI'l TKN RV HIMSKI.K. 57 tolerated in the pul])it or as the principal of a school to \vhi( h young ladies are sent to be instructed in manners and morals. A white minister of the gospel was on hoard of the train, who had known (ireen all his life, and told him he had witnessed the assault and would give his testimony if called on. Whereupon Bristow, with characteristic blackguardism and ruffianism, offered to fight him, which of course was declined. COWARDLY ASSAULT. K(n\ E. W. Green, Colored, of This City, Assailed and Beaten— Details of lite Disgraceful Affair as Given By an Eye-Witness. A most cowardly and brutal assault was made uj)()n Rev. Elisha ("rreen on board the Kentucky Central Railroad train on Friday by Rev. G. T. C.ould, President of the Millersburg Female College, and Professors Bristow and Carrington, connected with the same institution. Rev. Elisha Green was en route for Paris, where he was to preach Sun- day. When the train reached Millersburg it was boarded by Rev. G. T. Gould, Professors Bristow and Carrington, and a large number of young ladies of the college on their way to Versailles, where they were to give an exhibition that night. Conductor John Martin, in an interview with the rei)()rter of the Ahw Repiibliciin, says he was approached by Rev. (ic.uld, who de- manded of him the removal of Rev. (ireen from the car. He refused to do so, stating that he was an old colored prea( her who had always acted gentlemanly during the fretpient trips he had made on Lis train, and that he was entitled to one-half the seat he was occupying; that he would see that they secured the other half should they desire it. Rev. Gould responded: "If you don't put him out we will" and commenced drawing off his gloves. Conductor Martin states that he passed on col- lecdng tickets, never thinking there would be any trouble, as all the parties were i)reachers, but was immediately recalled by a scuffle and loud words. When he reached the spot Professor Carrington was mounted on the seat holding Rev. Green, Rev. Gould pinioning him from behind and Professor Bristow raining blows with a brass-bound valise upon his head. • He commanded Bristow to desist, who rather reluctantly consented when informed by Conductor Martin that it he did not he would compel him to do so. (Conductor Martin says utmost confusion prevailed, the passengers rusliing out into other cars. Colonel Robert Morrow, of Paris, in an interview with the Bourbon News re- porter, substantially confirms Conductor Martui, and further statestii.it he tendered his seat to Rev. Gould, who rephed : "No, I thank you; I don't want that seat. I am going to have that one and he has got to set out of here." Colonel Morrow and others also state to the News ... that Professor Carrington attempted to draw a pistol, but on bemg ad- monished not to attemi)t it he did not do so. Another eye-witness is authority for the statement that Professor Bristow attempted to open his valise as if to get a pistol. It is further stated that on th,' arrival of the 58 THE LIFE OF REV. ELISHA VV. GREEN, train at Paris Rev. John Barbour, who had witnessed the difificulty, told Green he would give his testimony if c died on, whereupon Bristow, \vh(j overheard him, stepped up and informed him if he desired to have a "finger in the pie" he could be accommodated. We have givjn a statement of the affair at length that the facts might be fully understood. It is apparent that it makes a strong case of double-distilled cowardly ruffianism that we would not have believed any Kerituckian would have been guilty of. The case is more brutal when it is taken in consideration that Rev. Elisha Green is advanced in years and enfeebled by an injury received on the road near the place of his assault several years ago, whilst his assailants were three strong, vig- orous, able-bodied men, and one of whom could have handled him. It is a shocking and disgusting outrage when we consider that the at- tack was made upon a colored man, and we are of the firm belief that it never would have been attempted if he (Green) had been white. It evinces base, brutal and degraded minds which assaulted and would perhaps have gone further if they had not been restrained. It proclaims to the world that they are totally unfitted for the positions they hold as educators of the morals of young ladies. It is a disgrace they have brought upon the ministry for which they should be fittingly rebuked by the church to which they belong. Finally, it betrays the wolf in sheep's clothing — the most vicious and despicable of characters. — \Maysville New Republican. There can be no doubt but that Dr. Gould, Professor Bristow and Secretary Carrington have made a serious mistake and placed themselves in an ugly attitude before the public. — [Car/isle Mcrcurv. Having put out a warrant on Mr. Gould for "assault and battery," as advised by Mr. Alexander, the case came up in March of the year 1884 in the Paris Courthouse. Mr. G. C. Lockhart was my employe and Mr. Harry Ward, of Cynthiana, was the attorney for Gould. The cost of the suit was $300 and the court allowed me $24 damages. I will present a synopsis of what took place in process of the trial. Mr. Ward addressed the jury in this manner: ''Judge, Your Honor, Gentlemen of the Jury: Here is Bishop Green, Elder Green, Rev. Green, and I believe the conductor calls him 'Uncle 'Lisha.' Don't you know that it is wrong for you to go to law? And here you sit in the Courthouse attending a law suit and I look up to you for instruction. Brother 'Lisha, you don't hke to be called a negro." Said I: "So far as nigger is concerned I do not like that; but negro, I am proud ut it." This is merely tlie beginning of Mr. Ward's speech. Mr. Lock- hart followed. WKll TF.N i;V HIMSELF. 59 '' /uiigc. Your Honor, Gentlemen of the Jury: I am a lawyer and sworn to enforce the law. I intend to do it irrespective of race, color or previous condition of servitude. My opponent, all he has done is to make fun of Uncle Rlisha, hut he can't laugh this thing out of court." This is what Mr. Lockhart said as introductory to his sjjeech. Such an eloquent, profound exposition of law 1 never heard before. It indeed was a grand speech, embracing points of law and facts in every proposition and cpiestion. Sometime after this Mr. Gould was found guilty of immoral conduct and excluded from the church and confer- ence of which he was a member.* In conclusion let me say that I have no accurate account of the persons that I have baptized since I began preaching. When in Kan- sas two years ago the Rev. George W. Dupee said it must be in the neighborhood of 6,000. But whether it is this or less, I am conscious of the fact that my work has been blessed. Ciod has never withheld from his humble .servant any good thing. In all these years I cannot remember of closing a meeting without having gained some soul for Christ. Often and at times the way has looked dark and cloudy, but nevertheless, God came to my rescue. I would try to live so that I could tell my brethren and sisters "Follow me as I would follow Christ." I have always since my conversion, tried to follow Jesus Christ. A word to the young ministers: A great responsibility now lies at^our hands. God needs you to carry out his divine plan in the salvation of the world. We, the old veterans of the cross, are passing away. Soon we shall sleep with the fathers. Who will lead when we are gone? It rests with you to decide this important question. While this is an age of education and of progress in the sciences and arts, yet it is no less the age of immoral conduct. Possess your character and educate yourselves. You have no excuse now. If you go into the minis- try uneducated in this day of enlightenment you show plainly you are not a progressive creature. Keep yourself pure from whisky, wine, beer or any other thing that degrades a man. It is my character that has ke]Jt mc in Paris and Maysville for these thirty-odd years. You can do the same if you will live right, act right and do right. If I could call back forty-five years I would be seen grappling with language and the different sciences as other men. P>ut slavery prevented me from getting an education. I came up in an age of unreconciliation between men — when books in a *I have the trial of the above statement. 6o THE LIP'E OF RRV. ELISHA W. GREEN. black man's hand were ecjual to a case of murder sometimes in this day. But I thank God that that day has past and the glories of a l)etter one are upon us. Young ministers, whatever you do, possess a good char- acter. But have both character and education. Be men. and strong men. We old fathers have prepared the material for the building, and you must do the building. Do this and God will bless you. x'^- c^. .\^' A^^ ,oc -'?.■ K-' A^- ■'•/• •^. ,. .C^^ •\^ v\V .#^ ,^~ ^ -^o 0^ ^v- :.■ A- .-J> >^^ S (>• V " ~ '• '■• .^ < .•^ -u .A- ^^. x^^ ^^. •^ s- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 01 1 696 445 4 li' ^^H^i