tKfje Hifrrarp
oftfjc
Wlmbtv*itp of JgortJ Carolina
Collection of Jlortf) Carolinians
This book must not
be taken from the
Library building.
ok— ■s-w - "*
JHIS fTEF
iflBTHE:
Form No. 471
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://archive.org/details/africanmethodismOOgain
I by H.&C Koevoe
J^TzUl^.
<22^^f,
Hfrican Jtethodism in the South
Twenty-Five Years of Freedom.
By Rt. Rev. WESLEY J. GAINES, D. D.,
Sixteenth Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
With an Introduction by
Prof. W. S. SCARBOROUGH. A. M., LL. D.
Atlanta, Georgia:
Franklin Publishing House.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by
Rt. Rev. WESLEY J. GAINES, D. D.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
NO
TO
MY FAITHFUL WIFE AND DAUGHTER
AND TO THE
CONFERENCE OF THE SIXTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
»v
PREFACE.
In undertaking this work I have had in mind to
present to my readers and to the A. M. E. Church a
brief but comprehensive survey of the work of our
church in the South, especially in the State of Geor-
gia ; so that in passing over the pages if there be
found anything omitted which would seem necessary
to make the history of our church work in the South-
ern States complete, it must be remembered that
such a comprehensive history has not been my de-
sign. Such would call for more space than this small
volume can comprise, and there are historians who
will undertake the task of setting forth the work in
other individual States.
It has been my aim to touch upon the adjoining
States to Georgia only so far as seemed necessary to
a proper understanding of the spread of the work, and
when the relationship is so close as to make one a
necessary complement of the other, and so far as my
own personal experience in those States would war-
rant my adding them to my list.
The early years of work in every section through-
out the United States is only a repetition of the early
years of the existence of the A. M. E. Church from
its inception in 1687 to its birth in 18 16 and through
the years of its infancj' It is a record whose data
are difficult to find. It has been most difficult in the
South because when the church began, before the
fortunes of war were finally settled, there were no set
plans, no systematic work and the changing condi-
tions surrounding all things affected it as well.
We know this era to have been one prolific in
events, yet a conscientious desire for accuracy leads
us to omit much data that may have been due to the
passions and prejudices of men, and, as a minister of
peace, place that before the world which we find to
be irrefutable facts.
It is not the purpose to make this book one of ab-
stract history. I have moved among these Southern
scenes from birth, and with the birth of the A. M. E.
Church in the South, I have ever since been identi-
fied with its Georgia history. My familiarty, with the
Conferences of this State and their results is that
which comes from being present every session from
that of the first Conference held in Charleston in
1865 ; and my knowledge of how much the growth of
our work can be explained only by the details, has
led me to give place to those of importance in each
record of the proceedings of these bodies.
It has been my purpose to make mention of all
growth as far as I could find accurate data for it, and
to bring before my readers the men whose entrance
into the church work has caused this growth.
In my preparation I have to acknowledge my obli-
gations to numerous friends whose kindly help in
gathering scattered material has greatly aided me. I
am especially indebted to Dr. T. G. Steward's early
history of the work as found in the Georgia Confer-
ence Minutes and in his Centennial address ; also to
PREFACE. VII
Bishop B. W. Arnet for statistics kindly furnished,
and to the valuable Centennial Budget of the A. M.
E. Church, compiled by the same.
If my little volume shall be an incentive to others
likewise to add to the literature and future history of
the A. M. E. Church, it will have fulfilled largely its
"reason for being," while at the same time it enables
me to pay a tribute to the Church of Our Fathers, to
its work in my native State and to the negro race, to
all of which I am attached by the ties of fifty years.
W. J. G.
INTRODUCTION
The fact that the color question is the question of
the day, attracting more or less attention throughout
our entire country — North, East, West and South —
makes everything pertaining to the negro — his past,,
his present, his future, his educational, his moral, his
financial status — all the more important In fact, the-
negro is at present the center of attraction. All eyes
are turned toward him and he is served up in short:
story and in long, in history and in fiction, in prose
and in j oetry, as it may suit the fancy of men.
Scientists, theologians, men of letters and even the
politicians, are all trying to solve what they call the
"Negro Problem" — Whither is the negio drifting?
What will eventually become of him f Will he in time
lose his identity in the heterogeneity of the American
people? or will he maintain his racial characteristics
despite circumstances ? or finally will he, like the bar-
barian hordes of the orient, imbibe a migratory spirit
and conclude to leave these shores for a more con-
genial clime ? These are the questions that arise
daily by "germs and by fractions " in every paper
that one takes up. Some affirm one thing, some
another. Suffice it to say, however, despite tjie dis-
cussions, despite the difference of opinion, the negro
intends to hold his own. He has a future, and that,
too, in America. If not, what mean these twenty-
"X INTRODUCTION.
five years of progress in all lines of industy — progress
more marked than that of any other people in the
same length of time and under the same circum-
stances ? What means our great A. M. E. Church,
with its hundreds of thousands of communicants and
its thousands of preachers and teachers, its bishops
and general officers ? Surely the history and growth
• of African Methodism in these United States are an
evidence not only of progress, but of permanence as
well. From a small seed — infinitesimally small as it
were — has grown a magnificent tree, as wonderful as
it is magnificent. In every State and Territory,
wherever the negro is found, African Methodism is
known.
Its greatest field is in the South. It is here that
we find the numbers both as to churches and as to
membership — due, of course, to the fact that the
colored people are found there in larger majorities
than elsewhere.
The present volume, which discusses African Meth-
odism in Georgia and Alabama, is another welcome
addition to the Church literature — emanating as it
does from the pen of one who grew up as it were in
the Church, and who is thoroughly competent to state
the facts as he sees and knows them. Our distin-
guished friend, Rt. Rev. Bishop W. J. Gaines, stood
by the cradle of African Methodism in its incipient
stages in the State of Georgia — assisted in nursing it
until it became able to stand alone, and thereafter a
power throughout our Southern clime — whose influ-
ence is felt far and wide. No man of my acquaint-
ance has done more for the propagation of the Church
of his choice than Bishop Gaines. Go where you will,
INTRODUCTION. XI
in Georgia especially, search the records of the Afri-
can M. E. Churches, examine the scrolls, and the
name of Dr. W. J. Gaines will be found to stand out
in bold relief, not only as a builder of churches, but
as a wise and faithful shepherd ; as one who always
reposed an unfaltering trust in God, however dark
the hour, and, therefore, as a pre-eminently successful
pastor and teacher. Such, then, is the writer of this
volume. Certainly there could not be found one who
is more fitted to portray the growth of African Meth-
odism in the South than he whose name this volume
bears. Born and reared in that section, a close ob-
server of the many vicissitudes — civil, political and
ecclesiastical — through which the South has passed
during these twenty-five years, a friend of reforms, a
vigorous advocate of the cause of temperance, an un-
swerving defender of the rights and interests of his
race — conservative rather than radical — with a soul
smitten with the love of virtue, with a ruling passion
for the true, the noble, the good and the beautiful in
all the walks of life — the Rt. Rev. Wesley J. Gaines
may justly claim the right to be an authority on the
subjects discussed in this treatise. We hail it with
joy, and trust that it may be instrumental in awaken-
ing a deeper interest in the spread of African Meth-
odism in this great country of ours, and that those
into whose hands it may fall may be inspired to go
forth as doers of the Word and not simply hearers.
W. S. Scarborough,
Wilberforce University.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Brief Reference to Richard Allen ; The Beginning of the
A. M. E. Church ; It's Spread East, West, Southwest ; Up
to the Rebellion.
CHAPTER II.
ORIGIN OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH IX THE SOUTH.
The Southern Methodist at the Time of the Rebellion ; The
War ; The Missionaries Sent to South Carolina ; The First
Church Organized in Georgia ; The First Session of the
South Carolina Conference ; Georgia Mission Work ; South
Carolina Conference Work.
CHAPTER III.
FIRST GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
Extension of Work ; Georgia'and Florida as Separate Con-
ferences — Stations and Circuits : First Session of Georgia
Conference ; Its Members and Work ; Second Session
March 17, 1868 ; Work of the General Conference of 186
Affecting Southern States ; Resolutions upon Education
CHAPTER IV.
GEORGIA IN 1868-1871.
The First Session of the Georgia Annual Conference as an
Independent Conference, Feb. 6, 1869 ; First Report upon
the Rise of African Methodism in Georgia ; Bishop Brown
Presiding ; Women's Work ; Rev. Andrew Brown's
Description.
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
GEORGIA 1871-1872.
Preachers Admitted ; Ordination Sermon of Deacons ; Rev,
A. L. Standford ; A Beneficent Gift ; Four Deaths ; Con-
ference School ; Two Meagre Reports ; An Important
Change ; Elders Ordained in 1871 ; An Interesting Discus-
sion ; Sabbath School Banner ; A District Book Steward ;
A Division of Conference Monies ; Advice to Ministers ;
Organization of the Home and Foreign Missionary Society ;
In Savannah for the Second Time ; Pertinent Remarks ;
Some Visitors.
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL CONFERENCE YEAR.
Admissions in 1872 ; Sound Counsel; The Missionary Agency;
Book Concern Report; Substantial Aid ; Steps toward a
School ; Deacons and Elders ; An Unfortunate Slip ;
Minority Reports Adopted ; D Laths of the Year ; Pay for
the Secretary ; General Conference Delegates ; Changes
Made; Conference Sermons Preserved; Two Meetings;
Appreciation of Bishop J. M. Brown's Work ; Americus and
Savannah ; Sunday School ; Sermons Appointed for Next
Year ; Elder Turner's Request ; Interesting Reports ; Fra-
ternal Feeling.
CHAPTER VII.
GEORGIA, 1873.
At Macon Georgia ; A New Bishop ; Additions and Losses ;
Episcopal Robes ; Thirty-seven Preachers ; Bishop Paul
Quinn ; First Death in Bishopric Since 1848 ; Preachers
called by Death ; Ordination of Elders and Deacons ; Visi-
tors to Conference ; Exodus to Arkansas ; Sold for Pas-
sage Money ; Report upon Division of Conference ; An
Unwieldy Body ; Severe Tax upon Church ; Arguments
for Division ; A Committee Appointed ; Majority and Mi-
nority Reports ; Division Recommended ; Boundaries Indi-
cated ; Regret and Gladness ; Changes in Districts, Cir-
cuits, etc.
CONTENTS. XV"
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW WORK.
Opening of 1874 ; The North Georgia Conference and Georgia
Conference ; Bishop T. M. D. Ward's Remarks ; An Objec-
tion ; Committee upon Boundaries ; Sent Before the Com-
mittee ; Bishop S. H. Ho]sey of the C. M. E. Church ;.
Dr. H. M. Turner's Response ; The State of Education •
A Need in the Ministry; An Educational Convention;
Trustees Appointed ; The South Georgia Annual Confer-
ence ; Transfers ; Intention to Appeal ; An Able Sermon ;
Class Admitted on Trial ; A Cordial Welcome ; Respect
for African Methodism ; A Donation ; End of First De-
cade ; North Georgia Conference, at Athens ; A Change of
Date ; Admissions, Deacons, Elders and Transfers ; Death
of Thomas K. Brown— The Georgia Conference, at Albany ;
Small Gifts ; Memorial Services ; A Large Class Admitted ; ,
An Awakening ; A Vigorous Report ; A Quotation ; Invi-
tations ; Cartersville, Georgia ; Sermons ; Delegate to.
General Conference.
CHAPTER IX.
A SKETCH OF THREE YEARS.
Again in Savannah ; General Conference Delegates from the-
Georgia Conference ; Recognition of Woman's Work ; A
Standard Number ; A Petition to the Governor ; Rev>"
Tunis G. Campbell's Case ; An Excellent School ; Finances
An Invitation to Georgia ; General Conference in Atl anta
1876 ; Possibilities Appreciated ; Changes in the Church ;
A New Bishop for the South ; North Georgia Conference,
at Griffin ; A Class of Twenty -three ; Deaths and Trans-
fers ; Georgia Conference at Bainbridge ; Bishop Campbell
and the Visitors ; Japheth, " Caught in America ;" Plea
for Africa ; Eatonton, Dec. 5 ; Waste of Time ; Preachers
Admitted ; Georgia Conference, Columbus, 1878 ; Many
Visitors; Reminiscences; North Georgia Delegates;
Deaths ; Preachers Admitted ; Bishop D. A. Payne's Letter:.
Our Haytian Work ; Satisfactory Appointments ; Dollar-
Money.
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
MADISON, CUTHBERT AND MACON.
North Georgia Conference at Madison, 1879 ; A New Law ;
Arrangements for a Fund ; Preparations for General Con-
ference ; The State Blind Asylum; A Petition and Its
Result ; Deacons Ordained ; G ^orgia Conference at Cuth-
bert ; An Annual Sermon by a Pioneer ; A Business Move-
ment ; Preachers Admitted ; Elders and Deacons ; The
Death List; A Cxution; Hearty Greetings; Our Repre-
sentative to London ; Assembly of the " One Hundred " ;
A Private Matter ; A Lesson on Hospitality ; Electoral
College ; Pertinent Admonition ; Steps for Another Con-
ference ; Changes in Georgia Conference Work ; Some
Leaving Appointments.
CHAPTER XI.
ONE YEAR'S WORK.
North Georgia Annual Conference in Macon, 1880 ; Sabbath
Appointments ; Bishop Campbell's Address ; Many Vis-
itors ; An Able Address ; Ordination Services ; General
Conference Delegates ; Insttuction to General Conference
Delegates; Close of Bishop Campbell's Work ; Member-
ship ; The Demands of History ; A Sketch of a Visit to
London ; A Leaven in the South ; Americus, Georgia,
1880 ; Committee Upon a New Conference ; Bishop J. M.
Brown's Illness ; The Greatest Blessing ; Preachers ; Dea-
cons ; Elders; Committees' Reports ; " Ou the Exodus ; "
Historical Facts ; Wholesome Advice ; A Marked Increase ;
The Wesley Memorial Church ; Unity in Spirit ; Presiding
Elders ; Statistics of Georgia Conference ; A Comparison ;
Four Years' Growth ; Bishop H. M. Turner, D. D. ; Three
New Bishops.
CHAPTER XII.
BISHOP DICKERSON'S FIRST WORK.
Ill Atlanta, 1881 ; Systematic Work ; Resolutions and
Pledges ; Our Educational Work ; Many Leading Ideas ;
The First Appropriation ; Good News ; Admissions and
CONTENTS. XVII
Ordinations ; Remarkable Sermons ; Distinguished Visi-
tors ; Presiding Elders' Reports ; Georgia Conference in
Savannah ; A Minister's Text ; Words of Encouragement ;
An Introduction ; Encouraging Reports ; The Annual
Sermon ; Oases in the Desert ; Honorable Tributes ; A
Joint Committee ; Its Report ; A College Site Selected ;
Education at Home ; The Canonical Scriptures ; Con-
sternation in the Ranks ; Occasion for Thanks ; A New
Department.
CHAPTER XIII.
A YEAR OF INTEREST.
A Grand Missionary Meeting ; Our Missionary Work; Africa;
Hayti and Indian Territoy ; Letters for Bishop Turner ;
Dr. B. H. Arnett's Sermon ; The Need of The Church ;
Quoting Sermons ; An Amusing Anecdote ; Upon Their
Own Merits; "Jesus is in the Dollar:" Our Ritualistic
Service ; A Beautiful Ceremony ; State Sunday-School
Convention ; A Higher Standard ; Home Missions ; A
Mighty Necessity ; Importance of The Sunday-School ;
The Children of the A. M. E. Fold ; A New Feature ; The
Districts of the Conference ; Improvement and Growth ;
Episcopal Residences ; Personal Sacrifice ; A Loss ; A
Memorable Year.
CHAPTER XIV.
NORTH GEORGIA CONFERENCE, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.
Visitors ; Echoes from the Ecumenical Council ; Missionary
Meeting ; Education in the Early Days ; Elder S. H. Rob-
ertson's Pass ; Negro Authors ; No Race in Literature ; A
Truly Great Man ; Features of this Annual Conference ;
A Disgrace to American Civilization ; A Large Class ;
Full Reports ; Georgia Conference in Thomasville ; The
Key Note of Work ; Ordinations ; The Wesley Memorial
Volume ; An Unsuccessful Outrage ; Nine Presiding Elder
Districts ; The New Conference.
CHAPTER XV.
THE SECOND DIVISION.
Tenth Session of the North Georgia Conference ; The Sev-
enteenth of the Mother Conference ; The Literary Tone ;
XVIII CONTENTS.
Ordinations in the Two Conferences ; Good Work ; Vari-
ous Districts ; Transfers ; A Transition Stage ; The New
Conference ; First Session, January 31, 1883 ; Work of the
Session ; Its Second Session ; Change of Date ; Some
Transfers ; Close of Seventh Quadrennium ; Bishop Dick-
erson's Four Years ; First Annual Conference in 1884 ;
Prophetic Utterance ; A Discussion; A Death of a Pioneer;
Delegates to General Conference ; An Appeal ; A Success-
ful Year ; The Georgia Conference at Valdosta ; Present
to Bishop Dickerson ; An Election ; Failure to Make Ex-
ports.
CHAPTER XVI.
BEGINNING A NEW QUADRENNIUM.
One Hundred Years Before ; Some Figures ; Bishop James
A. Shorter Assigned to the South; Dollar Money Law
Amended ; Endowment Day ; Bishop Shorter in Georgia ;
Routine Business ; In the Macon Conference ; North
Georgia Conference at Athens ; A Missionary Bishop ;
The Annual Sermon ; Fraternal Greetings ; Admissions
and Withdrawals ; Elders and Deacons ; Bishop Dicker-
son's Illness and Death ; Father Peter McLain ; Georgia
Annual Conference of 1885 ; Memorial Services ; Macon
Conference Boundary ; Its Fourth session ; A Request
from the Financial Board ; Sunday Services ; A Sugges-
tion Followed ; A Request Declined ; North Georgia Con-
ference in Griffin ; Dr. B. T. Tanner, Dr. B. F. Lee and
Others ; Transfers ; The Work of 1885.
CHAPTER XVII.
A TRIO OF CONFERENCES.
Georgia Conference " at Hawkinsville 1886 ; Sympathy for
Bishop Shorter; Dr. J. C. Embry and Dr. J. M. Townsend ;
An Example Followed ; Admissions and Ordinations ;
Resolutions ; Macon Conference at Barnesville ; Secreta-
ries ; Admissions and Ordinations ; The Metropolitan
Church ; Interests of Morris Brown College ; A Legitimate
Business ; General Officers ; Report from Morris Brown
CONTENTS. XIX
College ; Deaths and Transfers ; North Georgia Conference
in Atlanta ; Bishop Shorter's Bereavement ; Bishop Camp-
bell Presides ; An Interesting Meeting ; A Link With the
Past ; Ordinations ; Some Deaths ; Personal Affairs, not
Public Affairs ; A Decision ; The Temperance Cause ; Pre-
siding Elders' Reports ; Dollar Money and Membership.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CENTENNIAL TEAR OF AFRICAN METHODISM.
The First Conference in Georgia in 1887 ; Its Missionary
Meetings ; Admissions, Ordinations and Deaths ; Threo
Sermons ; Bishop R. H. Cain's Illness and Death ; The
Approaching Anniversary ; Reports from the Six Districts;
A Petition Granted ; The North Georgia Conference at
Rome, November 9 ; Bishop Shorter's Death ; Bishop
Wayman Presides ; Classes of the Year ; Seven Delegates
to General Conference ; Memorial Exercises ; Dr. Tan-
ner's Tribute to Bishop Cain ; Satisfactory Reports ; The
Macon Conference, Talbotton ; Bishop Disney Presides •
Stirring Speeches ; A Warning ; Delegates to General
Conference of 1888 ; Some Annual Meetings ; Admissions
and Ordinations ; The Centennial Budget and Dr. B. W.
Arnett ; A Retrospect.
CHAPTER XIX.
WORK ASSIGNED IN 1888.
Another Change of Date ; Twenty-one Years ; The Pioneers ;
Last Conference in 1887 ; The Usual Business ; General
Conference Delegates ; General Conference of 1888 ;
Eleven Episcopal Districts ; The Episcopal Committee's
Appointments ; Two Newly Elected Bishops ; Bishop W.
J. Gaines' First Conference ; His Opening Address ; An-
nual Sermon of North Georgia Conference ; Sermons and
Ordinations ; Reports and Transfers ; Monies ; A Pleasant
Welcome to the Macon Conference ; Its Work ; The First
Conference in Alabama in 1888 ; From Mobile to the
Georgia Conference in Cuthbert ; The Work of this Ses-
sion.
XX CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
EVE OF THE QUARTO-CENTENNIAL.
The North Georgia Conference at Washington, Georgia,
1889 ; General Officers Present ; Morris Brown College ;
Excellent Finances ; Spiritual and Financial Growth ; The
" Missionary Rule ; " Annual Sermons and Regular Busi-
ness ; The Twenty-fifth Anniversary ; Programme of the
Quarto-Centenial ; Admission, Transfers, etc. ; Bishop
Campbell's Conference ; The North Alabama Conference,
1889 ; A Pleasant Ride ; Dr. James A. Handy and Dr. W.
B. Derrick ; The Alabama Conference ; Payne Institute at
Selma ; Financial Success ; The Journey to Brunswick,
Georgia; The Mother Conference ; An Intense Straggle;
Victory and General Satisfaction.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE SIXTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT.
Review of Georgia ; Leading Appointments ; Macon ; Men
of the Georgia Conference ; Number of Annual Confer-
ences ; Alabama; Early Work; First Missionaries ; Ala-
bama Conference ; Its Composition ; Districts ; Bishop
Campbell in Alabama ; A Division ; Bishops Wayman and
Payne ; Growth ; Leading Points ; Churches in Montgom-
ery, Prattville, Opelika ; North Alabama Work ; The Men
in Alabama ; Statistics for the Sixth District.
CHAPTER XXII.
AFRICAN METHODISM, EAST AND WEST.
Place of Birth ; A Brave Deed ; Richard Allen in 1779 ;
Number of Eastern Annual Conferences ; The New En-
gland Conference ; Eastern Work ; Western Field ; Cin-
cinnati, Chillicothe, etc. ; Work in Toronto ; 1852 ; First
Division into Districts ; Southwest; Conferences Grouped;
Future Field.
CONTENTS. XXI
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SOUTHWEST AND OTHER SOUTHERN STATES.
Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Lou-
isiana ; Texas Conferences ; Organization of Churches ;
Hardships ; Pacific Coast ; Other Organization ; South
Carolina ; Florida.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE BISHOPS OF THE WORK IN GEORGIA.
Bishop Payne ; First Bishop of the South ; Bishop Payne's
Aim ; The Senior at Home ; Bishop J. M. Brown ; The
First Colored President of a Colored School ; His Mis-
sionary Work ; Bishop T. M. D. Ward ; His Old Missionary
Field ; Bishop Campbell in the South in 1876 ; His Four
Years' Work ; Bishop William F. Dickerson ; Epigram-
matic Speech ; His Death ; Bishop James A. Shorter ;
Characteristics ; An Unexpired Term filled ; The Present
Bishop ; A Biographical Sketch.
CHAPTER XXV.
GENERAL GROWTH AND FINANCE.
Status at Close of Civil War ; Two Admirable Qualities ;
The Property of the Church in Georgia ; Statistics of 1868 ;
Growth in All Ways ; A Wonderful Land ; Branches of
Industry; Negro Prosperity in Georgia; Atlanta and
Macon ; Macon's Workers ; Growth Affecting the A. M. E.
Church ; The Future of the South ; Our Mission Work ;
One Hundred Per Cent; The Madagascar Church ; Mis-
sionary Work To-day.
CHAPTER XXVI.
EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH.
Unwritten History; Jamestown and Plymouth Rock; Op-
portunities ; What Makes the Difference ; A Sealed Book
Opened ; Hereditary Possessions ; Teacher and Preacher ;
The North in the Educational Field of the South ; Its First
Work ; Philanthropy ; Schools Now Maintained by Some
TXII CONTENTS.
Denominations; Forty-third Year of the American Mis-
sion xry Association ; The A. M. E. Church in Education ;
Wilberforce University ; Our Early Schools in the South
Kittrell 'Industrial School and Allen University ; Paul
Quinn College, Texas, and Divinity School, Florida ;
Morris-Brown College in Georgia ; Other Educational Work
in the South ; Educational Report ; A New Department i
A Day of Deliverance ; Elevation from Within ; Christian
Money.
CHAPTER XXVII.
TEMPERANCE.
A Terrible Vice ; The Duty of Mankind ; A Recent Cam-
paign ; The Liquor Traffic ; Some Statistics ; Rev. Dr.
Strong ; Intemperance in All Things ; What is Necessary
to Success.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
IN MEMORIAM.
Sad Tasks ; The Old Veterans ; Rev. William Gaines ; Thos-
K. Brown ; Zechariah Armstrong and Gabriel Clark ; Al-
bert McGhee ; Rev. Samuel W. Drayton ; Rev. Preston B.
Peters and Henry Daniels ; Rev. Andrew Brown ; In Peace
or In War; A Noble Record; Rev. G. W. H. Williams and
Fortune Robinson ; The Youngest and Oldest.
CHAPTER XXIX.
TWENTY-FIVE TEARS OF FREEDOM.
The Quarto -Centennial ; Barbara Heck and Philip Embry .
Wesley and Allen ; A Half Century ; Conference Growth
in the South ; The Best Condition ; The South as a Mission
Field; The Church or the Negro; Questions Answered;
The Southern Church To-day; A Share in Education;
Freedom and African Methodism; Our Future Destiny;
Our Possibilities and Responsibilities; A Permanent
Church; The Mission Fulfilled.
APPENDIX.
African Methodism in the South
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
When, over one hundred years ago (1787), a hand-
ful of men, led by Richard Allen, took the moment-
ous step in the Quaker City of Philadelphia, which
resulted in the organization of the African Method-
ist Episcopal Church, the most sanguine well-wisher
could hardly have prophesied that the small begin-
ning would have such a glorious, wide-spread result as
is evidenced to-day.
This little band was desirous of serving God, but
of serving him as men ; and so, breathing deeply
that spirit of independence and love of freedom
which was rife in the air of America that eventful
year, and which has wrought so much for this broad
country, they threw off the yoke which bore so heav-
ily upon them in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and boldly set out for themselves.
They felt, wisely for us, that the service they
wished to render Him would be more acceptable in
2 AFRICAN METHODISM EST THE SOUTH ;
His sight if they took every opportunity for eleva-
tion that lay in their way ; and that this separation
from a church that recognized them only as inferior
servants of God, was such an opportunity seemed
clear as a direct message from on high.
From such a small beginning of sixteen men,
meeting in the first convention in 1816, and led by
the first bishop who received consecration to that
holy office — Richard Allen — the little twig of African
Methodism, then planted, grew and flourished. It
sent out its roots eastward and westward, even pen-
etrating the South and Southwest ; everywhere there
seemed the merest chance for lodgment, and in almost
every instance they took firm hold and sent up new
shoots of living work for the glory of God.
Though slavery held such fast grasp upon that
portion of our country given over to the curse
that this free religious movement could hold but
slight and precarious existence, there were countless
hearts beating high and brave throughout that land,
waiting only for the dawn to step out boldly into
the light of freedom. Throughout the South was
that vast multitude of enslaved ones, doing their
duty as they saw it, and doing it marvelously well,
despite wide-spread ignorance, while patiently biding
their time when they might drop shackles from body,
mind and religion. This mass was not altogether
ignorant. There was scattered here and there
throughout the mass a little leaven. Here and there
one had drunk from the fountain of knowledge with
that eager thirst which restraint and secrecy only
OR TWENTY-FIVE TEAES OF FREEDOM. 3
stimulate. Here and there one was silently helped
by those whose innate sense of right told them that
the Negro had not only a soul to save, but a mind to
train, even though the practice of generations had
rendered their moral sense so obtuse that they de-
voutly believed in the "divine right of slavery."
There were some good men and women, too, who did
not hold this belief, but who were too weak to brave
this sentiment which allowed them to hold in bonds
their fellow-creatures, and so trod in the paths of
their fathers, seeking to ameliorate in other ways the
condition of those who called them masters of their
bodies. To all these who so labored the slaves of
those days give thanks for these gleams of sunshine
in the surrounding darkness ; for the scattered peo-
ple thus partially enlightened were enabled to take
up the reins when the day of freedom broke, and
carry on the work which came to their hands in a
creditable manner.
The Negro of the South had listened for years to
the pulpit which taught, "Slaves, be ye subject to
your masters," but when the first gun of the rebel-
lion was fired on Major Anderson at Fort Sumter,
it found its echo in the hearts of thousands who saw
a brighter future in a dim, undefined light they could
not analyze — a future which was to rid them of the
weight of this doctrine at least ; and when that great
and good man, Abraham Lincoln, struck off the
shackles from the limbs of four million beings, he in
reality shattered as well the fetters which had bound
the Southern Negro's religious freedom.
AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCO-
PAL CHURCH IN THE SOUTH.
The joyful news of emancipation had scarcely
been heard before the African Methodist Episcopal
Church of America made its preparations to send
missionaries to the South. These brethren in that
more favored locality had borne us upon their hearts,
and with the first chance for entrance into the re-
gion so long closed by slavery and still defended by
cannon, they hastened to extend the hand of " Our
Father's Church " through Rev. James Lynch and
Rev. James D.. S. Hall — the former from the Balti-
more Conference, the latter from the New York Con-
ference — the first two men to come to Southern soil
from that church. These two men were the men
first regularly commissioned as missionaries to the
freedmen of the South. Of the two, probably Rev.
James Lynch* was the more prominent worker, as
shown by his subsequent career. He is described
by one who knew him as having a piercing black
eye, a forehead pf immense breadth, jet black hair
and possessing unmatched eloquence and persuasive
manners.* These men were those through whose
*Rev. T. G. Steward, D. D., in his Centennial Address.
OR TWENTY-FIVE TEARS OF FREEDOM.
labors the South Carolina Conference really came to
be brought into existence — they were the forerunners
of the great work stretching out before us now,
twenty-five years later, through the States of South
Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida
and the Southwest.
It was in the city of Savannah, Ga., that the first
missionary of African Methodism was found to begin
the labors of our church in that State. Rev. James
Lynch was the first minister of the African Method-
ist Episcopal Church to visit Savannah after the war,
as he was the one to stand in that city, almost before
the smoke of the armies had died away, when the
United States forces entered and captured that city
in 1864; so the same State and city were, for the
second time in the history of America, the starting
point of great missionary work, for it is a peculiar
coincidence that the great founder of Methodism,
John Wesley, preached his first sermon in that city
in 1730, when he and his brother began their mis-
sionary labors in America.
At the close of the war the colored Methodists in
Savannah, while really under the watch-care of the
M. E. Church, South, were under no regular pastor,
but were kept together by William Bentley, C. L.
Bradwell and William Gaines. When James Lynch
visited Savannah at that time, he made secret ar-
rangements with Rev. C. L. Bradwell to take out the
church. Through the efforts of the latter, then a
local preacher, it was not a difficult matter to bring
them into the fold of our church. The affiliation he
6 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
proposed to them was thoughtfully considered, and
after mature deliberation was accepted, and the
first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the
State of, Georgia was organized by Rev. A. L. Stan-
ford.* Still, little more than some mission work was
done in the immediate vicinity of that city in the few
months which intervened between that time and the
recognition of this church by the first session of the
South Carolina Conference.
In May, 1865, according to the act of the General
Conference of the A. M. E. Church of 1864, calling
for the establishment of the church in the South,
Bishop Daniel A. Payne entered the city of Charles-
ton, South Carolina, to plant the standard of African
Methodism. Thirty years before he had left the
self-same city because of the persecutions which put
an end to his labors there as a teacher of his race,
and this was his first return to the scenes of his
childhood and early manhood, and a most triumphant
one. He was accompanied by Elder James A.
Handy, and T. G. Steward and James H. A. Johnson,
licentiates. These three were to be missionaries to
the "Freedmen," a partial support being assured
them by the American Missionary Association, as aid
in the good work.
Bishop Payne, then in the thirteenth year of his
bishopric, set about the organization of the A. M. E.
Church in Charleston. The large brick edifice,
known as the Zion Presbyterian Church, was the
*Rev. James Lynch at last left the A. M. E. Church to join the M. E. Church,
.after having been editor of the only church paper we then had — The Christian
Recorder. He died later, after long and useful labors.
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 7
place of assembly for the first session of what then
became known as the South Carolina Conference.
There were then over 40,000 colored Methodists
scattered throughout that State. The session opened
May 15, 1865, with sixteen ministers. Seven men
had been selected by Bishop Payne to assist in this
opening up of Southern work — A. L. Stanford and
T. G. Steward, from the Philadelphia Conference ;
James A. Handy and James H. A. Johnson, from the
Baltimore Conference ; R. H. Cain, from the New*
York Conference ; George A. Rue, from the New
England Conference, and George W. Brodie, from the
British M. E. Church. Of these only T. G. Steward,
James A. Handy, James H. A. Johnson and R. H.
Cain were present, and from the whole number but
the first three of these are living to-day. Dr. James
A. Handy is the Financial Secretary of the A. M. E.
Church and Drs. J. H. A. Johnson and T. G. Steward
honored ministers of the Baltimore Conference in
the same church.
Nine other ministers from the South were associ-
ated with these transferred men, making the whole
force sixteen. These were Charles L. Bradwell,
Wm. Bentley, James Hill, Gloucester Taylor, Robert
M. Taylor, Richard Vanderhorst and John Graham.
From these sixteen of this first Southern Conference
eight regular itinerant preachers went out, but only
one of the nine above mentioned entered their ranks.
This was Charles L. Bradwell, who was appointed to
Edisto Island, and entered immediately upon his
work. This makes Elder C. L. Bradwell the oldest
4
8 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
native itinerant preacher to-day in the whole of the
Southern field.
The work already done in Georgia was recognized
and heartily welcomed at this session. William
Bentley and James Hill, of Georgia, were ordained.
C. L. Bradwell, Gloucester Taylor, R. M. Taylor and
Cornelius Murphy were received on probation as
licentiates.
William Gaines, of Georgia, who was absent fro
this Conference, was elected to deacon's orders and!
was ordained by Bishop Payne at Hilton Head,
South Carolina, in June following the adjournment of
Conference, and was sent as first missionary to the
northern and western parts of Georgia. The work
of this important session, which particularly affected
this State, was the placing of all the native preachers,,
except William Gaines and C. L. Bradwell, in local
work in the neighborhood of Savannah. Of the
transferred men, Rev. A. L. Stanford was placed in
charge of Savannah,* R. H. Cain in Charleston ;
James A. Handy in Wilmington, N. C; G. W.
Brodie in Raleigh, N. C; T. G. Steward in Beaufort,.
S. C; J. H. A. Johnson at Hilton Head, and G. A.
Rue in Newberne. There were but twelve appoint-
ments in all, and we see but eight of these were
supplied.
The Southern work had now opened most auspi-
ciously, and the brethren endeavored to push it for-
ward. William Gaines visited Macon, Atlanta and
Columbus and organized the A. M. E. Church in
*Rev. A. L. Stanford died in Africa.
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 9
these cities. When Conference adjourned, the Rev.
James Lynch took his way through the upper part
of the State of Georgia. One of the most interest-
ing points was Augusta, and there his efforts were
crowned with such success that a church of about
two hundred members was received into the connec-
tion — the Protestant Methodist Church — with a pas-
tor who did valuable service in the church of his
adoption in the years following. This pastor was
the veteran worker, Samuel W. Drayton, who labored
with us until the year 1885. Of him and other pio-
neers, we shall have occasion to speak elsewhere.
The Lord had blessed us. The connection was
growing with what might be termed a healthy
growth — that is, the churches to which the right
hand of fellowship was offered made no unseemly-
haste for affiliation, but after mature deliberations,,
which were at many times lengthy and critical,
transferred themselves to the fold of African Meth-
odism. This deliberation was wise, for it gave as-
surance of the future stability of a union which
must possess this important characteristic for suc-
cessful increase in strength.
W^th the two main points of Savannah and Au-
gusta as centers it was only a matter of time when
the radiating influence should draw in other out-
standing bodies of Methodist Christians. As has
been said, Rev. William Gaines (the writer's brother)
had visited Macon, Columbus and Atlanta, and soon
those large and interesting bodies of colored Meth-
odists were withdrawn from fellowship with the M. E.
10 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Church, South, and added to our own.* With the
winter of 1866-7 Rev. Henry M. Turner, who held
the appointment of a chaplain in the U. S. Army,
•came to Augusta, Ga., to begin his efforts for the
A. M. E. Church, succeeding William Gaines, who
died in Columbus, Ga., Nov. 20, 1865. It was
through his unwearying efforts principally that the
successful ingathering was carried on. He made a
tour of upper Georgia, visiting the cities of the most
importance in pursuance of the work. The extensive
tour of the newly-elected bishop, A. W. Wayman,
through the State during this winter (1866) accom-
plished much for the cause, as had also the visit of
the same with Elisha Weaver at Savannah in the
early spring of 1865 — a visit which Bishop Wayman
mentions in his "Recollections," and a memorable
one, for the two came down at the call of Rev.
James Lynch, and the Bishop gave his noted sermon
from the text, "I seek my brethren," in the same
church where the first Conference was held in
Charleston the May following.
When the South Carolina Conference held its
second annual session in Savannah, May 14th, in
the spring of 1866, Rev. H. M. Turner had fourteen
brethren to present to it. They were Andrew
Brown, W. B. Campbell, Henry Strickland, Harry
*The writer was licensed to preach in the M. E. Church, South, by the Rev.
Mr. Davies, Presiding Elder of that church; but he joined the A. M. E. Church
under the administration of William Gaines, in Columbus, Ga., and upon the
street, St. Clara, having met him there. William Gaines then authorized him to
organize the A. M. E. Church in the counties of Muscogee and Chattahoochee, as
he was then living on the line of these two counties on a plantation ten miles from
■Columbus, owned by Gabriel Toombs, the brother of Robert Toombs.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 11
Stubbs, S. B. Jones, Burrell Jackson, Thomas Gar-
rett, Joseph A. Wood, Thomas Crayton, Robert
Anderson, Fortune Robinson, E. L. Bailey and the
writer. Of these there are now living (1890) S. B.
Jones, Joseph A. Wood, Henry Strickland, Thomas
Crayton, Robert Anderson and the writer. Rev.
Peter McLain was present but was not ordained.
All of these, except Joseph A. Wood, immediately
entered upon the itinerant service, and all have re-
mained faithful to the church with one exception —
W. B. Campbell, who withdrew and joined the Col-
ored M. E. Church. Although Joseph A. Wood did
not take itinerant work, he did the church great
service as a local preacher.*
But these fourteen did not comprise the entire
number who were presented by elders for itinerant
service. Thirty-eight in all were admitted on trial,
and the remaining twenty-four were from South
Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama.
It was a solemn scene as Bishop Payne set apart
forty-six persons as deacons and elders — one which,
as Bishop B. T. Tanner declares in his "Apology for
African Methodism," "will never be forgotten by
those whose privilege it was to be present." It
was a session of rejoicing as well, for we all knew
what it meant for the South and for the church we
loved.
♦He organized Wood's Chapel in Atlanta, known to-day as Allen Temple.
12 AFEICAN METHODISM IJST THE SOUTH ;
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
The South Carolina Conference at this time (1866)
embraced the States of North Carolina, South Caro-
lina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, and the work
which it entered upon at this session was one of im-
portance. The efforts of Rev. H. M. Turner were
recognized by his appointment as superintendent of
the work in upper Georgia, with Macon as his head-
quarters. No better man could have been found to
bear and plant our colors, for in the early prime of
life he was what we see him to be to-day, a fearless, ag-
gressive man — one so much needed in those early
days at the close of the civil war, days which tried
men's souls as well as did the tumult and dangers of
the battle-field.
Lower Georgia was provided for in Rev. A. L.
Stanford, whose headquarters were at Savannah.
Rev. Robert Anderson was at Americus, and later,
Rev. W. H. Noble at Cuthbert, and Rev. Fortune
Robinson at Lumpkin. Rev. Joseph A. Wood was-
an able preacher at Atlanta about this time, while,
among early leaders, Richard Vanderhorst succeeded
S. W. Drayton at Augusta, whom Conference had
consented to locate. The writer also began the work
OK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM! 13
in Southwestern Georgia on Florence Circuit on the
Chattahoochee River.
This year was one of trying labor from these im-
portant local centers. There was much to contend
against from both white and colored. The former
noted a movement, the independence of which grated
harshly upon them under so recent defeats and
losses, and the inexperience in our own ranks led to
varying results. Then there was a prejudice born
•of generations, of the recognized dominion of the
whites which we had to meet and overcome in lead-
ing the bodies of Negroes to seek a church where
they could be free and untrameled in their religious
-worship.
Still we increased, but the data concerning the
opening up of other districts that conference year,
is insufficient to enable us to give a detailed account
•of the spread of the church. It is sufficient to the
credit of the laborers, that when the spring of 1867
opened, with the Annual Conference, held at Wilming-
ton, N. C, the cheering report was made that it had
nearly cohered the States under its jurisdiction.
Thirty circuits and stations were reported for Geor-
gia alone, and equally as many or more in South
Carolina, with quite a number .in Florida and Ala-
bama, while there were not less than 48,000 or
50,000 members in the whole.
At this Conference, forty-six ministers joined the
itinerant force and ninety-eight ministers were or-
-dained. The appointments all told were one hun-
dred and two, and they were nearly all supplied.
14 AFRICAN" METHODISM OT THE SOUTH ;
Opposition had been met at Americus, Ga., and
there were dark discouragements from Rome, but
the light was strong and it threw its beams so far
into the darkness that we could but exclaim that the
Lord had indeed been good to us as a people and as
a church. Savannah had taken the lead in forward
movement, as she should, through Rev. A. L. Stan-
ford, and the report of a church site purchased, a
parsonage built and a church basement in process
of erection, gladdened the brethren's hearts. At
this Conference, Rev. H. M. Turner presented six-
teen brethren : John Ricks, Ephraim Russell,
Willis Jones, Lazarus Gardner, R. B. Bailey, Wm.
Raven, Wm. H. Harris, Watty Parks, Wm. Cherry,
Joseph Brown, Robert Brown, Willis Persons, Joseph
Jennings, Nelson Beacham, Robert Crumley and
Edward Tr?pp.
This was an all-important session for the States
of Georgia, Florida and Alabama. A petition was
made to Bishop Wayman* to set these States off
into a separate Conference, for the A. M. E. work
had so increased in the two years of its Southern
existence that this step was not only warranted but
demanded as an actual necessity. In fact, it was
just such vigorous growth that demanded the in-
crease in the Bench of B'shops at the next General
Conference.
This petition was recognized, and Bisho 3 Wayman
♦Bishop Payne was absent from his regular work and Bishop Wayman held
his Conferences in his absence.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 15
gave more than was asked — he granted each State
separate Conferences. With this wise action, the
Georgia Conference took its rise and entered upon
an independent existence, though as yet it was really
only a mission Conference still awaiting the higher
sanction which was to come at the next session of
the General Conference to be held in Washington, D.
C, May, 1868. But the youthful body held its first
session as a separate Conference on the 30th of May,
1867, fifty days after the adjournment of the body
of which it had been a part.
Of course it was not burdened with business at
this time. Some matters unattended to at the South
Carolina Conference were dispatched, and we pro-
ceeded to see clearly where we stood. The leading
points in Georgia then stood manned as follows:
Rev. C. L. Bradwell, at Augusta; Rev. David Pickett,
at Columbus; Rev. H. M. Turner, at Macon; Rev.
R. P. Gibbs, at Savannah; Rev. W. H. Noble, at
Cuthbert; Rev. Fortune Robinson, at Albany; Rev.
T. G. Steward, at Lumpkin, and the writer at At-
lanta. From the one handful at Savannah in 1864,
protected by military forces, we had increased to
about 20,000, as near as we could judge, scattered
throughout the State, for which we gave thanks to
the Lord.
The work which lay outside of the State, and yet
within what was called the Georgia Conference, em-
braced all charges lying along the Chattahoochee
River in Alabama. With this outlook the forces
moved forward the following year until the next
16 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
meeting of the Georgia Mission Conference — its sec-
ond session — which was held in Macon, Ga., 1868.
This was its first regular annual session, Bishop
Wayman presiding, and the regular Conference busi-
ness was harmoniously carried on.
To improve and set going missionary interests, the
State work was divided into six districts, each in the
hands of a competent Presiding Elder, who, with the
President of the Conference Missionary Society,
would meet and further the work. A traveling agent
was also appointed in the same cause. The educa-
tional work was looked after as well. The African
Methodist Episcopal Church was keenly alive to the
importance of both of these interests from the first
in the South, and now, with Rev. B. T. Tanner
placed as Chairman of the Educational Committee,
that report, as might be expected, expressed "the
highest present duty to ourselves and people, in view
of already possessing robust constitutions and a living
faith, as being to strive to acquire wisdom that we may
be accounted workmen that need not be ashamed."
A large delegation was elected to the General
Conference to meet in May following (1868), ten
in all, aside from the alternates and those who were
members, under the existing law. The delegates
were Rev. H. M. Turner, Rev. W. J. Gaines, Rev.
C. L. Brad well, Rev. Andrew Brown, Rev. W. H.
Noble, Rev. T. G. Steward, Rev. H. Stubbs, Rev.
H. Strickland, Rev. S. B. Jones, Rev. David Pickett,
Rev. S. N. Drayton. Rev. Peter McLain and Thomas
K. Brown were alternates. Rev. H. M. Turner and
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 17
K. Brown were alternates. Rev. H. M.Turner and
Rev. R. P. Gibbs were the members under the laws
then in force, but as the latter had died, Rev. J. B,
Hamilton took his place.
There was some opposition to the admission of
these delegates when they met the General Con-
ference in Washington, D. C. It was true, that if
the General Conference were to follow the constitu-
tion then in force for fifty years, these delegates had
no claim whatever to a seat in the body, but it
wisely and justly saw that the work they represented
must be recognized, and an unwritten motion by
Rev, Wm. Moore, of the Philidelphia Conference,
brought about the recognition, and seated the dele-
gates. As a result, this revolutionary step changed
the constitution of the A. M. E. Church, and the
mode of making up the General Conference for all
the years which have followed.
The progress reported at Washington was cheer-
ing. Churches were being built and church prop-
erty purchased. At Atlanta two churches were
commenced,* and there were fifty-seven appoint-
ments in the State, aside from the mission work, and
all were filled. The most aged person of the Geor-
gia Mission Conference, Thomas K. Brown, then
eighty years of age, had been left without an ap-
pointment.
There was nothing to do but recognize the work
*The church on Summer Hill, built by Rev. Joseph A. Wood and called
Wood's Chapel, and Bethel A. M. E. Ohurcb, Wheat ^t., by the writer. A
new church was built later (1883) by Rev. J. G. Yeizer, at corner of Clarke
andFrazier Sts., and called Allen Temple.
2
18 AFRICAN METHODISM EST THE SOUTH;
and sanction the division from the South Carolina
Conference already made under Bishop Wayman.
The table of statistics showed an encouraging out-
look at this session of the Georgia Conference, and
as a whole, proved the wisdom of the work begun
in 1864 and shaped in 1865.
And here we quote from the records, which give
briefly the words of one of these grand pioneers —
Rev. Andrew Brown — spoken fourteen years later
upon the rise and progress of the A. M. Church in
Georgia:
"I am not so superstitious as to claim to be a
prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I saw the A.
M. E. Church in 1844 as bright as I see her to-
night. I then prayed that I might outlive the sur-
rounding circumstances, and see the church in reality
as I then saw it in my mind. The day the M. E.
Church, South, split from the M. E. Church, while
in the woods upon my knees, God showed me this
church. The day was dark, but, thank God, we
waited on and on. God's horse was tied to the iron
stake. For a long time he failed to prance in Geor-
gia and South Carolina. The day the first fire was
made at Sumter, 1 saw the Gospel Horse begin to
paw. He continued to paw until he finally broke
loose and came tearing through Georgia. The col-
ored man mounted him and intends to ride him. He
is not particular where he goes, for he has practiced
until he can and does ride him in the white man's
pulpit. In 1866 I was in Dalton. In 1865 I, a poor
bare-footed, bare-headed man, had met in Atlanta a
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 19
man named James Lynch; he told me of the A. M. E.
Church. The first of September the M. E. Church,
South, held their Conference and sent a preacher
to preach to the colored people in Dalton. He sent
for me and told me he was sent there. I told him
we could not comply with his request; we must look
for ourselves. He said if I was going to take the
people, to take them and leave. I thanked him and
we left. We were in a sad plight, for there was not
an ordained minister from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
"In 1866 we met in Savannah for the first time
as a Conference. There I met Dr. Turner, who
gave me the Marietta District. Turner threw me
on the right wing, Stanford on the left, and he held
the centre.
"What did we know at the first Conference ?
"When I was Fresiding Elder of the Marietta
District, there was but one colored man that could
write his name and read the hymn-book. We had
to get little white boys and poor white men to act
as Secretaries of the Quarterly Conference. Now
(1880) we cannot call a dozen men together unless
there are several scribes among them. At the Con-
ference in Atlanta, only one Secretary could be
found, and he had to read his writing while it was
hot, for if it ever got cold he could never have read
it in the world. After the rising of the adjourned
Conference, which met in Macon, Ga., we com-
menced to grow, and have advanced steadily on
until now.
20 AFEICAIST METHODISM IN THE SOUTH:
CHAPTER IV.
GEORGIA, 1868-I871.
The General Conference of 1868 gave us three
new bishops : James A. Shorter, T. M. D. Ward
and J. M. Brown, the first named now called to rest
from his labors. It also gave the South Carolina,.
Georgia, Florida and Alabama work to Bishop J.
M. Brown.
Under this arrangement the next session of the
Georgia Annual Conference was held at Columbus,
February 6, 1869, Bishop J. M. Brown presiding,
though his first work was to organize the Alabama
Conference at Selma, July 25, 1868. He brought to
his work his scholarship, amiability, firmness and
sympathy, which won from us our love and respect
for him as a gentleman and the embodiment of dig-
nity.
It was at this Conference that two representatives
from the M. E. Church, South, were introduced to
the Conference and made some very interesting
statements. It was claimed that the M. E. Church,
South, proposed to carry out in good faith the terms
of amity and alliance agreed upon with our Church in
the General Conference of the former in New Orleans
in 1866. During the subsequent remarks it was
learned that one of the gentleman, Rev. James
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 21
Evans, was the chairman of a committee appointed
by that General Conference on the condition of the
colored people. It was also elicited that the M. E.
Church, South, intended to organize an independent
colored body in connection with themselves, not, as
Rev. James Evans said, "forthe purpose of engender-
ing strife," and that they "did not propose to disturb
our congregations and would not affiliate with a mi-
nority of our congregations for that purpose," what-
ever that might mean. Co-operation and friendship,
though, were pledged us, but with caution, as was
evidenced by the expression, '-only while we were
engaged in 'our one work.' "
Of course we were at liberty to interpret each for
himself what was meant by this and act accordingly-
And here I may say that Rev. James Evans was an
able preacher, full of the Holy Ghost, whose influ-
ence as a minister was above the average of ministers
in his church, and had the M. E. Church seen fit to
stand by the pledge made in their General Confer-
ence in 1866, there would have been no division of
the colored Methodists of the South, except of those
brethren who joined the M. E. Church. The
A. M. E. Church was well organized to take care of
the colored Methodists of the South, and there was
no need of a Colored Methodist Church of America
as set up by the M. E. Church, South. It was the
fear of the political influence of the North that made
that church organize this C. M. E. Church of
America. They felt that the African Methodist
Episcopal Church was a political church in sympathy
22 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
with the North. They made a mistake. While the
A. M. E. Church believed fully in the freedom of
the race and appreciated those who brought about
that freedom, this church is not, and never has been
a political church no more than is any other Chris-
tian church.
There is no doubt, however, that the M. E.
Church, South, already felt at that early date the
serious transition which must take place when the
colored people became independent church bodies,
and fearing the possible results, it was deemed nec-
essary to retain what hold might be possible, as the
words from the General Conference of 1866 in-
dicated.
At this session of the Georgia Conference, the
public evinced a desire to know what our body was
doing, and the editor of the American Union ten-
dered us the use of his columns, which favor was ac-
cepted in the same spirit as offered.
This Conference admitted nineteen in full fellow-
ship and elected the following to deacons' orders:
Samuel Ross, George Reed, Jeremiah Brown, *S. H.
Robertson, Daniel Brown, Martin Johnson, Larkin
Matthews, Jesse Dinkins, Henry Redd, Washington
Benjamin, Larry Thomas, Lacy Beck, Wesley
Mappe, Daniel McGee, Lewis Davis, James Jackson,
Greene -Yorke, Nelson Harris and Wesley Rogers.
The cheering news was also communicated to us,
in a memorial from Fort Valley, that the colored
Methodists there desired to give in their adherence to
our church. Thus our strength increased.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 23
One thing noticeable was that there were few com-
plaints before us at this session, and, as they turned
out to be errors of the head in most cases, were easily
disposed of.
The work was extended to take in new points.
Sylvania Mission in Screven Co.; Cherokee Mission,
embracing Powder Springs, Cherokee and Acworth;
Albany Mission, Dougherty Co.; Mitchell County
Mission and Starkville Mission, Lee Co, were
created. Mt. Zion was added to Griffin charge, and
Union Point and Fork Chapel were added to the
Greensboro charge.
The churches of other denominations showed such
fraternal feeling, that the ladies of the Second Bap-
tist Church donated a sum of money. It is to be
noted that from the first the women of the South took
an active part in helping on the cause. Two societies
of our church also sent in money: the "Daughters
of Conference" and "Daughters of Wayman."
Education absorbed much of the attention of Con-
ference. Support was pledged to Wilberforce Uni-
versity, the only school of note of which we could
then boast, and ministerial education was warmly
urged in an able sermon by Rev. H. M. Turner. A
report from the Assistant Superintendent of Schools
of the sub-district of Augusta ably set forth the
general condition of the schools, and of education
throughout the State. Some of these points are so
pertinent to our work in those days that they are
noted here. The Atlanta schools were reported with
an average attendance of but little less than 1,000;
AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Macon had about the same, and Augusta about two-
thirds that number. The buildings in these cities
were fine and commodious. It is true that the Ne-
gro race in the South started in upon the work of
education under the existing state of affairs in a very
encouraging manner. There was no such thing then
as a public school system in the South, but from the
North had come teachers of intellectual ability and
refinement — educated Christian disciples — and in
1868-69 the colored schools of the South were with-
out doubt the best manned and systematized of any
in that section . This was especially true of Geor-
gia. It was a great change from the sheds and
cabins of three and a half years before, where, by the
light of pine-wood knots, the rudiments were taught
under trying situations. The work of the Macon
and Atlanta schools was particularly noted in this
report, and it was also noted that Latin and Algebra
were taught — there being in the case of one pupil
sufficient advancement for these studies.*
The Conference was exhorted by this gentleman
to raise up competent teachers and to acquire means
for supporting schools as fast as possible. It is safe
to say that these words have always been with us
rom the day of utterance, and the schools of the
South which we foster to-day are eloquent witnesses
of our endeavors.
It was at this Conference that, according to pro-
*Prof. W. S. Scarborough, of Wilberforce University, Professor of Latin
and Greek, was then a youth in Macon, and the pupil who studied Latin.
He was the first pupil iu Latin in the Atlanta University.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 25
vision, Rev. T. G. Steward addressed the Confer-
ence upon the " Rise and Progress of the A. M. E
Church in Georgia."* Thestatistics of this year
show that there were sixty-three circuits, stations
and missions, while building was on the increase, as
well as the Sunday-school work, which was also
earnestly presented in an interesting report. Thus
early was the future welfare of our church looked
after, and every means urged to make this important
part of our work a nursery indeed of the church.
It is pleasing to notice that even literature had a
start at least in Georgia. Rev. T. G. Steward, who
was at the time President of the Freedmans' Saving"
Bank in Macon, put his varied talents into use, and,
with his other duties, published a Sunday-school
paper called " The Sling and Stone," which Confer-
ence adopted and promised help in sustaining. The
session of 1869 adjourned February 15, after nine
days' deliberation, to meet in Americus, tnough there
was contention for several other leading points as the
place of assembly. In Americus, then, January 28,
1870 it was opened. Bishop J. M. Brown was in his
place in the chair, and J. W. Randolph was ap-
pointed Secretary, with T. G. Steward as Recording
Secretary. From the six Presiding Elder districts,
into which the St'ate was then divided, a large num-
ber were presented for admission on trial. H. M.
Turner, Presiding Elder of the Macon District, pre-
*It is to this document that the writer owes much in the way of his-
tory concerning those first few years when it was almost impossible to
obtain exact data, because of the uncertain and scattered condition of
the church work and the few records which were kept-
26 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
sented Henderson Brown, Isaac Goodwell, Abram
Purdee as itinerants, and James C. Greer, Wm.
McKay, Willis Dupont, J. G. Mitchell, C. H. Fair-
fax, A. B. Davis, H. B. Dowell, Warren Shorts,
Thomas Smith, Thomas Ball and Madison Brookins,
local; S. W. Drayton, P. E., of Savannah District,
George Christburg, Henry Taylor, itinerants; An-
drew Brown, P. E., of Atlanta District, Robert
Brown, itinerant, and Charles Prince, local; Burrell
Jackson, P. E., of Augusta District, John H. Harris,
Hamilton Birdsong, Andrew Lowe, itinerants, and
Wm. McCullough, Peter Cruse and Ebenezer Davis,
local; S. B. Jones, P. E., of Marietta District, Jona-
than Parks, Wm. H. Harris, Houston Holloway,
Madison Neal, itinerants; W. H. Noble, P. E , of
Cuthbert District, George Gambel, Mansfield Dil-
liard, Richard Ford, Crawford Buford, Samuel
Perry, George Hood, Anderson Perkins, local. In
addition to these were the following names : Josiah
Jones, Madison George, Benjamin Cummings,
Peter Harris, D. O. Alexander, John M. Cargile,
John Mimms, Berry Jackson, E. P. Holmes, Martin
Wright, Henry McGhee, Shadrach Cargile, John
Wynne, Aaron Dickey, Washington Brown and
Peter Harris, itinerants.
When the ninth question of discipline was taken
up, the following names were reported for deacons'
orders : James Greene. C. H. Fairfax, Harrison
Dowdell, Abner Davis, Warren Shorts, Johnson
Parks, Madison George, Patrick Park,W. H. Harris,
Houston Holloway, John Harris, H. H. Taylor,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 27
George Christburg, Mansfield Dilliard, Abram
Purdee, W. McCullough, all itirerants, with Prof.
John G. Mitchell, Charles Prince, Shadrach Cargile,
Eli Kimble, Claiborne Bush, Buford Crawford, D.
O. Alexander, Washington Brown, Aaron Dickey,
iVnderson Perkins, Thomas Ball, Burton Saunders,
Luke Kirkland and Berrv Jackson, of Alabama, all
local. The Elders, Nelson Beacham, H. O. Neal,
Robert Brown, N. H. Russell, Henry Porter, Archie
Gilbert, Benjamin Lampkin, R. Williams, F. Robin-
son, Zachariah Armstrong, J. K. Brown, John T.
Gibson, David Anderson, G. P. Brown, A. N. Bur-
ton. Rev. C. L. Bradwell and Rev. J. W. Stevenson,
respectively, preached the ordination sermons.
There was an endeavor to have a branch of the
Book Concern located in Atlanta, Ga , and a motion
prevailed to the eriect that if such could be brought
about, the Conference would purchase a suitable
location. A very necessary matter was looked after
at this session, by appointing a Committee on Home-
steads and Deeds, to examine into the legal status
of our church property. Up to the present every-
thing was found to be in correct form. The same
committee urged upon the Conference to advise those
of our people who do not desire to remain longer in
the State of Georgia to go to Florida, where land
then could be easily procured, and at low prices.
There were 10,000,000 acres of government land in
that State, much of it in the most thrifty portions,
which could be purchased at fifty cents per acre.
Immigration thither was strongly being encouraged.
28 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Law and order, of which there was a " plentiful
lack " in some other sections, prevailed there, as did
a general kindly sentiment toward immigrants to a
larger extent than in any other Southern State.
The writer opposed emigration then as now, be-
lieving that a rolling stone gathers no moss, but had
we then bought farms and accumulated property
generally in Georgia, our financial situation would
have been increased far above what it is said to be
to-day — $20,000,000.*
The Committee on Missions suggested, for the
success of our missionaries, that each church or
Sabbath-school form a Missionary Society, and that
a proper, efficient traveling missionary be appointed.
At the same time, the Committee on Church Ex-
tension impressed the Conference with the necessity
of owning commodious buildings if the work of en-
lightening and evangelizing the race would grow as
it should.
Two brethren had died during the year — Wesley
Mappe and Daniel Williams — each on his field of
labor. When the session closed, it was to meet in
Atlanta in January following.
*Mr. Henry Grady stated this to be the amount just before his death.
The writer would not paes him by without paying a tribute of respect.
As an orator, Georgia has probably never produced his superior, His
style was chaste and beautilul, and his eloquence upon the occasion of his
great prohibition speech was deemed by the writer the grandest effort to
which he ever listened. Personally he was the writer's friend.
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FEEEDOM. 29
CHAPTER V.
GEORGIA, 1871-1872.
Bishop J. M. Brown was not able to reach the
Conference in time to open it in Atlanta, January 14,
187 1, but by his direction through a telegram the
Conference proceeded to business after being opened,
with Rev. A. Brown, Presiding Elder, in the chair.
Rev. T. G. Steward was appointed Secretary, with
S. H. Roberton as assistant.
A long list was admitted on trial, and when the
Conference proceeded to the election of deacons,
the following were elected : Itinerants, Isaac Ham-
ilton, John Robinson, Samuel George, James Eth-
eridge, F. P. Evans, Henry Hutchinson, Riley
Covington, Turner Jones, David Williams, Alfred
Attoway, Alfred Sapp, J. M. Cargile, E. P.
Holmes, George Christburg, Wm. Abrahams, La-
Fayette Wesley, Geo. Strickland, James Hilson.
Local, Augustus Stroud, Madison Taylor, Andrew
Miller, Herbert Mathews, Burrell Halin, Henry
Holsey, Henry Warren, Andrew Lowe, G. H.
Clower.
We had with us at this Conference Bishop James
A. Shorter and Rev. B. T. Tanner, also Henry J.
Young, of Philadelphia. Rev. B. T. Tanner
30 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
preached the Ordination Sermon of Deacons. A
beneficent gift was presented Conference, through
Rev. Henry Strickland, by Mrs. Sarah Marshall — a
new roof to the church in process of erection at
Savannah, in value more than $1,000. It will be
remembered that Rev. A. L. Stanford organized
the church in Savannah, and he also laid the base-
ment of the church edifice, but Rev Henry Strick-
land deserves the credit of building the church, and
saving our congregation in that city.
Four of the Georgia Conference have fallen under
the Reaper's blade this year. Nelson Beacham,
Fortune Robinson, Washington Benjamin, Eli Kim-
ball, and suitable respect was paid to their mem-
ories, Elder H. M. Turner delivering the sermon.
The matter of Conference school was broached
at this date, but it assumed no definite form. It was
a subject requiring consideration and deliberate ar-
rangements before we could hope to make other
than a lamentable failure. It was wisdom to wait
until strength sufficient for success was an assured
thing.
Savannah, Ga., was the place decided upon for
the next session, as it was intimated that the re-
ports of the Conferences in the past were too mea-
ger in details to give a correct idea of Conference
doings ; it was also gently hinted that the Secre-
taries in the future might be more copious with ad-
vantage to the church. The hint was well taken,
as it seems, and acted upon, as records show.
There is no doubt that the want of accurate data
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 31
concerning our church work, as a whole, is largely
due to the brief, and often unsatisfactory, way of
writing up the minutes of the various Conferences,
and that the history of our church must lose much
of interest, and thus suffer proportionally by loss,
perhaps of moment, by too great brevity. This quality
may be the " soul of wit," but it is not that of history,
and even prolixity may be better endured when im-
portant matters are before us, and we desire positive
and complete information concerning every detail,
such as only full, approved minntes can give.
Bishop J. M. Brown suggested at this time Geo.
W. H. Williams, J. W. Randolph and S. H. Robert-
son as proper persons for Elders' Orders, and they
were elected, as was also James F. A. Sisson.
After discussion, C. R. Edwards was also included
in the list, which comprised the following brethren,
when the ordinance took place with impressive and
solemn exercises: William Lewis, Patrick Parks,
Lacy Beck, Wm. Pine, G. B. Reed, J. W. Ran-
dolph, S. Ross, J. W. Ricks, Branch Davis, S. H.
Robertson, Daniel Brown, W. H. Harris, G. W. H.
Williams and J. F. A. Sisson.
An interesting discussion was held upon the tem-
perance question, and the expression of a sentiment
in favor of temperance in all things, the discarding
of tobacco, snuff, cigars and all intoxicants was in-
dulged in by a large number. The filthiness of the
habit, as well as its injurious effects, physically and
morally, were dwelt upon, and resolutions placing
32 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH.
the Conference on record as opposing the use of all
these were reported and adopted by a large ma-
jority.
The finances were helped out by Rev. H. M„
Turner's proposition to print the minutes for what
he might receive from their sale, and accepting this,
1,500 were ordered printed, and the price set at fif-
teen cents each. The Sabbath-school Banner, which
had been promised to the school raising the most
missionary money, was awarded to the Columbus
Sunday-school, as it came forward, through Rev. C.
L. Brad well, with $100, though Savannah followed
closely, through Rev, H. Strickland, with $60.
The minister who should be stationed at Macon
was designated as the District Book Steward, and
it was also determined upon that each minister be
required to raise one collection monthly, for the
eight collections to be taken up during the year:
the Contingent, Missionary, Book Concern, Bishop's
Support, Superannuated Bishops and Preachers*
Widows and Orphans, Deficiency and Wilberforce
University, and that no preacher be permitted to
divide any one of these collections under penalty of
being silenced for six months. Bishop Shorter en-
tered a protest with reference to the division of the
money, stating that the Conference violated the law
governing it.*
The cases of complaints were few and the off end-
*Ihis was before the Dollar money system was adopted, which was at
Nashville, in 1872.
OK TWENTY-FIVE TEAKS OF FREEDOM. 33
•ers were dismissed with a reprimand, or referred
back to their Quarterly Conference.
It was decided that the Electoral College meet in
Macon the coming June — the first Thursday — to be
in readiness for the General Conference of the com-
ing year.
The report of the Committee on Education was
very hopeful. Schools were springing up in differ-
-ent localities all over the State. The only draw-
back was the engaging of teachers of too meager
qualifications, but still there was progress. The
committee looked to the future in recommending a
Theological Seminary within the Georgia Confer-
ence, that our young men might be properly trained
in the ministry, so we see the trend in the right di-
rection. The ministers were strongly advised, how-
ever, by Bishop J. M. Brown to a close study of the
course laid out by the Conference under whatever
guidance they might find possible. Pending the es-
tablishment of a school within our own denomina-
tion, the work of others was recommended, and at
all times, the common schools were to be recog-
nized as one means of uplifting the people. We had
all that we could do just then to assist the mother
college of our church, Wilberforce, which was
brought to our notice again. It was then incomplete
under the efforts to raise it from the ruins in which
the flames had enveloped it in 1865, and the Confer-
ence resolved to do all in its power to aid this uni-
34 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
versity — the only one then owned and controlled by-
colored men on the American continent.
The Georgia Conference this year took steps to
organize the Home and Foreign Missionary Society,.
and a goodly roll of members was made up by the
payment of $i each. The South was still in the
midst of financial embarrassment, but it is to be noted
that the Georgia Conference statistics showed a de-
cided improvement financially each year. Though
the people were poor and the masses yet groping for-
the light of knowledge, it was not an altogether
beggarly people. It did what it could and that was
much for the times and under the circumstances.
No more could be asked — no more could be ex-
pected.
It was on January 5th, 1872, that the Lord allowed,
us to reassemble in Savannah to transact our busi-
ness. For the second time within its history an as-
sembly of colored ministers met in that city. Bishop
Brown presided at the opening, Rev. J. F. A. Sisson
was elected Conference Secretary; J. W. Randolph,
Statistical Secretary; and F. J. Peck, Recording
Secretary. The Bishop made borne most pertinent
remarks upon the dilatory attendance of the mem-
bers composing the body, as well as upon their be-
havior at Conference. Among other things, he told
them not to stand about our church doors and the
street corners smoking; he admonished ihem so to
dress and live that the) should be attractive to our
people and not repulsive; he warned them not to
drink wine or brandy, and told them to avoid giving
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 35
trouble to the families with whom they might stop,
to rise early from their beds, be kind to the children,
and always see that prayers were held with their
host and family.
These remarks apply equally well to-day, and if
faithfully followed out, the ministry would stand upon
a higher plane, the labor of entertainment would fall
much more lightly upon our people, while the gen-
eral good which would result would be incalculable.
Rev. S. H. Robertson was constituted reporter
for the Christian Recorder, and the writer of the
Missionary Record published in Charleston. The
annual sermon this year was preached by Rev. C.
L. Brad well. The ministers were urged again by
the agent of Wilberforce University, Elder Young,
to assist in raising endowment money, that the trus-
tees might comply with the conditions of Mr. Avery's
will, whereby $10,000 would be secured that insti-
tution for its completion. The will was read, and
ere the close of the fourth day's session, he had re-
ceived $140 in money, pledges, notes and dues.
These we gave of our little, as we were advised.
The visitors to Conference included some mem-
bers of the M. E. Church, South, and the Rev. Elisha
Hathaway, of Bristol, R. I., a minister of the Chris-
tian Convention, who had within the year past donat-
ed $59,000 for the elevation of the freedmen, and
he encouraged us to aid all good work by his state-
ments. He gave a short sketch of his life, upon be-
ing introduced to Conference, and among other
things, he gave us this to consider: that he had
8(5 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
known both extreme poverty and abundant riches,
and that he felt himself constantly made spiritually
and financially richer by giving of his substance to
the poor, thereby lending to the Lord.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 37
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL CONFERENCE YEAR.
Forty-eight was the number reported by the
Committee on Admission to Conference on proba-
tion. Bishop J. M. Brown made the remark that
it was the largest class save one he had re-
ceived since he had been made Bishop. It was a
most interesting one, as it was composed mostly of
voung men. The Bishop gave them some sound
advice as to their conduct, ministerial and other-
wise, which is as applicable to-day as it has ever
been. After telling them to stand up for Jesus, he
warned them that they would have no time for
mirth and folly. "Be prudent among women," said
he, "Confide only in your wife." Upon marriage,
he said, "Get for a wife one that has good parents
who have trained their daughter well, one who is
willing to wash your clothes and scour your floor,"
and to the class personally he said, "Avoid affecta-
tion and the wearing of finery and jewelry. Be
plain even in dress and manners; be honest, pay
your debts and pay them promptly."
The matter of Missionary Agency coming up,
the writer moved a resolution in favor of leaving
that office vacant, though Conference had a stand-
38 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
ing rule to the effect of filling it by appointment of
the Bishop. His arguments were that as yet noth-
ing had been accomplished save to make an indebt-
edness by each Conference. His idea was the same
as now — the plan at present followed by our Church
— to make each pastor raise a special Missionary
collection, thus avoiding any salaried agent. It was
opposed, however, and by vote to rescind, the
Bishop was left to appoint the Missionary Agent as
heretofore.
The Book Concern report gave such a depressing
view of its financial condition that, after an explan-
atory speech from the Bishop, urging liberal con-
tributions to its treasury, a movement was made by
the writer favoring the raising as much as $50
weekly, if possible, to aid in publishing the Chris-
tian Recorder until the next session of the General
Conference — seventeen weeks hence. It was
learned that this would be the cost of publication
per week, and the motion prevailed almost unan-
imously, there being but one dissenting voice. Be-
lieving in rapidly striking while the iron was hot,
business was suspended and eleven clubs were
formed with cash ($140.25) in hand. The writer
was elected Secretary of the fund and C. L. Brad-
well, Treasurer, and the money was paid over to
H. J. Young, the Book Concern Agent, and receipt
given.
Again, an indeavor was made looking to the es-
tablishment of a school within the bounds of this
Conference. While strong speeches were made in
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 39
favor of the education of the ministry by Revs. No-
He, Young, Harris and others, it seemed the prev-
alent opinion that for the present Wilberforce Uni-
versity offered all advantages required, and that we
were not yet ready for giving the support which a
second college or institution would demand. Nev-
ertheless, a motion prevailed to take steps toward a
school, with the words "College" and "Branch of
Wilberforce University" stricken from the original
motion ; and it was finally decided that a committee
of five select a site for such a school as desired,
Presiding Elders forming that committee. Under
the resolution this was done, and Rev. J. A. Wood
was made Treasurer of the School Fund, and Rev.
W. J. Gaines, Secretary.
Seventeen brothers were offered for Deacon's or-
ders and elected: Jacob Graham, Eli Erby, Law-
rence Thomas, Nathan Berry, George Landrum,
Henry Boyd, G. G. Fleming, Richard Graham,
Anthony Brown, Andrew Wynn, George Davis,
Jefferson Gary, Shadrach L. Mimms, John M. Hen-
derson, James Porter, John B. Butler, George T.
Strickland. Those elected to Elder's orders were
Henry M. Taylor, Elijah Pennyman, James Daley,
C. H.Fairfax, H. B. Dowdell, Warren Shorts, A. B.
Davis, itinerants, and Daniel J. McGhee, local.
Henry Daniels was left without an appointment for
one year; also George Lumpkin, John McDougald
and L. Matthews. The ordination of the seventeen
Deacons took place under the Presiding Bishop at
the close of the morning sermon, January 14th,
40 AFEICAN METHODISM IN" THE SOUTH ;
while the Elders were ordained in the afternoon^
One brother had slipped up to the altar during the
ceremony of ordination of Deacons, and had re-
ceived the Bishop's hands upon his head, but he un-
fortunately called for his certificate later and this-
fact leaked out.
Wisely, so it seemed to the Conference, the mi-
nority report of the Committee on Third Year Studies
was adopted, and all the members thereby contin-
ued in that class. The funeral services of five de-
ceased brothers were carried out at the ninth day's
session by addresses from Rev. H. M. Turner and
others. This was followed by a collection for the
benefit of the widows of the deceased brothers and
preachers.
It appeared at this Conference that the minutes of
the Georgia Conference, up to this date, had not been
properly recorded, and a resolution passed to pay
Rev. F. J. Peck thirty dollars to do this work up to
close of the present session.
As 1 80 members of the Georgia Annual Confer-
ence, together with 48 probationers, were reported
by the Committee on General Conference Delegates,,
it was entitled to send 26 delegates to represent the
members, and 6 to represent the probationers. The
election which then took place resulted as follows:
H. M. Turner, W.J. Gaines, S. B. Jones, Andrew
Brown, F. J. Peck, Henry Strickland, Thos. Crayton,.
S. W . Drayton, W. H. Noble, J. A. Wood, Wm. Ra-
ven, Robert Anderson, Henry Porter, Peter McLain r
Albert McGhee, Levi Walker, A. J. McDowell,.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 41
Robert Cromby, R. M. Taylor, S. H. Robertson,
W. H. W. Sherman, J. F. A. Sisson, John McDou-
gald, John T. Gibson, G. W. H. Williams, Lawrence
Wood, Z. Armstrong, G. P. Brown, Thomas Gar-
rett, Robet Alexander, C. L. Bradwell, B. K. Brown.
Aside from these, the Secretary of the Electoral
College reported the election of two lay delegates
to represent the Conference: G. H. Clower and
Lewis Williams.
Among the changes made this year, the District
Book Steward was made the Treasurer of the Con-
ference, and the writer was made District Book
Steward.
In the line of the effort to prepare for a school in
the State of Georgia, an effort was made for each
pastor to bring to Conference, next year, five dollars
for educational purposes, and the preachers were to
be furnished with certificates to be used in making
such collections. The sum of fifty-eight dollars and
fifty-eight cents was also ordered sent to the Treas-
urer of Wilberforce University.
Looking forward to their preservation, as the
literature of the time, all authors of Conference ser-
mons before the sixth session, were ordered to place
their manuscript in the hands of Bishop Brown, who
would see them published and bound with the min-
utes. The manuscript of J. W. Randolph's Anthem
and Tune Book was commended to the General
Conference for its examination and hoped-for ap-
proval.
The Domestic University Society held its meeting,
through a suspension of regular work, and made a
42 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
most favorable show of work. It had a total in
bank of $185.92, and collected at this session an ag-
gregate of $53. A re-election of officers made Rev.
H. M, Turner, President; C. L. Bradwell, J. A.
Wood and W. J. Gaines, respectively, first, second
and third Vice-Presidents ; J. F. A. Sisson, Secre-
tary; Henry Strickland, Treasurer ; J. W. Ran-
dolph, Recording Secretary. A short meeting of
the Preachers' Aid Society followed this meeting,
when the regular business of the Conference was
resumed.
A pleasant feature of the session was the recog-
nition of the services of our beloved Bishop, J. M.
Brown, who had been with us for four years, and
according to our church economy, would sever his
direct connection with the Episcopal District of
which Georgia formed a part, with this session, or
rather, after the meeting of the General Conference
in Nashville, Tenn., on the first Monday in the fol-
lowing May. The Conference, therefore, decided
to testify to its appreciation of his work with us by
the presentation of a copy of Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary to him, and Rev. H. M. Turner, C. L.
Bradwell and the writer were appointed to execute
the will of the Conference, which was carried out at
the next session.
When the question was asked which Sunday-
school should keep the Annual Conference S. S.
banner during the ensuing year, the answer came
promptly from Americus, Ga., representatives,
which school, through Rev. C. L. Bradwell, pastor,
OK TWENTY-FIVE TEAES OF FREEDOM. 43
reported thirty-six dollars and seventy-six pupils.
As it was to be awarded to the Sunday-school send-
ing the largest Missionary collection to Conference
this session, in proportion to the number of pupils,
this school held it until the next session.
The sermons for the next year were appointed as
follows: Annual Conference Sermon, Rev. R. An-
derson; Annual Anniversary Sermon, Rev. W.J.
Gaines; the Doctrinal Sermon by Rev. W. H. No-
ble, and the Ministerial Education Sermon by Rev.
James F. A. Sisson.
Elder H. M. Turner requested the Bishop and
Conference to allow him to retire from the office
and work of Presiding Elder. He desired rest and
opportunities for study, composition, and the practi-
cal duties of the pastorate without distracting cares
outside of the course he had marked out. The ad-
dress that he delivered after this, as a valedictory,
was of historic value to the A. M. E. church, and of
general interest.
Scarcely a report of this Conference was presented
which was not full of interest. The one upon De-
nominations was especially powerful, as it breathed
a spirit of Christian brotherhood, which alone can
unite all the kingdoms of this earth under the one
Kingdom of His Son. A growing feeling of fra-
ternity was shown by it to be prevailing upon the
part of all denominations, especially in the South.
We quote from the report of the Committee on State
of the Country that which is true, and which alone
will bring about amity and peace: "With a free
44 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
press, freedom of speech, and freedom of educa-
tional advantages and religious privileges, applicable
to all alike, without reference to ' race , color or pre-
vious condition,' then will each bosom thrill with
rapturous joy."
OK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 45
CHAPTER VII.
GEORGIA, 1873.
With the arrival of the eleventh of January, 1873,
the Conference found itself at Macon, Ga., with
Bishop T. M. D. Ward, as the Presiding Bishop.
Bishop J. M. Brown accompanied him as Assistant
Bishop. Thus General Conference had given us
another strong worker for the South. We also
received an addition to our ministerial ranks, by the
transfer of Rev. George Washington, of Alabama,
and Rev. W. D. Johnson, of Florida, while we lost
Rev. Lawrence Wood, who took a transfer to South
Carolina, and Rev. J. F. A. Sisson, who went to the
Arkansas Conference.
The Secretaryship was immediately placed upon
the shoulders of Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, and Rev.
J. W. Randolph was made Statistical Secretary,
with Rev. F. J. Peek, Recording Secretary.
The General Conference of 1872 had condemned
the wearing of Episcopal robes in strong terms,
but, as in all such matters, there was diversity of
opinion, and the question was again raised here by
Rev. Dr. H. M. Turner; finally a movement was
made to purchase and present a robe to the Pre-
siding Bishop, but was lost.
46 AFRICAN METHODISM IE" THE SOUTH ;
Thirty-seven preachers were admitted on trial r
John Flintroy, D. T. Green, Andrew Bigham, L. S.
Smith, Augustus Jones, Augustus Stroud, War.
Lee, Hamilton Spann, Minor Lewis, J. B. Davis,
Lewis Tyson, Anthony Johnson, I. N. Fitzpatrick,
G. G. Fleming, Charles Green, David Green, Wil-
son Williams, Frank Johnson, Augustus Scott,
Green Decatur, J. A. Brown, Jefferson Cary,
George Parks, Albert Pearce, Burrell Mitchell, A.
J. Miller, J. H. Brown, Prince Gadsen, Isaac
Coachman, Wm. Askew, Harris Powell, Peter
Williams, George Bass, Clabron Randall, Burrell
Davis, Irwin Butler, Eldridge Reed. An equally
long list remained on trial.
On the fourth day the Conference was shocked
by the information that Bishop Wm. Paul Quinn
was lying very low at his home in Richmond, Ind.
As it soon appeared, it was the hand of death indeed,
which had been laid upon him, against which no
mortal can successfully struggle, and in the follow-
ing month of February our beloved senior suc-
cumbed, and entered upon eternal rest and heavenly
reward. His was the first death in the Bishopric
of the A. M. E. Church since 1848, when Bishop
Morris Brown was called hence. With his death,
Bishop D. A. Payne passed to the Seniority — a po-
sition he fills to the present, crowned with gray
hairs and an honorable career of usefulness.
Our ranks have been visited by the same dark an-
gel, and Thomas Ball, Adam Bruton and Edmond
L. Bailey were the ones to obey the call, The me-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 47
morial sermons were preached by Dr. H. M. Tur-
ner and Rev. Branch Davis.
The ordination of Elders and Deacons began on
the Sabbath day (January 19th), with a sermon by
Rev. S. W. Drayton to the deacons in the morning,
followed in the afternoon by Rev. C. L. Bradwell
to the Elc'ers, in which the latter eloquently de-
clared the awful responsibility, and high dignity of
the office, moving many to tears.
The Elders ordained were: W. H. Harris, E.
P. Holmes, J. M. Cargile, Haley Hardy, Semenson
Gardener, James ^Porter, D. J. McGhee, Paton
Stokes, J. Parks,' A. J. Miller, A. M. Wright, J.
Hamilton, H. Lester, C. B. Edwards, J. McGhee,
T. S. Smith, H. H. Holoway, G. H. Hood, Jesse
Durkins, M. Millard, L. Davis, A. Dunwoodie, A.
Attaway, C. H. Rice, C. R. Edwards, G. C. Christ-
burg, A. Lowe, D. Hamilton, A. Perkins, L.
Thomas. The deacons were: Charles Wilson, Wm.
Americus, Jefferson Carey, C. Hamilton, I. B. Da-
vis, E. A. Shepherd, P. Matin, A. Pace, B. Mimms,
M. Lewis, B. Mitchell, L. Smith, J. B. McCoy, J.
Waters, J. Watson, M. O. Bodie, J. Whittaker, L.
Cooper, J. Brown, C. McDowell, P. Gadsen, A.
Bigham, Wilson Williams, Irwin Butler, Green Per-
son, Mark Cox, Randall Fulson, Charles Warren,
Alexander Price, Wm. Flagg, John Joshua, Edward
Thomas, Burrell Davis.
Our visitors were Prof. W. D. Williams, of the
Blind Asylum, of Macon; Rev. E. E. Rogers, of the
Congregational Church, and Rev. G. H. Eaton, of
48 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Savannah, with Rev. Robert Brown, of the Col-
ored M. E. Church of America.
When the committees reported, the exodus to Ar-
kansas through paid agents, employed to deceive
and mislead, was vigorously condemned, and the
prophecy made that Georgia was destined to be a
great and thrifty State, despite all true reports of the
greatness of the former State, and one fitted to
maintain its people in greater comfort. Experi-
ence has proved what sober reflection at the time
should have proved. Many of those who sold
themselves, as it were, for their passage money
have to regret the hasty step most bitterly. But it
was the report upon division of Conference which
created the most interest.
The Georgia Conference had become unwieldy,
over two hundred and sixty members being enrolled
at this date. It was a difficult task, amounting almost
to an impossibility, for the presiding officer to have
entire control of such a number, with due regard to
the advance of the best interests of the Church.
One other argument had its weight as well. The
people at that date had not reached that degree of
prosperity which enables them now to entertain
large church bodies in those larger cities. It was a
severe tax upon the Church still struggling with
poverty and ignorance; and what causes thoughtful
ones among us even now to hesitate long before lo-
cating Conferences, especially the General Confer-
ence, was not to be ignored at that time in our his-
tory, when locating the Annual Conference. The
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 49
time necessarily taken to transact the business of
Conference was a long time to be a burden to a
poor people, therefore the question was brought
*ip as to a division. A committee was appointed
upon the matter, consisting of the following : Elder
H. M. Turner, Revs. W. J. Gaines, Andrew Brown,
C. L. Bradwell, Henry Strickland, S. B. Jones,
Scipio Robertson, F. J. Peck, Peter McLain, S. W.
Drayton, W. H. Noble, W. H. Harris, Henry Porter.
A majority and a minority report were brought
in. As motions to lay the latter upon the table, also
to adopt it, were both lost, the majority was adopted.
The committee had taken into consideration all these
■difficulties mentioned, and it recommended the divi-
sion into two bodies, to be called the North Georgia
■Conference and the South Georgia Conference.*
The former was to embrace all the territory north
•of Macon, both east and west; the latter all south
of the same point, also east and west. It was also
recommended that the South Georgia holds its next
session in Thomasville, Georgia, and the North
-Georgia in Augusta.
For six years we had been linked together as a
whole under the name of Georgia Conference. It
was with regret that we saw the separation because
•of the memoirs of these years, but it was with joy
■that we looked over the field and saw the progress,
*The South Georgia Conference dropped the prefix " South " after a time,
.and was known, as now, as the " Georgia Conference." This served also to
•distinguish bet'er the older Conference.
4
50 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
the expansion, the growth in every way, which had
demanded such a separation. With this in our
hearts we could but look forward to the sessions of
the two new bodies with gladness, and prepare for
the change which placed the writer in the North
Georgia Conference at Macon Station.
We note the changes in districts, circuits, etc., this
year because of this decision. The Macon District
was changed, to consist of Macon Station, Columbus
Station, St. Johns's Chapel, Pitt's Chapel, Talberton
Circuit, Fort Valley Circuit, Perry Circuit, Haw-
kinsville Circuit, Prattburg Circuit, Box Springs,
Reynolds, Eastman, Chattahooche County Circuit;
Harris County Circuit, Columbus Mission; Howard
Circuit, Bibb County Circuit. Atlanta District suf-
fered no change excepting in the loss of Jones
County, Jasper County and Monticello Circuit being
added to the new District, Forsyth, which also in-
cluded Forsyth Station, Clinton Station, Sugar
Hill Circuit, Crawford County Circuit, Coleman
Chapel, Indian Springs Circuit, Whitesville Circuit
and Zion Mission. Marietta District remained the
same, excepting Indian Springs, including all the
West Point Railroad. Augusta District was left
intact, as well as the Savannah District. Red Cir-
cuit only was taken from Cuthbert District and
added to Americus District, which was further en-
larged by the addition of Oglethorpe, Ellaville,
Buena Vista and Red Hill Circuit. To Sandersville
District was given all the new work that might be
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 51
added. La Grange District was also untouched.
Upon the division of Conference, the Atlanta, Au-
gusta,Marietta, Macon and LaGrange Districts were
placed within the bounds of the North Georgia
Conference.
52 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW WORK.
With the opening of the year 1874, the A - M - E -
Church in Georgia entered upon its new work of
conducting the deliberations of the two Conference
bodies instead of one. The North Georgia Confer-
ence was the first to assemble. Bishop T. M. D.
Ward opened the first session of this body, in the city
of Augusta, upon the 8th of January. His opening
remarks were most opportune and well received,
though some objected to the statement that the di-
vision of the old Georgia Conference had passed into
history. This objection must have been made upon
the ground that the Georgia Conference, as a sepa-
rate body, had as yet held no session, while the North
Georgia was but opened.
Be this as it may, the work of final division went
on, such as definitely settling the boundary lines be-
tween the two, which work was assigned to a com-
mittee of fifteen, after the election of a Conference
Secretary in the person of Rev. W. D. Johnson, J.
M. Cargile being appointed Statistical Secretary.
This committee consisted of Dr. H. M . Turner, Revs.
W. J. Gaines, J. A. Wood, William Raven, H. H.
Taylor, John Ricks, Augustus Gonickie, S. H.Rob-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 53
ertson, E. P. Holmes, S. B. Jones, W. H. Harris,
W. D. Johnson, Andrew Brown, Robert Cromley,
Daniel Brown, Robert Anderson, Lawrence Thomas
and W. H. Noble. In brief, the boundary was laid off
as follows, and the report of the committee adopted:
"Commencing at the Chattahoochee river, the
following counties and all north of them, to constitute
the North Georgia Conference — Harris, Meriwether,
Upson, Monroe, Jones, Baldwin, Hancock, War-
ren, McDuffie and Richmond; the following, and all
south of them, to constitute the South Georgia Con-
ference — Muscogee, Talbot, Taylor, Crawford, Bibb,
(except Macon station, which was included in the
North Georgia work) Wilkinson, Washington,
Glascock, Jefferson and Burke." This, as we said
in our last chapter, gave to the North Georgia Con-
ference the Atlanta, Marietta, Macon, Augusta and
LaGrange districts, leaving Cuthbert, Sandersville,
Valdosta, Americus and Savannah districts in the
South Georgia work.
The following persons were sent before the com-
mittee on admission: Joshua Brown, Perry Simon,
J. B. Lofton, William Stansel, Alfred Floyd, George
Chapel, Willis Covington, Handy West and Albert
Gaines.
Bishop S. H. Holsey, of the Colored M. E. Church
of America, was introduced to Conference, and spoke
words of congratulation upon our success. He spoke
of the tendency of all Christian bodies to unite, and
the strength that would result from union in Meth-
odism, especially in the colored churches. In the
54 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
response which was made by Dr. H. M. Turner, the
statement was acquiesced in, and the declaration
made that the African Methodist Episcopal Church-
the church organized by Richard Allen and others
— was the first step made by colored men toward
the equal rights mentioned by all, and it was "like
stone cut out without hands — a rolling power that
had scattered hallowed fire wherever it has penetra-
ted." Have not the years established the truth of
this?
Although the state of education was encouraging
in view of the hopeful outlook from Wilberforce
University, which reported three hundred students,
and that the committee stated the desire expressed
upon the part of the Public School Boards in a num-
ber of localities, to open more schools for the colored
children, yet it seemed best, notwithstanding this, to
look now to our own denominational school work in
the South with a critical eye upon what was sorely
needed, as we were pressed for properly qualified
ministers for our increasing fields of labor. In view
of this a motion was put on foot looking to the joint
efforts of the two Conferences in raising up an insti-
tution of learning in our midst, that should be an
honor to our church and to the race. A convention
to consider the matter was appointed at Thomas-
ville, Ga., January 22d, the date of the coming first
session of the South Georgia Annual Conference as
a separate body.
It was at this place that Bishop T. M. D. Ward
opened this Conference, at the appointed date, and
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAKS OF FREEDOM. 55
this Convention met and deliberated upon an " Insti-
tution of Higher Learning," and appointed its Trus-
tees to act upon the same — seven from the North
Georgia and eight from the South Georgia Con-
ference.
Rev. Wm. D. Johnson was made Secretary and
Rev. Francis J. Peck Statistical Secretary of this
Conference at this session, and it proceeded to the
business of announcing transfers: Revs. J. M. Car-
gile, Andrew Brown and F. J. Peck took transfers
to the North Georgia work, while Revs. W. J.
Gaines, C. L. Bradwell, Wm. Raven, Rev. Wm.
Bradwell, of Florida, and Godfrey B. Taylor, of
Alabama, were transferred to this Conference. The
action of the joint committee dividing the Confer-
ence was brought up for ratification, but by motion
of Dr. H. M. Turner, it was indefinitely postponed.
This motion, however, was ruled out of order by
Bishop T. M. D. Ward, who decided that the separa-
tion of the Conferences was settled in Macon in
1873. Upon this, Dr. Turner stated his intention to
appeal to the next General Conference, as he wished
Macon struck from the South Georgia list.
Rev. Andrew Brown preached an able sermon
the evening of the first day from the text, Ex. iv. 1 ;
" And Moses answered and said, but behold, they
will not believe me." Henry Boyd, Richard Gra-
ham, David Williams and George Gamble were
elected and ordained as elders, while eleven re-
ceived deacon's orders: Andrew Jackson, Benjamin
F. Franklin, H. P. Powell, Augustus Scott, Wm.
56 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Askew, Isaac Stewart, B. W. Wilson, Isaac Coach-
man, David T. Green, George Bass, James Ricks.
The ordination vows were also administered to Rev.
T. N. Stewart and A. R. Spencer, elders from the
colored M. E. Church of America. These latter
had been fitted for this office by their previous train-
ing. At the same time these two, with Wesley C.
Gaines, G. H. Washington, S. M. Clark, B. W.
Wilson, G.J. Jordan, B. F. Franklin, Isaac Stewart,
Andrew Jackson, AJ. Johnson and Andrew Monroe,,
formed the class admitted on trial.
It was a pleasure to the Conference that it re-
ceived a most cordial welcome from the inhabitants
of the city, white and colored, so far exceeding any
heretofore, that it felt constrained to recognize it by
proper thanks. African Methodism had accom-
plished the task of commanding respect for it,
though its adherents were of the Negro race.
This Conference body received the glad news
that Hon. Mr. Haynes, of Pottsville, Pa., having
donated five hundred dollars to our Southern work,,
fifty of that sum would come to each of the two-
Georgia Conferences.
With this session we closed the Conference year,,
and with the coming year we reached the first dec-
ade of what might be called our Southern work,,
beginning as it did in Charleston upon the 15th of
May, 1865.
The North Georgia Conference at Athens, Ga.,
opened the ensuing year's work, with its second ses-
sion held in "Pierce's Chapel," January 17th, Bishop
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 57
Ward presiding, and Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, Secre-
tary, with Richard Harper, as assistant. It was not
a busy session, and closed on the fifth day. The
date for convening was changed to the month of
December, and some changes were made in the
Districts.
J. H. M. Durand, W. A. Pearce, H. Cargile,
Washington Campbell, R. W. Mitchell, B. Johnson,
Sandy Luster, J. L. Smith, Richard Harper, A.
Williams, H. D. Bush, S. A. Bush, were admitted
on trial. Alexander Price, M. O. Boddie, L. H.
Smith, John Whittaker, Turner Jones, Jefferson
Cary, Jr., E. A. Shephard, Burrell Mitchell, were
made elders, and the deacons who were elected
and ordained, were: Richard Harper, David T.
Green, George Chapell, Wm. Lee, J. H. M. Brown,
C. H. Green, Augustus Jones, J. F. Brown. The
transfers made were, Rev. W. H. Jackson, from the
Tennessee Conference, and Henry Porter, E. P.
Holmes, Wm. D. Johnson, S. L. Mimms, J. M.
Cargile, to the South Georgia, with Martin Wright
to the Mississippi work.
Thomas K. Brown and Johnson Parks were on
the death roll this year. The former closed his
career at the age of ninety- three, after seventy years
of labor, and yet was a man of remarkable vigor at
time of his death.
On January 21st, 1875, the second session, or
rather the the ninth session, of the mother Confer-
ence, convened in the courthouse at Albany, Ga.,
and was opened by Bishop Ward, who read Isaiah
58 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
xxxv. Rev. Wm. D. Johnson was conveniently
present to accept and faithfully discharge the duties
of Secretary, with J. M. Cargill, his assistant.
The announcement of transfers showed that Henry
Porter, J. M. Cargile, W. D.Johnson, S. L. Mimms,
G. H. Neely, J. J. Bowman had come from the
North Georgia, and that Rev. S. H. Robertson and
H. B. Dowdell were transferred to the North Geor-
gia Conference. The interest of the people was
made manifest by small gifts of money from various
sources; especially pleasing in one instance, in the
shape of one acre of land for church purposes, do-
nated by Hon. John Hall. A number of visitors
also attested their Christian fellowship and good-will
by their presence and cheering words. Death had
visited the work and taken away Revs. Zachariah
Armstrong and Hamilton Spann. The death of
these, with that of Father Thomas K. Brown, who,
all felt, belonged to the whole of Georgia, irrespec-
tive of the division, was fittingly commemorated
with special services.
A. J. Johnson, H. W. Whitaker, Samuel J.
Thomas, J. R. Thornton, D. O. Alexander, L. R.
Smith, Jasper Maxwell, Morgan Smith, Daniel Dun-
can, Wilson Williams, Anthony Rousseau. W. H.
Hammond, Henderson Bowen, J. F. Campfield,
Kelly Moses, Robert Hamilton, George Holt, A.
Randolph, B. F. Brazell, Scott Devereaux were admit-
ted into the itinerant ranks; and Andrew Monroe,
Alfred Dunlap, Benjamin Simmons, Stephen Gadsen,
Samuel Wright, Henry Williams and Prince Irwin,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 59
were admitted as local preachers. Irwin Butler
Clayborn Randall, J. A. Brown, Andrew Bigham,
George Bass, Augustus Scott, H. P. Powell, P. W.
Williams, William Askew, Isaac Coachman, David
T. Green, were admitted into full connection. The
elders of this year, elected and ordained, were Irwin
Butler, Prince Gadsen, Gabriel Clark, Pineo Mar-
tin, E. R. Erby, Caleb McDowell; while the list of
Deacons ordained comprised Giles Jordan, P. W.
Williams, Andrew Monroe, Henry Williams.
The Sunday-school work was made a matter
calling for clear consideration, and a set of rules was
recommended as an order of exercises. Something
of the kind seemed to be needed, as the ministers
were not as observant of all things pertaining to its
interest as the future welfare of the church de-
manded. Proper persons were especially needed to
look after the details of the work, and this body felt
moved to urge it upon all present to do their full
duty in this respect under penalty of censure, sus-
pension or any punishment which in the opinion of
the Conference seemed advisable.
Upon the Sunday-schools and general education
much depends. The church that neglects either
must expect to suffer the consequences in diminish-
ing numbers and disintegration. There have been
many Sunday-schools established by the Missionary
churches of other denominations throughout the
South, in which schools our children have been
reared, as we may say, with the result, in by far the
great majority of such cases, of attaching them-
60 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
selves to the church which thus fostered them.
Each church may expect this outcome. The Sun-
day-school becomes a family, with strong family re-
lations and ties. It is but a step — and a natural one
at that — to ally oneself to this family by Church
Bonds; so that wisdom calls for every church that
would retain its children and youth for its service,
to make its own Sunday-school relations so strong,
so sacred, so attractive, that no mere inclination will
lead these away from its fold, for inclination is
largely the reason given for the abandonment of the
church of their fathers and mothers. But it must
be remembered that in but few cases is this inclina-
tion superinduced by any of the theological reasons,
but by those things that appeal so directly to the
young, and seem to satisfy their craving desires,
the desires of the most intellectual and refined spirits.
These things are good teachers, possessed of
winning manners, good moral character, and an en-
thusiasm for souls, managed with that discretion the
young demand. To these then must be added a
knowledge of the Scriptures, and the ability which
comes from natural talent and experience, to make
all things clear that belongs to man to know. This
has been felt from the first by those whose minds
were groping in the darkness for the full light that
rests in God's Word. The A. M. E. Church to-day
is awakening to that fact. Its Sunday-schools are be-
ing made centers, closed in by the church instead of
assemblies, upon its circumference, as it were, ready
to drop off at every jolt or show of neglect from.
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FEEEDO^I. 61
those whose duty it should be to keep careful watch
over them.
Education received an impetus in the vigorous
report its committee presented. The theological
training in our own schools was recommended first
of all, if possible. Wilberf orce was ready and com-
petent to receive and instruct all who might seek
her walls ; but it was recognized that pecuniary
lack made it impossible for many to leave the South
for that purpose. Atlanta University was with us,
and as we had been assured that its religious policy
was not sectarian, the general education that its ex-
traordinary advantages offered was heartily recom-
mended to all. Best of all, the spirit of the true
teacher showed itself in the offer of Dr. H. M.
Turner to instruct such young ministers who could
find time to spend a few weeks or months with him,
and the necessity of an educated ministry was re-
impressed upon the brethren by the committee of
which he was chairman.
" We cannot expect the people to feed, clothe and
reverence us unless we are able to repay them with
that instruction and knowledge which our exalted
position demands, and they naturally expect. The
simple titles of preacher, deacon and elder are not
enough to satisfy those who are thirsting for moral
and religious knowledge. We must be able to im-
part the same, otherwise we will become mere
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, and our
preaching will be but little more than the low of an
ox or the bray of an ass. The minister is the rep-
62 AFRICAN METHODISM I1ST THE SOUTH;
resentative of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as such he
should be able, learned and chaste, and every spare
moment should be devoted to the acquisition of
such information as will fit him for his high station."
The above quotation is just as applicable to-day
as then. In fact it will always be applicable, and
every minister of the church feels the need of excit-
ing all to redoubled efforts for the sake of our
church, our children and our race.
The growth in recognition of our work, worth
and bearing was shown by an amount of interest ex-
ceeding that exhibited at our last meeting in Thom-
asville, Ga. Bishop T. M. D. Ward, Rev. W. J.
Gaines and Rev. Wm. D. Johnson were invited to
preach in the M. E. Church, South, a courtesy never
before extended to us in the State, and the white
citizens alone, of Albany, contributed some five
hundred dollars toward the support of the Confer-
ence.
Cartersville, Ga., was the place selected for the
third session of the North Georgia Conference, and
then it assembled in St. Luke's Chapel, December
1 6, 1S75, wilh Bishop T. M. D. Ward presiding.
This change of time brought two sessions of this
Conference within the one year, the first having
been held at Athens in January.
Sermons were preached before the body by the
writer and by Rev. T. N. Stewart, who filled Bishop
Ward's place, he being in feeble health. Rev. F.
J. Peck preached the Ordination Sermon, and Con-
ference also listened to a discourse by Rev. Robert
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 63
Anderson. There was very little business aside
from the regular order.
William Foster, John Jackson, George Towns,
George Martin, Alfred McCarver, L. McClaren,
M. M. Nelson, Benjamin Franklin, Wesley Neale,
B. R. Glass, A. Blunt, Aaron Parsons were ad-
mitted on trial; M. N. Nelson, H. T. Cargile, T.
Slaughter, G. Jones, G. Martin, George Copeland,
H. D. Bush and J. H. M. Durand were ordained dea-
cons; the only elder ordained was Mark E. Cox.
Edward Purdee's was the only death the North
Georgia Conference was called to mourn this year.
The General Conference which was to meet in
May, 1876, called for an election of delegates at
this session, which was carried out with the follow-
ing list as the result: Andrew Brown, J. A. Wood,
S. B. Jones, F. J. Peck, L. Gardner, H. Strickland,
S. H. Robertson, Dr. T. N. Stuart, George Wash-
ington, Daniel McGhee, Peter McLain, and as alter-
nates, Levi Walker, Daniel McGhee, Robert An-
derson, Burrell Mitchell, S. Gardner, J. L. Smith,
A. R. Spencer, Jefferson Cary, Jr., A. Price, H. C.
Boyd, J. A. Davis. The lay delegates were also
approved. This Conference made a report of
Dollar Money as reaching 82,699.00.
64 AFKICATS" METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
CHAPTER IX.
A SKETCH OF THREE YEARS.
For the year of 1875 St. Philip's Station was
manned by Rev. W. D. Johnson, and St. James
Mission by Rev. H. M. Turner, Bethel Mission by
W. C. Gaines, St. John's Chapel by E. P. Holmes,
and Columbus City Station by the writer. Albany
Station was filled by S. W. Drayton.
The State Missionary, Rev. T. N. Stewart, re-
ported $86.80 for the year; and from the grand
total, as reported by the Secretary, the Georgia
Conference brought up $1,511.30 for Dollar Money.
This last showed that Georgia meant to do her duty
and promised well for the next answer to the Finan-
cial Secretary, J. H. W. Burley, who appealed for
aid in helping swell the receipts of the fiscal year
to $50,000.00.
The Centennial year of 1876 found the Georgia
Conference down upon the coast at Savannah, Jan-
uary 29, where the body opened its deliberations in
St. Philips A. M. E. Church. Bishop Ward was
present, not having been once absent during his
years of service with us. S. H. Robertson was
made Secretary and W. D. Johnson, Statistical Sec-
retary. This year, Revs. S. H. Robertson, W. H.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 65
Jackson, H. B. Dowdell, Lewis W. Tyson, were
transferred from the North Georgia Conference to
this; Rev. Edward Ware from the Florida to this,
and Revs. William Price, S. S. Mimms, J. W. Ricks
and Kelley Moses from this body to the Florida
work.
The General Conference, which was to meet in
Atlanta in May following, necessitated the election
of delegates to that body. The Georgia Confer-
ence was entitled to thirteen representatives — one
to every eleven members according to Discipline —
therefore the following delegates were chosen: Dr.
H. M. Turner, Revs. W. J. Gaines, C. L. Bradwell,
W. H. Noble, Geo. W. H. Williams, William Brad-
well, Henry Porter, E. P. Holmes, W. H. Taylor,
Wm. Raven, W. D. Johnson and Robert Crowley.
The alternates were Revs. William Price, W. H.
Harris, Mansfield Dillard, Alfred Attaway, Warren
Shorts, W. H. Harris, George Linder, John Mc-
Dougal and James Porter. The lay delegates were
John Steward, Jackson Holt, L. B. Bateman, Louis
DeGraffenreid.
An effort was made to provide each P. E. Dis-
trict with a parsonage for a home for its Presiding
Elder, but the time was not ripe for the success of
such a movement. Various visitors addressed the
Conference, among them Col. J. E. Bryant, and
Rev. W. E. Markham, of the Georgia Congrega-
tional Church, also Mr. John H. Deveaux, editor of
the " Colored Tribune.'''' The good Daughters of
66 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Conference remembered us, as usual, with a gift of
money, and a committee was appointed to draw up
a constitution for this guild of workers, while the
brethren were recommended to organize one in each
charge. Woman was first at the tomb and last at
the cross, as has been said, and ever has been the
helper in the church. There are thousands of
churches which owe a large share of their pros-
perity, spiritually and financially, to the faithful work
and earnest prayers of these sisters, who, in their
own way, have solved many a problem perplexing
to those bearing the responsibilities, and have made
many ways smooth, which without them would have
been most rough and thorny. The ministers of the
A. M. E. church fully appreciate all that woman has
done, and is doing, for the upbuilding of the church
of our fathers and for the glory of God.
Conference voted that eight should be the stand-
ard number of elders, sixteen of deacons, and
thirteen of these admitted on trial. Rev. D. T.
Green was elected to Elder's orders. A. M. H.
Evans, W. H. Hammond, M. R. Granderson and
Nelson S. Lowery were elected to deacon's orders.
Conference admitted on trial Abram Martin, Benj.
Roberts, Russell Young, Randall Jackson, Wm.
Hamilton, Wesley Simmons and J. W. Wynn.
A petition was offered Conference by the writer
to appeal to the Governor of Georgia, James M.
Smith, to pardon Rev. Tunis G. Campbell. The facts
of the case seemed to warrant an effort to obtain
clemency. He was born near the close of the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 67
«eighteeth century, and had been preaching as a
minister of a sister church for nearly fifty years.
He had also been a Senator from the Second Dis-
trict of Georgia. He was found guilty by the su-
perior court of Mcintosh county of mal-administer-
ing the law of the State while discharging the func-
tions of Justice of the Peace, and sentenced to the
penitentiary to hard labor. Knowing the severe
treatment and hardships to which he would be sub-
jected, and mindful of his service to God and man,
as well as of his great age and feeble constitution,
it seems but a matter of duty to beseech the Gov-
ernor to extend his executive clemency.*
The committee appointed to visit the West Broad
-Street Public School, Rev. James Porter, Principal,
reported it in excellent condition, with three grades
for boys and four for girls — a total of four hundred
and nineteen pupils enrolled, with six teachers aside
from himself. It was a lesson to every laggard
minister that he must " get himself to his studies,"
and the report was made the basis of an urgent de-
mand for the ministers to meet the growing require-
ments of the age. The finances were in a better
condition than ever before, with fourteen thousand
two hundred and twenty-eight members, as re-
ported in the Conference. The Dollar money reached
$2,010.50, while theySunday-school money stood at
$1,123.55.
*Our efforts were in'vain, however. The Governor received the commit-
vtee kindly, but he wrote that the evidence was so;clear that he felt the law
must take its course.
68 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
The General Conference of 1872 had given us
the Dollar system, which for four years we have
been pushing forward. The sixth decade of the
church had been reached, and eleven years had
passed since the standard of African Methodism
had been planted in the South, amid the influence
of military forces, and under the shadow of the
greatest war any country ever saw. Nine years
the work in Georgia had flourished in some form.
It was fitting that, as we reached another decade in
our history, Georgia, as a representative of the
South, should extend her arms to the church in
hearty invitation to come and see what time had
wrought — to come at a time when universal liberty
was the keynote of the song sung by the whole
land.
In pursuance of this invitation, the fifteenth Quad-
rennial Session of the General Conference of the A.
M. E. Church, met in Atlanta, Ga., May 14, 1876,
and continued in session until the 18th, Bishop D.
A. Payne presided at the opening, assisted by
Bishops Wayman, Campbell, Shorter, Ward and
J. M. Brown. The memorial services of Bishop
William Paul Quinn were held in the church May 5th.
The session was a pleasant one, as well as encour-
aging in all particulars. The Southern work — its
rapid and vigorous growth — was most cheering,
stimulating to new efforts the body which met in the
heart of the South for the first time. From Wash-
ington, D. C, in 1868, after the beginning in Charles-
ton in 1865, the General Conference had gravitated
OR TWENTY-FIVE TEARS OF FREEDOM. 69
toward the South by degrees as toward a magnet,
for Nashville, Tenn., entertained in 1872, and it was
to seek the South again in 18S0, when it assembled
in St. Louis, Mo. Now it was in the very heart of
that section. The people did their part, as did
the city also, and it was clear to every thoughtful
mind that here in Georgia lay a great work, with
unlimited possibilities and appreciative surroundings.
The church took its entrance upon a new decade
of work in the Master's vineyard with Rev. H. M.
Turner, as General Business Manager. Rev. J. H.
W. Burley, Financial Secretary; Rev. B. T. Tan-
ner, editor of the Recorder; Rev. J. C. Embry,
Commissioner of Education; Rev. R. H. Cain, Sec-
retary of the Missionary Society; and Rev. C. L.
Bradwell, as Traveling Agent.
Bishop J. P. Campbell was assigned the work
which included Georgia at this General Conference,
and he opened his work in the State, December 1st,
1876, meeting the North Georgia Conference when
it assembled to hold its session at Griffin. In his
opening address he pleaded for a plain understand-
ing of each other before there should be too great
criticism — time to become acquainted, a prime
necessity not to be overlooked in the itinerant sys-
tem.
A class of twenty-three was admitted on trial :
Revs. James Johnson, Geo. Parks, G. H. Holmes?
Oscar Wardell, Jettes Thornton, Samuel C. Hyte,
Adolphus Freeny, July White, John J. Belt, Henry
Mullens, J. W. Lawrence, Allen Mcintosh, Joel
70 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Stephens, Edward Dillen, John Hays, Evan Davis,.
John Tolliver, Wm. Jackson, Warren Hill, Seaborn*
Jones, Doctor Griffin, Richard Butts, July Dessa-
suer. The Elders ordained were Revs. Richard
Harper, J. B. Lofton, W. C. Gaines, Charles War-
ren, J. W. Joshua, C. S. Green, Augustus Jones;
the deacons, Revs. W. A. Pierce, Burgess John-
son, Peter Cruse, Abner Blunt, Wm. Stansell,
Washington Campbell, Joel Stephens, S. A. Bush,.
Perry Simon.
Elder Noah H. Russel, who joined the Confer-
ence at Macon in 1867, had died this year and Clay-
ton Bush had withdrawn.
Notice was given that the Theological Institute of
our Conference would open in Bethel church, Jan-
uary 9, and continue each succeeding Tuesday
morning. It was a step in advance to have a
preachers' meeting like this, and had it succeeded it
would have done a great amount of good, but un-
der the direction of Francis J. Peck it failed to ac-
complish much.
The transfers to the Conference were Rev. J. E,
Weir from the Florida Conference, and E. Waters
from the Georgia Conference.
Bishop Campbell met the last named body, Janu-
ary 18, (1877) at Bainbridge, Ga., Bishop Campbell
presiding. Dr. H. M. Turner, General Manager
of the publication department, was with the Con-
ference. Dr. Wm. D. Johnson wisely asked leave
to make his report early that he might give his un-
OR TWENTY-FIVE TEARS OF FREEDOM. 71
divided attention to the office of Secretary of the
body.
The visitors were much pleased with the work
and gave words of encouragement, while Bishop
Campbell in his most characteristically happy vein
replied that God intends the nations redeemed to
possess the earth in common, that they shall spread
and people it. He instanced the settlement of
America and Africa and the commencement of the
scattering abroad at Babel, but one day they should
return to each other. He said that the three sons
of Noah had in turn mastered the world, but now
possession must be in common. Though Japheth
had so far exceeded his brothers in the race for do-
minion and wealth, Ham and Shem had determined
to overtake him somewhere and make him disgorge
his gains. They had caught him in America and
he is now disgorging. Dr. H. M. Turner, as Vice-
President of the Colonization Society, also pleaded
for Africa — that aid should be given by Congress,
that " we may return to our Fatherland" The
Bishop may yet go there, and if he does, it will be
the wish of his many friends that he be made pres-
ident or king of the whole country. Some mem-
bers of the Friends' Society in Philadelphia were
present and arranged for contributing some books
to the Conference.
The Bishop arranged for supplying Prospect and
Mt. Airy Churches in the North Georgia Confer-
ence from the Georgia and Wright's Chapel and
all of Crawford County from North Georgia. The
72 AFRICAN METHODISM IJST THE SOUTH ; '
Dollar money reached $1,488.20. The preachers
admitted on trial were Cuyler Hamilton, M. A.
Grandison, John M. Collins, Geo. Green, Joseph
Collier, S. D. Roseborough, Daniel Jones, Alexan-
der Glover, Thomas Williams, C. S. Miller, with
Wright Newman and Nathan Brown as local
preachers. Solomon Clarke, J. R. Thornton, H.
W. Whitaker and Nathan Brown (local) were the
deacons ordained, also J. W. Wynnn under the
rule for missionaries.
The North Georgia Conference of this year con-
vened at Eatonton, December 5, with Bishop Camp-
bell presiding. Dr. Turner was present, representing
the Publication Department of our church, and vig-
orously pushed its claims upon the pastors of the
Conference. He was ably seconded by the Bishop,
who said that the action of last General Confer-
ence called upon each minister to take the Church
Organ, and he intimated that if they failed in the
duty they might fail to receive an appointment.
The Bishop was most desirous of facilitating the bus-
iness of the session, which seemed to drag heavily.
This led him to observe emphatically " that he was
sorry for one thing, and wanted all to hear him,
and when he was gone to rest to do him ihe honor
to say that they heard him say that the rising gen-
eration would laugh at us for spending three days in
making the reports from the various charges when
it might be done in one-third of the time.
The preachers admitted on trial were Solomon
Russell (local), Aaron S. Jackson, Augustus
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 73
Dozier, Russell Clayton, Wm. Duncan, Joshua D.
Hall, W. A. Walker, E. Burch, Max Whalley, W.
M. Moore, John H. King, S. T. Farmer, R. Red-
wine, J. T. Beltsaw, Henry Crittenden, Brisco
Griggs. B. R. Glass was the sole deacon elected
for ordination, while Anthony Johnson, Nathan
Berry, George Chapel, Wm. McCoy, J. F. Brown,
were the elders. Rev. Lewis Davis had died. A
number of men were left without appointments, and
assigned to the various Quarterly Conferences.
The pastoral reports showed a steady advance in
every direction.
The next Georgia Conference met in St. James'
Church, Columbus, January 30, 1878. Bishop
Campbell's opening address was " tender, soothing
and sublime, yet truly eloquent. "
Rev. Josiah Jones and Rev. C. L. Miller were
not there to answer to their names. They had gone
to the better land. Rev. James Peter was elected
Secretary of the Conference, Rev. W. J. Gaines,
Recording Secretary, and Rev. S. H. Robertson,
Statistical Secretary.
There were a great many visitors present. Rev.
Green Mc Arthur, Rev. Nelson Asbius and Rev. Jef-
ferson Pinkard, of the Baptist clergy, were intro-
duced, also a number of brethren from the North
Georgia Conference. Rev. J. V. M. Morris, pastor
of Trinity Girard M. E. Church, South, was present,
and gave his fraternal greeting in a most touching
speech, claiming fellowship as one of the great
Methodist family. It is true that our Methodist
74 AFRICAN METHODISM IN" THE SOUTH ;
brethren of all branches of the great Christian-
family everywhere seem not only to bear the closest
relations, but to be desirous of expressing these. Yet,.
at the same time the writer would make no invidious
comparisons, for there are those of other denomina-
tions with whom we come in contact who are most
cordial in friendly feeling. It is most grateful to a
struggling people to know of the kind regard in
which it is held by the church which it left when it
sought freedom of worship among its own. Among
the visitors late in the session were Rev. Joseph S.
Key, of St. Paul Church, and Rev. J. A. O. Cook,
of St. Luke's Church (M. E. Church, South).
The former in his remarks referred most feelingly
to one of the old veterans, old Uncle Wm. Bentley,
who long ago had entered upon his rest. The asso-
ciations the two had with him, and the holy inspira-
tion caught from him were especially noted. To
all these fraternal addresses hearty and happy re-
sponses were made. Col. J. E. Bryant who, if pos-
sible, attends each Conference session, was also
present.
Rev. S. H. Robertson preached the annual ser-
mon, making a fine effort that profoundly moved all..
The missionary sermon was delivered by Rev. G.
W. H. Williams of the Thomasville, District and
was a masterly one. Two other sermons were
preached; one by W. H. Noble and one by Prof.
James Porter.
The North Georgia delegates were introduced to
the Conference, and the matter of the joint meeting
OK TWENTY-FIVE TEAKS OF FREEDOM. 75
upon the late Educational Convention was brought
up by the writer in a movement for Conference to
adopt the preamble and resolutions drawn up. Then
followed some earnest speeches by Rev. W. D.
Johnson, H. M. Turner, W. J. Gaines, each in his
own peculiar style. The Secretary of the Confer-
ence was pleased to record of these, " They vied '
with each other in their captivating remarks. The
audience was held spell-bound while they soared
aloft in the mazes of eloquence divine." The body
was at last so moved that nominal trustees were
appointed for the school, and the work of education
received another impetus.
Rev. Jefferson Cary was transferred from the
North Georgia to the Georgia Conference, and
Rev. S. W. Drayton was allowed at this time to
occupy supernumerary relationship. Several of the
members had died: Rev. Patrick Wall and Rev.
C. S. Miller, both young men, who died in the
faith. Rev. W. H. Harris and Rev. Josiah Jones
were two of the older Christian workers, number-
ing three-score years and more. The old men
must expect to go the way of all the earth
within brief periods, and their work is done. It
seems hard, however, when we see the strong,
youthful workers cut down, and we fail to compre-
hend the ways of our God in these manifestations of
His power. Thanks to the living faith we have in
Him, though we sorrow and wonder, we bow be-
fore His will, and knoweth within our hearts that
"He doeth all things well."
76 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Foreign Missions received the attention of this
body more than ever before. It expressed its de-
termination to do something now in their support.
The preachers admitted on trial were, Elijah
Watson, Marshall Stevens, P. Brookens, Andrew
Griffin, Allen Cooper, E. D. Lowrey, George Neal,
John Caesar, Toby Mclver, John H. Harris, J. M.
Cox, Lewis S.Beatty, J. H. Adams, Prince Davis and
J. M. Mappe. The deacons elected and ordained
were Abram Martin, Richard Brooks, Russell
Young, Samuel J. Thomas, Daniel Duncan ; elders,
S. C. Powell, L. A. Smith. Wm . H . Powell, Giles
Jordan. Isaac Coachman, Jacob Graham, Andrew
Johnson, James Etheridge, B. Mimms. G. G. Flem-
ing, Samuel George. Peter W. Williams, George
Bass.*
Upon the fifth day, Bishop T. M. D. Ward, then
of the Fifth Episcopal District, was present with the
Conference, and warmly welcomed. It was a mat-
ter of regret that the Senior Bishop could not
be present with us, as invited by Bishop Camp-
bell. His letter of regret to the Conference is so
characteristic of his joy in good works that we give
it here in full:
" Reverend and Dear Colleague :
"Yours came to hand this morning, and this is to
*Rev. David White, ordained elder of the A. M. E. Zion Church, was
presented by the writer for full membership, coming to us recommended
by Rev. Cain Rogers, of the Alabama Conference, as a man " sound in faith
and (if good Christian character." He was received and placed on the list
of traveling elders.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 77
say that I deeply regret that the state of my health
will not permit me to leave home at present.
"I had to leave home on the nth ult. for Tren-
ton to attend the jubilee occasioned by the emanci-
pation of our beautiful church from all its indebted-
ness — $8,000 — all raised and paid within thirteen
months after its dedication, and a second church
built besides, and half of its indebtedness reduced;
all, under God, accomplished through the tact, pluck
and common sense of Dr. Stevenson. Returning
home on the 26th, I had not the means to take a
sleeping car, and was exposed to draughts from a
poorly heated car. I contracted a severe cold, from
which I am now suffering, so that I dare not leave
home at present.
" I had proposed to winter this year at Jackson-
ville, Florida, and St. Augustine, but to accommo-
date Dr. Stevenson, all my plans have been de-
ranged. Should I recover in the next fortnight to
travel with safety, and I get the means, I will follow
you, if you will write again and let me know of
your movements.
" A trip through Southern Georgia and Florida,
would afford me no small enjoyment, because we
would be of mutual aid to each other and accom-
plish the greatest good by our joint labors. But
God's will be done. I suppose your cherished wife
has informed you of the fact that we have paid our
missionary to Hayti every cent of what we pledged
him. This is a noble work for one year, and to me
is an earnest of the future victories which the
78 AFKICAISr METHODISM EST THE SOUTH ;
great head of the church intends to accomplish
through the agency of the A. M. E. church.
" But this victory should not make us content. It
should rather cause us to redouble our efforts in be-
half of Jesus, and within the next twelve months be
prepared to send a missionary into the Spanish port
of that historic island which will, in the next hundred
years, pay us one hundred fold in the conversion of
souls, as well as in material wealth. The Lord
Jesus make this bring forth abundant fruit in all
ages. Fraternally, Payne."
This reference to our Haytian work, together with
Bishop Campbell's stirring address, so encouraged
the brethren as to the good being accomplished by
Rev. Mossell, our missionary, that a committee was
appointed to write him, assuring him of the support
and prayer of the Georgia Conference, and as a
substantial proof of the same, to send him a dona-
tion of fifty dollars. Prayer without work is like
faith without work. The two go hand in hand in
any successful undertaking, religious or secular.
The transfers from the work within this Confer-
ence were Rev. W. H. Harris and the writer, to
North Georgia; Rev. W. C. Gaines came into the
Georgia Conference.
For the first time in any Georgia Conference, on
the day preceding that of adjournment, the Bishop
read out the appointments, giving the certificates
the following day. The appointments were re-
ceived with general satisfaction.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 79
The statistical tables show a considerable increase
over that of the previous year, and stamped the
Georgia as the banner Conference. The amount of
Dollar money raised was $2,009.97. The discus-
sion over the place at which the next session should
be held, resulted in the selection of Cuthbert, Ga.,
where a Normal school was situated, one which the
Conference then had in mind to obtain possession of,
and place under our church. It was recognized
that this could be made a strong school for our min-
isters, if such could be done.
80 AFEICAIST METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER X.
MADISON, CUTHBERT AND MACON.
Madison, Georgia, was the place selected for the-
North Georgia Conference of 1879, and it assembled
there January 8, with Bishop J. P. Campbell, presid-
ing, Bishop T. M. D. Ware, then of the Fifth Dis-
trict, assisting.
It was made a law of this Conference, by motion
of Richard Harper, the Secretary of this session,
that each pastor bring to each annual session hereaf-
ter not less than one dollar for less than one hundred
members, and one cent per head for all over one hun-
dred members. This was to be used for defraying con-
tingent expenses, a deficit in the sum necessary for
that purpose occurring too frequently. In looking
over the statistical tables of 1878 and 1879, it was
noted that there was a decrease in membership}
according to these reports, from eleven thousand six
hundred and eighty-seven, to eleven thousand six
hundred and seventy-seven. It was small, it was
true, but the question asked was concerning the con-
sistency of such a decrease with the reports of revi-
vals. There was a fear expressed then that the
membership was being reduced because of the re-
quirements under the Dollar money law. Later the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 81
same matter has been brought to our notice in several
sections, and we may have occasion to refer to it
again.
Arrangements were entered into to create a fund
to aid in sending Bishop Campbell to the British
Wesleyan Conference, and a time set to elect two
delegates and alternates to the Electoral College,
meeting at Washington, Wilkes Co., Nov. 2, Oct.
1879. This was in preparation for the General Con-
ference of 1880.
A petition was also prepared looking to the proper
care of the blind colored children of the State of
Georgia. The regular State Blind Asylum was loca-
ted at Macon, under Prof. W. D. Williams as its
Principal, and there the white blind children received
every advantage. It seemed but just that an effort at
least should be made towards obtaining some of these
advantages for our own unfortunate ones. This res -
olution was prepared and sent to Prof. Williams, who
was a liberal and conservative man in his feeling to-
ward the colored people, born as he was with a kindly
disposition to aid weak humanity wherever found.
He in turn took up our cause and petitioned the State
Legislature to build an asylum for our blind children.
The result was that in 1881 the cornerstone of such
an institution was laid in Macon, Ga., and a building
erected and furnished with regular professors and
instructors. Its first Principal was Mr. Lewis Wil-
liams, a member of Cotton Avenue A. M. E. Church,.
6
82 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
and its Secretary for many years.* This is certainly
a lesson that we should do whatever comes to our
hand. Though we may not see clearly how we shall
obtain what we ask, we may rest assured that if it is
right that we should have it, it will be ours in due
time, and so we should not hesitate to undertake
those things that are in anyway for the bettering of
the condition of the race. There is, despite all our
troubles, a great deal of justice to be found residing
in human hearts, and we have but to knock, and keep
knocking, until it comes to our relief.
There was no election of elders this year, but the
deacons ordained were O. A. Wardell and G. H.
Holmes. Richard Smith, D. L. Durand, William
Ivey, N. J. McComb, M. D. Brookens, H. B. Parks,
Robert Richardson, C. H. Carter and Ralph Lawson
were admitted on trial. When this session adjourned,
January 15th, it was succeeded in a week by the
Georgia Conference, which opened at Cuthbert upon
the 22d, with a full roll of members, and before it
closed its visitor's roll was a lengthy one as well.
Bishop T. M. D. Ward was present as associate
Bishop with Bishop J. P. Campbell, and Rev. James
Porter was made Secretary, with Revs. S. H. Robert -
•son and Richard Harper, assistants.
The Annual Sermon was preached at Payne's
Chapel by Rev. Henry Strickland from the text in
Ecc. viii: 12, " Yet surely I know that it shall be well
*Mr. Lewis Williams, now deceased, was a remarkable man in many things. He
was not a graduate of any school, but Prof. W. D. Williams, who was then the Su-
perintendent of the Schools of Bibb Co., said that he always passed the best exam-
ination of any of the applicants who came before him. The writer can truthfully
say of him that he, with Mr. A. H. Hendricks, were the best church Secretaries
who have served him in his ministerial life.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 83
with them that fear God, which fear before him."
This pioneer of African Methodism was " in the
spirit," and preached with fervor and acceptance to a
large congregation.
It was ruled that all moneys coming from the
charges, according to Discipline, must be reported
in the financial report, and that special donations
must come separately and be noticed separately upon
the minutes. This plan has certainly kept financial
matters in a much clearer condition and left the
records so plain that no caviling could thereafter be
indulged in on this head. The business of the church
is important, and the financial success of the same is
dependent upon the strict manner in which that
business is conducted, so that for this reason, and for
the purpose of avoiding all doubt and misunderstand-
ing concerning it, there should be the clearest and
the fullest possible statements.
When disciplinary questions were called, and the
response reached to " How much Dollar Money?" it
pleased the Conference to hear the report of one
thousand, sixty-two dollars and forty-five cents.
The preachers admitted on trial in the Georgia
Conference this year were, John Austin, W. C. Shel-
ton, Newrey Ellison, John H. Adams, Prince Davis,
Peter Smith, Prince Irwin, W. O. P. Sherman, S. G.
Burnett, W. C. Davis, of North Georgia^Conference }
E. H. Wilson, M. J. Ingraham, T. Mclver, D. W.
Wilson and George Washington. In the election of
deacons the following were set aside for ordination :
E. Lowrey, G. W. Neal, J. H. Harris, L. S. Beatty,
84 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
P. H. M. Brookens, A. Griffin, Elijah H. Watson,.
Judge Glenn, Allen Cooper, Alexander Glover, John
H. Caesar, Willis Lane, Thomas Williams, Adolphus
Freeny, Sandy D. Roseborough, William Hamilton,
John Hayes, G. W. Penny (for the Alabama Confer-
ence). Solomon M. Clarke and Benjamin F. Frank-
lin were made elders. J. G. Fleming withdrew from
the Connection this year. The number in Society-
was reported as fifteen thousand, eight hundred and.
forty-six members, with four thousand, eight hundred:
and fourteen probationers. With the exception of
two expulsions and two deaths, the ranks remained
unbroken save by transfers. David White and A.
S. Dunwoody were on the death list. Brother White
was a young man of twenty- five years and a com-
parative stranger to us. He came from the Zion
Church and joined the Conference in 1878, being
stationed at Sandersville. Rev. A. S. Dunwoody
joined the Georgia Conference in 1869, before the
division, and had filled in these ten years some of the
most important appointments upon Circuits and
Missions. He was on the Andersonville Circuit at
the time of his death. Both of these brethren left
families to mourn their loss. Appropriate and touch-
ing respect was paid to their memories as to those
who die triumphant in the saving faith.
An exciting debate arose over the course of study
prepared for the ministry, and the easy access now
afforded men to enter the holy offices of the Church.
It was wisely urged that the brethren be careful lest
the doors swing open so wide that many unquali-
OR TWENTY-FIVE TEAES OF FREEDOM. 85
lied ones enter ; but the persons under discussion
being deemed as fully complying with the law they
"were admitted to orders.
Brother McGhee, pastor of the M. E. Church
South, and of the building we were occupying through
his kindly tender, visited the Conference and ex-
pressed hearty greetings. Dr. Hamilton, of the An-
drew Female College, was also present and endorsed
all of the sentiments of the eloquent address with
which Bishop Campbell welcomed them, but when it
came time for Bishop Ward to be called for, he
declined, intimating, in brief, that he had lived long
enough to learn to leave well enough alone, so he
simply most heartily endorsed all that "which had
been so beautifully said.
As the General Conference had, at its last session
in Atlanta, appointed Bishop J. P. Campbell to visit
England and represent African Methodism in the
British Wesleyan General Conference to be held in
London, Aug., 1879, it behooved the Georgia Con-
ference to do its share toward arranging for its ex-
penses to meet this body in a manner fitting to our
Church. This assembly was to be that known as
the " One Hundred" — the number of men upon whom
alone devolved the general direction and continuation
of the British Wesleyan Methodist Church, as inau-
gurated by Wesley himself. Over ten years before
Bishop D. A. Payne had been present at their open-
ing, but up to this date (1879) there had been no
legal representative from among us to meet them,
and it was time that the A. M. E. Church, with its
W AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
sturdy growth, reached across the waters with fra-
ternal messages to that body — the root of Metho-
dism.*
A private matter required some consideration at
the hands of this Annual Conference, and as it is one
from which we suffer at times even now, it may with,
propriety be mentioned here. The unusually lengthy
roll of visitors has been referred to, but there were
more than these. The Bishop presiding informed
the Conference that he had learned that this large
number in attendance — approaching one hundred —
explained their presence by saying that they were
invited by their elders. This statement was produc-
tive of some considerable consternation, which seized
upon each member of Conference — each man asking,
himself if he was the one who had thus been so hos-
pitable for other people. It was a lesson. Our peo-
ple were not wealthy — are not as a rule to-day — and
the support of legitimate members of such a body is
often a serious tax. What then must be the result:
of these careless, thoughtless invitations which may
precipitate a host of equally careless and thoughtless
visitors upon an already overtaxed, yet usually un-
complaining people. Christian charity calls for the
utmost discretion in these matters. The host in all
cases should provide entertainment for his guests.
The Electoral College which was to meet at Val-
dosta on the second Wednesday in June, called for
*Bishop Payne was present when, on his first visit to England in 1867, ard ire
his " Recollections of Seventy Years," most vividly describes the meeting of this-
body, and the simple, impressive ceremony attending the installation of the new-
President, together with certain customs most interesting to note.
OK TWENTY-FIVE TEAES OF FREEDOM. 87
election of lay delegates to the next General Confer-
ence, and arrangements were made to this end.
When the appointments were given out Bishop
Campbell gave pertinent admonition to the minis-
ters, closing with the warning that every minister
would do well to bear in mind when he receives
his notice of new work. The Bishop said, as only he
could say, "Get to your places as soon as possible,
else the devil will get there first." Brother John
Hays was transferred from the North Georgia as a
licentiate.
There were those who felt that the work of the
Georgia Conference was even now becoming too
large for the one body to carry on, and Rev. C. L.
Bradwell took a step leading to arrangements for
another Conference to be known as the Middle
Georgia Conference, but his motion failed of a
second. Still it was a step showing our growth and
the appreciation of our necessities. In 1872 — the
year before the former division — the old Georgia
Conference reported two hundred and seventy-five
local preachers. The Georgia Conference of 1879
have as a total in its seven Presiding Elder Districts
two hundred and eighty-four ; so it is seen that
the same reasons pressed now as then. But the
time was not yet ripe, and wisdom suggested that
were another division to be made it would be well to
bear in mind that the younger Conference (North
Georgia) was growing as well, and Georgia African
Methodism would be best promoted by consulting
her in any step which looked to reapportioning the
88 AFRICAN METHODISM EST THE SOUTH;
work in the State, or in any sense beginning the
work of extension in ^detail. Some changes were
made, however, looking to the more even distribu-
tion of work in Southern Georgia.
Jessup was attached to Savannah District and to
Jones Creek Circuit. St. Mary's Church and Dry
Springs Circuit were detached from Israel Chapel, in
Thomasville District, and attached to Atapulgus
Church, to be known as Atapulgus Mission. Water-
fall schoolhouse was added to Dry Springs Circuit,
and Cochran Church to Camilla, to be known as
Camilla Mission. Bibb County Circuit lost Sego
Church, and Fort Valley Circuit, Allen's Crossing —
the two to be made a Mission to Stinsonville and
Allen Chapel Circuit, including the Garrett Church ;
Mt. Airy Church was taken from Muscogee County
Circuit and Mt. Camodore Church, to be a Mission
to Mt. Gilead and Pine Grove Circuit, the Munroe
Graveyard Church to be attached to Stinsonville and
Allen's Chapel Circuit. Cuthbert Circuit was dis-
turbed to the extent of taking Bethel Church from
the Florence Circuit, and Springhill and Smithville
from Bluff Springs Circuit, the three to form a new
Circuit to be known as Smithville Circuit, also a
new Mission to be known as Stewart County Mis-
sion. Bethel Church to be detached from Lumpkin
Circuit and attached to Webster County Circuit.
Other changes were made in the remaining districts:
Americus was to have a new Circuit— Cedar Creek —
Mahaly's Chapel, from Beuna Vista Circuit, to be at-
tached to it. St. Mark's and St. Luke's were to be
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 89
detached from Tabernacle, and anew Circuit formed — ■
the Bradford Circuit. Smithville was made a station
and Lee county a Circuit, under the name of Lees-
burg Circuit. Beal Church was to be called the
Albany Circuit, and anew Mission formed — the Leary
and Williamsboro Mission.
Sandersville had an equal number of changes:
Wrightville, from Laurens County Circuit, helped
form a new Circuit, including Buckeye, to be known
as Wrightville. Mt. Pulin and Middle Hill, from
Sandersville, gave another, including Sandy Run ;
Harris Church, Minton Spring and Bottom were to
be detached from Davisboro Circuit and Bottom Cir-
cuit formed, taking in Hunt's Station and Clear
Spring. Gibson Circuit was formed by taking Gib-
son from New Llope Circuit and adding Deep Creek
and Bethlehem. Summerville Circuit, too, was made
up by detaching Summerville from Swanesboro Mis-
sion and including "Nine-and-a-half," Noah's Ark
and Gobait Hill. Valdosta District had three new
Circuits — Blackshear, Pierce County and Charlton
County Circuit — so that we saw the work was growing
to the extent that division must soon again be neces-
sary.
Among the appointments this year, St. Philip's, in
Savannah, received Rev. Wm. H. Noble ; St. James,
in Columbus District, Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, and St.
John's, Rev. R. B. Bailey.
90 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
CHAPTER XL
ONE YEARS WORK.
Upon the 7th of January, 1880, the seventh ses-
sion of the North Georgia Conference assembled in
Cotton Avenue, A. M. E. Church, Macon, where
the writer was then stationed. Bishop Campbell
presided. It was the last year of his work in the
District, and he prefaced the work before him at
this session by a short address — at once of greeting
and farewell, a model of the kind, and paternally
tender.
Rev. R. Harper was made Secretary, with Revs.
J. B. Warren and A. W. Lowe, assistants. The
annual sermon was preached by Rev. A. W. Lowe,
of Atlanta District. Sabbath appointments were
also filled at Cotton Avenue Church, Presbyterian;
First Baptist, Congregational, Allen Chapel, (East
Macon) First Congregational, and also at Tinson-
ville. It was a day of feasts, participated in at these
places respectively, by Bishop Campbell, Revs. R.
A. Hall, J. M. Townsend, D. M. McGhee, R. Gra-
ham, Richard Harper, W. H. Harris, H. H. Hollo-
way, George Washington, H. T. Cargile, J. B.
Warner, C. S. Green, Anthony Johnson, Martin
Wright, Abner Blount, H. C. Boyd.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 91
The Bishop's address was as follows:
"My Dear Brethren: I feel glad to be once
more in the presence of the North Georgia Confer-
ence, after an absence of nearly twelve months.
"Since last we met varied has been our experi-
ence. Each of us have had the ' mingled ciip.' I
have had, and have now, many causes for sorrow as
well as some for joy. As for the sorrows I can
call God to witness I have determined by His grace
to endure them all until he sayeth, 'Enough', for
by the grace of God I expect some day ere long,
to find rest from the turmoils of this rugged life.
I often desire, but am willing to wait, his appointed
time. One of the causes of present sorrow is, I
realize that at the close of this Conference I shall
part with dear and faithful brethren, with whom I
have been pleasantly associated during the past
'Quadrennial Term.' Yea, part to meet never again
until the ' general roll ' shall summon us around the
'throne.' Their conduct, conversation and faithful
labor have endeared them to me. They are lovers
of the church. They have manifested that love by
the faithful services rendered. They are true as
steel. With such thoughts as these I can but feel
sad. I love those that love the A. M. E. Church —
those that are true to her whether near the Bishop
or not. Such ones can be trusted, such men are
here to-day. Wherever I go I will speak well of
them, will mention them to my successors, for they
must be cared for. We cannot do all we desire for
you at once, but it shall be done by degrees; go on,
92 AFRICAN METHODISM I]ST THE SOUTH ;
take care of that assigned you, build up the church.
God has brought me thus far along the 'lane of
life.' What He has done for me He will do for you.
Only trust him.
"Some of you must and will catch the mantle of
Payne, Brown, Shorter, Ward, Wayman, Campbell
and lots of other veterans that shall soon pass away.
Only hold your way. Men may rise against you
in the power of the evil one, but be pure and they
can do you no harm. That which they produce to
do you harm will do you good. Be strong in the
Lord of hosts. Ever pray, labor and watch for the
success of Zion."
The Bishop's remarks were received with tear-
ful applause. The Bishop's wife was with us, and
with a large number of other visitors, helped add
to the interest of the session, which was one of the
most interesting sessions the North Georgia Con-
ference has witnessed. Among these visitors we
noted Dr. J. O. A. Clark, Dr. Key, Rev. Robert Kent,
and Rev. W. H. Francis, all of the M. E. Church,
South; Rev. C. McCurdy, of the Presbyterian
Church, and Rev. Henry Lathrop, of the Congrega-
tionalism with Revs. G. H. Davis, G. R. Mitchel
and Henry Williams, of the Baptist.
Dr. H. M. Turner delivered an able address upon
the demands for intelligence and the promulgation
of our own literature, intimating that the coming
Conference would revise and advance the course of
studies. Dr. Turner also spoke in glowing terms
OK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 93
of the deceased Bishop Haven, of the M. E. Church,
our friend — a man and brother.
The ordination service was very solomnly con-
ducted by Bishop Campbell, assisted by Revs. A.
Brown, R. A. Hall, H. J. Gaines, D. J. McGhee,
Peter McLain and R. Harper. The deacons were
Thomas Screen, G. Parks, S. McClearen, J. W.
Thornton, John Tolliver, Shadrack Brown, Evan
Davis, A. S. Jackson; elders, J. B. Warner and W.
A. Pierce. Revs. P. B. Peters, W. H. Heard, J.
R. Gay, S. G. Gary, Homer Shaw, H. W. Madi-
son, W. L. Bowdre, Willis Davis, S. Prichard,.
Alexander Smith, J. H. Hamilton, Thomas Screen,.
D. M. Pailsard, J. W. Kelley, J. H. Hill, Henry
Hunt, J. H. Rucker, W. J. Hall, R. J. Bailey, Gif-
ford Clarke, Miles Davis, William Upshaw, were
admitted on trial.
The election of delegates to General Conference,
resulted in Revs. W. J. Gaines, A. Brown, J. A.
Wood, D. J. McGhee, A. W. Lowe, A. J. Miller,
R. A. Hall, A. Gonickie, R. Harper, I. S. Hamil-
ton, with M. E. Cox, W. H. Harris, P. McLain,
George Washington, J. A. Davis, C. W. Warren,
J. B. Lofton, R. Graham, L. S. Smith and E. A.
Shephard, as alternates. The electoral college of
Oct. 8, 1879, had elected W - H - Harrison and J. W.
Brooks as lay delegates, with Harrison, Harris and
C. C. Cargile, alternates.
The Committee on Instructions to General Con-
ference Delegates recommended several changes
in its report, such as the establishment of a Branch
94 AFEICAN METHODISM H5T THE SOUTH;
Book Repository in Atlanta and other cities; a
change in the composition of General Conference,
giving one delegate to every fifteen members, and no
Annual Conference less than four itinerant dele-
gates; the abolishment of traveling agency, and the
composition of the Board of Managers of the Church
to consist of the Bench of Bishops and one travel-
ing preachers from each Episcopal District; that the
Presiding Elder system be deemed desirable to be
made obligatory throughout the connection instead
of optional; also in endorsing the Wesleyan Monu-
mental Church movement, that action be taken for
placing therein a Tablet commemorative of the hon-
ored dead of our church.*
The Sunday-school review, which was held at
this Conference, was productive of good to
school and congregation, stimulating both to a
greater work.
Bishop Campbell was to leave the work in Geor-
gia at this session, and a committee brought in the
proper resolutions of regret and respect and God
speed, asking only, in its own words, " that when his
work is ended he may bind his sheaves together,
and shout the harvest home." God grant that it
*The General Conference moved the composition of Conference, to con-
sist of Bishops, General Officers, not less than two delegates from each
Annual Conference, or one for every twenty members in each, and two
lay delegates from each, in 1888. The General Conference ordered the es-
tablishment of a branch Repository, and the publication of the Southern
Christian Recorder. The Presiding Elder system is now universal in the
church. The Tablet Ordinance was ordered, and a window was placed in
the Wesley Monumental Church in honor of the A. M. E. Church.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 95
may be a joyous end to a well-spent life when He
shall choose to call His servant up higher.
The membership reported by the North Georgia
Conference this year was 12,937, with 3,040 proba-
tioners. Bishop Campbell mentioned the necessity
of a correct report of this, as our history demanded
it, and others were constantly asking for accurate
facts concerning us. The Dollar Money reached
$2,168.30. As Bishop Campbell had attended the
British Conference in the interval since the last ses-
sion, the members were desirous of a sketch of his
visit, which he gave characteristically in the follow-
ing, as briefly reported in the summing up of his
remarks in the record :
" Among the many acts of the General Confer-
ence of 1876, one of the greatest was the appoint-
ing of Fraternal Delegates to the Mother Confer-
ence. We think (and are proud to state it) that
the idea originated among the young men of the
church.
"The British Wesleyan Conference is composed
of 756 men, in which is the 'Legal Hundred.'
Wesley was chief in the church for fifty years. At
his death it took one hundred men to equal him ;
hence the ' Legal Hundred.' If one of the Legal
men dies the senior member takes his place. If
more than one, the vacancies are rilled by election.
They have an annual election of Presidents. Each
ex-President is seated at the right hand of the Pres-
ident. All grave questions are submitted to the ex-
Presidents before being given to the Assembly.
9b AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
All actions of the Conference must be sanctioned by
the Legal Hundred before they become a law.
" Such, in part, is the august body before which I
appeared after a pleasant voyage of eleven days
upon the briny deep. And then there was a long
waiting in the waiting room for them to examine my
credentials, for it is a terrible job to get before the
Legal Hundred. After getting before them, they
desired me to say all I had to say in twenty
minutes, which (as those who know me well
know) was a hard job. Twenty minutes! Three
thousand miles at an enormous expense to speak
twenty minutes! 7 Well, I told them I'd say what
I could, and managed to say just enough to cause
them to extend the time twenty minutes longer. At
the end of forty minutes I had said enough for them
to cry, ' Go on; go on! Say all you want to say.'
Then I went on and told my story. I found they
had vague ideas relative to the status of the col-
ored people of America, especially in the Southern
States. They knew but little of the African Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. We had been misrepre-
sented to them. We had been laid before them as
mushrooms, Jonah-gourd affairs, bad as could be,
and the Southern portion a little worse.
" I told them differently. I told them of work
done, and being done, in the South by faithful men
of the M. E. Church South. 1 told them of Capers,
Pierce and others. Their eyes were closed. I
knocked them open. I told them there was a leaven
at work in the South that would make in days these
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 97
to equal any other nation in laboring for the ad-
vancement of the cause of Christ, and the spread
of intelligence among all people, irrespective of
race, color or previous condition."
So closed one of the most interesting Confer-
ences we have held in Georgia.
Americus, Ga., when the Georgia Annual Con-
ference met there in 1880, January 21, was the
sixth city in rank in the State, Atlanta, Savannah,
Augusta, Macon and Columbus respectively out-
ranking it in the order given; but it was of suffi-
cient size to entertain the body amply, though it
consisted of 165 members, 8 Presiding Elders, 53
itinerant elders, 3 local elders, 3 superannuated el-
ders, 53 itinerant deacons, 6 local deacons, 39
traveling licentiates, while the visitors roll bore
only a record of five visitors from North Georgia,
among whom was the writer and Rev. J. M. Town-
send, Secretary of the Parent Home and Foreign
Missionary Society. To these we must add the
many unrecorded friends from other churches who
were present, and manifested much interest through-
out the session.
Campbell Chapel was sufficiently able to contain
all, and promptly at 9 a. m., Bishop Campbell
opened the session after the hymn with a fervent
and impressive prayer, after which he read and com-
mented upon Acts, chapter I.
Rev. Wm. D.Johnson was made Secretary, Rev.
S. H. Robertson, Assistant Secretary, and Rev*
7
98 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
James Porter, Statistical Secretary. The commit-
tees were appointed and the business of the Con-
ference was begun. One new committee — two
from each of the seven districts — was appointed
upon new Annual Conference and Presiding Elder
Districts, with Rev. S. H. Robertson, as chairman.
Little Bethel Church and Muller Church, of Sa-
vannah, the Daughters of Conference, the St.
Philip's Sunday-school, with its Daughters of Con-
ference, the Missionary Society of St. Thomas
Church, Thomasville; the Florence Missionary So-
ciety and Sunday-school; Albany Sunday-school,
Bethel Church, Savannah, Burke county Sunday-
school, Taylor Chapel, Bainbridge, Muller Church,
Jefferson County Circuit Sunday-school, Boston
Missionary Society, the Good Samaritans of
Tabernacle Church, Bluff Springs Sunday-school,
Andersonville Sunday-school, Daughters of Confer-
ence, of Valdosta; Culter Church, Groversville Cir-
cuit, Daughters of Conference, of Tabernacle
Church ; Arlington, Groversville Sunday-school,
Talbotton Chapel, Daughters of Conference of Sum-
merville — all donated sums of money to Conference.
They are mentioned here that the reader may know
something of the spirit which has actuated the
members of the A. M. E. Church from the first to
give of their little to the cause of Christ in the church
of their choice. This has occurred at many ses-
sions. The sums are mostly small, but " many a
mickle makes a muckle " is a favorite saying of the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 99
thrifty Scotchman, and one the negro race must
fully comprehend.
For years this Church has been aided in its sup-
port by these mites, and there is not one in the vari-
ous Conferences throughout the connection that
does not feel his heart warming toward those who
are thus striving to help according to their ability.
All the interests of the Church, both individual and
corporate, seem to be resting upon the hearts of
those who thus aid, for the cause to be helped by
these sums sent are usually specified.
Upon the second day the election for delegates to
General Conference, which was to meet in St. Louis
in the following May, took place with the following
result: Revs. W. H. Noble, H. H. Taylor and C.
L. Bradwell acting as tellers : Elder S. H. Rob-
ertson, Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, E. P. Holmes, W.
H. Noble, James Porter, G. W. H. Williams, S.
W. Drayton, D. T. Green, W. C. Gaines, J. A.
Cary, Mansfield Dillard. The alternates were J. W.
Crayton, L. H. Smith, A. J. Johnson, Prince Gad-
sen, R. B. Bailey, W. H. Powell, M. O. Boddie,
Henry Strickland, Samuel George. The lay dele-
gates were A. H. Hendricks, L. J. Lester, with J.
C. Erby and Allen French, as alternates.
Arrangements were also made whereby the lay
delegates should receive a proportional part of the
money raised for General Conference delegations,
the pastors being required to raise two cents per
member towards the sum necessary for all delegates'
expenses.
100 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
The news of the serious illness of Bishop J. M._
Brown having reached the Conference it immedi-
ately proceeded to prayer and supplication on his
behalf. A telegram was also sent to the Bishop's wife
expressive of the action of Conference, with its sin-
cere sympathy. Thanks to God the good Bishop
was spared to the Church and race, and yet lives,
doing vigorous work for the causes nearest his
heart.
Among the visitors was Rev. Samuel Anthony,
of the M. E. Church South, who, after an interest-
ing speech by Bishop Campbell, explanatory of
the position of the A. M. E. Church and its pros-
pects, addressed the Conference. Having entered
the itineracy in 1832, he could speak as one having
authority, more especially as he had traveled through-
out the State of Georgia, preaching to both races
during these years. One saying he placed before
the young men worthy of being treasured up in
every young man's heart : " Let the young men
remember that the greatest of all blessings is piety,
love to God and man."
Seventeen preachers were admitted on trial.
Eight deacons were elected and ordained, and one
reobligated; these were Rev. John Austin, Daniel
Jones, Joseph Collier, [Marshall Stephens, Dawson
George Wilson, Enoch H. Wilson, Modern Joseph
Ingraham, Jeremiah Cox. William Williams was
re-obligated. The elders elected this year were
James F. Campfield, Marcus^R. Granderson, Daniel
O. Alexander, Lewis Cooper, John W. Wynn r .
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. . 101
Morgan Smith, Henry H. Williams, George S. Davis,
Richard Brooks, Samuel J. Thomas. James F.
Farrier was re-obligated to the same office.
No one had located, no one had withdrawn, but
Gabriel Clark had died at the three-score limit
of life. He was on the superannuated list. He had
been a member of the church for 45 years, and had
preached for 30 years. He had joined the A. M.
E. Church at the Conference in Columbus, in 1878.
He died the death of the righteous, and went home
gladly to meet his wife who had preceded him.
Rev. Semenson Gardener was transferred from
the North Georgia Conference to this. The Com-
mittees' reports were unusually full and strong. It
was claimed with every justice that our high relig-
ious position was but the result of Missionary ef-
fort — and individual effort at that — which had re-
sulted in the establishment of churches in almost
every State of the Union. It was as justly claimed
that the growth and strength of the church must
depend upon the amount of territory occupied,
therefore the necessity of foreign missions and an
aggressive policy, such as is used by other denom-
inations, so as to keep rank with the workers in
the great Christian field — the world.
The Committee " on the Exodus," made such a
pertinent report that, if space permitted, the writer
would be constrained, in view of the present agita-
tion of the subject by both races, politicians, literary
men, ministers and laymen, to present it as a whole,
that it may indicate to future generations the atti-
102 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
tude of their forefathers in the Empire State of the
South at a time when sorely pressed by the conflict
which comes when a race, struggling to free itself
from ignorance and vice, presses into the upper air
of freedom, equality and prosperity :
" The subject of emigration is pregnant of vital'
results, and has engaged the attention of all nations,
not merely because, as the old maxim has it, that dis-
tance lends enchantment, but because it has ever
been the means of individual and social advancement,
to mankind. Waiving any interpretation of Cain's
emigration to Nod, we might say that the measure
was inaugurated at the foot of Babel's cloud-piercing
tower, and has been sanctioned by the nations of:
antiquity and of modern times. The voice of history
proclaims the wisdom of emigration, viewed from
any point of consideration," etc., etc.
The writer could not wholly endorse the views set
forth, but the report itself was a remarkable one,.
bristling with historical facts in proof of this last as-
sertion. Some wholesome advice was also tendered
in the following passage: "If our people desire to
emigrate, they ought to send out inspecting agents,,
or write the Governor of the State for maps, charts-
and other information." The principal causes set
forth were, "political persecution and the poverty of
the land."
There was a marked increase noticeable among
the members of the Conference in the tendency to-
ward study, and the report on Education drew atten-
tion to the fact that this tendency was not confined
OK TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FEEEDOM. 103
to the ministry. The colored population throughout
the State, and especially that portion presided over
by the Georgia Conference, was on the road of
wonderful progress, as a whole.
Our Church school — Wilberforce — was looking
toward greater usefulness, and the Conference
recognized its claim to each minister's hearty sup-
port in pushing forward the work.
There was no recommendation this year from the
committee for another Annual Conference, as was
expected the last session, but various changes were
made in circuits and stations, which had reached
already an unwieldy number to properly control and
provide for.
The representatives of the Methodist Church, as
a whole, irrespective of slight differences in titles,
having united with the M. E. Church in the erection
of a Memorial Chapel, in Savannah, Ga., to Rev.
John Wesley, the common founder of the church in
all its branches, the Conference expressed its ap-
proval of the work, which was to be known as
Wesley Memorial Church, and recommended the
individual aid of all members toward its completion.
It was certainly fitting that the African Methodists
should unite with the others in raising this splendid
memorial, which would not be complete in its idea
without their hand in the enterprise. The North
Georgia Conference had approved the plan and
pledged financial aid; the College of Bishops had
endorsed it, and it now received strong advocacy
with the Georgia Conference through its agent, Dr.
104 AFEICAIST METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
J. O. A. Clark, who, being unable to be present on
account of illness, wrote an urgent appeal.
It was a step toward unity of the various Method-
isms — unity in spirit, at least — and an effort to pre-
serve not only this, but the purity of true Wesleyan
Methodism. Our present share in this enterprise
has been already mentioned, as well as the circum-
stances attending our contributions.
The Presiding Elders stood by the Bishop's ap-
pointment, as follows, for the ensuing year: Sa-
vannah District, Rev. Henry Strickland; Thomas-
ville, District, Rev. G. W. H. Williams; Columbus
District, Rev. E. P. Holmes; Americus District,
Rev. William Raven; Cuthbert District, Rev. S.
H. Robertson; Valdosta District, Rev. J. T. Cray-
ton; Sandersville District, Rev. S. W. Drayton;
Albany District, Rev. Henry Porter.
Our beloved Bishop Campbell had been with us
for four successful years. No Bishop that ever pre-
sided over the Southern States, made the impression
that he did as a pulpit orator. He swayed all au-
diences, white and colored, and was a magnet to
draw all to hear him. Dr. J. O. A. Clark, himself
one of the ablest ministers of the M. E. Church
South, said, on hearing him preach at Macon in
1880, that he was to be compared with Bishop Mar-
vin and Rev. Munsey of the M. E. Church South.
We were now upon the verge of another Gen-
eral Conference, and a brief survey of some of the
statistics of this annual Conference may not be
wholly uninteresting. Members in Society were
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FEEEDOtt. 105
reported as 16,772, with 4,068 probationers, as
against 14,228 and 4,361 in 1876. The local
preachers had increased from 255 to 336 and the
number of churches from 175 to 241, their value
standing as $187,017.00 as compared with $i57>-
752.80, with 36 parsonages valued at $7,564.00 in-
stead of 21. The Sunday-schools numbered 263
with 13,945 scholars, 291 superintendents, 738
teachers and 10,344 volumes in library, against 190
in 1876 with 10,099 scholars, 187 superintendents,
520 teachers, 7,836 volumes. In moneys raised and
distributed, 85,191.48 had gone for support of
Presiding Elders, $21,673.57 for pastors; the con-
tingent money raised was $13,490, and for benevo-
lence, $1,765.84, as against $431.02 for Presiding
Elder's salary, $16,266.94 ^ or pastors, $155.11 for
contingent and $644.71 for benevolence. While
the Dollar money in 1876 reached $2,010.50, in
1S80 it was $21,673.57, and the Sunday-school
money which was then $1,123.55 had reached $10,-
344. It was a showing of no mean growth in four
years. From six presiding elder districts we had
reached eight, and no member of the Georgia
Conference had need to feel any shame when the
General Conference should take a survey of the
field which had first felt the ploughshare of the
church fourteen years.
Georgia was ready, too, for what followed at the
deliberations of that body w r hich recognized the
worth of her men of might when it placed one of
her foremost sons in a Bishop's seat, — Dr. H. M.
106 AFRICAN METHODISM EST THE SOUTH ;
Turner, who was elected on the first ballot — a place
his long and vigorous labors in the State from the
inception of the church there had worthily won for
him.
African Methodism in the South was henceforth
to be a factor of immense power, when R. H. Cain,
of South Carolina, another strong worker, was
placed beside him on the third ballot, to serve the
church with the talented Wm. F. Dickerson, who
was elected on the second ballot, both of whom
were to be called so soon from labor to reward, a
loss to the church, the race, humanity and the
world at large.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 107
CHAPTER XII.
BISHOP DICKERSON'S FIRST WORK.
In the year 1881, the first Conference to convene
was that of North Georgia, which assembled in
Wheat Street Church, Atlanta, January 5. Rev.
R. A. Hall was then pastor of that church.
Bishop Wm. F. Dickerson, one of the newly
elected Bishops and the one appointed to preside for
the next four years over the work which included
Georgia, was present to open the session. He was
alone, as his predecessor, Bishop Campbell, was
unable to meet him there. From the first, Bishop
Dickerson began his work systematically. A "Bus-
iness Directory" was issued to each member of the
Conference, and all business conducted according to
it. He also immediately called the attention of
Conference to another matter alluded to several
times in this volume. In stating to the Conference
the prominence of the State of Georgia over all
other States, — its amount of taxation upon the col-
ored people greater than in any ether, — and then
of the necessity of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Georgia being in the front rank in eccle-
siastical matters as becomes the only Church as rep-
resentative of the colored race, therefore he recom-
108 AFRICAN METHODISM IN" THE SOUTH ;
mended preparing for the future generation some
record which would be of benefit to them and the
church.
By this measure we find a chronological account
inserted in the Georgia Minutes after this date.
This gives the admission, ordinations and appoint-
ments of the ministers composing the Conference,
with date of the same. For this wise provision the
future generations will give hearty thanks.
The enterprise which has developed into Morris
Brown College took more definite form in the shape
of resolutions and pledges to select a site and aid in
payment for it. This movement received most
hearty acceptance and promises of support. The
matter was then referred to the Georgia Confer-
ence, meeting on the 19th inst., for co-operation.
At this date our educational work consisted of two
normal high schools, — at Cartersville and Sparta
— under our direct jurisdiction.
At one of the sessions of this Conference Bishop
Dickerson stated that he came to his work in the
South with many leading ideas, of which two were
especially prominent in his thoughts — "promulga-
tion of Christian education and the spread of Mis-
sionary work among his people. He held it was
not color that made the negro inferior, but ignorance
and poverty; that education and opulence would
break down all barriers in the future.
The report of the Committee on Education was
adopted when brought in, and enthusiasm raised to
that pitch that it seemed a small thing to appropri-
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FEEEDO^I. 109
ate eight hundred dollars as the first payment toward
the prospective school from this one Conference. It
was news to gladden our hearts that a high normal
school was to be built for us also at Eatonton.
Surely the day of great things was about to dawn
upon us.
But four preachers were admitted on trial: Daniel
Strickland, W. H. Harrison, E. Roberts, James Lake»
Twelve deacons and fourteen elders were elected
and ordained. The former were Reuben L. Law-
son, John F. Belsaw, Wm. Ivy, Edward Dillard,
Richard Butts. John J. Belt, Madison D. Brookens,
Richard M.Smith, Leonard G. Gary, Preston B.
Peters, Wm. H. Heard, Jordan R. Gay. The El-
ders were Aaron S. Jackson, Sandy S. Lester, Wm.
Duncan, Howard T. Cargill, Milton N. Nelson,
Matthew Taylor, Oscar A. Waddle, Hillard D.
Bush, Peter Cruse, Washington Campbell, B. R.
Glass, Wm. L. Bowdre, S. A. Bush and J. H. King
were re-obligated.
A. R. Spencer withdrew this year, and Joshua D.
Hall had died. One thing noticeable is the few
losses which occur by withdrawal from us. Georgia
has suffered but little from this, and experience goes
to show that the same is true in other States.
Brother Hall was on Monroe County Circuit at his
death.
The sermons of this session, as a whole, were re-
markable, given as they were upon the Sabbath
by the Bishop presiding, Rev. J. M. Townsend, cor-
responding secretary of the Missionary Society and
110 AFEICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
the writer at Bethel Church; Revs. C. H. Boyd, J.
B. Lofton and J. A. Davis at Wood's Chapel; Revs.
Washington Campbell, M. E. Cox and A. S. Jack-
son at Shiloh Church; Revs. J. B. Warner and H.
T. Cargill at the First Congregational church;
Revs. J. R. Gay, W. H. Heard and L. G. Gary at
St. Paul's Chapel; and Revs. C. S. Green, W. C.
Warren, J. F. Brown at the M. E. Church. Decatur
street church was supplied by Revs. Matthews Tay-
lor, Edward Dillard and others. They were listened
to by many of the white citizens, among them His
Excellency, Gov. A. H. Colquitt, Revs. J. W.
Heidt and C. A. Evans, of the M. E. Church South.
The exercises of the Sabbath-school were especially
pleasing with essays from even the little children.
Gov. Colquitt and Rev. C. A. Evans visited the
Conference the following day, and made remarks
which were full of brotherly kindness and cheer.
The reports from the Presiding Elders were en-
couraging, the spiritual and temporal advancement
going on hand in hand in nearly all cases. Some
new points have been added to the Atlanta District
under P. E. Richard Graham. A total of two
thousand twelve hundred and forty dollars made up
the Dollar Money.
The transfers consisted of Rev. S. B. Jones, John
Whittaker and J. H. King to the Georgia Confer-
ence, and Rev. R. Harper to the Tennessee Con-
ference.
January 19th the Georgia Annual Conference as-
sembled in session in St. Philip's A. M. E. Church,
OE TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. Ill
Savannah, again, the second time since the division
of the old Conference. Bishop Wm. F. Dickerson
opened the session with most impressive exercises,
taking, as the two lessons from Scripture, Jonah III.
and James I. He made a special note of the first
lesson, saying that "it makes a great difference as
to what preaching we preach and who bids us to
preach." He emphatically stated that satan some-
times suggests a text to the minister, and it is no
wonder that failure follows. Then again he showed
that instead of preaching what God bids, there are
some men who are so unmerciful they would stand
between the mercy of God and the sinner.
Bishop H. M. Turner, the pioneer minister, now
honored by elevation to the Episcopacy, was with
us again in his new office, to speak words of encour-
agement to those with whom he had been so long
associated. It was very appropriate that he should
be the one to review the history of the Georgia Con-
ference under the successive administrations of
Bishops D. A. Payne, John M. Brown, F. M. D.
Ward and J. P. Campbell, not forgetting the service
of Bishop A. W . Wayman in the place of the senior
Bishop, during his protracted absence abroad. A
very appreciative tribute was paid to each — to their
character as Christian gentlemen, and to their labors,
of which the present prosperous tide of affairs was
the outcome. Then with a heartiness of manner
and a kindliness of feeling, which was echoed in all
hearts present, he introduced the presiding Bishop
for the next quadrennium. The ceremony of formal
112 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
introduction was reciprocated by the new Bishop r
and the compliments gracefully and cordially re-
turned, when he stated his intention to have had the
pleasure of first introducing to the Conference, not
Elder nor Dr. Turner, but Bishop H. M. Turner.
Thus with hearty and great good will the two newly
elected Bishops were received by the Georgia An-
nual Conference of 1881.
The business of the meeting first brought the
election of Secretaries, which was simply a re-elec-
tion of those who had so faithfully served us in 1880,
Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, with Rev. James Porter and
Rev. S. H. Robertson.
The Rev. J. M. Townsend and Rev. Dr. B. M.
Arnett, the new Financial Secretary, were two prom-
inent and welcome visitors of the Conference, while
South Carolina and North Georgia were also rep-
resented in the persons of Rev. J. E. Hayne, L. D.
Chairs and M. B. Salters from the former, and Rev.
W. H. Harris, Richard Graham and the writer from
North Georgia.
The reports from the districts rolled up a total of
two thousand six hundred and eight dollars and nine-
ty-three cents — this from eight districts, Columbus
District bringing the largest sum, five thousand
and fifteen dollars and seventy-five cents.
Presiding Elder G. W. H. Williams gave the
Annual Sermon from the text: Lam. 4:2, "The
precious sons of Zion comparable to fine gold."
He presented his subject in the statement that Zion
was built upon a hill and fortified with a wall; the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 113.
-church is built upon the rock Christ Jesus, and its
walls are salvation. Both are citadels of strength,
and the church can only be betrayed by an enemy
from within. The duty of the Christian was plainly
pointed out, and the true child of God, with a heart
filled with His grace, was likened to the gold of the
realm, engraved by grace, and with the blood of
Jesus Christ, so that years of conflict and trials have
only brightened them as testimony of the truth of
salvation.
It was a strong sermon with the central point,
that of salvation — its priceless cost which made the
sons of God so precious — then sent home to each
heart by the use to which such should be put.
The statistical reports occupied some time, then
the transfers were announced, being Rev. S. B.
Jones and John Whittaker from the North Georgia
Conference.
Visitors were plentiful, and kept up the interest
of the session by letting the Conference know how
much fraternal feeling after all exists in this world.
We have been told somewhere that when we
read the history of all ages we are shocked to see
how the times seem to have been most troublous.
The printed page is so full of great wars and blood-
shed, of all the dark and gloomy horrors, that we
are inclined to think that nothing else has occurred.
We forget that, as in the present, these are the
things which history records in black and white — the
startling things are handed down to us, leaving the
8
114 AFRICAN METHODSM IN THE SOUTH;
thousands of the common every-day deeds of hu-
manity, with their ministry for good to be unrecog-
nized and unpenned for posterity to read.
This is why the writer, in the times that have
brought sore trials to the negro race in America,
from the day of freedom, desires to note with kindly
good- will the many oases in the desert of its life
and growth throughout these years, in order that
justice, that omnipotent power in the years of time
and the beginning of eternity, be done to all at his
hands. We have lived and suffered countless things;,
we have had enemies, and have them still; we have
been surrounded by almost impenetrable barriers,,
and confronted at every turn by soul-stinging looks,
words and acts; but through it all we must pay
honest and honorable tribute to any one who has,
made the way less stony, has lighted our path or
lifted our burdens, ofttimes by diverting the scorn
upon their own heads. Justice demands it. We
demand justice. Let us all be just.
The resolution offered by Elder S. H. Robertson,
that a committee be appointed to act with that of
the North Georgia Conference concerning the col-
lege site, was referred to the regular committee on
that point. After the meeting of this joint com-
mittee the report was made to the body in session.
As it embodies the efforts of several years toward
something tangible in the way of a school in Geor-
gia, which should enter the field to do the work for
the race remaining there for us to do, we consider
it of interest enough to the future, at least, that it
be inserted verbatim.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 115-
" To the Bishop and Conference :
" Brethren— We, the undersigned College Trus-
tees of the Georgia Annual Conference, have the
honor to report that we met the College Trustees
of the North Georgia Annual Conference (or a
portion of them authorized to act for the rest) in
joint session this day at 1 130 p. m.
" Rev. W. J. Gaines informed the brethren of the
action of the North Georgia Conference in nego-
tiating for the purchase of 6o}4 acres of land, high
and beautifully situated, in the city limits, with a
comfortable house, having four rooms ready for im-
mediate use. He asked our concurrence. Rev. C.
L. Bradwell said he was present, and testified to the
unanimity of the brethren and Trustees of the
North Georgia Conference, and heartily endorsed
their action ; whereupon it was
" Resolved, That we do concur in the action of the
brethren and Trustees of the North Georgia Con-
ference, and suggest that the amount of six hun-
dred dollars be contributed out of the percentage or
other Conference money to aid in the purchase
of the same.
" And we recommend that the Trustees meet as-
early as possible to elect officers and purchase the
site. Respectfully,
" E. P. Holmes, Chairman,
C. L. Bradwell,
S. H. Robertson,
G. W. H. Williams,
J. W. Wynn,
Henry Strickland,
William Raven,
Wm. D. Johnson,
W. C. Gaines,
W. H. Powell,
James Porter, Secretary.'"
116 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
The Committee on Education also expressed it-
self as " believing that the time is fully ripe for es-
tablishing an institution for higher education, under
the charge of the Georgia Conference, and we urge
upon each minister, member and friend of our
church the necessity of supporting the action of the
North Georgia Conference, and our own, looking
to the establishment of a College or University in
Atlanta, Ga."
It was also wisely recommended that each minis-
ter and family in our bounds be induced to educate
our children in our day-schools and Sunday-schools.
With all this as an impetus, the work of educa-
tion was in a fair way to go forward in new lines.
The other points suggested by this last committee
are well worth mentioning here. Each minister and
family was urged to take the church paper, and
some daily newspaper, while all were earnestly
pressed to patronize our publishing department, and
those of ou'- people who may publish books and
pamphlets upon useful subjects. Similar ideas were
brought out when the Committee on Sunday-schools
reported.
In connection with the educational movement
many good things were said. Among them Rev.
S. B. Jones recalled the time when he joined the
Conference in this city. He referred to the vener-
able Bishop Payne, who was then occupying the
chair, and who, with his usual determination upon
the subject of ministerial education, said in reference
to the question of admission, " Don't bring any
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 117
men to me who do not know what the canonical
Scriptures are." There is not a man in the A. M.
E. Church, knowing our beloved and now venera-
ble apostle of education, who does not know the
vigorous insistence which he has maintained in this
line — an educated ministry, and who cannot appre-
ciate how much many men have owed to this very
insistence, for it has been the means of spurring on
many a laggard to do what he was capable of do-
ing, and, it may be added, of keeping back the men
who were either indolent or incapable of proper
preparation for the greatest work on earth; so it
will not be surprising to any of these to know of
the consternation of some of that Conference who
exclaimed as Brother Jones said he did upon hear-
ing this statement from the Bishop's lips: "My
God, what is that!"
Yet when we think of it, it is not strange that
among the older men of that day there was much to
be learned, but Bishop Payne rigidly adhered to
the requirement that the necessary things should be
learned. Even now when the lightof knowledge
pours its beams so clearly on every pathway, that
the one who would preach Christ and Him crucified
must need be almost blind if he see not and
learn not, there are some — shall it be said there are
many ? — who would to-day join in the same ex-
clamation to which Brother Jones gave utterance;
Praise God, our children indeed will not have the
shadow of a righteous occasion to ask such a ques-
tion!
118 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
A further spur to the movement Gf education
had been given by the constitution of the Educa-
tional Department which was drawn up and adopted
by the Bishops of the A. M. E. Church at their
meeting in Newport, R. L, August, 1880. This new
work provided for was to be known as the " Con-
ventional Literary, Historic and Educational Asso-
ciation of the A. M. E. Church," and its object as
stated was "the cultivation of literature and the study
of history and the promotion of Christian education."
This constitution also provided for the organization
of this branch of society educational work in the
churches throughout the Convention.
•OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 119
CHAPTER XIII.
A YEAR OF INTEREST.
On the second day of this session the Conference
resolved itself into a grand Missionary Meeting,
which Dr. B. W. Arnett opened. He was followed
by Bishop W. F. Dickerson, who, after a few earn-
est words upon the work of our Home and Foreign
Missionary Society and the fields of labor, together
with the interest which was apparently deepening
each year throughout the A. M. E. Church, intro-
duced Rev. J. M. Townsend, who read his Mission-
ary Report.
He presented the state of our missionary enter-
prise as encouraging, though, like all such enterprises,
needing the steady financial aid that only complete
organized effort can vitalize and render most efficient
in accomplishing great results. There were in
Hayti the Rev. C. U. Missell and his wife — who
have since departed to the spirit land, broken down
by the sacrifices there for the cause of the Redeemer.
These with the two preachers he had employed to
assist him, constituted our force in the interesting
tfield of that tropical island. Rev. A. Flegler, in
.Africa, was reported as meeting with great success
120 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
in his endeavors, assisted by three local preachers,,,
to spread the gospel in the name of the A. M. E.
Church.
Nearer home, Bishop H. M. Turner was presiding
over the field in the Indian Territory, where there
was a population of thirty thousand colored people
and a Conference of sixteen ministers, all doing a glo-
rious work.
It was the old appeal which the earnest Secretary
of this Department of our Church made to move
hearts to contribute their mites toward the work.
How much good has been done for the Redeemer's
kingdom by these mites of both poor and rich, toward
saving the world of mankind, we shall only know at
the great last day, when the redeemed shall be gath-
ered from the uttermost parts of the earth. May
our Missionary work gain ground each year.
Bishop H. M. Turner preached a magnificent ser-
mon in accordance with the Missionary appeal, and
at its conclusion Bishop Dickerson announced that
Bishop Turner had been appointed to visit Africa.
This served to render the latter the recipient of nu-
merous letters from both young men and women
announcing themselves ready to become mission-
aries if only a little support could be provided. This
is the true missionary spirit, and it is growing in our
Church.
The Temperance cause, of which we shall have oc-
casion to speak at length in another chapter, received
strong support in able, eloquent and witty speeches-
from Revs. G. B. Reed, Irwin Butler, S. C. Powell,.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 121
Henry Strickland, S. W. Drayton, Prince Gadsen,.
as well as by Revs. C. L. Bradwell, W. C. Gaines,.
S. B. Jones, G. W. Gamble, Isaac Coachman and
others, Bishop Dickerson closing with the thrilling
remark to the effect that no minister, under the in-
fluence of intoxicating drinks, could glorify God.
The hymn which was afterwards sung was most ap-
propriate :
" Help me to watch and pray," etc.
One of the features of the Conference was the
sermon by Dr. B. W. Arnett. It was one of the
pithy, forcible sermons which this brother in Christ
is so well adapted to give, and one which, with every
true believer in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
will remain long as food for meditation. The young
may well pause when the words of wisdom fall from
the lips of the elders. Be they never so wise in this
day and generation, experience and long years of
labor have taught that which youth can never have
until it, too, has passed through the trials by fire and
become purified and strengthened by the ordeal.
This sermon was a masterly presentation of the
argument that revealed religion is superior to natu-
ral religion ; and it appealed to both head and heart,
as a sermon should. It was not a mere display of
emotional oratory, though it was a masterpiece of fer-
vid eloquence ; but irrefutable facts were given and
statements made, boldly challenging the unbeliever to
the proof of that which would warrant such a posi-
tion. Ah, it is true that not even an Ingersoll can
shake the soul that is deep-rooted in the faith of a.
122 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Redeemer — in the inspired writings of that Book of
books.
What we need are young men who will enter the
ministry with all their native talents strengthened
and broadened by that which was denied to the older
brethren — a full and comprehensive education — and
then to devote all to the hourly service of the Master,
counting each day lost which does not see some one
nearer the kingdom than before through their minis-
trations.
Right in this connection, the opening events of
one of the day sessions lead to quoting some of the
brethren's remarks upon the subject of quoting other
men's sermons. There is too great a tendency at
times to be carried away by the eloquence and learn-
ing of others, so much so as to forget one's self, to
be carried out of one's self, we ought to say, and
this danger is especially present to bright, receptive
minds which readily grasp all the meteors of thought
that flash upon the mental horizon from any quarter
and store them away — of ttimes unconsciously — for fu-
ture use, when without change of form they are
launched forth as their own fiery missiles — again
■ofttimes unconsciously — having lain within the mind
-so long, so many times recurring to it, that they have
become a part of it.
Good preaching, fiery illustrations, sharp thrusts
of the sword of the spirit are all enjoyable and do
valiant service for the Master ; but do not let the
young men think a patchwork sermon, a conglomer-
ation of the readily apparent fireworks of another, to
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 123
be that which is most effective or wholly without
suspicion — that which we are bound to speak
sooner or later. Rev. C. L. Bradwell's amus-
ing anecdote is peculiarly apt at this point. He
gives the credit of its origin, as far as he knows,
to Father Bentley, one of the old members of
St. Philip's Church in Savannah :
"A crow was admiring the peacocks upon their pa-
rade ground and determined that he would be a pea-
cock. He found out their sleeping place and after
picking up all the waste feathers, retired and fixed
himself up with the plumage thus appropriated, by
pulling out his own feathers and replacing them by
the gayer ones he had taken. Then he joined the
other peacocks upon the parade ground. When the
line was formed, the question was asked, ' Are they
all peacocks here?' The answer was, 'They are.'
But there was a little peacock that had aroused sus-
picion, and they concluded to examine each one by
pulling at his feathers. When they came to our
hero his feathers all came out and he was neither a
crow nor a peacock." The brother pointed the moral
to his tale in the observation, "Just so in the long
run it will be with a preacher who borrows his ser-
mons."
The young brethren who read this may not be
able to cope with a Bishop Arnett in imagination
-and forceful expression, or with a Bishop Payne in
the depths of scholarly learning which his seventy-
nine years of labor have garnered for him, but they
may learn how to use, as they, in the legitimate way,
124 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
the treasures of thought, the nuggets of wisdom
which are to be mined from the univeise of others"
learning and experience, and thus add to their own
store — enriching, not substituting, adorning, not
masking.
It seems to have been a time when all were urged
to stand upon their own merits.
The difficulty which some ministers have in col-
lecting dollar money might be largely overcome if
they would but systematically and faithfully follow
Bishop Dickerson's suggestion when he, "in answer"
to a question which brought out his decision — the
same made by Bishop Campbell at previous meetings
— added, "While it is true that no one who refuses
to pay that money can hold an official position in any
of our churches, the preachers in charge must show
the people not only that the law requires it, but he
must give the reasons why it ought to be collected —
show that "Jesus is in that dollar." That is what is
wanted everywhere : to show that Jesus is in one of
the best systems we have ever had by which we may
carry on our Church work — Jesus Christ's work.
The Sabbath ritualistic services prepared for our
Church were introduced for the first time in St.
Philips A. M. E. Church Jan. 23d, upon which
occasion all listened to a sermon by Rev. Samuel
W. Drayton, begotten of the spirit ; and at the
conclusion, in a ceremony most beautiful and ex-
perience, the Bishop ordained the following young
men to the office of Deacon : J. H. Adams, W. O.
P. Sherman and James R. Bennett. The ordination.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 125
-of Elders took place at 3 p. m. after a strong sermon
to the great congregation by the Bishop, closing
with the stirring appeal, "Brethren, study to preach
Christ. Live Christ, suffer with Christ, and then at
the close of your labors reign with Christ in
glory. He hath said, ' Lo, I am with you always
even to the end of the world.' Preach Him then,
preach Him to all and cry in death, ' Behold, be-
hold the Lamb.' "
Rev. Sandy D. Roseborough was ordained to the
-office of Elder, and Revs. J. B. K. Butler and H. M.
Miller, who came to us in regular standing from the
Baptist church, were re-obligated. At 7:30 p. u.,
Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, D. D., preached from the text,
Jeremiah ix : 23-24, " Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, etc." — a fitting climax to the trio of ser-
mons which made the day memorable to all who
heard.
As all those things looking toward unity are desir-
able things by all, we find at this Conference two
gentlemen of Chatham County Sunday-school Asso-
ciation, who made earnest remarks in the interest of
organizing a State Sunday-school Convention to
meet next spring, which organization looked toward
representation in the International Sunday-school
Convention.
The year's studies were represented by a gratify-
ing report. A rigidity of system disclosed itself and
those brethren who failed to pass from one year to
another were vastly comforted, by this fact, and the
assurance that the standard of work was rising- so
126 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
that they really stood comparatively on a higher
plane than many predecessors at the same stages.
heretofore.
Our Home Missions were found to be this year,,,
where Home Missions most assuredly ought not to,-
be— in a state of precarious dependence for their
support. Over three hundred preachers and uncer-
tain subsistence ! It was something to appall us, for
surely while the gospel may be spiritual meat and
drink, yet nowhere are we bidden to place our ser-
vants in the field, and then placidly expect them to
sustain their corporeal existence upon it alone. We
can do no less than see that ravens carry to them
the staff of life. Hayti, Africa and our Indian Mis-
sion all deserve our earnest, prayerful, substantial
recognition. Yet the South has done its share, con-
sidering how short a time since the A. M. E. Church
passed from a mission field itself into self-supporting
independence. We have to grow slowly, perhaps, if
it would be surely, but sustenance is a prime neces-
sity to all growth.
Then, too, in order to grow the children must be
led along with us. This fact was earnestly placed
before us in a plea for the children. Our present.
Sunday-school Department was not then organized,
but the church in the South has been made to feel,
with every meeting that which was so especially em-
phasized at a North Georgia Conference some years
later (1884) when Bishop F. M. D. Ward made this-
statement : " The A. M. E. Church to-day labors,
under a mighty necessity. The Roman Catholics.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 127
have enrolled at the South over 200,000 of our
children. We must go out after our children, go for
them in earnest and go for them now," adding, " Let
the Morris Brown College in Atlanta be used as a
perpetual monument of the energy and devotion
of the fathers who builded better than they knew."
When we think of the fact that there are in the
South fully fifty schools and colleges backed by other
denominations, we can see only one thing — that all
are reaching after the children and youth. We must
be up and doing or else give them up, and that sug-
gestion every African Methodist will answer, No!
But to carry out this plan of drawing in our chil-
dren, we must be impressed by the statements made
in one of the reports : " The church will not be
just what it ought to be until more time is spent
with the Sunday-school. If you want an educated
ministry such as God will be pleased with, and the
world cannot deny, train them up in the Sunday-
school. If you want Stewards, Trustees, Class-
leaders, and members who will do their whole duty,,
train them up in the Sunday-school. You must not
be afraid to teach them African Methodism — teach
them to know that is the name of this church and.
why it is so called, and why they ought to love and
support it. Teach them how to save church money..
When this is done Macon, Savannah, Columbus and.
Atlanta will not be the only good points. The
reason why the church fails to take care of the maru
is because the man fails to take care of the church."
These closing statements contain some significant
128 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
truths. Neither are they limited to the State of
Georgia. If we wish prosperity, if we wish increase,
if we wish God's blessing to descend richly upon the
church of our Fathers, we must reach out for the
•children, not forcibly, but reasonably, and magneti-
cally draw them in and hold them in her arms until
they have reached the age at least when they can
wisely be trusted to choose their own faith. Be
assured there will be but few straying from our fold
if this be wisely done.
The committee which had been appointed upon
Division of Conference failed to find anything to
report, as the majority of the committee from the
North Georgia Conference were unable to meet, and
the work was therefore continued to the first Wed-
nesday in May, when the committee were to re-as-
semble in the city of Macon. The joint Conference
Committee upon College Site were more successful.
The writer had informed the session that the brethren
of North Georgia had unanimously acted and nego-
tiated for the purchase of what is now Morris Brown
College. The Conference suggested that six hun-
dred dollars be contributed to this effort for higher
education in the State, as had been done by the
North Georgia Conference.
Brother Waddy Parks, in the prime of life, was cut
off by the hand of death — the only member of the
Georgia work aside from Rev. J. D. Hall of North
Georgia.
A new feature of the Georgia Conference this year
was the shape in which the Presiding Elders' Reports
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 129
were placed and made a part of the printed minutes.
Had the church as a whole a systematic record of its
specific churches, history would be greatly aided in
accuracy. Only such detailed descriptions of the
life and work of the most insignificant station from
its origin can make it so. Bvt we grow with the
years in all things, and all early history must of
necessity be a scattered account of what is done by
the early workers, and this is especially true of
Methodism in all its branches. It may be that fifty
or an hundred years hence our descendants will
wonder why we, too, at the close of this century,
were not more careful that they might know much of
what we doubtless leave unrecorded, strive the best
we may.
The Savannah District reported three churches
built — one on Sylvania Circuit and two on Mobley's
Pond Circuit, while on the Effingham River Circuit
Rev. E. Lowery had erected a first-class camp-meet-
ing stand upon our own land (a plat of fifteen acres
of timber), where a church, parsonage and needed
camp-meeting supplies were also to be found. Pre-
siding Elder Herrry Strickland had added to the dis-
trict within the year, two new circuits and missions
where we had nothing before and Rev. A. Martin,
under him, had purchased a lot and built a church,
having gathered a good congregation. Rev. G. B.
Reed, of the Hutchison Church Circuit, had built a
church whose entire property was worth over $2,000.
Pvev. Wm. Hamilton, at Taylor Creek Circuit, was
130 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
also building a church there. So the work under
Elder Strickland, at the close of his fourth year on
this district, had been extended in every direction,
and in this one year had gained $4,000.00 worth of
property.
Thomasville District was also in a favorable con-
dition — greatly improved during the year under Pre-
siding Elder Rev. G. W. H. Williams. An increase
of three hundred and fifty-six members and a fair
financial showing was evidence in itself of the hard
labor that had been given.
A considerable revival on the Muscogee County
Circuit, in the Columbus Presiding Elder District —
Rev. E. P. Holmes, Presiding Elder — showed that.
Rev. W. S. Shorts was working in the right line.
Talbotton was receiving valuable repairs and St.
Peter's and Mt. Zion Circuit, under Rev. Wm. Ross,
were building a chapel. A new church at Box
Springs was nearly completed by Rev. B. F. Frank-
lin, while a good church at Fort Valley had been
built by Rev. J. W. Wynn. Reynold's and Everetc's
Mission, where formerly there was nothing, had
been built and ten or twelve members gathered
in by Rev. Newrey Ellison, and Robertson's Mission,
set off from St. James church in Columbus one year
before, now reported sixty-eight members and a
growing work.
In Americus District, Rev. Wm. Raven, Presiding
Elder, good work under Rev. W. C. Gaines was
reported at Americus. In Cuthbert District, under
Rev. S. H. Robertson, Presiding Elder, five churches
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 131
were already built or in progress. There was a new
parsonage at Dawson, under Rev. H. B. Dowdell,
and new work had opened on Brooksville Circuit,
while, best of all, revivals at nearly every point
occurred during this first year of Elder Robertson's
presiding influence.
Valdosta District reported four new churches built,
repairs made, wiping out of some debts, good Sunday-
school work and increasing membership under Pre-
siding Elder J. T. Crayton. Sandersville District,
with Presiding Elder S. W. Drayton in charge, showed
landed property added at nine different points and
the work preparatory to building going on at a
promising rate. The pastors were all workers. Rev.
Henry Porter, Presiding Elder of the Albany Dis-
trict, reported Rev. D. T. Green, pastor at Albany
Station, as doing nobly in building a new brick
church, for which his flock had raised upwards of
•$1,200.00. Rev. G. R. Bass, on Blakely Circuit, and
Rev. E. B. Brown, on Arlington Circuit, had entered
the work of building a parsonage. Rev. T. Mclver,
on Lee County Circuit, Rev. P. L. Jackson, on Mor-
gan, and Rev. John Harris, at Dover, were each
engaged in erecting new churches, while at Leary
Rev. Boston Scott had purchased ground for the
purpose.
This brings up the subject of residences. The
General Conference at St. Louis ordered that the
newly elected Bishops, Rt. Revs. H. M. Turner, D.
D., LL. D., Wra. F. Dickerson, D. D., R. H. Cain,
D. D., should live in the South. Up to this time the
132 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
South had no resident Bishop. The Senior's home
was at Wilberforce, Ohio; Bishop J. A. Shorter was
his next door neighbor. Bishop Brown's residence
was in Washington, D. C, and Bishop Wayman was
located at Baltimore, and Bishop Campbell at Phila-
delphia; while Bishop Ward's home was in Benning,
Washington, D. C. So the South, as a region below
the limits of Washington City, had no Episcopal
residence.
It was, of course, a personal sacrifice to break up
homes already formed and locate in a new region,
but it had been ordered. Appreciating these sac-
rifices which must be made, the Conferences of
South Carolina and Georgia decided to assist in
making ready these new homes. To this end the
Columbia Conference and the Georgia Conference
contributed to assist Bishop Dickerson in the pur-
chase of a home. There to-day in the city of
Columbia, South Carolina, stands a beautiful resi-
dence, which the Bishop was given only a few short
years to enjoy before he went to his long home —
that house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. His widow still resides there.
The retirement of Bishop H. M. Turner from
active membership among us to enter upon the
higher duties of Episcopacy was looked upon as a
great loss in one sense, but he carried with him
warmest sentiments of love, honor and esteem. He
assumed charge of the Eighth Episcopal District.
With the last General Conference nine Episcopal
Districts were laid off, but though the union with
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 133
the B. M. E. Church [was agitating the Church and
in the present year (1881) had been to a degree
consummated, it was not yet included in our work.
Georgia and South Carolina constituted the Sixth
Episcopal District under Bishop Dickerson, while at
that time Alabama and Florida were under Bishop
Wayman as the Seventh District.
The year 1881 was a memorable year in some
respects. It was the year when a noted gathering
of men — laymen and clergy, ministers and bishops —
met the Ecumenical Conference in London to do
honor to themselves and the church. From this
they returned safely under His care, bringing
renewed zeal and added wisdom after having demon-
strated to that great Christian assembly what the
negro is and what he can do with arms half pinioned,
and above all, what a glorious church work we com-
mand in the army of the church militant.
The year's work in Georgia concluded financially
strong. The North Georgia Conference reported
■12,012.40, and the Georgia Conference $2,608.93
from 13,341 members.
134 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
CHAPTER XIV.
THE YEAR 1882.
As had been the custom, the North Georgia Con-
ference opened the year 1882 holding its session
first in Bethel Church, Augusta, Ga., beginning Jan
11th. The Georgia Conference followed on the 26th,
assembling in St. Thomas A. M. E. Church, Thom-
asville, Ga.
Bishop Dickerson presided over each in turn,
with Rev. T. McCant Stewart, of Sullivan St.
Church, New York City, to assist in the opening
exercises of the latter.
The business of the former was promptly laid out,
and on the evening of the first day the body listened
to the annual sermon by Rev. A. J. Miller, Presiding
Elder, from the text in Rev. iii: 21, "To him that
overcometh evil I grant to sit with me in my
throne."
Among the visitors introduced to this Conference
were Bishop L. H. Holsey of the Colored M. E.
Church of America and Revs. C. H. Collins, A. J.
Stinson, S. L. Stinson and G. W. Usher of the
same. After the statistical reports, an indefinite
extension of time that the Conference might hear
from Bishop Holsey was taken at the request of
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 135
Bishop Dickerson, who paid this neat tribute in pre-
senting the visitor : "The church so nobly repre-
sented by Bishop Holsey, in the midst of vast diffi-
culties and besetments, has accomplished a work for
God and the African race which entitles it to the
respect and admiration of the entire Christian world;
but especially the colored Methodists of every name;
and if it should please God to bring about an organic
union of the African churches, it would be a matter
of delight with me to have it strike in at first with
A. M. E. Church and the C. M. E. Church, in
America.
Bishop L. H. Holsey replied nearly as follows:
"There is a oneness in Methodism which is like the
dust of the lodestone. It will gravitate to a focal cen-
ter. I have seen the same characteristics of Methodism
in Europe and America. There has been a ten-
dency among the educated people of late to stifle
ths original fire of truth ; but there is a rekind-
ling of that fervency breaking out into new vigor
from the late Ecumenical Council. The separate
bodies of Methodists are like mighty rivers running
side by side, but destined to unite in the near future;
or it is like laborers in separate fields, between whom
the middle wall of partition is crumbling to decay.
He felt glad that for once, and in London, he had
found the place where it was good to be a black
man; and the only trouble with him was that he was
not quite black enough. He was thoroughly con-
vinced of the high destiny awaiting the colored race;
and it can be reached only through a full participa-
136 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
tion in the benefits of the Gospel; and this has well
nigh been secured to us through the powerful in-
fluence of the Methodist doctrine. We have a com-
mon work in the several departments of our labor,
and the grand results which have flowed from the
influence of John Wesley will continue to bless the
world until the innumerable company of saints,
redeemed and reunited, shall enter the Master's joy
in the city of the New Jerusalem. God bless your
Conference and your labors with abundance of grace.
Amen."
The missionary meeting was most interesting with,
addresses by Revs. Richard Graham, Andrew Brown,
the writer and others; but it was at the anniversary
of the Educational Society that the enthusiasm of
the workers of the Conference showed itself. The
report of this committee, which was accepted, appro-
priated $700 to pay its proportional part of one
thousand three hundred and twenty-nine dollars bor-
rowed by the ^college trustees, while a day was set
apart in May to raise funds to meet the last pay-
ment. Revs. W. H. Heard, A. W. Lowe and R. A.
Hall made telling speeches upon the subject, and
what the latter said in reference to sustaining Bishop
Dickerson has been done bravely and nobly for him
and those who have followed him — Bishop J. A.
Shorter and the writer. "Help them lay the .step-
ping stones; render a full and hearty support, that
our ministers may rise higher and higher, until they
shall gaze upon the bright orb of intellectual light
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 137
and strike the lyre with thoughts and words that
burn with living fire."
That the youth of the present generation may
know something of what we, who stand at middle
age, endured in gathering precious bits of education,.
Rev. S. H. Robertson's remarks are inserted here.
"He attended college away down on an old planta-
tion in Mississippi and graduated in three weeks.
He was taught by his master's little son; but when
the overseer found it out his course was brought to a
sudden close. His highest ambition at that time was-
to learn how to write his pass. He kept a copy of one
and spent a whole year studying it ; and, after-
wasting bottles of ink, he succeeded in learning to
write ; but it was bad and he was afraid to trust it.
At last one night he left it lying upon the counter in
a store and came back asking; ' Has any one seen my
pass ? ' After looking around some time the clerk
said : 'Here it is ;' and the writer came out of the
store saying to himself, 'Thank God, somebody can
read it.' "
We say Thank God for the wave of enlightenment
that has enabled so many thousands of those who
struggled then to enjoy at last the many privileges
and blessings that freedom with education has
brought.
Bishop Dickerson at this time was collecting books
to complete a library of Negro authors, and urged the
brethren to "take hold upon the good productions of
our own race and bring them home to our churches
and people." It was what he was ever ready to for-
138 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
ward — literary work of the race — and his pride in it
was that which should be the pride of all. No won-
der that he took the book of the first author of
a Greek work* that the race has produced — the
first volume from the press — on his departure
for England, Aug. 3, 1881, and in Exeter
Hall, London, waved it triumphantly before the
•eyes of the vast audience assembled there to
have it received .with cheers by these Christian
brethren. There is no race in literature, no race in
education, and we have only to achieve success to re-
ceive recognition. We need, too, to be great enough
to recognize greatness in our fellow men with the
same unselfishness that we exhibit in recognizing
Supreme greatness. In fact this is one great attri-
bute of the man who is himself truly great. Bishop
Dickerson tells of Bishop Payne's appointment to
preside over that great body in London The Senior
Bishop cried, "Impossible ! I cannot do that when
there are so many superior men here." Then when
told of the necessity, he said, "I will pray over it."
But when he at last consented, we find Bishop Dick-
erson, exclaiming as he tells of it, "It was the grand-
est victory of my life when he consented with his
splendid ability to represent the A. M. E. Church
and the colored race."
The features of this Conference were strongly ed-
ucational and the literary work of a high rank.
Bishop Turner's remarks and those of others led all
♦"First Lessons in Greek" by Prof. W. S. Scarborough, A. M., LL. D,ofWil-
.berforce University, Ohio.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 139
to feel that Georgia was rapidly going on to a higher
intellectual plane than it had hitherto occupied. An
instance of what might be clone by any one was
given in the tribute to the memory of Job K. Brown,
who, when nearly one hundred years of age, was
pressing on even without the support of the younger
men of Conference, and stood up to advocate most
advanced ideas upon the subject. These are the
men whose influence in life and after death help
make and mould every race.
The matter for equal accommodations upon rail-
roads came up, for it concerned us deeply — the min-
isters who necessarily travel much from point to
point. We thank God that constant agitation by
word and prayer is working in the hearts of men
through Him, so that there is light ahead upon that
disgrace to American civilization — the Negro's rail-
road accommodations in the Southern States.
Twenty-one were admitted or re-admitted into full
connection. Thirteen were elected Deacons and
three Elders : William Upshaw, Homer Shaw, Henry
Mullin, Austin Flewellen, Melvin W. Moore, Charles
H. Carter, William Hall, Jr., Henry W. Madison,
Edmund Robinson, John Henry Jackson, James
Andrew Johnson, Alfred Emanuel Walker,and Charles
Henry King (local), and Green Hillsman, Holmes
Madison, Daniel Brookens. Perry Simon's was the
only death from the ranks. There were several trans-
fers from the work elsewhere : Lawrence Thomas,
B. R. Glass, J. B. Warner, George Washington, A.
G. Gonickie, P. B. Peters, went to the Georgia Con-
140 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
ference, Rev. Edward Robinson to South Arkansas-
Conference and Rev. Anthony Johnson to Columbia-
Conference. Rev. W. C. Banton, recent chief clerk
of the Publishing Department in Philadelphia, came-
into the Georgia Conference work.
The number of members reported was 11,059 ;
the Georgia Conference reported 18,066, making a
total of 29,125. The reports were full this year
and those of the Presiding Elder most encouraging.
A. W. Lowe, Presiding Elder of the Atlanta District,
reported growth. W. H. Harris, Presiding Elder of
Augusta District, reported uphill work, nevertheless
he had achieved results. The Sparta Mission had
been created by Brother F. Davis, and where there
was nothing he could now boast of two new churches
with thirty-five or forty members. A school had
also been established in Sparta. In short, an in-
crease of 960 members, eight new churches and three
hundred and seventy-five pupils in the schools at
Eatonton and Sparta, showed faithful work in this
vineyard. Macon District, with A. J. Miller, showed
an increase of two hundred members and the terri-
tory was well occupied. Marietta District, D. J.
McGhee, Presiding Elder, felt the number of minis-
ters to be greater than needful for the number of
members ; Acworth had received a new church, also
Woodstock circuit, while eight hundred souls had
been called in.
Griffin District, under Richard Graham, reported
churches built on Greenville Circuit (Rev. B. Davis),
Newnan Station (Rev. M. D. Brookens), Hogansville
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ^F FREEDOM. 141
(Rev. J. W. Waters), with others in process of build-
ing. LaGrange Mission had been instituted by Rev.
J. F. Brown, and forty-two members gathered, while
Corinth, also a new place, had twenty-five members.
Athens District, under Peter McLain, reported an
increase of four hundred and a general awakening.
As mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, the
Georgia Conference opened its session upon the 16th
of the month in Thomasville.
The writer was present to represent Dr. B. W.
Arnett, the Financial Secretary, in the financial
interests of the church.
The key-note of work seems to have been well
struck this year, and there is much food for thought
for all Christian workers in the remark of Bishop
Dickerson, who mentioned the noticeable change in
the spirit of our work as inferred alone from the fact
that in former years all hymns raised in our Confer-
ence were in the minor key, but those raised at the
present session were in the major key. He made
the contrast still more striking by singing in both
Iceys by way of illustration.
Intemperance received the hearty condemnation
which was to find expression in other ways in less
than a decade.
The Deacons ordained this year were Brothers
Lona Rice, L. G. Burnett and J. S. Flipper (itinerant),
T S. Ward, D. C. Crawford and J. H. Johnson (local).
Wright Newman was ordained an Elder. The wri-
ter filled the desk at this same evening's service and
142 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
preached from Jeremiah, xvii : 9, " The heart is de-
ceitful above all things and desperately wicked."
Dr. J. O. A. Clark, ex-professor of Emory College,
Ga., who was engaged in uniting the various Method-
isms of the world in building the Memorial Church
to Mr. Wesley in Savannah, was present, represent-
ing his volume, "The Wesley Memorial Volume."
It was a pleasure to the Conference that he should'
feel moved to add, when Speaking of the great Sun-
day-school movement and the fact that to our Meth-
odism and to Mr. Wesley belong the purity of it,.
" From no church, I am free to say, have I had a.
warmer welcome for the work I am engaged in than
from the A. M. E. Church. Presiding Elder Chris-
tian, of the M. E. Chur.ch South, also spoke, stating
among other things, " he would that all Methodist
churches of the colored race were united in one."
To this the Bishop courteously made answer that we
were only waiting for our white brethren to set the
example.
It was on returning from this Conference that the
writer suffered the indignity of an attempt to eject
him from the first-class car from Thomasville to
Albany. It did not succeed, and the result of this,
with other repeated attempts upon ministers and lay-
men, men, women and children, has been to awaken
an indignation born of self-respect which has shown
itself in the manufacture of a sentiment that cries
out against such proscription and discrimination, and
to-day (1890) we do fare much better, though there
is much to be wished for upon some lines and at
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 143
their termini. Better treatment is deserved by those
of our race in the South who are intelligent, refined,,
whose behavior is that of ladies and gentlemen, and
who are constant patrons of these roads. May the
Lord hasten the day when no man shall be known by
the color of his skin, but by his walk. We have
cried aloud year after year against the evils and wick-
edness w T hich are directed against us, and we have
faith that the Lord is not deaf to our cries, but will
answer them all in His own good way and time.
Waynesboro Mission, in the Savannah District,
Rev. C. L. Brad well, Presiding Elder, had new work
to show under Brother Stewart, though the District
suffered financially from failure of crops and high
winds, which destroyed the Bethel church, also one
on the Ogeechee Circuit, but the former was up again
under Brother S. G. Cross. Newly built churches,
with a total increase of five hundred and thirty-six.
members, showed Presiding Elder W. H. Powell's
District work in Thomasville. St. James A. M. E.
Church, Rev. E. P. Holmes, in the Columbus Dis-
trict, Rev. S. B. Jones, Presiding Elder, had received
six hundred souls and raised -13,712.05, while St.
John's had one hundred and fifty and raised $1,549.43.
Mt. Gilead Circuit had nearly doubled its member-
ship under Rev. J. A. Perkins, while general progress
seemed evident. In the Valdosta District, Rev.
Peyton Stokes, Presiding Elder, reported all stations
and circuits as doing well. In spite of much sick-
ness and death on his work, Rev. S. W. Drayton,
Presiding Elder of Sandersville District, reported
144 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
several churches built and many souls added. Albany
District had also suffered, but this Presiding Elder
Rev. G. W. H. Williams attributed largely to the
cutting up of circuits to make new work and to the
consequent inability of the remnants being able to
support their ministers. Brunswick, Rev. Henry
Strickland, Presiding Elder, had been made a new
District in 1881, and the work was doing well for the
first year.
The Georgia Conference Presiding Elder Districts
now numbered nine, and the total dollar money this
year was 12,833.38.
Revs. G. W. H. Williams, L. H. Smith, C. L.
Bradwell and D. T. Green took transfers to North
Georgia, and Rev. H. Hardee was received from East
Florida Conference.
One of the most important things done this Con-
ference year was embodied in the report of the North
Georgia Committee on Division of Conference :
" We, your Committee on Division of Conference,
see the propriety of dividing it, and recommend that
the Committees of the North Georgia' and Georgia
Conferences meet together in the month of April
next, and then determine about the dividing lines of
the Middle Georgia Conference. Signed,
W. J. Gaines, R. A. Hall,
A. Brown, J. A. Wood,
A. J. Miller, W. H. Harris,
A. W. Lowe, J. B. Lofton,
R. Graham, D. J. McGhee."
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM.
This committee met as stated, in Macon, Ga., and
laid off the line for the division of the Conferences.
Bishop Dickerson called the new Conference — the
Macon Conference — to meet in Sandersville for its
first session, according to the agreement of the Com-
mittee, which was in all respects harmonious.
10
146 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER XV.
THE SECOND DIVISION.
The tenth session of the North Georgia Annual
Conference was held in Jackson Chapel, Washington,
Georgia, beginning Jan. 10, 1883 ; and the seven-
teenth of the mother Conference — Georgia — con-
vened Jan. 24, 1883, in St. Andrew's A. M. E.
Church, Darien, Ga.
Bishop Dickerson presided in both cases, and Bishop
J. P. Campbell was with us again at both places, with
words of congratulation for the work over which he
had presided for four years. Rev. Wm. D. Johnson
was made the Secretary of the former Conference,
with Revs. W. H. Heard and J. B. Lofton as assist-
ants. The Georgia Conference had, for Secretary,
Rev. J. S. Flipper, with Revs. J. B. Warner and C.
Max Manning for assistants.
The literary tone of these sessions was indeed
higher than ever before. The words of wisdom
which fell from the lips of Bishops Dickerson and
Campbell, Dr. Arnett, Revs. Townsend, S. M. Clark
and others, showed that the power which works for
righteousness is working for mental elevation as well.
The North Georgia Conference elected and or-
dained as elders, Edward Dillard, Davis Malone,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 147
Pinkard Williams, Henry Heard, Albert Pace, John
Thomas Belsaw ; and as deacons, Wm. Henry Har-
rison, Hilliard Donius Canady, Daniel Strickland,
Samuel Floyd Pritchard, Cosmo Plantagenet Jordan,
Anderson Freeman and Anderson Bough — the last
two local. The Georgia Conference ordained to the
same office W. O. P. Sherman, P. H. M. Brookens.
Edward Lowery and J. H. Caesar as itinerants ; and to
the office of deacon, R. W. Stewart, P. S. Smith, H.
Wells, J. W. Williams, M. M. Meyers, H. Nails, T.
Mclver, P. D. Davis, Renty W. Fickland and E. B.
Brown.
Albert McGhee and Burrel Davis, of the North
Georgia Conference, had died this year.
In a financial way St. Thomas' Church Sunday-
school, under Rev. J. A. Carey, was entitled to be
considered the Banner Sunday-school of the Georgia
Conference, having brought the largest amount of mis-
sionary money per pupil. The dollar money of the five
districts of the North Georgia Conference reached the
sum of 11,662.54, with a membership of nine thou-
sand eight hundred and two, the Atlanta District
leading. Georgia Conference brought in $2,054.40
as its dollar money, Savannah District leading, and
reported from its six districts eleven thousand three
hundred and eight members. In the last named
Conference five Presiding Elders gave reports for
publication.
In the Savannah District, under Rev. George
Washington, the pastors each and all seem to have
done a good work. The church at St. Philip's Sta-
148 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
tion, under Rev. H. H. Taylor, had been repaired
and one hundred and fifteen members received. St.
James' Tabernacle, Rev. John Justin, pastor, had also
made repairs and received ninety-five members.
Bethel Church, under Rev. C. Max Manning, had
had a prosperous year. St. Thomas' Church, in
Thomasville District (Rev.W. H. Powell, P. E.), had
been greatly built up by Elder Carey, both spiritually
and financially. A goodly increase of members and
$1,265.20 collected for all purposes were self-evident
proofs of this. Circuits, missions and stations were
generally in good condition, with a total increase of
members of seven hundred and seventy-eight. Pre-
siding Elder S. H. Robertson reported nearly all
charges as having good Sunday-schools and several
with good day schools. Accidents, old debts and
financial dullness had been drawbacks, but well
overcome. Albany District was reported by its
new Presiding Elder as having been left in ex-
cellent condition by Elder G. W. H. Williams and
still improving. The increase in membership
was seven hundred and eighty-five, and the total
amount of money raised $5,915.75. Side by side
with this report we place that of the North Georgia.
Atlanta District, under D. G. Green, P. E., reported
seven new churches built, a church, preacher and
congregation added from the C. M. E. Church, with
much repairing, and twelve or thirteen hundred
members and probationers added during the year.
The general report called for men who were not "for
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 149
the loaves and fishes" but for "the good of the
work."
Forsyth District, under A. W. Lowe, P. E., was
doing well according to its location. There were
many new members, some new churches, and pros-
pects of portions of Jasper, Butts and Monroe county,
where many farmers lived, being so impressed with
our church as to lead to the erection of one soon
among the people there. Richard Graham, P. E.
of the Griffin District, reported a new church at Pal-
metto, under Elder Lester ; also one at Senoia Cir-
cuit, Rev. D. Strickland, pastor, and one on Griffin
Circuit by Rev. Joel Stevens. Six new churches at
Dalton, Rome, East Rome, Douglasville, Stilesboro
Circuit and Woodstock Circuit, respectively, were
reported as the substantial improvement on the Mari-
etta District under D. J. McGhee, P. E. Eight hun-
dred and seventeen members were added, and a pro-
gression in all ways. Presiding Elder McGhee recom-
mended the adding of a new mission to this district to
be called the Cherokee County Mission, as Cherokee
county, Ala., -lay so near, and many members having
removed there, desired this Conference to send them
a minister. But the Conference decided that it had
no dominion over Alabama territory.
Athens District presented a significant report.
With a beginning at the opening of the Conference
year of eighteen hundred and twelve members the
number had rolled up to twenty-one hundred and
sixteen — A. J. Miller its Presiding Elder. Athens
Station, under Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, had done well,
150 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
as had other stations, circuits and missions. New-
work had been opened in Banks county. W. B.
Anderson had been sent to it and had established one
church and taken in forty members. Rev. Henry
Mullin had established a church in the upper part of
Madison county with thirteen members. In the
lower part of Wilkes county a new mission known as
Raytown had been established and a minister sent
there. The increase of members was two hundred
and eighty-four, and in dollar money two hundred
and thirty.
The transfers this year took from North Georgia
Conference to the Macon Conference M. E. Cox, D.
J. McGhee, John H. Jackson and A. W. Lowe, to
the Georgia Conference W. H. Mundy, to the South
Carolina Conference W. H. Harrison, and brought to
the work from Columbia Conference T. W. Haigler.
Four of the ministers were awaiting work at the close.
Georgia Conference sent to the North Georgia work
Rev. C. Max Manning, to the Macon work Revs. S.
H. Robertson and Peyton Stokes, while Rev. J. A.
Wood was finally brought from the North Georgia
Conference to the Georgia.
The work was in a transition stage again, owing, of
course, to the newly formed Conference and the
endeavor to equalize it.
When in 1868 the Georgia Conference held its
first session, it could hardly have foreseen the result
which would-be reached in five years and require the
division of Conference which was made in 1873;
much less would it have been able to conceive of the
proportions the work in the State would assume by
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 151
branching out into Alabama, and then in 1883 again
calling for another division of the work in Georgia;
so that at the end of eighteen years from the intro-
duction of the A. M. E. Church into the South we
should find three Conferences, with each in a pros-
perous condition.
The new Conference was called the Macon Con-
ference and included in its work the Presiding Elder
Districts of Americus, Augusta, Forsyth, Macon and
Columbus. It held its first session, as already inti-
mated, at Sandersville, Georgia, opening Jan. 31,
1883, immediately at the close of the Georgia Con-
ference in Darien. Bishop Campbell was present to
assist Bishop Dickerson in the opening of the new
work, which began under most favorable auspices.
The regular routine of business was taken up in
earnest. Nothing was omitted, and had it been a
veteran Conference in its special work it could have
proceeded no more smoothly or systematically, but
then it was composed of veterans.
Ten preachers were admitted on trial : Felix Foster,
S. P. Thomas, J. B. Wright, E. D. Gorham, F.
Cothern, W. T. Morris, Jerry R. Moseley, J. C. Dean,
Matthew W. Travers, John Seabrooks. The Deacons
elected and ordained were Robert I. Bailey, Daniel
K. Knight, Daniel Smith, Frank Boddie, Newrey
Ellison, Lord Baltimore, Calvert Preston Johnson,
Owen W. Daniels, Jesse B. Reese. C. Dean and
John Seabrooks were re-obligated. The Elders were
Lawrence G. Gary, Preston B. Peters, Andrew Griffin,
152 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
William Conwell Banton, Samuel G. Cross. Matthew
W. Travers was re-obligated.
The new Conference held as Presiding Elders,
Revs. W. C. Gaines, W. H. Harris, A. M. Lowe, S.
B. Jones, S. W. Drayton. It started out with twelve
thousand one hundred and sixty-three church mem-
bers, and reported this year $2,479.35 as dollar
money, and a goodly subscription list was made up
for the Atlanta College.
It occurred this year that the new Conference held
its second session in this same year through a change
of time, and was the first of the Conferences in the
State to assemble in the winter following. It opened
its session in Forsyth, Ga., Nov. 28, in St. Luke's
Church, Bishop W. F. Dickerson presiding, and after
the opening exercises he addressed the Conference,
referring briefly to the near close of his labors in this
work, thanking them for the pleasant memories he
carried away with him.
The Secretary of the last Conference was re-
elected — Rev. W. C. Banton. The annual sermon
was preached by Rev. Lawrence Thomas, who spoke as
an old and tried soldier, in glowing terms of the new
birth and the blessed promises. The sermons of the
entire session were notably powerful and interesting.
Rev. W. H. Smith preached Sunday morning in St.
Luke's A. M. E. Church. Rev. Y. Gould, the Business
Manager of the Publication Department, preached the
ordination sermon in the afternoon, and Dr. B. W.
Arnett, Financial Secretary, in the evening. Bishop
Dickerson, by special invitation, preached in the M.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 153
E. Church South, of Forsyth, assisted in the services
by Dr. B. W. Arnett, Revs. L. Smith, of Eatonton,
and E. P. Holmes, of Columbus. The sermon was
an able effort and was reported for the Minutes by
L. E. Hall.
There was a large number of visitors present from
both the North Georgia and Georgia Conferences,
aside from the two General Officers of the Church
mentioned above and friends in Forsyth. There was
also quite a long list of transfers : Revs. Henry
Porter, R. B. Bailey and C. P. Johnson to the Georgia
Conference; also W. M. Garrison, G. D. Jordan, John
Taliaferro and Milus Davis to the same; Revs. I. S.
Hamilton, M. O. Boddie, H. C. Boyd, Peter McLain
and R. Brooks to the North Georgia ; Revs. S. G.
Cross and G. M. Holland to South Carolina.
The preachers admitted on trial were, J. A. Jones,
Elbert Brown, Franklin Battle, T. C. Lewis, C. Mil-
ton, R. M. S. Taylor, R. B. Sanford, San Francisco
Andrews, J. A. Murphy, G. W. Hill. Warren R.
Davis was elected and ordained deacon, and Lona
Rice, Wm. Ross, Allen Cooper, Rabun Lawson,
Wylie Christopher Shelton, George Washington and
Lee Neal elders. A good report came up from the five
districts, with promising mission work.
This year (1883) was to close the 17th quadrennium
of the A. M. E. Church, lacking but three years of
seven decades. It was also to see the end of Bishop
Dickerson's four years of work over what was then
the Sixth District, including the States of Georgia
and South Carolina. The Conference year, however
154 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
did not come to a close until after the meeting of the
two older Conferences in January following the Macon
Conference, and before the assembling of the General
Conference in May.
The year 1884 opened the first Conference in the
State in Marietta, Ga. — the North Georgia — which
convened in Turner's Chapel Jan. 9, and held until
the 15th.* Two days later — the 17th — the Georgia
Annual Conference held its session, assembling in
St. Paul's A. M. E. Church, in Valdosta, Ga.
With almost prophetic utterance, Rt. Rev. W. F.
Dickerson opened the former, singing the hymn,
"Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve." The Bishop
had been suffering much bodily affliction since his
last meeting with us, but he affirmed, " It has been
a healthful discipline. God wants to show that we
cannot lean upon our own arm."
A large number was referred to the Conference for
admission by that committee — so large that it led to
hesitancy and considerable discussion, participated in
by Andrew Brown, R. Graham, P. McLain and the
writer. It seemed hardly advisable to admit so many
men, unless there was a strong probability of their
getting appointments, but at the suggestion of the
Bishop that they be impressed with the idea of mak-
ing work for themselves, there seemed no reason why
the following should not be admitted on trial : A.
W. Watson, J. C. Webb, H. M. Lofton, S. C.
* Rev. R. R. Downs, of the East Florida Conference, was transferred during the
interval of the year and stationed at Athens, Ga., and from this Conference trans-
ferred to the Macon Conference and stationed at St. John's Church, Columbus, Ga.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FJlEEDOM. 155
Hendricks, Floyd Griffin, James Watts, Richard
Fountain, N. L. Holmes, Alexander Pierce, L. Bax-
ter, R. J. Hinton, C. W. Simon, Luke Allen, Simon
Alexander, C. H. Fairfax, Jerry McGruder, J. R.
Phillips, George Parks, L. Leonard and Charles
Mallory.
The deacons of this year, newly ordained, were,
Doctor Leak Durand, Wm. Hannabal Foster, Elijah
Harrison Zeigler, John Wesley Lawrence and Henry
Crittenden. The elders were Jordan Reese Gay,
Henry Orange Mullen, William Upshaw, Charles
Forrest and Henry Redding. The two latter re-
ceived the vote of Conference as a compliment for
long and effective service. Only one member had
died this year— Albert Pace — one of the oldest mem-
bers of the Georgia Conference. He had been identi-
fied with the North Georgia since the division in
1873, and had been a faithful laborer up to his death,
which took place at his last place of appointment,
Coosa Bend, June 9, 1883. So one by one the
fathers of the Georgia work go down before the
Reaper's blade. But how true it is, " God buries the
workmen but the work goes on."
The election of delegates to the General Confer-
ence resulted in the following selection : Rev. W.
J. Gaines, D. D., Rev. R. Graham, Rev. Andrew
Brown, Rev. D. T. Green, Rev. W. D. Johnson, Rev.
A. J. Miller, with Revs. W. H. Heard, J. B. Lofton,
C. E. Bradwell, M. E. Cox, J. G. Yeiser, H. T.
Cargile as alternates. The lay delegates to the
156 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Electoral College were Harrison Harris and Alex-
ander Hamilton.
As this was the last session of the presiding
Bishop's official connection with the Conference,
together with Rev. Andrew Brown, the writer had
the pleasure of presenting him a purse of fifty dollars
as evidence of its high regard for him. Bishop T.
M. D. Ward was present at this session and preached
a most stirring sermon. It was an appeal to the
young men to rouse themselves to action, and he
showed there was no reason for discouragement ;
they could mount high, if they so desired, by God's
help. He also uttered a truth which all will do well
to remember when the masterful Anglo-Saxon claims
his vast superiority over the negro race : " But the
fact stands upon the page of recent history that they
have come from a degradation deeper even than that
from which we have so lately been emancipated. A
favoring providence and determined effort are the
only causes to which they stand indebted for their
present pitch of grandeur and enlightened civiliza-
tion."
Bishop Ward preached the ordination sermon in
the morning, while Bishop Dickerson officiated in the
afternoon, and the writer in the evening. The
parallel lines of thought were so striking in these
three sermons that it is worthy of mention — Faith in
and obedience to God and encouragement to go for-
ward. The Bishop said, "The Britons were once so
degraded that Caesar said he would take a few of
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 157
them to Rome to see whether they were human
beings or not."
Thank God, the gospel has made it possible for all
the races upon God's foot-stool to unite in the one
petition, "Our Father," which proves the common
brotherhood of man in Christ Jesus.
Macon Conference, young as it was, had paid six
hundred dollars toward Morris Brown College, and this
Conference was urged to give nine hundred dollars.
Finances, generally, were fair. Dollar money reached
$2,065.51, and the percentage of Conference was
$619.50 ; members reported, nine thousand three
hundred and sixty-five.
Presiding ElderD. T. Green, of the Atlanta Dis-
trict, reported ten churches in process of building.
The church at Bethel Station, W. J. Gaines, pastor,
had been remodeled thoroughly. Madison, Georgia,
under Elder Bradwell, and Shiloh, under M. D.
Brookens, were points especially worthy of com-
mendation. Griffin District, under Rev. R. Graham,
gave an account of a prosperous state of things.
Rev. J. G. Yeiser had clone the work of building
Allen Temple in Atlanta.
Revivals of religion and financial progress in church
building, raising debts and dollar money were char-
acteristically brought out in the report from the
Marietta District, under Rev. W. D. Johnson. New
work had been established on the Athens District —
Union Point Mission, Woodstock and Jefferson Mis.
sion, as the extension of work under Presiding Elder
158 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
A. J. Miller. Altogether it was a most successful
year.
The Georgia Conference of 1884 met at Valdosta on
the 17th of January. W. H. Hamburg, W. D. Moore,
B. W. Nelson, H. L. Weston, E. J. Bush, J. P. Mitchell,
Stead Matchet and S. M. Addey were admitted on
trial. W. H. Walton, R. V. Smith and George
Kimboro were elected and ordained itinerant deacons,
Joseph Wooten local, and J. S. Flipper, D. L. Jones,
J. W. Tolliver, Joseph Collier and Daniel Duncan were
elected and ordained elders. J. A. Perkins and F.
S. Garrett had died within the year. The former
had joined the Conference at Americus in 1870,
under Bishop J. M. Brown, while Brother Thomas S.
Garrett joined at Savannah in 1866, under Bishop D.
A. Payne. The latter was a pioneer in the service
and a great sufferer, long ill, and speechless two
months before he died. But upon being asked by
Bishop Turner as death approached, " Is there light
in the valley?" his tongue was loosed and he cried
out, " Victory !" as he passed away.
This Conference also showed its esteem for Bishop
Dickerson by a present similar to that of the North
Georgia — a purse of fifty dollars — and the body peti-
tioned the General Conference to send him back to
the work ; but He knew best.
It was remarked in the reports that the railroad
accommodations for our people were improving, and
the cause of education, private and State, encourag-
ing to a high degree.
The Georgia Conference elected as its delegates to
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 159
the General Conference, Revs. M. B. Salters, Henry
Strickland, George Washington, W. H. Powell, J. A.
Wood and W. O. P. Sherman, with alternates in Revs.
J. A. Cary, A. J. Johnson, S. M. Clark, H. M. Brook-
ens, M. A. Pierce and C. H. Wilson. The transfers
were Rev. J. B. Lofton from the North Georgia to
this body ; Revs. R. B. Bailey, C. P. Johnson and
Henry Porter from Macon Conference to this ; Rev.
J. B. Warner from Georgia Conference to Arkansas
Conference ; and Rev. James Etheridge from Georgia
Conference to East Florida. The dollar money
reached -12,416.54 from a membership of ten thou-
sand seven hundred and ten ; but the statistics of
this body this year seem to have been rendered in-
complete by a failure on the part of some of the
brethren to make their reports.
160 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
CHAPTER XVI.
BEGINNING A NEW QUADRENNIUM.
The Seventeenth Quadrennial Session of the
church was held in Baltimore, May 5th, 1884, in
Bethel church, Saratoga street. The presentation
of the work of the various departments was inter-
esting, especially in relation to the increase of our
preaching force, as well as membership.
In 1784, one hundred years before, there was one
colored preacher, Henry Hosier; now we see 2,540
traveling preachers; 9,760 local preachers and ex-
horters, and a total membership 392,540 souls re-
ported. This includes simply the work of the A. M.
E. Church. The total of colored Methodist popu-
lation in America reached 1,023,017, while the dif-
ferent Methodist churches, exclusively African, gave
a total of 6,819 traveling preachers, and the entire
Methodist population in America reached 4,092,068.
This year there were no additions to the Bishop-
ric. Bishop Dickerson was assigned to the Second
District, consisting of the States of Maryland, Vir-
ginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia,
and the Sixth received in his stead the supervision of
Bishop James A. Shorter for the next four years.
Little did the Convention think that before another
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 161
quadrennium should close these two would have
gone the way of all the earth, dust to dust — these
two and one other, Bishop R. H. Cain. Thus in
one quadrennium the ranks were broken and three
called hence.
The Dollar Money Law, passed in 1872, was
amended at this session, allowing the Conferences
to retain at home 40 per cent, instead of 30 per cent.*
This year also saw a reorganization of the Educa-
tional Department, which had its origin in 1876.
Endowment Day was established, and a Secretary
of Education elected — Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, D.D.,
with a General Board, under whose special man-
agement the Department was to be conducted. This
provided for the distribution of the Endowment Fund
raised through certain legitimate channels, including
the day set apart throughout the connection — the
3d Sabbath in each September. From this point on
the Educational movement has been steadily for-
ward. Of this we shall speak elsewhere at greater
length, when we come to consider the rise and
growth of Education in the South,which, like all else
in this region, has been most marvelous.
It was in the November following that the Macon
Annual Conference held its third session in St.
*This change was strongly advocated by Rev. G. L. Jackson and the
writer. The opponents thought it would be detrimental to the support of
the Bishops and the General Officers ; but the writer believed that by leav-
ing more money with the Conferences they would increase the amounts.
This has been verified by the increase of Dollar Money over 50 per cent.
We are confident that the Sixth Episcopal District alone will raise §80,000
in this quadrennium;
11
162 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
James' Church, Columbus. It opened the 19th with
our new Bishop, James A. Shorter, as the presiding;
Bishop — his first welcome to Georgia.
The Educational meeting received his hearty sup-
port and substantial aid in $2 5 for the cause. Bishop
Dickerson was also present and preached at the
morning service of the Sabbath, upon "Christ our
Evidence," from Hebrews ii 18-9. "But now we
see not yet all things put under him, but we see
Jesus." It was an eloquent outburst, logical and
learned as well, from the lips of one who was so
soon to see Jesus, "not in a glass darkly," but "face
to face."
The session passed most pleasantly. Brother
Levi L. Reynolds, Wm. T. Norris and Elias H.
Miller were ordained to the office of deacon, and
Thomas Williams, James H. Johnson, Hudson W.
Whitaker, Jesse B. Reese, Lawson G. Burnett,
Owen W. Daniels, Francis Boddie, Wm. Thornton
and Emanuel Wimbish to, that of elder. Bishop
Dickerson administered the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper at the conclusion of the ordination, and at
the night service the writer conducted a Conference
Love Feast with a densely crowded church. It was
undeniably a season of "spiritual refreshing."
Brother Crawford Wimberly had died. The ses-
sion closed with the adjuration from the Bishop to
"go to your charges and do the very best you can."
The North Georgia Conference, having changed
its time of meeting, convened before the close of the
year, the 3d of December, (1884) in Pierce's Chapel v
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 163
Athens. In the opening remarks Bishop Shorter
made some very just, practical remarks, saying
among other things, " It does not matter so much
what opinions the brethren have of my predeces-
sors, if you only keep them to yourselves, " also,
" you can praise all the other Bishops just as much
as you please, if you only do a greater work under
my administration."
The Bishop announced the transfers of Revs. L.
E. Hall, C. S. Green and Andrew Griffin, from the
Macon Conference to the North Georgia Confer-
ence, and their names were placed on the roll at the
opening.
Bishop Shorter was intensely interested in the
Missionary cause, and he favored it and furthered it
in every way possible. A Missionary Bishop in
his early work of organizing Churches and Con-
ferences, he knew the need of all the aid that could
come from the various organizations of a church in-
terested in the Missionary work at home and abroad.
He knew, too, how to interest the Church when
there seemed no spirit in the movement, which
was best of all. At the anniversary of the Confer-
ence Missionary Society $110.35 were raised.
The annual sermon was preached by the writer
from II Timothy, iv: 5-8, and of it the Secretary of
the Conference was pleased to say: "Our pen
would fail us if we should attempt to follow him as
he led us through trials and difficulties, clouds and
darkness, and finally brought us out into the glorious
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. The
164 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
sermon is one that will not be forgotten by those
who heard it for years to come; neither can the
minister fail to fight harder and more bravely for
the Master. He spoke of the advance made by the
gospel of Christ; how men had been made to respect
it and its ministers. He compared the Christian
victory with that of the memorable Kimball House
fire in Atlanta over the brave firemen whose labors
cannot be forgotten, and the congregation was
clothed in wonder at the power of God, as displayed
in the preaching of His word. "
At the hour set for fraternal greetings, the Con-
ference received Rev. G. V. Clark, of the Con-
gregational Church, who said that his object was
to express his brotherly love, and one of his great-
est desires was that " we may be one. " He ex-
tended greeting and asked hearty cooperation in
the grand and noble work of Education and Tem-
perance.
Rev. J. G. Yeiser made a vigorous response and
declared that in such a grand cause the A. M. E.
Church would always be found with a shoulder to
the wheel, shoving on her part. Bishop Turner
was happily with us a portion of the session, glad
to meet the brethren once more, and at the evening
meeting of the third day he spoke at length of the
incidents and circumstances which attended the
origin and maturing of the literary organization of
the A. M. E. Church, an organization he has done
so much to forward. With speeches by Rev.
Clark and the writer, who mentioned the difficul-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAKS OF FREEDOM. 165
ties he encountered in founding Morris-Brown Col-
lege, the evening's exercises, though according to no
definite program, passed off, Bishop Turner, pre-
siding.
C. C. Cargiie, D. J. McGhee, Jr., A. J. Wilker-
son, Cornelius White, S. B. Sims, F. R.Richardson,
J. T. Riggins, H.J. Johnson and W. G. Smith were
admitted on trial. L. A. Waddell, W. W. McCrary
and Nathan Berry withdrew from the connection.
Bishop Shorter, assisted by Elders C. L. Brad-
well, C. M. Manning, H. T. Cargiie and A. S-
Jackson, ordained the following brethren deacons:
Revs. S. J. West, A. L. Shaw, W. B. Anderson, T.
H. Mallory, L. E. Hall, N. L. Holmes, W. L. Rus-
sellj . S. Hendricks, assisted by J. S. Hamilton,
R. Graham, G. W. H. Williams and A. J. Miller.
He also ordained the following for elders: Revs.
Cosmos P. Jordan, Daniel Strickland, Samuel Floyd
Prichard, Burgess Johnson, Alfred Emanuel Wal-
ker, Charles Henry Carter and Lewis McClaren.
Rev. Andrew Brown officiated at the sacrament,
which was a solemn occasion.
The writer afterwards was called upon to state to
the Conference the severe illness of Bishop Dick-
erson, who desired to go home. He also made the
motion that Conference send Rev. E. A. Shepherd
to accompany him. This was done, and the Bishop
left us for the last time for his home in Columbia,
S. C. There he died the 20th of December.*
*I can never forget his look as he bade me good-bye at the depot. It
was good-bye until we meet in heaven. The last sermon I heard him
166 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
At this Conference the writer offered the follow-
ing resolution, which was passed:
" Whereas, Father Peter McLain, on account of
age, has almost become unable to travel, but does
not desire to locate,
" Resolved, That the North Georgia Annual Con-
ference make him Conference Missionary, with
power to travel throughout the Conference, visiting
any or all of the churches, giving his aid in mission
work in whatever way he may be able, even to the
starting of new work. Also that the brethren al-
low him to preach, if he desires, and give him one
collection during the day."
North Georgia stood at this Conference with 15,-
000 members, and $1,991.90 of Dollar Money.
The Georgia Annual Conference met in Albany,
Ga., January 14, 1885, and extended its session to
the 20th. It was a Conference marked by tender
feelings for the death that had so recently come
home to us all — to the A. M. E. Church, and to the
Georgia Conference in particular. Bishop Shorter
was present to preside. Rev. M. B. Salter preached
the Annual Sermon from the text, Acts xxvi:2 2;
" Having therefore obtained help of God, I con-
tinue unto this day witnessing both to small and
great saying, none other things than those which
the prophets and Moses did say should come."
preach was a thanksgiving sermon in Atlanta, November, 1884. Psalms
xxii :15 ; " As for me I will behold Thy face in righteousness, I shall be
satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." He then said to me, "Gaines
I have preached my last sermon, and I now advise you to preach a
whole Christ.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 167
The afternoon session of the second day was de-
voted to the memorial services upon Bishop Dicker-
son. Bishop Shorter presided. The services
opened with Presiding Elder J. A. Wood singing
the hymn, " What Though the Conquering Death;'
iprayer by Rev. Samuel Stewart; singing of hymn
" O, Where Shall Rest be Found," bv Rev. D. T.
Green, North Georgia Conference; reading of 90th
Psalm b}- Rev. H. B. Dowdell; singing of hymn
■" Nearer My God to Thee," by the writer; reading
15th chapter I. Corinthians, by Rev. M. B. Salter;
singing by Rev. S. M. Clark of hymn " Hear
What the Voice of Heaven Proclaims." The
writer was introduced to the Conference, and spoke
■briefly of the birth, work and career of Bishop
Dickerson, and was followed by remarks from Pre-
siding Elder J. A. Wood, and Rev. J. H. Adams
singing, • then prayer by Presiding Elder Henry
Strickland closed the exercises, aside from the reso-
lutions of condolence, which were read and
adopted, and now form a part of the Journal of the
Georgia Conference.
Death had also claimed Revs. M. Dillard, J. M.
Cox, A. J. Johnson, all of whom died in the faith
and on the field of labor, leaving families to mourn
their loss. Revs. W. H. Powell, Peyton Stokes
and John McDougal spoke feelingly upon their
deaths.
A committee was appointed to define the line be-
tween Savannah and Macon districts. W. H. Ham-
mond, L. J. Lester, H. C. Hawk, R. Richards,
168 AMRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
B. J. Shackleford, J. B. Epton, C. H. Williams, and
W. M. Jefferson were admitted on trial. D. W-
Moore, E. J. Bush, Boston Scott, F. H. Hender-
son, H. L. Watson, H. M. Lofton and Wm. Garri-
son were presented and ordained deacons. A. W.
Walton was ordained a local deacon. J. H. Adams,
J. R. Bennett, M. J. Ingraham, Alex. Glover, Wm.
Askew, John Hayes, R: H. Stewart and C. P..
ohnson were ordained elders.
Morris-Brown College received an apportion-
ment this year of $535.40. The Dollar Money
reached a total of $2,473.95, of which the percen-
tage was $989.58.
It was not until November that the Macon Con-
ference held its fourth session. It then convened
upon the 18th in St John's Church, Eatonton, Ga.
Bishop Shorter presided, and in his appointment of
committees remarked that no committee was more
important than that on Admissions, especially as it
had to do with third and fourth year studies.
He said " The sun is now too high to admit the
election of brothers to orders when they are un-
able to Read the ritual. God has not called every
good man into the higher orders of the ministry.
If brethren do not improve it is not God's fault nor
th/* fault of the Conference. Any one who wants
to learn how to read can learn. I do not wish any
one recommended for orders who cannot read
plainly." It was wise and timely for such a posi-
tive statement.
Bishop Campbell was present, as was also
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 16^
Dr. B. T. Tanner— now (1890) Bishop B. T. Tanner
— then editor of the A.M. E. Church Review; and
at the missionary meeting both spoke with fervor.
The annual sermon was preached by H. H. Taylor
who spoke from Romans viii: 18, upon the experi-
ence, of the Christian, the minister's burdens and his
hope, and enjoined them to be steadfast. Both the
missionary and educational meetings were full of
interest and of financial success.
Arrangements were made to comply with the
request from the Secretary of the Financial Board
of the church, who asked for aid in the embarrassed
condition of the church to the extent of the Confer-
ences retaining but thirty per cent, of the Dollar
Money instead of forty. This aid was extended by
a motion to loan the Financial Board ten per cent.
The Trustees of Morris-Brown College were
allowed to further their work and settle debts by
borrowing funds under legal advice, being restricted
to five thousand dollars. The Conference Literary
meeting was a success, showing considerable and
growing enthusiasm in the essays and discussions.
The Sunday services consisted of a sermon by
Bishop Campbell at 1 1 a. m. and by Bishop Shorter
at 3 p. m. The former was a powerful discourse
on "Grace," while the latter was a pithy, practical
one upon the relationship of husband and wife, with
Eph. v: 25, for a text. Dr. Tanner preached at
night upon what our physical nature, our intellect-
ual nature and our religious nature cost us — a feast
of good things for one day.
170 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
Following the suggestion thrown out by the
Bishop, but two were admitted on trial — B. L.
Jackson and Claiborne H. Warren. The deacons
ordained were, Andrew Bingham, Alfred Sapp,
Elijah Fulls, Richard L. Butts, Austin Flewellen,
Daniel Smith, Newry Ellison, W. J. Hall, Sylves-
ter Wilder, Daniel K. Knight, Homer Shaw, Green
York, Geo. Wesley Neal, Geo. Copeland, Robert
J. Bailey, Levi L. Reynolds, Wm. T. Norris, Felix
Foster, Robert M. S. Taylor, Simon Thomas, San
Francisco Andrews.
Seven members had died: the veteran Samuel
W. Drayton, James H. Johnson, Owen W. Daniels,
Wm. Ross, Preston B. Peters, Eli R. Trby and
Warren R. Davis. Revs. Andrew Griffin, R. R.
Downs and Joshua F. Brown were transferred to
North Georgia Conference, and J. T. Crayton from
the Georgia Conference to Macon.
Bishop Shorter made a practical suggestion in
calling the Presiding Elders' attention to the impor-
tance of employing those brethren who have been
admitted to the Conference, but who were without
appointments, instead of those who have not been
received. Nearly all the points were filled by ap-
pointment, and but few changes in the District oc-
curred. The Georgia Conference had desired to
change some work from Macon Conference to its
own work, but the request was declined and Ma-
con and Savannah District remained as before.
The Dollar Money reached a total of $2,848.05
and reported 17,162 members with $2,300.89
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 171
raised for schools of the circuit, and a Children's
Day collection of $189.55. Endowment Day
brought in $621.20 and Morris-Brown College
especially had raised $208.75.
An interval of little more than one week and the
Noith Georgia Conference assembled in Griffin,
Ga., in St. Philip's Chapel, December 2, adjourn-
ing the 6th. The same Bishops were in attendance,
and presiding, and C. P. Jordan was made Confer-
ence Secretary.
Dr. Tanner, Dr. B. F. Lee and others were
present, and the educational meeting was greatly
assisted by encouraging words from the Bishops
and these visitors.
Rev. T. W. Haigler presented an essay this year,
also a poem on Africa, both of which were highly
creditable for this young man, and showed the
trend of his thoughts which he has put into action.
The Reports upon all subjects were concise and of
a cheering nature.
E. W. Lee, Peter Williams, S. P. Cary and J. A.
Wyatt were admitted on trial. Richard Fountain,
Lewis Baxter, Floyd Griffin, Chas. W. Simmons,
Chas. C. Cargile, Solomon Berry Lyons were
elected and ordained deacons. George Towns,
Matthew Wilkerson, Pryor and Nathan Price, local
deacons, while Hilliard D. Canady, Elijah H. Zeig-
ler, James Ricks, Joel Stevens, Wm. Harkness,
Evans Davis were ordained elders.
The transfers this year were Rev. R. E. Wilson,
from South Carolina Conference to North Georgia
172 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
Conference, Rev. Peyavia O'Connell, from Ohio
Conference to the North Georgia, also Rev. R. R.
Down from Macon to the same. Rev. T. H. Mal-
lory took a transfer from the North Georgia to the
Macon Conference.
The four Presiding Elder Districts reported fully.
Atlanta District, under W. J. Gaines, had done well,
with four stations, nine circuits and one mission.
Griffin District, under A. Brown, showed an increase
of nine hundred and fifty members and several small
churches organized. Marietta, under C. L. Brad-
well, exhibited an increase in both members and
finances. Athens, under A. J. Miller, showed that
this district had more than doubled its Dollar Money
since 1881. There was new work at Athens and
at Goose Pond, in Black Creek Mission, as well as
at Carnesville and Hart County.
Edward Waters had died this year, doing good
work at Cave Spring Circuit. So closed the year
1885.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 173
CHAPTER XVII.
A TRIO OF CONFERENCES.
The first Conference of the year 1886 was that of
the Georgia, held in Hawkinsville, Ga., Jan. 20-25.
Bishop Shorter presided, with the sympathy of the
Conference. He had been laboring under severe
burdens which had served to render it impossible for
him to make his visits as extended as he desired to
make them. Bereavements in his household, and
his wife's severe illness at the present time, dis-
tressed him greatly. But with the sympathy there
were no complaints to make, and later, at the open-
ing of the Macon Conference, Presiding Elder S. B.
Jones gave voice to that sentiment, which dwelt in
all hearts, that there was no fault to find, they only
implored the help of the Divine One in his behalf.
The Secretary of the preceding year was elected.
Rev. J. C. Embry, General Business Manager of
the Book Concern, was one of the visitors and spoke
pointedly on the subject of business. Dr. J. M.
Townsend was also present as Missionary Secretary
and emphasized the need of work in special fields.
The Conference had no special business of im-
portance before it. The usual work went on. The
sermons were good and well attended. The trans-
174 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
fers were Revs. J. S. Flipper, Geo. Washington and
J. A. Cary to the North Georgia work, to be
stationed respectively at Big Bethel, in Atlanta,
Dalton and Washington, Ga. Rev. R. R. Downs
and C. W. Warren from North Georgia to Georgia,
and stationed at Dawson and Bainbridge, and M. R.
Wilson from the Ohio Conference to the Georgia,
and stationed at Boston, Ga.
The Conference followed the example of the
North Georgia Conference at its last session, and
loaned the Financial Board of the Church ten per
cent, of the Dollar Money to help tide affairs over
the embarrassment.
The preachers admitted on trial were J. B.
Walker, G. H. Green, J. Griffin, John Hadley, G.
W. Butler, S. B. Shaw, Enoch Roberts. C. C.
Warren, L. Crawford, Z. Granderson, Wm. Jeffer-
son, J. P. Mitchell, J. B. Epton, S. P. Jackson, W.
H. Hamburg, S. M. Addy and S. M. Matchett were
elected and ordained deacons, with J. H. Wilson
and H. L. Pratt, local. The elders were R. V.
Smith, W. H. Hamilton, R. W. Fickland, Abram
Martin, S. H. Brown and J. H. Harris.
Resolutions were passed to the effect that a recur-
rence of a deficit in the sum necessary to pay the
way of delegates to General Conference, as in 1884,
might be prevented. Each pastor was, therefore,
required to bring one cent per member to the ensu-
ing Conference, and each Presiding Elder one dollar
to prepare for the needed sum in 1888.
The appointments were made, and adjournment
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 175-
took place after admonitory counsel to the preachers
as to their work. The Dollar Money reached $2,-
509.40 from the six Districts of the Georgia Con-
ference in 1886.
November 17th was the date npon which the
Macon Georgia Annual Conference convened in
Barnesville this year. Rev. W. C. Banton, the Sec-
retary of 1885, was again chosen for the office, and
Revs. Andrew W. Lowe and Jordan R. Gay were
made assistants by himself.
Rev. Wm. H. Smith preached the annual sermon
from the text, " By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,"
and in his discourse he dwelt upon this Christ-like
love as a badge of liberty, of fidelity and union, em-
phasizing it by experiences in betrayed trusts and
false friendships. It was a strong, practical sermon,
and one to do much good.
The following preachers were admitted on trial:
Allen R. Cooper, D. J. Lawrence, E. J. Knight, H.
H. Johnson, G. W. Hill, A. Colbert, C. J. Jones,
James Mitchell, Joshua Barnes, Peyton Burns and
Geo. C. Davis. At the conclusion of the Sunday
services, when Bishop Campbell had preached to a
large congregation, Bishop Shorter proceeded to the
ordination services. Rev. Andrew W. Lowe pre-
sented Wm. R. Gallius, Edward D. Gorman, Archi-
bald B . Gibson, Robert B. Sanford and Daniel Mc-
Ghee, Jr., to be ordained deacons. After this ser-
vice was concluded Rev. S. H. Robertson presented
Revs. Daniel K. Knight, George Wesley Neal and
176 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Tarpley H. Mallory to be ordained elders, after
which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ad-
ministered first to the newly ordained ministers, and
then to the others present.
Bishop Shorter brought up the necessity of help
for the Metropolitan Church, at Washington, D. C,
and upon consideration of the matter, the Confer-
ence voted $100 to its assistance.
At this time the writer had the privilege of ad-
dressing the Conference concerning the interest of
Morris-Brown College. An opportunity had been
given by which the manufacturers of a brand of soap,
known as the " Big Real," would contribute to the
funds of the institution. As it was a perfectly legiti-
mate and honorable way of gaining money for the
College, he pressed the claims of this mode of ob-
taining funds by urging the brethren to recommend
this brand to the people.
Cleanliness is next to godliness, and when clean-
liness could be made an ally to godliness and educa-
tion, as it would in this case, it seemed the right thing
to uplift our work by its help.
The results have proved that we did not err. In
a square, fair, business-like manner our College has
been helped to the extent of $1,600. At this time
(1886) $225 had been received.
Our people must use. this necessary article in
great abundance in the work of washing, to which
so many of us owe a livelihood. It was a pleasure
to them to know that even thus the poorest and
humblest could have a hand .in erecting the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 177
walls of an institution which would bear a hand in
raising future generations to planes of higher work.
God blesses the smallest thing which is used in
forwarding a good work. He blesses the humblest
instrument and the poorest toiler engaged in it.
Dr. J. C. Embry, General Manager, and other
General officers were present, as well as a number
of brethren from other Conferences and churches.
The statement from the Educational Department
for the past year showed a good year's work; the
District Secretary had sent in $7,898.28, the Col-
leges and schools had raised $28,163.58, which,
added to the contributions from Annual Confer-
ences of $3,984.15 and other sources, including
$1,392.50 from the Financial Secretary, gave a
total of $43,164.49. From this $42,733.58 had
gone into the proper school channels, as provided
for by law, and for legitimate expenses, leaving a
balance on hand of $852.33.
Conference appropriated $5°° to Morris-Brown
College, and so the Educational work was well
cared for. One of the most interesting reports was
that of the Trustees of Morris-Brown College.
Two teachers were in the school, but the circum-
stances forbade more than primary work at present.
We had considered the efforts made by some of the
ministers very feeble in making a success of the days
set apart for raising of money for that purpose; but
even then the total rolled up to $3,776. 15 upon the
side of receipts, with $3,898.43 to face it in disburse-
12
178 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
merits. This, with a debt of about $4,000, was-
what the trustees had to face. But God was good,
and the following years prosperous ones. Now
(1890) the last dollar has been paid.
Rev. Wm. Thornton, Newrey Ellison, Wm. Par-
ker, Rev. Henry Daniels (superannuated) and
Rev. Peter C. Crews, (supernumerary), were re-
ported in the death list this year.
The Electoral College of Laymen, within the
Macon Conference, was voted to be held in Macon,
in July — first Wednesday.
The transfers were, Rev. S. H. Robertson and
Rev. H. H. Taylor, to the Georgia Conference,
Jesse B. Reese to the North Georgia, John W.
Recks, Prince L. Jackson and Shannon R. Roberts,
to the Alabama, while in return Elder Haley Hardy
came from the Georgia, and Brothers Tarpley, Holt,
Mallory and Daniel J. McGhee from the North
Georgia.
The statistics reported $2,831.30 for Dollar
Money and 16,309 members.
The North Georgia Conference convened shortly
after the close of the Macon Conference, which took
place November 17th, the former meeting in Allen
Temple, Atlanta, Ga., December 1. At the open-
ing in the morning it became the writer's sad duty
to communicate to Conference the receipt of a tele-
gram from Bishop Shorter, informing him of the
death of his wife. Bishop Campbell also sent a
dispatch, and under its orders the writer organized
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 179
the Conference and then adjourned to await Bishop
Campbell's arrival at 3 p. m.
Anxious to be at his post of Christian duty, Bishop
Shorter had hoped to the last to attend this and the
Carolina Conference, but the change summoned
him to another sacred duty, and he had requested
Bishop Campbell to assume these duties and act in
his stead; so that, instead of being Associate Bishop
this time, Bishop Campbell presided again over our
work.
Bishop Shorter had already lost child after child,
as it were — two daughters and grand children had
recently died; his son-in-law, his mother-in-law- — all
had been borne out from his doorway in the short
space of less than five years, and now, as his wife
passed over the river, he was to be left alone indeed.
Bishop Campbell had gone out of his way to see her
for the last time, and, as he feelingly spoke of her
and of the Bishop's loss, all felt with the speaker that
Bishop Shorter was indeed plunged into such depths
as prompted the Psalmist to say, " Deep calleth unto
deep, at the noise of the waterspouts all thy waves
and thy billows have gone over me."
But it was not to be long a parting, for in less
than a twelve- month the Bishop himself was to join
her on the other side.
The Missionary meeting, like that at all Confer-
ences, was most interesting and important. The
writer had lately met a missionary and his wife
about to sail for Africa* — a man eminently compe-
*Thomas W. Haigler and wife.
180 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
tent and qualified for the ,work, and the fact that
there was so much work to be done fired the souls
of all present to aid in some way and have a part in
the grand work. Dr. B. F. Lee, Editor of the
Christian Recorder, gave a glowing account of
those who had sacrificed themselves in the cause,
and at last Bishop Campbell spoke in his character-
istic manner:
Sixty years before he had sat at the feet of Bishop
Allen. Then there were only about 2,600 mem-
bers, counting those in Charleston, S. C, and from
New York to New Orleans. Out of that number
only Bishop Campbell and Father David Smith were
then living.** Bishop Campbell was the only one
living who joined the church under him. It is not
strange that he should speak of himself as the one
connecting link with the Church of that date, as
mentioned elsewhere.
The ordination of deacons took place December
5th. Bishop Shorter, having returned from his sad
journey, delivered the charge to the following class:
A. Y. Pierce, R. E. Wilson, James Watts, Simon
Alexander, Mack Parify, J . R. Phillips, R. H. Rich-
ards, A. J. Wilkerson, L. Leonard, J. T. Riggins,
S. P. Cary, E. W. Lee and F. R. Richardson. He
was assisted by Elders J. G. Yeiser, D. J. McGhee
and H. D. Bush. Following this came the ordination
of elders, and Elders E. A. Shepard, A. S. Jackson,
M. E. Cox and the writer assisted in the ceremony
**Father David Smith died at his home in Xeina, Ohio, 1888, at the age of
104 years.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 181
of ordaining to that office Henry Crittenden, J. A.
Johnson, A. L. Shaw, N. L. Holmes, S. J. West and
W. H. Shearwood from the CM. E. Church. R. T.
Matthews, G. W. Malone, R. H. Hayne, Robert
Caloway, J. H. Heard and A. J. Carter were the
newly admitted this year.
The Conference was called to mourn at this ses-
sion not only the death of the wife of the presiding
Bishop, but that of Rev. H. T. Cargle and of Rev.
David Anderson, who had passed away, as had also
one of the sisters — a woman full of Christian labors
— Mrs. Mary V. E. Yeiser, the wife of Rev. John
G. Yeiser, then pastor of Allen Temple, Atlanta, Ga.
It was at this session that the venerable Bishop
Campbell took occasion to remark that which can-
not be said too often — that no brother should mark
another for personal affairs; "all personal
affairs may be personally settled, but public affairs
must be publicly settled." It is a rule which works
well always, and much time consumed in our Con-
ferences, together with much space that is occupied
in our minutes, would be saved if it were followed.
The transfers this year were Deacon C. W, Fos-
ter from the Columbia to the North Georgia, Revs.
M. W. Moore and J. L. Trigg, of the Tennessee
Conference, Rev. Geo. Washington from the Geor-
gia, Revs. W. C. Malone and P. W. Walls from the
West Tennessee, Rev. J. S. Flipper from the Geor-
gia — all to the North Georgia; Rev. E. W. Wilson
from the North Georgia to the South Carolina Con-
182 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
ference, and Rev. Wm. Harkness from the North
Georgia to the Macon.
The Bishop gave as his decision that the Confer-
ence had no right to transfer a brother to another
Conference, neither did a Bishop have the preroga-
tive to transfer a brother unless his character had
been passed upon. Trouble having arisen from indis-
creet acts and remarks of a brother, whose trial
happily ending in acknowledgment of error and par-
don, led to this decision.
The Report from the Publication Department of
the Church, under Rev. J. C. Embry, as Business
Manager, was encouraging this year, and as the
"cash plan" was now a feature of the work, there
was every reason to hope for increased success with
the support the Conferences should give. The body
was asked to furnish some historical facts concern-
ing the temperance cause. The request came
through a communication from Prof. H. A. Scomp,
of Emory College, to furnish these for a History of
Temperance to aid in giving the position of the A.
M. E. Church in regard to this matter. Temper-
ance was an exciting theme in Georgia at that time,
and the A. M. E. Church in the South showed,
through the movements of some of its leaders in
vigorous defense of the cause of, prohibition, its po-
sition upon the subject during the years of 1885-
86-87.
The Presiding Elders presented most encouraging
features in their reports. Griffin District, under P. E.
Andrew Brown reported six new churches built,
OR TWENTY- FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 183
•and 660 new members added, with many improve-
ments.
This District sent $357.15 in Dollar Money. Ma-
rietta, under Rev. C. L. Bradwell, reported increase
of membership as 1,053 with improvement at nearly
every point. It brought up $587.80 in Dollar
Money. Athens District, under Rev. R. Graham,
reported good work and extension by sending three
local preachers to Hart county, Lincoln county and
Franklin county respectively, each one of whom had
now land for a church. The Dollar Money was
$437-5°- The writer's own work, as Presiding El-
der of the Atlanta District, had decided marks of
improvement financially and at most circuits and sta-
tions spiritually, as well. Allen Temple, which
Rev. J. G. Yeiser had lifted from a wooden frame
to a magnificent brick, spoke for itself to the body.
Rev. J. T. Belsaw had built up our church in Cov-
ington from the weakest to the strongest congre-
gation in the place; Rev. Zeigler, of St. James'
Mission, had built two churches in Atlanta suburbs,
while'Revs. D. T. Green, ThomasW. Haigler, M.
E. Cox, N. J. McCombs, H. H. Silas, S. B. Sims,
S. J. West, N. L. Holmes, C. C. Cargile, S. C.
Hendrix, Matthew Taylor, G. H. Holmes, A. L.
Shaw, S. P. dry, Lewis McClaren, H. C. Boyd,
P. O'Connel and J. S. Flipper, had one and all
done well at their posts. This P. E. District raised
$1,452.75 for its Dollar Money.
The Conference had as a total $2,835.20 in Dol-
lar Money and a membership reported as 16,000.
184 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR OF AFRICAN METHODISM.
The first Conference to convene in the State this-
year — 1887, was the Georgia Annual Conference,
which opened its session in Quitman, Ga., January
14, in the Bethel A. M. E. Church.
Bishop James Shorter presided, with Rev. W.
O. P. Sherman made chief Secretary.
The missionary meeting held on the evening of
the second day's session was a success, with stimulat-
ing addresses by Rev. E. Lowry, Dr. W. D.Johnson,
the writer's efforts being added to the others. A
collection of $124.94 was taken up at the close.
The work passed off very smoothly. E. L.
Martin, J. T. Smith, — Crittenden, W. H. Holmes,
W. H. Randall were admitted on trial. T. S. Wood y
E. B. Brown, P. D. Davis, D. G. Wilson, Henry
Wells, W. H. Walton, D. W. Moore, John Austin,.
O. N, Finegan were elected and ordained elders,,
with James Delbrough, James H. Holmes and W.
H. Randal, local, the latter being reobligated.
Henry Nails was the only one whose death had
occurred in the year.
The Sunday services consisted of three sermons,,
preached respectively bv Bishop J. A. Shorter, the
writer, and Rev. W. D. Johnson, D. D., Secretary
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 185
of Education, in the morning, afternoon and evening.
The services drew out many of the best citizens,
both colored and white.
The Conference was shocked to receive a tele-
gram from Bishop J. M. Brown, bearing the news
of Bishop R. H. Cain's severe illness. Bishop Cain
was then presiding Bishop of the First Episcopal
District. Ere the month had ended he was num-
bered with the dead having succumbed to that fatal
malady, "Bright Disease," Janaury 24.
The members of the Georgia Conference at this
session recognized the approaching anniversary of
the rise and progress of the A. M. E. Church by
resolutions to join themselves in a working order to
be known as the "Ministers Centennial Union for
the Promotion of Education." This finally resulted in
the Quarto-Centennial held in Georgia and South
Carolina, in 1890.
The six districts of the Conference presented a
good showing in the statistical table. Savannah
District, under Presiding Elder J. A. Woods, sent
up $1,327.61 ;Thomasville District, under Presiding
Elder Henry Strickland, $319.75; Cuthbert District,
under Presiding Elder H. B. Dowdell, $414.35 ;
Valdosta District, under Presiding Elder W. H.
Powell, $392.85 ; Albany District under Presiding
Elder S. M. Clarke, $299.75, and Brunswick District,
under Presiding Elder Peyton Stokes, $291.50 — a
total of $2,948.31 of Dollar Money from a member-
ship reported as 20,000.
By petition of the Conference, it was decided by
186 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
the Bishop that the Conference should be held in
December instead o£ January. As a consequence,
when the appointment was made for the next Annual
Conference to be held at Savannah, it was set for
December 14 of the same year (18S7).
It was upon the 9th of November preceding this
that the next Conference in the State was held —
the North Georgia Conference — at Rome, Ga., in
the A. M. E. Church.
All that was mortal of our Presiding Bishop J. A.
Shorter had been laid to rest in July, and the work
of this Conference was in the hands of Bishop
A. W. Wayman.
It had been nearly twenty years since he had
presided over a Conference in the State — from 1868
to 1887 — a long period, but the welcome given him
was proportionately warm and heartfelt.
The class for admission consisted of E. J. Hol-
land, Wm. P. Bradley, H. H. Silas, M. W. Pryor,
W. A. Gillam, Wm. Flagg, W. H. Mance, L. G.
Tri gg> J- R - Pace > H - F - Chunn, Andrew Finch,
J. J. Wilson. The deacons ordained were H. Pitts,
W. G. Smith, E. W. Lee, S. P. Cary, Peter Wil-
liams, R. H. Haynes, Jerry McGruder, H. J. John-
son, P. O'Connell, S. M. Alexander, J. L. Trigg;
the local deacons, Wm. P. Bradley and Jefferson
Thomas, of the Atlanta District, Robert Caloway,
B. J. Arnold, Robert Parks, J. B. Dukes, of the
Athens District. The Elders' class ordained con-
sisted of S. B. Sims, Wm. Stansel, Wm. J. Russell,
C W. Simons, F. Griffin, R. Fountain, L. Baxter,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 187
C. C. Cargile, W. J. Lawrence, L. E. Hall, Y. D.
Donnell, Isaac Young, Benjamin Shepard and
A. D. Blossomgan were also elected to deacon's
orders.
The election of seven delegates to General Con-
ference, with alternates, took place on the third and
fourth days, resulting in the following list: Revs.
W. J. Gaines, R. Graham, J. G. Yeiser, C. L. Brad-
well, J. A. Cary, D. J. McGhee, D. T. Green; alter-
nates, Revs. C. P. Jordan, I. S. Hamilton, J. S.
Flipper, A. W. Watson, C. M. Manning, H. D.
Bush and J. H. Hillson.
The feature of the memorial services was that
two Bishops were to be commemorated and one
pioneer of the Conference. As we devote space
elsewhere to one of the Bishops and this aged
brother — Rev. Andrew Brown — because of their
connection with the work in Georgia, we omit
further mention of them here, save to say that the
body did honor to both in all ways possible in the
addresses delivered upon the occasion. Bishop R. A.
Cain, is the one of whom we would now speak.
Dr. B. T. Tanner's tribute to him, as found re-
corded in the minutes of this session, also the report
of the Committee upon memoirs for the Macon
Conference, which met November 30 — the same
month — contain the sentiments of the Conferences
of the State. Dr. Tanner spoke of him as a man
of singular greatness, which he assuredly was; a
man who had brought himself from a Virginia hovel
to the halls of Congress and to the Episcopacy. He
188 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
was a religious man — always ready to preach; a
man of most brilliant oratory and a lover of his
race. The statement by the Committee that, like
Bishop Shorter, he was strongly imbued with the
missionary spirit was true, for his early work in
South Carolina is proof of this. He was a zealous
man even to over-enthusiasm. His dreams of the
coming greatness of the race caused him to be per-
haps too visionary, and, basing too much upon what
he conceived to be our present greatness, to plan
more largely for the immediate future than we
could hope to accomplish, but it was to build up the
race. He was to have organized the church in
Africa, but God knew best.
As Bishop Tanner said, " No man ever brought
to the church as many members as R. H. Cain, for
all of South Carolina was his contribution."
The Presiding Elder reports were satisfactory in
a high degree. The Griffin district, under Rev.
D. J. McGhee, with its sixteen appointments was
moving on successfully. Marietta, under Rev. C.
L. Bradwell, made its third annual report of its five
stations and nineteen appointments, which showed
over 373 members added, $802.20 of Dollar Money
raised and over $9,533.01 as a total of all the
money collected for various purposes. Athens
District gave a very pleasing report of its twenty-
one points, stating that all were in a prosperous
condition. On the writer's own district all had
done well — some of the younger ministers surpris-
ingly so, financially and spiritually. Allen Temple
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 189
had received an addition of 300 souls in a marvelous
revival under Rev. A. S.Jackson. There was some
new mission work in Rutledge and McDonough and
Locust Grove, which seemed to promise well. This
was the only new work of the year in onr Confer-
ence borders. Our aim in the Atlanta District was
to enlarge our work and gather in the people, be-
lieving, like Joshua of old, that there was yet much
land to possess.
The Macon, Ga. Conference held its next session
in Talbotton A. M. E. Chapel, Nov. 30. Bishop J.
M. Brown, D. D., was to preside but was absent at
the opening, and the Secretary of the last session,
Wm. C. Banton, called the ministers to order, and
a temporary chairman was elected in the person of
Presiding Elder R. A. Hall. The opening exer-
cises were conducted and the Conference proceeded
to business. Upon vote, the usual committees were
appointed by the chairman, and that evening the
annual sermon was preached by Rev. Wesley G.
Gaines from the text found in Psalm xlvi : 11 -'The
Loid of hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our
refuge," in which he spoke most feelingly of the
trials of the ministerial office, the spread of religious
truth and the extention of the A. M. E. Church.
Upon the second day, Bishop Disney, of what was,
in 1887, the Tenth Episcopal District, including On-
tario, Nova Scotia and West Indies, reached the
Conference. He had come to preside over its de-
liberations in the absence of Bishop Brown, who
was detained at home by severe illness. Bishop
190 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Disney was warmly welcomed, and spoke graciously
concerning his coming to the Conference. Bishop
Turner, of the Fifth Episcopal District, was also pre-
sent, and upon introduction to the body, spoke of
this work with the old fervor, as being the result of
"constant endeavor to spread abroad the church of
God on the earth."
The reports of the Committees were unusually in-
teresting, stirring speeches being made upon the sub-
ject of Temperance, which question, as mentioned
before, had been agitating the State, and especially
the city of Atlanta. A triumph had been scored for
Prohibition, and it was a season of rejoicing that so
hurtful an influence had been suppressed in this bat-
tle of wrong versus right. As it was most truthfully
said in Conference: "Intemperance is sending our
young men and women to the chain-gangs of earth
and hell, where they are tormented day and night."
The writer was especially moved to urge the sav-
ing of men, women and children from hunger, nak-
edness, sickness and death. Intemperance has
wrought such fearful wretchedness that every min-
ister of the gospel should lift his voice against it, and
do his part toward crushing it — destroying it — blot-
ting it out from the face of the earth.
The church was again warned by this Conference
as to the dangers to the church in too great readi-
ness to receive into "full membership" on profession
of faith, without strict adherence to the benefits of
Methodist usage, which provides for a probation of
six months. It was set forth clearly in the follow-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 191
ing statement in the report of Committee on State of
the Church: "We believe that a too ready admis-
sion to full membership cannot be productive of
obedient followers of church rule; for those who, on
entering the organization, observe the rules of dis-
cipline set aside by ministers in charge, may, in time,
come to disregard the more weighty matters of the
law, and the ministers who, on the ground of expe-
diency, with a view to out-distancing other religious
bodies, disregard the correct rules of Methodist pro-
bation."
The election of delegates to the General Confer-
ence of 18S8 took place upon the third day, result-
ing in the following list: Revs. Elias P. Holmes,
Wright Newman, Lewis H. Smith, Lawrence
Thomas, Richard A. Hall, Andrew W. Lowe, Wes-
ley C. Gaines, with Revs. T. N. M. Smith, Henry
Lester, John A. Davis, Wm. H. Smith, Wm.
C. Burton, Allen Cooper, George Linder as alter-
nates. The credentials of Thomas S. Price and J. W.
Brooks, with Van J. Jones and J. H. Kimbrough,
as alternates — all elected as lay delegates to the
General Conference by the Electoral College at
Macon, July 6, 1887 — were presented, and their
names were added to the list of delegates to assem-
ble in the city of Indianapolis, Ind., May 1st, 1S8S.
The annual meetings of the Literary and Histori-
cal Society, also of the Missionary Society, were
productive of much benefit in every way, as inter-
est was re-awakened and pockets, as well as hearts,.
192 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
were touched to respond to the appeal for the good
of the cause represented.
The following brethren were admitted on trial:
J. O. Iverson, J. C. Hill, Wm. Jones, James Y.
Rogers, F. C CraytonJ. H. Hall, S. E. Perry, J.
B. Upshaw, T. J. Lewis, R. N. Fairfax, J. Sea-
brooks, J. R. Stroud, H. D. Gorman, G. W. Linder,
C. G. Linder, S. M. Zeigler, D. S. Wells, C. T.
Thornton, Thomas Mitchell, Elias H. Miller, Henry
L. Davis.
The ordination sermon was preached on the 4th
of December by Bishop Disney from Matthewix ;
16. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the
midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves." At the close of the ser-
mon, the following were ordained deacons: Jerry
Moseley, Claiborne H. Warren and Charles J. Jones,
with Revs. James R. Strong and G. F. Battle re-ob-
ligated to the same office; the elders were as fol-
lows: Revs. Robert M. S. Taylor, San Francisco
Andrews, Robert Jay Bailey, Richard L. Butts,
Levi L. Reynolds, Homer Shaw, Daniel Smith,
Simon P. Thomas, and Revs. Thomas Mitchell,
Charles Thornton and Daniel S. Wells, re-obligated.
Revs. Felix Foster and Augustus Colbert had
died during the year. Those who took transfers
from the Macon Conference this year were Edward
D. Gorman, Brister Griggs, John Seabrooks, Thos.
Mitchell, Wm. T. Norris, Samuel George and Wm.
Harkness — all to the Georgia Conference, while
Macon Conference received from the North Georgia,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 193
Revs. Milton W. Moore, Henry C. Boyd, Wm.
Harkness and George Washington.
The year 1887 had been a memorable one. It
was the Centennial year of the existence of the
A. M. E. Church, and in November there was a
general celebration of this event in the different
parts of the connection, centering principally in
Bethel Church — the mother church of all — in Phila-
delphia.
To these meetings the church in future will owe
much, for here for the first time we find something
like a systematized effort to formulate the history of
the church in a few sections in the addresses deliv-
ered. The Centennial Budget — -the work of our Fi-
nancial Secretary, Dr. B. W. Arnett — now Bishop B.
W. Arnett, D. D., — was compiled in 1888 and is
a masterpiece of work and a mine of information
to which all future t historians must resort. Here we
find what the church has done in one hundred years
from its conception in seventy-one years from its
organization. Twenty years before this American
Methodism held its Centennial. To be sure, we,
too, had here a part as Methodists, but it was not to
the Negro race what this year of 1S87 was with its
outlook on the past and future. These Centennial
addresses were inspiring, they were full of sugges-
tions which are already being put into practice.
In this Centennial year we rind one Bishop over a
church of 16 preachers increased to eleven Bishops
over 2,270 itinerant preachers. Supporting these
194 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
we find 5,022 local preachers and 2,600 exhorters.
With 17,009 stewards and 14,190 stewardesses,
whose labors are helped by 17,778 class leaders, we
have under the care of all these 47,817 probationers
and 344,953 members.
There is nothing in such a showing for one hun-
dred years — -years of toil and struggle under most
harrowing afflictions — and as the church turned its
face to the General Conference of 1888, it was with
a heart full of love and gratitude to God that He had
thus strengthened the weak and paved the way for
a future, for which every member of the A. M. E.
Church will bless Him and Richard Allen.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 195
CHAPTER XIX.
WORK ASSIGNED IN 1 888.
There was still another Conference to be held
before the close of 1887. The Georgia Annual
Conference, at its meeting in January, changed the
time of its session to December, thus two sessions
of this Conference met in one year, as in the case of
the Macon Conference in 1883. The Georgia Con-
ference convened in St. James Tabernacle, Savan-
nah, Ga., December 14th, and continued to the 20th
inclusive.
It had been twenty-one years since the church in the
South first held a session of Conference in the State
of Georgia. Savannah had twice before entertained
the Georgia Conference since the separation of the
State work in 1873. At this date there were but
five men left who had attended its first meeting —
Rev. Henry Strickland, Rev. J. A. Wood, Rev. S.
B.Jones, Rev. Thomas J. Crayton and the writer.
St. James Tabernacle in Savannah was then on
leased land, but since then Rev. R. B. Bailey has
bought a lot and is now (1890) erecting a fine build-
ing upon it — a fitting edifice for the city in which
Georgia African Methodism was first organized
aid the city which holds the Wesley Monumental
196 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Church as well, in which we, too, have a share as a
church.*
Bishop Brown not having arrived, Elder S. H.
Robertson called the Conference to order, and a
Chairman was elected in the person of Rev. J. A.
Woods, pending the arrival of the Bishop, who had
informed Dr. B. W. Arnett that he would be pres-
ent despite illness during the session. Bishop Dis-
ney was also expected the following morning. The
work went briskly on. The Annual Sermon fell,,
by appointment, to Rev. C. McDowell, who de-
livered it the first evening from Romans i:i6. Dr.
W. B. Derrick was one of the welcome guests of
the Conference, he having accompanid Bishop
Brown, in order to care for him in his afflicted
state.
The preachers admitted on trial were H. C.
Hawk, E. J. Knight, S. S. Swinson, Jerry Griffin,.
E. L. Martin. The deacons elected and ordained
were Revs. J. A. Hadley, Perry Davis, L. B.
Shaw, Reuben Richard, G. W. Butler, G. H.
Greene, Enoch Roberts, J. W. Hagans, C. H.
Williams, Peter Jones, B. J. Shackleford, with
Brothers A. Underwood, Wm Daniel, Anthony
Jackson, Moses Ross, Jacob Seabrooks, Cyrus
Griffin and H. C. Brown as local deacons. Revs.
*The General Conference of 187C voted to give $1,000 to this Monumental
Church to Wesley. The Committee appointed to raise the money failed.
But the Bishop's Council and Financial Board said it must be paid, and it
was paid by the Secretary and Treasurer, Dr. B. W. Arnett. The agent*.
J. O. A. Clark, in acknowledging the sum said: "Your church is the-
only one which, voting us a like sum, has paid the full amount pledged.'-'
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 197
Russel Young, H. M. Lofton, J. B. Epton, C. C.
Warren, G. W. Kimbrough, E. J. Bush, Willis
Lane, Marshall Stephen, j. W. Williams, P. S.
Smith, W. H. Hammonds, Tobie Mclver, H. L.
Weston, Frank C. Mitchell ana R. B. Greene were
the elders; the last named being reobligated.
Samuel Steward and Joseph Wooden, local dea-
cons, died this year.
The Conference Missionary Convention was set
to meet at Brunswick, August 15th, and the dele-
gates elected to General Conference were Revs. J.
B. Lofton, S. H. Robertson, J. A. Woods, W. O. P.
Sherman, W. H. Powell, S. D. Roseborough, S. C.
Powell, J. H. Adams and R. R. Downs. The
-alternates were Revs. G. H. M. Brookens, D. H.
Porter, M. J. Ingraham, S. M. Clarke, Henry
Strickland, R. W. Fickland, M. R. Wilson, R. V.
Smith. J. F. Gilling and G. W. Shaw, of Savan-
nah, were the lay delegates elected in August and
their names were added. Rev. Samuel D. George
was transferred from the Macon Conference to this,
as was also Rev. Wm. Harkness.
The Hawkinsville District raised $307.25 of Dol-
lar Money; Brunswick, $260.75; Albany, $328.05;
Valdosta, $245.57; Cuthbert, $426.15 and Thom-
asville, $524.20.
Conference closed the twentieth of the month—
the last Conlerence to meet in the State until after
the General Conference of the following May.
This body met in Indianapolis May — , 1888, and
elected four Bishops to the work of the Episcopal
198 AMERICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Bench in the following order of selection: Dr. W~
J. Gaines, Dr. B. W. Arnett, Dr. B. T. Tanner, and
Dr. Abram Grant. The writer and Bishop Grant
were from the South — a recognition of the extent
and strength of Southern work. The General
Conference laid off the work of the church at this
session into eleven Episcopal Districts. This was
done by the Episcopal Committee, which commit-
tee also makes the appointments of the Bishops, an
arrangment no more than fair, as it would seem
that the brethren should have the opportunity of
making appointments for the Bishops once in four
years, as the latter make theirs every year.
The appointments of the Episcopal Bench were
as follows for the quadrennium of 1888- 1892, to-
gether with all Conferences as they now stand
(1890):
First District— -Bishop H. M. Turner, New Jer-
sey, Philadelphia, New York, New England.
Second District — Bishop J. P. Campbell, North
Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore.
Third District — Bishop D. A. Payne, Ohio,
North Ohio, Pittsburgh.
Fourth District — Bishop J. M. Brown, Illinois,
Iowa, Indiana, Michigan.
Fifth District— Bishop T. M. D. Ward, Rocky
Mountain, Missouri, North Missouri, Kansas, In-
dian Territory.
Sixth District — Bishop W. J. Gaines, North,
Georgia, Macon, Ga., Georgia, North Alabama,,
Alabama.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 199"
Seventh District — Bishop B. W. Arnett, Colum-
bia, South Carolina, Florida, East Florida.
Eighth District — Bishop R. R. Disney, Arkansas,
West Arkansas, South Arkansas, Mississippi, North
Mississippi.
Ninth District — Bishop A. Grant, California,.
Texas, Northeast Texas, Texas, Central, West Texas,
North Louisiana, Louisiana.
Tenth District — Bishop A. W. W 7 ayman, Ken-
tucky, West Kentucky, Tennessee, West Tennes-
see.
f - Eleventh District— Bishop B. T. Tanner. On-
tario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Hayti.
As we see, the newly elected Bishops from the
South were assigned to Southern work, and Geor-
gia and Alabama were assigned, as the Sixth Dis-
trict, to the writer. So Georgia again had a newly
made Bishop to preside over its work.*
The first Conference over which I was called to
preside in my new office was the North Georgia
Conference, held at Dalton, Nov. 7th, 1888. In or-
der to lay before my readers the state of mind with
which I approached my new duties I can do no bet-
ter than humbly present the heart-felt words which
rose to my lips when I addressed this Conference
for the first time in my new relations to it. It was
a serious undertaking — to go back to the work as
Bishop where I had labored from the itinerant
*At this point the writer feels it best to drop the impersonal form in
reference to himself for the remainder of the work of the Conference, as
being both awkward and inconvenient to use, where of necessity he must
so frequently refer to hi a. self.
200 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
ranks, and the fear was that my friends might ex-
pect too much of me, and that they and life-long
acquaintances might cause me embarrassment by
asking much of me as friends and acquaintances.
This will explain my words, as well as the course I
then determined to pursue, as I spoke to the brethren
as follows:
Brethren: — I appear before you as the Presid-
ing Bishop of this Conference. I do not come as a
stranger to you, nor to the people of Georgia. I
have been a member of the African Methodist
Church since its organization in this State. You can
imagine my feelings when you consider the gravity
of the responsibility resting upon me in the respon-
sible office to which I have recently been elevated
by your suffrage and that of the membership of the
General Conference of the entire Church. You can
imagine how anxious I feel about the success of my
work in the Sixth Episcopal District. When I think
of my election to this office by the members of the
General Conference, and especially those of the
Georgia delegation, and then of my return to this
State to preside over the Conference in which I have
spent a great deal of service, I can assure you that
I am deeply anxious to discharge with success the
arduous duties. The responsibilities are great, and
I need the full co-operation of every minister, every
member and every friend of the North Georgia Con-
ference. No man liveth to himself and no man
dieth to himself; and whether we be living or dead,
we are the Lord's. We need each other's help and
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 201
sympathy in bearing the burdens of life. None of us
-ever advance so high in position in this life, that we
do not need the sympathy of those who are around
us. It is the common people of this country who
hold up this great government under which we live.
The men who build the railroads, mix the mortar
burn the bricks and perform other necessary toil, are
the ones who constitute the life blood of our material
organization. The engineer whoruns the train is en-
trusted with the responsibility of human lives, but
he could not succeed without the co-operation of
the general manager, and neither could the general
manager succeed without the men who built the
railroads and have the ability to run them.
Our interests are so closely connected together that
it would be unwise to say, that I do not need the as-
sistance of others. I am aware that a man must
make his own mark in life. We can help him oc-
casionally; but the great responsibility for success
rests upon the man's own shoulders. Therefore, I
propose to allow every man a chance in the struggle
for polemic success.
There are three qualities, however, that every
minister needs in order to succeed in this life.
There may be more, but I speak of three. The first
is a Christian character; the seccnd is the will to
work for God, humanity and the Church; and the
third is education in order to put into action the
works, especially by our Christian character.
Brethren, I have the same' appointments under my
supervision that have been given to you by the
202 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
Bishops that have preceded me. I have no better
places but the same, unless they have grown better
under your labors during the past year. Every
man cannot get such an appointmert as he would
like to have, for there are not enough such places
to distribute among our brethren. I wish most
earnestly that I had one hundred choice appoint-
ments that I might be able to satisfy the brethren
who desire them. Pardon me, members of the Con-
ference, for requesting you not to ask me for special
appointments. I confess that it is very embarrass-
ing to be thus approached. While I am not a stranger
to you, I feel just as every Bishop would under
the circumstances. I am perfectly willing that you
should tell me your difficulties and trials; and las-
sure you that the sympathy of my heart will go out
toward you, and in the name of God and the Church
I promise to do the best I can for every man in the
Conference.
I trust that every minister's report will be better
this year than it was last year, both spiritually and
and temporally. The men who work the hardest,
and accomplish the best results will be sure to come
to the front. I can say without egotism that I have
worked hard for the church, therefore I am in sym-
pathy with those who work in their respective fields
of labor. The ministers throughout the Sixth Dis-
trict have promised to assist me in my administra-
tion as best they could, for more reasons than I will
state now. Those who make themselves useful
shall be put into positions where they can be more-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 203
useful. Whatever the appointment is, try to improve
it. My prayer to God is, that the churches commit-
ted to your care may prosper and grow under your
pastorship. This cannot be general unless we
work together. I pray you, brethren, to help me
make this work a success. I implore you to let us
have order, especially while business is being trans-
acted. I ask each minister to do the best he can to
assist me in this direction, and I will have no trouble
in preserving order during the sessions of the Con-
ference. I cannot do it unless you respect the
chair. I shall respect the rights of every one on the
floor; and it is expected that when the chair decides
a brother is out of order, that he will take his seat-
Let our department be such as becometh ministers
of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when we shall
have closed this session, the people of this commun-
ity will say, the conduct of the ministers has been
grand and creditable to the church. You will ex-
cuse me, dear brethren, for urging you to be respect-
ful to each other. There is nothing which brings
disorder into the sessions of a Conference or in
any general assembly, whether it is in the House of
Representatives or in the General Conference, than
a want of respect for each other.
Ministers ought to be more respectful to one an-
other than other persons, for we occupy higher po-
sitions than any other class on earth. You all
know how I reverenced the lamented Bishop James
A. Shorter as a friend and as a father, but he would
rebuke me just as quickly as he would any man in
"204 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
the Conference if he thought I did not do my duty.
I always felt he was honest, and, therefore, I could
take his rebuke because he did it conscientiously.
And yet, with all respect for the memory of Bishop
Shorter, I am ambitious to down him in gathering
in souls for Christ, and in advancing the standard of
Christianity.
I want to surpass Bishop Shorter's record in this
respect, and I want the brethren to aid me in doing
so. When Bishop Shorter succeed Bishop Dicker-
son in this work, he praised his predecessor's efforts,
bmt he said he intended to surpass what he had done.
I never went to Conference as a pastor but that I
meant to beat my previous record. I made that the
rule of my ministerial life; and I feel equally anx-
ious now, in succeeding other Bishops who have been
successful in their great office, to surpass their credit-
able records. You know how a minister feels in
following one that has been successful. It is my
purpose to distance my predecessor in all respects.
I have passed through every grade of ministerial
experience in our church, and I thank God that there
are witnesses present to the fact. I feel anxious over
your results, because I am interested in them. As
j-our reports are my reports, I naturally feel very
solicitous for your success. A failure would kill me.
It is my earnest prayer that the Lord may bless you
in all your ministerial labors. I stand here with my
hand raised before God, and I pledge myself in the
presence of the brethren that I am going to do the
best I can for the church that has honored me with
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 205
its great commission. I mean to deal tenderly but
firmly with you. I shall be plain and tender in my in-
tercourse with you. A man can say anything to me in
a courteous manner but when he speaks otherwise he
is likely to defeat the very purpose he aims to serve.
I never mean to be vindictive, but I prefer to meet
such a spirit with good- will toward all men. I once
knew one of the best men in the Georgia Confer-
ence who had charge of a certain church and de-
sired to bring about certain results - He was posi-
tive, but somewhat harsh in his manner of dealing
with his congregation. He desired to bring his mem-
bership up to certain duties, and informed them in a
severe tone that they must comply or suffer the
consequences. He partially succeeded, but in very
bad grace. I afterwards had charge of the same
church, and I appealed tenderly to the people's re-
spect for the law, and their obligation to comply
with it. I meant to do just what he aimed to do; I
succeeded by approaching the people pleasantly to
have them co-operate with me. I attained the de-
sired results, but in a different way. The office does
not make the man. Brethren, I tell you in the fear
of God that I want you to aid me. I appreciate and
feel for the ministers in their efforts to advance the
banners of our church. Your value is determined by
your worth and influence.
What makes me feel proud of my position is that
I was elected as a Bishop ought to be elected, from
all parts of the country. I feel honored in being
blessed with such an experience. It was indeed a
206 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
gratifying spectacle to see the brethren from the
North, the South, the East and the West, standing
side by side with the Georgia delegation in their ef-
forts to give the South a representation on the Bench
of Bishops. I appeal to you to do your duty so as
to prove yourselves worthy of the consideration that
the General Conference extended to us. I desire you
to be men in the fullest sense — respectful and digni-
fied, with no disposition to servility. I would be
sorry to see in any of you anything like a disposi-
tion to fawn. I have a dog at home that appears
glad to see me when I return home after an absence
by various manifestations; but when he lies at my
feet I am inclined to kick him away; and if any of
the brethren should approach me in any other bear-
ing than becomes a Christian minister and a gentle-
man, I would not be pleased with it.
Whatever faults I may have, I promise you that
I will not use the Episcopal office that God and the
church have given me, to stab a brother, whatever
he may do to me. I do not think any man who
knows me considers me a coward. I have always
had the courage to say openly and plainly whatever
I deem right and expedient. While I have honestly
opposed the positions of others, I have never helped
to expel but one man from the church in my life.
Elder Robertson knows to whom I refer. I may
have marked men, but I never did it to injure a
brother; and if I did an injustice to any one, it was
with the intention of doing good. I frequently asked
God, upon my knees, to decide the contest for
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 207
the Bishopric, as far as I was concerned, in the inter-
est of the church; and I promised God that if I were
successful, I would aim to advance the Church of
Christ.
This morning my hand is extended and my heart
is open in Christian fellowship to every being here
and elsewhere; and if I make any mistakes in my
office, they will be mistakes of the "head and not the
heart."
I had determined to treat every man according to
his character, ability and intelligence, and in this line
I have striven ever since. I have also worked upon
the principle in our Conferences that the men who
come in must work to come up, feeling that thus
our strength has been used to the best advantage.
To-day (1890) I can truly say that the brethren
have helped me by preventing any such embarrass-
ment as I at first feared, and as would have resulted,
had any other course been followed than the one I
desired them to follow.
In this North Georgia Conference, Rev. D.T. Green
preached the annual sermon — a grand discourse
upon "The predomination of light over darkness."
The visitors to Conference were from various sec-
tions, and the progress of our people in twenty
years was strikingly noted. At Sabbath services
the audience heard from Rev. L. J. Coppin, D. D.,
Editor of the A. M. E. Church Review, also Rev.
James H. Handy, D. D., Financial Secretary, and
Rev. A. W. Upshaw, in sermons doctrinal, eloquent,
logical and oratorical.
208 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
The following were ordained deacons: Wm..
Flagg, Jr., Wade H. Mance, James A. Lindsey,
John Cooper, Abraham L. Gaines, L. G. Brookens,.
also Geo. N. Henry and C. M. Pinkleton, local. The
elders ordained were Revs. Edward W. Lee, Simon
M. Alexander, Andrew J. Wilkerson, Madersod M.
Pryor, James Watts, Z. Pierce, Floyd R. Richard-
son and Josepn R. Biggins. The preachers admitted
on trial were J. W. Fincher, T. PorterJ.J. Williams,
A. J. Carey, E. P. Russell, Nathan Price, Burrel Bat-
tle, M. E. Cawthorne, P. S. Simmons, Wm. Bailey, S.
R. Lowe, B. F. Franklin, A. L. Gaines, L. C
Rolling, J. A. Lindsey, J. W. Walker, R. M. King,.
Samuel Givens,J. B. McAlpine, Grant Hawkins and
R. W. Gibson.
The Atlanta District report from S. H. Robert-
son, P. E., for five months (he having been trans-
ferred from the Georgia Conference) showed good
work at every one of its twenty-three points — new
churches, improvements and added members. Pre-
siding Elder D. J. McGhee reported similarly from
the twenty points on Griffin District, as did Presiding
Elder R. Graham from the twenty-five on Athens
District. C. L. Bradwell, P. E., of Marietta, gave
a most encouraging detailed account of these twenty-
one points and a probable extension of work to
Tallapoosa.
The transfers from the Conference this year were
Rev. J. G. Yeiser, Rev. D. T. Green, Rev. Peter
McLain, (now grown old and feeble) and Rev.
Washington Campbell, Rev. J. S. Hamilton and
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 209
Rev. G. W. H. Williams— all to the Macon Confer-
ence, and Rev. F. R. Richardson to the North
Alabama Conference. Revs. C. S. Greene and
W. L. Russell had fallen by the wayside this year.
The memorial services were very touching. Dur-
ing the session the news of the victory of Harrison
and Morton reached us and Conference chee r ed it
to the echo. The Endowment Day money for Sep-
tember, 1887, was reported at $2,707.89, while the
Dollar Money of the four Presiding Elder Districts
was $3,183. So closed my first Conference as
Bishop of the A. M. E. Church— a delightful session.
The Macon Conference was held in 1888, in
Campbell Chapel, Americus, Ga., opening Novem-
ber 14. Here, too, my work was equally pleasant,
my welcome equally warm and the session a profit-
able one.
Eight preachers were admitted on trial; Warren
Rabon, Chas. J. Perry, Geo. W. Coady, Perry
Johnson, Felix O'Neal, Robert J. Jones, Henry
Zimmerman, George W. Smith. The deacons
elected and ordained were Revs. Daniel J. Law-
rence, Henry H. Johnson, George Wesley Hill, Allen
R. Hooper, James Mitchell; the elders, Revs. Ar-
chibald B. B. Wilson, Wm. B. Gallius, Daniel J.
McGhee.
The transfers to Conference were B. R. Glass
from East Florida, ("taken up"' as he could not re-
turn to his Florida work because of the yellow fever
scourge) Brister Griggs and John Seabrooks from
14
210 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
the Georgia Conference, D. L. Durand, D. T.
Green, J. G. Yeiser, G. W. H. Williams and Peter
McLain from the North Georgia. Levi Walker,
Wm. H. Smith and R. A. Hall took transfers to the
North Georgia.
This session closed the 19th inst., and I proceeded
to my work in Alabama to meet the North Alabama
Conference at Florence. This new work was in
excellent condition, coming from the hands of
Bishop D. A. Payne, and I left to enter upon it
courageously, knowing by experience that my
brethren in this neighboring State would do even as
I had asked my Georgia friends. No one could
have asked for a more cordial welcome than that
the}'" vouchsafed me. Truly I felt that my lines had
fallen in pleasant places, and, as at the close of the
session in Florence I turned toward Mobile to hold
the Alabama Conference, it was with the feeling that
all my experiences here were also to be pleasant.
Nor was I disappointed, for the same warmth and
hearty regard were found in that city as well, and
continued throughout the entire session. The year's
work in Alabama pleased me as shown by the Con-
ference, the men, their characters and their labors
there.
From Mobile my steps were turned to Georgia
again to hold the Georgia Conference in Cuthbert,
December 12th, having made with this Conference
the circuit of the Conference work in the Sixth
Episcopal District. To my appeal, as in the other
Conferences of my native State, that they should
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 211
help me to raise still higher the work left by Bishop,
Shorter, I was assured that the Georgia " Invinci-
bles" would be true and lead the Sixth district to
victory in 1892. As in the other Conferences a
harmonious session was passed. The preachers
seemed determined to work hand in hand with their
new Bishop and the Presiding Elders.
The following were ordained deacons: Revs.
Henry M. Crittenden, J. T. Smith, G. W. C. Jones,
J. W. Nixton, Jerry Brown, (local); elders, Revs.
Judge D. Glenn and Cyrus J. Pettigrew, re-obli-
gated.
E. D. Garman and local deacons, Jacob Seabrooks
and J. Rastick, also E. J. Knight, had died.
The editor of the Southern Christian Recorder,
located at Selma, Alabama, was present and indi-
cated that as soon as the financial condition would
allow, this organ of the Church would be printed in
Atlanta. The Conference was strongly urged to
use its own literature. Bishop Arnett was also
with us and had the pleasure of introducing Rev. S.
J. Campbell, a native African, who gave his plans
for our successful Missionary operations in that
country.
The coming Sabbath brought invitations from the
M. E. Church South, for appointments from the Con-
ference, which were filled to the glory of His name
and the honor of the race by Bishop B. W. Arnett,
D. D., and Rev. W. G. Alexander.
A commission was formed, looking toward uniting
the Alabama Conferences with the Georgia Confer-
212 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
ences in the obligations for the support of Morris-
Brown College. Later the Alabama Conferences
carried out a plan to inaugurate a school of their
own, which is now in operation. (1890.)*
The P. E. Districts stood well in all ways. The:
Dollar Money reached $3,915.77.
-Payne Institute.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 211
CHAPTER XX.
EYE OF THE QUARTO-CENTENNIAL.
With experience which comes from holding the
five Annual Conferences of Georgia and Alabama, I
opened up the Georgia Work for 1889, with the
North Georgia Conference at Washington, Ga.»
Nov. 6. It was an especial pleasure to me to come
back to Washington, Ga. — ray birthplace — as I
met many old friends and acquaintances of years
gone by, and I was led to think more seriously
than ever of the goodness of my Creator — led to
ponder deeply upon the wondrous power with
which He has guided my footsteps — yes, the foot-
steps of the whole race.
Rev. D.J. McGhee, Presiding Elder of the Griffin
District, preached the annual sermon with rever-
ence and truth from Acts iv: 20., "We cannot but
speak the things which we have seen and heard."
Among the General Officers present were Dr. J.
C. Embry, Dr. W. D. Johnson. Dr. L. H. Coppin,
of the Review was also with us, and each and all
spoke cheering words to us as well as persuasive
ones for the causes they represented.
The new Principal of Morris-Brown College,
Professor A. St. George Richardson, gave a strong
214 AFKICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
report of this school which was growing so rapidly r
having six teachers and 320 pupils with three courses
of study entered upon — English, Normal and Ac-
ademic. The Treasurer's Report was equally en-
couraging.
The finances of the Conference also were in most
excellent condition. Contingent, Missionary, En-
dowment Day and Children's Day Money, each
rolled up beyond past sums in a most gratifying.
manner.
Two of the superannuated elders had fallen'
asleep in Christ this past year — Rev. C. R Edwards
and JEsop Smith, while the wives of Elder S. H.
Robertson and Elder J. McGhee had also been
called home to a peaceful rest.
Griffin District, under Presiding Elder D. J.
McGhee, had brought to the fold 1,006 souls through
the faithful ministers, and interest was growing.
Marietta, under Presiding Elder R. A. Hall re-
ported average work as a whole. Richard Graham,.
Presiding Elder of Athens District, reported strong
work in the ministry under his eye with few excep-
tions, while Atlanta, under Elder S. H. Robertson^
had been a success both spiritually and financially.
The Dollar Money from all the districts reached a:
total of $3,515.16.
The preachers admitted on trial were, T. W.
Steele, James M. Lee, C. Sappington, G. W. More-
land, G. W. Gholston, G. C. Summerlin, R. D.
Stinson, J. R. Fleming, J. H. M. Brown, Marcus
J. Greene. James J. Wilson, John H. Heard„.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEAES OF FREEDOM. 215
Patrick W. Greatheart, Elijah J. Holland, Luther
C. Rollins, Matthew E. Cawthrone, Henry F. Chunn,
Archibald J. Carey, Perry G. Simmons, James M-
Lee were elected and ordained itinerant deacons,
and Geo. W. Moreland, Shandy Parrott, Cyrus
Wilkerson, local deacons.
Elder Bradwell's caution to the Conference
against ordaining so many men under the missionary
rule was heartily endorsed by the Bishop,^six of the
above having been so recommended.
Revs. C. W. Simons, A. W. Watson, J. A. Cary,
B. F. Franklin, H. B. Bush were transferred to the
Macon Conference, and P . W. Greatheart from
the South Carolina to this, also M. C. Riley from
the South Arkansas Conference. J. B. McAlpine
took a transfer to the North Alabama, and M. N.
Nelson to the Tennessee Conference.
We closed the session upon the 12th and pro-
ceeded directly to the Macon, Georgia Conference,
which was held in Wesley Chapel, Milledgeville, Ga.,
opening the following day, Nov. 13.
Elder Wright Newman, Presiding Elder of the
Macon District preached the annual sermon on "The
Light of Faith." Rev. Seymour B.Jones preached
the annual missionary sermon in which he referred
most appropriately to the missionary field as pre-
sented to the gathered ministers at Savannah in
1866, and the trials of these men who were sent east,
west, north and south throughout the State. His
description was of a lot such as all who have helped
to spread African Methodism have experienced in
216 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
the pioneer work, and many of us could sympathize
as he said, "my lot was up and down the Chatta-
hoochee River. While on that circuit we were
some times up against the steamer's boiler trying to
keep warm. Sometimes we would have to take it
afoot across the country, sometimes a friend would
have compassion and give us a ride on the back of
a mule or on a wagon ."
The time was approaching for the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the A.M. E. Church in the South,
and the committee reported in favor of co-opera-
tion with the other Georgia Conferences for local
programs, with the double aim of commemorating
the establishment of the church and raising a large
amount for Morris-Brown College. In this com-
memoration, it was agreed that the Conference in
Georgia and South Carolina should arrange this
program; the co-operation of all States represented
in the first Conference in Charleston, 1865, was
also to be secured, while the church in general was
to be invited to assist in the joyful occasion. *
One of the old veterans of the service, Rev.
Peter McLain, now aged and feeble, was offered
superannuated relationship, which was reluctantly
accepted, j-
* While the Georgia Conference had spoken of celebrating this Quarto-
Centennial at its session January 18, M&i, at Quitman, after my election to
the Bishopric, Rev. T. G. Steward, D. D.. wrote mea strung letter calling
my attention to th ■ importance of such a celebration of our Southern
work. I would give honor to whom honor is due. He deserves great credit for
calling my attention to it. Had he not done so, the eff rt made by the
Georgia Conference, as mentioned above, might have failed.
-|-He had been superannuated at North Georgia Conference held in Rome,
Ga., 1887, and asked at the sane Conference held in Dalton, 1888, that his
superannuation be raised. It was granted and he was transferred to the
Macon Conference where he accepted the superannuation.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 217
A goodly number of preachers were admitted on
trial: Doctor H. Powell, Samuel H. Charleston,
Augustus S. Martin, Charles W. Maxwell, Frank
L. Fleming, Riley W. McNeal, Thomas Howard,
Robert A. Whitfield, Charles P. Baker, Alonzo L.
Field, Jefferson L. Green, G. D. Walker, Wm. F.
Swindole, Robert W. Miller, T. T. Turner, W. T.
Harris, Richard Bigham. The deacons ordained
were R. H. Fairfax, F. C. Crayton, H. L. Davis, J.
B. Upshaw, S. E. Berry, B. Griggs, J. Barnes, H.
G. Graham, J. C. Hill, J. H. Hall, J. Lewis J. Y.
Rogers, S. M. Zeigler, J. O. Iverson, C. J. Linder,
G.W. Linder, W. Jones, G.W. Smith, and J.Seabrooks
and J. R. Stroud re-obligated. Claiborne H. Warren,
Robert B. Sanford, Taylor Cothran, Alfred Sapp
were the elders ordained, with Daniel S. Wells re-
obligated. Elder George W. H. Williams had died.
The Dollar Money raised was $5,009.09 and the
membership about 24,000. The transfers were as
follows: Revs. C. W. Simon, J. A. Cary and Levi
Walker came to the Macon Conference from the
North Georgia Conference, while Revs. Lawrence
Thomas, S. B. Jones and Cassie Milton were sent
to that Conference, and Revs. Hadson W. Whita-
ker and Haley Hardy to the Georgia Conference.
The 102 appointments of the Macon work were all
filled.
From the Macon Conference I proceeded di-
rectly to Wilmington, N. C, to hold the N. C.
Conference for Bishop Campbell on Wednesday,
November 20th. Bishop Campbell was ill and
218 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
could not meet the Conference. The session thus
coming into my hands was pleasant and profitable.
The Dollar Money was over $1,300.00. Bishop
Arnett was present and assisted us. Bishop Turner
also looked in upon us; he gave some helpful advice
and left us, taking two ministers with him, one to
Bridge Street, N. Y., and the other to Albany.
We went next to Greensboro, Ala., to hold the
North Alabama Conference, November 27, 1889..
We missed connection at the junction of the East
Tennessee and Western railroad. We saw there
was no chance to reach our work in time without
going through the country. I proceeded to Union-
town in company with Dr. James A. Handy, Finan-
cial Secretary, Dr. Levi Coppin, Revs. J. S. Shaw,.
W. H. Nixon, and others, where we hired buggies
and hacks and drove twenty miles through the
country, reaching the seat of the Conference in three
hours. The novelty of the drive through the prai-
ries of Alabama was pleasing. One hundred-
preachers were awaiting us, wondering where their
Bishop could be. This was one of the most inter-
esting Conferences that has ever been held in the
State of Alabama. The white citizens paid espe-
cial attention to our sessions and did much toward,
helping the people support the assembled ministers.
Drs. Handy and Coppin did everything in their
power to encourage me while we were struggling
to reach our destination. The session was a pleasant
one in every particular. The Dollar Money raised
was $1,545.00, being an increase of over half the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 21&
amount the preceding year. The ordination ser-
vices on Sunday were interesting. The mayor,
with a number of councilmen and aldermen, were
present at the morning service. Dr. Handy made
more reputation as a preacher at this Conference
than any other preacher. The President of the
College of the M. E. Church South, with all his
students, was out to hear him, and his sermon created
quite a discussion among these students at their sup-
per table, so we were told later. One young
minister said if making him black would enable
him to preach the gospel like Dr. Handy they
might blacken him now. Rev. McGhee of the M.
E. Church, South, in Greensboro, said that he never
expected to hear again the gospel preached with so
much power and beauty until the Archangel warbled
upon the harps in glory. Dr. Handy's imagination
is wonderful.*
Dr. Derrick preached at night an eloquent ser-
mon. The white people said Handy was a Geor-
gian and Southerner, and out preached New York
— they having, conceived this idea concerning the
former through pride in the South, but both o*
these acquitted themselves grandly.
From the North Alabama Conference we pro-
ceeded directly to Union Spring, Alabama in com-
pany with Drs. Handy and Derrick to hold the
Alabama Conference. The ministers met us
*Dr. Handy was chairman of the committee that examined me in 1866-
for admission into the Conference. This and many other things connected
with our ministerial life caused me to hold Dr. Handy in great respect.
220 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
promptly at nine o'clock, December 4. This ses-
sion was intensely interesting, as the North Alabama
Conference had sent a committee to confer with the
Alabama in establishing the Payne Institute at
Selma, Alabama. This was the first material work
that the Conferences of this State had ever done in
the way of establishing an educational institution
under the auspicies of the A. M. E. Church. The
committee after consultation agreed upon a plan of
uniting the two Conferences in the effort and
brought their report before the Conference. It was
unanimously and enthusiastically adopted. We
now have a valuable piece of property located in
Selma, and known as Payne Institute, with over two
hundred pupils and three competent teachers.
The financial success of this Conference proved to
be the best in its history. The Dollar Money that
had been from $500.00 to $800.00 increased to $2,-
440.30. This unusual success brought the ministers
of the Conference to their feet with cheers and
shouts of victory. The Rev. Layarus Gardner,
Lewis Hillery, and other old members of Conference,
declared that the day star was shining brightly. Many
such expressions as these made the writer feel like
weeping silently at the signal blessing of God upon
our effort to build up our work in Alabama.
I left Union Spring in company with Dr. Handy
(all the General Officers but himself havingleft me).
We stopped at St. James parsonage, Columbus, Ga.,
with Rev. D. T. Green and his excellent wife, who
did all in her power to make our stay pleasant. We
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM, 221
visited the Merchant's Bank there, and Mr. Brannan,
the President, kindly gave us exchange on New-
York for all of the Conference money on hand,
amounting to $3,500.00, and charged us no exchange
as it was Church money.
We left Columbus at 3 p. m., reached Macon at 6
p. m., and were soon domiciled with Rev. L. H.
Smith, pastor of Cotton Avenue church, and left
the next evening at 3 p. m. for Brunswick, Ga., the
seat of the Georgia Conference. On Thursday morn-
ing, December 12th, the Conference opened with
nearly all the ministers present. This Conference
was exceedingly anxious about the amount of Dollar
Money that would be raised, as the Macon Confer-
ence had already raised $5,009.00. This, the moth-
er Conference felt that it must lead. It did raise
$5,090.00, with its membership reported as 26,000.
The presence of Revs. E. P. Holmes, Newman,
W. C. Gaines and L. H. Smith made the struggle
more intense . But when the money had been counted
and the amount stated, it moved the Conference
into almost unprecedented excitement. The visitors
from Macon Conference surrendered, acknowledging
that they were beaten till next Conference. This
was a glorious session held in the little city by the
sea — a beautiful city and most pleasant for a winter
resort.
The South Carolina Conference, through Bishop
Arnett, sent greeting with the announcement of $4,-
150,00 raised in Dollar Money. A telegram was also
received from Bishop Campbell, thanking the Con-
222 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
ference for one sent him, tendering sympathy in his
afflicted state.
Schools, points— all were in a prosperous condition.
Rev. Henry Porter asked for superannuated rela-
tions. Preparations were entered into for the Quarto-
Centennial, and a grand time anticipated.
The preachers admitted on trial were W. D. John-
son, Howard Bunts, S. R. Foster, Robert Evans,
Wm. Daniels, G. B. Davis, J. W. Smith, Benjamin
Roberts, A. Parker, J. R. Thornton, W. E. Shaw,
and J. H. McNatt. The elders ordained were C. H.
Williams, S. M. Matchett, F. H. Henderson and
S. P. Jackson. But one, Rev. Marshall Stephens,
had died.
The session was closed, appointments read out,
and general satisfaction given. This pleasing feat-
ure has so far characterized all . the Conferences I
have so far held. It is my earnest prayer that the
Lord will continue this in the future as in the past
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 223
CHAPTER XXI.
THE SIXTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT.
A brief review of the work in Georgia will best
show the condition of the work in that State. It has
been that of the most rapid growth. The Macon
Conference was organized 1883 by Bishop Wm. F.
Dickerson, and this last Conference has shown the
most astonishing increase. It is the youngest, but
is now almost, if not quite, as strong as the Mother
Conference (Georgia). It has five Presiding El-
der Districts, while the North Georgia has five and
the Georgia seven. The Georgia Conference has
for its leading appointments, Macon, Augusta, Co-
lumbus, Milledgeville, Americus and many other
smaller towns.
In Ihe beautiful, healthful city of Macon, the Cot-
ton Avenue Church, a splendid brick affair, owes its
erection to Rev. T. G. Steward, who labored in that
city long and faithfully. St. James Church, in Co-
lumbus, and Bethel Church, in Atlanta, were the re-
sults of the efforts of the writer, who, by these means,
has been enabled to glorify God and uphold the abil-
ity of the race.
In this Conference some of the leading men who
have worked and fought the good fight for years
224 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
are Revs. J. A. Wood, Henry Strickland, J. EL
Lofton, W. O. P. Sherman, S.D. Roseborough, I. S.
Hamilton, A. W. Lowe, W. H. Powell, S. M.
Clark, H. H. Taylor, E. Lowry, H. B. DowdellJ..
H . Adams, S. C. Powell, R. R. Downs. North
Georgia furnishes us from its ranks, such men as
Elder S. H. Robertson, C. L. Bradwell, R. A. Hall,
Richard Graham, Lawrence Thomas, D. J. Mc-
Ghee, J. L. Flipper, A. S. Jackson, E.W. Lee, J. H.
Hillsom, S. B. Jones, E. A. Shepherd; and the
youthful Macon Conference gives to the cause, E. P.
Holmes, Wright Newman, L. H. Smith, W. C.
Banton, Henry Lester, D. T. Green, J. T. Yeiser,
W. C. Gaines, Allen Cooper, J. A. Cary, Francis
Bodie.
There have been forty-eight annual Conferences
held within the State up to date, not counting the
S. C. Conference held in Savannah in 1866 while
Georgia was yet a mission work. These have been
under the supervision of seven regularly appointed
Bishops during as many quadrenniums, and of
whose work we speak elsewhere. In these forty-
eight we include the separate Conferences held after
the first division in 1873, vvhich gave us the Georgia
and North Georgia, and also after the second divis-
ion in I883, adding the Macon Conference to the
above.*
West of Georgia lies the State of Alabama,
which in its church work has been very closely con-
*For list of the Georgia Conferences, also all previous to 1867, see Ap-
pendix.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 225
nected with the former State, and separated physi-
cally only in part by the waters of the Chattahoo-
chee as they flow southward to the Gulf of Mexico.
It is a State that contains a large colored popula-
tion — a State of great interest to the A. M. E.Church,
and one to which the Southern Mission work of our
church reached out its arms first of all, as soon as
the work had begun in that section. A few
facts concerning this State, which has taken such
wonderful strides in its industries of late, will be all
that the writer will attempt to give here.*
African Methodism was known to exist in the city
of Mobile as early as 1820, but according to our
authority, "the walls of slavery were towering high,
therefore the little band had to bow low again."
Again in 1864, Rev. J. P. Campbell and Rev. M.
M. Clark came to that city, meeting with quite a
cool reception, owing to misunderstandings, but the
"old white college" threw open her doors, and
these two preached the Gospel in the name of Afri-
can Methodism.
In 1867 the Georgia Conference spread its mis-
sion work into that State upon its eastern borders,
and Bishop Wayman gave appointments to Al-
abama when he gave them to Louisiana. The first
mission work for African Methodism, as far as can
be ascertained, was undertaken in 1867 and 1868 by
* The facts given here.; are upon the authority of statement recorded
in the Alabama Conference Journal of 1868, in a short sketch upon the rise:
of African Methodism in Alabama.
15
226 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
Rev. Lazarus Gardner, Cain Rogers, Peter Lips-
comb, Henry Stubbs, R. B. Bailey, Ferdinand
Smith, Godfrey B.Taylor, Lewis Hillery andjacob F.
Crozier. In 1868 the General Conference set apart
a separate Conference for Alabama, and Bishop J.
M. Brown, assigned at that date to the Seventh
Episcopal District as it then stood, organized the
Alabama Conference at Selma, July 25, with a to-
tal membership, reported from the thirty-one points
then in the State, as being 5,617, with six churches
valued at $5,350,00.
Of this first Alabama Conference Lewis Hillery
and R. B. Bailey were the first Secretaries, and the
members consisted of five traveling elders, ten trav-
eling deacons, and seven local licensed preachers.
Three of the elders and nine deacons were trans-
ferred from the Georgia Conference and two elders
and one deacon from the Louisiana Conference.
The work was laid off into four Districts: Union
Springs, Montgomery, Selma and Mobile. When
Bishop J. M. Brown turned over the field to his
successor, Bishop T. M. D. Ward, in 1872, there
were eight districts and ninety-five circuits, sta-
tions and missions, nearly all supplied, while the
membership had reached 10,558, and the number of
churches increased to sixty-six, valued, with other
church property, at $44,600.53. At the close of the
year 1875, we find a report of 9,135 members, (a
falling off, but whether due to the Dollar Money
Law or not, we are unable to say). The same
record gives that money this year as $1,283.55 '■> there
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 227
were also 134 churches valued at $68,000.00, and
233 local preachers.
Bishop J. P. Campbell was next called to preside
over the district, and entered upon the work at the
session of the Alabama Conference held in Selma,
December 14, 1876. In 1877 a committee on "Di-
vision of Conference" reported, and the line was
agreed upon which should separate the Alabama
from the North Alabama Conference. The latter
met at Florence, December 10, 1878, for its first
session. In 1880 Bishop Wayman took up the
-work of this Episcopal District, and after a success-
ful four years turned it over in 1884, with its in-
crease, to Bishop D. A. Payne, in whose hands it
saw four prosperous years, when the writer took
charge of it (188S).
The work in Alabama is growing rapidly, more
rapidly now than at any other time past in the his-
tory of the Conference. At the close of the year
1889 the North Alabama work included four dis-
tricts and seventy-three points, and the Alabama
six districts and ninety-two points. In the latter
Conference the important appointments now are
Mobile, Montgomery, Eufaula, Union Springs, Ope-
lika, Camden, Clayton, Troy and Ozark. There
are four points that may well be mentioned.
St. John's Church, at Montgomery, was organ-
ized in the house of Brother Thorp Williams by
Richard B. Bailey. This was on the south side of
what was then Market street, now called Dexter
228 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
avenue. * The church was organized with about:
five or six members, who worshipped in that place
for sometime. At length they removed to North
Court street, near the Alabama river, occupying an
old work shop owned by Mr. Frazier. This had
the advantage of being at least a public building.
They continued here until they were able to pur-
chase the beautiful lot on the north side of Madison
avenue, between Jackson and Ripley streets. At
this point there is now a beautiful building improved
and repaired by Rev. W. G. Alexander and said to be
the finest in the State. This church has grown
until it now numbers four hundred members, but
those who labored for its organization have all
passed over to the other side — all except Richard
Bailey. Brother Thorp Williams departed this life
May 23, 1890, a true devoted Christian and a lover
to the last of the A. M. E. Church.
The church in Prattville, Alabama, was organized
by R. B. Bailey also. It was given to us by Mr.
Daniel Pratt for church and school purposes. It is
a two-story frame building and a day school is-
taught on the first floor, while the chapel worship is
conducted on the second. Gaines Chapel, at Girard*
was organized by Professor Allen in 1888. It now
numbers seventy-four members and has a very
pretty building in the edifice which bears this name.
This field will be an excellent one as the future
*This avenue took its name from Mr. Dexter, who donated to the citjr
a piece of ground prophesying that at some future day the capitol of th&
State would be located there. According to this prophecy the capitol has
since been built upon this very plat of land.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 229
■opens up before us, if we properly care for it and
keep good, strong young men in it.
The first church (St. Luke's) in Opelika was
built by the A. M. E. Church. Its trustees have now
purchased the St. John's Church, which was built
by the C. M. E. Church. There are only four men
in active service now who were at the organization
■of the Conference by Bishop Brown in 1868 — Rev-
Lazarus Gardner, Lewis Hillery, Andrew James
and Richard Bailey.
In the North Alabama work the most important
points are Selma, Birmingham, Greensboro, Union-
town, Demopolis, Tuscaloosa, Florence, Tuscum-
bia, Decatur and Huntsville. It has strong, earnest
workers in it, with remarkably fair prospects ahead.
We can only name a few of those who are laboring
with well-directed zeal and with sanctified energy in
this promising vineyard of the Master, and who will,
■God willing, make African Methodism in Alabama
a strong power. Among these are E. H.
Dixon, C. H. Calhoun, S. L. Mimms, A. W. Atwa-
ter, C. E. Harris, I. N. Fitzpatrick, W. G. Alexan-
der, R. D. Brooks, J. Brazier, W. H. Mixon, R. M.
Cheeks, F. B. Moreland, J. M. Gerdloe, F. H.
Smith, G. W. Watson, T. W. Coffee.
The Sixth Episcopal District — Georgia and Ala-
bama — shows for the past year, 1889, the following
statistics in full for its work and status: Among its
ministers it has 322 traveling elders, 177 traveling
deacons, 131 traveling preachers, 21 superannuated
preachers, 44 local elders, 47 local deacons; the
ZdU AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
number of presiding elders is 27, the number of
appointments 516, for pastor's support $112,277.00,.
for presiding elders' support $22,888.00; there are
1,386 local preachers, 451 exhorters, 9,616 proba-
tioners and 95,754 full members, making a total o^
107,207; the stewards number 4,136, stewardesses-
5,249, class leaders 4,240, official boards 892, trus-
tees 4,280; there are 828 Sunday-schools with 3,627
officers, 4,052 teachers and 37, 425 pupils, having
46,281 volumes in their libraries and raising $8,-
518.58 as a total of Sunday-school moneys; the
number of churches is S92, valued at $737,134.00,
and the number of parsonages 160, valued at $56,-
376.00. The grand total of moneys raised for all
purposes in the Sixth District last year is $226,403.*
*The writer is^indebted to Bishop B. W. Arnett for the above statistics-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 23$
CHAPTER XXII.
AFRICAN METHODISM EAST AND WEST.
African Methodism was conceived in the North,
The State of William Penn, and the city of
Brotherly Love — Philadelphia — sheltered it in its
birth.
In 1787, through some of the fiercest trials that
ever befell a people, it took its rise. A little band
tired and weary of caste and prejudice that made
the people of color an ostracized sect, to be shut out,
neglected and kept within control, galling to their
fervent spirits, resolved to assert their manhood
rights. They desired most of all free religion,
thought, action and worship.
It was a day ever to be remembered in our land
when Richard Allen, with the few who were to
stand by his side in this great movement, shook off
these shackles and dared to take the steps that has
given us the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
It was a brave deed and one that only men of
strong nerve, strong belief in the right, and a courage
upheld by faith in God, could undertake at a period
when oppression was so cruel and so severe. They
dared much that we might be free.
The little seed grew, watered by divine favor and
232 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
protected by friendly hands, under His guidance.
Richard Allen, the first colored minister to be set
apart for especial work such as this, was ordained
by Bishop Asbury in 1799 — twelve years later — and
was placed in charge of what is now known as the
« Mother Church (Bethel) in Philadelphia. Out
through many difficulties — at last, the Convention,
which meant so much for us, was called in April,
1816, and from the surrounding country the colored
people assembled.
Then and there the A.M. E. Church was born, its
history as a church began and from that day it has
spread its branches far and wide.
Out of its first General Conference in that year
with the one Bishop, Richard Allen, it has grown
until it touches both oceans and the gulf and extends
beyond the great lakes. It has taken root in the
isles of the sea and the land of our fathers.
If we take the grouping arranged at the Centen-
nial of African Methodism, held at Bethel Church,
Philadelphia, in 18S7, we find the Eastern Annual
Conferences to be four in number.
The work extended first eastward. To-day
there is a total of 49,925 colored people in the six
States that compose the New England Conference,
geographically considered, Massachusetts leading
with 18,697 of these members. The Philadelphia
Conference has within its bounds 90,000 colored
people; the New York Conference 65,104 and the
New Jersey Conference 38,853. With a total
colored population of 243,882 in this the First Epis-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 233
copal District, the A. M. E. Church has 85,000 en-
rolled in its membership.*
Churches were established under the New York
Annual Conference (in what became the New Eng-
land Conference in 1852) in New Haven, Conn.,
as early as 1837 by Rev. Charles Burch; in Boston
in 1839, by R- ev - Noah C. W. Canon, who also estab-
lished one (Bethel church) in Providence in 1842.
In New Bedford, Mass., another was established by
the Rev. Eli N. Hall, in 1843. Allen Chapel,
Providence, R. L, was established in 1816 by the
Rev. John T. Haylett. African Methodist Episco-
pal Churches are to be found in Springfield?
Chelsea, Plymouth, Worcester and other places in
Massachusettes, as also in Connecticut, with various
missions.
The western work was growing at the same
time. Societies had already sprung up here and
there. The A. M. E. Church was organized in
Cincinnati, O., in 1844, Feb. 4, by the Rev. Moses
Freeman, who was one of the first to go to Africa
under the Colonization Society, a veritable pioneer
in African Methodism.
George Boler went to Chillicothe in 1822, and
established a church there. In 1823, one was es-
tablished at Steubenville, and others followed, scour-
ing the west; but up to 1830, all the work west of
Pittsburgh and the Ohio river, was attached to the
Philadelphia Conference. At this date the district
Centennial Budget.
234 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
became too large, and the Ohio or Western Con-
ference was organized. The ground gone over in a
circuit was equal to the Southern work in its infancy,,
for we find Columbus, Urbana, .Lancaster, Cir-
cleville and Springfield, as a specimen of the itiner-
ant preacher's work in the early days. To-day
Ohio has two conferences instead of the scattered
work of nearly seventy years ago. Then came
first, work in what might be called the foreign fit-Id
proper, and the Canada Annual Conference was or-
ganized in the North, at Toronto, July 21, 1840, by
Bishop Morris Brown with eleven persons present
and 256 members reported as eligible to the Con-
ference.
As the separation of the Methodist church, North
and South took place soon, there was a continual
drift to African Methodism, growing out of all that
which was to follow from the events which led to
the civil war, and the final bursting of every fetter
from the bondsmen. Another Conference was
added to the list in 1840, as the banner had been
planted long enough in Indiana soil to demand or-
ganized work, and the Indiana Conference came
into existence at Blue River, Oct. 2d, under Bishop
Morris Brown. The western work was an aston-
ishment. Six Conferences with a total member-
ship as reported of 16,396 souls out of the one ins
1816 met the church in three decades.
That was well for a people hardly out of slavery
we might say. The New York Conference work
had so grown, that over its large area it was im-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 235
possible to travel and do the work as one Confer-
ence. So in 1852 Bishop J. A. Payne organized the
New England Conference at New Bedford, in June
following the General Conference, his first organiza-
tion of new work as the general conference had
elected him and Willis Nazrey to the office of
Bishop; and henceforth the A.M. E. Church was
to have its work laid off into districts. The first in-
cluded Baltimore and the New York Conferences;
the second Philadelphia and New England; the third
Ohio, Indiana and Canada.
The Southwest had opened up when the next
General Conference met in Cincinnati in 1856. The
Missouri Conference had been organized in 1855
with 2,249 members at the end of the first year, and
a total of forty-eight ministers. The disturbing
years of the preliminary throes of the revolution
which was upon the country had its effect upon all
things. The unrest and out-breaks here and there
necessarily affected the churches; but in spite of this
the work was extended. After the opening of the
Southern field, in which the deceased Bishop R. H.
Cain, labored long as a missionary before the har-
vest was ripe for garnering into organization, it
was only a matter of time before the increase came.
With the close of the war of the rebellion, that
wonderful new life and energy which seemed toss-
ing forth, vanished and strengthened, as it were, by
the blood of the slave, freely expended its vitality to
extend our fields of labor. It is impossible in a
brief chapter to note the progress of the various
236 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Conferences as the boundaries widened until nearly
every State in the Union finds African Methodism
planted on its soil.
To-day, according to the most accurate statistics —
to-day, a little over one-hundred years from the
conception of our church — we find that we have
reached the work that requires eleven Bishops and a
corresponding number of districts, including our
foreign field and forty-four Conferences, exclusive
of foreign work, as the total, — the A. M. E. Church
presents to the world for the actual work for the
Master in the United States. In this work, if we
follow the facts presented at the Centennial of the
church in 1887, we find the Eastern group of four
Annual Conferences takes in 156 traveling preachers,
14,998 members ;md probationers. The Northern
group of three has no traveling preachers, 9,770
members and probationers. The Western group
of nine has 307 traveling preachers, 21,785 mem-
bers and probationers. The Southern group of
twenty-eight has 1,697 traveling preachers, 228,-
541 members and probationers.
This shows where the future field of African
Methodism lies, as, according to the same authority,
the three Annual Conferences of Georgia have as
many members as the Eastern, Northern and West-
ern groups combined. This the writer can fully
corroborate from personal knowledge of the mem-
bership in Georgia alone which is now over 100,000,
and we are sure that if the proper returns were
made, we should find our membership everywhere
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of FREEDOM. 237
increasing. There is a fear that some of the breth-
ren withhold the membership on account of the Dol-
lar Money. This should not be so, for the sake of
the Church generally. Every member should be
reported honestly by ever}- minister, regardless of
any inability, from whatever cause, to collect this
money. We need accurate statistics, and all these
things help to make them — and so to weave a his-
tory of which we may well feel proud.
538 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SOUTHWEST AND OTHER SOUTHERN STATES.
African Methodism has spread, as we have said,
all over this broad land. Commencing in the east
it moved eastward and westward; over into the
great Northwest Territory it found foothold, — in the
states beyond the Alleghany mountains, and on be-
yond the Mississippi, as noted elsewhere. From
Kansas on to the Rocky Mountains, and to the Pacific
States beyond it spread.
It also stretched out into the States of Arkansas,
Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louis-
iana, and extended downward into North Carolina
and Virginia, as Southern States, aside from the
three clustered about Georgia.
Bishop Shorter's first work included Arkansas,
Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. He
organized the Texas Conference in November,
1868. We are told that in 1872 there were but
four A. M. E. Churches in this State.- These were
located in Galveston, Houston, Bryan and Corsicana.
Out of three Presiding Elder Districts thirty-five
appointments were possible, while the Presiding El-
ders were also pastors. Some of them could not
write to any extent, and, as in the early days of the
"•"African Methodism in Texas,"— Centennial address by Rev. W. R»
Carson, to which we are indebted for these facts.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 239
Church, when young Richard Allen was carried
from point to point to do the writing for the Con-
ference, it is said that H. Kealing has accompanied
the Texas ministers for the same purpose; but the
work was done and the foundations laid. Bishop
Brown was assigned the work in 1872, and under
him it began anew. He found there an area of
237,504 square miles, and a population of 253,475
colored people belonging to six different churches —
the A, M. E. Church, Catholic, Baptist, Campbel-
lites, colored M. E. Church of America, and M. E-
Church, South. This scattered work led him to
make six Presiding Elder Districts, and R. Haywood
was placed over San Antonio, Wm. Leak over
Chapel Hill, E. Uammitte over Galveston, H. Wil-
hite over Spring Hill, J. Goins over Dallas, F.
Green over Corpus Christi.
The work increased until December, 1874, when
the Conference was divided into Texas and West
Texas, with the Brazos river as the boundary line
and three Presiding Elder Districts in each. Some
trouble arose, but it was easily settled. Then the edu-
cational spirit became ripe here, too, and even at the
first Conference it was agreed to have a Conference
High School, and one was established at Austin.
The 1 the Conference took hold of the project, which
resulted later in Paul Quinn College at Waco.
Those who endured the hardships of early work
in Texas say that the early preachers and bishops
had many of them up to I876. But the work was
240 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
established with a college, a numbrr of handsome
churches, four Conferences set for 1890 — the third
being the Texas Central and the fourth the North-
east Texas — a good church membership with a
growing number of influential preachers, all under
the present leadership of Bishop Abram Grant, in
himself a power.
The Pacific coast was struggling for a long time
with a few scattered members and innumerable dif-
ficulties. Rev. J. H. Hubbard, Presiding Elder,
and a member of the Colorado Conference in I887,
himself a pioneer preacher, has said they could boast
with Paul, " These hands have ministered to my ne-
cessities and of those who were with me. " Twelve
churches and three hundred members from the
north to the south of the Pacific slope could but
struggle, but it is praiseworthy that the work was
established through such difficulties . Bishop Ward,
when still an elder, was appointed to this region as
missionary, and to him is due the first organization
of churches. True to his first work, and so well
adapted to it from early experiences, he was returned
to it upon his election to the Bishopric in 1868..
The work of the A. M. E. Church now dots the
coast over a stretch of country most creditable to our
Home Mission enterprise.
Bishop Shorter's first work upon entering the
Bishopric was to organize the Tennessee Annual
Conference at Nashville. There are now two Con-
ferences. The Mississippi Conference was also-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OP FREEDOM. 241
organized by Bishop Shorter in 1868, and the Arkan-
sas Conference, at Little Rock, was organized by
him as well. Bishop Brown followed his footsteps
in 1872 in what was then the Second District — Louis-
iana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee — and under his
planning Paul Quinn College took shape, while he
organized the West Texas, South Arkansas, West
Tennessee and Columbia, S. C, Conferences, the
last named during his first quadrennium — 1868-72.
The Alabama Conference was organized by him July
25, 1868, out of which has grown the North Alabama
Conference. Bishop Brown superintended the or-
ganization of the A. M. E. Churches in Virginia and
North Carolina. The work in Louisiana was begun
in 1848, when the A. M. E. Church was organized
in New Orleans. Of the forty-four Conferences in
the connection, Virginia has one; North Carolina
one; South Carolina two; Florida two; Arkansas
two; Mississippi two; Texas four; Louisiana two;
Kentucky two; Tennessee two; the others are
located in the North and West.
Stepping eastward over the Georgia boundary we
find the Palmetto State with its twenty-five years'
record doing grandly for Christ's kingdom, a work
of which we shall soon hear from a pen well fitted to
prepare it, and therefore pass it by with no further
entering into detail concerning it, save to prophesy
that it will still continue to prosper under Bishop
C. W. Arnett's guiding hand, the present quadren-
*Bishop Arnett has in preparation a history of South Carolina and Flor-
ida. 10
242 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
In 1866, when Bishop Payne held the South
Carolina Conference in Savannah, Ga., Rev. Chas.
H. Pierce, an elder, Rev. Wm. Bradwell and others
were sent to Florida to establish the A. M. E.
Church, They met with great success. Rev. C.
H. Pierce fully deserves to be called the father of
the Florida Conference. He should be regarded in
history as bearing the same relation to the Florida
work as Bishop R. H. Cain to South Carolina and
Bishop H. M. Turner to Georgia.
There is a grand set of ministerial workers in that
Land of Fowers, men with whom the writer hopes to
be better acquainted in the future.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 243
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE BISHOPS OF THE WORK IN GEORGIA.
As Bishop Payne has told us in his " Recollec-
tions " he arrived in the city of Charleston, S. C,
early in May, I865, after an enforced exile of thirty
years. When he left he was a young man of thirty-
four years, full of the fire of ambition and earnest
desire for the education of the race — abundantly
testified to by the strong work done for Christ and
humanity and the race even then, and later an inspir-
ing monument to all who may be fired with similar
zeal. Now, after that long absence he returns, a
man of fifty-four years of matured experience and
wisdom, to take the step which has opened up a
vast amount of territory to the Mother Church and
spread wide her dominions.
It was but one of the many steps that this wise
and venerable prelate has taken for the extension
of the connection eastward and westward. He had
traveled far and wide ere this in the interest of the
church, not only as Bishop, but as the historiog-
rapher of the church, appointed by the General
Conference.
But it is not in his "Recollections" that is found
the record of his work done in the organization of
244 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
the A .M. E. Church in the South. That he has
left, with characteristic modesty, for some one
else to record, and the full account of that work
can only be given when the history of our
church in South Carolina shall be written as a com-
plement to these pages upon its sister State.
In the opening chapters is given a survey of the
rise of our church in the South, and of our Senior
Bishop's connection with it. Here it is but our pur-
pose to review this connection with our work as well
as the connection of all the Bishops who have pre-
sided over the work in Georgia.
As Bishop D. A. Payne was the first Bishop of
the South Carolina Conference, he was also the first
of the Georgia Conference, but sent Bishop Way-
man to hold it in his stead, as he was on the eve of
a journey to Europe, It was Bishop Payne, also,,
who presided over the first session of the Confer-
ence held in the State, in Savannah, 1866. The
work of his Episcopacy devolved upon Bishop
Wayman during his absence in Europe, which ac-
counts for the presence of that distinguished prelate
in our Southern work at that time, the only time, in
fact, that he has as yet had charge of the work in
Georgia.*
To Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne then, belongs
the honor of being our first Southern Bishop. It
was to his formative hand that so many owed their
*Bishop Wayman, therefore, was not one of the regular Bishops in that
State, but as one of the workers then, we would say that he was one of the-
most popular preachers in the Church, possessing, too, a most amiable and
kindly disposition.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM, 245
first intellectual training in the early private school
in Charleston, and it was appropriate that his should
be the formative hand laid upon the work of the
Church in the South in 1865.
As a man among men, a Christian scholar, a de-
vout disciple of the lowly Jesus, and a leader of the
young in paths of education, the writer has known
him from his own youth. His hands were the ones laid
upon his head in solemn ordination as a deacon, in
Savannah, in 1866, and again his hands were the
ones which consecrated him to the work of the Bish-
opric in 1888.
The elevation of the race has been Bishop Payne's
one steadfast aim, and he has been father and teacher
and benefactor to all who have come within his
reach, and who have been filled with high aspira-
tions. He has sown most beautifully to this end of
the goods which the Lord has vouchsafed him in
this life, and he is reaping already the fruit of his
hands in the cultured youth all over the land. To-
day Bishop Daniel A. Payne stands a landmark for
all who desire the true success in life with all that
it means. Now, at the ripe age of seventy-nine,
passing on grandly and triumphantly into his four-
score years, by reason of his strength, supported by
God's grace, yet are his days not only days of
"pleasantness and peace," but of labor still; for he
meets his regular duties as Bishop, bearing, in ad-
dition, the responsibilities of Dean of Wilberforce
University, (the intellectual child of his love) and
President of the Board of Trustees of the Combined
246 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Normal and Industrial Department recently opened
up there through the generosity of the State of
Ohio. Though venerable, Bishop Payne is remark-
able for sparkling wit, elegant manners and solid
talents, yet as amiable as the tenderest woman. His
home, made desolate by the death of his beloved
wife in 1889 — a gentle lady whom all now miss — is a
model for comfort, and for decorum is grand.
The General Conference of 1868 elected as
Bishops, James A. Shorter, T. M. D. Ward and J.
M. Brown, and the last named was assigned to the
Southern work, coming to Georgia to meet the An-
nual Conference, which assembled in Columbus, Ga.,
Febuary 6, 1869, at its second session. For four
years he presided over the Conference until 1872,
with the even justice and courtly bearing for which
he is still so noted.
Bishop J. M. Brown, too, has been long connected
with the important movements of the A. M. E.
Church. In the North, where he was born, he was
one of the early workers in every good cause. He
was really the first colored President of a colored
school, having been made such of the Union Semi-
nary, situated near Columbus, O., a school that was
in truth the mother school of all. Not a success
financially it still gave birth to the next movement
which established Wilberforce University in 1856*
under the M. E. Church in Ohio, and which passed
to us in 1863. Bishop Brown's genial manners and
cultured grace betoken the true gentleman of in-
nate refinement, while his wide knowledge of men and
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 247
books give him that powerful hold that learning al-
ways bestows for good or evil, but add to this the
Christian, as we find him in our tenth Bishop, and
we have a combination that nothing can resist.
Then if we add still that fearless aggressiveness
which dares anything for what he conceives to be
right, we feel that then we have but feebly expressed
the strength reposing in this one of the pillars
of African Methodism.
Pages might be filled with the reminiscences of
this Bishop, as he has labored to perform the duties
of his office — labors which are simply the extended
efforts of those he has ever put forth throughout
the South for years previous, as Missionary Secre-
tary; but they must give way here to find their
place in the individual histories of what these men
have wrought for the A. M. E. Church wherever
they have been sent.
We had been favored for two succeeding quad-
renniums with a newly elected Bishop to preside over
our Southern work, by reason of Bishop Payne's
absence,* and now, the General Conference meet-
ing in Nashville, Tenn., in 1872, sent us Bishop T.
M. D. Ward, who had been elected^ to the Bench
of Bishops in 186S. It may have been because
there were no new Bishops made at that session
that such an one was not sent Southward, still the
Southern cause was enriched by this method, as the
bold, pushing work done in the early years of the
existence of our church in the South shows.
*Bishop Wayman was elected in 1864, and was called to take Bishop
Payne's place in the Southern work during the latter's absence.
248 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
Bishop Ward has been from the first of his min-
istry a missionary. The work upon the Pacific
coast is an indication of this. He was a Pennsylvanian
by birth, and early turned to the A. M. E. Church.
He had seen four years of service as Bishop in his
old missionary field when he was assigned to Georgia,
Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. He is one of
those unique men of whom but few are made in a
generation, one born to command by his very pres-
ence and yet with such dignity and impartiality that
the sense of obedience is lost in the admiration of
that unconscious power one perceives him to wield.
Under his direction the General Conference reached
the limit which saw its first division. He has ever
been a worker and of such ability that the mother
college, Wilberforce, has honored him with a degree.
A man now venerable, yet so fatherly, this battle-
scarred veteran always brings with him a blessed
gospel message in his look and an experience rich
in divine love.
In 1876 the venerable Bishop Campbell came to
the Southern field as presiding Bishop. His hair
was then white with the snows of over fifty years.
Like Bishop Ward he had earry entered the ranks
of the A. M. E. Church, and was a missionary, but
while Bishop Ward went westward, he was sent
eastward. Up to 1865 the California Church had
never seen one of its Bishops. He then visited the
Pacific coast and organized the California Con-
ference. This self-same year of taking charge of
the work in the South he visited England as a del-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 249
egate from the General Conference to the Wesleyan
General Conference. He has been a man of study
and encouraged all things pertaining to an education,
urging both cultivation of head and heart. His gift
of $1,000 to Wilberforce is but one of many gifts he
has made. Many a young man and woman who
may read these lines will recall the kind words and
substantial aid rendered in time of need when acquir-
ing an education. As he has said, he now forms the
only link between the founders of the A. M. £.
Church and his generation. He was the first man
who ever moved to publish a periodical in the
A. M. E. Church, and he has been fully indentified
with all the great educational interests of the wide-
spread connection. His four years were character-
ized by growth in the work and pleasing companion-
ship, which was intensified by the personal attributes
of this gracious man of God. Now he, too, is in his
declining years, sorely afflicted ; but the writer has
been only too happy to assist him by taking charge of
his work in the N. C. Conference fon889.
Again a newly elected Bishop was assigned to
the Southern field, Bishop Wm. F. Dickerson, the
thirteenth Bishop of the A. M. E. Church, elected to
that office in 1880, shortly after he had attained his
thirty-sixth year. He was a graduate of Lincoln
University, Pennsylvania, and was a man of classi-
cal mold who brought to his work not only his
learning, but a zeal and enthusiasm that wore him
out. Life certainly was with him a " fitful fever."
He was fired to overwork whenever work presented
250 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
itself, and as a pulpit orator, he burned with elo-
quence whenever he arose to speak for the Master.
He was, as has been said, " aggressive and progress-
ive, " a man full to the brim of epigrammatic speech,,
terse and forceful in all his utterances, and one
whom his friends cannot soon forget, of whom the
writer was one of the nearest. Among some of his
sayings we take a few. In speaking relative to
preaching, especially when seeking to convince the
hearers, " Let all preachers especially prepare care-
fully every sermon which has that definite aim.
I believe that a preacher should always preach to'
those in front rather than to the amen corner." Again,
" A man who rose by merit alone w r as like one who
ascends a vast height by regular and appointed
steps, but one who had been too hasty and had
risen by improper methods, was like a crazy man
who had climbed to the top of a lofty steeple, whose
brain began to totter and whirl for the tremendous
fall that awaited him." He said at the Georgia
Conference of 1883, when commenting on the lesson
in Proverbs which he read, " I have been looking
at the brethren to see what is killing them, and I
find it is not the bullet, but the friction of life — the
wear and tear — but if you can manage to keep life
sweet and temper even, you will enjoy life better. "
On the subject of speaking, the Bishop said: * A
speaker must begin on a low key. If a man vio-
lates this rule to an extreme — not too long, not too
loud — he will soon die in the Lord, but he had
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 251
better live in the Lord and do the work assigned
him. "
He was allowed to spend four earnest working
years with us and to graciously introduce his suc-
cessor, when almost immediately the Lord called
him to " rest. " When Bishop Wm. Fisher Dicker-
son died the church lost one of its foremost leaders,
the race one of its most brilliant pulpit orators and
advocates and humanity at large a friend, for he
was a large-souled, warm-hearted man to whom
narrow views and prejudices were strangers. The
appreciation of his labors in Georgia is shown by
the resolutions and speeches mentioned elsewhere.
In 1884 another veteran soldier entered the work
in Georgia and South Carolina in the person of
Bishop James A. Shorter, who had then spent six-
teen years in the Episcopacy. For three years he
was allowed by Providence to exercise the authority
of his office and then he, too, was called hence
(July 1, 1887), the third Bishop who had fallen
within the short space of less than three years.*
Bishop Shorter was a man of strong personality;
a man of few words, but glorying in deeds; he was
frank and outspoken when he did speak, and withal
generous and progressive, a man who won many
friends by his unswerving walk when once fixed
upon the path he deemed right to tread. He, too,
was a strong friend of all educational movements
and a free giver of his money to ail needful enter-
"Bishop R. H. Cain, the fourteenth Bishop of the A. M. E. Church, was
elected to the Episcopacy 1880, and died January, 1886.
252 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
prises. His gifts to Wilberforce were indicative of
the man and of his kindly disposition to those
things which were dear to his heart. As a friend,
he was unalterable, unchanging with time or circum-
stances.
The messenger of death came for him most sud-
denly one pleasant summer morning and he was
called to answer the summons at once. His dear
wife had already preceded him to that better land
and both are now in glory. His unexpired term
was filled by Bishops Wayman and Brown, in Geor-
gia, and Bishops Campbell and Ward, in South Car-
olina. Thus twice in close succession the Georgia
Conferences have been called to mourn a loss touch-
ing them more closely than under other circum-
stances.
There is still one more Bishop who has had
charge of the work in Georgia, the present Bishop
of the Sixth Episcopal District, Bishop Wesley J.
Gaines. Concerning him and his work, the follow-
ing from the Budget of the A. M. E. Church, 1881-
84, is a biographical sketch :*
•'Wesley J. Gaines was born in Wilkes county,
Georgia, near Washington, October 4, 1840. He is
the seventh son and youngest child of fourteen chil-
dren that were born to William and Louisa Gaines.
His father was a member of the M. E. Church,
-This sketch of the writer has been corrected and revised with such
additions as may be of interest to the reader and due the church as biogra-
phy. It is because of this latter reason that he has been induced to insert
it here.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 255
South, and his mother was a Baptist. They were a
devoted couple and lived in unity for fifty-eight years,.
until the death of the husband October 30, 1865.
The Christian wife and mother died February 12,
1870.
" Wesley J. Gaines was converted at the age of
nine years. His first serious impression of the
Holy Ghost was at the early age of three and a
half years. His mother was at this time praying for
him under a fig tree, gathering vegetables. Her
prayer was: 'Oh God, make this, my boy Wesley,,
such a man as thou wouldst have him be. Make
him thy son for Jesus' sake. ' The solemn impres-
sion made by his mother's prayer was never for-
gotton.
" He was a slave, and his boyhood was spent
upon a plantation. In early life he was of very
delicate physique, and this seemed to be the oppor-
tunity that God had given him to learn to read. At
the age of eleven years he commenced to study the
alphabet, and by divine help, and some instructions
from a white boy, George Daniels, he mastered it in
one week's time. He learned to write without aid,
simply by studying and imitating the copies in his
book. While sick he would lie at home and read,
though his books had to be kept concealed from the
white people. One night during the civil war, the
'patrollers' called at his father's house in search of
books and weapons. Wesley hid his books out in
an ash hopper, and much to his sorrow a heavy
rain fell and the lie thus formed ruined his books.
254 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
His grief over his loss was so great that his father
gave him all the money he had ($3.50) to purchase
other books. With this he bought an English
grammar, geography, ' Peter Parley's' history, a
copy book, pen and ink. The first letter he ever
wrote was addressed to his brother, Stephen; he,
having no money, dropped the letter without stamp-
ing it and ran from the office as fast as he could.
The postmaster notified his brother at Washington,
who forwarded the postage and received the letter.
Stephen's reply to this letter inspired him to study.
"In 1855 he noved to Steward county, Georgia,
where he remained one year. Having a severe spell
of sickness, for three or four years he improved the
time by applying his mind to the study of the Bible
and other books. In 1856, he removed to Musco-
gee county.
" His call to the ministry dates back to early boy-
hood. He always preached the funeral sermons of
all the birds, dogs and chickens that died on the
place, and always felt seriously inclined to preach.
When he felt most deeply impressd and desired to
go at the work he, at the same, time felt an inclina-
tiou to shun it ; a sickening thought of dread and
awe overcame him; he fasted and prayed and thus
found the ' yoke easy and the burden light.' The
first impression that he was called to preach was
made at the age of six years, in 1846, after listening
to an able sermon preached by the lat£ Bishop
George F. Pierce, of the M. E. Church South.
"At the old plantation, in Muscogee county,
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 255
August 20th, 1863, he was married to Miss Julia A.
Camper, an amiable young lady of charming face
and figure, but whose virtues, Christian life, wifely
wisdom, succor, character and mind were more
noble and lasting than her face was beautiful. She
has been one of the few wives who has made her
husband's love for her., and of which she is so wor-
thy, rush on in the same current with all the great
aims of his life. And to-day, as Bishop Gaines
looks back over the past, he says with pride,
'through the efforts of my wife I am what I am.'
The only child which has blessed their union is
Mary Louisa, born December ist, 1872.
"In 1865, Wesley J. Gaines applied for a license
to preach, which was granted in June of the same
year by Rev. J. L. Davies, of the M. E. Church
South. His older brother, Rev. Wm. Gaines, was
ordained in the same month by Bishop D. A. Payne,
at Hilton Head, South Carolina, and appointed mis-
sionary of the State of Georgia. He visited Co-
lumbus and established the first A. M. E. church,
and meeting his brother, Wesley, on St. Clair street,
was the means of his joining the church then and
there. A few months after his brother died, and
H. M. Turner, now Bishop, succeeded him as Pre-
siding Elder of Georgia.
"Wesley J. Gaines was admitted by Bishop Payne
to the then South Carolina Conference, at Savan-
nah, Georgia, in 1866, ordained deacon by Bishop
Payne at that Conference and elder at Wilmington,
256 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
North Carolina, by Bishop A. W. Wayman, in
1867.
"His first appointment was to the Florence Mission,.
Georgia, in 1866. He was stationed at Atlanta,
Georgia, in 1867, '68 and '69 ; Athens, 1870; at
Macon, Georgia, 187 1, '72, and '73 ; at Columbus,
Georgia, in 1874, '75, '76, and '77. He was re-
turned to Macon in 1878, '79 and 80. He then
went back to Atlanta in 1881, '82, '83 and '84.
During his first appointment at Atlanta he built
Bethel A. M. E. Church, located on Wheat street,,
which church they are now rebuilding at a cost of
$30,000, by Rev. Lawrence Thomas.
"During his first appointment at Macon, Georgia,,
he did a telling work. His predecessor, Rev. T. G.
Steward, had laid the foundation of Cotton Avenue
A. M. E. Church. Elder Gaines raised an indebted-
ness of $4,500, and during his second term com-
pleted the church. During his four years at Co-
lumbus, Georgia, he built St. James now worth
$20,000.
"In 1870 he studied theology at Athens, Georgia,,
under Rector Henderson, a very religious and lib-
eral minded minister of the Protestant Episcopal
church, going to his church to recite twice a week,
From 1875 to 1878 he read theology with the Rev.
Joseph S. Key, now Bishop Key, at the same time
he studied rhetoric under Rev. B. H. Sasnatt, of
Oxford College.
"He received the degree of D. D. at Wilberforce
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 257
in June, 1883. He has raised for the A. M. E.
Church, during his ministerial labors, over $200,000.
Whatever success his work may have been blessed
with, he attributed it directly to the goodness of the
All Wise One. He often wonders why God so
feebly blessed his efforts in the pulpit.
" Dr. Gaines has held the offices of Book Steward
of the North Georgia Conference, member of the
A. M. E. Financial Board, Treasurer and President
of Board of Trustees of the Morris-Brown College,
and also Trustee of the Wilberforce University. In
1888 he was elected Bishop of the church on the
first ballot, with the largest majority any Bishop had
ever received in the A. M. E. Church.
"When he was freed at emancipation, lie was in
feeble health, with care of his wife and aged father
and mother and not a dollar he could call his own.
In 1865 he buried his father and two brothers, Rev.
Wm. H. Gaines and Reuben Gaines. The funeral
expenses of all these were upon him in his state of
poverty.
"Mr. Gabriel Toombs, his former owner, re-
quested him to go to Washington, Georgia, and
live with him, but he informed Mr. Toombs that he
was called to preach the gospel, and since a door had
been opened to fulfil that call lie felt it was his duty
to go. Mr. Toombs spoke encouraging words to
him, and asked God to bless him, for he himself had
been a Steward of M. E. Church for over thirty-five
years, and he is a Steward of the church until this
258 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
day at the age of seventy-seven. Bishop Gaines had
the pleasure of holding the Annual Conference in
Washington in 1889. Mr. Toombs, though in fee-
ble health, visited the Conference in order to see
him and introduced him as "our Bishop Gaines and
my friend."
"He told him he always knew that he would suc-
ceed in whatever he undertook. He sent for him
to visit him and the visit at his house was very cor-
dial and pleasant. Every man is what he makes
himself in this life. If we respect ourselves and
elevate ourselves in a position to command respect,
it will inevitably be given us."
"Stephen Gaines, his oldest brother, seventy-six
years old, is living in Atlanta, Georgia. Augustus
Gaines is a successful farmer in Muscogee county,
owning a plantation worth $5,000; he has a wife, and
thirteen children in an honorable living. Therefore,
honest work is no disgrace.
"We have in the life of Bishop Gaines an illustra-
tion of what study and religion can do for a man,
and also what the possibilities are in the A. M. E.
Church for a man who will do his duty. He may be
ap ower and a strong tower if he will but trust in God.
He may be unknown, but by work he will be known
from Maine to Georgia."
So, from 1868 until 1890, the Georgia work has
been presided over regularly for six quadrenniums by
the six last named Bishops, and Bishop Payne, who
had charge of the work in 1865, '66, '67, gives
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 259
us seven in all. Two of the seven have fallen; two
are aged and descending the hill of life; one has long
been bearing infirmities; one is long past middle age,
but bearing well his years.
One, the sixteenth Bishop and the youngest of all,
still thanks God for life, health and strength, though
he may be the first of these remaining to be called
away. God in his wisdom alone knows. May he
so live that he will be ready whenever the summons
comes to enter triumphantly upon the Life that is to
come.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 2(51
CHAPTER XXV.
GENERAL GROWTH AND FINANCE.
With the close of the war the negro race was thrown
upon its own resources or the kindness of its friends,
North and South, for substantial aid in assuming its
new responsibilities. Very few individuals of the
race possessed any means and these exceptions were
not wealthy. We had to exert ourselves in order to
become adapted to the new state of things, and en-
deavor to arrange our plans so that the future might
have for us better advantages — more luminous pros-
pects. We were worse than poor — we had not been
trained in the school of economy, for poverty and
economy do not by any means necessarily go hand-
in-hand. We were destitute of all else except the
brawn and muscle, which the labors of centuries had
developed, and the virtue of patient waiting which
had become a part of the race — one of its most noted
characteristics.
There is an old saying that all things come to those
who wait. Freedom had come, after a bondage of
two hundred and fifty years. We had learned to work
and we had learned to wait. They were two admir-
able qualities, and our sole stock, when the Emanci-
pation Proclamation made us free. What could we
do but contmue to use them ? This we have done.
Gradually returning prosperity has scattered its be-
'262 AMERICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH )
neficent gifts upon the southland, and among those
who have been blessed with rewards for the earnest,
faithful toil of industrious hands, are the colored
people ; and, as a people, they have fulfilled well their
money obligations to the churches, according as the
Lord has blessed them.
The greatest numbers are in the South, and there
greatest poverty and distress exist ; yet, with all this,
there too the greatest prosperity has attended the
race, and there has been a steady increase in the finan-
cial growth of the Southern work as connected with
the Church.
From the first, church edifices and parsonages were
sought for, and every effort put forth for such as
would be a credit to us, so that the property the
Church owns now in the one State of Georgia alone
amounts by a rough estimate to $400,000. This has
been accumulated while keeping up the regular col-
lections, which go to support the Church work, and
this, too, has been well done from the first. Without
any special plan, except to follow the laws as laid
down in the Discipline, the workers brought in their
mites. In 1872 the dollar system was adopted, and
the first year of which we have a record for the Geor-
gia Conference (1868), before this was in operation,
showed us by rough estimate as contingent fund
raised, $156.50 ; ministers' support, $82,000; Sunday
school, $207.00; Book Concern, $97.00; bishops'
support, $228.00. The year after the first division
took place, in 1873, the two Conferences made record
that the contingent fund was $207.67 ; pastors' su| -
port, $35,328.64; missions, .$17.10; dollar money }
$2,041.25. In 1883, nearly a decade later, when growth
OR TWENTY-FIVE V EARS OF FREEDOM. 263
demanded another division, we find the monies from
the Georgia Conference alone to be : contingent fund,
$cS1.70 ; pastors' support, 518,347.38 ; presiding elders'
salary, $4,449.69 ;|expenses, $113.15 ; missions, $42.44;
■educational, $178.70 ; college, $26.00 ; dollar money,
$2,054.40, aside from some minor sums.
It is now less than ten years since this last report,
and in the year of 1889 the Sixth Episcopal District
raised a total of $17,536.06 dollar money, and $126,000
for all purposes, while as stated elsewhere the entire
total of the monies raised in the Sixth Episcopal Dis-
trict last year was $226,403.
There has been a steady gain in every line, year by
year, decade by decade, but the last year has been
almost phenomenal in its successful increase. Our
statistics, when put fully before the world, will show
that the A. M. E. Church helps largely to swell the
Christian membership of the world, and our growth
compares favorably with other denominations, the
general statistics of which are given by reliable au-
thority,* and from which we take the following :
"The growth in Protestant membership during the
year has been 668,000. The Methodists gained more
tnan 256,000, the Baptists more than 213,000, the Lu-
therans 98,000, the Congregationalists more than 16,-
000, and the Episcopalians about 9,500." The gain
in Catholic communicants is also given asjover 238,-
000. According to this authority the Methodist mem-
bership outnumbers the Catholic, whose communi-
cants are estimated to reach 4,076,000. "Then come
the Methodists with, in round numbers, 4,980,000 ;
Baptists, 4,292,000 ; Presbyterians, 1,229,000 ; Luther-
:? The Independent.
264 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
ans, 1,086,000; Congregationalists, 491,000 ; Episco-
palians, 480,000."
An analysis of the work of the A. M. E. Church
shows that we have eleven bishops, seven general
departments of the Church, as follows : The Publica-
tion Department, under Dr. J. C. Embry ; Missionary
Department, under Dr. W. B. Derrick ; Financial De-
partment, under Dr. James A. Handy; Educational
Department, under Dr. Wm. D. Johnson ; Sunday-
school Department, under Dr. C. S. Smith ; Literary
Department, under Bishop H. M. Turner, and the
Church Extension. The last four departments have
received their greatest development in the last four
years, dating from 18 6, and all are well supported in
the South.
Our statistics have not been the fullest nor in the
best possible shape for entire accuracy, but no one
will deny even then that we have gone forward with
astonishing rapidity.
The South is a wonderful land of itself. It has
proven itself possessed of most unusual recuperative
powers in its struggles to arise from the ruins of the
civil war. It has been said by many who are looking
it over to-day that, without doubt, it is to be the
richest country upon the globe. Be this as it may, it
certainly combines advantages possessed by no other
section. It has a most genial climate, a rich, produc-
tive soil, yielding readily and bountifully to tillage ; it
has mineral wealth which is as yet hardly known or
understood, and, aside from its abundance of coal and
iron, other minerals are by no means scarce ; it has
timber as an unlimited source of wealth, including as
it does the best of woods, from the noted Georgia
OK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 265
pine to nearly every variety of hard woods that the
wood-worker may find a use for. Its water-ways are
numerous and easily reached, both the ocean which
skirts the long coasts of a number of the Southern
States and the numerous rivers, large and small
which flow from the inland heights in all directions to'
the gulf and sea.
Cardinal Gibbons has well said: "With its coal
fields and iron lying side by side, with its cotton on
the coast and its wheat in the interior, with its great
crops of tobacco and sugar-cane, I can see no reason
why it should not become one of the greatest indus-
trial centres in America." There is no reason why
this should not be so, and such being the case, there
must be an increase in financial prosperity for all but
the thriftless and lazy. Since the census of ten years
ago, fifteen thousand new manufacturing enterprises
have been established in the South, we are told, and
they cover nearly all the branches of industry. The
same statistics show that the capital for new under-
takings in one year alone exceeded sixty millions of
dollars. Then, too, since that date, over ten thousand
miles of railway have been built, and thus every spe-
cies of work is greatly facilitated by these more rapid
means of travel. With this last outlay, which has
been estimated at over $200,000,000, we find the
assessed value of property has increased nearly
$1,000,000,000.
If we glance at all this to see how it affects the
colored race we sha 1 instantly see that our prosperity
in every way has increased with the growth of the
South. In 1883 the negroes in Georgia paid taxes on
#0,000,000 worth of property which, in 1884, had in
266 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
creased to more than $7,000,000, and is now (1890) far
in excess of the latter figures.
If we look at two cities of this Empire State of the
South we shall have an idea of what is going on upon
varying scales in other cities throughout this region.
Atlanta, the empire city of the Empire State, is not'
the ghost, even, of the Atlanta which lay smoking in
ruins twenty-six years ago, with all its industries
swept out of existence in a few short hours by the
relentless hand of war ; and yet, like that wonderful
bird, the Phoenix, it has arisen from its own ashes,
more beautiful, more fair, greater and more magnifi-
cent in every way — its returned prosperity so far out-
shining that of the past that it aids in creating the
era of better feeling between the sections. Here we
find a large number of the race engaged in business
prospering in many ways. It is the great neyro edu~
cational centre of the South, with its public schools'
in which thirty-two teachers have charge of over two-
thousand pupils, and the institutions of learning sup-
ported by denominations or general philanthropy?-
among which are Atlanta University, Clark University,
Spellman Seminary, Gammon Theological School and
our own Morris Brown College.
One hunc red miles to the south lies Macon, the
beautiful city named after its founder, Nathaniel
Macon, and lying upon both sides of the Ocmulgee
river. It was fortunate in escaping destruction in the
civil war, and to-day stands with its past and present
beauty united to make a lovely spot. It is an impor-
tant railway centre and an educational feeder as well
to the higher institutions of learning through its ex-
cel. ent public schools and the Ballard Institute, known
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 267
and carried on for so many years as the Lewis High
School, supported by Northern generosity. Here,
too, we find such prosperity for the negro that we are
led to make from good authority a statement showing
how the race is flourishing in this city.*
A few years ago the city directory gave the popu-
lation as 9,673 colored, 10,619 whites, with the colored
people paying taxes on $86,550 in city real estate,
while outside the city limits they also paid taxes on
land valued at $141,094, which was one-ninth of the
entire valuation of farming lands in Bibb County.
There were 37 colored shoemakers, 17 retail grocers,
45 draymen, 55 bricklayers, 80 carpenters, 1 dentist,
42 blacksmiths, 9 harness-makers, 39 barbers, 2 mat-
tress-makers, 4 machinists, 2 gas fitters, 10 puddlers,
11 clerks, 1 keepers of wood-yards, 1 pressman, 65
railroad employes, 4 United States mail agents, 2
chair-makers, 3 candy-makers, 3 coopers, 55 gardeners,
23 painters, 2 upholsterers, 5 tailors, 2 bakers, 5 stone-
cutters, 2 letter-carriers, 1 cabinet-maker, 11 ministers
and 9 school teachers. These, with others, made up
1,556 as a total of the ; eople engaged in some honor-
able and useful business.
There were also 14 churches, with a total member-
ship of about 3,700, two of them numbering over
1,200; 13 Sunday-schools, with 2,000 members, 2 pub-
lic schools, with seven teachers and 400 scholars, and
sustained by the city. This is not counting in the
Lewis High School and the various private schools,
which would enroll a total of over 700 pupils.
This has now (1890) increased far above what is
*The "Helping Hand." a little sheet published by the pastor of the Con-
gregational Church.
268 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH |
given here. And now what does this mean for our
people, I ask again. It means that the statistical
glimpse which has been given, and the glance we
we have taken of the growth in various ways, shows
us that we have shot far ahead on the way along with
our white brethren. It shows us that if a country
comes up — is brought up by whatever means — that
we, too, whose lot may be cast there must have risen
also. It proves the possession of wealth, also, and if
this be true of the race (and it is, throughout the
South where prosperity is stretching out its beneficent
wings) then it affects the A. M. E. Church — the
Church which is by far the strongest of negro Metho-
dist Churches in the South. It means thereby a
strengthening all along the line for the present, and
as wonderful, if not more wonderful progress for the
future.
This is what our present status is, financial and
otherwise. If we, as a Church in Georgia alone can
raise in one year $30,536.12 in excess of the past year,
what can we not do, God helping us to further on all
the causes placed in our keeping? It would seem
that there could be no limit if the Church would do
its whole duty in the matter of collection of monies
under the Dollar Law, and if the pastors and presid-
ing elders would wisely guide the extension of the
work into new fields, see to the improving of Churches
and parsonages, and throw into the cause of Christ's
kingdom the same hearty interest and close business
tact that so many are exhibiting in the management
of their personal affairs.
The South is destined to be the great field of Afri-
can Methodism ; we repeat that here the numbers lie
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 209
here the opportunities for getting wealth are greater,
here the increase by natural growth is more rapid.
We are destined to be a wonderful Church in the
future. We have wonderful interests committed to
ou r care. Our home work is enormous ; but there lie
before us our mission fields in other lands as well —
broad work stretching out before us with all the great
possibilities for us in those fields. We cannot cease
to push forward, and though we rely on the faith in
the Omnipotent arm of God to aid us in all good
works, we well know that God requires of us our
honest industry in the cause we would forward, and
that in this work one of the great forces which will
aid in uplifting these, enlightening and evangelizing
the world, is money.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church must
strengthen itself financially in every honorable way,
and the Southern portion is forging ahead as it recog-
nizes this fact. Since the General Conference of
1888, the Dollar Collection has been nearly doubled
throughout the South. This is accepted as the guage
of strength. Then what shall be said of the Sixth,
Seventh and Ninth Episcopal Districts under the
writer, Bishop B. W. Arnett and Bishop A. Grant,
respectively, which three have in this time gone ahead
almost one hundred per cent ? Whatever may be the
cause, it is gratifying to all concerned, and proves
at least that the Southern section is not made up of
idlers.
But close in connection with this financial growth
we need to speak further of missions. If the natives
of the Madagascar Church could contribute $200,000
for this cause, what a lesson it is for us ! " God loves
270 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH |
the cheerful giver," and he blesses such giving with
increase. We are shown by authoritative statements-
that in 1883 there were 47 missionary societies,
at work in Africa, having in that land 250,000
converts. We, too, have a place there and must:
occupy it. "God uses the enterprises of the men of
avarice to open a pathway for the missionaries of the
cross," has been most truthfully said, and we cannot:
afford to lose sight of the fact that the work in
Africa has been made possible for us by these very-
means.
To-day, missionary work anywhere is not the terrible-
thing of yesterday. Advance in general civilization,
is such that ways and means are more numerous, andi
consequently, the work is lightened of many hardships
everywhere, which the early pioneers had to endure.
May African Methodism produce both sons and daugh-
ters for the cause in heathen lands. It is true with-
out question that " the Church which does not possess.
the missionary spirit cannot prosper," and the Church
of our fathers should be a grand leader in the grand,
work.*
*In the opinion of the writer, in order to continue to succeed in the South-
ern States as a race, and as a Church, our ministers should cultivate a spirit of
peace with the white people of the South. They own the lands largely, the
money as well, and possess the culture in addition, and we should quietly work
and bide our time till we have grown rich and cultured as they. In that lies.
our future strength.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. '271
CHAPTER XXVI.
EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH.
There is much in life generally which must always
remain unwritten history. This is especially true of
the life of the negro race. Were all things told, the
events would be so startling that they would bear
upon their very face the seal of improbability to most
of the world. Yet it has been proven again and again
that truth is stranger than fiction, and the truth as
portrayed in the unwritten history of the lives of the
negroes in America is the strangest of all strange
truth.
But God's hand has been over all, and as Bishop
Campbell once said, " When the slaves arrived at
Jamestown, Va., simultaneously with the Mayflower
at Plymouth Rock, God saw colleges and universities
for our people in this land and for the millions now
in Africa."
For years our people had toiled in rice swamps and
cotton fields as servants in every menial capacity, as
tried and trusty friends as well as during the days of
bloodshed and battle where men's souls were tried to
the utmost. But they knew of something better and
higher than the slave life they led then. There were
summits to which many an aspiring mind would climb
were but the slightest opportunity given. Yea, more,
these would climb without the opportunity — rather,
'272 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
would make the opportunity. We do not mean to
infer that amidst our deprivations and in our bondage
we were shut off from spiritual things ; as one of our
Bishops has said, we can truly repeat, 'There never
was a time when the white Christians as a body either
North or South were opposed to the spiritual interests
of our people. But all comprehended more or less
dimly the truth which Bishop Payne so well illustrates
in his " Recollections of Seventy Years," when he
tells us of that step in his life which so largely deter-
mined his future ; when he refused the offer to accom-
pany a wealthy gentleman to the West Indies as his
servant. The gentleman asks him what makes the
difference between the master and the slave, and
answers for him, " Nothing but superior knozvledge."
There were thousands who felt this truth in their
hearts even then, and there were thousands who
resolved as did the one who stands Senior Bishop of
the A. M. E. Church to-day — Bishop Daniel Alexan-
der Payne — they determined to seek that superior
knowledge.
But ways were dark. Here and there a little help
■came from friendly quarters, and, in secret, the alpha-
bet was learned under circumstances many times par-
taking of as much adventurous romance as the wildest
flights of imagination could conceive — when the few
tattered leaves must seek strange hiding places, when
they were lost again and again, and when the lash was
the penalty if one sought that knowledge. But it
was precious, and nothing daunted by discouragement,
loss and even terror, the hungry, thirsty ones delved
and groped until they could read.
What that simple phrase meant to the slave, hardly
OR TWEXTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM". 2 < o
a white person in existence can conceive. What joy !
what gladness ! what visions were opened up when the
printed page was no longer a sealed book ! All this
few can imagine, but it is a sorrowful as well as joy-
ous reality to thousands of mature years in the days
preceding the Civil War. Thank God, our children
and our children's children can never know the ways
through which their fathers and mothers have passed.
But these learned to read. It was a spark, fanning
to a flame here and there as group after group drew
near to the light. The masters little knew of the
amount of knowledge in their slaves' possession for
years, so secretly was it kept, and yet not once was it
turned for harm against those who held them captive.
I have said the race had learned to labor and to
wait. But when the bonds were burst asunder and
their acquirements could be openly used, it is the
wonder of the age that so soon should we have the
learning that we find in our midst. But even if we
could not boast of much of that heredity which our
masters claimed, and. the white race claim to-day as
being its especial gift of superiority, it must be re-
membered that upon similar scientific principles, the
longing for learning, the secret toil to acquire a little,
the patient waiting in hope of more — all must have
made its impress upon the coming generations, and
gone far toward supplying the race with that which
the white race's years of intelligence and learning
claim as its own superior possession. Labor and
yearning are hereditary as well and do their work as
well as that other possession.
With the first opening up of the South as the war
drew to a close, the teacher came with the preacher
•274 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
from the North to the "freedmen," and both were
heartily welcomed. And here we would pause to pay
a passing tribute to those in the South, once before
mentioned, who, feeling the wrong of slavery, but
weighted down by the incubus of the system and so
surrounded by it that to them it seemed impossible
to deai justly by all concerned, but who endeavored
to ameliorate the condition as much as possible.
They are those to whom so many of us in the prime
of life to-day remember gratefully for the aid to a
higher life, bestowed though it was, as it had to b'e, in
secrecy and in part.
We have said, with the preacher came the teacher,
and this is literally true, for upon the very gun-boats
that bore these there came men and women to minis-
ter to our intellectual needs. They came from pleas-
ant homes, from the midst of refinement, comfort and
even luxury, and braved ostracism, privation, insult,
danger, that they might lend their aid in lifting up
the negro race. There were missionaries among
these teachers who were such in the truest and most
devoted sense ; and when the writer sees some of our
girls and boys to-day hesitating and declining to serve
the Master's cause and the race because this service
will take them where coarse food, rude lodgings and
inadequate accommodation of any kind face them, to-
gether with loneliness from a lack of cultured society
and companionship, he feels like exclaiming, " Oh, if
you could have seen what we have seen, what others
have suffered for us and for you, you would feel the
blush of guilty shame that you could for an instant
hesitate when your work is so much needed !"
We need the missionary spirit in our hearts and
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 275
we need to develop it in our schools, for there is work
to be done, which as the years go on must be done by
the race or remain undone. May God raise up thous-
ands of such young men and women among the negro
youth of the land who shall set the example for future
generations.
The North occupied the educational field first of
.all, and if space would allow, the writer would wish to
bear personal testimony to the work of a few devoted
followers of Christ, well-known to him, who have so
nobly administered to a needy race. The churches
were early in the field ; the American Missionary As-
sociation covered as much territory as possible for the
Congregational church, and the Methodists as well.
The Baptists and Presbyterians followed closely, and
soon State after State held here and there points of
light which were to shed their beams into the sur-
rounding darkness — points around which so many
hopes were clustering. Even the islands lying along
the South Atlantic coast had the school house in op-
eration upon their deserted plantations before the
guns of war were silenced. Edisto Island, Hilton
Head and others saw many a gathering in the cabins
where by the "lightwood" torches the first mysteries
of learning were revealed.
Little by little, schools were established in the
large cities, and then to the surprise of all it was found
there were many of the young who had secretly
learned from the forbidden books, and were soon made
ready for more advanced Work which in turn was pro-
vided for them. Our schools — the negro schools — as
a whole were excellent ; they were, in fact, the best
in the State where located, and it is true that the
276 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
wonderful strides made by the negro in these years
when Northern philanthropy was aiding the race, had
a strong influence throughout the South, causing a
step toward the public school system which later took
its rise.
Our Northern friends have given much from their
wealth both in a public and private way, and the Pea-
body, Arthington, Slater and Hand funds, with others,
have aided much, for all of which we give grateful
acknowledgment. In due time the States assisted in.
the higher education as well as in the public school
system, Georgia granting $8,000 to the Atlanta Uni-
versity for its work. The day of illiteracy is waning.
Give the negro race twenty-five years more — nay, let
us round out the century and the census of 1900 A.
D., will show a marvellous increase throughout the
South.
Among some of the schools which are maintained
wholly or in part by friends of the race, we find seven
chartered institutions, twelve Normal Schools and
Seminaries, the Gammon Theological School, the
Centenary Biblical Institute, and the Meharry Medi-
cal College — a total of twenty-two, supported by the
M. E. Church, as reported in 1888, with an attendance
of 4,506 pupils under a teaching force numbering 124.
The Presbyterian Church (according to the report of
the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1884-85), sup-
ports the Brainerd Institute, Chester, S. C. ; Fairfield
Normal Institute, Wainsborough, S. C. ; Yadkin Acad-
emy, Mebanesville, N. C. ; Wellingford Academy,
Charleston, S. C. ; Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C;
Institute for Ministers at Tuscaloosa, Ala. ; also,
Concord Seminary, Concord, N. C. The American
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 'All
Missionary Association also supports wholly or in
part a large number of schools. We find by the re-
port of 1889 that their work for the forty-third year
of its existence, in the South alone, has demanded an
outlay of $255,083.84, and it reports 113 missionary
workers, 136 churches, 5 chartered institutions of
learning, 18 normal and graded schools and 37 com-
mon schools, with 260 teachers. Fisk University, in
Texas, Talladega College, and Tugaloo University, in
Alabama, Straight University, in Louisiana, Tillotson
Institute, Texas, with Shaw University, and Living-
ston College, in North Carolina, Atlanta University
and Clark University, in Georgia, are some of the
leading institutions for higher learning, in addition to
those already named, supported by various denomina-
tions. These are a few examples of what others have
been and are still doing for the race.
But while friends have worked, the negro himself
has not been idle, and the A. M. E. Church has taken
upon herself the great work of education in the South
with a most creditable showing. Wilberforce Uni-
versity, the mother school in our Church, was founded
in 1856, passing into our hands in 1863. To this
school the South has sent hundreds of its sons and
daughters, but the demands of the times called for
efforts nearer home. We had had small schools
taught in our own churches from an early period, and
among the early workers we mention Mr. Lewis
Williams (spoken of elsewhere), and Mrs. M. E. F.
Smith, a lady of culture from Connecticut, who did
an excellent work at the A. M. E. Church in Macon
and Columbus, Georgia. The .writer owes her more
for instruction in the English branches than any other
'2/8 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH;
living person, and takes this method of gratefully ac-
knowledging it. In addition to the above, we make
special mention of Mrs. S. C. B. Scarborough. Prof.
E. A. Ware, Prof. E. M. Cravath, Misses Chases from
Massachusetts, and a host of others.
But organized effort for schools was not put forth
until later. To-day we have for higher education the
Kittrell Industrial School, which was founded as
Johnson School in 1866, now situated thirty miles
from Raleigh, N. C, with an efficient corps of teach-
ers. There are several buildings upon the property
of sixty acres, and the school is destined to do a good
and great work for the State.
Southward, in Columbia, S. C, is situated Allen
University, named after the first Bishop of our Church.
It is located in a beautiful spot, a mile and a half from
the center of the city, and once the home of a wealthy
family of the Southern aristocracy who little thought
one day their home would be one of the centers of
education for the slaves they had once owned. There
are four acres of land and five buildings, with four de-
partments in working order. It promises well for the
future. It first opened its doors in 1881, and has thus
seen hardly a decade, but its progress has been on-
ward with instructors from Howard University, Hamp-
ton, Boston and Wilberforce.*
Down in the southwest, the Texas Conference pro-
jected a school in 1874 under many discouragements.
Ground was purchased in the city of Waco, but finan-
cial disaster came near overtaking it, when a banker
of the city (Mr. Seeley) assisted them out ; but they
•"Payne Institute, formerly located at Cokesbury, S. C, was sold and its
proceeds applied to the purchase of Allen University.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 279
were still unable to build. In 1881 they changed
their location and purchased twenty acres of land on
the east side of Brazos RiYer, and a brick building of
comfortable dimensions was erected. Since then the
school has been steadily growing under the presidency
of a graduate of the mother university, Wilberforce.
Following this in point of time, we have the Divinity
and Industrial School, located at Jacksonville, Fla.,
with a large brick building, commodious and elegant.
Then the State of Georgia followed with Morris-Brown
College in Atlanta, which was founded in 1884, and
opened with one hundred pupils in 1885, October 15,
with the writer, whose whole heart was in the work,
as President of its Board of Trustees.
It was in 1880 that the ministers of the A. M. E.
Church in Georgia began to fully realize the necessity
of such an institution for our young men and women,
and in the February following the site was purchased
at a cost of $3,500.00 and paid for, Through the
providence of God and the earnest labors of man, our
prayers were realized in the dedication of the first
school of the Church for higher education in Georgia,
and Nov. 26th, with one wing completed, it was for-
mally dedicated. When its doors were swung open
in October, there were admitted 107 pupils, increased
now (1890) to 336, with seven teachers.
We might mention, in addition to these, several
schools scattered through the South and doing well.
The Church is now looking after the following schools
already begun, and several others not mentioned,
which it has in view to develop in future : Ward
Normal and Collegiate Institute, Huntsville, Texas ;
Turner College, Hernando, Miss. ; Dickerson Memo-
280 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
rial Seminary, Portsmouth, Va. — all looking forward,
to the day when they shall come out of their chrysalis
state and do honor to the names they bear. This is
aside from the Mission Schools in Hayti, our work in
Africa and the British Dominions, and the following
District Schools : The Normal and Preparatory School,.
Cartersville, Ga. ; Payne High School, Cuthbert, Ga. ;
Sumter District School, Sumter, S. C. ; the Abbe-
ville School, Abbeville, S. C. These last show that
Georgia and South Carolina are leading the van in the
educational line in the Southern part of the Church..
Of these schools, Dr. Wm. D. Johnson, Secretary
of Education in our Church, says in the Centennial.
Budget :
" These schools have been originated and sustained
by action of the Conferences. The money for their
support has come chiefly through the liberality of the
members of the A. M. E. Church, and, to a surprising
extent, several of them will compare favorably with
the better sustained schools of a similar grade.
"Together they have a property of nearly $300,000 >'■
have sent forth two hundred graduates, besides thous-
ands who prepared themselves for immediate service
in the great fields of preaching and teaching. They
now have upwards of fifty professors and assistants,
with from 2,000 to 3,000 students."
A full list of all our schools gives us twenty-two in
all, and for their support the sum total expended in
one quadrennium (1 880-1884) reached $77,000.00.
A separate Department created by the General
Conference of 1884, for Education,* has also brought
*This was upon the principle that "organization is life." It was. in short
the reorganization of what first took form in 1876.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 281
under its control the Connectional Literary, Histori-
cal and Educational Association, with the Annual
Conference and Local Societies of the same name,
and we can but look for more systematic efforts in
the future.
Aside from this work done at home, several students
have been supported by various Southern Conferences
at Wilberforce through the past ten years.
The most reliable statistics concerning the educa-
tion of the race are those from the last census, and
out of that we find that the negro race in the United
States has 17,822 schools, with 16,865 teachers.
There has been great increase since then, as the
census of the present year will show.
There is to be a day of deliverance from ignorance ;
the outlook is grand, and our hopes the brightest.
Upon the education of the race, Dr. McCosh once
said : "I do not believe, however, that the North or
the South can elevate the negro ; it must be done by
themselves." To this Dr. Tanner (now Bishop Tanner)
made answer : " Of course it must. No man or com-
munity of men, can elevate another. Elevation must
always come from within". What the North and the
South, however, can do is to cease their injustice,
direct and indirect, and allow the negro to elevate
himself. If, however, they had continued their oppo-
sition, it would have been impossible for him to have
acquitted himself as he has done, is doing, and gives
promise of. Things, however, are moving on all
right. The little remaining opposition can be over-
come, and another generation will make croaking
more nonsensical than it is now."
We expect to do this work if left alone to do it, and
282 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
a Church that can raise in one quadrennium $13,170.80
for education, aside from the monies raised by the
Educational Secretary and the schools themselves, as
the A. M. E. Church has done, need not fear for the
future. Yet one thing must be borne in mind ; as
one has said in pressing the claims of education :
" Christian money must lay the foundation." No truer
words were ever uttered. This must be the principle
of action throughout our Connection. It will be the
principle of action, henceforth, in the South.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 283
CHAPTER XXVII.
TEMPERANCE.
This volume would be incomplete without a chap-
ter on Temperance, especially since the liquor traffic
has reached such a stage in our country's history as
to threaten the subversion of the entire fabric of our
civil and ecclesiastical forms of government. Intem-
perance stalks about the face of the earth like some
hungry beast seeking whom it may devour. It boldly
enters the sacred precincts of the Church and defies
resistance of its power. Disguised in most respect-
able garb it often sits enthroned in high places, sap-
ping the life blood of the people from its seat of power
like an enormous vampire.
Again, in its wretched nakedness, it enters the
home and breaks up the family — driving fathers to
crime, mother and children to lowest depths of vice
and misery, shame and degradation, substituting want
for plenty, squalor for cleanliness, finally wrecking
life and ending in a hopeless death.
The great king, Solomon, the wisest man of his
times, to whom God gave wealth and power in addi-
tion to wisdom, has truly expressed it in Proverbs
when he says : " Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ?
who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath
wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek
284 AFRI CAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it
is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it
moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a ser-
pent and stingeth like an adder."
It is not a matter of choice with us whether or not
we sit quietly by, while men are bartering away their
souls for a mess of pottage. It is not a matter of
choice whether or not we contribute of our strength
and means to aid in checking vice and sin in any form.
It is our duty, we are bound by the eternal law of
ages, the law of our own conscience and the law of
God, as much so as were Martin Luther, Wickliffe,
John Wesley and Richard Allen to go forth as mis-
sionaries of the cross, spreading our benedictions over
the length and breadth of the world, sowing seed that
shall spring up into "harvests of blessings." Our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, commands us not
only to love our neighbor but to help him as well.
There is a great deal of indifference exhibited upon
the part of many who ought to be interested in the
prohibition movement. There may be differences
of opinion as to the methods to be employed, yet
there should be no hesitancy as to the decided advan-
tage of total obstinence. As sure as God is just we
believe that this terrible evil of rum-selling and rum-
drinking must come to an end. The recent campaign
in one of the chief cities of Georgia, the fierce contest
which took place between "wet and dry," and the
interest manifested by the better class of citizens ?
both white and black, are positive proof that the
cause is not to lag in the future.
Both Church and State are threatened, and for that
reason both Church and State should be aroused to
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 285
the necessity for action, feeling the responsibility
resting upon them and discharge this as it should be,
not relinquishing any effort until the victory be won.
That we are by no means unmindful of the impor-
tance of this question, is shown by the fact that
among the subjects which regularly recur in our Con-
ferences and are made the basis of reports considered
as touching upon matters connected with our welfare,
we find that of Temperance.
A few forcible facts will show how great a hold the
destroyer — rum or intoxicating drinks in all form — has
upon this country alone, when for the degrading stim.
ulant we see such enormous sums yearly expended.
We are told upon good authority that every year this
country spends in the liquor traffic alone a sum ex-
ceeding half the national debt. We are also told that
the great wars of the world, from 1852 to 1877, cost
less than the intoxicants used in the United States in
the same period by $3,000,000,000. There is here a
terrible fact to face : that unless prohibition puts an
end to this, as it has the power to do. there will be an
increase in this cost far exceeding the increase in pop-
ulation, and that consequent want must follow.
But liquor is not the only evil to be shunned. The
voice of warning is raised against tobacco as well,
against narcotics in any form, for one and all are in-
cluded under the intemperate habits of one. May
civilization not see this too late.
There is no doubt that the rush of life has much to
oo with these dangers. Every one is anxious for
something, money, fame or position, and this ambition
presses the world forward in an exciting race to see
who shall win that which is coveted most. The cares
286 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
and demands of life also enter into the matter, and are-
borne down as well as along ; there is a craving for
anything which will stimulate and keep up a fictitious
show of strength at least.
The rush of civilization has brought with it the
spirit which is characteristic of all Americans — the
spirit of "Hurry," and it in turn has developed the
spirit of general intemperance, we may say. We eat
as well as drink intemperately ; we dress, we live, we
enjoy ourselves in the same extravagant manner. As
a result we sacrifice life at last to the demands of
fashion in all these ways. We make of ourselves
slaves to these things, as much fettered and bound as
the drunkard to his cups. Ar>d from this, too, we
need relief. If the negro race, if the A. M. E. Church
is to become what we all desire — a mighty power in
the future- — it has to stop and consider these things
that are confronting the most powerful and most
wealthy of races, of churches.
The voice of every preacher must be raised against
the liquor power in every form, against the tendency
to feast the appetite, thus making the coarser, grosser
part master of the higher. Plain living and high
thinking are two things we need to keep in view, even
if luxury be within our reach. The spiritual and in-
tellectual man must be adorned, rather than the case,
the human body. The sums expended for mere
amusement are en rmous, and these, too, need regu-
lation. It is not the true aim of life to enjoy it like a
butterfly, but it is to make the mo t of ourselves — fit
temples in every way for the indwel ing of the Holy
Spirit, and such a use of time and opportunities as-
will make us acceptable in every way in His sight..
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. US/
We need to learn economy, not to be parsimonious,
neither to be extravagant. We need, in short, to
know just how to live.
The Anglo-Saxons claim for themselves that they
are
"The heirs of all the ages in the foremost files of time "
This may and may not be. It depends upon the
standpoint from which we view the statement.
But there is a statement which the poet makes that
we would do well to consider as a strong encourage-
ment :
'■Time's i oblest offspring is the last "
Let the negro race, the A. M. E. Church especially,
keep in mind to be that "noblest offspring." Let
every one of us remember, amidst the perils which
surround the whole American nation, that our safety,
and our prosperity as a people, each is to be largely
determined by our temperate living.
288 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
CHAPTER XXVIII.
IN MEMORIAM.
There is no sadder task falling to the lot of any
man that that of preaching the funeral sermon of the
dead — sad because of the selfish desires of the human
heart, which would keep all loved ones here on earth
amid its toils and dangers to battle on for years
longer, even when the flesh is too weary and the spirit
too worn for further conflict.
But there comes a time when we feel that we can
see that God truly knoweth best, even when he be-
reaves us, and so there comes a time when we can
look back over the ranks of the church militant and
say that God knew best when he selected young and
old, hale and strong, as well as weak and feeble, for
the unerring aim of the marksman- — Death.
They are scattered all along the years of our work
in Georgia from 1865 — these men in their prime and
these old veterans, until but few, very few, are left
with us who saw the rise of the A. M. E. church in
the South. We have watched the others as they have
passed over Jordan's flood and only calmly wonder
whose name will next be called. But there is a satis-
faction mixed with the sadness and tempering it
when we think of the lives of some of these veterans
of the cross, these fathers in Israel — of their self-sac-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 289
rificing spirit which braved so much for the church
and to these pioneers we owe a passing word of re-
spect.
Almost the first to fall was Rev. Wm. Gaines — the
writer's brother — who died October 20, in 1865, at
Columbus, Ga. As a brother he was affectionate and
tender ; as a Christian he was zealous and helpful.
He was not allowed to live long enough to win great
honor in his chosen calling, but those who knew him,
knew him but to love him, and knew that he did
strong work up to his death. We have mentioned
his work in Georgia in these first chapters, and here
would pay the tribute that the ties of nature and of
Christian brotherhood call forth. May we meet in
heaven.
Among the first old men to fall was Thomas K.
Brown, who died in 1874, aged 93, after a successful
and active ministry of seventy-three years. He was
on his way to his work when the messenger overtook
him at Macon, Ga., March 26. What those 73 years
meant, very few who are laboring to-day can under-
stand. To preach Christ and Him crucified under
the stress of the days of slavery at the opening of
this century, and to keep a strong heart and an earn-
est faith alive and glowing through all that distract-
ing period is something marvelous, even to those who
have felt the bitterness of bondage and the lash. But
he died as we would wish — with his face to the foe,
battling against Satan to the last — the triumphant
death of the righteous.
Zechariah Armstrong followed him closely to the
grave in July following. He was an evangelist who
had done good work. There was no doubt of his.
290 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
being a Methodist. That was decided by his works.
He was ever ready to preach, and his loss was deeply
felt. He was in the prime of life — rounding out his
forty-five years.
Gabriel Clark was another who gave up the struggle
in 1879, December 18, at the age of 60. For forty-
five years he had been a member of the church and
had preached the gospel for thirty years. He joined
us at the Georgia Conference in Columbus in 1869.
He, too, was one of the workers who had seen a glo-
rious battle successfully waged with sin, but his
strength had failed, and at the time of his death he
was upon the superannuated list. His last words were
that he had fought a good fight.
Albert McGhee, of the North Georgia Conference,
•died August 8, 1882, at his home in Cartersville, Ga.,
in the sixty-first year of his age. He was born in
Abbeville District, S. C, in 1822. Rev. Andrew
Brown, who departed this life four years later, spoke
of meeting him in 1847, a young convert at a camp-
meeting in South Carolina, and said that he was then
impressed by his bearing. He was a great revivalist,
and labored many years before he became identified
with the Georgia Conference. Bishop Wayman or-
dained him in 1867 and assigned him to Griffin Sta-
tion. He was ordained Elder by Bishop J. M. Brown
in 1868. He remained in Griffin until 1870, when he
was sent to Washington, Wilkes county. In 1871-72
he was Presiding Elder of the Americus District ; he
was appointed to Cartersville in 1874, in 1875 to Put-
nam County Circuit No. 1, again in 1876-77 to Wash-
ington, 1878-79 to Greenesboro, and 1880 to Rome.
In 1882 he was sent to Kingston. He was one of the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 291
pioneer workers in Georgia, traveling all over the
State. He was poor in this world's goods at death,
hut rich in faith, for when found sick, penniless and
suffering, he said : " Tell the Bishop and brethren if
I die in my chair or bed, I went straight to heaven."
The next old pioneer to pass away was Rev. Samuel
W. Drayton, who died in January, 1885. He was one
of the grandest and most effective workers in the
■cause of early African Methodism in Georgia. He
united with the A.. M. E. Church at the Conference
held in Savannah, Ga., in 18(36. It was he, as men-
tioned elsewhere, who brought into the denomination
Bethel Church and its membership in Augusta, Ga.
He was a native of the State, and had been ordained
both deacon and elder in days of slavery, and held the
distinction of being the longest ordained minister of
African descent in the State of Georgia. He was
regarded in slavery days as one of the best preachers,
white or colored, in the city of Augusta. He was a
natural born gentleman, and honored as a prince
among his brethren. Most of the societies now con-
stituting the circuits in the vicinity of the station at
Sparta were organized by him. He held the office of
Presiding Elder for eight years, and was the Macon
Conference Missionary Agent when he died. He was
one of those rare men whom the world can ill afford
to lose. He was progressive, and had an eye on all
the younger men of promise. "Why did God take
such a man ? " he sorrowfully asked at Bishop Dicker-
son's death.
In the same year the same Conference was called
to mourn the death of Rev. Preston Brooks Peters, a
young man of thirty-three, who died October 7 th.
292 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
He had joined the North Georgia Conference at its
session in the city of Macon in 1880, and was ordained
Elder at the first session of the Macon Conference
held in Sandersville in 1883. His talents were such
that he was released from the pastorate by Bishop
Dickerson in 1881, that he might employ them in the
public schools of Columbus, Ga., when he became
principal. So death mows down young and old, side
by side.
In 1880 two other veterans were called to eternal
rest — Rev. Henry Daniels and Rev. Andrew Brown.
The former was a member of the Macon Conference
at the time of his death. He was an aged man, who
was one of the most faithful among ministers. His
life was filled with that firm trust in Jesus' promises
which give so much peace and joy here below and an
eternal life in heaven. His works follow him.
Of Rev. Andrew Brown it may be said that he was
one of the oldest Presiding Elders in the State of
Georgia. He was a pioneer, and a member of the
North Georgia Conference, but first began preaching
in the M. E. Church at Union, S. C, He preached
throughout the State of Tennessee as well. When
the first Conference of the Church met in Georgia he
was present and a member, and was a power in that
Conference. He was not an educated man ; on the
contrary he was crude and unlettered, but he was
filled with ripe judgment and the learning that comes
from long experience and earnest endeavor. His life
was one of great interest. No man among us who
entered that first Conference needs to be eulogized
more than Andrew Brown. He left an ineffaceable
impression upon the hearts of the people, and we
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 293
might truthfully say, the imprints of his feet upon the
rocks of the mountains, for he would walk forty miles
to an appointment.
No man in Georgia has established so many churches
as he. He was a man who would preach in peace if
he could ; in war, if not. Tnere was but one Andrew
Brown, and he was a father and a friend. He and the
writer differed but he would always end by saying,
"Gaines, I can't help but love you." His record in
our church stands as follows : He was admitted,
ordained both deacon and elder by Bishop Payne in
1866. His first appointment was in 1866, at Dalton.
He was presiding elder of the Marietta District in
1867, of the Atlanta District in 1868-69-70-71, of the
Macon District in 1872, of the Columbus District in
1873, of the Macon District again in 1874-75-76-77 and
of the Atlanta for the second time in 1878. His next
work was at Eatonton, Ga., in 1879-80, in Lexington
in 1881, St. Paul's Circuit in 1882, White Plains in
1883-84. His last appointment was at Jonesboro, Ga.,
for he would not locate, and here he died triumphant.
His remains were taken by the writer to Madison,
Ga., and there buried at his dying request.
Among the last to leave us for the better land was
Rev. G. W. H. Williams, who died Oct. 22, 1889, as a
faithful soldier dies, at his post, with the words, " All
is well, I am ready to go," upon his lips.
FortuneRoberson is one whom we would not omit
from the list ; tried and true, he did valiant service in
the field.
These are but a few of the many Christian minis-
ters who have gone on before from the Southern fields
of Georgia, and mentioned because their works and
"294 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
lives are intimately known to the writer. Death has
taken from the oldest and the youngest — the preachers
in the itinerant ranks and the Bishops from their presid-
ing seats, yet the work goes on. Thank God for that —
that though we may die, the A. M. E. Church banner
will not trail in the dust, for there are hosts of true,
brave souls left ready to uphold it, and to toil on
through morning sun and noontide heat until the cool
dews of evening of life bid them to lay down their
work and enter into that rest which abideth forever
for the faithful soldiers of the Cross.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 295
CHAPTER XXIX.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM.
Upon May 15, 16-18, 1890, the Sixth Episcopal Dis-
trict celebrated its Quarto-Centennial — twenty-five
years since the work of the A. M. E. Church began
in the South — twenty-five years of freedom to the
colored race.
As we close this volume we wish to glance at these
two events in retrospect, and see what has been done
in the South. It has been said that we "cannot tell
the outcome of an individual nor of a company of
men who are working for God and humanity." This
is as true as when Barbara Heck and Philip Embry
set foot on American shores to be the pioneers of
American Methodism. It is also true that individuals
and companies themselves hardly have defined ideas
of what will be the outcome of their work any more
than have the lookers on. We work out our own des-
tinies by the force of pressure from surrounding cir-
cumstances. It was so with the A. M. E. Church.
Bishop Campbell once said that Richard Allen did
not intend to withdraw from the M. E. Church in
America, when in 1786 he formed his band, as Wesley
had done in 1739, but it was the outgrowth of envi-
ronment in both cases. Wesley could accomplish
more for Methodism by a formal separation from the
296 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
Established Church in England (which took place in
1784) just as we could do more by Allen's organza-
tion in 1816.
But it was nearly fifty years before the A. M. E.
Church could thrive as it ought below the belt which
separated the North and South— 1816 to 1865.
When in 1865 Bishop Payne came to the South
again, after his exile, no one could have foreseen the
work that would follow, as the result of that planting
in Charleston, in one-quarter of a century. No one
would have dared to prophesy such a work as we see
flourishing to-day — that from the one Conference or-
ganized May 15th, in that city, twenty-three should
spring into existence, making twenty -four in the
Southern States — nearly one for each year of the
twenty-five, or that the appointments in the one State
of Georgia alone would have increased to four hun-
dred ; and the wildest flight of hopeful imagining
would not have seen in prospective within that time
the sixteen Church schools which dot the South now,,
where then not one was in existence.
It is a most pleasing retrospect for the Church, and
for the South, as seen over one-half of its work now
lying in the Southern sections, and by far its largest
membership.
The band of sixteen, in 1816, duplicated so singu-
larly by coincidence when Bishop Payne called the
Church together, in 1865, for another beginning, has
multiplied wonderfully ; and there is not the least
doubt in the mind of one of our ministers to-day that
as an A. M. E. Church we were then (1816) in a better
condition to do more for the brethren, so long op-
pressed and suffering, than we would have been had
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 297
•we still clung to the Church that ostracized and
pressed us so grievously that we were compelled to
break the bonds.
Under no such condition as was ours prior to that
period could we have risen in manhood's strength and
pushed the spiritual warfare into the dense depths of
South Carolina's rice swamps, upon its low islands
skirting its southern-most coasts, into the broad cot-
ton fields of proud old Georgia and Mississippi, into
the hidden glades of the flowery land of Florida and
the tall canebrakes of Alabama and Louisiana, and
finally into the southwest Lone Star State, Texas.
It was the way the Lord had led us, and He has been
leading us all the way till now.
It is not possible for the North to look upon the
•work as we of the South look upon it. Perhaps it is
not possible for either section to change its stand-
point. The A. M. E. Church entered the South as a
mission field, having abandoned it over forty years
before, when the threatened insurrection made it un-
safe for its apostles to occupy it longer. What has it
brought us in these twenty-five years of freedom,
which came to us in such a dual form — freedom from
bodily oppression, freedom from religious oppression ?
Is the A. M. E. Church the Church for the negro race
in the South ? Has it proven itself one that meets
the needs of the masses? Have twenty-five years of
negro ruling in these matters been of any avail in
proving his capacities ? What has it done for the
South ?
All these are questions that are to be answered by
what this quarter of a century has revealed to friends
and foes alike. The A. M. E. Church is the Church
298 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH J
for the negro race ; the facts prove it. Without pros-
elyting it has grown far beyond any other negro Meth
odist Church. The people have felt first the all per-
suasive power of Methodism. Those who formerly
had been members of the M. E. Church South bore
the love of Methodism in their breasts as they came
to us. Those without the pale of Methodism were
drawn by the warmth of the fire within — the brotherly,
Christian spirit we by grace possessed — by the doc-
trines represented through our organization, and by
the love of race. There are countless other reasons
we might bring forth to prove that this Church does-
indeed meet the needs of the race, There is freedom
of thought and expression with no undue repression
of the emotions which possess us — emotions so long-
repressed by the spirit that ruled over us that it was
a glad day when they could find a time and a place in
the A. M. E. Church to give full voice to them — free
to burst forth in song and hallelujahs to God from the
thousands of overflowing hearts of the poorest and
the lowest and the darkest child among us.
Then, too, it is the negro's own Church — though,,
thank God, no one of any race or color is excluded.
It is free throughout its length and breadth, but it is-
the Redeemer's Church nevertheless, and it is a tri-
umphant proof of what may be accomplished by the
race in the way of organization or temporal rulings.
Look at our churches and parsonages dotting the
South ; look at our institutions of learning with our own
accomplished instructors, and all will make answer in
clarion tones that will ring down the ages that the A.
M. E. Church has done more than any other to prove
the capacity of the negro to rule and yet to be ruled-
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 299
Look at the masses of the people which this Church
alone has reached. With the true primitive Methodist
missionary spirit it has emulated the missionary heroes
of all ages, and penetrated wilds where there seemed no
promise for harvest, nursed the least promising seed
until it germinated, took firm root and finally sent up
its branches to see the light of day that the world
might see another tree of African Methodism. Many
of these plants have had slow growth in their strug-
gles for existence, but we can safely say that scarcely
one has died out where it was once placed, and instead
of barrenness we have had fruit, as well as countless
seedlings, again and again, from the most vigorous
and hardy.
African Methodism has done its share, too, in these
twenty-five years in carrying on the education of the
race. It has been as broad as its name indicates, and
within its doors no narrow sectarian policy has been
allowed. It has worked hand-in-hand with other de-
nominations as well to free this fairest section of our
common country from the blot that the accursed sys-
tem of slavery had placed upon it. A. M. E. sons
and daughters have been pioneers in every nook and
corner, and, true to their Methodistic principles, they
have been of the people that they might win and work
for the people.
Twenty-five years of freedom and twenty-five years
of African Methodism in the Southern States have
worked wonders. It is true that others have aided in
all these things, that the white race, with its riches
and broad philanthropic ideas through all Christian
denominations outside our own, has helped us largely
in accomplishing these wonderful results ; but while
300 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH ;
we give our thanks for what has been done through
the labors of others, we cannot be blamed if we ex-
claim "Not that I love Caesar less, but that I love
Rome more !" when we claim that the A. M. E. Church
has done more for the race than has any other de-
nomination, white or colored. It has done those
things that cannot be counted by dollars and cents ;
it has preached the freedom of manhood, the rights of
the negro, sobriety and industry ; it has lived near to
the race and worked from within ; it has practiced
what it preached, and then has affirmed that practice
by all the substantial aid necessary to carry out its
claims, even through courts of justice. It has been a
Church aggressive in all things pertaining to truth
and justice in a section where we have needed to man-
fully assert our manhood, even as Christ would have
us do.
With twenty-five years behind us and such marvel-
ous progress — agreed to by lriends and enemies alike,
hailed and exulted in by the former, feared and op-
posed by the latter — what have we to look forward to
in the coming future ?
That the past shows that we have a great destiny
to accomplish as a Church in this very South is unde-
niable; that we are on the highway toward accom-
plishing it is equally true. The bulk of our numbers
as a race will, doubtless, remain in this section for
years to come, and here, as Bishop Tanner (then Rev.
B. T. Tanner) said when in 1867 it was seen that the
new Conference in the South alone had reached a
membership nearly equal to the whole Church else-
where— fifty thousand.— " Here," said he, "is to be
the heart of our Church, that is to throw through the
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 301
whole body the vitalizing blood." It is our land, our
home— a land watered by the tears and sweat and
even blood of our fathers and mothers, stirred to its
fertility by the labors of their hands, and we love it.
We love the South despite the faults that the enemies
of right have made seem so general. We know that
we have friends here as well, and we know that what-
ever God allows is right for the day, and He will bring
all thing to a righteous end ; if we but put our whole
trust in Him, His arm will not fail to be outstretched
over us in care and protection.
We are linked to this section by these and other
strong fetters, and we are anxious to see it prosper in
every way ; and the A. M. E. Church is to be one of
the agents in the coming tide of prosperity, which is
destined to include us in its onward sweep. We have
a mighty future before us as one of the most sturdy
branches of Methodism in any country, and it remains
for pastor and people to keep before their mind's eye
the common interests of Cnurch, race and the South.
We cannot divide them. Were we to try we should
only weaken ourselves and threaten the peace* and
prosperity of all ; so we must rise to the measure of
our responsibilities in every way. To the end of bring-
ing about this future not a single opportunity must be
allowed to escape us — not a single means at our com-
mand must be left unutilized.
We have great educational possibilities. Our col-
leges are to be made the first in the land. They are
to be provided with men and means necessary to make
them such. It is true that philanthropy is not to go
on forever. In time the great work of education in
the South is to fall upon the States with their school
302 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH |
systems and upon the people of that section. We are
not always to be receiving as in the past; we are to
help ourselves as a race, and to the A. M. E. Church
as the largest body of workers in it, the world will
look for correspondingly large results, Upon us as such
devolve then these responsibilities, and we say em-
phatically we are to meet them. We can, we will, for
the Church of our fathers is to stand. As Bishop
Dickerson once said : " African Methodism had to-
be, it therefore came into being with the attributes
of permanency."
It has been progress from the start without one re-
trograding step, and our mission is not yet done. As
the Church is gradually reaching out to the islands
and continents beyond, it will find its glowing center —
the South — alive to further every good work and aid
in redeeming the world for the Master's coming
Kingdom.
When the nations have become one and the king-
doms of this world have become the Kingdom of His
Son, then, and not till then, will the mission of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church be fulfilled.
God bless, strengthen, purify and exalt her to that end..
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 303
APPENDIX.
The following are the Conferences in Georgia in
order from the first Conference in the South, together
with the place of assembly, date of the same and the
names of the Bishops appointed to preside over the
work ; although absence and death, as mentioned in
the foregoing chapters, caused other Bishops to take
charge at different times, as has been stated :
BISHOP D. A. PAYNE.
1865 — Charleston, May 15.
1866 — Savannah, May 15.
1867 — Wilmington, March 30.
BISHOP J. M. BROWN.
1868 — Georgia, Macon, March 12.
1869—
" Columbus, February 6.
1870—
" Americus, January 28.
1871—
" Atlanta, January 14.
1872—
" Savannah, January 5.
1873-
" Macon, January 11.
BISHOP T. M. D. WARD.
1874 — North Georgia, Augusta, January 8.
1874 — Georgia, Thomasville, January 22.
1875 — North Georgia, Athens, January 7.
1875 — Georgia, Albany, January 21.
1875 — North Georgia, Cartersville, December 16..
1876 — Georgia, Savannah, January 29.
304 AFRICAN METHODISM IN THE SOUTH
BISHOP J. P. CAMPBELL.
876 — North Georgia, Griffin, December 1.
877 — Georgia, Bainbridge, January 18.
877 — North Georgia, EatontOn, December 5.
878 — Georgia, Columbus, January 30.
879 — North Georgia, Madison, January 8.
879 — Georgia, Cuthbert, January 22.
880 — North Georgia, Macon, January 7.
880 — Georgia, Americus, January 21.
BISHOP W. F. DICKERSON.
881 — North Georgia, Atlanta, January 5.
881 — Georgia, Savannah, January 19.
882 — North Georgia, Augusta, January n.
882 — Georgia, Thomasville, January 26.
883 — North Georgia, Washington, January 10.
883 — Georgia, Darien, January 24.
883 — Macon, Georgia, Sandersville, January 30.
883 — Macon, Georgia, Forsyth, November 28.
884 — North Georgia, Marietta, January 9.
884 — Georgia, Valdosta, January 17.
BISHOP J. A. SHORTER.
884 — Macon, Georgia, Columbus, November 19.
884 — North Georgia, Athens, December 3.
885 — Georgia, Albany, January 14.
885 — Macon, Georgia, Eatonton, November 18.
885 — North Georgia, Griffin, December 2.
886 — Georgia, Hawkinsville, January 20.
886 — Macon, Georgia, Barnesville, November 17.
886 — North Georgia, Atlanta, December 1.
OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FREEDOM. 305
1887 — Georgia, Quitman, January 14.
1887 — North Georgia, Rome, November 15.
1887 — Macon, Georgia, Talbotton, November 30.
1887 — Georgia, Savannah, December 14.
BISHOP W. J. GAINES.
888 — North Georgia, Dalton, November 7.
888 — Macon, Georgia, Americus, November 14.
888 — North Alabama, Florence, November 21.*
888— Alabama, Mobile, December 5.*
888 — Georgia, Cuthbert, December 12.
889 — North Georgia, Washington, November 4.
889 — Macon, Georgia, Milledgeville, November 1 3.
889 — North Alabama, Greensboro, November 27.*
889 — Alabama, Union Springs, December 4.*
889 — Georgia, Brunswick, December 12.
BISHOP W. J. GAINES.
1890 — North Georgia, Cartersville, November 5.
1890 — Macon, Georgia, Co.umbus, November 12.
1890 — Georgia, Dawson, December 10.
1890 — North Alabama, Birmingham, November 26.
1890 — Alabama, Opelika, December 3.
*These are placed here simply as a part of the writer's work in the Sixth
Episcopal District during these years.
■
fK&SHG