The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ THE NEGRO CHURCH Report of a Social Study made under the direction of Atlanta University; together with the Proceedings of the Eighth Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, held at Atlanta University, May 26th, 1903 EDITED BY W. E. BURQHARDT DU BOIS CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OP THE CONFERENCE The Atlanta University Press Atlanta, Ga. 1903 %v* THE NEGRO CHURCH K* Report of a Social Study made under the direction of Atlanta University; together with the Proceedings of the Eighth Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, held at Atlanta University, May 26th, 1903 I EDITED BY W. E. BURQHARDT DU BOIS CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OP THE CONFERENCE \ \ The Atlanta University Press Atlanta, Ga. 1903 ^ X \ fi%? *l* ^ \ HPHE Negro Church is the only social institution of the •*• Negroes which started in the African forest and sur vived slavery; under the leadership of priest or medicine man, afterward of the Christian pastor, the Church pre served in itself the remnants of African tribal life and be came after emancipation the center of Negro social life. So that today the Negro population of the United States is virtually divided into church congregations which are the real units of race life. Report of the Third Atlanta Conference, 1898. CONTENTS PAGE PEBFACB ............. v BIBLIOGRAPHY ............ vi t. Primitive Negro. Religion ........ I 2. Effect of Transplanting ......... 2 3. The Obeah Sorcery .......... B 4. Slavery and Christianity ......... 6 5. Early Restrictions .......... 10 6. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel . . . .12 7. The Moravians, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians . . 15 8. The Sects and Slavery ......... 20 9. Toussaint I/Ouverture and Nat Turner ..... 22 10. Third Period of Missionary Enterprise ...... 26 11. The Earlier Churches and Preachers. (By Mr. John W. Cromwell) ....... 30 12. Some Other Ante-Belluin Preachers ...... 35 13. The Negro Church in 1890 ........ 37 14. Local Studies, 1902-3 .....'..... 49 15. A Black Belt Coun ty, Georgia. (By th e Re v. W. H. Holloway) 67 16. A Town in Florida. (By Annie Marion MaeLean, Ph. D.) . 64 17. A Southern City .......... 69 18. Virginia ............ 80 19. The Middle West, Tllinois. (By Monroe N". Work, A. M., and the Editor) ............ 83 20. The Middle West, Ohio. (By R. R. Wright, Jr.) 21. An Eastern City ....... 22. Present Condition of Churches—The Baptists 23. The African Methodists ...... 25. The Zion Methodists ....... 26. The Colored Methodists ...... 27. The Methodists ........ 28. The Episcopalians ....... 29. The Presbyterians ....... 92 108 111 123 131 133 134 138 142 I \ NJ»^ Y \ v EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. The Congregationalists . Summary of Negro Churches, 1900-1903 Negro Laymen and the Church Southern Whites and the Negro Church The Moral Status of Negroes . Children and the Church . The Training of Ministers . Some Notable Preachers . . . . . The Eighth Atlanta Conference Remarks of Dr. Washington Gladden . Resolutions ....... Index ........ PAGE , . 147 . 153 . 154 . 164 . 176 . 185 . 190 . 202 . 202 . 204 . 207 . 209 / PREFACE A study of human life to-day involves a consideration of conditions of physical life, a study of various social organizations, beginning with the home, and investigations into occupations, education, religion and morality, crime and political activity. The Atlanta Cycle of studies into the Negro problem aims at exhaustive and periodic studies of all these subjects so far as they relate to the American Negro. Thus far, in the first eight years of the ten-year cycle, we have studied physical conditions of life (Eeports No. 1 and No. 2), social organization (Eeports No. 2 and No. 3), economic activity (Eeports No. 4 and No. 7), and Edu cation (Eeports No. 5 and No. 6). This year we take up the important subject of the NEGRO CHURCH, studying the religion of Negroes and its influence on their moral habits. Such a study could not be made exhaustive for lack of funds and organization. On the other hand, the United States government and the churches themselves have published a great deal of material and it is possible from this and limited investigations in various typical localities to make a study of some value. This investigation bases its results on the following data: United States Census of 1890. Minutes of Conferences. Reports of Conventions, Societies, etc. Catalogues of Theological Schools. Two hundred and fifty special reports from pastors and officials. One hundred and seventy-five special reports from colored laymen. One hundred and seventeen special reports from heads of schools and prominent men, white and colored. Fifty-four special reports from Southern white persons. Thirteen special reports from Colored Theological Schools. One hundred and nine special reports from Northern Theological Schools. Answers from 1,300 school children. Local studies In— Richmond, Virginia. Chicago, Illinois. Thomas County, Georgia. General and periodical literature, Atlanta, Georgia. Greene County, Ohio. Deland, riorlda. In the preparation of this report the editor begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to the several hundred persons who have so kindly answered his inquiries; to students in Atlanta University and Virginia Union University, who have made special investigations; and particu larly to Professor B. F. Williams, Mr. M. N. Work, Mr. R. R. Wright, Jr., I ft. ff •4 \ VI EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE and Mr. W. H. Holloway, all of whom have given valuable time and services to this work. The Kev. F. J. Grimke has kindly allowed the use of his unpublished report, made to the Hampton Conference in 1901; Mr. J. W. Cromwell has loaned us the results of his historical researches, and Dr. A. M. MacLean has given us the results of a valuable local study. The proof-reading was largely done by Mr. A. G. Dill. Atlanta University has been conducting studies similar to this for the past seven years. The results, distributed at a nominal sum, have been widely used. Notwithstanding this success the further prosecution of these import ant studies is greatly hampered by the lack of funds. With meagre appropriations for expenses, lack of clerical help and necessary appa ratus, the Conference cannot cope properly with the vast field of work before it. We appeal therefore to those who think it worth while to study this, the greatest group of social problems that has ever faced the Nation, for substantial aid and encouragement in the further prosecution of the work of the Atlanta Conference. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NEGRO CHURCHES A brief statement of the rise and progress of the testimony of the religious society of Friends against slavery and the slave-trade. Philadelphia: Joseph and William Kite. 1843. Ernest H. Abbott. Religious life in America. A record of personal observation. New York: The Outlook, 1902. XII, 730 pp. 80. Nehemiah Adams. A South side view of slavery. 80. Boston, 1854. Richard Alien, first bishop of the A. M. E. Church. The life, experience and gos pel labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Alien. Written by himself. Philadelphia, 1833. Richard Alien and Jacob Tapisco. The doctrine and discipline of the A. M. E. Church. Philadelphia, 1819. Matthew Anderson. Presbyterianism and its relation to the Negro. Philadelphia, A statistical inquiry into the condition of the people of color of the city and dis tricts of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1849,1856 and 1859. Samuel J. Baird. A collection of the acts, deliverances and testimonies of the Supreme Judiciary of the Presbyterian Church, from its origin in America to the present time, with notes and documents explanatory and historical, con stituting a complete illustration of her polity, faith and history. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publications. J. C. Ballagh. A history of slavery in Virginia. Johns Hopkins University Studies. Extra vol., No. 24. Baltimore, 1902. THE NEGRO CHURCH Vll Albert Barnes. Inquiry into the scriptural views of slavery. Philadelphia, 1857. John S. Bassett. History of slavery in North Carolina. Johns Hopkins University studiea Baltimore, 1899. Slavery and servitude in the colony of North Carolina. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, April and May, 1896. David Benedict. A general history of the Baptist denomination in America and other parts of the world. Boston, 1813. Edward W. Blyden. Christianity, Islam and the Negro race. With an introduc tion by the Hon. Samuel Lewis. 2d edition. London: W. B.Whittingham & Co. 432 pp. 80. lieorge Bourne. Man-stealing and Slavery denounced by the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. Boston: Garrison and Knapp. Jeffrey R. Brackett. Notes on the progress of the colored people of Maryland since the war. A supplement to the Negro in Maryland, a study of the insti tution of slavery Baltimore: J. Hopkins Univ., 1890. 96 pp. 80. The Negro in Maryland. A study of the institution of slavery. Baltimore: N. Murray. (6) 268 pp. 80. (Johns Hopkins University studies in his torical and political science.) Extra vol. 6. William Burling. An address to the elders of the church upon the occasion of some Friends compelling certain persons and their posterity to serve them con tinually and arbitrarily, without regard to equity or right, not heeding whether they give them anything near so much as their labor deserveth. 1718. In Lay, All Slave Keepers Apostates, pp. 6-10. Rev. Dr. R. F. Campbell. The race problem in the South. Pamphlet, 1899. W. E. Burghardt DuBois. 1900. The religion of the American Negro. New World, vol. 9 (Dec. 1900) 614-625. The Philadelphia Negro. A Social Study. Philadelphia, 1899: Ginn & Co. The Negroes of Farmville, Va. 38 pp. Bulletin U. S. Department of Labor, Jan. 1898. Some efforts of American Negroes for their own social betterment. Report of an investigation under the direction of Atlanta University, together with the proceedings of the third Conference for the study of the Negro problems, held at Atlanta University, May 25-26, 1898. Atlanta, Ga. (Atlanta University, 1898. 66pp.) The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago, 1903. William Douglass. Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Philadelphia, 1854. Annals of St. Thomas's Church. Philadelphia, 1862. Bryan Edwards. History, civil and commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies. London, 1807. Friends. A brief testimony of the progress of the Friends against slavery and the slave-trade. 1671-1787. Philadelphia, 1843. William Goodell. The American slave code in theory and practice. Judiciary decisions and illustrative facts. New York, 1452. H. Gregoire. Enquiry concerning the intellectual and moral faculties, etc., of Negroes. Brooklyn, 1810. L. M. Hagood. The Colored Man in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Cincinnati. Bishop J. W. Hood. One Hundred Years of the A. M. E. Zion Church. Edward Ingle. The Negro in the District of Columbia. Johns Hopkins University studies. Vol. XI. Baltimore, 1893. Samuel M. Janney. History of the religious society of Friends. Philadelphia, 1859-1867. Chas. C. Jones. The religious instruction of the Negroes in the United States. Savannah, 1842. Absalom Jones. A Thanksgiving sermon on account of the abolition of the Afri can slave-trade. Philadelphia, 1808. Vlll EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Robert Jones. Fifty years in the Lombard Street Central Presbyterian Church. Philadelphia, 1894. 170 pp. Fanny Kemble. A journal of a residence on a Georgia plantation. New York, 1863. Walter Laidlow, editor. The Federation of Churches and Christian Workers in New York City. Few York, 1896-1897. Lucius C. Matlack. The history of American slavery and Methodism from 1789- 1849. New York, 1849. Holland McTyeire. A history of Methodism, comprising a view of the rise of this revival of spiritual religion in the first half of the eighteenth century. Nash ville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1887. Minutes, Annual Conferences, A. M. E. Church. Minutes, Annual Conferences, C. M. E. Church. Minutes, Annual Conferences, M. E. Church. Minutes, Annual Conferences, A. M. E. Z. Church. Minutes, General Conferences, A. M. E. Church. Minutes, General Conferences, C. M. E. Church. Minutes, General Conferences, M. E. Church. Minutes, General Conferences, A. M. E. Z. Church. Minutes, National Baptist Convention. Edward Needles. Ten years' progress or a comparison of the state and condition of the colored people in the city and county of Philadelphia from 1837-1847. Philadelphia, 1849. Daniel A. Payne. History of the A. M. E. Church. Nashville, 1891. I. Garland Penn and J. W. E. Bowen. The United Negro: his problems and his progress. Containing the addresses and proceedings of the Negro Young Peo ple's Christian and Educational Congress, held August 6-11,1902. Atlanta, Ga.: D. E. Luther Publishing Co., 1902, XXX, 600 pp. Plates, portraits. 12o. Reports, Freedmen's Aid Society, Presbyterian Church. Robert R. Semple. History of the rise and progress of Baptists in Virginia. Rich mond, 1810. William J. Simmons. Men of Mark, Eminent, Progressive and Rising. Cleveland, Ohio. Slavery as it is; the testimony of a thousand witnesses. Publication of Anti- Slavery Society. New York, 1839. George Smith. History of Wesleyan Methodism. London, 1862. David Spencer. Early Baptists of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1877. William B. Sprague. Annals of the American Pulpit. New York, 1858. Benjamin T. Tanner. An outline of history and government for A. M. E. Church man. Philadelphia, 1884. An apology for African Methodism. Baltimore, 1867. H. M. Turner. Methodist Polity. Philadelphia. United States Census, 1890. Churches. A. W. Wayman. My Recollections of A. M. E. Ministers. Philadelphia, 1883. S. D. Weld. American Slavery as it is: testimony of thousands of witnesses. New York, 1839. Stephen B. Weeks. Anti-slavery sentiment in the South. Washington, D. C., 1898. Southern Quakers and Slavery. Baltimore, 1896. George W. Williams. History of the Negro race in America. New York, 1883, White. The African Preacher. THE NEGRO CHURCH 1. Primitive Negro Religion. The prominent characteristic of primi tive Negro religion is Nature worship with the accompanying' strong belief in sorcery. There is a theistic tendency: "Almost all tribes believe in some supreme god without always worshiping him, generally a heaven and rain god; sometimes, as among the Cameroons and in Dahomey, a sun-god. But the most widely-spread worship among Negroes and Negroids, from west to northeast and south to Loango, is that of the moon, combined with a great veneration of the cow."* The slave trade so mingled and demoralized the west coast of Africa for four hundred years that it is difficult to-day to find there definite re mains of any great religious system. Ellis tells us of the spirit belief of the Ewne people; they believe that men and all Nature have the indwelling ''Kra," which is immortal. That the man himself after death may exist as a ghost, which is often conceived of as departed from the "Kra," a shadowy continuing of the man. So Bryce, speak ing of the Kaffirs of South Africa, a branch of the great Bantu tribe, says: "To the Kaffirs, as to the most savage races, the world was full of spirits—spirits of the rivers, the mountains, and the woods. Most important were the ghosts of the dead, who had power to injure or help the living, and who were, therefore, propitiated by offerings at stated periods, as well as on occasions when their aid was especially desired. This kind of worship, the worship once most generally diffused throughout the world, and which held its ground among the Greeks and Italians in the most flourishing period of ancient civilization, as it does in China and Japan to-day, was, and is, virtually the religion of the Kaffirs." The supreme being of the Bantus is the dimly conceived Molimo, the Unseen, who typifies vaguely the unknown powers of nature or of the sky. Among some tribes the worship of such higher spirits has banished fetichism and belief in witchcraft, but among most of the African tribes the sudden and violent changes in government and social organization have tended to overthrow the larger religious conceptions and leave fetichism and witchcraft supreme. This is particularly true on the west coast among the spawn of the slave traders. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, but that the scattered remains of religious systems in Africa to-day among the Negro tribes I * Professor C. P. Thiele, in Encyclopedia Britaimica, 8th ed., XX, p. 362. \ \ vj; \ , -x--Mytn-.: 2 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE are survivals of the religious ideas upon which the Egyptian religion was based, and that the basis of the religion of Egypt was " of a purely Negritian character." * The early Christian church had an Exarchate of fifty-two dioceses in Northern Africa, but, it probably seldom came in contact with purely Negro tribes on account of the Sahara. The hundred dioceses of the patriarchate of Alexandria, on the other hand, embraced Libya, Penta- polis, Egypt, and Abyssinia, and had a large number of Negroid mem bers. In Western Africa, after the voyage of Da Gama, there were several kingdoms of Negroes nominally Catholic, and the church claimed several hundred thousand communicants. These were on the slave coast and on the eastern coast. Mohammedanism entered Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries and has since that time conquered nearly all Northern Africa, the Soudan, and made inroads into the populations of the west coast. "The introduction of Islam into Central and West Africa has been the most important if not the sole preservation against the desolations of the slave-trade,"! and especially is it preserving the natives against the desolations of Christian rum. 2. Effect of Transplanting. It ought not to be forgotten that each Negro slave brought to America during the four centuries of the Afri can slave trade was taken from definite and long-formed habits of social, political, and religious life. These ideas were not the highest, measured by modern standards, but they were far from the lowest, measured by the standards of primitive man. The unit of African tribal organization was the clan or family of families ruled by the pat riarch or his strongest successor; these clans were united into tribes ruled by hereditary or elected chiefs, and some tribes were more or less loosely federated into kingdoms. The families were polygamous, com munistic groups, with one father and as many mothers as his wealth and station permitted; the family lived together in a cluster of homes, or sometimes a whole clan or village in a long, low apartment house. In such clans the idea of private property was but imperfectly devel oped, and never included land. The main mass of visible wealth be longed to the family and clan rather than to the individual; only in the matter of weapons and ornaments was exclusive private ownership generally recognized. The government, vested in fathers and chiefs, varied in different tribes from absolute despotisms to limited monarchies, almost republi can. Viewing the Basuto National Assembly in South Africa, Mr. Bryce recently wrote: * Encyclopedia Britannica, 8th ed., XX, p. 362. tBlyden, Meth. Quar. Review, Jan. 1871. See also bis Christianity, Islam and the Negro Eace. THE NEGRO CHURCH 6 "The resemblance to the primary assemblies of the early peoples of Europe is close enough to add another to the arguments which discredit the theory that there is any such thing as an 'Aryan Type' of institutions." * 111 administering justice and protecting women these governments were as effective as most primitive organizations. The power of religion was represented by the priest or medicine man. Aided by an unfaltering faith, natural sharpness and some rude knowl edge of medicine, and supported by the vague sanctions of a half-seen world peopled by spirits, good and evil, the African priest wielded a power second only to that of the chief, and often superior to it. In some tribes the African priesthood was organized and something like systematic religious institutions emerged. But the central fact of African life, political, social and religious, is its failure to integrate— to unite and systematize itself in some conquering whole which should dominate the wayward parts. This is the central problem of civiliza tion, and while there have arisen from time to time in Africa conquer ing kingdoms, and some consolidation of power in religion, it has been continually overthrown before it was strong enough to maintain itself independently. What have been the causes of this? They have been threefold: the physical peculiarities of Africa, the character of exter nal conquest, and the slave-trade—the "heart disease of Africa." The physical peculiarities of the land shut out largely the influence of for eign civilization and religion and made human organization a difficult fight for survival against heat and disease; foreign conquest took the form of sudden incursions, causing vast migrations and uprooting of in stitutions and beliefs, or of colonizations of strong, hostile and alien races, and finally for four centuries the slave-trade fed on Africa, and peaceful evolution in political organization or religious belief was impossible. Especially did the slave-trade ruin religious evolution on the west coast; the ancient kingdoms were overthrown and changed, tribes and nations mixed and demoralized, and a perfect chaos of ideas left. Here it was that animal worship, fetichism and helief in sorcery and witchcraft strengthened their sway and gained wider currency than ever. The first social innovation that followed the transplanting of the Negro was the substitution of the West Indian plantation for the tribal and clan life of Africa. The real significance of this change will not appear at first glance. The despotic political power of the chief was now vested in the white master; the clan had lost its ties of blood rela tionship and became simply the aggregation of individuals on a plot of ground, with common rules and customs, common dwellings, and a certain communism in property. The two greatest changes, however, were, first, the enforcement of severe and unremitted toil, and, second, * Impressions of S. Africa, 3rd ed., p. 852. I \ f$ If/* Y \ at * \ 4 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE the establishment of a new polygamy—a new family life. These social innovations were introduced with much difficulty and met determined resistance on the part of the slaves, especially when there was com munity of blood and language. Gradually, however, superior force and organized methods prevailed, and the plantation became the unit of a new development. The enforcement of continual toil was not the most revolutionary change which the plantation introduced. Where this enforced labor did not descend to barbarism and slow murder, it was not bad discipline; the African had the natural indolence of a tropical nature which had never felt the necessity of work; his first great awakening came with hard labor, and a pity it was, not that he worked, but that voluntary labor on his part was not from the first encouraged and rewarded. The vast and overshadowing change that the plantation system introduced was the change in the status of women—the new polygamy. This new polygamy had all the evils and not one of the safeguards of the African prototype. The African sys tem was a complete protection for girls, and a strong protection for wives against everything but the tyranny of the husband; the planta tion polygamy left the chastity of Negro women absolutely unprotected in law, and practically little guarded in custom. The number of wives of a native African was limited and limited very effectually by the number of cattle he could command or his prowess in war. The num ber of wives of a West India slave was limited chiefly by his lust and cunning. The black females, were they wives or growing girls, were the legitimate prey of the men, and on this system there was one, and only one, safeguard, the character of the master of the plantation. Where the master was himself lewd and avaricious the degradation of the women was complete. Where, on the other hand, the plantation system reached its best development, as in Virginia, there was a fair approximation of a monogamic marriage system among the slaves; and yet even here, on the best conducted plantations, the protection of Negro women was but imperfect; the seduction of girls was fre quent, and seldom did an illegitimate child bring shame, or an adulter ous wife punishment to the Negro quarters. And this was inevitable, because on the plantation the private home, as a self-protective, independent unit, did not exist. That powerful institution, the polygamous African home, was almost completely destroyed and in its place in America arose sexual promiscuity, a weak community life, with common dwelling, meals and child-nurseries. The internal slave trade tended to further weaken natural ties. A small number of favored house servants and artisans were raised above this—had their private homes, came in contact with the culture of the master class, and assimilated much of American civilization. Never theless, broadly speaking, the greatest social effect of American slavery was to substitute for the polygamous Negro home a new polygamy less guarded, less effective, and less civilized. THE NEGRO CHURCH f> At first sight it would seem that slavery completely destroyed every vestige of spontaneous social movement among the Negroes; the home had deteriorated; political authority and economic initiative was in the hands of the masters, property, as a social institution, did not exist on the plantation, and, indeed, it is usually assumed by historians and sociologists that every vestige of internal development disappeared, leaving the slaves no means of expression for their common life, thought, and striving. This is not strictly true; the vast power of the priest in the African state has already been noted; his realm alone— the province of religion and medicine—remained largely unaffected by the plantation system in many important particulars. The Negro priest, therefore, early became an important figure on the plantation and found his function as the interpreter of the supernatural, the com forter of the sorrowing, and as the one who expressed, rudely, but picturesquely, the longing and disappointment and resentment of a stolen people. From such beginnings arose and spread with marvellous rapidity the Negro Church, the first distinctively Negro American social institution. It was not at first by any means a Christian Church, but a mere adaptation of those heathen rites which we roughly desig nate by the term Obe Worship, or "Voodoism." Association and mis sionary effort soon gave these rites a veneer of Christianity, and gradu ally, after two centuries, the Church became Christian, with a simple Calvinistic creed, but with many of the old customs still clinging to the services. It is this historic fact that the Negro Church of to-day bases itself upon the sole surviving social institution of the African fatherland, that accounts for its extraordinary growth and vitality. We easily forget that in the United States to-day there is a Church organization for every sixty Negro families. This institution, therefore, naturally assumed many functions which the other harshly suppressed social organs had to surrender; the Church became the center of amusements, of what little spontaneous economic activity remained, of education, and of all social intercourse. 3. The Obeah Sorcery. Let us now trace this development historic ally. The slaves arrived with a strong tendency to Nature worship and a belief in witchcraft common to all. Beside this some had more or less vague ideas of a supreme being and higher religious ideas, while a few were Mohammedans, and fewer Christians. Some actual priests were transported and others assumed the functions of priests, and soon a degraded form of African religion and witchcraft appeared in the West Indies, which was known as Obi,* or sorcery. The French Creoles 'Obi (Obeah, Obiah or Obia), is the adjective: Obe or Obi, the noun. It is of African origin, probably connected with Egyptian Ob. Aub, or Obron, meaning serpent. Moses forbids Israelites ever to consult the demon Ob, i. e., "Charmer, Wizard." The Witch of Endor is called Oub or Ob. Oubaous is the name of the Baselisk or Royal Serpent, emblem of the Sun, and, according to Horus Appollo, "ancient oracular Deity of Africa."—Edwards, West Indies, II, pp. 106-119. I I 6 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE called it "Waldensian" (Vaudois), because of the witchcraft charged against the wretched followers of Peter Waldo, whence comes the dia lect name of Voodoo or Hoodoo, used in the United States. Edwards gives as sensible an account of this often exaggerated form of witch craft and medicine as one can get: "As far as we are able to decide from our own experience and information when we lived in the island, and from the current testimony of all the Negroes we have ever conversed with on the subject, the professors of Obi are. and always were, natives of Africa, and none other; and they have brought the science with them from thence to Jamaica, where it is so universally practiced, that we believe there are few of the large estates possessing native Africans, which have not one or more of them. The oldest and most crafty are those who usually attract the greatest devotion and confidence; those whose hoary heads, and a somewhat peculiarly harsh and forbidding aspect, together with some skill in plants of the medical and poisonous species, have qualified them for successful imposition upon the weak and credulous. The Negroes in general, whether Africans or Creoles, revere, consult, and fear them. To these oracles they resort, and with the most implicit faith, upon all occasions, whether for the cure of disorders, the obtaining revenge for injuries or insults, the conciliating of favor, the discovery and punishment of the thief or adulterer, and the prediction of future events. The trade which these imposters carry on is extremely lucrative; they manufacture and sell their Obeis adapted to the different cases and at different prices. A veil of mystery is studi ously thrown over their incantations, to which the midnight hours are allotted, and every precaution is taken to conceal them from the knowledge and discovery of the White people."* At first the system was undoubtedly African and part of some more or less general religious system. It finally degenerated into mere im posture. There would seem to have been some traces of blood sacrifice and worship of the Moon, but unfortunately those who have written on the subject have not been serious students of a curious human phe nomenon, but rather persons apparently unable to understand why a transplanted slave should cling to heathen rites. 4. Slavery and Christianity. The most obvious reason for the spread of witchcraft and persistence of heathen rites among Negro slaves was the fact that at first no effort was made by masters to offer them any thing better. The reason for this was the widespread idea that it was contrary to law to hold Christians as slaves. One can realize the weight of this if we remember that the Diet of Worms and Sir John Hawkins' voyages were but a generation apart. From the time of the Crusades to the Lutheran revolt the feeling of Christian brotherhood had been growing, and it was pretty well established by the end of the sixteenth century that it was illegal and irreligious for Christians to hold each other as slaves for life. This did not mean any widespread abhorrence of forced labor from serfs or apprentices and it was par- * Edwards: West Indies, II, 108-109. THE NEGRO CHURCH I ticularly linked with the idea that the enslavement of the heathen was meritorious, since it punished their blasphemy on the one hand and gave them a chance for conversion on the other. When, therefore, the slave-trade from Africa began it met only feeble opposition here and there. That opposition was in nearly all cases stilled when it was continually stated that the slave-trade was simply a method of converting the heathen to Christianity. The corrollary that the conscience of Europe immediately drew was that after conver sion the Negro slave was to become in all essential respects like other servants and laborers, that is bound to toil, perhaps, under general regulations, but personally free with recognized rights and duties. Most colonists believed that this was not only actually right, but according to English law. And while they early began to combat the idea they continually doubted the legality of their action in English courts. In 1635 we find the authorities of Providence islands condemn ing Mr. Eeshworth's behavior concerning the Negroes who ran away, as indiscreet, "arising, as it seems, from a groundless opinion that Christians may not lawfully keep such persons in a state of servitude during their strangeness from Christianity," and injurious to them selves.* The colonies early began cautiously to declare that certain distinc tions lay between "Christian" inhabitants and slaves, whether they were Christians or not. Maryland, for instance, proposed a law, in 1638, which failed of passage. It was: "For the liberties of the people" and declared "all Christian inhabitants (slaves only excepted) to have and enjoy all such rights, liberties, immunities, privileges and free customs, within this province, as any natural born subject of England hath or ought to have or enjoy in the realm of England, saving in such cases as the same are or may be altered or changed by the laws and ordinances of this province."t The question arose in different form in Massachusetts when it was enacted that only church members could vote. If Negroes joined the church, would they become free voters of the commonwealth? It seemed hardly possible.i Nevertheless, up to 1660 or thereabouts it seemed accepted in most colonies and in the English West Indies that baptism into a Christian church would free a Negro slave. Massachu setts first apparently attacked this idea by enacting in 1641 that slavery should be confined to captives in just wars "and such strangers as will ingly sell themselves or are sold to us," meaning by "strangers" ap parently heathen, but saying nothing as to the effect of conversion. Connecticut adopted similar legislation in 1650 and Virginia declared *Sainsbury: Calendar of State Papers, 1574-1660, fl 262. t Williams' History of the Negro Race, I, 288. t ttid 1,180. fl i > 8 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE in 1661 .that Negroes '••are incapable of making satisfaction" for time lost in running away by lengthening- their time of service, thus imply ing that they were slaves for life, and Maryland declared flatly in 1663 that Negro slaves should serve "durante vita." In Barbadoes the Coun cil presented, in 1663, an act to the Assembly recommending the christening of Negro children and the instruction of all adult Negroes to the several ministers of the place. At the same time in the ready-made Duke of York's laws sent over to the new colony of New York in 1664 the old idea seems to prevail: " No Christian shall be kept in bondslavery, villenage, or captivity, except such who shall be judged thereunto by authority, or such as willingly have sold or shall sell themselves, in which case a record of such servitude shall be entered in the Court of Sessions held for that jurisdiction where such masters shall inhabit, provided that nothing in the law contained shall be to the prejudice of master or dame who have or shall by any indenture or covenant take apprentices for term of years, or other servants for term of years or life." * It was not until 1667 that Virginia finally plucked up courage to attack the issue squarely and declared by law: " Baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or free dom, in order that diverse masters freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavor the propagation of Christianity." * Following this Virginia took three further decisive steps in 1670,1682, and 1705. First she declared that only slaves imported from Christian lands should be free. Next she excepted Negroes and mulattoes from even this restriction unless they were born of Christians and were Christians when taken in slavery. Finally only personal Christianity in Africa or actual freedom in a Christian country excepted a Virginia Negro slave from life-long slavery, t This changing attitude of Christians toward Negroes was reflected in Locke's Fundamental Constitutions for Carolina in 1670, one article of which said: "Since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men, and religion ought to alter nothing in any man's civil estate or right, it shall he lawful for slaves as well as others to enter themselves and to be of what church or profession any of them shall think best, and thereof he as fully members as any freeman. But yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from that civil dominion his master hath over him, hut be in all things in the same state and condition he was in before." I So much did this please the Caroliiiiaiis that it was one of the few articles re-enacted in the Constitution of 1698. In 1671 Maryland was moved to pass "An Act for the Encouraging of the Importation of Negroes and Slaves." This law declared that conversion or the holy * Williams 1,139. tBallagh, pp. 47-52. JBassett: Slavery in Colony of N. C., p. 41. THE NEGEO CHUKCH 9 sacrament of baptism should not be taken to give manumission in any way to slaves or their issue who had become Christians or had been or should be baptized either before or after their importation to Maryland, "any opinion to the contrary notwithstanding." It was explained that this law was passed because "several of the good people of this province have been discouraged from importing- or purchasing therein any Negroes or other slaves; and such as have im ported or purchased any there have neglected—to the great displeasure of Almighty God and the prejudice of the souls of those poor people— to instruct them in the Christian faith, and to permit them to receive the holy sacrament of baptism for the remission of their sin, under the mistaken and ungrounded apprehension that their slaves by becoming Christians would thereby be freed."* This law was re-enacted in 1692 and 1715. It is clear from these citations that in the seventeenth century not only was there little missionary effort to convert Negro slaves, but that there was on the contrary positive refusal to let slaves be converted, and that this refusal was one incentive to explicit statements of the doctrine of perpetual slavery for Negroes. The French Code Noir of 1685 made baptism and religious instruction of Negroes obligatory. We find no such legislation in English colonies. On the contrary, the principal Secretary of State is informed in 1670 that in Jamaica the number of tippling houses has greatly increased, and many planters are ruined by drink. "So interests decrease, Negroes and slaves increase. There is much cruelty, oppression, rape, whoredoms, and adulteries."-)- In Massachusetts John Eliot and Cotton Mather both are much con cerned that "so little care was taken of their (the Negroes') precious and immortal souls," which were left to "a destroying ignorance merely for fear of thereby losing the benefit of their vassalage." So throughout the colonies it is reported in 1678 that masters, "out of covetousness," are refusing to allow their slaves to be baptized; and in 1700 there is an earnest plea in Massachusetts for religious instruc tion of Negroes since it is "notorious" that masters discourage the "poor creatures" from baptism. In 1709 a Carolina clergyman writes to the secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in England that only a few of 200 or more Negroes in his community were taught Christianity, but were not allowed to be baptized. Another minister writes, a little later, that he prevailed upon a master after much importuning to allow three Negroes to be baptized. In North Carolina in 1709 a clergyman of the Established Church complains that masters will not allow their slaves to be baptized for fear that a Chris tian slave is by law free. A few were instructed in religion, but not baptized. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel combated *Brackett, p. 29. t Salisbury's Calendars, 1669-74, If 188. \ f-l ii 10 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE this notion vigorously. Later, in 1732, Bishop Berkeley reports that few Negroes have been received into the church.* This state of affairs led to further laws, and the instructions to some of the royal Governors contain a clause ordering them to "find out the best means to facilitate and encourage the conversion of Negroes and Indians to the Christian religion."t New York hastened to join the States which sought to reassure masters, declaring in 1706: " Whereas, Divers of her Majesty's good subjects, inhabitants of this colony, now are, and have been willing that such Negroes, Indian and Mulatto slaves, who belong to them, and desire the same, should be baptized, but are deterred and hindered therefrom by reason of a groundless opinion that hath spread itself in this colony, that by the baptizing of such Negro, Indian or Mulatto slaves, they would become free, and ought to be set at liberty. In order, therefore, to put an end to all such doubts and scruples as have, or hereafter any time may arise about the same: "Be it enacted, etc., That the baptizing of a Negro.Indian, or Mullatto slave shall not be any cause or reason for the setting them, or any of them, at liberty. "And be it, etc., That all and every Negro, Indian, Mullatto and Mestee bastard child and children, who is. are, and shall be born of any Negro, Indian, or Mestee, shall follow the state and condition of the mother and be esteemed, reputed, taken and adjudged a slave and slaves to all intents and purposes whatsoever."! In 1729 an appeal from several colonies was made to England on the subject in order to increase the conversion of blacks. The Crown At torney and Solicitor General replied that baptism in no way changed the slave's status.^ 5. Early Restrictions. "In the year 1624, a few years after the arrival of the first slave ship at Jamestown, Va., a Negro child was baptized and called William, and from that time on in almost all, if not all, the oldest churches in the South, the names of Negroes baptized into the church of God can be found upon the registers." || It was easy to make such cases an argument for more slaves. James Habersham, the Georgia companion of the Methodist Whitefield, said about 1730: " I once thought it was unlawful to keep Negro slaves, but I am now induced to think God may have a higher end in permitting them to be brought to this Chris tian country, than merely to support their masters. Many of the poor slaves in America have already been made freemen of the heavenly Jerusalem and possibly a time may come when many thousands may embrace the gospel, and thereby be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. These, and other consid erations, appear to plead strongly for a limited use of Negroes; for, while we can buy provisions in Carolina cheaper than we can here, no one will be induced to plant much." * Bractett, p. 31. Bassett: Slavery in Colony of N. C., p. 46. t Instructions of Lord Cornbury of Va., 702. Williams 1,140. t Williams I, p. 141. § Braekett, p. 30. II Archdeacon J. H. M. Pollard. THE NEGRO CHURCH 11 In other cases there were curious attempts to blend religion and exped iency, as for instance, in 1710, when a Massachusetts clergyman evolved a marriage ceremony for Negroes in which the bride solemnly promised to cleave to her husband "so long as God in his Providence" and the slave-trade let them live tog-ether! The gradual increase of these Negro Christians, however, brought peculiar problems. Clergymen, despite the law, were reproached for taking Negroes into the church and still allowing them to be held as slaves. On the other hand it was not easy to know how to deal with the black church member after he was admitted. He must either be made a subordinate member of a white church or a member of a Negro church under the general supervision of whites. As the efforts of missionaries, like Dr. Bray, slowly increased the number of converts, both these systems were adopted. But the black congregations here and there soon aroused the suspicion and fear of the masters, and as early as 1715 North Carolina passed an act which declared: " That if any master or owner of Negroes or slaves, or any other person or persons whatsoever in the government, shall permit or suffer any Negro or Negroes to build on their, or either of their, lands, or any part thereof, any house under pretense of a meeting-house upon account of worship, or upon any pretense whatsoever, and shall not suppress and hinder them, he, she, or they so offending, shall, for every default, forfeit and pay fifty pounds, one-half toward defraying the contingent charges of the government, the other to him or them that shall sue for the same."* This made Negro members of white churches a necessity in this colony, and there was the same tendency in other colonies. "Maryland passed a law in 1723 to suppress tumultuous meetings of slaves on Sabbath and other holy days," a measure primarily for good order, but also tending to curb independent religious meetings among Negroes. In 1800 complaints of Negro meetings were heard. Georgia in 1770 for bade slaves "to assemble on pretense of feasting," etc., and "any con stable," on direction of a justice, is commanded to disperse any assem bly or meeting of slaves "which may disturb the peace or endanger the safety of his Majesty's subjects; and every slave which may be found at such meeting, as aforesaid, shall and may, by order of such justice, immediately be corrected, without trial, by receiving on the bare back twenty-five stripes, with a whip, switch, or cowskin," etc.* In 1792 in a Georgia act "to protect religious societies in the exercise of their religious duties," punishment was provided for persons disturbing white congregations, but "no congregation or company of Negroes shall upon pretense of divine worship assemble themselves" contrary to the act of 1770. Whether or not such acts tended to curb the really religious meetings of the slaves or not it is not easy to know. Probably they did, although at the same time there was probably much disorder and "'Lapsed in 1741. See Laws of 1715, Ch. 46, Sec. 18; Bassett: Colony, p. 50. t Prince's Digest, 447. 12 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 13 turmoil among slaves, which sought to cloak itself under the name of the church. This was natural, for such assemblies were the only sur viving African organizations, and they epitomized all there was in slave life outside of forced toil. It gradually became true, as Brackett says, that "any privileges of church-going which slaves might enjoy depended much, as with chil dren, on the disposition of the masters."* In some colonies, like North Carolina, masters continued indifferent throughout the larger part of the eighteenth century. In New Hanover county of that state out of a thousand whites and two thousand slaves, 807 masters were baptized in 1742, but only nine slaves. The English are told of continued indifference in Massachusetts, the Connecticut General Assembly is asked in 1738 if masters ought not to promise to train slaves as Chris tians, and instructions are repeatedly given to Governors on the matter, with but small results.f 6. The Society for the Propagation of the Qospel.t " The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" was incorporated under William III, on the 16th day of June, 1701, and the first meeting of the society under its charter was the 27th of June of the same year. Thomas Laud, Bishop of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan of all England, was appointed by his majesty the first president. This society was formed with the view, primarily, of supplying the destitution of religious institutions and privileges among the inhabi tants of the North American colonies, members of the established church of England; and, secondarily, of extending the gospel to the Indians and Negroes. The society entered upon its duties with zeal, being patronized by the king and all the dignitaries of the Church of England. They instituted inquiries into the religious condition of all the colo nies, responded to "by the governors and persons of the best note," (with special reference to Episcopacy), and they perceived that their work "consisted of three great branches: the care and instruction of our people settled in the colonies; the conversion of the Indian savages, and the conversion of the Negroes." Before appointing missionaries they sent out a traveling preacher, the Rev. George Keith (an itinerant missionary), who associated with himself the Rev. John Talbot. Mr. Keith preached between North Carolina and Piscataqua river in New England, a tract above eight hundred miles in length, and completed his mission in two years, and returned and reported his labors to the society. The annual meetings of this society were regularly held from 1702 to 1819 and 118 sermons preached before it by bishops of the Church of »"Brackett, pp. 108-110. t Bassett: Colony, p. 49; Williams I, p. 188. {This section is taken largely from Charles Colcock Jones' "The Eeligious Instruction of the igroes," Savannah, 1842. .[. j.nii Negroes England, a large number of them distinguished for piety, learning, and zeal. In June, 1702, the Rev. Samuel Thomas, the first missionary, was sent to the colony of South Carolina. The society designed he should attempt the conversion of the Yammosee Indians; but the governor, Sir Nathaniel Johnson, appointed him to the care of the people settled on the three branches of Cooper river, making Goose creek his resi dence. He reported his labors to the society and said "that he had taken much pains also in instructing the Negroes, and learned twenty of them to read." He died in October, 1706. He was succeeded by a number of missionaries. "In 1709 Mr. Huddlestone was appointed school-master in New York city. He taught forty poor children out of the society funds, and pub licly catechised in the steeple of Trinity Church every Sunday in the afternoon, 'not only his own scholars, but also the children, servants and slaves of the inhabitants, and above one hundred usually attended him.' "The society established also a catechising school in New York city in 1704, in which there were computed to be about 1,500 Negro and Indian slaves. The society hoped their example would be generally followed in the colonies. Mr. Elias Neau, a French Protestant, was appointed catechist, who was very zealous in his duty, and many Negroes were instructed and baptized. "In 1712 the Negroes in New York conspired to destroy all the English, which greatly discouraged the work of their instruction. The con spiracy was defeated, and many Negroes taken and executed. Mr. Neau's school was blamed as the main occasion of the barbarous plot; two of Mr. Neau's students were charged with the plot; one was cleared and the other was proved to have been in the conspiracy, but guiltless of his master's murder. 'Upon full trial the guilty Negroes were found to be such as never came to Mr. Neau's school; and, what is very ob servable, the persons whose Negroes were found most guilty were such as were the declared opposers of making them Christians.' In a short time the cry against the instruction of the Negroes subsided: the gov ernor visited and recommended the school. Mr. Neau died in 1722, much regretted by all who knew his labors." He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Wetmore, who afterwards was appointed missionary to Rye in New York. After his removal "the rector, church wardens, and vestry of Trinity Church in New York city" requested another cate chist, "there being about 1,400 Negro and Indian slaves, a considerable number of whom had been instructed in the principles of Christianity by the late Mr. Neau, and had received baptism and were communicants in their church. The society complied with this request and sent over Rev. Mr. Colgan in 1726, who conducted the school with success."* * Cf. Atlanta University Publications, No. 6. 14 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE The society looked upon the instruction and conversion of the Negroes as a principal branch of its care, esteeming it a great reproach to the Christian name that so many thousands of persons should continue in the same state of pagan darkness under a Christian government and living in Christian families as they lay under formerly in their own heathen countries. The society immediately from its first institu tion strove to promote their conversion, and inasmuch as its income would not enable it to send numbers of catechists sufficient to in struct the Negroes, yet it resolved to do its utmost, and at least to give this work the mark of its highest approbation. Its officers wrote, therefore, to all their missionaries that they should use their best endeavors at proper times to instruct the Negroes, and should especially take occasion to recommend zealously to the masters to order their slaves, at convenient times, to come to them that they might be in structed. The history of the society goes on to say: "It is a matter of commen dation to the clergy that they have done thus much in so great and difficult a work. But, alas! what is the instruction of a few hundreds in several years with respect to the many thousands uninstructed, unconverted, living, dying, utter pagans. It must be confessed what hath been done is as nothing with regard to what a true Christian would hope to see effected." After stating several difficulties in respect to the religious instruction of the Negroes, it is said: "But the greatest obstruction is the masters themselves do not consider enough the obli gation which lies upon them to have their slaves instructed." And in another place, "the society have always been sensible the most effectual way to convert the Negroes was by engaging their masters to counten ance and promote their conversion." The bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Fleetwood, preached a sermon before the society in the year 1711, set ting forth the duty of instructing the Negroes in the Christian religion. The society thought this so useful a discourse that they printed and dispersed abroad in the plantations great numbers of that sermon in the same year; and in the year 1725 reprinted the same and dispersed again great numbers. The bishop of London, Dr. Gibson, (to whom the care of plantations abroad, as to religious affairs, was committed,) became a second advocate for the conversion of Negroes, and wrote two letters on the subject. The first in 1727, "addressed to masters and mistresses of families in the English plantations abroad, exhorting them to encourage and promote the instruction of their Negroes in the Christian faith. The second in the same year, addressed to the mis sionaries there, directing them to distribute the said letter, and exhort ing them to give their assistance towards the instruction of the Negroes within their several parishes." The society were persuaded this was the true method to remove the great obstruction to their conversion, and hoping so particular an appli cation to the masters and mistresses from the See of London would have THE NEGBO CHURCH 15 the strongest influence, they printed ten thousand copies of the letter to the masters and mistresses, which were sent to all the colonies on the continent and to all the British islands in the West Indies, to be distributed among the masters of families, and all other inhabitants. The society received accounts that these letters influenced many mas ters of families to have their servants instructed. The bishop of Lon don soon after wrote "an address to serious Christians among ourselves, to assist the Society for Propagating the Gospel in carrying on this work." In the year 1783, and the following, soon after the separation of our colonies from the mother country, the society's operations ceased, leav ing in all the colonies forty-three missionaries, two of whom were in the Southern States—one in North and one in South Carolina. The affectionate valediction of the society to them was issued in 1785. "Thus terminated the connection of this noble society with our country, which, from the foregoing notices of its efforts, must have accomplished a great deal for the religious instruction of the Negro population." 7. The Moravians, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians.* The Moravians or United Brethren were the first who formally attempted the establishment of missions exclusively to the Negroes. A succinct account of their several efforts, down to the year 1790, is given in the report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen, at Salem, N. C., October 5th, 1837, by Eev. J. Een- atus Schmidt, and is as follows: "A hundred years have now elapsed since the Eenewed Church of the Brethren first attempted to communicate the gospel to the many thousand Negroes of our land. In 1737 Count Zinzendorf paid a visit to London and formed an acquaint ance with General Oglethorpe and the trustees of Georgia, with whom he con ferred on the subject of the mission to the Indians, which the brethren had already established in that colony (in 1735). Some of these gentlemen were asso ciates under the will of Dr. Bray, who had left funds to be devoted to the conver sion of the Negro slaves in South Carolina; and they solicited the Count to procure them some missionaries for this purpose. On his objecting that the Church of England might hesitate to recognize the ordination of the Brethren's missionaries, they referred the question to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Potter, who gave it as his opinion 'that the Brethren being members of an Episcopal Church, whose doctrines contained nothing repugnant to the Thirty-nine Articles, ought not to be denied free access to the heathen.' This declaration not only removed all hesi tation from the minds of the trustees as to the present application, but opened the way for the labors of the Brethren amongst the slave population of the West Indies, a great and blessed work, which has, by the gracious help of God, gone on increasing even to the present day. "Various proprietors, however, avowing their determination not to suffer stran gers to instruct their Negroes, as they had their own ministers, whom they paid * This section Is largely based on Jones. See ?6. 16 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE for that purpose, our brethren ceased from their efforts. It appears from the let ters of Brother Spangenburg, who spent the greater part of the year 1749 at Phila delphia and preached the gospel to the Negroes in that city, that the labors of the Brethren amongst them were not entirely fruitless. Thus he writes in 1751: 'On my arrival in Philadelphia, I saw numbers of Negroes still buried in all their native ignorance and darkness, and my soul was grieved for them. Soon after some of them came to me, requesting instruction, at the same time acknowledging their ignorance in the most affecting manner. They begged that a weekly sermon might be delivered expressly for their benefit. I complied with their request and confined myself to the most essential truths of scripture. Upwards of seventy Negroes attended on these occasions, several of whom were powerfully awakened, applied for further instruction, and expressed a desire to be united to Christ and his church by the sacrament of baptism, which was accordingly administered to them.'" At the request of Mr. Knox, the English Secretary of State, an at tempt was made to evangelize the Negroes of Georgia. "In 1774 the Brethren, Lewis Muller, of the Academy at Niesky, and George Wag ner, were called to North America and in the year following, having been joined by Brother Andrew Broesing, of North Carolina, they took up their abode at Kiioxborough, a plantation so called from its pro prietor, the gentleman above mentioned. They were, however, almost constant sufferers from the fevers which prevailed in those parts, and Muller finished his course in October of the same year. He had preached the gospel with acceptance to both whites and blacks, yet without any abiding results. The two remaining Brethren being called upon to bear arms on the breaking out of the war of independ ence, Broesing repaired to Wachovia, in North Carolina, and Wagner set out in 1779 for England." In the great Northampton revival, under the preaching of Dr. Ed wards in 1735-6, when for the space of five or six weeks together the conversions averaged at least "four a day," Dr. Edwards remarks: "There are several Negroes who, from what was seen in them then and what is discernible in them since, appear to have been truly born again in the late remarkable season." Direct efforts for the religious instruction of Negroes, continued through a series of years, were made by Presbyterians in Virginia. They commenced with the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president of Nassau Hall, and the Eev. John Todd, of Hanover Presbytery. In a letter addressed to a friend and member of the "Society in London for promoting Christian knowledge among the poor" in the year 1766, he thus expresses himself: "The poor neglected Negroes, who are so far from having money to purchase books, that they them selves are the property of others, who were originally African sav ages, and never heard of the name of Jesus or his gospel until they arrived at the land of their slavery in America, whom their masters generally neglect, and whose souls none care for, as though immor tality were not a privilege common to them, as with their masters; THE NEGRO CHURCH 17 these poor, unhappy Africans are objects of my compassion, and I think the most proper objects of the society's charity. The inhabi tants of Virginia are computed to be about 300,000 men, the one-half of which number are supposed to be Negroes. The number of those who attend my ministry at particular times is uncertain, but gener ally about 300, who give a stated attendance; and never have I been so struck with the appearance of an assembly as when I have glanced my eye to that part of the meeting-house where they usually sit, adorned (for so it has appeared to me) with so many black countenances, eagerly attentive to every word they hear and frequently bathed in tears. A considerable number of them (about a hundred) have been baptized, after a proper time for instruction, having given credible evidence, not only of their acquaintance with the important doctrines of the Christian religion, but also a deep sense of them in their minds, attested by a life of strict piety and holiness. As they are not sufficiently polished to dissemble with a good grace, they express bhe sentiments of their souls so much in the language of simple na ture and with such genuine indications of sincerity, that it is im possible to suspect their professions, especially when attended with a truly Christian life and exemplary conduct. There are multitudes of them in different places, who are willingly and eagerly desirous to be instructed and embrace every opportunity of acquainting themselves with the doctrines of the gospel; and though they have generally very little help to learn to read, yet to my agreeable surprise, many of them by dint of application in their leisure hours, have made such progress that they can intelligibly read a plain author, and especially their Bibles; and pity it is that any of them should be without them. "The Negroes, above all the human species that I ever knew, have an ear for music and a kind of ecstatic delight in psalmody, and there are no books they learn so soon or take so much pleasure in as those used in that heavenly part of divine worship." The year 1747 was marked, in the colony of Georgia, by the au thorized introduction of slaves. Twenty-three representatives from the different districts met in Savannah, and after appointing Major Horton president, they entered into sundry resolutions, the substance of which was "that the owners of slaves should educate the young and use every possible means of making religious impressions upon the minds of the aged, arid that all acts of inhumanity should be punished by the civil authority." Methodism was introduced in New York in 1766, and the first mis sionaries were sent out by Mr. Wesley from New York in 1769. One of these says: "The number of blacks that attend the preaching affects me much." The first regular conference was held in Phila delphia, 1773. From this year to 1776 there wa,s a great revival of re ligion in Virginia under the preaching of the Methodists in connection with Eev. Mr. Jarrattof the Episcopal Church, which spread through 18 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE fourteen, counties in Virginia and two in North Carolina. One letter states "the chapel was full of white and black;" another, "hundreds of Negroes were among them, with tears streaming down their faces." At Roanoke another remarks: "In general the white people were within the chapel and the black people without." At the eighth conference in Baltimore in 1780 the following question appeared in the minutes: "Question 25. Ought not the assistant to meet the colored people himself and appoint helpers in his absence, proper white persons, and not suffer them to stay late and meet by them selves? Answer. Yes." Under the preaching of Mr. Garretson in Mary land "hundreds, both white and black, expressed their love for Jesus." The first return of colored members distinct from white occurs in the minutes of 1786: White 18,791, colored 1,890. "It will be perceived from the above," says Dr. Bangs in his history of the Methodist Epis copal Church, "that a considerable number of colored persons had been received into the church, and were so returned in the minutes of the conference. Hence it appears that at an early period of the Metho dist ministry in this country it had turned its attention to this part of the population." In 1790 it was again asked: "What can be done to instruct poor children, white and black, to read? Answer. Let us labor as the heart and soul of one man to establish Sunday-schools in or near the place of public worship. Let persons be appointed by the bishops, elders, deacons, or preachers, to teach gratis all that will attend and have a capacity to learn, from 6 o'clock in the morning till 10 pnd from 2 p. m. till 6, where it does not interfere with public worship. The council shall compile a proper school-book to teach them learning and piety." The experiment was made, but it proved unsuccessful and was discon tinued. The number of colored members this year was 11,682. The first Baptist church in this country was founded in Providence, R. I., by Roger Williams in 1639. Nearly one hundred years after the settlement of America "only seventeen Baptist churches had arisen in it." The Baptist church in Charleston, S. C., was founded in 1690. The denomination advanced slowly through the middle and Southern States, and in 1790 it had churches in them all. Revivals of religion were enjoyed, particularly one in Virginia, which commenced in 1785 and continued until 1791 or 1792. "Thousands were converted and bap tized, besides many who joined the Methodists and Presbyterians. A large number of Negroes were admitted to the Baptist Churches during the seasons of revival, as well as on ordinary occasions. They were, however, not gathered into churches distinct from the whites south of Pennsylvania except in Georgia." "In general the Negroes were followers of the Baptists in Virginia, and after a while, as they permitted many colored men to preach, the great majority of them went to hear preachers of their own color, which was attended with many evils." THE NEGRO CHURCH 19 "Towards the close of 1792 the first colored Baptist Church in the city of Savannah began to build a place of worship. The corporation of the city gave them a lot for the purpose. The origin of this church —the parent of several others—is briefly as follows: George Leile or Lisle, sometimes called George Sharp, was born in Virginia about 1750. His master sometime before the American war removed and settled in Burke county, Georgia. Mr. Sharp was a Bap tist and a deacon in a Baptist church, of which Rev. Matthew Moore was pastor. George was converted and baptized under Mr. Moore's ministry. The church gave him liberty to preach."* About nine months after George Leile left Georgia, Andrew, sur- named Bryan, a man of good sense, great zeal, and some natural elo cution, began to exhort his black brethren and friends. He and his followers were reprimanded and forbidden to engage further in re ligious exercises. He would, however, pray, sing, and encourage his fellow-worshippers to seek the Lord. Their persecution was carried to an inhuman extent. Their evening assemblies were broken up and those found present were punished with stripes! Andrew Bryan and Sampson, his brother, converted about a year after him, were twice imprisoned, and they with about fifty others were whipped. When publicly whipped, and bleeding under his wounds, Andrew declared that he rejoiced not only to be whipped, but would freely suffer death for the cause of Jesus Christ, and that while he had life and oppor tunity he would continue to preach Christ. He was faithful to his vow and, by patient continuance in well-doing, he put to silence and shamed his adversaries, and influential advocates and patrons were raised up for him. Liberty was given Andrew by the civil authority to continue his religious meetings under certain regulations. His master gave him the use of his barn at Brampton, three miles from Savannah, where he preached for two years with little interruption. The African church in Augusta, Ga., was gathered by the labors of Jesse Peter, and was constituted in 1793 by Rev. Abraham Marshall and David Tinsley. Jesse Peter was also called Jesse Golfin on ac count of his master's name—living twelve miles below Augusta. The number of Baptists in the United States this year was 73,471, allowing one-fourth to be Negroes the denomination would embrace between 18,000 and 19,000. The returns of colored members in the Methodist denomination from 1791 to 1795, inclusive, were 12,884, 13,871, 16,227, 13,814, 12,179. The Methodists reported in 1796, 11,280 colored members. The re capitulation of the numbers for 1797 is given by states: *See infra. 20 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Massachusetts. . . . Connecticut. ..... N ... 8 2 .... 15 288 ...127 198 ........823 Maryland ... North Carolina . . . .... .5,loti 2,45)0 . . . .2,071 ....... 890 ...... 148 ....... 42 ... 57 Making a total of 12,215 Negroes; nearly one-fourth of the whole number of members were colored. There were three only in Canada. The year 1799 is memorable for the commencement of that extra ordinary awakening which, taking its rise in Kentucky and spread ing in various directions and with different degrees of intensity, was denominated "the great Kentucky revival." It continued for about four years, and its influence was felt over a large portion of the Southern States. Presbyterians. Methodists, and Baptists par ticipated in this work. In this revival originated camp-meetings, which gave a new impulse to Methodism. From the best estimates the number of Negroes received into the different communions during this season must have been between four and five thousand. In 1800 there were in connection with the Methodists 13,452 Negroes. The bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church were authorized to ordain African preachers in places where there were houses of worship for their use, who might be chosen by a majority of the male mem bers of the society to which they belonged and could procure a rec ommendation from the preacher in charge and his colleagues on the circuit to the office of local deacons. Richard Alien, of Philadelphia, was the first colored man who received orders under this rule. "The fact, however, is worthy of remembrance that, while the Indians—some of whom received us as guests and sold us their land at almost no compensation at all, and others were driven back to make us room, and with whom we had frequent and bloody wars, and we became, from time to time, mutual scourges—received some eminent missionaries from the colonists, and had no inconsiderable interest awakened for their conversion; the Africans who were brought over and bought by us for servants, and who wore out their lives as such, enriching thousands from Massachusetts to Georgia, and were members of our households, never received from the colonists themselves a soli tary' missionary exclusively devoted to their good, nor was there ever a single society established within the colonies, that we know of, with the express design of promoting their religious instruction!" 8. The Sects and Slavery. The approach of the Revolution brought heart-searching on many subjects, and not the least on slavery. The agitation was noticeable in the legislation of the time, putting an end to slavery in the North and to the slave-trade in all states. Religious THE NEGRO CHURCH 21 bodies particularly were moved. In 1657 George Fox, founder of the Quakers, had impressed upon his followers in America the duty of converting the slaves, and he himself preached to them in the West Indies. The Mennonite Quakers protested against slavery in 1688, and from that time until the Revolution the body slowly but steadily advanced, step by step, to higher ground until they refused all fellow ship to slaveholders. Radical Quakers,like Hepburn and Lay, attacked religious sects and Lay called preachers "a sort of devils that preach more to hell than they do to heaven, and so they will do forever as long as they are suffered to reign in the worst and mother of all sing, slave-keeping." In Virginia and North Carolina this caused much difficulty owing to laws against manumission early in the nineteenth century, and the result was wholesale migration of the Quakers.* Judge Sewall, among the Massachusetts Congregationalists, had declared, in 1700, that slavery and the slave-trade were wrong-, but his protest was unheeded. Later, in 1770 and after, strong Congregational clergymen, like Samuel Hopkins and Ezra Stiles, attacked slavery, but. so democratic a church could take no united action. Although Whitefield came to defend the institution, John Wesley, founder of the Methodists, called the slave-trade the "sum of all villanies," and the General Conference in America, 1780, declared slavery "contrary to the laws of God, man, and nature and hurtful to society." From this high stand, however, the church quickly and rather ignominiously retreated. By 1780 it only sought the destruction of slavery "by all wise and prudent means," while preachers were allowed to hold their slaves in slave states. In 1787 the General Conference urged preachers to labor among slaves and receive worthy ones into full membership and "to exercise the whole Methodist discipline among them." Work was begun early among the slaves and they had so many mem bers that their churches in the south were often called Negro churches. The church yielded further ground to the pro-slavery sentiment in 1816, but in 1844 the censure of a bishop who married a slaveholder rent the church in twain on the question. The Baptists had Negro preachers for Negro members as early as 1773. They were under the supervision of whites and had no voice in general church affairs. The early Baptists held few slaves, and they were regarded as hostile to slavery in Georgia. The Philadelphia Asso ciation approved of abolition as early as 1789, and a Virginia Associa tion urged emancipation in the legislature about the same time. In Kentucky and Ohio the Baptist Associations split on the question. The Baptists early interested themselves in the matter of slave mar riages and family worship, and especially took spiritual care of the slaves of their own members. They took a stand against the slave- * CJ. Week's Southern Quakers and Slavery; Thomas: Attitude, etc. 22 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGKO CHURCH 23 trade in 1818 and 1835. After the division on the subject of missions the Missionary Baptists began active proselyting among the slaves. The Presbyterian Synod of 1787 recommended efforts looking toward gradual emancipation, and in 1795 the question of excluding slave holders was discussed, but it ended in an injunction of "brotherly love" for them. In 1815, 1818, and 1835 the question was dismissed and postponed, and finally in 1845 the question was dropped on the ground that Christ and the Apostles did not condemn slavery. At the time of the war the church finally divided. 9. Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nat Turner. "The role which the great Negro Toussaint, called L'Ouverture, played in the history of the United States has seldom been fully appreciated. Representing the age of revolution in America, he rose to leadership through a bloody terror, which contrived a Negro "problem " for the Western hemisphere, intensified and denned the anti-slavery movement, became one of the causes, and probably the prime one, which led Napoleon to sell Louisiana for a song; and, finally, through the interworking of all these effects, rendered more certain the final prohibition of the slave-trade by the United States in 1807." * The effect of the revolution on the religious life of the Negro was quickly felt. In 1800, South Carolina declared: " It shall not be lawful for any number of slaves, free Negroes, mulattoes, or mestizoes, even in company with white persons, to meet together and assemble for the purpose of mental instruction or religious worship, either before the rising of the sun or after the going down of the same. And all magistrates, sheriffs, militia officers, etc., etc., are hereby vested with power, etc., for dispersing such assemblies." t On petition of the white churches the rigor of this law was slig'htly abated in 1803 by a modification which forbade any person, before 9 o'clock in the evening-, "to break into a place of meeting wherein shall be assembled the members of any religious society in this (State, pro vided a majority of them shall be white persons, or otherwise to dis turb their devotions unless such persons, etc., so entering said place [of worship] shall first have obtained from some magistrate, etc., a war rant, etc., in case a magistrate shall be then actually within a distance of three miles from such place of meeting-; otherwise the provisions, etc., [of the Act of 1800] to remain in full force."{ So, too, in Virginia the Haytian revolt and the attempted insurrec tion under Gabriel in 1800 led to the Act of 1804, which forbade all evening- meetings of slaves. This was modified in 1805 so as to allow a slave, in company with a white person, to listen to a white minister in the evening-. A master was "allowed" to employ a religious teacher for his slaves.§ Mississippi passed similar restrictions. * DuBois' Suppression of the Slave-Trade, p. 70. fGoodell, 829. t Stroud, 98-4 ; Goodell, 329. g Stroud, 94; Ballagh, 95. By 1822 the rigor of the South Carolina laws in regard to Negro meeting's had abated, especially in a city like Charleston, and one of the results was the Vesey plot. " The sundry religious classes or congregations, with Negro leaders or local preachers, into which were formed the Negro members of the various churches of Charleston, furnished Vesey with the first rudiments of an organization, and at the same time with a singularly safe medium for conducting his underground agitation. It was customary, at that time, for these Negro congregations to meet for purposes of worship entirely free from the presence of whites. Such meetings were afterwards forbidden to be held except in the presence of at least one repre sentative of the dominant race. But during the three or four years prior to the year 1822 they certainly offered Denmark Vesey regular, easy and safe opportuni ties for preaching his gospel of liberty and hate. And we are left in no doubt whatever in regard to the uses to which he put those gatherings of blacks. "Like many of his race, he possessed the gift of gab, as the silver in the tongue and the gold in the full or thick-lipped mouth are oftentimes contemptuously characterized. And, like many of his race, he was a devoted student of the Bible, to whose interpretation he brought, like many other Bible students not confined to the Negro race, a good deal of imagination and not a little of superstition, which, with some natures, is perhaps but another name for the desires of the heart. Thus equipped, it is no wonder that Vesey, as he poured over the Old Testament scriptures, found many points of similitude in the history of the Jews and that of the slaves in the United States. They were both peculiar peoples. They were both Jehovah's peculiar peoples, one in the past, the other in the pres ent. And it seemed to him that as Jehovah bent his ear, and bared his arm once in behalf of the one, so would he do the same for the other. It was all vividly real to his thought, I believe, for to his mind thus had said the Lord, "He ransacked the Bible for apposite and terrible texts whose commands in the olden times, to the olden people, were no less imperative upon the new times and the new people. This new people was also commanded to arise and destroy their enemies and the city in which they dwelt, ' both man and woman, young and old, with the edge of the sword.' Believing superstitiously as he did in the stern and Nemesis-like God of the Old Testament he looked confidently for a day of venge ance and retribution for the blacks. He felt, I doubt not, something peculiarly applicable to his enterprise and intensely personal to himself in the stern and ex ultant prophecy of Zachariah, fierce and sanguinary words, which were constantly in his mouth: 'Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle.' According to Vesey's lurid exegesis 'those nations' in the text meant beyond peradventure the cruel masters and Jehovah was to go forth to fight against them for the poor slaves and on whichever side fought that day th e Almighty God on that side would assuredly rest victory and deliverance. "It will not be denied that Vesey's plan contemplated the total annihilation of the white population of Charleston. Nursing for many dark years the bitter wrongs of himself and race had filled him without doubt with a mad spirit of re venge and had given to him a decided predilection for shedding th e blood of his op pressors. But if he intended to kill them to satisfy a desire for vengeance he in tended to do so also on broader ground. The conspirators, he argued, had no choice in the matter, but were compelled to adopt a policy of extermination by the neces sity of their position. The liberty of the blacks was in the balance of fate against the lives of the whites. He could strike that balance in favor of the blacks only by 24 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE the total destruction of the whites. Therefore the whites, men, women, and chil dren, were doomed to death."* The plot was well-laid, but the conspirators were betrayed. Less than ten years after this plot was discovered and Vesey and his asso ciates hanged, there broke out the Nat Turner insurrection in Virginia. Turner was himself a preacher. " He was a Christian and a man. He was conscious that he was a Man and not a 'thing;' therefore, driven by religious fanaticism, he undertook a difficult and bloody task. Nathaniel Turner was born in Southampton county, Virginia, Octo ber 2,1 MO. His master was one Benjamin Turner, a very wealthy and aristocratic man. He owned many slaves, and was acruel and exacting master. Young 'Nat' was born of slave parents, and carried to his grave many of the superstitions and traits of his father and mother. The former was a preacher, the latter a -mother in Israel.' Both were unlettered but, nevertheless, very pious people. The mother began when Nat was quite young to teach him that he was born, like Moses, to be the deliverer of his race. She would sing to him snatches of wild, rapturous songs and repeat portions of prophecy she had learned from the preachers of those times. Nat listened with reverence and awe, and believed everything his mother said. He imbibed the deep religious character of his parents, and soon manifested a desire to preach. He was solemnly set apart to ' the gospel ministry' by his father, the church, and visiting preachers. He was quite low in stature, dark, and had the genuine African features. His eyes were small, but sharp, and gleamed like fire when he was talking about his 'mission' or preaching from some prophetic pas sage of scripture. It is said that he never laughed. He was a dreamy sort of a man, and avoided the crowd. Like Moses he lived in the solitudes of the mountains and brooded over the condition of his people. There was something grand to him in the rugged scenery that nature had surrounded him with. He believed that he was a prophet, a leader raised up by God to burst the bolts of the prison-house and set the oppressed free. The thunder, the hail, the storm-cloud, the air, the earth, the stars, at which he would sit and gaze half the night all spake the language of the God of the oppressed. He was seldom seen in a large company, and never drank a drop of ardent spirits. Like John the Baptist, when he had delivered his message, he would retire to the fastness of the mountain or seek the desert, where he could meditate upon his great work." t In the impression of the Richmond Enquirer of the 30th of August, 1831, the first editorial or leader is under the caption of "The Banditte." The editor says: "They remind one of a parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps; or, rather like a former incursion of the Indians upon the white settlements. Nothing is spared; neither age nor sex respected—the helplessness of women and children pleads in vain for mercy. . . . The case of Nat Turner warns us. No black man ought to be permitted to turn preacher through the country. The law must be enforced—or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain." t Mr. Ciray, the man to whom Turner made his confession before dying, said: *Grimke: Eight on the Scaffold (Pub. American Negro Academy), pp. 11-12. tWilliams II, pp. 85-86. t Quotediu Ibid, p. 90. THE NEGRO CHURCH 25 " It has been said that he was ignorant and cowardly and that his object was to murder and rob for the purpose of obtaining money to make his escape. It is no torious that he was never known to have had a dollar in his life, to swear an oath or drink a drop of spirits. As to his ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education, but he can read and write, and for natural intelligence and quick ness of apprehension is surpassed by few men I have ever seen. As to his being a coward, his reason as given for not resisting Mr. Phipps, shows the decision of his character. When he saw Mr. Phipps present his gun, he said he knew it was im possible for him to escape as the woods were full of men. He, therefore, thought it was better for him to surrender and trust to fortune for his escape. " He is a complete fanatic or plays his part most admirably. On other subjects he possesses an uncommon share of intelligence, with a mind capable of attaining anything, but warped and perverted by the influence of early impressions. He is below the ordinary stature, though strong and active, having the true Negro face, every feature of which is strongly marked. I shall not attempt to describe the effect of his narrative, as told and commented on by himself, in the condemned hole of the prison; the calm, deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds and intentions; the expression of his flend-like face when excited by enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of the blood of the helpless innocence about him, clothed with rags and covered with chains, yet daring to raise his manacled hand to heaven, with a spirit soaring above the attributes of man. I looked on him and the blood curdled in my veins."* The Turner insurrection is so connected with the economic revolution which enthroned cotton that it marks an epoch in the history of the slave. A wave of legislation passed over the South prohibiting the slaves from learning to read and write, forbidding Negroes to preach, and interfering with Negro religious meetings. Virginia declared, in 1831, that neither slaves or free Negroes might preach, nor could they attend religious service at night without permission. In North Carolina slaves and free Negroes were forbidden to preach, exhort or teach "in any prayer-meeting or other association for worship where slaves of different families are collected together" on penalty of not more than thirty-nine lashes. Maryland and Georgia had similar laws. The Mis sissippi law of 1831 said: It is "unlawful for any slave, free Negro, or mulatto to preach the gospel" upon pain of receiving thirty-nine lashes upon the naked back of the presumptuous preacher. If a Negro received written permission from his master he might preach to the Negroes in his immediate neighborhood, providing six respectable white men, owners of slaves, were present.t In Alabama the law of 1832 prohibited the assembling of more than five male slaves at any place off the plan tation to which they belonged, but nothing in the act was to be consid ered as forbidding attendance at places of public worship held by white persons. No slave or free person of color was permitted to "preach, ex hort, or harrangue any slave or slaves, or free persons of color, except m the presence of five respectable slaveholders or unless the person " Williams II, pp. 91-»2. t Williams II, 163. 26 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE preaching was licensed by some regular body of professing Christians in the neighborhood, to whose society or church the Negroes addressed properly belonged." Tn the District of Columbia the free Negroes began to leave white churches in 1831 and to assemble in their own. 10. Third Period of Missionary Enterprise. The efforts to convert Ne groes in America fall in three main periods. The first period was early in the eighteenth century after it was decided that baptism did not free slaves. Results at this time were meagre, and the effort spasmodic. A second period came about the time of the Re volution, and had larger re sults. C. C. Jones says of the conditions, 1790-1820, that: "It is not too much to say that the religious and physical condition of the Ne groes were both improved during this period. Their increase was natural and regular, ranging every ten years, between 34 and 36 per cent. As the old stock from Africa died out of the country the grosser customs, ignorance and paganism of Africa, died with them. Their descendants, the country-born, were better look ing, more intelligent, more civilized, more susceptible of religious impressions. "On the whole, however, but a minority of the Negroes, and that a small one, attended regularly the house of God. and taking them as a class, their religious instruction was extensively and most seriously neglected." The third period followed after the depression of the thirties. This depression was severe, and lasted nearly twenty years. The Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, in 1833, pub lished a statement in which they said of the slaves: " There are over two millions of human beings in the condition of heathen and some of them in a worse condition. They may justly be considered the heathen of this country, and will bear a comparison with heathen in any country in the world. The Negroes are destitute of the gospel, and ever will be under the present state of things. In the vast field extending from an entire state beyond the Po- tomac, [i. e., Maryland], to the Sabine river [at the time our southwestern bound ary] and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are, to the best of our knowledge, not twelve men exclusively devoted to the religious instruction of the Negroes. In the present state of feeling in the South, a ministry of their own color could neither be obtained nor tolerated. But do not the Negroes have access to the gospel through the stated ministry of the whites? We answer, no. The Negroes have no regular and efficient ministry: as a matter of course, no churches; neither is there sufficient room in the white churches for their accommodation. We know of but five churches in the slaveholding states, built expressly for their use. These are all in the state of Georgia. We may now inquire whether they enjoy the privileges of the gospel in their own houses, and on our plantations? Again we return a nega tive answer. They have no Bibles to read by their own firesides. They have no family altars; and when in affliction, sickness or death, they have no minister to address to them the consolations of the gospel, nor to bury them with appropriate services." * The Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky, in 1834, said: * Goodell, pp. S38-5. THE NEGRO CHURCH 27 "Slavery deprives its subjects, in a great measure, of the privileges of the gospel. The law, as it is here, does not prevent free access to the scriptures; but ignorance, the natural result of their condition, does. The Bible is before them. But it is to them a sealed book. Very few of them enjoy the advantages of a regular gospel ministry."* The Synod of South Carolina and Georgia returned to the subject, in 1834, and declared: "The gospel, as things now are, can never be preached to the two classes (whites and blacks) successfully in conjunction. The galleries or back seats on the lower floor of white churches are generally appropriated to the Negroes, when it can be done without inconvenience to the whites. When it cannot be done conveniently, the Negroes must catch the gospel as it escapes through the doors and windows. If the master is pious, the house servants alone attend family worship, and fre quently few or none of them, while the field hands have no attention at all. So as far as masters are engaged in the work [of religious instruction of slaves], an almost unbroken silence reigns on this vast field." * To this the Rev. C. C. Jones, of Georgia, adds: "We cannot cry out against the Papists for withholding the scriptures from the common people, and the keeping them in ignorance of the way of life, for we with hold the Bible from our servants, and keep them in ignorance of it, while we will not use the means to have it read and explained to them." * In 1838 the Methodist Conference of South Carolina appointed a mis sionary to labor among the colored people, but the enterprise was soon suppressed by the principal citizens. The Greenville (S. C.) Mountaineer of November 2, 1838, contained the particulars: A committee was ap pointed, who addressed a note to the missionary, requesting him to desist. This was backed up by James S. Pope and 852 others. The document argues at length the incompatibility of slavery with the "mental improvement and religious instruction" of slaves. "Verbal instruction," say they, " will increase the desire of the black population to learn. We know of upwards of a dozen Negroes in the neighborhood of Cambridge who can now read, some of whom are members of your societies at Mount JLebanon and New Salem. Of course, when they see themselves encouraged, they will supply themselves with Bibles, hymn books, and catechisms! Open the missionary sluice, and the current will swell in its gradual onward advance. We thus expect that a pro gressive system of improvement will be introduced, or will follow, from the nature and force of circumstances, and, if not checked (though they may be shrouded in sophistry and disguise), will ultimately revolution ize our civil institutions. We consider the common adage that 'knowl edge is power,' and as the colored man is enlightened, his condition will be rendered more unhappy and intolerable. Intelligence and slavery have no affinity with each other." The document refers to the laws of the state, and hopes that " South Carolina is yet true to her vital inter ests," etc., etc.t * Joues, 167-8; Goodell, p. 335-6. t Goodell, p. 336-7. 28 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 29 Bishop Capers testifies about this time that there was the most urgent need for preaching among Negroes. Of the Negroes around Wilming- ton, N. C., he says: "A numerous population of this class in that town and vicinity were as destitute of any public instruction (or, probably, instruction of any kind as to spiritual things) as if they had not been believed to be men at all, and their morals were as depraved as, with such a destitution of the gospel among: them, mighthave been expected." To this state of things the masters were indifferent; for, adds the bish op, "it seems not to have been considered that such a state of things might furnish motives sufficient to induce pure-minded men to engage, at g'reat inconvenience or even personal hazard, in the work of improv ing them." Such work, on the other hand, seems to have been regarded as unnecessary, if not unreasonable. Conscience was not believed to be concerned. As the result of such appeals a reaction set in about l.Sio, and the Methodists and Baptists especially were active among the slaves. A minister in Mississippi testified that he had charge of the Negroes of five plantations and three hundred slaves; another in Georgia visited eighteen plantations every two weeks. "The owners have built three good churches at their own expense, all framed; 290 members have been added, and about 400 children are instructed." Another travel ing minister declared, in 1841, that in many places, like Baltimore, Al exandria, and Charleston, the Negroes had large, spacious churches, and he thinks there were 500,000 Negro church members at the time, which is probably an exaggeration. Charles C. Jones writes, in 1S42, that: "The Negro race has existed in our country for two hundred and twenty-two years, in which time the gospel has been brought within the reach of, and been communicated to, multitudes. "While there have been but few societies, and they limited in extent and influ ence, formed for the special object of promoting the moral and religious instruc tion of the Negroes, and while there have been comparatively but few mission aries exclusively devoted to them, yet they have not been altogether overlooked by their owners, nor neglected by the regular ministers of the various leading denominations of Christians, as the facts adduced in this sketch testify. "Yet it is a remarkable fact in the history of the Negroes in our country that their regular, systematic religious instruction has never received in the churches at any time that genera] attention and effort which it. demanded, and the people have consequently been left, both in the free and in the slave states, in great numbers, in moral darkness, and destitution of the means of grace." "In 1848 an enterprise was begun for the more thorough-going evangelization of the colored people in Charleston, 8. C.. under the auspices of the Rev. Dr. J. B. Adger and the session of the Second Presbyterian church. In 1859 a church building costing $25,000, contributed by the citizens of Charleston, was dedicated. From the first the great building was filled, the blacks occupying the main floor, and the whites the galleries, which seated two hundred and fifty persons. The Eev. l>r. J. L. Girardeau, one of the greatest preachers in the South, was for years the pastor of this church. The close of the war found it with exactly five hundred colored members, and nearly one hundred white."* There were thirteen colored churches in Baltimore in 1847, supported largely, but not altogether, by free Negroes. In 1854 one-fourth of the slaves of South Carolina were said to be Methodist- ; one-third of the Presbyterians of that state were black, and one-half of the Baptists of Virginia, In 1859 there were 468, Mi Hi Negro church members reported in the South, of whom 215,'HO were Methodists and 175,ikK\ Baptists.t Even at this time many restrictions on Negro religion remained. In Maryland camp-meetings were forbidden, and all meetings save at regular churches and with the consent of white preachers. There were also many local laws restricting worship. In other states the laws of the thirties remained in force or were strengthened. Moreover, even the church organizations working among Negroes were careful in their methods. The North Carolina Baptist Convention adopted a report concerning the religious instruction of the colored people, with a series of resolutions, concluding as follows: '•'•Resolved, That, by religious instructions be understood verbal com munications on religious subjects?"* Moreover, the masters clung to the idea that the chief use of religion among slaves was to make them "obey their masters." When it was charged that slaves were not allowed to read the Bible, one naive answer was that it was read to them, especially "those very passages which inculcate the relative duties of masters and servants." An intelligent-Negro, Lundsford Lane, thus describes the religious instruction of slaves: " I was permitted to attend church, and this I esteem a great blessing. It was there I received much instruction, which I trust was a great benefit to me. 1 trusted, too, that I had experienced the renewing influences of divine grace. 1 looked upon myself as a great sinner before God, and upon the doctrine of the great atonement, through the suffering and death of the Savior, as a source of continual joy to my heart. After obtaining from my mistress a written permit, a thing always required in such cases, I had been baptized and received into fellow ship with the Baptist denomination. Thus in religious matters I had been in dulged in the exercise of my own conscience; this was a favor not always granted to slaves. There was one hard doctrine to which we as si aves were compelled to listen, which I found difficult to receive. We were often told by the ministers how much we owed to God for bringing us over from the benighted shores of Africa and permitting us to listen to the sound of the gospel. In ignorance of any special revelation that God had made to master, or to his ancestors, that my ances tors should be stolen and enslaved on the soil of America to accomplish their sal vation, I was slow to believe all my teachers enjoined on this subject. How sur prising, then, this high moral end being accomplished, that no proclamation of emancipation had before this been made! Alany of us were as highly civilized as * Campbell: Some Aspects, etc.; and Jones, t Cf. Ingle Side Lights, pp. 273-74. t Goodell, p. 836. 30 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFEHENCE some of our masters, and as to piety in many instances their superiors. I was rather disposed to believe that God had originally granted me temporal freedom, which wicked men had taken from me—which now I had been compelled to pur chase at great cost. There was one kind-hearted clergyman whom I used often to hear; he was very popular among the colored people. But after he had preached a sermon to us in which he urged from the Bible that it was the will of heaven from all eternity that we should be slaves, and our masters be our owners, many of us left him, considering, like the doubting disciple of old, 'This is a hard saying; who can hear it?'" * So, too, Dr. Caruthers says although many of the slaves were pious they owed for this "no thanks to slavery or the slave laws." Even after the war the reconstruction legislation of states like Mississippi sought especially to restrain Negro preachers and imposed, in 1865, upon Negroes exercising the functions of a minister without a license from a regularly organized church a fine of $10-$100, and liability to imprison ment not more than thirty days.f 11. The Earlier Churches and Preachers, (by Mr. John W. Cromwell). The original colored churches in different sections of the country came about in one of the following ways: 1. They were in some cases the result of special missionary effort on the part of the whites. 2. They were brought about, by direct discrimination against the blacks made by the whites during divine worship. 3. They were the natural sequence, when, on account of increase in members, it became necessary for congregations to divide, whereupon the blacks were evolved as distinct churches, but still under the over sight, if not the exclusive control, of the whites. 4. They were, in not a few cases, the preference of colored communi cants themselves, in order to get as much as possible the equal privileges and advantages of government denied them under the existing system. The establishment of these churches took place about the same time in sections more distant from each other then than now, for it was before the time of the railroad, the use of the steamboat or the telegraph; so that their coming into existence at the same time must be attributed to a correspondence of general causes. The first regular church organization of which I know was a Bap tist Church at Williamsburg, Va., in the year 1776. Following it were three Baptist Churches in the year 1778, one in Augusta and two in Savannah, Ga.; the Episcopal Church, St. Thomas, in Philadelphia, in 1791; Bethel Church, Philadelphia, in 1794; Zion Methodist Church, New York city, in 1796; Joy Street Baptist Church, Boston, in 1807; Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York, in 1808; First Baptist, St. Louis, 1830. * Bassett: State, pp. 51-52. f Garner: Kecoustructlon, p. 115. THE KEGEO CHURCH rfl go far as the establishment is concerned of those, colored Methodist Churches which evolved the A. M. E. and the A. M. E. Zion denomi nations, persecution by the whites was the moving cause. They were compelled to protect themselves against the yoke sought to be imposed on them, by worshipping among themselves. The one movement in Philadelphia, the other in NPW York, moved in parallel, often in rival lines. New York and Philadelphia were soon in free states and their methods were those of free men, in name at least, while the establishment of colored Methodist Churches in the South, as in Maryland, under the direction of the whites, illustrated one of the instances of special missionary effort. The colored Baptist Church in the South came mostly into existence mainly through the third inciting cause mentioned. The Presbyterian Church, as found among the colored people, came about through the operation of two causes: the desire of the colored people to be by themselves and that of the whites to strengthen their denomination among this class. The first colored Episcopal Churches, both in New York and Phila delphia, resulted directly from causes similar to those which gave rise to the Methodist Churches in the same localities. Of the men mainly instrumental by reason of their position as pio neers in organizing these first churches in the different colored denom inations a word is needed. First in order came Richard Alien. He was one of the leaders in the free African Society. From the members of this body came the leaders, almost the organization itself, both of the Bethel Methodist and the St. Thomas Episcopal Churches in the city of Philadelphia. Richard Alien was born February 12, 1760, old style, a slave in Phila delphia. At an early age he gave evidence of a high order of talent for leadership. He was converted while quite a lad and licensed to preach in 1782. In 1797 he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Francis Asbury, who had been entrusted by John Wesley with the superin tendence of the work in America. April 11, 1816, at the general con ference of the African Methodist Churches, held in the city of Phila delphia, he was elected their first bishop. Under his administration the work was vigorously prosecuted in all directions. He died in 1831, universally lamented. He possessed talents as an organizer of the highest order. He wa.s a born leader and an almost infallible judge of human nature. He was actively identified with every forward movement among the colored people, irrespective of denomination, and died, leaving a greater influ ence upon the colored people of the North than any other man of his times. He was one of the promoters, as well as one of the chief actors, in the first national convention of colored men in the United States ever held, which was in Philadelphia in the year 1830. * 5 It DC 32 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Absalom Jones, who cerminly comes next in point of time, was born a slave in (Sussex, Del., November 6, 1746. At the age of sixteen he was taken to Philadelphia. He was married in 1770, purchased his wife, and afterward succeeded in obtaining his own liberty. Like his co-laborer, Richard Alien, with whom he was associated in the African Society, he was quite thrifty and became the owner of several pieces of real estate. His education was quite limited, so much so that a dispensa tion was necessary to admit of his ordination, to -which a condition was annexed that this church (St. Thomas) should not have the power of sharing in the government of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Pennsylvania. Rev. Win. Douglass, subsequently a rector of this church, in his "Annals of St. Thomas Episcopal Church," says of Absalom Jones, that he was impressive in his style of preaching, though his forte was not in the pulpit. It was his mild and easy man ners, his habits as a pastor, his public spirit, that strengthened him in public estimation. He says that "he was of medium height, dark complexion, with stout frame, bland and open countenance, yet indi cative of firmness. Whenever he appeared in public he donned the costume of the profession, black dress coat, breeches and vest of the same color, with top-boots or shoes with buckles and black stockings." After a ministry of twenty-two years, he died February 13, 1818, aged 71 years. Rev. John Gloucester, the first colored minister to act as pastor of the first colored Presbyterian Church, was a man thoroughly consecrated to his cause. He possessed a fair English education, which he received from private sources. He was a pioneer of Presbyterian ministers; four of his own sons, Jeremiah, John, Stephen, and James, became Presbyterian ministers, and from the Sunday-school of his church three other well known ministers went forth—Rev. Amos to Africa, Rev. H. M. Wilson to New York, and Rev. Jonathan C. Gibbs, who died in Florida after having been Secretary of State and State Superintendent of Schools. Mr. Gloucester, like Alien and Jones, was born a slave, in Kentucky, about the year 1776. Such was his intelligence that he was purchased by Rev. Gideon Blackburn, one of the leaders of the Presbyterian de nomination in Kentucky. The records show that when Rev. Glouces ter was ordained, Dr. Blackburn was the moderator of the presbytery. On the appointment of Rev. Gloucester to the first African Presbvterian church his master liberated him. One of the attractions of Rev. Gloucester was his rich musical voice that was pronounced as some thing phenomenal. In prayer his power was manifest. His character was so simple and Christian that he won many friends of both races. He was not only preacher, but pastor and adviser of his people in their temporal matters. He traveled extensively North and South and in nearly every city, raising the money with which he lib- THE NEGKO CHUKCH 33 erated his wife and children. He even crossed the ocean, where he met with great success. After fifteen years of service in the church, during which time it rap idly increased in members, from 22 to 300, he died May 2, 1822, a victim of consumption, in the forty-sixth year of his age. Now it is not to be inferred that these were the only men deserving of special notice as pioneers. By no means. We allude to them because of their relation to the historical churches. There were Harry Hosier, who travelled with Bishop Asbury, and who often filled appointments for him; Rev. Daniel Coker of Baltimore, and Rev. Peter Spencer of Delaware, who organized the Protestant branch of colored Methodism. Circumstances were somewhat similar in other parts of the country. With the increase of the colored population and its distribution to other centers, other religious societies sprang up, so that wherever you find any number of these people in the earlier decades of the republic you find a church, often churches, out of all proportion to the popula tion. In the West, it may be stated, that colored churches were not the re sult of secessions or irregular wholesale withdrawals from the white churches as in the East. They sprang up directly in the path of the westward migration of colored people from the South and the East. In the South the whites were in complete and absolute control, in church as in state. Colored people attended and held membership in the same church as the whites, though they did not possess the same rights or privileges. They either had special services at stated times or they sat in the galleries. There may have been deep protests against such un-Christian treatment, but we may rest assured that these were by no means loud, however deep. It was when this membership in creased to very large numbers that separate churches for colored people, rather than of the colored people, were established. In the South, as in the North, this membership was principally in the Bap tist and Methodist churches, and to these denominations did these separate colored churches belong, with exceptions so rare that they may be named as to cities or districts where it was otherwise. Outside of the few ministers of the A. M. E. and the A. M. E. Zion churches in the border states, it is doubtful if there were a score of col ored pastors in full control of colored churches in the South before the war. Nevertheless, there were a few colored ministers so very con spicuous by their work as pioneers as to deserve special notice here. It is possible to refer briefly only to a few. Taking them in the order of time there was the Rev. George Lisle, a native of Virginia, the slave or body servant of a British officer. Throughout that struggle he preached in different parts of the country. As one of the results of his labors we find one of the very first colored churches of any denomination in the country organized, especially that "S 34 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 35 in 1788 at Savannah, Ga., by Eev. Andrew Bryan, whom Lisle had bap tized. Compelled to leave the United States at the close of the war, Lisle went to Jamaica, where he organized a church with four members in 1783. By 1790 he had baptized more than 400 persons on that island. In 1793 he built there the very first non-Episcopal religious chapel, to which there were belonging, in 1841, 3,700 members. That white Baptist missionaries subsequently went to the West Indies is to be attributed to Eev. Lisle's work, for they were brought there as a direct result of his correspondence with ecclesiastical authorities in Great Britain. Next we have Lott Carey, also a native of Virginia, born a slave in Charles City county, about 1780. His father was a Baptist. Tn 1804 Lott removed to Richmond, where he worked in a tobacco factory and from all accounts was very profligate and wicked. In 1807, being con verted, he joined the First Baptist Church, learned to read, made rapid advancement as a scholar, and was shortly afterwards licensed to preach. After purchasing his family, in 1813, he organized, in 1815, the Afri can Missionary Society, the first missionary society in the country, and within five years raised $700 for African missions. That Lott Carey was evidently a man of superior intellect and force of character is to be evidenced from the fact that his reading took a wide range—from political economy, in Adam Smith's Wealth of Na tions, to the voyage of Captain Cook. That he was a worker as well as a preacher is true, for when he decided to go to Africa his employ ers offered to raise his salary from $800 to $1,000 a year. Eemem- ber, that this was over eighty years ago. Carey was not seduced by such a flattering offer, for he was determined. His last sermon in the old First Church in Eichmond must have been exceedingly pow erful, for it was compared by an eye-witness, a resident of another state, to the burning, eloquent appeals of George Whitefield. Fancy him as he stands there in that historic building ringing the changes on the word "freely," depicting the willingness with which he was ready to give up his life for service in Africa. He, as you may already know, was the leader of the pioneer colony to Liberia, where he arrived even before the agent of the Colonization Society. In his new home his abilities were recognized, for he was made vice governor and became governor, in fact, while Governor Ashman was absent from the colony in this country. Carey did not allow his position to betray the cause of his people, for he did not hesitate to expose the duplicity of the Colonization Society and even to defy their authority, it would seem, in the interests of the people. While casting cartridges to defend the colonists against the natives in 1828, the accidental upsetting of a candle caused an explosion that resulted in his death. Carey is described as a typical Negro, six feet in height, of massive and erect frame, with the sinews of a Titan. He had a square face, keen eyes, and a grave countenance. His movements were measured; in short, he had all the bearings and dignity of a prince of the blood. 12. Some Other Ante=BeIIum Preachers. Six noted Negro preachers have been mentioned: Nat Turner, the revolutionist; Richard Alien, the founder of the African Methodists; Absalom Jones, the first Negro Episcopal rector; Harry Hosier, the companion of Bishop Asbury; George Lisle, the West Indian missionary, and Lott Carey, the African missionary. To these may be added the names of Lemuel Haynes, John Chavis, Henry Evans, James Varick, Jack of Virginia, Ealph Freeman, and Lunsford Lane, forming thirteen remarkable characters. "Lemuel Haynes was born in Hartford, Conn., July 18, 1753. His father was an African, his mother a white woman. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Middlebury College in 1804. After completing a theological course he preached in various places and settled in West Eutland, Vt., in 1788, where he remained for thirty years, and became one of the most popular preachers in the state. He was characterized by subtle intellect, keen wit, and eager thirst for knowledge. His noted sermon from Genesis 3:4 was published and passed through nine or ten editions. His controversy with Hosea Ballou became of world-wide interest. The life of Lemuel Haynes was written by James E. Cooley, New York, 184V* John Chavis was a full-blooded Negro, born in Granville county, N. C., near Oxford, in 1763. He was born free and was sent to Princeton, and studied pri vately under Dr. Witherspoon, where he did well. He went to Vir ginia to preach to Negroes. In 1802, in the county court, his freedom and character were certified to and it was declared that he had passed "through a regular course of academic studies" at what is now Wash ington and Lee University. In 1805 he returned to North Carolina, where he in 1809 was made a licentate in the Presbyterian Church and preached. His English was remarkably pure, his manner impressive, his explanations clear and concise. For a long time he taught school and had the best whites as pupils—a United States senator, the sons of a chief justice of North Carolina, a governor of the state and many others. Some of his pupils boarded in his family, and his school was regarded as the best in the State. "All accounts agree that John Chavis was a gentleman," and he was received socially among the best whites and asked to table. In 1830 he was stopped from preaching by the law. Afterward he taught a school for free Negroes in Raleigh, t * Report U. g. Bureau of Edacation, 1900-1. p. 857. tBassett, State, North Carolina, pp. 78-6. Cf. also Ballagh : Slavery In Virginia. 36 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Henry Evans was a full-blooded Virginia free Negro, and was the pioneer of Methodism in Fayetteville, N. C. He found the Negroes there, about 1800, without religious instruction. He began preaching and the town council ordered him away; he continued and whites came to hear him. Finally the white auditors outnumbered the black, and sheds were erected for Negroes at the side of the church. The gathering became a regular Methodist Church, with a white and Negro membership, but Evans continued to preach. He exhibited "rare self- control before the most wretched of castes! Henry Evans did much good, but he would have done more good had his spirit been untram melled by this sense of inferiority."* His dying words uttered us he stood, aged and bent beside his pul pit, are of singular pathos: "I have come to say my last word to you. It is this: None but Christ. Three times I have had my life in jeopardy for preaching the gospel to you. Three time I have broken ice on the edge of the water and swam across the Cape Fear to preach the gospel to you; and, if in my last hour I could trust to that, or any thing but Christ crucified, for my salvation, all should be lost and my soul per ish forever." t Early in the nineteenth century Ralph Freeman was a slave in Anson county, N. C. He was a full-blooded Negro, and was ordained and became an able Baptist preacher. He baptized and administered communion, and was greatly respected. When the Baptists split on the question of missions he sided with the anti-mission side. Finally the law forbade him to preach.} .Lunsford Lane was a Negro who bought his freedom in Raleigh, N. C., by the manufacture of smoking tobacco. He later became a min ister and was intelligent, and had the confidence of many of the best people.^ James Varick was a free Negro of New York, and is memorable as the first bishop of the Zion Methodists. The story of Jack of Virginia is best told in the words of a Southern writer: "Probably the most interesting case in the whole South is that of an African preacher of Nottoway county, popularly known as 'Uncle Jack,' whose services to white and black were so valuable that a distinguished minister of the South ern Presbyterian Church felt called upon to memorialize his work in a biography. "Kidnapped from his idolatrous parents in Africa, he was brought over in one of the last cargoes of slaves admitted to Virginia and sold to a remote and ob scure planter in Nottoway county, a region at that time in the backwoods and destitute particularly as to religious life and instruction. He was converted under the occasional preaching of Rev. Dr. John Blair Smith, president of Hampden- Sidney College, and of Dr. Wm. Hill and Dr. Archibald Alexander of Princeton, then young theologues, and by hearing the scriptures read. Taught by his mas- THE NEGRO CHURCH 37 ter's children to read, he became so full of the spirit and knowledge of the Bible that he was recognized among the whites as a powerful expounder of Christian doctrine, was licensed to preach by the Baptist Church, and preached from plan tation to plantation within a radius of thirty miles, as he was invited by over seers or masters. His freedom was purchased by a subscription of whites, and he was given a home and a tract of land for his support. He organized a large and orderly Negro church, and exercised such a wonderful controlling influence over the private morals of his flock that masters, instead of punishing their slaves, often referred them to the discipline of their pastor, which they dreaded far more. "He stopped a heresy among the Negro Christians of Southern Virginia, de feating in open argument a famous fanatical Negro preacher named Campbell, who advocated noise and " the spirit" against the Bible, winning over Campbell's adherents in a body. For over forty years, and until he was nearly a hundred years of age, he labored successfully in public and private among black and whites, voluntarily giving up his preaching in obedience to the law of 1832, the result of 'Old Nat's war.' ...................... "The most refined and aristocratic people paid tribute to him, and he was in strumental in the conversion of many whites. Says his biographer, Rev. Dr. Wm. S. White: ' He was invited into their houses, sat with their families, took part in their social worship, sometimes leading the prayer at the family altar. Many of the most intelligent people attended upon his ministry and listened to his ser mons with great delight. Indeed, previous to the year 1825, he was considered by the best judges to be the best preacher in that county. His opinions were re spected, his advice followed, and yet he never betrayed the least symptoms of ar rogance or self-conceit. His dwelling was a rude log cabin, his apparel of the plainest and coarsest materials.' This was because he wished to be fully identified with his class. He refused gifts of better clothing, saying, 'These clothes are a great deal better than are generally worn by people of my color, and besides if I wear them I find I shall be obliged to think about them even at meeting.'" * 13. The Negro Church in 1890. (From the Eleventh United States Census). There were in the United States in 1890, 28,462 Negro churches. Outside of these there were numbers of Negroes who are members of white churches, but they are not distinguished from others: '? 'Bassett, State, North Carolina, pp. 58-9. t Ibid., p. 64. t Ibid., loc. cit. g Ibid., p. 50. Cl. p. S * Eallagh, pp. 110-112. Cf. White: The African Preacher. 38 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE SUMMARY OF COLORED ORGANIZATIONS THE NEGEO CHURCH Organizations by States 39 DENOMINATIONS. Total... ......... ...... Organizations in other denomina tions ...... ............ ............. « o •^ c3 N G bO e 23,462 18,885 4,627 « a •O R a o FH C 23,770 19,631 4,139 2 gtp£ "C- "^ o PI •< 6,S«n,OS5 5,791,884 1,008,651 CD w 1,358 940 418 es «3p, ^g 114,644 78,718 85,925 fl o t, BS O ^< ° o CDS SfM > f-1S626,448 20,889,714 6,1':»,734 « ^^ . ie gS S ti 3S, 1? S° 2,678,977 2,8(13,151 370,826 DENOMINATIONS. Union American Methodist Epis- African Methodist Episcopal ....... African Union Methodist Protest- African Methodist Episcopal Zion . Colored Methodist Episcopal. ...... Zion Union Apostolic. . ....... Evangelist Missionary. .... Regular Baptists (North) ... ....... Freewill Baptists. .................... Old Two-Seed in the Spirit Predes- tinarian Baptists .......... . . ... Roman Catholic. .................... Christians (Christian Connection). Congregation alists. . ................ Disciples of Christ. . ................ Lutheran Synodical Conference. . . Lutheran United Synod in the South. ...................... . ... Methodist Episcopal.. ...... .... Methodist Protestant. ........ ...... Independent Methodists. .......... Presbyterian (Northern). . . ..... Presbyterian (Southern) ............ Reformed Presbyterian (Synod).. Protestant Episcopal. ............. Organizations. 12,533 42 2.481 U> 1,704 9 1,759 82 11 224 406 7 5 Stt 15 81 63 •C 277 5 5 2,it-M 64 < 45 49 37 Church Edifices. 11,987 "|r\ 4,12-1 *77 V»!( 1,700 SJ~ 60 WO 1,025 5,«" 250 12,925 200 3,100 >!.. 100 100 Value of Church Property. $ 9,ftW,549 187,fiOO 6,*!K,a«l 54,440 2,714,128 525 1,718, »6 15,000 2,'K.. 185,826 1,087,518 8,875 18,300 185,427 !A^t *I7,400 •J«,500 240,125 176,795 13,400 1,750 8,680,093 85,445 4,875 891,' LM* 22,200 1,500 192,750 18,401 Communicants or Members. 1,848,1 /« 2,279 452,725 8,415 349,7^ « 819 129,' :- 2,346 851 12,9. Vi 85,221 651 271 18,102 265 14,517 4,(P* OjWI'- 18,578 211 94 246,249 8,183 222 14,961 1,568 76 2,977 1,723 I STATES. The United States. ..... Illinois................ .... Michigan...... .... .... Mississippi .... . ... Missouri .... Montana........ . .... Nebraska..... New Jersey.. New Mexico New York..... ... North Carolina ...... .... Ohio... . . Oklahoma. . . Oregon.. .. Pennsylvania Rhode Island. ... South Carolina. Tennessee. Texas Utah. .............. Virginia..... Washington................. West Virginia .... .. W1Sconsin....... . Wyoming Organizations. 23,462 2,»5 2 1,875 29 10 23 82 77 C57 2,878 192 121 27 45 149 816 1,840 463 34 10 •2,WU 649 136 3 110 2,191 OKA 4 3 228 16 1,731 9 't*-* ' 2 27 5 4 Church Edifices. 23,770 3,425 2 l.*K "*J 8 20 91 65 729 3,134 207 126 81 43 186 734 1,343 473 30 47 9 2,354 515 2 140 8 94 S,:\ti 214 2 234 1,959 9 191? 96 4 2 Approximate Seating Capacity. 6,800,035 717,989 450 878,056 5,876 2,800 6,000 21,810 88,325 172,412 953,873 53,744 39,725 4,530 10,795 32,699 212,va', :fc'-;,811 122,379 12,050 12,520 8,700 614,681 188,* K> 850 1,350 40,076 89^U'i 66,515 TT.Nd.i 4,800 590,544 390,,-- '.-. 400 24 045 '550 825 S o> »T "a W 1,358 113 94 8 3 7 14 47 102 14 11 2 21 84 1 22 K 7 72 1 10 17 25 5 55 71 52 o-i 1 2 Seating Capacity. 114,644 8,925 6,885 2,000 350 570 1,400 8,806 2,075 825 250 1,675 2,525 1,840 ncn 1,750 7,120 4,700 100 1 448 ' 4,845 1,750 3,1*1 1,218 5,660 4,740 19,810 50 3,415 200 Value of Church Property. $ 28,626,448 1,880,656 882,149 65,:<- 73,800 ne/cw 187,s?-'i l,182,iV.I 506,970 2,171,267 566,s>5 347,950 5,'iim 121,890 270,145 1,£!»,617 1,118,040 iS.,700 910,427 (52 (XX) 405,490 y OAA 1,023,750 1,592,596 576,425 20 000 1,156,408 148,100 I,680,iu6 1,485,507 1"*'-. R1?*} 154 768 40^400 5,500 Communicants or Members. 2,673,977 297,161 155 106,445 3,720 1,171 1,624 6,595 22,l»'.-> 64,337 18 404 '780 2,643 9,750 92,768 108,-ff* 45 58,™ 3,688 8,857 QCQ 224 404 42U52 qO OQQ 19 79ft fit! 17,216 OQA 7r e 19,827 100 291 26,753 1 QQQ 181,015 7,160 VMu 154 40 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE We may now consider these organizations by denominations: Regular Baptists (Colored) The colored Baptists of the South constitute the most numerous body of Begular Baptists. Not all colored Baptists are embraced in this division; only those who have separate churches, associations, and state conventions. There are many colored Baptists in Northern States, who are mostly counted as members of churches, belonging to white associations. None of them are included in the following tables. The first state convention of colored Baptists was organized in North Carolina in 1866, the second in Alabama, and the third in Virginia in 1867, the fourth in Arkansas in 1868, and the fifth in Kentucky in 1869. There are colored conventions in fifteen states and the District of Co lumbia. In addition to these organizations the colored Baptiste of the United States have others more general in character: The American National Convention, the purpose of which is "to consider the moral, intellec tual, and religious growth of the denomination,'" to deliberate upon questions of general concern, and to devise methods to bring the churches and members of the race closer together; the Consolidated American Missionary Convention, the General Association of the Wes tern States and Territories, the Foreign Mission Convention of the United States, and the New England Missionary Convention. All ex cept one are missionary in their purpose. The Begular Baptists (colored) are represented in fifteen states, all in the South, or on the border, and the District of Columbia. In Vir ginia and Georgia they are very numerous, having in the latter 200,516, and in the former 199,871 communicants. In Alabama they have 142,437, in North Carolina 134,445, in Mississippi 136,647, in South Caro lina 125,572, and in Texas 111,138 members. The aggregate is 1,348,989 members, who are embraced in 12,533 organizations, with 11,987 church edifices, and church property valued at $9,038,549. There are 414 associations, of which 66 are in Alabama, 63 in Georgia, 49 in Mis sissippi, and 39 in North Carolina. THE NEGRO CHURCH Regular Baptists (Colored) SUMMARY BY STATES AND TERRITORIES 41 STATES AND TBEEITOEIBS. Florida ...................... Virginia...................... West Virginia .............. Organizations. 12,533 1,374 928 43 ^••H, 1,818 378 865 38 1,385 234 1,178 880 Ki*Q 1 464 ijooi 7Q Church Edifices. 11,987 1 341 RWl QO 9QJT 1 Rftft 359 Rfll 34 I OOQ 212 1 164 *836 534 977 50 Approximate Seating Capacity. 3,440,970 07-0 con 18,600 544,540 109,030 191 041 12^389 60,015 275,529 159,140 282,590 358,032 14,175 c5 o> in I ftfiO 50 51 10 IVT CQ 26 -1Q 59 14 O7 41 180 09 29 Seating Capacity. 45,570 8,365 Q Qin 1,150 9 97fl 3,460 2.025 1,480 1 99^ 750 8,685 1,860 j9 000 1 QKK Value of Church Property. j» O QQQ f)AQ * ' ' 795,384 cor: QA1? OQO 1 Kfi 1,045,310 150,475 682,541 400,518 705,512 519,928 1,192,035 50,090 Communicants or Members. 142,437 50,245 7 7^(1 52,183 4,283 African Methodist Episcopal This branch of American Methodism was organized in Baltimore in 1816 by a number of colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They withdrew from the parent body in order that they might have larger privileges and more freedom of action among them selves than they believed they could secure in continued association with their white brethren. The Bev. Bichard Alien was elected the first bishop of the new church by the same convention that organized it. In the year 1787 Mr. Alien had been made the leader of a class of forty persons of his own color. A few years later he purchased a lot at the corner of Sixth and Lombard streets, Philadelphia, where the first church erected in this country for colored Methodists was occupied in 1794. This site is now covered by an edifice, dedicated in 1890, valued at $60,000. S I] "3 *!• 42 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE In doctrine, government, and usage, the church does not essentially differ from the body from which it sprang. It has an itinerant and a local or non-itinerant ministry, and its territory is divided into annual conferences. It has a general conference, meeting once every four years; bishops or itinerant general superintendents, elected for life, who visit the annual conferences in the episcopal districts to which they are assigned, and presiding elders, who exercise sub-episcopal oversight in the districts into which the annual conferences are divided; and it has the probationary system for new members, with exhorters, class leaders, stewards, stewardesses, etc. The church in its first half century grew slowly, chiefly in the North ern States, until the close of the war. At the end of the first decade of its existence it had two conferences and about 8,000 members. In 1856 it had seven conferences and about 20,000 members; in 1866, ten con ferences and 75,000 members. Bishop B. W. Arnett, the ardent and industrious statistician of the church, in noting a decrease of 343 mem bers in the decade ending in 1836, in the Baltimore conference, explains that it was due to the numerous sales of members as slaves. Accord ing to elaborate figures furnished by him the increase in the value of church property owned by the denomination was not less than $400,- 000 in the decade closing in 1866, or nearly fifty per cent. In the suc ceeding ten years the increase was from $825,000 to $3,064,000, not in cluding parsonages, which seem to have been embraced in the total for 1866. According to the returns for 1890, given herewith, the valuation is $6,468,280, indicating an increase of $3,404,280 in the last fourteen years, or 111.11 per cent. The church is widely distributed, having congregations in forty-one states and territories. The states in which it is not represented are the two Dakotas, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the territories being Alaska, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Its members are most numerous in South Carolina, where there are 88,172. Georgia comes second, with 73,248; Alabama third, with 30,781; Arkansas fourth, with 27,956; Mississippi fifth, with 25,439. Tennessee has 23,718, Texas 23,392, and Florida 22,463. In no other state does the number reach 17,000. The eight Southern States above given report 315,169 members, or considerably more than two-thirds of the entire membership of the church. It will be observed that of the 2,481 organizations only thirty- one worship in haUs, school-houses, etc. All the rest, 2,450, own the edifices in which their meetings are held. THE NEGEO CHTJECH African Methodist Episcopal SUMMARY BY STATES AND TERRITORIES 43 STATES AND TEKKI- TOEIBS. The United States ..... Connecticut ....... .... Delaware ........ District of Columbia.... .. Florida........... Illinois ......... Indiana ...... .... Indian Territory ........... Iowa . . . Kansas ....... Louisiana.... ..... Maryland.... .. ......... Michigan ........ Minnesota Mississippi ..... Missouri .... Montana Nebraska. .... New Jersey ..... New Mexico . New York North Carolina Ohio . . Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island... South Carolina •••••••• Tennessee . . Texas.. •"•" Utah . ••••-........... Virginia.. .......... Washington... West Virginia... :;""""• Wisconsin ........ Wyoming .....:.""""""' Organizations. 2,481 145 173 IS 8 4 If 6 152 74 86 14 29 48 90 81 58 12 21 6 122 87 8 4 54 8 34 61 111 1 87 4 144 188 1 67 2 3 8 3 Church Edifices. 4,124 274 'l5 6 4 88 269 105 51 22 58 106 115 93 11 26 6 126 2 4 68 3 29 147 118 112 8 491 LW. 208 102 1 8 8 1 Approximate Seating Capacity. 1,160,838 2^929 2.3UO 1,275 7,025 5,500 63,445 184,592 lfi,450 7^115 14,M9 39,100 86,150 2J«jb 59,833 27,87C 1,350 19,510 550 12,900 42,350 40,965 39,JK» 125,1HS 61,800 82,850 34,375 400 1,050 400 200 o "a w 31 4 7 1 1 1 1 6 1 5 1 1 2 Seating Capacity. 2,200 200 250 75 50 100 300 325 50 600 50 200 Value of Church Property. $ 6,468,-x $ 242,765 24'3« 63,500 16,000 39,500 1C8A7S 601,287 310,985 138,280 2,618 87,3CE 193,115 ^'6,370 119,200 72,185 80,000 226,2 !•• ~14|000 62000 112,'998 318,250 605,000 95,. H" 356,862 461,805 288,340 " " 187,245 4,000 11,000 40,000 4,000 Communicants or Members. 152,725 30,781 27,!: »T 'a K 114 17 6 7 2 1 9 8 2 3 1 2 14 1 14 3 7 2 2 3 9 6 Seating Capacity. 15,520 2,500 750 1,950 150 200 200 250 400 75 500 2,875 150 1,800 275 870 250 250 1,775 950 Value of Church Property. $ 2,714,128 $ .im..'^ 17,250 87,200 79,850 500 298,800 90,745 52,860 .18, M' 54,700 86,880 12,9:1: l 17,350 58,800 3,200 22,975 6,000 107,700 871,400 485,711 13,000 a 1,000 256,150 2,000 126,895 78,813 26,450 68,449 400 Communicants or Members. 349,788 79,2:il 8,601 2,627 1,012 158 2,495 14,791 12,705 434 1,839 7,217 2,747 1,211 724 702 8,519 2,037 2,!,..| 6,1'JX 111,949 194 275 8,689 401 45,880 12,434 6,927 11,765 102 The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1870 of colored members and ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Before the late civil war the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, did a large evangelistic work among the Negroes. Bishop McTyeire, of that body, in his "History of Methodism," says: "As a general rule Negro slaves received the gospel by Methodism from the same preachers and in the same churches with their masters, the galleries or a portion of the body of the house being assigned to them. If a separate building was provided, the Negro congregation was an appendage to the white, the pastor usually preaching once on Sunday for them, holding separate official meetings with their leaders, exhorters, and preachers, and administering discipline, and making return of members for the annual minutes." For the Negroes on plan tations, who were not privileged to attend organized churches, special missions were begun as early as 1829. In 1845, the year which marks the beginning of the separate existence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, there were in the Southern conferences of Methodism, according to Bishop McTyeire, 124,000 members of the slave popula tion, and in 1860 about 207,000. In 1866, after the opening of the South to Northern churches had given the Negro members opportunity to join the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and other Methodist bodies, itwas found that of the 207,742 colored members which the church, South, had in 1860 only 78,742 remained. The general conference of 1866 authorized these colored members, with their preachers, to be organized into separate congregations and annual conferences, and the general conference of 1870 appointed two bishops to organize the col ored conferences into a separate and independent church. This was done in December, 1870, the new body taking- the name "Colored Methodist Episcopal Church." Its rules limited the privilege of mem bership to Negroes. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church has the same articles of religion, the same form of government, and the same discipline as its parent body. Its bishops are elected for life. One of them, Bishop L. H. Holsey, says that for some years the body encountered strong opposition from colored people because of its rela tion to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but that this prejudice has now almost entirely disappeared. 48 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Colored Methodist Episcopal SUMMARY BY STATES AND TERRITORIES STATES AND TEKKITOKIES. The United States... ................... District of Columbia ...................... Illinois ...................................... Virginia ..................................... Organizations. 1,759 222 116 6 5 86 266 2 13 17 91 188 2 293 35 5 26 6 34 206 ' 18 Church Edifices. 1,653 220 104 3 4 26 256 2 9 15 63 131 2 292 31 3 20 9 S3 205 216 16 Approximate Seating Capacity. 541,464 69,200 81,059 430 3.500 7,000 100,495 800 2,850 8,625 16,000 43,220 205 72,150 5,554 ti''5 7,725 310 15,045 67,800 4,850 c5 « oT 'e B (M 13 3 1 5 7 1? 9 3 ? ? Seating Capacity. . 6,526 1,200 100 100 1,236 1,075 1,225 100 100 140 1,050 100 100 Value of Church Property. $1,713,366 $ 264,625 60,277 1,125 123,800 14,709 167,145 1,250 2,975 14,400 140,830 134,185 475 230,490 22,140 7,500 23,120 65,825 258,120 147,075 83,150 Communicants or Members. 129,388 18,940 5,888 187 839 1,461 22,840 56 291 713 6,908 8,075 44 20,107 WI! 266 2,786 247 3,468 18,968 14,895 1,851 Cumberland Presbyterian (Colored) This body was organized in May, 1869, at Murfreesboro, Tenn., under the direction of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyte rian Church. It was constituted of colored ministers and members who had been connected with that church. Its first synod, the Ten nessee, was organized in 1871, and its general assembly in 1874. It has the same doctrinal symbol as the parent body and the same system of government and discipline, differing only in race. It has twenty-three presbyteries, and is represented in nine states and one territory. It has 224 organizations, 183 church edifices, 12,956 communicants, and church property valued at $195,826. THE NEGEO CHUKCH Cumberland Presbyterian (Colored) SUMMARY BY STATES AND TERRITORIES 49 STATES AND TEBBITOBIES. Illinois ...................................... Organizations. 224 44 2 7 36 10 81 Church Edifices. 183 88 3 31 9 72 Approximate Seating Capacity. 9,574 1,300 7,730 QCA 1,650 24,125 6,160 o 4^> <£ oT "3 W 34 ^ ? i. •A 1. •A 7 7 Seating Capacity. 3,570 475 300 75 150 50 270 1,425 Value of Church Property. $ 28,200 5,375 1,826 17,* 9,241 Communicants or Members. 12,956 3,104 255 195 190 1,421 97R 471 100 5,202 1,740 14. Local Studies, 1902-3. To realize the present condition of churches and the changes in the last thirteen years, the Conference of 1903 arranged for a number of local studies of churches: one in a black belt county of Georgia, another in a county of southern Ohio, a third in the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, a fourth in Virginia, and a fifth in Atlanta, Ga. To these studies were added the results of previous investigations in DeLand, Fla., Farmville, Va., and Philadelphia, Pa. The study in Thomas county, Ga., was made by a colored Congregational minister, the Rev. W.H. Holloway, a graduate ^^_ of Talladega College. The study in Greene county. Ohio, was made by ^^H the Rev. R. R. Wright, Jr., who later made a more comprehensive ^^M study for the United States Bureau of Labor. Mr. Monroe N. Work, of ^^^1 the University of Chicago, studied Illinois, and the investigations in ^^^1 Atlanta were made by senior students in Atlanta University. Dr. ^^M Annie M. MacLean kindly furnished the study of Deland, Fla. The ^^H students of Virginia Union University, under the direction of Professor ^^H B. F. Williams, made the investigations in Virginia. ^^H To realize just the change in moral conditions it is instructive to ^^H preface these studies with several verbatim paragraphs taken from the ^^H work of an apologist for slavery, but one who strove manfully for the ^^H uplift of the slaves.* The period referred to is generally the decade, ^H 1830-1840: •* C. C. Jones: Religious Instruction of Negroes, pp. 89-176, passin ' 50 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE "Persons live and die in the midst of Negroes and know comparatively little of their real character. They have not the immediate management of them. They have to do with them in the ordinary discharge of their duty as servants, further than this they institute no inquiries; they give themselves no trouble. The Ne groes are a distinct class in the community, and keep themselves very much to themselves. They are one thing before the whites and another before their own color. Deception before the former is characteristic of them, whether bond or free, throughout the whole United States. It is habit, a long established custom, which descends from generation to generation. There is an upper and an under current. Some are contented with the appearance on the surface; others dive beneath. Hence the diversity of impressions and representations of the moral and religious condition of the Negroes. Hence the disposition of some to deny the darker pictures of their more searching and knowing friends. ..... "Their general mode of living is coarse and vulgar. Many Negro houses are small, low to the ground, blackened with smoke, often with dirt floors, and the furniture of the plainest kind. On some estates the houses are framed, weather- boarded, neatly whitewashed, and made sufficiently large and comfortable in every respect. ..... "It is a matter of thankfulness that the owners are few in number, indeed, who forbid religious meetings on their plantations, held either by their servants them selves, or by competent and approved white instructors or ministers. ' All men have not faith.' I have never known servants forbidden to attend the worship of God on the Sabbath day, except as a restraint temporarily laid, for some flag rant misconduct. ..... "Nor can the adult Negro acquaint himself with duty and the way of salvation through the reading of the scriptures any more than the child. Of those that do read, but few read well enough for the edification of the hearers. Not all the colored preachers read. ..... "Such, then, are the circumstances of the slave population, which have an un favorable influence upon their moral and religious condition. Those circum stances only have been referred to which prominently assist us in our inquiry. In conclusion, it may be added that servants have neither intellectual nor moral intercourse with their masters generally, sufficient to redeem them from the ad verse influence of the circumstances alluded to; for the two classes are distinct in their association, and it cannot well be otherwise. Nor have servants any re deeming intercourse with any other persons. On the contrary, in certain situa tions there is intercourse had with them, and many temptations laid before them against which they have little or no defense, and the effect is deplorable." "To know the extent of their ignorance, even where they have been accustomed to the sound of the gospel in white churches, a man should make investigation for himself. The result will frequently surprise and fill him with grief. They scarcely feel shame for their ignorance on the subject of religion, although they may have had abundant opportunity of becoming wiser. Ignorance, they seem to feel, is their lot; and that feeling is intimately associated with another every way congenial to the natural man, namely, a feeling of irresponsibility—ignorance is a cloak and excuse for crime. Some white ministers and teachers, in their sim plicity, beholding their attention to the preaching of the gospel, adapted to their comprehension, and hearing the expressions of their thankfulness for the pains taken for their instruction, come to the conclusion that they are an unsophistica ted race; that they form one of the easiest and pleasantest fields of labor in the world; and that they are a people 'made ready, prepared for the Lord,' nothing THE NEGRO CHURCH 51 more being necessary than to carry them the gospel and converts will be multi plied as drops of morning dew; yea, a nation will be born in a day. Experiment shortly dissipates these visions, and well is it if the sober reality does not frighten the laborer away in disgust and disappointment. ..... "But a brief view of the prevailing vices of the Negroes will best reveal their moral and religious condition. "Violations of the Marriage Contract. The divine institution of marriage depends for its perpetuity, sacredness, and value, largely upon the protection given it by the law of the land. Negro marriages are neither recognized nor protected by law. The Negroes receive no instruction on the nature, sacredness, and perpetuity of the institution; at any rate they are far from being duly impressed with these things. They are not required to be married in any particular form, nor by any particular persons. Their ceremonies are performed by their own watchmen or teachers, by some white minister, or as it frequently happens, not at all; the con sent of owners and of the parties immediately interested, and a public acknowl edgement of each other, being deemed sufficient. "There is no special disgrace nor punishment visited upon those who criminally violate their marriage vows, except where they may be inflicted by owners, or if the parties be members, by the church in the way of suspension and excommuni cation. "Families are, and may be, divided for improper conduct on the part of either husband or wife, or by necessity, as in cases of the death of owners, division of estates, debt, sale, or removals, for they are subject to all the changes and vicissi tudes of property. Such divisions are, however, carefully guarded against and prevented, as far as possible, by owners, on the score of interest, as well as of re ligion and humanity. Hence, as may well be imagined, the marriage relation loses much of the sacredness and perpetuity of its character. It is a contract of convenience, profit, or pleasure, that may be entered into and dissolved at the will of the parties, and that without heinous sin, or the injury of the property or interests of any one. That which they possess in common is speedily divided, and the support of the wife and children falls not upon the husband, but upon the master. Protracted sickness, want of industrial habits, of congeniality of disposi tion, or disparity of age, are sufficient grounds for a separation. While there are creditable instances of conjugal fidelity for a long series of years and until death, yet infidelity in the marriage relation and dissolution of marriage ties are not uncommon. "On account of the changes, interruptions and interferences in families, there are quarrelings and fightings, and a considerable item in the management of plantations is the settlement of family troubles. Some owners become disgusted and worried out, and finally leave their people to do their own way; while others cease from the strife ere it be meddled with, and give it as an opinion that the less the interference on the part of the master the better. A few conscientious masters persevere in attempts at reformation, and with some good degree of success. Polygamy is practiced, both secretly and openly. In some sections, where the people have been well instructed, it is scarcely known; in others, the crime has diminished and is diminishing; it is to be hoped universally so. It is a crime which, among all people and under all circumstances, carries, in its perpetration, vast inconveniences and endless divisions and troubles, and they are felt by the egroes as well as by others, and operate as a great preventive. Polygamy is also discountenanced and checked by the majority of owners, and by the churches of all denominations. VI 4 It'll! 1 I: I I 52 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE "Uncleanness. This sin may be considered universal. The declaration will be sufficient for those who have any acquaintance with this people in the slave- holding states or in the free states; indeed, with the ignorant laboring classes of people wherever they may be found. It is not my object to institute comparisons. If it were, I could point to many tongues and people, in civilized governments, upon the same level of depravity with the Negroes. The sin is not viewed by them as by those of higher intelligence and virtue, so that they do not consider character as lost by it, nor personal degradation as necessarily connected with it A view which, however it may spring from vitiated principle, preserves the guilty from entire prostration." "Intimately connected with this view is the crime of "Infanticide. A crime restrained in good measure by the provision made for the support of the child on the part of the owner, by the punishment in case of detec tion, and by the moral degradation of the people that takes away the disgrace of bastardy. "Theft. They are proverbially thieves. They bear this character in Africa; they have borne it in all countries whither they have been carried; it has been the character of slaves in all ages, whatever their nation or color. They steal from each other, from their masters, from anybody. Cows, sheep, hogs, poultry, cloth ing; yea, nothing goes amiss to which they take a fancy; while corn, rice, cotton, or the staple productions, whatever they may be, are standing temptations, pro vided a market be at hand, and they can sell or barter them with impunity. Locks, bolts, and bars secure articles desirable to them, from the dwelling of the master to that of the servant, and the keys must always be carried. "Falsehood. Their veracity is nominal. Duplicity is one of the most prominent traits of their character, practiced between themselves, but more especially to wards their masters and managers. Their frequent cases of feigned sickness are vexatious. When criminal acts are under investigation, the sober, strenuous falsehood, sometimes the direct and awful appeal to God, of the transgressor, averts the suspicion, and by his own tact and collusion with others, perhaps fixes the guilt upon some innocent person. The number, the variety, and ingenuity of falsehoods that can be told by them in a few brief moments is astonishing. Where opportunity is given they will practice imposition. Servants, however, who will neither steal nor lie, may be found, and in no inconsiderable numbers. " Quarreling and Fighting. The Negroes are settled in some quarter of the plan tation, in houses near each other, built in rows, forming a street. The custom is to give each family a house of its own. The houses sometimes have a partition in the middle and accommodate a family in each end. These are called double houses. Living so near each other, and every day working together, causes of differences must necessarily arise. Families grow jealous and envious of their neighbors; some essay to be leading families; they overhear conversations and domestic disagreements; become privy to improper conduct; they depredate upon each other; a fruitful source of tumult is the pilfering and quarreling of chil dren, which involve their parents. The women quarrel more than the men, and fight oftener. Where no decisive measures are taken to suppress these practices, plantations sometimes become intolerable, might is right; the strong oppress the weak. Every master or manager has the evil under his own control. "They come to open breaches, too, with their neighbors on adjoining planta tions, or lots, if they live in towns. The Sabbath is considered a very suitable day for the settlement of their difficulties. However, with truth it may be said, there are fewer personal injuries, and manslaughters, and murders, among the THE HEGRO CHURCH 53 Negroes in the South, than among the same amount of population in any part of the United States; or perhaps, in the world. "Insensibility of Heart. An ignorant and degraded people are not wont to exhibit much of the milk of human kindness. "Unless the Negroes are carefully watched and made accountable for power lodged in their hands, it will be abused. Parents will beat their children, hus bands their wives, master mechanics their apprentices, and drivers the people. In sickness, parents will neglect their children, children their parents; and so with the other social relations. They cannot be trusted as nurses. Hence they must be made to attend upon the sick, and then watched lest they neglect them; which ultimately brings the whole care of the sick upon the master or manager. It is a saying of their own, 'that white people care more for them than their own color,' and again, 'that black people have not the same feeling for each other that white people have.' It is an indisputable fact that when Negroes become owners of slaves they are generally cruel masters. They will overload, work down, bruise and beat, and starve all working animals committed to their care, with careless indifference. .... "The moral and religious condition of town and city Negroes, may be disposed of in a few lines. "They admit of division into four classes: family servants, or those who belong to the families which they serve; hired servants, or those who are hired out by their owners to wait in families, or to any other service; servants who hire their own time, and work at various employments and pay their owners so much per day or month; and watermen, embracing fishermen, sailors and boatmen. "Town and city Negroes are more intelligent and sprightly than country Negroes, owing to a difference in circumstances, employments, and opportunities of im provement. Their physical condition is somewhat improved; and they enjoy greater access to religious privileges. "On the other hand, they are exposed to greater temptations and vices; their opportunities of attending upon places of pleasure and dissipation are increased; they have stronger temptations to theft, and idleness, and drunkenness, and lewdness; and the tendency to Sabbath breaking is equally great. Their moral and religious condition is precisely that of plantation Negroes, modified ir some respects by peculiarities of circumstances. They are more intelligent, but less subordinate; better provided for in certain particulars, but not more healthy; enjoy greater advantages for religious improvement, but are thrown more directly in the way of temptation; and, on the whole, in point of moral character, if there be any pre-eminence it is in favor of the country Negroes; but it is a difficult point to decide. ..... "The Honorable Charles Ootesworth Pinckney, in an 'Address before the Agri cultural Society of South Carolina,' (Charleston, 1829, second edition, pp. 10-12), said: '"There needs no stronger illustration of the doctrine of human depravity than the state of morals on plantations in general. Besides the mischievous tendency of bad example in parents and elders, the little Negro is often taught by these natural instructors, that he may commit any vice that he can conceal from his superiors, and thus falsehood and deception are among the earliest lessons they imbibe. Their advance in years is but a progression to the higher grades of niquity. ^>e violation of the seventh commandment is viewed in a more venial hght than in fashionable European circles. Their depredations of rice have been es imated to amount to twenty-five per cent, on the gross average of crops, and 54 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE this calculation was made after fifty years experience, by one whose liberal pro vision for their wants left no excuse for their ingratitude.' ..... "The Honorable Whitemarsh B. Seabrook, in an 'Essay on the Management of Slaves,' Charleston, (1836, pp. 7,8, 12, etc.), says: 'As human beings, however slaves are liable to all the infirmities of our nature. Ignorant and fanatical, none are more easily excited. Incendiaries might readily embitter their enjoyments and render them a curse to themselves and the community The prominent of fences of the slave are to be traced in most instances to the use of intoxicating liquors. This is one of the main sources of every insurrectionary movement which has occurred in the United States, and we are, therefore, bound by interest, as well as the common feeling of humanity, to arrest the contagious disease of our colored population. What have become of the millions of freemen who once in habited our widely-spread country? Ask the untiring votaries of Bacchus. Can there be a doubt, but that: the authority of the master alone prevents his slaves from experiencing the fate of the aborigines of America? At one time polygamy was a common crime; it is now of rare occurrence. Between slaves on the same plantation there is a deep sympathy of feeling which binds them so closely to gether that a crime committed by one of their number is seldom discovered through their instrumentality. This is an obstacle to the establishment of an efficient police, which the domestic legislator can with difficulty surmount.' "The executive committee of the Kentucky Union for the moral and religious improvement of the colored race, in their 'Circular to the ministers of Kentucky,' 18S4, say: 'We desire not to represent their condition worse than it is. Doubtless the light that shines around them, more or less illuminates their minds and mor alizes their characters. We hope and believe that some of them, though poor in this world's goods, will be found rich in spiritual possessions in the day when the King of Zion shall make up his jewels. We know that many of them are included in the visible church, and frequently exhibit great zeal; but it is to be feared that it is often 'a zeal without knowledge,' and of the majority it must be confessed that 'the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.' After making all reasonable allowances, our colored population can be considered, at the most, but semi-heathen.' ..... "C. W. Gooch, Esq., Henrico county, Virginia, in a Prize Essay on Agriculture in Virginia, said: " 'The slave feels no inducement to execute his work with effect. He has a par ticular art of slighting it and seeming to be busy, when in fact he is doing little or nothing. Nor can he be made to take proper care of stock, tools, or anything else. He will rarely take care of his clothes or his own health, much less of his companion's when sick and requiring his aid and kindness. There is perhaps not in nature a more heedless, thoughtless human being than a Virginia field Negro. With no care upon his mind, with warm clothing and plenty of food under a good master, is far the happier man of the two. His maxim is 'come day, go day, God send Sunday!' His abhorrence of the poor white man is very great. He may sometimes feel a reflected respect for him, in consequence of the confidence and esteem of his master and others. But this trait is remarkable in the white, as in the black man. All despise poverty and seem to worship wealth. To the losses which arise from the dispositions of our slaves, must be added those which are occasioned by their habits. There seems to be an almost entire absence of moral principle among the mass of our colored population. But details upon this subject- would be here misplaced. To steal and not to be detected is a merit among them, as it was with certain people in ancient times, and is at this day, with some unen- THE NEGRO CHURCH 55 lightened portions of mankind. And the vice which they hold in the greatest abhorrence is that of telling upon one another. There are many exceptions it is true, but this description embraces more than the majority. The numerous free Negroes and worthless, dissipated whites, who have no visible means of support, and who are rarely seen at work, derive their chief subsistence from the slaves. These thefts amount to a good deal in the course of the year, and operate like leeches on the fair income of agriculture. They vary, however, in every county and neighborhood in exact proportion as the market for the plunder varies. In the vicinities of towns and villages they are most serious. Besides the actual loss of property occasioned by them, they involve the riding of their horses at night, the corruption of the habits and the injury of the health of the slaves; for whiskey is the price generally received for them.' "These extracts, selected at random, are sufficient. A multiplication of them would be but a tiresome repetition. After all, the best testimony, is the observa tion and experience of all persons who are intimately acquainted with them. That the Negroes are in a degraded state is a fact, so far as my knowlege extends, universally conceded. It makes no difference if it be shown, as it might be, that they are less degraded than other portions of the human family, the fact remains true in respeet to them, they are degraded, and it is with this fact which we have to do. ... "All approaches to them [the slaves] from abroad are rigidly guarded against, and no ministers are allowed to break to them the bread of life, except such as have commended themselves to the affection and confidence of owners. I do not condemn this course of self-preservation on the part of our citizens. I mention it only to show more fully the point in hand: the entire dependence of the Negroes upon ourselves for the gospel. "While this step is taken another has already been taken, and that of a long time; namely, Negro preachers are discouraged, if not suppressed, on the ground of incompetency and liability to abuse their office and influence to the injury of the morals of the people and the infringement of the laws and peace of the coun try. I would not go all the lengths of many on this point, for from my own obser vation, Negro preachers may be employed and confided in, and so regulated as to do their own color great good, and community no harm; nor do 1 see, if we take the word of God for our guide, how we can consistently exclude an entire people from access to the gospel ministry, as it may please Almighty God from time to time, as he unquestionably does, to call some of them to it 'as Aaron was.' The discouragement of this class of preachers, throws the body of the people still more in their dependence upon ourselves, who indeed cannot secure ministers in sufficient numbers to supply our own wants. ''Nor have the Negroes any church organizations different from or independent of our own. Such independent organizations are, indeed, not on the whole advisa- able. But the fact binds them to us with still stronger dependence. And, to add more, we may, according to the power lodged in our hands, forbid religious meet ings, and religious instruction on our plantations; we may forbid our servants going to church at all, or only to such churches as we may select for them; we may literally shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, and suffer not them that are entering to go in?' ..... The celebrated John Randolph, on a visit to a female friend, found her surround ed with her seamstresses, making up a quantity of clothing. 'What work have you in hand?' -Q, sir, I am preparing this clothing to send to the poor Greeks.' On tak- •ng leave at the steps of the mansion, he saw some of her servants in need of the very 56 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE clothing which their tender-hearted mistress was sending abroad. He exclaimed: 'Madam, madam, the Greeks are at your door!' ..... "We have colored ministers and exhorters, but their numbers are wholly inade quate to the supply of the Negroes; and while their ministrations are infrequent and conducted in great weakness, there are some of them whose moral character is justly suspected and who may be considered blind leaders of the blind." Finally, a word must be added on the church and slave marriages In ante-bellum days. The sale of a slave away from his home and family "was a virtual decree of divorce and so recognized, not only by usage, but by the deliberate decree of the churches." "The time will come when this statement will seem almost incredible. The usage, considered as a barbarism for which no religious defence would be possi ble, is bad enough. But to give it the sanction of religion, the religion of Jesus Christ, and to invoke the divine blessing upon a marriage which was no marriage at all, but simply a concubinage which the master's word might at any moment invalidate, seems at first beyond all manner of excuse. Yet it was done, and that not only by individual ministers of Christ, but by authority of ecclesiastical con ventions. The resolutions to that effect went upon record in Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian churches, declaring that the separation of husband and wife under slavery, by the removal of either party, was to be regarded as 'civil death,' sunder ing the bonds, and leaving both parties free to make another marriage contract. Slavery, by necessity of the case, abolished all family ties, of husband and wife, of parents and children, of brothers and sisters, except so far as the convenience of the master might be suited by their recognition. Legal sanction there was none. But the sham service' which the law scorned to recognize was rendered by the ministers of the gospel of Christ. I have witnessed it, but could never bring my self to take part in such pretence. "And yet I feel compelled by truth to say that, among all the alleviations of slavery, there was none greater than this. While the nominal relation continued at all, it mas made sacred to the slave husband and wife, and the affectionate African nature was comforted and sustained by it. It was a strong motive to good behavior, it promoted decency in social intercourse, it tended towards keeping the slave-family together, and was some restraint upon masters—a great restraint upon the better class of them—against arbitrary separation by sale; in short, it was one of the fearful anomalies of a brutal and barbarous social system existing among a civilized, Christian people. "The question was fully discussed by the Savannah River Baptist Association of Ministers in 1885; aud the decision was, ' that such separation, among persons situated as slaves are, is civilly a separation by death, and that in the sight of God it would be so viewed. To forbid second marriages in such case would be to ex pose the parties to church censure for disobedience to their masters, and to the spirit of that command which regulates marriage among Christians. The slaves are not free agents, and a dissolution by death is not more entirely without their consent and beyond their control than by such separation.' "Truly the logic of slavery was the destruction of humanity."* * Eliot: Story oi Archer Alexander. THE NEGRO CHURCH 57 IS. A Black Belt County, Georgia, (by the Rev. W. H. Hollo way). Thomas county is situated in extreme southwest Georgia, within twenty miles of the northern boundary line of Florida. According to the census of 1900, the Negro population was 17,450. Among this popu lation there are ninety-eight churches. These churches represent all denominations, Baptist predominating, there being only two Congre gational and one Episcopal church. This number gives the actual churches which we have been able to learn of. Tt will be a safe esti mate to affirm that about twenty per cent, of this number may be added, of which we failed to learn. This will give a church for every 150 persons, and here it might be said that, unlike much of our American population, the Negro is well- churched. It is his only institution and forms the center of his public life. He turns to it not only for his spiritual wants, but looks toward it as the center of his civilization. Here he learns the price of cotton or the date of the next circus; here is given the latest fashion plates or the announcement for candidates for justice of the peace. In fact, the white office seeker has long since learned that his campaign among the Negroes must be begun in the Negro church, and by a Negro preacher. These ninety-eight institutions in Thomas county, like those of many other counties, have interesting histories. About half this number represent the churches whose beginning has been normal, the natural outgrowth of expansion. The other half's history is checkered. Their rise can almost invariably he traced to one or two methods. First, there is the proverbial "split." A careful study of the roll of mem bership in many of the churches will reveal the second method. Some brother is called to preach. This call is so thunderous, and the confidence that he can "make a better preach" than the present pastor so obtrusive, till he soon finds that there is little welcome in the sacred rostrum of the old church. He therefore takes his family and his nearest relatives and moves away. Study the rolls, therefore, of many of the churches and you will find that they are largely family churches, and that the first preacher was some venerable patriarch. I think one will be perfectly safe in concluding that two-thirds of the growth in churches of the various denominations has been made in this "way; and that little has been accomplished by the church executives as the result of direct effort at church extension. It will be readily seen that churches having their origin in this way merely duplicate the old institution; often it is not a creditable dupli cate. I know of no rural church in Thomas county whose inception had the careful nursing of an educated, cultured leader. Others have labored and we have entered into their labors. The largest churches and the biggest preachers in Thomas county do little home missionary and organize no new churches. 58 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE The result, therefore, must necessarily be a constant propagation of the old regime. Standards of slavery time and directly after still pre vail. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. Like begets like. The supreme element in the old system was emotionalism, and, while we hate to confess it, truth demands that we affirm it as the predom inating element to-day. The church which does not have its shouting, the church which does not measure the abilities of a preacher by the "rousement" of his sermons, and indeed which does not tacitly demand of its minister the shout-producing discourse, is an exception to the rule. This is true of the towns as well as the country. Of course we all understand that it has always occupied first place in the worship of the Negro church; it is a heritage of the past. In the absence of clearly defined doctrines, the great shout, accompanied with weird cries and shrieks and contortions and followed by a multi-varied "ex perience" which takes the candidate through the most heart-rending scenes—this to-day in Thomas county is accepted by the majority of the churches as unmistakable evidence of regeneration. Now, the preachers who have had some advantages of study, who have come into contact with the learning of the schools, and have in their intelligence gotten above the ignorant preacher of the country, know that the old order of things is wrong. Talk with them and they all confess it. Confront them with the truth that it prevails in their own churches, and their reply puts the question upon the basis of supply and demand. They say: "My people have been used to it, my predecessor was thought to be the embodiment of perfection, and this was his standard; therefore, if I would succeed, if I would hold my people, I must supply this demand; and if I would make the record of my success more enduring than my predecessor I must supply this de mand in greater quantities and more acceptable quality than he." The spirit of rivalry also has much to do with the continuance of this emotional feature. Two churches in the same community—one presid ed over by an educated minister, with lofty ideals and correct stand ards, and to whose better nature the old order is repulsive, and the other presided over by a typical representative of the old school: the educated minister will often preach unseen and waste his eloquence on the desert air. He soon finds that not only is his church losing its pristine prominence, not only is his own reputation as a representative clergyman waning, but that there is soon a very perceptible diminution in the loaves and fishes. It is a problem and it is forcing young preachers who would otherwise do good work in the ministry into the old ruts which, while their better natures condemn it, they have not the power to resist. Any system which robs the man of his individu ality and makes him less than a man, finds itself early bereft of its power for the highest service. Another effect is, that it is driving out of the work the young men of ability whom the work most needs. I know one promising young man in my county who is driven to THE NEGRO CHURCH 59 desperation and vows, for none other cause than this of which we have been speaking, that he will leave the -work at the next annual confer ence. And, too, the young men in our schools turn their faces toward other vocations. Under this old system, which prevails in Thomas county, the ques tion arises, is the moral condition of the people being raised? Of the blanks which we had returned, while some said openly "No," the majority left the question in doubt. We would conclude, however, that the moral standard of the Negroes in Thomas county is being bettered; but I seriously raise the question whether the church is the great factor in this improvement. Speaking especially now of the towns, whose condition has been studied more carefully and at first hand, the conclusion is almost inevitable that there are other factors equally potent, doubtless more so, than the church. This question of better morals must affect not so much the older gen eration, who still occupy a large place in the church, as it does the newer and younger people. If this is true, then we find certain conditions in many of the churches which give credence to the foregoing assertion. I beg you to note that I am giving what is true of the majority of the churches of Thomas county as insinuated in the answers to the ques tions sent out, supplemented by my own knowledge upon the subject. The first condition I would speak of is the relation of the church to the popular amusements. The supreme end of the church is spiritual: the bringing of the individual up to the higher ideals as exemplified in the life and teachings of Christ. When, therefore, the institution subordinates, even fora moment, this supreme end to a lower one, there can but be a perceptible lessening of the moral force of the institution. Now this is just what the church is doing. They vie with each other so strongly, the rivalry in new inventions and performances is so in tense, till it has lead them into the realm of the questionable. To a great extent the church has so entered into this business that the young people look to it more as a bureau whose object is to provide amusement than they do toward it as a holy institution whose high privilege it is to deal with eternal realities and interpret the weightier matters of the law. Inordinate rivalries among the denominations is another condition. Kivalry is no mean motive and to its stimulating influence is traceable much of the world's progress; but when the church, in its ambition to excel, stoops to petty meannesses, then she need not complain if her moral dynamic becomes a doubtful quantity. We shall not mention examples here, for this is a condition which prevails in other churches than the Negro's. he prominent place in church circles taken by characters whose ives in the community are a constant contradiction to the creed pre- 60 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE scribed to when they entered the church, is another condition which lessens the moral force of the church. True, as a race, we have had neither time nor training to establish that caste which marks the higher development in the moral code, and whose logical sequence is closer moral discrimination and segregation; yet the church, whose very motto is separation from the world, should have itself on record as being the most discriminating in this respect. The fact is, however, that some of the churches are too lax in this matter. It is true in Thomas county that some of the secret societies, especially among women, are more vigilant as to their constituencies than the church. I am personally acquainted with people who occupy first place in all the affairs in the church whose applications to the so cieties have been repeatedly turned down. The fact that their monied connections and their popularity are sufficient guarantees for the success of any church enterprise, seem to make their fitness for church membership unquestioned. Their lives may be black but no notice is paid to it. Now what is the effect of all this? Nothing other than that the young people, and the older people who do their own thinking, lose regard for the moral standards of the church. The preacher may discourse frequently on purity of life, but if he shuts bis eyes to the impurity of some of his own members, and seems to insist that they be placed at the forefront of the church's activities, then his precepts become sounding brass and tinkling cymbals; and his example, weightier by far than his precepts, becomes a barrier to the highest usefulness of his institution as a moulder of the community's morality. Another condition which gives rise to our assertion that the church is not exercising its highest moral influence, is seen in its lax business methods. Let us give one example, which we dare assert is true of nine-tenths of the churches in Thomas county and in the South: A contract is made with every incoming minister. They promise him a stipulated sum for his year's service and when the year ends, he goes to conference with only about two-thirds of the pledge fulfilled. If he is sent back to the same field, the second year finds the church still deeper on the debit side of the ledger. If he is sent to another field the debt is considered settled, a new contract is made with the new preacher, and the same form is gone through. As far as I have been able to learn fully 76 per cent, of the churches in the county are in debt to their former preachers, and what is worse, there seems never to arise a question as to the honesty of the relig ious body. Now, this may seem a too minute selection of ecclesiastical faults, but when it is remembered that the simple virtues of honesty, truth fulness, and business promptness are the qualities most needed by the race, then that institution which represents the embodiment of all that is perfect in its precepts loses its moral force by the laxity of its ex TUB NEGEO CHURCH 61 ample, and this laxity which is characteristic of the body must find counterpart in the individuals who compose the body. We ventured the assertion that the church in this county is not too potent a factor in the moral betterment of the race; and we went further and raised the question as to whether there were . not other factors equally potent, perhaps more so than the church. You will notice that I have not said that the church is doing noth ing toward this betterment. Some of them are, and some of the de nominations more than others; but what we are talking about is the weight of the combined influence of all the churches; and we still claim that its power is small, smaller to be sure than it should be, when it has such exalted example of all that is good to draw from in the enforcement of its teachings. We have been able to learn of about 120 preachers in the county. Of this number fully seventy-five are either ordained or licensed. The most of their names appear in the minutes of the various denomina tions. Now this number may be almost doubled if we search for all those who call themselves preachers and fill the function of interpre ters of the word of God. This number moulds as great a sentiment for or against the church as those who hold license. You will get some idea of the vast host who belong to this class when I tell you that the records of the last conference of the South west Georgia District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church show that there were forty-three applicants for admission to the conference. Note that this is only one of the four or five conferences of this church in the state. Be it said to the lasting credit of the conference that it in unmistakable terms put the stamp of condemnation upon the pre sumption of about thirty-five of them and sent them back to their homes disappointed men. And yet, while it sent them back home unadmitted, it did not. make them less determined to preach, for in their several communities you will find them still exercising them selves in the holy calling. Now of this vast number, so far as I have been able to learn, only four of them hold diplomas from any institution giving record of pre vious fitness. Only about one per cent, of them can point to any con siderable time spent in school. The course of study prescribed in the African Methodist Episcopal Church has helped some, but after all this, it can be truthfully said that for real fitness, fitness in the truest sense of the word, there is little to be found among the ministers of the county. Putting this another way is to say, that the majority of the ministers are unlearned or ignorant men, ignorant in the sense of fitness for eadership; for, learned or unlearned, the Negro preacher is to-day the eader of the race. If they are ignorant, then this ignorance manifests itself in any number of ways: 62 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE ,,,11 1st. His home life as a general rule is on no higher level than that of his neighbor. In most cases he married before he began to preach and his wife is ignorant. Here, then, is no toning example for the community which he serves. I beg you to note that the pulpit is not the only place where the minister is to do powerful and eloquent preaching. 2d. In morality he has much to learn. Morality as it affects: (1) Temperance; (2) debt paying and business honesty; (3) sexual mor ality. I have presented a gloomy picture. I have one consolation, however, that it is true, if it is black. Your criticism will be that I have not brightened the picture a par ticle. But your conclusion will be erroneous if you decide that there is no brightness in it. First. The greatest hope lies in the young people who go out to these darkened places and sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the people. Thomas county is dotted with these young people from the schools. Second. Young men are seeing the need and are responding to it by entering the ministry. Third. In every community there is a body of older men, men in deed of the old school; but during the years their ideas of the func tion of the church, the qualifications and requirements of the minister have all undergone a very radical change. They are thoroughly dis gusted with the old order of things and besides withdrawing their own support they give their children no encouragement to support it. Fourth. There is also a strong tendency in my county toward the newer denominations. This tendency will have two results: These newer denominations will continue to draw the young people and will continue to push the crusade for religious education. Second, this growth and popularity of the newer denominations will stimulate the older ones to greater efforts and to more intelligent worship. In these and other ways the race is gradually coming out of the darkness into the light, and the next generation will see all of the de nominations of the South exerting a stronger religious and moral infiu- uence upon the Negro than they are to-day doing. THE NEGRO CHURCH Statistics of Three Churches, Thomas County 63 Active membership ...... Expenses — Total ................. C.M. B. 120 110 $800.00 240 00 .00 12.00 2.00 2.50 50.00 10.00 A.M.B. 72 28 $700.00 259.10 .00 23.80 4.90 6.00 31.00 3.20 $328.00 Episcopal 149 22 $2,500.00 Negro Baptist Churches, Thomas County, Ga. NAME. Spring Hill ....................... Ocklochnee ......... ..... ... ... St. Paul ............ . . ... ...... N. O. Grove ....... Bethel........... . Walnut Hill...................... Aucllla ......... Blchland.. ................ Antioch....... St. Luke... . Beulah Bead . Plney Grove Sliver Hill Mt. Olive. Mt. Calvary. . . . Magnolia.. Shady Grove.... MtMoriah... ....... Midway . Rebecca.... County Line. Oaky Grove. Turner Grove.... Jerusalem. Total...... Membership. 1901. 95 17 28 125 161 240 35 329 51 109 "if 150 500 38 43 150 83 10 13 65 87 80 113 16 77 50 50 30 19 120 3.086 1902. 95 25 28 80 157 250 30 325 54 112 38 169 159 500 37 48 140 75 15 14 70 38 80 68 19 65 44 48 38 30 22 12 3,035 Value of Church Property. 1901. $ 750 250 100 100 1,000 1,000 500 100 1,000 10,000 150 85 100 100 500 250 350 600 30 700 1,500 250 200 50 150 $17,465 1902. $ 500 125 200 150 150 1,500 275 350 100 75 500 100 12,000 200 200 200 100 100 100 250 250 380 600 600 250 300 300 150 200 50 75 $20,320 64 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Opinions of Intelligent Colored Laymen on Thomas County Churches 1. Condition of the churches. "Well attended." "More centers for amusement than for worship." "Little spiritual life." "Half are in debt." "Not what they should be." "Lack compe tent leaders." 2. Influence of Churches. "Influence good." "Influence bad." "Good, on the whole." "Ten per cent, of the membership is honest, pure, and upright." "Influence is bad, but there are some earnest folks." 3. Are the ministers good ? "No." "Out of ten. three are sexually immoral, one drinks, three are careless in money matters." "Weak in morals." "One is sexually impure and frequents dis reputable places." "Lack intellect." "They fairly represent those whom they lead." "Some of them are good men." 4. Charity work. •"Nine-tenths believe there is but one object of charity—the minister; give all you've got to the minister and if any one is sick or in prison, give him one-half of what is left." 5. The young people. "The church amuses the young people, and they pay for the amusement." "Young people join slowly." "Church support comes largely from non-members." 6. Are moral standards being raised? "Cannot say; much laxity." "Standard never lower." "Raised by presence of a score or more of graduates of city schools." " Being raised." "In six years I note a change for the better." "Reaching high moral standards." "In some cases standards are being raised, in others, not." "There are fewer separations of man and wife, and fewer illegitimate children." 14. A Town in Florida. (By Annie Marion MacLean, A. M., Ph. D.) The Negro is always an interesting subject for study in a Southern town, and one feels amply repaid for any effort made to understand his life. The town of Deland appealed to me as being an excellent place to make a study of the Negro population, both on account of its character and size. The town is largely Northern in population and sentiment, and it is small so that city problems do not need to be considered. There are three regularly organized Negro churches in Deland. In and around these the religious life of the colored inhabitants centers, and we may study these in order of importance. 1. Missionary Baptist Church This church, the largest and most flourishing in the community, is located on the outskirts of the town, in the best Negro district. Its founding dates back to 1883, when one of the prominent white citizens gave a lot of land and erected a small house of worship. The mem bership has constantly increased since that time, and in 1895 a new THE NEGRO CHURCH 65 site was purchased and the present structure put up at a cost of about $1,000. A parsonage was bought immediately adjoining the church at a cost of $300, the necessary money for these improvements being raised by the members themselves. The church building is kept in good repair and is provided with a small organ, good, comfortable pews, and has carpeted aisles and plain stained glass windows. The seating capacity is 250, the membership 109—forty-six male and sixty-three fe male. The average attendance is about one-quarter of the total member ship, and contrary to the usual state of affairs in white churches, men are always in the majority at the meetings. The minister's explanation of this is that the women work very hard during the week, and when Sunday comes they are too tired to leave their homes. He says that it is much easier for the women to get steady employment than for the men. No children are received into membership under the age of twelve years. The Sunday-school is well attended, and there are two fully organized missionary societies—one to aid home and the other to aid foreign missions. The other societiesare a Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor and a Baptist Young People's Union, both of which meet in the church weekly, with fair attendance. The minister is a man of average intelligence, his early education having been obtained in the public schools. He is elected by the congregation, and preaches three Sundays in the month at morning and evening service. The fourth Sunday he preaches in a email country church. His regular salary is $300 a year, and from his country charge he receives $125. In addition to this he has the use of the parsonage and its furnishings. When he was called, two years ago, the church was $250 in debt. It now owes but $50. 2. Bethel Church (African Methodist Episcopal) This is the second largest church in the community, and is located on the opposite side of the town from the one just described. It was organized in 1882, and has now its second building. The church and the parsonage immediately adjoining are valued at $800 and $400, re spectively. The church has not always been self-supporting, having from time to time received aid from the Extension Board of the denomination. The building is kept in very good repair, and a large belfry has been added during the past year. Inside is a very good small organ, good, plain pews, and other necessary furniture. The seating ca pacity is 235, the membership ninety-three, one-quarter of which is men; and the average attendance is one-third the total membership. Chil dren are baptized and received at any age, and later, upon confession of faith, are confirmed. Among flourishing church organizations may be mentioned the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, a Christian Willing Working Club, which corresponds to a missionary society, and a stewardesses' Board, composed of the most intelligent women in the 66 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE church. This last named society has charge of all charities, church furnishings, and the like. The two former meet once a week, and are well attended. There is a well organized Sunday-school. A prayer service is held on Thursday of each week. The pastor is a remarkable Negro in many respects. He is a little past middle age; never attended school, and yet is by all odds the most intelligent of his race in the community. He was horn of slave parents, and early in life was seized with a desire to learn. As a boy he had no advantages. He educated himself, "after whistle time," to use his own words. This is his first year in his present pastorate. He was for eight consecutive years presiding elder of this, the eleventh, district, which includes the entire state of Florida. He is a good conversationalist, being well posted on the topics of the day. He spends his whole time in the work of this one church and in looking after his business inter ests. He pays taxes on $16,000 worth of property, and has an income of $102 per month on rentals. The church pays him about $300 per year salary, and gives him the use of the parsonage. He gave his son a college education, and sent him through a medical course of four years. The son is now a physician of large practice in St. Augustine. Under the African Methodist Episcopal form of church government the min isters are appointed to their charges at the annual conference. There are two regular Sunday services—one in the morning and one in the evening. The debt at present amounts to about $228, which the pastor expects to pay in the near future at a "rally." The church has a mission about two miles distant, at a Negro set tlement called Yamassee. This mission has but eight members and holds services once a month, at which time communion is given. The preacher comes from a town about thirty miles distant, and is said to be a man of but average ability. There are no activities within the church, except the monthly services. The building is extremely rough and is valued at $400. 3. St. Annis' Primitive Baptist (Primitive Orthodox Zion Baptist Church) This church is the most interesting of the three,from the standpoint of the student of sociology. It is the principal church of Yamassee, the only other being the mission just mentioned. Yamassee is the largest of the Negro settlements and lies about a mile and a half from the center of the town, but within the town limits. Facts concerning the origin and history of the church are hard to obtain. Indeed neither the minister nor any of the members seem to know just when or how it had its beginning. The building is valued at $1,800 and it has never been painted, and is not kept in good repair. The floors are uncarpeted, the interior is finished in wood, the windows plain, and there is no musical instrument. The seating capacity is 300, the membership fifty-six, twenty of whom are male. The average at tendance is two-thirds of the membership, and the men and women are THE NEGRO CHUKCH 67 about evenly divided. No children under twelve years are admitted to membership. There is an organized Sunday-school, which is fairly attended, and also a weekly prayer meeting. This is led by some mem ber of the church. There is a society called " The Young People's Band," which corresponds to the "Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor." It meets in the church once a week, but is poorly attended and not strongly organized. This church asserts, with much vigor, that it is the original Baptist Church ; that the so-called "Missionary Baptist" (of the type described above) is a false body, which withdrew from the mother church in 1832. It points with pride to the list of the great men who were "Primi tive Baptists." Its members helieve in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, in predestination, in the fall of man, in the covenant of redemption, in justification, regeneration, in the resurrection and general judgment, baptism, the Lord's supper, and foot-washing. This last (foot-washing) is, of course, the main distinguishing characteristic. The regular communion service is held on the second Sunday of each month and after the sermon the members turn their benches so as to form two large squares on each side of the pulpit, the men on one side and the women on the other. They then wash each other's feet in turn, the preacher taking the lead. This, they say, is merely carrying out the example of Christ. The service generally ends with a kind of a dance, which they call "Rocking Daniel." No information could be gained as to the origin of this most peculiar custom. A leader stands in the center of a circle, which the members form in front of the pul pit. They begin with singing the lines: "Rock Daniel, rock Daniel, Rock Daniel till I die." Gradually they move round in the circle, single file, then begin to clap hands and fall into a regular step or motion, which is hard to de scribe. Finally, when they have become worked up to a high state of excitement, and almost exhausted, the leader gives a signal, and they disperse. This ceremony reminds one quite strongly of an Indian war dance, except that it is on a somewhat tamer plan. The songs sung by the church are extremely interesting, as they embody so many strange and original sentiments. These people seem to believe thoroughly in a noisy religion. They frequently interrupt the speaker with shouts of approval or disapproval and songs. The prayers are long and earnest in the extreme. The churches spoken of above are much more conventional in their services. The minister preaches one Sunday in a mouth at a country church; the remainder of the time he spends with his own congregation. He was educated in the public schools of Jacksonville, Fla., and in Cook- man College, and is a graduate of the Correspondence Bible College, of the Christian University, Canton, Mo., having taken the degree 68 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE of M. A. L. (Master of Ancient Literature) at the last named institu tion. Bethaney College of North Carolina conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. D. In 1895 he delivered the annual address to the literary societies of the Southern University of New Orleans, La. He is the author of several pamphlets, and was the general secretary of the Eleventh Annual Sunday-school and Ministers' Convention of the Eastern and Southern District of his church in 1901. He is con sidered to be a man of unusual ability and attainments by the residents of his community. Generally speaking, the ministers are men of good character and of fair education. They are highly respected by their congregations and others. They all agree that the Negro was given citizenship long before he was ready for it; that his only salvation lies in education. They try to impress upon their people the real extent and meaning of the ignorance which is so prevalent among them, and also the fact that they must look to the white inhabitants for encouragement and help. There is very little sectarian animosity between the different denomi nations; union meetings and efforts are common, and much good often results from them. The church members play almost no part in the politics of the community, although most of them are property holders. There is comparatively little moral or religious training in the homes or in the schools. Family worship is not observed. The churches are the center of social life and activity, but one finds the meetings of the morning poorly attended, while those of the evening are full, and are generally very lengthy. Just how deep the every-day lives of the members are affected by their religion it is difficult to say, but the pastors agree that it has a decided tendency to keep them " in the straight path." To sum up, the following brief table may be presented as an indica tion of the present condition of the Negro churches in the town under consideration: CHURCH. Bethel Church (African M. B.). . ^ c-2 r the respective churches for last year varied from $6 to $5,274. The salaries paid by churches varied from $500 to $1.240, not considering a case where there was no fixed salary and one where the church had no preacher last year, the pulpit being supplied by "local" preachers. Pour of the seven churches are in debt. The debts ranged from $35 to $600, the latter of which was incurred by the building of a new church. * To this the general church adds $500 for salaries. ** Only partially raised by members themselves. Most of the churches have relief societies to look after the charity and relief work. Some churches did no special relief work. One church, however, has a dea coness, who devotes her time to such work. The money expended in such work varied from nothing to $100 in the different churches. That spent for missions varied from nothing to $200. The government of all Baptist churches is extremely democratic. Each mem ber has the power of taking part in any of the general meetings and of voting. The financial and business matters of the church are attended to by the deacons' board. The power of the pastor varies somewhat according to the different con gregations, and the difference of esteem in which the pastor is held sometimes governs his influence and sway over them. All Baptists agree that each church is complete in itself and has the power, therefore, to choose its own ministers and to make such rules as it deems to be most in accordance with the advancement of its best interest and the purpose of its ex istence. The time that a pastor is to serve is not fixed but varies according to the wishes of the people. If the people like the pastor, he is kept as long as he desires to remain, but if they do not, he is put out immediately. The general condition of the ten Baptist churches in this part of the city shows that on a whole their work is not progressing very fast. Over half of them are very small, with very small memberships, and very ignorant and illiterate pastors. And certainly where there are ignorant leaders of ignorant people not very much progress or good influence can be expected to follow. The places of meeting are not comfortable, being poorly lighted and unclean most of the time, and in some cases the church was situated in an unhealthy place. These, however, represent the worst half; and on the other hand, the larger churches are progressing very fast and their influence is gradually but surely spreading far and wide, and includes all grades of society. Many of the most influential and wealthy Negro churches of the city are Baptist. The pastors of the Congregational, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches have excellent characters, and are doing much towards lifting the moral standard and religious life of the people. Not only are they earnest workers, but they are also well equipped for their work. They are well educated, one being a graduate of Pisk^and Yale Universities, another is a graduate of St. Augustine College, Raleigh, N. C., and took a post graduate course at Howard University, Washing ton, D. C., and one is a graduate of Lincoln University, who completed both the college and theological courses. They have excellent reputations, and are held in high esteem by their Alma Maters. The Yale graduate is well known North and bouth. The character of the members of these churches is good. They are quiet and intelligent, and there is no emotionalism in the churches. Most of the mem bers of these churches are at least high school graduates, and a large per cent, is composed of business and professional men and women. he best picture of Atlanta churches can be obtained by studying certain typi cal congregations now existing in the city. The primitive Negro congregation as emerged from slavery was of two types: the large group, led by a masterful Personality; the small democratic group, led by one of their own number. This er group is of interest as approximating conditions in the early Christian urch. ln the case of the Negro, however, the communicants were ignorant People with largely perverted, half-mystical ideals, and liable to become the vic- 0 mountebanks and rascals. A few such groups still survive, although they out rapidly. Here is an example: 74 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 75 L No. 24. Primitive Baptist—Active members thirty. The pastor can read and write, but is not well educated. His character is good, but he will not do laborious work, which the members think he ought to do out side his church work. Most of the members were slaves, and the church is about twenty-eight years old. It has no influence except among its members and it began where it now stands, and was organized by most of the present members. No collection is taken except on communion day. The building is an old wooden one of rough lumber, raised about five feet from the ground. I looked through one of the cracks to get a view of the interior. Its seating capacity is about seventy-fiva The benches are of rough lumber. The lamps (four oil lamps) are hanging from the shabby ceiling. I saw a large Bible upon an altar of dressed lumber. One of the oldest members told me that he gave all the coal and oil used this year. He said that the church had a meeting once a month, and every three months communion and washing of feet. They believed in having no music, save singing. They believed in the pastor's working for his living just as the members did, and because the present pastor would not do this they were going to let him go. I could not find the pastor nor could they tell me where he or any of the other members lived. This is an example of church communion among lowly ignorant and old peo ple—a survival from the past. Such groups tend to change—to absorption into some larger group or to degenerate through bad leaders and bad members. Two other specimens of this type follow: No. 5. Baptist—Fourteen active members. The old store, which is used for church purposes, is a very shabby building. A few chairs, two lamps, and a small table and a Bible make up the furniture. All of the members are old and ignorant. There is no Sunday-school connected with the church. The church government is a pure democracy, the pastor and the active members governing the church. The members are ignorant and of ques tionable character. The pastor is an old and ignorant man, but is fairly good. He went away two years ago and left his flock because they did not give him the proper support. The church did not split but degenerated. Very little charitable work is done. When one of the members is sick he is given aid if he asks to be aided. There are several ignorant Negroes living in the vicinity of the church. No. 25. Baptist—Six active members. The pastor has a fairly good education, but there seem to be some serious doubts as to his character. In the church there seem to be three classes of mem bers: some with good character, some with questionable character, and some about whose character there is no question. There is no charitable and rescue work done. The building is simply a small room house which is not used regu larly for worship, but is used sometimes when the people in the neighborhood desire to meet there and can get the pastor to attend. They hold no regular meet ings. The other type of church, with a strong leader and a number of followers, is a more effective organization, but its character depends largely on its pastor. Here is one: No. 26. Baptist (Missionary)—165 active members. The education of the pastor is fair, but his character is not good. He has the reputation of being very immoral. He is, however, a good speaker. There are a few intelligent members, but the larger portion of the members are very illiterate. I There is connected with the church an organized body of women (Woman's Mis sion) which looks after the poor, the old, and the sick. The church was organized in 1878, in the old barracks of this city. It has had eight pastors since its organi zation, and it is very influential over a large number of people in the vicinity. The church building is large arid was once a beautiful wooden structure, but at present it is very much in need of repairs. It is furnished fairly well on the in side, and is situated in one of the black belts of Atlanta. There is an official hoard appointed by or elected by the church. This official hoard attends to the affairs of the church. The pastor presides over the meetings. The pastor now in charge was once forced to give up his charge and leave the city, so the general report goes, because of his immorality. There were seven preachers called during his absence and two church splits, brought about through the pastors who were leading. Then the first pastor was recalled. While many of the members and the pastor bear the reputation of being immoral, they are also said to be very- good to the poor. The entire collection of every fifth Sunday goes to the poor. There is a fairly good riunday-school connected with the church, and this Sunday-school has recently purchased an organ for the church. The church debt is $400. To reform a perverted group like this is extremely difficult, and yet the work is slowly going on. If the reform is attempted through a change in the type of pastor the result at first is likely to be the substitution of a less forceful personality and the consequent loss of enthusiasm and interest among the mass of members. No. 8. Baptist—Twenty-five active members. The pastor, from the report of the clerk and two or three other members, is an upright man. He attended the Atlanta Baptist College, but did not graduate. He is a tailor,with a place of business on Edgewood Avenue, near Ivy Street. He does not depend on the church to support him, but is supported entirely by his business. The majority of the members are hard-working people. The men are employed as day laborers and the women do house-work. There is a lack of inter est among the members. The Sunday-school is held at 3 o'clock each Sunday- afternoon, and is composed of about ten or twelve children. The pastor is plan ning an organization, a B. Y. P. U., to meet each Sunday afternoon after Sunday- school. There is now being carried on a revival at the church. This church building is one story, and has about twenty-five or thirty benches in it. There are four windows on each side and a seating capacity for about 150 or 175. It has a small organ, and is lighted by one large kerosene lamp with a few lamps on the walls. It is situated in an unhealthy spot, but the pastor is contemplating chang ing the locality. As soon as the debt is paid he says that he and the deacons in tend to sell and move to a more desirable locality, where they can do more effec tive work. No. 49. African Methodist Episcopal—Eighty-five active members. the church was built about fourteen years ago. It was organized in a small house, where the meetings were held for about three years. The present building was then erected and a pastor called, but the church was so poor that after a few years there was no pastor sent. In January of this year the present minister was sent, but he is pastor of two other small churches. The influence of the church . ePends largely on the activity of the minister, yet its location would restrict its influence in any case. It is bounded on one side by Oakland cemetery and all others y a small settlement of Negro hovels, while back of these for a long way extend 76 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE only white residencea The building is a wooden structure, with basement, fairly large. It is kept fairly clean on the inside, and was recently whitewashed. Out side the woodwork is unpainted. When, however, inspiration comes from without through the larger churches or the church connection these small groups often show renewed activity and grow into influential churches. No. 30. Colored Methodist Episcopal—Fifty active members. The church was first begun with one family, at the old barracks, in a one-room cabin. From there it was moved to Peters street, to Shell hall, where it was joined by a second family. Then it was moved to Markham street, where it was joined by others; then to Hunter street, in a white church, where it was burned. It was then re-established at Taylor street, in a store house, from whence it was moved to its present site. It now has a fair brick building, which cost about $3,000, and is fairly well furnished inside. The present building and parsonage were built largely by the co-operative labor of its own members. The pastors are noisy, but of pretty good education. No. 34. Methodist Episcopal—115 active members. The pastor has attended Clark University, and is a graduate of Gammon. He is well liked by his parishioners. The church recruits its members from the rail road hands and their families, who are for the greater part uneducated. Some charitable work is done by different societies in the church. Such, for instance, as aiding paupers. The church is nineteen years old. It is not in debt, and has a large membership. Its influence is wide-spread, being one of the largest churches in this particular section. The church has connected with it a Woman's Home Missionary Society and an Epworth League. Through the missionary society, and through the help department of the league, much charitable work is being done in the community. I am told that during this year a poor woman was taken and given a decent burial, whereas otherwise the county would have had it to do. There is also a parsonage adjoining the church, which, together with the church, is estimated to be worth $1,500. The services in churches of this type are calculated to draw the crowd, and are loud and emotional. A student thus describes a sermon in a large Baptist church of 500 active members on the occasion of the annual sermon before the Knights of Pythias. "He began by telling the history of the Knights of Pythias. This was interesting and I could understand him; but when he shut the Bible and began to preach I could not understand him at first. As soon as I could distinguish be tween the words and the peculiar sound made by the intaking of his breath, I found myself listening to what the people called 'a good sermont' During his talk he spit behind the altar many times, and often raised his voice to a veritable yell. I could not keep any record of his exact words. After the sermon there were speeches by several laymen and then the deacons, gathering around the ta ble in front of the pulpit, began to call for the collection. The choir then sang, but the calls of the deacons so interrupted that I could not hear the singing well. Twenty-three dollars were finally collected, each bringing forward his col lection and placing it on the table." Such churches grow into large and influential organizations, losing many of their unconventional features and becoming very much like churches in any part of the land. ff THE NEGRO CHURCH 77 No. 42. African Methodist Episcopal—600 active members. The pastor is of good character and education, a graduate of Howard University Theological School. The members vary from the old, poor, and respectable, to the young and well educated. In imiO this church was organized by Rev. J. J. Wood; the membership increased steadily until 1868. The church moved into a new building. This old structure itself is yet sufficiently well preserved to show what a nice building it was. In 1891 the present structure was begun. In a short while the building went up, but owing to poor workmanship it was condemned. For this reason one wall had to be torn away at a loss of about > ,000. This meant a great blow to the congregation for the edifice was constructed at a great cost and as a result of much sacrifice on the part of many people. This left the people under the burden of a heavy debt, and the ministers who have succeeded have worked hard to pay it. The present structure is a handsome one, with a beautiful interior. The building is granite and is finished inside in yellow pine. Beauti ful glass windows adorn the church and there are electric light fixtures and theatre chairs in the auditorium, while a $2,500 pipe organ also adds to the beauty. The church is very large, having a seating capacity of 3,000. The total membership is about 1,400, and is composed of some of the most influential and cultured colored people of the city, a considerable number being school teachers and property owners and respected people. The church is valued at S.Vi,000 and a statement of the money paid out during the previous year shows a total of $4,984.86, which includes $984.86 for salary to the pastor and $3,020 for the church debt. This church does a great deal of relief work among the indigent members. Last year the amount expended was $200 for such work and $360 for missions; $500 was given to the general connections. The growth of such great Negro institutions involves much effort and genius for organization. The greatest danger is that of the "split;" that is, the with drawal of a dissatisfied minority and the formation of a new church. The gov ernment of the Methodist churches hinders this, but the Baptist churches are peculiarly liable to it. A case in the Methodist church follows: No. 37. African Methodist Episcopal—110 active members. The pastor is educated and respected and the grade of membership is fairly high. The church property, building and parsonage, is worth about $9,'-J». On this there is a debt of $2,800, but as this was loaned by one of the church mem bers, no interest is charged on it The church is a nice brick structure, with stained glass windows, galleries, choir, and organ. In the basement is a Sunday- school room. The church was founded in 1870 by members of No. 44, who had moved too far from their own church to attend services. As the church grew a cleft appeared between the richer and poorer members and the result was that some thirty or more members of the poor class withdrew and formed: No. 54. Christian—Thirty active members. The leader and pastor is a man of questionable character. The members are mainly the middle working classes of average intelligence. Very little charitable and relief work is done because the church has a hard time to keep on its feet. The church drew out of No. 37 in 1897 and established this church, and since that .lme tne young church has been struggling for existence. The church building is a large barn-like structure, roughly finished on the outside and rather crudely furnished on the inside. It will accommodate about 400 people. IRC LAVl fit iiir; 78 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Such splits in the Negro church have been numerous in the past, but as the churches grow stronger this method of protest is less effective. Of the present fifty-four churches, eleven represent withdrawals from older churches. In some cases this represents only natural growth; in others the establishment of more convenient local churches; in others quarrels and differences. Since splits are so easy in the democratic Baptist churches a large church of this denomination is evidence of great cohesion and skilled leadership: No. 57. Baptist—1,560 active members. The character of the pastor is good and he is educated. The membership in cludes some of the best people of the city, less than 100 are illiterate; there are many business men, property owners and steady laborers and servants. The church supports two missions, and has a committee for charitable work and general relief. The organization dates back to 1870, when a few members of No. 28 formed a small church. To-day the church is out of debt and has a bank account; has the largest Sunday-school in the state and one of the largest congre gations in the city. It occupies a large plain building, furnished comfortably but not elaborately. It has two organs and a piano. It has had but three pastors, the second retiring on account of age, with a pension paid by the church. Another type of church is the Negro church which is an organization in one of the great white denominations. The Episcopal Church, for instance, has had Negro communicants from early times, but while it helps them there is the feel ing that the church wants them to keep in their "place." and their churches are not growing. No. 53. Protestant Episcopal—Sixty-eight communicants. The character of the rector is excellent. He was educated at St. Augustine College, Raleigh, N. C., and at Howard University, Washington, D. C. The mem bership is small, quiet, and intelligent. Charity and relief work is done by dis tributing clothing to the needy; periodicals are also distributed and visits made to the sick. The present structure was erected in 1893. It is a frame building, painted, of moderate size, and neatly but plainly furnished on the interior. There is under the auspices of the church and in an adjoining; building a primary school with an enrollment of 120 students and three teachers. The Methodist Church has treated its Negro members with much considera tion and sympathy and has in consequence many large and influential churches. One of the best of these in Atlanta is: No. 33. Methodist Episcopal—500 active members. The pastor is a "gentleman and honest man." The membership is composed of the best class of working people with a large number of educated people and graduates of the schools. The church supports a salaried deaconess to take charge of its charitable work and spends nearly $300 a year on this work outside of salaries. The church was organized in 1870 with thirty members. The present building was owned by white Methodists, but they gave it up after the war and it was turned over to the Negroes, and has become the leading church of this de nomination in the South. The church is especially noted for its harmonious work and lack of "splits." It does much for its young people, having a large Sunday-school besides classes in cooking and sewing and a week-day class in religious training. The Congregational Church is virtually independent and its growth and influ ence is due almost entirely to Negroes. THE NEGRO CHURCH 79 No. 51. Congregational—100 active members. The membership presents the highest average of intelligence of any colored church in the city. The charitable work is regularly and efficiently organized and a mission is maintained in the slums. The church was founded thirty-eight years ago by two white missionaries. The church became self-supporting under its present pastor and exerts a wide-spread influence in the city. The building is plain but substantial and well located. The church raises $2,225 a year and has no debt. Three hundred dollars is given in charity annually. A word may be added here as to the character of pastors and the finances of churches. In several of the smaller churches the pastors are ignorant and im moral men, who are doing great harm. In the larger churches there is not in the city a man of notoriously immoral life. Against a few ministers there are rumors of lupses here and there, but it is difficult to say how far such gossip is trust worthy and how far it is the careless talk of a people so long used to a low stand ard among ministers that they hardly realize that there has been any change. That there has been a change, however, is certain. The older type of minister who built up the great churches of twenty years ago had a magnetic personality, great eloquence, and a power of handling men. In private life he varied in all degrees from an austere recluse to a drunkard and moral leper. This type of man has passed away and his place has been gradually taken by a quiet, methodical man, who can organize men and raise money. Such men are usually of good average character and are executive officers of organizations strong enough to hold together with or without a pastor. They, however, fall behind the present demand in two particulars: they are not usually highly educated men, although they are by no means illiterate, and their goodness is the average goodness of every day men and not the ideal goodness of a priest, who is to revivify and rein- spire the religious feelings of a rapidly developing group. While the salaries paid ministers are still small, there has been a great improvement in recent vears. The ministers of the fifty-four Atlanta churches are paid as follows per annum : :« ' '-750. ..................................... :lm 500.. .................................... 100 SOO 50—100 Total....... .. ......................... 7 3 10 7 8 5 8 54 The greatest change in the last decade has come in the forming of the church groups. Ability to organize and systematize, arrange a regular income and spend it effectively is demanded more and more of minis ters and church officials. There is still much looseness and waste in money matters and some dishonesty in the smaller churches. Over $12,500 was paid out in interest and principal of debts last year. This Probably represents a total indebtedness of $50,000 to $75,000 on a quarter of a million dollars worth of property. \ 80 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 81 rj m \ m 18. Virginia.* There are twenty-four Negro churches in Richmond,} nineteen of which are Baptist. The active membership of these churches is nearly the same as that of the fifty-four churches in Atlanta. As the Negro population of the two cities is nearly the same, this shows a striking concentration in church fellowship and is probably the result of longer growth in the older city, eliminating the smaller churches. The statistics of membership and expenses are: DENOMINATION. Presbyterian No. of Ohm-ches. 1 19 1 2 24 Membership Claimed. •yfi 97 14,802 88 143 15,861 Active Members. 78 ai 6,949 I a year. It spends $243 a year in charity. The present condition of Richmond churches seems, on the whole, to be good. While the standard of the ministry is not yet satisfactory, the proportion of upright and moral men is increasing. There is consider able work among the sick and the poor, and this kind of work is in creasing. For a picture of the condition of churches in Farmville, Va., in 1898, we may quote the following : * "The church is much more than a religious organization: it is the chief organ of social and intellectual intercourse. As such it naturally finds the free demo cratic organizations of the Baptists and Methodists better suited to its purpose than the strict bonds of the Presbyterians or the more aristocratic and ceremon ious Episcopalians. Of the 262 families of Farmville, only one is Episcopalian and three are Presbyterian; of the rest, twenty-six are Methodist and 218 Baptist. In the town of Earmville there are three colored church edifices, and in the sur rounding country there are three or four others. The chief and overshadowing organization is the Eirst Baptist Church of Farmville. It owns a large brick edifice on Main street. The auditorium, which seats about 500 people, is tastefully finished in light wood, with carpet, small organ, and stained glass windows. Beneath this is a large assembly room with benches, inis building is really the central club-house of the community, and in greater decree than is true of the country church in New England or the West. Various organizations meet here, entertainments and lectures take place here, the church collects and distributes considerable sums of money, and the whole social life of the town centers here. The unifying and directing force is. however, religious exercises of some sort. The result of this is not so much that recreation and social life have become stiff and austere, but rather that religious exercises have * Bulletin of the United States Department of Labor, No. 14, pp. IH-3J. 82 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE acquired a free and easy expression and in some respects serve as amusement-giving agencies. For instance, the camp-meeting is simply a picnic, with incidental ser mon and singing; the rally of the country churches, called the ' big meeting,' is the occasion of the pleasantest social intercourse, with a free barbecue; the Sunday- school convention and the various preachers' conventions are occasions of reunions and festivities. Even the "weekly Sunday service serves as a pleasant meeting and greeting place for working people, who find little time for visiting during the week. "From such facts, however, one must not hastily form the conclusion that the religion of such churches is hollow or their spiritual influence bad. While under present circumstances the Negro church can not be simply a spiritual agency, but- must also be a social, intellectual, and economic center, it nevertheless is a spirit ual center of wide influence; and in Farmville its influence carries nothing im moral or baneful. The sermons are apt to be fervent repetitions of an orthodox Galvanism, in which, however, hell has lost something of its terrors through endless repetition; and joined to this is advice against the grosser excesses of drunkenness, gambling, and other forms disguised under the general term 'pleas ure' and against the anti-social peccadillos of gossip, 'meanness,' and undue pride of position. Very often a distinctly selfish tone inculcating something very like sordid greed and covetousness is, perhaps, unconsciously used; on the other hand, kindliness, charity, and sacrifice are often taught. In the midst of all, the most determined, energetic, and searching means are taken to keep up and increase the membership of the church, and 'revivals,' long continued and loud, although looked upon by most oi the community as necessary evils, are annually instituted in the August vacation time. Revivals in Farmville have few of the wild scenes of excitement which used to be the rule; some excitement and screaming, however, are encouraged, and as a result nearly all the youth are 'con verted' before they are of age. Certainly such crude conversions and the joining of the church are far better than no efforts to curb and guide the young. "The Methodist Church, with a small membership, is the second social center of Farmville, and there is also a second Baptist Church, of a little lower grade, with some habitual noise and shouting." Outside the city of Richmond, we have returns from thirty-five churches. Thirty-two of these are Baptist, one is Christian, and tvvp Presbyterian : Total churches.......... . ... 35 Total membership..................... 18,727 Total actual membership ............ 10,812 Total value property . ................. 8114,81". 00 Total expenses.... ........ ... 21,155.54 Total expenses............... 9 21,155.54 Salaries ... ..................8 9,788.28 Debt and interest........... 862.00 Running expenses..---.. 3,821.68 Charity, etc........... 1,247.66 Missions ..................... 1,475 Oi) Support and connection . 437.68 Other expenses............ 4,385.15 THE NEGRO CHURCH 83 The condition of the Methodist churches can be judged by the reports of the African Methodist Episcopal Churches in the Norfolk, Ports mouth, Richmond, and Roanoke districts—108 churches in all: Ministers .... Members.. Churches Parsonages .. 77 9,126 108 38 Value churches and parsonages. ...........$ 168,114.09 Present indebtedness.. . . . ............ 64,739.61 Money raised lor— Pastors'support. 18,578.62 Missionary money .. .......... 1,177.46 Charitable purposes... .......4...... 1,162.53 Educational purposes.................. ... 512.40 Building and repairs....................... 8,489.40 Current expenses.. ......................... 38,SRI.2i For all purposes .......................... 70,584.67 19. The Middle West, Illinois. (By Monroe N. Work, A. M., and the Editor). There are approximately about 250 Negro churches in the state "with a total membership of 15,177. The Negro population of the state was 85,078 for 1900. This gives about 22".. per cent, of Negro population of the state as members of the church. There is a large number of per sons who have moved into the state that in their native homes were members of churches. These would raise the actual number of church communicants considerably, for they commune, etc., and to all intents and purposes are members of the churches where they happen to reside. These would in a census be returned as members and counted in the state where residing. By denominations the membership is as follows: African Methodist Episcopal.8,375 Baptist ............ .............8.812 African Methodist Episcopal Zion..... '....... .. ..... ... 100 Methodist Episcopal .......... :m i Old Time Methodist Episcopal 100 The total amount ol church property owned In the state was about .8445,000 The total expenses lor 1902were about ............. . . 133,000 Of the above amount about $70,000 was for pastors' salaries and about $20,000 on church debt. The following conclusions are based on my own observations and the replies to questions sent out: The Negro church, as a result of slavery, emphasized the emotional side of mentality and the future life. Freedom, with its changed envir onments and opportunities, has modified these two aspects. It is found m the study of churches of this state, that there is a decided tendency Episcopal.... .................. 380 Presbyterian. ................. 210 Cumberland Presbyterian.. 65 Christian ... ... ........ 50 Catholics (not ascertained).. ... Adventists (estimated) . 25 84 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE away from the emotional and the emphasizing of the future life. This is especially noticeable in Ijoth Baptist and Methodist churches, which contain the bulk of the Negro communicants. In the churches of these denominations in the city of Chicago there are only a few where the emphasis is on the emotional and the future life. There are some churches where the emphasis is placed sometimes on the emo tional, the future life, and sometimes on the intellectual and this present life. There is a large number of churches in which the emphasis is almost entirely on the intellectual and the things of this life. It may be said, therefore, that in general the farther the people have moved from slavery conditions the less emotional and unpractical they are religiously; the more effort there is to make religion a rule of conduct for every day life. Historically the Negro ministry has had three distinct stages of development and appears to be passing into a fourth stage. The min ister of slavery days and early freedom, for the most part ignorant, \vas the leader of the people along all lines—religiously, intellectually, politically, etc. The emancipated Negro had few or no church build ings. This, with the additional fact of a large emigration to the cities, caused a demand for ministers who could build large church buildings and control large congregations. The church-building, cougregation- managiiig minister was the result. It was not necessary that he should be intellectual or morally upright if he could meet with the demands, hence the development of this type of ministry. The need of church buildings was largely met, but almost every church had a debt upon it. There arose a demand for ministers who could raise money to pay these debts and keep the church doors from being closed. This, the third type, has more business ability than his predecessors. He is stronger intellectually and better morally. There is arising a demand for still another type of ministry, viz.: the man strong intellectually and sound morally. This demand is, as yet, not -very strong, mainly because there are not many churches out of debt, and the energies of the people are largely expended in raising money to pay on church debts. It is more than probable that as the people progress in intelligence and the churches are freed from debt, thus permitting them to pay more attention to internal aspects of religion, the intellec tual and moral man will become more and more the leader in the churches. The above is not intended as a full or adequate explanation of the churches in Illinois, especially in Chicago, but rather as one of the main causes in producing the present conditions of the churches in this state. The present conditions of the churches seems to be about as follows: they are for the most part deeply in debt. Hence the energies of the people are expended in raising money to pay interest, etc., of debt, thereby causing the emphasis to be laid on the incidentals instead of THE NEGRO CHURCH 85 upon the essentials of the religious life. The people live for the church instead of the church existing for the people. There is not as much attention given to teaching the essentials of religion as should be, but the tendency seems to be more toward this phase as the churches are freed from debt. This is best illustrated by the institution of pastors having for their purpose the ministering to the social needs of the people. The Institutional Church, established in Chicago by the Afri can Methodist Episcopal denomination, is the most advanced step in the direction of making the church exist for the people rather than the people for the church. "Because of the financial needs and other things this church has been compelled to modify its efforts to minister to the people and lay emphasis on the incidental features. The church appears to be occupying a somewhat less prominentplace in the social life of the people than it once did, although it is yet probably the most influential factor, or one of the most influential, in their social life. The ministry has probably improved, both intellectually and morally. It is, however, not meeting the needs of the people in the best possible manner, because there are few ministers with college and theological training, and the debt-ridden conditions of the churches call for men with ability to raise money rather than for men intellectually and morally strong. The morals of the people are probably being raised. This is best evidenced by the wide-spread dissatisfaction that is found to exist among church members and the criticism of present conditions which they make; also the increasing demand for a better ministry. This criticism is: (1) One of the ministry, a. It lacks edification. b. It lacks morality. c. It lacks business ability. (2) Of the members. a. Of the officers of the church who are often dishonest and lacking in business ability. 6- The members lack moral sense and appreciation, i. e., the ethical stand ards are bad. The church is probably losing its influence on the young people because of the scarcity of ministers able to meet the intellectual needs oi the times and the emphasis which the church is compelled to place on eternal things. The conditions of the churches in this state, while far from being good, are probably being improved. 9 ^|^>et;ter type of ministry is appearing (very few). - • .\ne business affairs of the church are being better managed. This is notebly true in Chicago. IYI i Pe°Ple are demanding better ministers and higher morals 4 mld very weak and uncertain as yet). •ivW Vdency appears to be toward more honest and upright living among the members. 86 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 87 The opinions of seventy-five intelligent colored laymen throughout the state are as follows: The majority think that the present condition of the churches is bad. The churches' influence is, on the whole, toward better and more upright life, but there is great room for improvement. The ministers are said not usually to be the right sort of men, their faults being ignorance and immorality, and in some cases, drunkenness. Opinions are divided as to the efficiency of Sunday-schools. Not much charitable work is clone and the church is not attracting young people. The great needs of the church in Illinois are better ministers, better business management, a high standard of living among members, a larger income, and more practical work. The standards of morality among Negroes are being slowly raised. Detailed returns as to churches have been received directly from sixty-one Negro churches having an enrolled membership of 10,144 and an active membership of 6,172. Of this active membership, 4,969 is in the thirty-two churches in the city of Chicago. The twenty-nine churches outside of Chicago report the following statistics : Twenty-nine Churches in Illinois Total membership...... ............ 2,143 Active membership......... ....... l^«.:i Cost of churches........ ...............872,660.00 Salaries ..... .. ............ Debt and interest........... Running expense...... ,, Charity..............,.,,..... Missions....... .....,....,.,. Support of connection..... Other expenses..... ........ 8,200.91 3,Mi'.49 481.66 310.03 688 26 8,176.10 Total .....................$ 18,461.68 For southern Illinois -we have reports of seventy-four African Metho dist Episcopal Churches as follows : Ministers ................................................ 52 Members.................. ................ ............ 4,085 Churches ................................................ 74 Parsonages.. . . ..... , .,,,...,,... 35 Value churches and parsonages ... ..............ft 83,190.00 Present indebtedness.................................. 28,304.44 School houses...... .................................... 3 Money raised for— Pastors'support ......................................$ 17,964.11 Missionary money................... ................ 481.35 Charitable purposes.................................. 650.08 Educational purposes.... ........................... L'13.75 Building and repairs................................. 8,215.74 Current expenses.... ............................... 4,161.98 For all expenses .. .............................. There are in Chicago thirty-two colored churches and missions. Six teen of these own the places where they worship. There are no returns from four of them. The figures are: The Negro Churches in Chicago DENOMINATION. African Methodist Episcopal ... ... Total ...... ........................ No. Reporting. 9 11 1 2 2 1 28 Membership. 3,549 3,'W 500 215 50 280 310 8,001 Active Membership. 2,080 2 140 'soo 13-1 40 125 150 Valuation of Church Property. $ * 125,800 20,000 5,000 3,500 $ 178,800 Expenses Last Year. $ 39, ::. 95 12,674.74 2,640.60 1,811.25 1 609 00 1 $ 58,408.50 [N. B.] These totals are snn Her than they really should be owing to the fact that some churches were only partially reported, while the "Adventist Church" has no report of statistics. •One of the African Methodist Episcopal Churches does not own property, but uses a rented building. Four of the Baptist Churches do not own property, but use rented buildings. One of the Presbyterian Churches owns no property. The Christian Church uses a rented building. One of the Methodist Episcopal Churches uses a rented building. The active membership of these churches varies as follows: M *M 33 750-1,000 ...................... 300-500........................ 100-300........................ ................... 2 ................... 2 .......... 7 ...... ........ ... 6 ................... 82 The pastors of these churches may be classified as follows: Of the five larger churches (300-1,000 members) the pastors are reported: No. 1. "Reputation fair." No. 2. "Charged with drunkenness and immorality; but charges not confirmed." No. 3. "Charged with misuse of church funds." No. 4. "No especial charges." No. 5. "Character not good—immoral." Of the pastors of churches with 100-800 members: Nos. 6,7,8,9,10 and 12. "Character good." •No. 11. "Character not good—given to drink." 88 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 89 Of the pastors of the smaller churches nine are of good character. The others are : No. 14. "Reputation not good." No. 26. "Charged with misuse of funds." Nos. 15 and 17. ? No. 20. Has no pastor at present. In the larger churches four are composed largely of ignorant or lower middle class people. One has a pretty intelligent class of people. Of the seven medium churches three have intelligent congregations of the upper class and four congregations of fair intelligence. The smaller churches consist of three rather intelligent congregations, seven of fair or medium intelligence, and five ignorant bodies. Only one of the large churches does much charitable work. It spent last year nearly $|i » i. One other church claims to spend considerable, but does not do very effective work. Two of the medium sized churches do charitable work of some importance. One of these was originally organized as a social settlement, but for lack of proper guidance has had but partial success. "Nevertheless, it is a significant movement and indicates a drift in the right direction. It has done some good work, among other things co-operating with Atlanta University in this study. One of the smaller churches has a day nursery and kindergar ten, and two others do some institutional work among the young people. The oldest of the Negro churches was established in L850. It was for some time a station on the underground railroad. It is to-day a center of social and religious life and also of the political life of the Negroes. President McKinley spoke in the church on his last public visit to Chicago. The second oldest church was established in 1853. The actual services in these churches can best be judged by record ing the results of a series of visits. In four of the large churches we have the following results : African Methodist Episcopal Church — 700 active members. 11 a. m. Sunday service. There was a long ritualistic introduction. The sing ing was good and effort was put forth to make strangers feel at home. The ser mon was preached especially to converts and there was much emotion prevalent. The emphasis was laid on the after life. The house was well filled and the ven tilation bad. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church — 300 active members. Morning service. The attendance was poor and much emotion was displayed. The sermon was on "God's love." There was much insistence on money. The ventilation was bad. African Methodist Episcopal Church — 800 active members. Special afternoon service. Discussion of the decrease of consumption by col ored physicians of the city. Talks on care of the body. Baptist Church— 1,000 active members. Evening service. The house was crowded and the sermon emotional. The ser vice was long, running forty-five minutes over time. Sermon had some practical bearings at the close. Ventilation was good. Ten other church services in the medium and smaller churches are reported. In nine of these there was no evidence of emotion—in some cases for lack of interest, in other cases from custom. In one case the church had white and colored members and a colored pastor. They showed much emotion at the service, but were very sincere and earnest people. The sermons varied: one was on the "Future life;" another took the theme "Get ready to leave this world," but ended with prac tical advice on home-owning. Another spoke of the "Blessed life," putting emphasis on both this and the future life. Another sermon was on "Self-control.'' The expenditures of Chicago churches were as follows: Thirty-two Churches in Chicago Active membership ..... i Total . . . . . . 6.811 iji-i ......$ 1!-",300.<10 ...... 17,895.18 . .... 17,617.89 ...... 12,X»B Si 2,760.98 609.10 .... 1,550.95 ...... 4,267.10 ..$ 57.569.97 The comments of intelligent Negroes and some of the pastors on the condition of the churches are worth listening to. As to the condition of the churches there is much complaint of the debts due largely to the erection of imposing edifices : "As a rule, they are marked with inefficiency and a lack of proper regard for the moral development of the people. The emphasis placed on the financial condition is so great that the church is lacking in that which works for the moral develop ment of the people in honesty, in sexual purity, etc." "I have been informed that all but two of the churches in this city carry large debts. These debts range from $5,000 to $27,000. In appearance and appointments the church structures compare favorably with the edifices of the white population. One was built and completed at a cost of nearly $50,000. The Institutional Church was bought from the First Presbyterian Church for $33,000, of which sum $9,000 has been paid. The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Olivet Baptist Church cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 each. They each owe about $15,000." "The majority are in debt. The larger churches are largely attended by fash ionably dressed people. The smaller ones have a hard struggle to exist. There is a constant demand for money at every service in all of them." 90 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE The influence of these churches is criticized: "The thought of right doing and right living seems to be secondary. The pri mary idea seems to be to get the most good-paying members." "We have many loyal and faithful members in our churches, and, I may add, altogether too many bad ones." The ministers are especially taken to task: "As a rule, I think the ministers are good men. There are dangerous exceptions, however." "I know some good, pure, and upright men in the ministry, but I know some who are not good, pure, and upright. In my observations, I have noticed drunk enness, poor paymasters, lack of interest in their families, and very much tainted with sexual impurity." "The ministers of ........ churches are excellent Christian gentle men, educated, and doing all in their power to raise the standard of Christian citizenship." "So far as my personal knowledge goes, the ministers are good men. I can not deny that I have heard some ugly and persistent rumors concerning the life and character of several of the local staff of preachers. Sexual immorality and drunk enness are the offenses charged. I do not know of this from personal knowledge, however. In making this statement I am not attempting to evade whatever responsibility may rest with me in this matter. I simply do not know of my own knowledge of the correctness of these charges." "I do not know of any specific cases of immorality such as you make mention of here. I can only judge by what I hear and that not too harshly. If I should judge strictly according to what I hear, I should not believe that there were any Christians among our ministers. This I am unwilling to accede." "I regret to say some of those in our larger churches have not conducted them selves as Christian ministers should, numerous scandals having arisen about them. Whether false or true, it has a tendency to destroy their influence for good." "Common rumor charges the ministers of our largest churches in this com munity with gross immorality—sexual impropriety and drunkenness. The min isters of the three largest Methodist churches are charged with drunkenness, and the one at another church with gross sexual immorality. According to persistent rumor, one church was robbed by a former pastor who still has a charge here." "Several ministers whom I know have had the above charges laid at their door. I cannot say whether they are guilty or not. I know, however, that a great deal of money passes through their hands and still the churches groan under the heavy weight of debt. Some I know are positively immoral." Several pastors write of their especial difficulties, enumerating them as follows: "How to secure sufficient means to prosecute the work in my district, which is the 'Slum District,' and how to treat and deal with the influx now migrating here from the South." "One is poverty. Another is to have my message received for its own sake. A third is the utter lack of moral stamina in the community, extending to every thing." "The pastor's greatest difficulty is to meet his financial obligations because of his meagre salary." THE NEGRO CHURCH 91 "The one great difficulty of the Negro pastor is to overcome the persistent, well nigh peremptory demand for something which appeals to the animal rather than to the human—that rouses the excitable rather than convicts the judgment." "Lack of competent officials in a business way." The greatest needs of the churches, according to the pastors, are: "More intelligence and more piety, as well as an infinitely greater degree of purified refinement." "(1) New methods of giving,!, e., from principle; (2) harmony between inner and external life; (3) promptness in attendance; (4) true conception of the mean ing of worship; (5) to keep the church out of politics." "The greatest need is money." The lay a i en think the needs are : "I think the greatest need of our churches is good business management of funds, honest, intelligent and industrious business men on our trustee and deacon boarda" "More earnestness, higher moral tone, particularly in pulpit. To reform meth ods of raising money so as to preserve the quiet calm that should prevent devo tional meetings from degenerating into a bargain counter session. The building of large and imposing edifices without previous monetary arrangements or its spiritual value being thought of, makes morals and religion serve as bell-ringer merely to call the congregation in order to cajole, importune or brow-beat inter est money and pastor's salary." And above all, "Better ministers." Yet, that there is some good work done in matters of charity and reform by the churches, all admit. "Yes, we have Sunday Clubs, as for instance, the Ladies' Aid of Berean Church, which did noble work during the severe cold weather just passed. They meet from house to house and sew for the poor." "The Institutional Church and Social Settlement does the most of this kind of work. The other churches confine their charitable and reformatory work to their membership. I think this is accounted for in the small and moderate means of the membership." "No specialized charity, but particularly generous and open-hearted in request cases" "The Institutional, Quinn Chapel, Bethel, and others in Chicago. Special col lections are lifted to bury some poor unfortunate or to relieve the wants of the destitute." The churches are not attracting young people as they should. "Owing to present conditions, as I see them, the young people of the intellectual class are not attracted to the church. They give very little for the support of the church." "Not in large numbers. A few are scattered throughout all of the churches, but the vast majority seems to have no inclination toward the church." "Taking Chicago as a whole. No! In the community of which I write, Yes! One °l the largest Negro churches in the city until recently actually set a premium on 'gnorance, and drove the younger element from the church." I am sorry to have to answer No. Our young people are being educated away "om the church. A very small percentage of our professional men and women are regular in their church attendance." ft2 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE In spite of all drawbacks the weight of opinion is that moral stand ards in Chicago are being slowly raised despite the influx of the new colored immigrants: "It is my firm belief that the standards are being raised in these particulars. The accumulations in property holdings and homes, the increase in bank accounts, the visible improvement in the matter of good taste in dress, are signs which, in my opinion, confirm the belief that the standards included in this question are being raised." "I do not think the standards are being raised by any means." "Through the efforts of the church, Women's Clubs, and Sunday Clubs, there seems to be an improvement in morals." " Lowered, as viewed from large numbers of marriages, which are not held in such sacredness as such tie demands and in careless rearing of children." "I think the standard of morality is being raised. Marriages are common, every-day occurrences, and illicit and illegal cohabitation is no longer common but is very rare. The chief agencies in this work are church and school." 20. The Middle West, Ohio. (By R. R. Wright, Jr.*) Greene County is situated in the southwestern portion of the state of Ohio, about midway between Cincinnati and Columbus. Its area is 458 square miles and its population is 81,618, of whom 4,055 are Negroes. Greene County is a typical county for the study of the Negro problem, as it refers to the Northern Negro of the country and small town, for it not only has a very varied population of Negroes, but also the largest proportion of Negroes to whites in the state; and among these Negroes are some of the oldest inhabitants of the state as well as some of the most recent immigrants from the South. Negro Church in Ohio Ohio has a. population of 4,157,545 persons, of whom 96,901 are Negroes. Of these about 28,000, or twenty-nine per cent., are reported as church members. Early in the last century the Negro church had its rise in this state. In 1815, when there were but few Negroes here, the first Negro church was established at Cincinnati. This was under the Methodist Episco pal church. Kev. B. W. Arnett, now bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, gives the following account in his "Proceedings of the Semi-Centenary Celebration of the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Cincinnati, 1874:" "The first religious society organized in Cincinnati by colored people was the Deer Creek Church, organized in 1815, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was one year before the organization of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination in Philadelphia by Richard Alien and others. What Negroes there were in Cincinnati had been attending Old Stone Church, »Cf. Mr. Wright's longer study, Bulletin United States Bureau of Labor, No. 48. THE NEGEO CHTTICH 93 or 'Wesley Chapel' Methodist Episcopal Church; hut on account of the shouting habit they were not very much desired at this white church. They were all crowded into one section of the church, where with much effort they tried not to disturb their white brethren by their frequent outbursts of praise to God. The whites tolerated them as long as they were successful in suppressing this inclination to shout. The crisis came, however, in 1815, when a brother, striving to suppress his shout by muffling his mouth with a handkerchief, burst one of his blood vessels in the attempt. After this the whites themselves took serious steps to have a separate church for Negroes. The result was the Deer Creek Church, whose pastor for a long while was a slave who came over from Kentucky from time to time. This new church was under the Methodist Episcopal connection until 1823, when, on account of alleged discrimination and unbrotherly action on the part of the white brethren toward the colored, many of the latter withdrew and went over to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Those who remained continued in the Methodist Episcopal Church, known later as Union Chapel. Thus began the Negro church in Ohio. Its mother was the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first African Methodist Episcopal Church was at Steubenville. In 1823, according to Bishop D. A. Payne's History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, there were churches of this denomination at Cincinnati, Steubenville, and Chillicothe. When the Chillicothe and Steubenville churches were founded is not exactly known. In 1824 the report for the African Methodist Episcopal churches was as follows: Jefferson County Cir cuit (composed of Steubenville, with forty-five members, Cape Belmont, six members, Mount Pleasant, twelve members) — total sixty-three members; Chillicothe Circuit (composed of Chillicothe, Zanesville, Lancaster, and Cincinnati), only thirty-three members were reported on these charges. In 1883 there were churches at twenty different points with a membership of 690. In 1^36 the membership of the African Methodist Episcopal Church was 1,181, and in 1888 it was 1,817. It, has steadily increased until to-day it is more than 6,000." When the separate Negro church was established, in 1815, nearly all the Negroes of the town joined or attended it regardless of what denomination they had before belonged to. It was not until 1885 that the first Baptist organization was begun—-'Union Baptist Church" of Cincinnati. There are now in the state seven denominations maintaining separate churches for Negroes, with a membership as follows : 94 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Baptists. ................ ............ Western Association.. .................... 6,^n Eastern Association................. ...... 3,704 Zion Association............................ *S,500 Providence Association ................... 2,124 African Methodist Episcopal Church...... Ohio Conference ............................ 8,179 North Ohio Conference .............. 3,129 Methodist Episcopal Church, North ....... Wesleyan Methodists..... ,, .......... Christian (Disciples)......................... Episcopal and Presbyterian................. 16,213 Total .. 557 • 1,000 2,000 27,723 These with the number of Negroes who are members of white con gregations among Presbyterians, Catholics, Congregationalists, Zionists (Dowieites), \vould make the total about 28,000, or about twenty-nine per cent, of the total JSTegro population of the state. Of the population over fifteen years of age—70,032—forty per cent, are church members. In 1890 there were 250 organizations in the state among Negroes, having 19,827 communicants. This was 22.8 per cent, of the total population of 87,113 Negroes, much less than in 1902. The number of church mem bers in the country at large in 1890 was 2,673,977 or 35.7 per cent, of the total Negro population. By this we see that Ohio is now still somewhat behind what the country at large was in 1890. The following table is taken from the United States census of 1890: STATE. Total for United States. Ohio...................... a o C3 C a o 23,462 250 o tfl 73 B 23,770 214 GD^i C"^ S2 g| ^0 6,800,' ' : 66.516 5 K 1,858 84 CD^1 B2 ga «>6 114,644 1,750 CD £ > $.' ;,626,4ss KI7t\ 4.L>R to t) d g o 2,673,977 19,827 a 0 C3 a 0 PH 7,(--,788 87,113 There are now over 300 organizations distributed among over 200 cities and towns in the state. Greene County Greene County has a population of 31,618, of whom 4,055 are Negroes. The county is favorably situated for farming, and outside of Xenifl many Negroes engage in this occupation, chiefly as "hands" at odd labor, however, as the census of 1900 gave only ninety farmers among the colored population of the county. The county is one of the oldest in the State, constituted in 1802, and named for General Nathaniel <• Estimated by Secretary. THE NEGEO CHUECH 95 Greene. From its earliest days it has had Negroes among its population, as the following table will show: POPULATION OF GREENE COUNTY BY UNITED STATES CENSUS, 1810-1900 Year. 1810.................. 1820.................. 1840.................. 1850........ ......... 1860...... .......... 1870......... ........ 1M»I.................. 1890.................. 1900 White. 5,^34 10,408 14,'V!9 17,184 21,292 24,722 24,199 26,774 26,. 'V 27,554 Colored. *t 61 162 344 654 1,475 S,839a 4,575 6 4,000 c 4,055 d Total. 5,870 10,521 14, -l 1 17,528 21,946 26,M7 28,038 81,349 29,820 31,613 a Includes 24 Indians. b Includes 6 Chinese and 19 Indians. c Does not include 8 Chinese and 7 Indians. d Negroes only. Does not include 4 Chinese and Japanese. The following table gives a partial exhibit of the general financial condition of the churches of the State: CHURCHES. M. E. Church. .............. A. M. E.— N. O. Conference .... Zion Association............ Providence Association . . . VVesleyan. 0 tH o£ fb a > a$79,050.09 242,375.00 108,570.00 SI,:'.'". 00 9, I'M. 00 to 73 S c3 en dg °.S •^ ^ Q>£H £•§ M $400.00 475.00 210.00 40.00 10.00 208.00 00 125.00 400 00 t>> Vi .n O 825. rn 7.00 1 ^O 30 00 j9 50 19.00 50.00 49.68 a o "w f% $14.00 22.00 6T^i 25.00 2.00 97 Rft 8.77 40. OC 00.00 ?S c3 O aH- .23 ^jCL O ^ •§3 HO 8 54.17 2.40 15.00 9KA 00.00 53.42 127.00 !>> a 'S 00 $500.00 500.09 170.00 OKA riA 640.66 25.59 300.00 300 00 ifi"7 ^n 2.50 71 • 00 250.00 J -b^ 0 H $1,025.00 280.00 Ki-jf: f»A 42.49 600.00 4H5.85 1-17-0 r\A .65 Incomplete. The questions on the schedules for "Data from Negro Churches" were answered as follows by the pastors of Greene County : I. What do the churches need most ? Preachers that study the Bible and teach it in its purity............ 1 Educated ministers on fire with glory of God and uplift of the people. 1 Leaders, pure, courageous, with executive ability........... ....... 1 Educated, experienced, courageous, and honest men as preachers... I Religion and good sense........................ .......... ........... I Religion and faithful ministers, and refinement...... .. .. 1 Revival of religion and money..... .......................••••••••••• 1 More of the spirit of Christ ..... ................................. • 1 Better attendance and support from members........... ............ I Union........................... v ....................--•••••••-••••••• 1 II. What is the pastor's greatest difficulty ? Lack of conscientious Bible study on his part. ..........,......-.-••• 1 Minister too abusive and people too sensitive. ........................ 1 Lack of courage and ability on part of minister...................... 1 Unconverted membership ........................-•••••••----• • l Irregular and desultory attendance of members...................... 2 Lack of co-operation on part of members ...............-•-••••-••••• * Difficulty of getting people to live Christian lives after joining the church..............................................-...-••••••••-•• * Immorality and ignorance of the people ..................•.•-••••••-• 1 ••^^•^^M* * 1 11; 104 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE III. Are the morals of the people being raised or lowered in respect to sexual morals, honesty, home life, truth-telling, etc.? Raised....... . ........ . ..... ........... ... .... 5 Raised by fifty per cent........ .................. ......... 1 Doubtful. ... .............................................. 1 Very little as to sexual morals, home life and truth-telling; some as to honesty. ..... ........... ........... i., - .................. 1 IV. Is the Sunday-school effective ? IT Q Yes ....................... .... ........ ...................... o How can it he improved ? By co-operation of parents..... . .............................. ..... 4 Systematic visiting through the week..... ............ ...... 1 Gathering the little children................ .... ................ 1 V. How many persons joined the church last year? How many of these were under 20 years of age? How many were over 40 years of age? CHURCH. Baptist- Middle Run..... .. Third. ........ . , Cedarville ............. Jamestown ..... .... Methodist Episcopal. . . ....... Christian . .... . .... A. M. M.— Wllberforce*.. . . .. ................... Total........ Accessions. Under 20 Years. 19 80 0 0 8 0 0 0 18 24 9 20 60t tS8 Over 40 Years. 4 0 8 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6 2 17 Total. 88 81 2 10 9 0 0 4 20 24 9 50 80 327 Total Members . 870 140 180 101 40 108 25 58 9 125 124 47 75 240 108 1,760 Total Active Members. 250 45 27 30 75 14 """"9 50 85 85 40 160 55 875 »1901. Report for 1902 not available. t E stimated. VI. Is there much shouting or emotion ? Not very much ....................................... Considerable emotion, occasional shouting.. ....... Yes.. ...... ... Too much for the good done. THE NEGRO CHURCH VII. 105 Are the younger set of educated people joining the church and helping in its work ? Yes. To some extent........................................................ 1 Slowly; they do a little................................................ 1 VIII. Sketches of Pastors of Greene County (This includes also the A. M. E. and M. E. Presiding Elders.) Church of Which Pastor. Baptist- Middle Run............ Third.......... ... ... Jamestown . ..... Yellow Springs. ....... Massles' Creek. . . Methodist Episcopal . . . Wesleyan Methodist .. Christian.. A. M. E.— Xenla. .... Cedarvllle.............. Jamestown. . .. Yellow Springs........ Wllberforce Presiding Elder A. M.E. Presiding Elder M. B. o5 to •< 45 ?fi 48 W 48 fin ^1 *M 36 31 30 47 fin Birthplace. Ohio. ............ Ohio. ............ Ohio .... ........ Illinois .......... Florida........... Ohio.. .......... Louisiana ....... Ohio ............. Ohio ............. Years of 1 Experience. | 7 10 17 -10 3 5 7 ?fi W Education. Common School. Common School and Member of Class 'OS, Theological Seminary. Theological and High School Grammar School and Graduate Theological, '03. Opinions of Negro Church These opinions are from people of long residence and good standing in Greene County. They are as to occupations as follows: Pastors........................ ............ 6 Presiding Elders........................... 2 Physicians........... ..................••••• 2 College Professors................ ......... 3 Dean Theological Seminary................ 1 Principal High School..................... 1 Principal Elementary School ...-.-.---•••• 1 Barbers..................................... 2 Grocer.... ................................. 1 Student..................................... 1 Total.............. ......................... 20 106 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE I. THE NEGRO CHTJKCH 107 So far as you have observed, what is the present condition of the churches in your community? Very gratifying....................................................... ] Improving ............................. .............................. 2 Embarrassed financially........... ............................ .... 2 Fair................................................................... 3 Good ............. .................................................... 5 Some answered this question as follows: Financially, poor.... ................................................ 2 Financially, fair..................................................... 1 Financially, good .............. ........................... .......... 1 Intellectually, fair.................................................... 1 Intellectually, good......... ................................ ... 1 Spiritually, dull..... ....... ........................................ 1 Spiritually, fair...................................................... 2 II. Is their influence, on the whole, toward pure, honest living ? Yes. .12 Not as much as should be..... ...................................... 3 In part, but not all................................................... 2 Largely so................ ........................... ........ .... 2 Generally so.. ............................ ........................ 1 III. (a) Are the ministers usually good men ? Yes... ......................................... ............ ....16 Usually, not universally................................... .......... 2 (I) Their chief faults ? Whiskey and women................................................. 2 (This does not apply to those in Greene County.) Illiteracy and want of deep convictions ........... ................ 1 (This also does not apply to those in Greene County.) Desire to be popular ...................................... . ...... 1 Failure to study................................................. .... 1 IV. Of the ministers whom you know, how many are notoriously immoral ? What direction does their immorality take ? Cite instances. This question, like the third, was generally answered for the general condition and not as applying to Greene County in particular, as directed. One man of wide experience says he knows twenty-four notoriously immoral preachers, but there are only twenty-five in the county, including those who are idle and who preach outside of the county. None .... . , . .. . .. .......... H Afew......... ..... ..!. " .. ' !.. .. .... .................... 1 Two.............. , ............ ................................. ...2 Twenty-four..... .................................................... 1 "Eighty-five per cent, are good men, five per cent, dishonest in money matters, ten per cent, tinctured with sexual impurity."—A Presiding Elder. "I know a dozen who are immoral, basing my reply upon facts given by others." —A principal of city schools. As to kinds of immorality, see above, and also— Sexual impurity and drunkenness.................................... 1 Sexual impurity, dishonesty in money matters, and drunkenness.... 3 Dishonesty in money matters. V. Is the Sunday-school effective in teaching children good manners and sound morals? Yes .................. .......................... ..................... 10 In a large degree....... .......... .. ...... ..................... 1 Generally............................................................. 3 To some degree................................................. .... 5 Not as much as might be......... ......................... . 1 VI. Do the churches with which you are acquainted do much charitable work? Yes................................................ ......... .......... 3 Some............................... ........... ....................... 6 Not much.......................... ........... ...................... 7 Considerable among the poor.............................. ......... 1 Yes, in large cities ................... .. ....... ........... 1 VII. Do the young people join the church and support it ? Some do.......................................... .. ........ . 4 Only a few.............................. ... .................... 2 Yes, but about one-fourth support it............................. 2 Yes........................................................... ....... 5 Yes, but do not support well................................ ....... 3 Not all, but a fair proportion... " Young women do, but*not many young men. VIII. What is the greatest need of our churches ? Pure gospel and money. .......................-..--••••• • ..------• 1 More enforcement of spiritual duty of the church.................... 2 Ministers of broader culture and deeper piety..... .................. o Systematic business methods, trained men in pulpits, doctrinal preaching, and an earnest desire to persuade men to serve God from choice..........................................-••••••••••••••••••-- * Religious enthusiasm, sound financial basis, respect for pastor....... 1 Higher ideals and deeper Christianity.. .....-..-..-•-.. .-•••••• • \ Educated and called ministry. .....................---•••••••--•• Pure religion, money, and education............... ......-••-•-• Fewer churches, better preachers, better religion................ More love for church and each other on part of members....... Money, and instruction in race pride, and business..... ........ Good morals, home training, and piety. ...............--•--•••••• IX. Are the standards of morality in your community being raised or lowered in respect to sexual morals, home life, honesty, etc? Give instances. 108 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Raised............ ............................. ...............14 Inclined to think raised.. ................ .......................... 1 Raised very little................. ....................... ........... 1 Raised to some extent................................................ 1 "Twelve or thirteen years ago the patrol was constantly called to a class of resorts which have been wiped out." "Xenia, Jamestown, Cedarville, Yellow Springs, are ' dry.' " "Greater condemnation of men who deceive women." 21. An Eastern City.* Philadelphia, Pa., gives an opportunity to study the growth of the Negro church for over a century. In 1800 there were in that countyt 7,000 Negroes and three Negro churches, founded as follows: 1792—St. Thomas....... ................Episcopal. 1794—Bethel...... .African Methodist Episcopal 1794—Zoar................. .Methodist Episcopal. In 1813, when there were about 11,000 Negroes in the city, there were the following churches and members : St. Thomas, Protestant Episcopal........... 560 Bethel, African Methodist Episcopal.......1,272 Zoar, Methodist Episcopal................... 80 Union, African Methodist Episcopal........ 74 Baptist, Race and Vine Streets.............. 80 Presbyterian .... .............................. 300 Total. There were about 17,500 Negroes in 1838: DENOMINATIONS. Methodist. ............................. Presbyterian . ........................ Baptist ................................. Total ................................. No. Churches. 1 1 8 2 4 16 Members. 100 10 2,860 325 700 3,995 Annual Expenses. $1,000 120 2,100 1,500 1,300 $6,020 p. o fi. o* £ $ Sf<2,229 25,000 49,700 J»,800 150,000 180,000 t» o a a « K $27,074 6,000 16,384 80,000 4,473 6,613 There are three other small churches, making fifty-five churches in all, with 13,000 members, $910,000 worth of property, and an annual in come of $95,000. In 1900 Philadelphia had 62,613 Negroes. The general character of church life is thus set forth : "Perhaps the pleasantest and most interesting social intercourse takes place on Sunday; the weary week's work is done, the people have slept late and have had a good breakfast, and sally forth to church well dressed and complacent. The usual tour of the morning service is eleven, but people stream in until after twelve. The sermon is usually short and stirring, but in the larger churches elicits little re sponse other than an 'Amen' or two. After the sermon the social features begin; notices on the various meetings of the week are read, people talk with each other 110 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE in subdued tones, take their contributions to the altar, and linger in the aisles and corridors after dismission to laugh and chat until one or two o'clock. Then they go home to good dinners. Sometimes there is some special three o'clock service, but usually nothing, save Sunday-school, until night. Then comes the chief meeting of the day; probably 10,000 Negroes gather every Sunday night in their churches. There is much music, much preaching, some short addresses; many strangers are there to be looked at; many beaus bring out their belles, and those who do not, gather in crowds at the church door and escort the young women home. The crowds are usually well-behaved and respectable, though rather more jolly than comports with a Puritan idea of church services. "In this way the social life of the Negro centers in his church—baptism, wedding and burial, gossip and courtship, friendship and intrigue—all lie in these walls. "What wonder that this central club-house tends to become more and more Luxu riously furnished, costly in appointment and easy of access! "It must not be inferred from all this that the Negro is hypocritical or irreligious. His church is, to be sure, a social institution first, and religious afterwards, but nevertheless, its religious activity is wide and sincere. In direct moral teaching and setting moral standards for the people, however, the church is timid, and naturally so, for its constitution is democracy tempered by custom. Negro preach ers are condemned for poor leadership and empty sermons, and it is said that men with so much power and influence could make striking moral reforms. This is but partially true. The congregation does not follow the moral precepts of the preacher, but rather the preacher follows the standard of his flock, and only excep tional men dare seek to change this. And here it must be remembered that the Negro preacher is primarily an executive officer rather than a spiritual guide. If one goes into any great Negro church and hears the sermon and views the audience, one would say, either the sermon is far below the calibre of the audience, or the people are less sensible than they look. The former explanation is usually true. The preacher is sure to be a man of executive ability, a leader of men, a shrewd and affable president of a large and intricate corporation. In addition to this, he may be, and usually is, a striking elocutionist. He may also be a man of integrity, learning, and deep spiritual earnestness; but these last three are sometimes all lacking, and the last two in many cases. Some signs of advance are here manifest: no minister of notoriously immoral life, or even of bad reputation, could hold a large church in Philadelphia without eventual revolt. Most of the present pastors are decent, respectable men. There are perhaps one or two exceptions to this, but the exceptions are doubtful rather than notorious. On the whole, then, the aver age Negro preacher in this city is a shrewd manager, a respectable man, a good talker, a pleasant companion, but neither learned nor spiritual, nor a reformer. "The moral standards are, therefore, set by the congregations, and vary, from church to church, in some degree. There has been a slow working toward a literal obeying of the Puritan and ascetic standard of morals which Methodism imposed on the freedmen, but condition and temperament have modified these. The grosser forms of immorality, together with theatre-going and dancing, are specifically denounced; nevertheless, the precepts against specific amusements are often vio lated by church members. The cleft between denominations is still wide, espe cially between Methodists and Baptists. The sermons are usually kept within the safe ground of a mild Calvinism, with much insistence on salvation, grace, fallen humanity, arid the like." * » Philadelphia Negro, p. 204, ff. THE NEGRO CHURCH 111 22. Present Condition of Churches—The Baptists. "In the minutes of the old Savannah Association for 1812, is the following note: 'The Association is sensibly affected by the death of Rev. Andrew Bryan, a man of color and pastor of the first colored church in Savannah. This son of Africa, after suffering inexpressible persecutions in the cause of his Divine Master, was permit ted to discharge the duties of his ministry among his colored friends in peace and quiet, hundreds of whom through his instrumentality were brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. He closes his useful and amazingly luminous course in the lively exercise of faith and in the joyful hope of a happy immortality.' "The most of the colored Baptists were at this period identified with white churches, and in churches of mixed membership the whites were often in the minority. In the mixed churches of this period, the colored members had no voice in affairs, unless in the reception and discipline of members of their own race. After the emancipation of slaves, the Negro Baptists of the Southern states very gener ally separated from the white churches, and organized churches and Associations of theirown. Other colored Baptist churches of that section, that were organized at an earlier period, besides the one at Savannah, above mentioned, are the Spring field Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga., 1790, and the one at Portsmouth, Va., 1841; the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church of "W ashington, D. C., 1832; one in Louisville, Ky., 1842; one in Baltimore, Md., 1836. In the Northern and Western states, the earliest organized colored Baptist churches are the Abyssinian of New York City, 1803; the Independent of Boston, 1805; the First of Philadelphia, 1809; Ebenezer of New York City, 1825; the Union of Cincinnati, 1827; the Union of Philadelphia, 1832; the Union of Alton, 111., 1838. "The Western states organized the first colored Baptist Association. The Provi dence Baptist Association of Ohio was organized in 1836, and the Wood River Bap tist Association of Illinois in 1838. The number of colored Baptists in the United States in 1850 is reported but in part. In fifteen Southern states and four Northern states, 100 out of 336 Associations report 89,695 colored members. There is no re port from 146 Southern Associations, but high authority puts the whole number of colored Baptists in this country in 1850 at 150,000. Then we have a numerical growth of Negro Baptists in America from 150,000 in 1850 to 1,604,310 in 1894; an increase of 1,454,310 in forty-four years, which is an increase of over 33,000 net each year. From one ordained preacher in 1777 to 10,119 in 1894; from one church in 1788 to 13,138 churches in 1894, or an average increase of 124 churches each year; increase in valuation of church property from nothing in 1788 to $11,271,651." * The Baptist churches unite in Associations and State Conventions for missionary and educational work. For a long time, however, it seemed impossible to unite any large number of them in a National Convention, but this has at last been done. The National Baptist Convention was organized at Atlanta, Ga., September 28, 1895. Its objects are missionary and educational work, and the publication of religious literature. The membership consists of representatives of churches, Sunday-schools, Associations, and State Conventions of Baptists, and of such individual Baptists as wish to join. The Convention meets annually, and has a president, vice-presidents from each state; a statistical secretary, and other officers. This Con- * Growth oJ the Negro Baptists, by R. De Baptists, 1896. 112 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH ' I i vention elects annually a Foreign Mission Board, a Home Mission Board, an Educational Board, and a Baptist Young People's Union Board. These boards all consist of one member from each state repre sented, and elect their own officers and executive committee so located as to be able to meet monthly. The Convention also collects statistics concerning the Negro Baptists throughout the United States. The Conventions of 1901 and 1902 follow. These figures are not altogether accurate, but are probably under statements rather than exaggerations.* The most remarkable result of the united efforts of the Negro Baptists is the Home Mission department, including the publishing house : "It has been the policy of our Board from its incipiency to do whatever mission ary work that is done in any state in co-operation with the regular state authori ties or state organizations in their organized capacity. "We believe also that when this policy of our Board is better understood, the churches, Associations and Conventions will contribute more liberally to the advancement of the work of our Board. "While we have not been able to do as much in this co-operative mission work as we had hoped, yet we have done what we could. We have gone as far as our limited means would allow. The following is a summary of the missionary work done by our Board and by its co-operative policy in the United States: COMBINED REPORTS 113 Sermons preached. ................ Sunday schools addressed .... Prayer-meetings attended......... B. Y. P. U. meetings attended..... Women's meetings addressed...... Other addresses made..... ........ Total number addresses made.... Conventions, Associations and wo men's meetings visited since last report............................... Number of letters and cards writ ten .................................. Number of circulars and tracts distributed............ ..... ..... Number of books and tracts dona ted ................................. Books sold........................... Money collected................... . Total amount of money received from all sources......... .......... Subscriptions to the Union........ Money collected for same.......... Days of service rendered........... 1,550 905 8'i 478 261 1,495 2,376 253 12,056 •10,703 1,019 $1,774.83 $3,538.37 $5,114.02 256 $ 57.20 Homes visited............ ......... 1,661 Homes found without Bibles...... 84 Churches visited.................... 1,323 Sunday-schools organized ....... 7 Missionary societies organized. .. 44 Baptisms........... ............. ... 70 Miles traveled by railroad....... . 89,612 Cost of travel.. ................... $1,493.64 Miles traveled otherwise .......... 5,491 Cost of same ........... .... ........ f 1->.30 Total traveling expense ...... .... (1,681.94 Total amount of money sent to National Baptist Publishing Board ..... ........................ 11,281.36 Amount of the money collected applied to salaries ................ B 281.35 Total amount of money collected and left with churches........... 79.80 Number of Missionary Confer ences held.......................... 31 Paid on salaries..................... 13,839.38 Total paid on salaries ............. $4,174.7ii ' A prominent church official writes: "The statistics are not correct. For instance, you will notice New Jersey. At the time ol getting the statistics from there we had only thirty-six churches. I have just returned from there, and know that they have sixty-seven. What is true of that state is true of many others. "We have a very poor way of getting accurate statistics. We have had to depend upon the various minutes of the state meetings and, as you know, our people attend these meetings 11 they wish and let it alone iJ they please. There is no reason nor power to compel them to give statistics. A great number of our churches do not attend the Associations and a great number of our Associations do not attend the State Conventions and a number of the State Conventions are not represented in our National Convention. Therefore, you see that we only have to get such statistics as are in co-operation with us." "It has been our custom, from year to year, to call the attention of our Conven tion to the work of correspondence of our Board. This is done with a view of giv ing the members somewhat of an idea of the magnitude of this portion of our work. For the benefit of those who may be interested, we quote the following number of first-class letters received and disposed of by answers by the Corre sponding Secretary and his assistants during the fiscal year: September, 1901................................ 4,803 October, 1901.... ...,,.,,.... 6,255 November, 1901....... .. ,„.,....... 2,243 December, 1901................................ 3,355 January, 1902.................. ............. 5,968 February, 1902........... .................... 2,709 March, 1902 .................................... 6,432 April, I'.i.i-j...................................... 9,607 May, 1902....................................... 4,866 June,!!«?..... ,,. ........................ 8,576 July, 1902............... ........... ....... ... 7,922 August, 1902................... ...... 2,720 Grand total for the year .. ... ..64,956 General Summary of Baptists in the United States State Conventions. . . . Associations.... Churches.. Ordained ministers Present membership in the United States Meeting houses ........... Valuation. " ' ••••••••-••••-•• Sunday-schools .............. Teachers and officers. ..... Pupils in Sunday-schools Total in Sunday-schools 1901. 515 15/51 14,861 l,975,r«* 7,576 $ 11,605,891 7, Ml 36,7-H! 478,271 510,007 ISffl. 43 517 16 440 2,038,427 11,069 $ 12,196,180 13,707 41,537 MONEY RAISED Church expenses |uneot>le are illiterate, and 20 per cent, of those who can read ~ — ~ —""^ nun "\rnnt~.ViR— cent, of the colored people are illiterate, ana zu pm iiCil^. Ui ——— ..__ and write are not fluent readers. Sixty per cent, of those who can read are youths— Therefore, it is very essential that reading matter for these people must ' ' imall books, booklets, tracts and children. *.w,**,_„,_____ not be in large and soggy books, but must be in t,___ pamphlets. Our board has endeavored to turn some attention to raising a tract fund, but has done very little as yet. "We are in need of both money and writers to produce these tracts. Addresses, papers and sermons read OT delivered before the different annual gatherings, if they were put in print and circulated among the people, would do much toward elevating them. We have been able this year to publish a few tracts for free dis tribution. We have been able to print and distribute through our free distribution system something over 40,000 tracts. These the writers have contributed free of charge. RECEIPTS BUSINESS DEPARTMENT Balance on hand ..... Fourth quarter, 1901.. - - First quarter, 1002 .. Second quarter, 1902 Third quarter, 1802 .8 1,054.09 12,118.01 10,825.68 . 15, - .. 18,782-77 Total receipts from Business Department. . RECEIPTS FROM MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT From "Woman's Auxiliary Convention. ..........8 75.00 From Home Mission Board of Southern Baptist Fron Cor From Convention.................................. Woman's Auxiliary of Southern Baptist 1,800.00 50.00 Convention.-................................... .... .._.-. By missionary collections .......... ............ (a) 3,538.37 By special missionary collections.... ..... .(6) 281.35 By designated collections......... . .. .....(c) 78.80 8 5,824.52 SPECIAL DONATIONS FOR BIBLES ANT) COLPORTAGE WORK From Sunday-school Board of Southern Baptist Convention .......... ................ ............$ By other donations.. 121.25 llfi.OO 2,100.94 J3> ULilCi mjjuj.j-..——~~. .... For colportage and book work.................. 2,iAjv.s« From special periodical donations.............. 230.90 From special tract donations ............... ...... 100.36 For special Bible work in Africa........... ....... 35.71 From general missionary and Bible donation... 432.48 432.48 $ 3,148.64 SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION, ADVERTISING, NEGOTIABLE NOTES AND OUTSTANDING ACCOUNTS From subscriptions to Union. . ...... ...$ 49081 From advertisements... .. .......... 510.00 From negotiable notes........... .. .... . ....... 738.26 From periodicals uncollected.... ................ 1,129.57 From printing uncollected accounts.............. 2,205.58 Kem.ain.liig in hands of colporters and mission aries uiireported ... .............................. 1,683.78 8 aries uiirepor Grand total. 6,767.10 74,407.64 THE NEGRO CHURCH 117 DISBURSEMENTS BUSINESS DEPARTMENT Wages, printing material and Editorial Depart ment .............. ................................. .$30,326.64 Merchandise, notes, machinery and other mis- cellaiieoxis........................................... 17,073.84 Coal, Ire, freight, drayage, boarding horses, etc.. 2,842.54 Keiits, water tax, gas, commission, insurance, traveling and special missions .................. 2,127.92 Stamps, postage, telephone, telegrams, electrici ty, etc.................. ... ... .. ..... 5,360.54 To balance in hand ...... . 1:4.94 Total disbursements of Business Department. $ 58,666.38 MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT In salaries of district secretaries, state and local missionaries, male and female ...................$ 5,824.52 In expenses, books, Bibles, tracts and periodi cals donated by them....... ................. .... 3,149.64 Salary of secretary, advertising, special traveling expenses, uncollected accounts, negotiable notes, maiiu scripts, etc....... ......... .. 6,7': 7.10 8 15,741.26 Grand total.......... .. ............... » 74,407.64 "Notwithstanding the failure of crops of 1901, by glancing over the report of the work done for the year it will be seen that this institution is not only self-support ing, but besides defraying its own expenses, has been able to spend on m issionaries and their traveling expenses $11,683.19, and on machinery, notes, etc., which stand as a sinking fund, $5,352.48, making a dividend to the denomination of $17,035.67; and, if we add in the $1,601.09 deficit for running the denominational paper, and the $3,335.15 outstanding accounts for work and periodicals during the year, and $1,688.78 in the hands of agents, missionaries and colporters unreported, it will be seen that the denomination has a clear dividend arising from the work of these boards of $28,655.69." The Negro Baptists support eighty schools, as follows : List of Institutions by States STATES. t i Arkansas . . Florida . Georgia . u Illinois tadiana —— ___ ____ INSTITUTION. Opelika High School ... ..... Aouchita Academy .......... Baptist College ............ Brinkl_y Academy ."......... Florida Baptist College ........ West Florida Baptist An: lemy .... Americus Institute . . ........ Walker Academy ......-•••• Central City College ......... Southern Illinois Polytechnic Institute . Indiana Colored Baptist University . . . LOCATION. Selma. Annistoii. Eufaula. Marion. Opelika. Thomsonvllle. Camden. Little Bock. Arkadelphia. Brinlcley. Magnolia. Jacksonville. Live Oak. Pensacola. Americus. Augusta. Athens. Macoii. Cairo. Indianapolis. 118 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE List of Institutions by States—Continued THE NEGEO CHUECH 119 STATES. it (i it it tt t t i s < ( t t , t it K it it n ti tl « » it n u u tl 11 (( Ohio ....... it n Texas ....... .4 t« Virginia ...... «( INSTITUTION. North Louisiana Industrial High School High School ............. Guadalupe College ......... LOCATION. Louisville. We 1 1 ly. Monroe. Gloster. Kosciusko. Charlotte. Raleigh. WakefLeld. Warrenton. Winston. Broad River. Memphis. Jefferson City. Seguin. "Waco. Hearne. Lynchburg. Twenty of the above schools reported last year as follows: Teachers, males .......... 75 Teachers, females ......... 73 Total number of schools . Valuation of property $564,000 Total .......... . . 148 Students, males . Students, females Total students Total in Home Missionary Society Schools ............ Total in schools heard from . . 1,888 1,531 8,364 9,562 The value of property owned by these schools is as follows : Alabama.................................. 8 3.00 Florida......... ....................... 16,«M.OO Georgia .................................. 12.H10.00 Maryland............ ................... IW5.00 Virginia .. ............. :............ 25,'««KOO Texas.................... .............. 23,000.00 Ohio................. .................... 3,- .00 Kentucky................................ 20,000.00 Missouri ................................. 8,041.02 District of Columbia. ..... ........... 400.00 Pennsylvania ............... ........... 857.75 Miscellaneous sources. ............ ... 238.00 Total.................... ............* 186,^1.97 The total number of pupils in all these schools is not given. Twenty of them report 148 teachers and 3,364 pupils. Probably there are at least 6,000 or 7,000 pupils in all the schools. The institutions are for the most Part primary and secondary schools, despite their pretentious names, and supplement the public schools. Beside, these Negro Baptists have contributed largely to the Baptist schools of higher denomination, supported by the Northern white Bap tists, for Negro students. The chief schools of this class are: 120 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Baptist Schools (Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, PLACE. Richmond, Va..... Pjchmond, Va........ Raleigh, N. O. ...... Winton, N. C. ..... Columbia, S. O. -. Athens, Ga....... Atlanta, Ga.......... Augusta, Ga...... ... Jaclcson, Miss........ Marshall, Tex ....... Nashville, Tenn..... Little Rock, Ark.... Atlanta, Ga.......... Harper's Ferry, W. Va Hampton, Va........ Windsor, N. O.... ... LaGrange, Ga ..... . New Orleans, La..... SCHOOL. Hartshorn Memorial College.... Virginia Union University....... Shaw University.................. Water's Normal Institute........ Benedict College................ Jeruel Academy........ ......... Atlanta Baptist College.... "Walker Baptist Institute ....... Jackson College .................. Bishop College... ...... ........ Roger Williams University Arkansas Baptist College Spelman Seminary ....... Storer College........ Spiller Academy. ......... Bertie Academy........... LaGrange Baptist Academy, Leland University ........ 120 167 511 272 488 221 185 121 102 387 268 218 "142' 103 182 115 . cc-d 80,000 12,000 76,000 2,500 75,i'I V" 35,'" 100,1" 200,(KK' 25,000 "50,000" 10,000 1,000 1,000 150,000 In the words of the late General Morgan, secretary of the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, this society "has already spent more than $3, !i'i,000 in their (i. e., the Negroes') behalf; the value of school property used for their benefit is not less than $l,000, •" i 8 8 co" TOA § 1JV OS s i §8 S &, . . . . . o ......,£ :;;;;:;; : :«< fsilsifasllp? •rt o> *H fj£ Oy 0,3 ^ <3^ o £ Total monej7 raised ............ Detailed figures showing the operations of seven fairly typical Annual Conferences follows : o Annual Conference Reports s W ENCE 8 •S "o 1 4 e t) 0 1 8 1 Indiana. 1 J i •ei SrMr-lCO (M t— t-OS-^HOt— (Nt— ^CDCMt- e& ssssiiii SSS8 8SSS rH .... m ... : : :ci : : : ••£••• : : : o : . : . . to . - • Ministers..... .......... Mpmbers.. ........... Churches ............... Pai ionages ............ Value churches and pai Indebtedness .......... Pastors' support.. ..... Total raised ............ THE NEGRO CHURCH 127 In 1818 a publishing department was added to the work of the church, but its efficiency was impaired on account of the great mass of its members being in slave states or the District of Columbia, where the laws prohibited them from attend ing school, and deprived them of reading books or papers. In 1817 Rev. Richard Alien published a book of discipline; and shortly after this a church hymn-book was published also. Beyond this there was little done in this department until 1841, when the New York Conference passed a resolution providing for the publica tion of a monthly magazine. But the lack of funds compelled the projectors to is sue it as a quarterly. For nearly eight years this magazine exerted an excellent influence upon the ministers with a strong interest. It contained the news in each of the conferences; its editorials breathed a spirit of love and fellowship; and thus the members were brought to a knowledge of the work being accomplished. At length the prosperity of the magazine seemed to justify the publication of a weekly paper. Accordingly a weekly journal, named the "Christian Herald," made its appearance and ran its course for the space of four years. In 1852, by order of the General Conference, the paper was enlarged and issued as the "Christian Recorder", which has continued to be published up to the present time. The department now publishes the Recorder, the African Methodist Episcopal Review, and various books. The financing of so large an organization is a matter of great interest. In the quadrennium, 1896-1900, there was raised for the purposes of the general church organization on the average: Each year........................ .......J 236,194.70 Each month .......... .................. 10,682.89 Eachday........... ..................... 656.09 Eachmlnute ............................ .45 The bishops receive $2,000 a year; the general officers, $1,200. In 1826 the pastors averaged $50 and $60 a year in salary, and often had other work for a livelihood. In 1900 the average salary of presiding elders was $663.72; of preachers $204.18. There is a system of pensions for the widowed and superannuated partially in force. The funds of the church are of two sorts: local monies, raised for the local churches, and "Dollar" money (i. e., one dollar per member), for the general church. The dollar money, which amounts to over $100,000 a year, is divided as follows : Forty-six per cent, to general financial department. Thirty-six per cent, to the annual conferences. Ten per cent, to church extension. Eight per cent, to education. 128 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE The total amount raised by the church in the four years, 1896-1900, was: Dollar money. ...........................$ 403,401.62 Church extension...................... 6-1,474.00 Publishing Department ............... 71,313.83 Education ............................. 270,888.54 Sunday-school Union ... .............. 77,159.46 Preacher's aid........................... 2,605.25 Missions ................................. 8-1,8:30.89 Total .................................8 954,779.09 Salaries of presiding elders............8 139,735.87 Salaries of ministers.................... 735,796.21 Traveling expenses .. .................. 29,, .MI.00 Salaries of bishops...................... 18,000.00 Salaries ol general officers.... ...... 12,300.00 Total» . .....$ tti%425.58 Total raised in quadrennium, 1896-1900. .....$ 1,777,948.20 Total raised in quadrennium, 1892-1896...... 1,533,414.01 Total raised in quadrennium, 1888-1892 ..... 1,064,569.50 Turning to the various departments, we have first the Publishing Department. The Review is an octavo publication of about 100 pages, and is now in its twentieth year. It has a circulation of perhaps 1,000 copies. The contents of the New Year's number, 1903, were: The Mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church to the Darker Races of the World—By C. J. Powell. Publications and Literature of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.—John E. Hiigins. The Flight of Hagar.—J. A. Adams. The South Mountain Reservation.—Ralph Elwood Brock. The Leadership of the Church and the Opportunity of the Ministry.—George W. Hen- derson. The Opportunity of the Colored Young Men's Christian Association in the Work of Education.—P. D. Wheelock. The Preacher at Hill Station.—Katherine D. Tilhnan. St. Cecilia. A New Year—Looking Before and After.—H. T. Kealing. Joseph Porker's Prophecy. Wo'nen—Life's Mirror; Character in Eyes; Foes to Embonpoint; Tennyson's Egotism. Sociological.—Loves the Game; Alone in Paris; Indian Territory. Rf.ligiou*.—Some Questions and Answers. Miscellaneous.—Christmas; Christmas in the Orient; Who is Santa Claus? Keep Old Santa Claus; Winter; Music and Old Age; T. Thomas Fortune; The Strength of New England; Things to take to Church. Editorial—The Review for 1903; President Roosevelt; Thomas B. Reed; Dr. Joseph Parker; You Count for One; The Stars for Us; The Good Old Times Worse than Our Times. * Some of the items in this table are paid wholly or in part from the dollar money abote. THE NEGRO CHURCH 129 The Recorder is a weekly, eight-page paper, and is the oldest Negro periodical in the United States. It is taken up largely with church announcements and reports. The Philadelphia house received $65,687.98 in the four years, 1896- 1900. It is not self-supporting at present, although it has been at various periods in the past. The outfit, including building and land, is valued at $45,500, on which there is a debt of $15,000. The branch establishment in Atlanta publishes the Southern Christian Recorder, a small weekly, at an annual cost of about $1,400. In Nashville there is located the Sunday-school Union, a publishing house for Sunday-school literature. It has valuable real estate and had an income of $77,159.46 during the quadrennium, or a little less than $20,000 a year. The mission work at home and abroad has been vigorously pushed in recent years, and in the thirty-six years from 1864 to 1900 this church has spent $2,102,150.75 in mission work. It has to-day in Africa 180 missions and over 12,000 members, beside missions in Canada and the West Indies. Over $60,000 was raised for missions in the last four years. There is some indebtedness on the general church property. The total value of churches and parsonages was $9,309,937 in 1900, on which there was a debt of $1,068,995. The African Methodist Episcopal Church began in 1844 to start schools for Negroes. A committee was appointed and founded Union Seminary. Later this institution was united with Wilberforce Univer sity, which was bought by the church from the white Methodist Church. Thus Wilberforce, dating from 1856, is the oldest Negro insti tution in the land. The church has now about twenty-five schools in all. They are supported from three sources: 1. Tuition, etc., paid by students; 2. Donations and bequests; 3. Appropriations from the general fund of the church. From these sources about $275,000 was raised in the four years, 1896-1900; and since 1884, when the general educational department was organized, there has been raised $1,250,000 for education. The figures are : Schools ........... Teachers .......... Average attendance, four years Acres of land ........ Buildings 25 140 1,482 51 Value of property ........$ 635,000.00 Raised and appropriated 1898-1900 . 270,988.54 Raised and appropriated 1884-1800 . 1,140,013.31 130 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE THE NEGRO CHURCH 131 The schools are: African Methodist Episcopal Schools SCHOOLS. Paviie Theological Seminary, Wllberforce, O . . . "VVllberforce University, Wllberforce, Ohio. .... Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Ga... .. .... Klttrel College, Klttrel, N. C. ........ .......... PaulQulnn College, Waco, Tex.... . . ............ Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Fla. ..... Shorter University, North Little Rock, Ark .... Cniirpbell-Slrtnger College, Jackson, Mo ...... Turner Normal Institute, Shelbvville, Term. . . . Flagler High School, Marion, S C .......... .... Sissioii's High School, South McAUster,!. T. Blue Creek and Muscogee High School, I. T ..... Bermuda Institute, Bermuda. . ..... Eliza Turner School, Monrovia, Africa. ......... Cape Town Institute, Cape Town, Africa. Established. 1T1 1868 1880 1881) 11*11 1880 1^3 1887 1801 1887 Scholars. S7 811 130 SOS 285 M> 172 110 283 1(10 60 78 161 57 So Teachers. 3 20 17 8 8 8 10 8 4 « 2 1 8 3 3 2 Property. $ is,nm laywo 75,000 80,1)00 80,l!00 85,000 75,000 25.000 10,250 8,000 10,300 2,7C.O 3,500 1,500 3,OCO Receipts, four years. $ 15,8(10.48 85,9?:. 23 85,2-18.69 81,372.46 28,510.56 ]9,3«5.05 15,637.53 12,873.85 11,929.44 5,081.00 4,272.85 2,618.08 2,0; 0 86 700.00 832.78 Iii 1901 there were 175 teachers, 6,725 students and 6,696 graduates from forty-one schools, valued at $865,574. The church extension work received $64,474 during the quadrennium, and there was $1,742 25 paid to preachers' widows. The total ministerial insurance in force amounted to $80,000. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, however, is chiefly note worthy on account of its Board of Bishops. A board of thirteen men more or less wield the power directly over 750,000 American Negroes, and indirectly over two or more millions, administer $10,000,000 worth of property and an annual budget of $500,000. These bishops are elected for life by a General Conference meeting every four years. The mem bership of the General Conference consists of ministerial and lay dele gates: the clerical delegates are elected from the Annual Conferences, one for every thirty ministers. Two lay delegates for each Annual Con ference are selected by the representatives of the official church boards in the Conference. Thus we have a peculiar ease of Negro government, with elaborate machinery and the experience of a hundred years. How has it succeeded? Its financial and numerical success has been remark able as has been shown. Moreover, the bishops elected form a remarka ble series of personalities. Together the assembled bishops are per haps the most striking body of Negroes in the world in personal appearance: men of massive physique, clear cut faces and undoubted intelligence. Altogether the church has elected about thirty bishops- These men fall into about five classes. First, there were those who represented the old type of Negro preacher—men of little learning, honest and of fair character, capable of following other leaders. Per haps five or six of the African Methodist Episcopal bishops have been of this type, but they have nearly all passed away. From them de veloped, on the one hand, four men of aggressive, almost riotous energy, who by their personality thrust the church forward. While such men did much for the physical growth of the church they were often men of questionable character, and in one or two instances ought never to have been raised to the bishopric. On the other hand, in the case of four other bishops, the goodness of the older class developed toward intense, almost ascetic piety, represented pre-eminently in the late Daniel Payne, a man of almost fanatic enthusiasm, of simple and pure life and unstained reputation, and of great intellectual ability. The African Methodist Episcopal Church owes more to him than to any single man, and the class of bishops he represents is the salt of the organization. Such a business plant naturally has called to the front many men of business ability, and perhaps five bishops may be classed as financiers and overseers. The rest of the men who have sat on the bench rose for various reasons as popular leaders—by powerful preach ing, by pleasing manners, by impressive personal appearance. They have usually been men of ordinary attainment, with characters neither better nor worse than the middle classes of their race. Once in office they have usually grown in efficiency and character. On the whole, then, this experiment in Negro government has been distinctly encour aging. It has brought forward men varying in character, some good and some bad, but on the whole decency and ability have been decidedly in the ascendency, and the church has prospered. 25. The Zion Methodists. The history of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has already been given.* From the 1,500 mem bers of 1821 it has grown until it claimed, in 1904, 551,591 adherents. Some facts about the church, as given at the twenty-first quadrennial session, are: "In May, 1896, the ordained ministry of the church numbered 2,473; this has in creased in four years to 2,902, an addition of 429. The number of church edifices, which were 3,612, has increased to 4,841, an addition of 229. The membership of 409,441 has swollen to 528,461, an increase of 119,020. These, with an approximate transient membership of 12,000, and denominational adherents of 125,000, will give the church a following of nearly 668,000. The increase has been well proportioned in each department of the church. The average increase per year for the ministry islOT; of increase in church buildings. 57, and members, 29,755. "The valuation of church property, including real estate of every description, church,parsonages, schools, general departments, and other buildings, is estimated at $4,865,372, on which rests a total indebtedness of only $758,400. The rate of *P.45. 132 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE reduction of property indebtedness slightly exceeds its increase, the financial wave of 1899 contributing largely to this pleasing result. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion is the least debt-encumbered of any of the large Negro denomina tions. The growth in material interests has been rapid, while the denominational indebtedness has fallen thirty per cent. A number of magnificent churches have been erected, completed, or extensively rebuilt or remodeled. "The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church ranks fourth in the family of Methodism; second in Negro Methodism, and thirteenth in denominational standing in the United States. Beginning in 1896 without a single denominational Christian Endeavor Society, we have to-day more than 600, with a membership of about 30,000. We are happy to say our number of societies and members is con stantly increasing. "Current expenses were per annum, $153,700; for the quadrennium, $614,800; on church debt and building new churches, per annum, $940,999; for the quadrennium, $8,763,996. This, with the general fund, missionary and other revenue to the church, will aggregate for the four years $11,449,800." The amounts of money for general purposes raised by this connection during four years is as follows, made up of the following items: $ 64,378.78 11,421.SB 1,516.09 1,162.11 2,162.65 1,770.62 881.10 1,077.91 1,280.55 1,148.34 1, 9.16 417.18 1,175.02 1,159.03 75.00 1,746.99 Total .............$ 83,292.07 The following sums were raised for education: School and College Statistics (Several of the schools had not reported when this report was read.) Bishops ........ Llvlngstone College .... General Secretary .... General Steward ..... Star ol Zion ....... Book Concern ...... Quarterly Review..... Sunday-school Department Expenses General Secretary Expenses General Steward . Mrs. J. C. Price ...... Bishop Jones' estate .... Bishop Moore's estate . . . Bishop Thompson's estate . Funeral expenses ..... Superannuated ministers . NAME OF SCHOOL. Livingstone College. ..... Lancaster Institute ...... Hannon and Lomax. Walters Institute ......... Money raised by Secre- No. of Teachers. 14 5 6 3 2 2 32 No. ol Students. 207 202 125 80 72 1,023 Amount Collected per Quadrennium. $57,193.05 3,.) 50. 00 5,tt:-.00 2,705.66 300.00 :>n:.00 1,500.00 530.00 568.50 $71,585.21 Value ol Plant. $ 117,950 5,000 4,500 3,i"i !,.-(. I 1,000 2,'-"l $ 134,1!.™ ———— - THE NEGRO CHURCH 133 There were the following additional schools: Atkinson College, Madisonville, Ky. Palmetto Institute, Union, S. C. Edenton Industrial High School, Edenton, N. C. Lloyd Academy, Elizabethtown, N. C. Hemphill High School, Orockett, Ga. Pettey Academy, Newburn, N. C. Lomax and Rutler Academy, Tampa, Fla. Carr Academy, North Carolina. Lee Institute. Amite City, La. Pettey Institute, Calvert, Tex. African Methodist Episcopal Zion High School, Norfolk, Va. The publishing house had an income of $30,949 in the last four years, and publishes the Star of Zion, a weekly paper, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Review, a quarterly, and other literature. The church extension department raised but $1,400, and $2,103 was spent for missions. 26. The Colored Methodists. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church* started with 80,000 members and two bishops in 1866, and has grown as follows: Itinerant preachers. .......... 1872. 3 r;fi r>fvf 67,889 1896. 5 1,100 2,500 200,000 1900. 6 The church collected $145,707 during the four years, 1898-1902. The bishops receive $2,000 a year, and the church supports the following educational institutions: Name. Lane College ............ Payne Institute f....... Haygood Seminary .... Homer Seminary........ Texas College .. .... Expenditures, Four Years. .$ 11,7J8 7,1 •:'• 1,794 1,927 . . 3,157 The Publishing Department expended $12,960 in the quadrennium, and has a plant worth $20,000. This church is often put on the defen sive by reason of Its origin, but it accepts the challenge boldly: "The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in 1870, is, as you well know, the daughter of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. We are not ashamed of our origin; nor do we regret the relation which we sustain to that church. We are not forgetful of the fact that the Christianity and Methodism which our fathers enjoyed were largely due to the zeal and labors of Southern Methodist pioneers. The first labors of Bishop John Early were among the slaves of Thomas Jefferson, in Bedford County, Va. Bishop Capers deserves to be called the 'Pounder of Missions to the Slaves'; James 0. Andrew, ninth bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose history is pretty well known to these two * Cf. page 47. t Ihe Methodist Church, South, helps support this school. 134 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE great bodies of Methodism, frequently rose to superhuman heights of eloquence when pleading for the religious training of the enslaved Negro. Since emancipa tion no Southerner has done more to ameliorate the condition of the freedman than the author of 'Our Brother in Black.' Bishop Haygood, by his unselfish labors, reflected himself upon the current of the ages as the mountain mirrors itself in the gentle stream which flows at its base. These men, and many others whom I could mention, will ever live upon the tablets of our memory." * 27. The Methodists. All of the above represent branches of Meth odism and agree IB doctrine and discipline save in a few minor points. There was in earlier times talk of some of them rejoining the parent body; later there have been negotiations looking to the union of the African Methodists and Zionists, and negotiations are pending for a union of the Colored Methodists and Zionists. The chances are that some union will eventually take place, but how soon it is difficult to say. Meantime large numbers of Negroes have remained in the Metho dist Episcopal Church, and this colored membership increases. In 1902 we have the following figures : Methodist Episcopal Church—Negro Membership COKFEBEKOES. Liberia............................. Little Bock... .................... Mobile...... ................ ...... Texas "West Texas Total .......................... Full Membership. 6,i«Ht 19,*« 4,480 2,882 5,048 14,178 9,sas 18,042 19,721 26,S«0 18,028 5,149 4,700 5,546 9,912 7/ 8 89,400 8,598 13,045 11,702 245,954 Valuation. $ 200,' i ' 552,251 78,943 75,520 85,148 844,820 801,775 181,070 161,149 988,193 181,138 (15,700 111,880 71,2:1:. 116,170 77,442 408,kB( 87,6-*; 273,700 193,255 $4-,566,951 Monies Baised. I 34,994 104,055 8,346 15,543 (15,356 49,341 85,..:7 38,927 98,065 28,017 11,470 16,'-' ...... 272 ...... 10,715 Ministers who preach only. Ministers who preach and teaoh Ministers who teach only... .... Laymen who teach ................ Women who teach ................ 149 49 11 24 188 421 SCHOOLS. BOARDING SCHOOLS. Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C. Scotia Seminary, Concord, N. C. Mary Alien Seminary, Crockett, Tex. Ingleside Seminary, Burkeville, Va. Mary Holmes Seminary, West Point, Miss. Barber Memorial Seminary, Anniston, Ala. CO-EDUCATIONAL. Albion Academy, Franklinton, N. C. Brainerd Institute, Chester, S. C. Cotton Plant Academy, Cotton Plant, Ark. Dayton Academy, Carthage, N. C. Harbison College, Abbeville, S. C. Haines Industrial School, Augusta, Ga. Immanuel Training School, Aiken, S. C. Mary Potter Memorial, Oxford, N. C. Monticello Academy, Monticello, Ark. Swift Memorial Institute, Eogersville, Tenn. Oak Hill Industrial, Clear Creek P. O., I. T. Richard Alien Institute, Pine Bluff, Ark. And seventy-one academies and parochials. To this must be added Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. "The schools during this year have, almost without exception, done excellent work. Nearly 11,000 pupils have come under, not only Christian, but Presbyterian instruction. Over 1,800 young men and young women have been sheltered in our boarding schools, and have thus been given all the advantages of a Christian home training, as well as daily instruction in the ordinary branches of education." There are the following Presbyterian churches in the North outside the Mission Board's work : !i THE NEGKO CHUKCH 145 Fifteenth Street, Washington, D. O. Madison Street, Baltimore, Md. Grace, Baltimore, Md. Knox, Baltimore, Md. Gilbert, Wilmington, Del. Pomfret Street, Carlisle, Pa. Hope, Chambersburg, Pa. Second, Oxford, Pa Fifth, Chester, Pa. Central, Philadelphia, Pa. Berean, Philadelphia, Pa. First African, Philadelphia, Pa. Washington Street. Reading, Pa. Grace, Pittsburg, Pa. Fourth, York, Pa. Siloam, Elizabeth, N. J. Mission, Goshen, N. Y. Mission, Washingtonville, N. Y. St. James, New York, N. Y. Mt. Tabor, New York, N. Y. Liberty Street, Troy, N. Y. St. James, Rochester, N. Y. Ninth, Indianapolis, Ind. Grace, Chicago, 111. "There are supposed to be from 10,000 to 12,000 Negro communicants who are members of white churches." Beside the work of the Northern Presbyterians there is considerable work done by the United Presbyterians through the school at Knoxville, Tenn., and various missions, and the Southern Presbyterians do some thing. The General Assembly of 1899 of the church declared : The Assembly is gratified at the evidence of a fresh interest on the part of our people in the religious instruction of the Negroes, as shown in the increased num ber of Sabbath schools for this race taught by the white people, and commends this work to all pastors and sessions. In the judgment of this Assembly the time has come for a great forward move ment in the work of colored evangelization, and in confirmation of this judgment it calls the attention of our people to the following considerations: The work has perhaps a wider range than any other to which God has called us. "It includes the entering of a mission field, the erection of churches and manses, establishing and maintaining schools, the support of evangelists and pastors, the selection and training of a ministry—in short, every detail connected with the elevation of a race." Statistics show the prevalence of immorality and crime among the Negroes. If we are not moved by considerations of pity for them and sympathy with our Lord in his love for the souls of all, we ought at least to remember that the temporal and spiritu al welfare of our posterity is at stake. Are our children and children's children to inherit a land crying aloud to heaven because of violence and murder, and lynch law? The Presbyterian Church believes that it is peculiarly fitted to give the Negro what he needs. His needs are, in our judgment, a soundly educated ministry, sober instruction, simple and quiet rather than ritualistic or emotional modes of worship, a simple and orderly system of church government and discipline, and a "home life in which the children will be carefully trained and instructed in the Word of God and in the faith of the church." God has opened to us a wide door in Africa. The story of our mission on the Congo may be classed among the wonders of modern missionary annals. How are we to enlarge the work in Africa, so signally blessed with God's favor, except by enlarging the work for the Negroes at home? And how assuredly inconsistent to send missionaries to Africa while we neglect the Africans at our door. The work of the Southern Presbyterian Church for the Negro has reached the gravest crisis in its history. The few, feeble, and widely-scattered Negro churches, heretofore in organic union with the white churches, have been organized, in accordance with our long-cherished plan, into an Independent African Presbyte rian Church. The charge has been brought against us that we have taken this 146 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE action because of race prejudice, and with the purpose to rid ourselves of the bur den of colored evangelization. Those who bring the charge ignore the fact that it was at the request of the colored ministers and elders in convention assembled that this step was taken. Our critics, too, wherever they are brought into ecclesiastical proximity to the Negroes, manifest the very race prejudice they charge against us. These facts serve as missiles to hurl at those who censure us, but they will not relieve us of the odium in the sight of God and man, if we allow the new-born African Presbyterian Church to perish for want of sympathy and support; we shall be made "a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men." The Afro-.l.'.erican Presbyterian thus comments on the development of the church in the South : The writer and his people were connected with the old Sion Presbyterian Church at Winnsboro, S. C. The very next Sabbath after Sherman's army had swept through that community like a besom of destruction, the pulpit was occupied by the then Rev. W. E. Boggs, now of Jacksonville, Fla., who had unexpectedly ap peared on the scene from Virginia. His text was, "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belougeth unto God."—Psalms 62:11. He sought to comfort the people by setting forth the superior power of God. From that Sabbath and for months the colored people occupied their accustomed place in the gallery of the church, the minister for the most part being a Rev. G. R. Bracket!. Then the Federal garrison came. The old Methodist Church building was taken possession of Sunday afternoon by a large number of Negroes who had been con nected with it. They had been allowed this privilege formerly, some white man being present. Now the meetings became large and noisy. The whites became alarmed. A few Sabbaths later when we approached the entrance to the yard of the Sion Church we were confronted by a Federal soldier, who ordered all Negroes away. It was afterwards learned that the church had applied to the commanding officer for this guard to keep out the Negroes. We all turned away never to feel at home in the old church any more. It was under somewhat similar conditions that the Negroes went out from the white Presbyterian Churches generally. A few hung on, but most of them drifted away. The Methodist and Baptist Churches among the colored people at the North were already old and strong organizations. The bishops and leaders pushed into the South and gathered in the people by the wholesale, and perhaps 70 per cent, of the Negroes who had been connected with the Southern Presbyterian Church went into these churches. Many of the intelligent and capable were made preachers and leaders. Exceptions may be pointed out, but the above describes the general condition. This was the situation when the white Presbyterian missionaries came among the colored people of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, where nearly all the colored Presbyterians are now found. They came within reach of the scattered fragments which had either gone out or were freezing within Southern churches. They began in a small way by planting a few schools and organizing churches. The schools became centers of influence. Naturally the growth of the churches under the new conditions was rapid to a certain stage. THE NEGRO CHURCH 147 Ml 30. The Congregationalists. The work of the Congregationalists has been done through the American Missionary Association. The fifty- sixth annual report of that Association (1902) gives the following history of the work : The American Missionary Association was formed in 1846. It is distinctly a Christian missionary society to spread the gospel of Christ wherever it has oppor tunity. It was organized with pronounced opposition to slavery, which then ex isted, and against all race and caste prejudice, which still exists. It was preceded by four recently established missionary organizations, which were subsequently merged into it. They were the Amistad Committee, the Union Missionary Society, the Committee for West India Missions among the recently emancipated slaves of Jamaica, and the Western Evangelical Missionary Society for work among the American Indians. In the foreign field, 1854, its laborers numbered seventy-nine, located in West Africa, Jamaica, the Sandwich Islands, Siam, Egypt among the Copts, Canada among the colored refugees and in North America among the Indians. The home department embraced two distinct fields, the West and the South. There were 112 home missionaries employed by the Association in 1860, fifteen of them being located in the slave states and in Kansas. The missions in the slave states gave rise to some of the most stirring events in the history of the Association, which has the distinction of beginning the first de cided efforts, while slavery existed, to organize churches and schools in the South on an avowedly anti-slavery basis. The crisis so long impending came at length, and the Union armies, entering the South in 1861, opened the way for the instruction and elevation of the colored people. The Association felt itself providentially prepared to engage in this work, and the first systematic effort for their relief was made by it. Large numbers of "contrabands," or escaping fugitive slaves, were gathered at Fortress Monroe and Hampton, Va., and were homeless and destitute. The Association, on the 17th of September, 1861, established the first day school among the freedmen. That little school laid the foundation for the Hampton Institute which the Association founded later, and was the forerunner of the hundreds that have followed. The Proclamation of Emancipation, dated January 1,1863, insured the permanent freedom of Negroes who reached the Union lines. The American Missionary As sociation rapidly extended its work. At Norfolk the school of the previous year now numbered 1,200 pupils. Teachers were also sent to Newbern and Roanoke Island, N. C., to Beaufort, Hilton Head, St. Helena and Ladies' Island, S. C., and to St. Louis, Mo.; and its force was scattered over tbe field held by our armies in the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. The year 1865 was marked by the close of the : ivil war, by the establishment, by act of Congress, of the Freedmen's Bureau, and by the holdingof a National Ooun- cil of Congregational Churches in Boston, which recommended to the churches to raise $250,000 for the work among the freedmen, and designated this Association as the organization providentially fitted to carry it forward. The Association ac cepted the responsibility, appointed district secretaries at Chicago, Cincinnati and Boston, and collecting agents in other portions of the Northern states. It also solicited funds in Great Britain, and succeeded in securing that year a little more than the $250,000 recommended by the Council. Its receipts from all sources ran up from $47,828 in 1861, to $253,045" in 1866, and $420,769 in 1870. 148 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE But in the South there came a reign of terror under the infamous Ku-Klux- Klans—the Thugs of America. The colored people were often assaulted by mobs, dragged from their homes at midnight, and shot down in the streets. But there was no want of courage on the part of our teachers to enter or remain in the field; the number of teachers, which was 320 in 1865, was enlarged to 528 in 1867, 532 in 1868, and 533 in 1870. It was during this very period that the beginnings were made for most of our permanent educational institutions. The Association must train the teachers and preachers for this people. The Association now sustains as higher institutions Fisk University, Tennessee; Talladega College, Alabama; Tougaloo University, Mississippi; Straight Univer sity, Louisiana; Tillotson College, Texas; and J.S. Green College, Georgia, together with forty-three normal and graded schools and thirty common schools scattered over the South and among the mountains, six schools among the Indians, twenty among the Chinese on the Pacific coast, one in Alaska and two in Porto Rico. Theological departments have also been established in Howard University, Pisk University, Talladega College and Straight University. Industrial instruction first began in Southern mission schools in Talladega, Ala., and was early introduced into many of our schools and has been constantly extended. Talladega College and Tougaloo University have large farms. In all the larger institutions and nor mal schools mechanical arts are taught to the boys, and household work, cooking, sewing, washing, nursing, etc., to the girls. From these schools go forth annually hundreds of well-qualified teachers and ministers. Simultaneously with the founding of these permanent institutions the Associa tion began the planting of churches among the freedmen. They were formed mainly in connection with the educational institutions, and were intended to be models of true church life. The work of church-planting has been pressed forward with a steady hand until the churches now number 254, located in nearly all the states of the South, among the Negroes, the mountaineers and the Indians, with most fruitful results. Sunday-schools, temperance efforts and revivals of religion have been marked features in the work. Christian Endeavor Societies were promptly organized and have been rapidly multiplied. Conferences or Associations have been formed, and of these there are now nine, designated as the Conferences of North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis sissippi, Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina and Tennessee. As to the churches, one of the corresponding secretaries writes: "The Congregational Churches, aided by the American Missionary Association, are both few and small in comparison with the great number of Negro churches, but I am happy to say that they are experiencing rapid growth and development. Within the last ten years the number of our churches has increased over 60 per cent. Within the last few years the growth has been even more manifest. The peculiarity of this growth is the up-springing of these churches in a great many of the back country regions. Formerly our churches were almost entirely in the immediate neighborhood and under the shelter of our schools. But in different states new movements have arisen spontaneously towards free churches which shall be in fellowship with one another at the same time, while they are not under any centralized ecclesiastical control. Naturally these churches turn to the Con gregational fellowship. The indications are that within the next twenty years the number of them will be very largely increased. In many cases they are the natural result of our educational forces. They are not 'Congregational' in any sectarian sense, but they are largely of the nature of 'Union' Churches, except that THE NEGRO CHURCH 149 they do not submit themselves to any centralized church government. Thus they fall within what might be called 'The Congregational Ellipse,' with its two foci of independence on the one side and fellowship on the other." The Bev. W. N. De Berry of St. John's Church, Springfield, Mass., made an interesting study of these churches in 1901, and has placed the results in our hands.* Reports were received by him from thirty-three representative colored Congregational churches, in seventeen states, both North and South. They were asked the following questions and made these replies: 1. About what per cent, of the membership of your church is above forty years of age? ANSWERS: Less thanlO%....................... 3 40%-49%................ 7 10%-19%.................. 5 60%................................... 3 SO'. »<%.................. 6 Notknown............. ............ 1 2. What proportion of your members came from churches of other denomina tions? ANSWERS: None ................................ 2 40<|................................ .. i LessthanlO%....................... 7 50£................................... 1 10%-19%.................. 6 75^................................... 1 20%-29%.......... ....... 5 95',;.... ......................... .... 1 30%-3Q%.................. 5 Not stated .......................... 4 3. Do these persons continue to hold and assert doctrines or beliefs peculiar to the churches from which they came ? ANSWERS : Yes................................. 2 I To some extent.................... 4 No ............................... .. 20 I May hold, but do not assert...... 6 Unanswered......................... 1 4. What is the state of feeling on the part of other denominations in your town toward your church ? ANSWERS: Friendly........................... 19 | Jealous and antagonistic......... 4 Hostile.... ....................... 6 Unity of denominations, save Growing friendly.................. 2 | Baptists........................... 2 5. Are the Congregationalists regarded as exclusive or "stuck up" ? If so, what reasons do you assign for this? ANSWERS: Yes.......... ....................... 22 | No................................... 6 To some extent.................... 5 Some reasons: (a) Absence of emotionalism. (6) 1. Lack of Information on part of those who regard us as exclusive, and failure to seek that Information. 2. Ignorance, which always condemns the Intelligent as "stuck up." 3. The lack of Christian grace on our part which would lead us to treat with special cordiality these people that we might win them. 4. The large proportion of educated people among us who naturally seek companionship and association among people of like education. * For Mr. De Berry's report see the Cmgregatlonalist, January 11, 1902. 150 EIGJITH ATLANTA CONFERENCE (c) Intelligence and mode of worship. (<3) Intelligence and education. (e) High religious, moral, and intellectual standard required of our ministers and aimed at in our churches. (/) Superiority in education and wealth. (g) Because we condemn ignorance and superstition in pulpit and pew. (A) Because we sometimes think and act as though we are better than others. 6. What per cent, of the money required for the current expenses of your church is raised in your own parish ? AKSWEBS: Less than 10'.:... ................... 1 K>,;-19%......... ........ 1 SO*;—28%.................. 2 SO':t-SS%.................. 6 40%-49%.................. 2 50V-69 . .... ............. 3 60'.:-69 , .................. 2 90',, Pay all expenses,save pastor's sal ary, and pay part of that........ 2 Unanswered.............. ..... 1 7. Do you regard the amount thus raised as in sufficient proportion to the finan cial ability of your parish ? AKSWERS: Yes...... ......--.-.-.. .. ..... 9! Almost yes... No..... ................ . .... 19 j Unanswered. 8. In your opinion, has the progress of Congregationalism among the colored people any peculiar hindrances ? If so, name them. ANSWERS: Yes. No.. 27 I Yes, and no..................... 1 4 | Unanswered.......... ...... .. 1 Among the peculiar hindrances the following are mentioned: Lack of denomina tional knowledge, enthusiasm, loyalty, literature, and effort to increase the mem bership, the high standards, mental and otherwise, the mode of conducting service, the lack of emotionalism, the lack of denominational emphasis, the low average in telligence of Negro masses, lack of spiritual activity on the part of pastors, and newness of the work. 9. In your opinion, are the prospects for the growth of Congregationalism among the colored people encouraging ? If so, upon what do you base your opinion ? Yes .......... ............ AKSWERS: ... 80 I Unanswered. The prospects are reported encouraging for the following reasons: The in creased interest in, and desire for, education, the activity of the ministers, the discontent with the old order of things, the regard for the church and its methods. Other answers are: (a) Congregationalism must grow slowly. There is no reason to hope for phe nomenal growth in the immediate future. (6) It depends upon what we mean to do. If the denomination will make the preaching of the gospel and the planting of Congregational Churches on this Southern field its first and main work and put a reasonable portion of missionary money and many more men and women into church work directly, then the prospects are most encouraging and indeed all we can ask. Rapid growth is a foregone conclusion. THE NEGRO CHURCH 151 Number of churches............. Ministers and missionaries.... Church members ............... Total additions.................. 230 l:"« 12,155 1,429 10. Suggestions: The work is new, needs much attention and encouragement; the American Mis sionary Association schools need to care more about emphasizing the church- the pastors need concentrated organization. It will succeed or fail as interest in education goes. The statistics of Congregationalism are as follows (1902) : Added on profession.............. 1190 Benevolent contributions .......$ 2,813 68 Raised for church purposes ..... S9J397 82 Sunday-school scholars.......... 17,311 "Last year we enrolled a larger number of new churches than for any year since 1895. The present year has not been marked either by great advances or regressions. There has been steady progress in individual churches, especially in the increased responsibility about management of their own work. The general increase in the number of churches is manifest from the fact that ten years ago our Southern churches numbered 140; they now number 230. "The improvement of the four-fifths of the Negro population who live in the rural regions is often exaggerated. It is still shadowed with an ignorance which has barely been touched by the light of a scanty school training for a few weeks of the year and with a church life peculiarly infiltrated with superstition. In vast plantation populations the old slave church still stands. Honesty, truth and purity are not taught, because neither people nor preacher have come to realize that these virtues are essential to the religious life. The ethical power of Christianity is scarcely felt, and 'the plantation preacher is the curse of the people.' The time is ripe for a forward gospel campaign in this great, needy black South of the back country." The figures above include a few white members. EDUCATIONAL WORK. STJMMART. Chartered institutions...... 6 Normal and graded schools. 43 Common schools. 80 ! Instructors............ 480 Pupils.................... 14,048 Boarding pupils ....... 2,055 PUPILS CLASSIFIED. Theological...... .............. 95 Collegiate ...................... 271 College preparatory ........... 365 Normal ........... ... ... 1,597 Grammar. ...................... 2,916 Intermediate ................... 3,245 Primary ........................ 5,465 Music ........ ................. 292 Night. ......................... 66=14,812 Counted twice. ............... 264 Total. 14,048 152 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE HI&HBK INSTITUTIONS. Attendance. Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn................................ 498 Talladega College, Talladega, Ala................................ 534 Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss............................ 502 Straight University, New Orleans, La........................... 709 Tillotson College, Austin, Tex........................ ............ 148 J.S. Green College, Demorest, Ga..................... ........... 498— 6 NORMAL AND GKADED. Gloucester School. Cappahosic, Va............................... Gregory Institute, Wilmington, N. C........ .................... Washburn Seminary, Beautort, N.C............................. Lincoln Academy, All Healing, N. C ............................. Skyland Institute, Blowing Hock, N. C.... ..................... Saluda Seminary, Saluda, N.C.................................... Joseph K. Brick Agricultural,Industrial and Normal School, Enfleld. N.C....................................................... Bethany School. McLeansville, N. C.............................. Peahody Academy, Troy, N.C..................................... Whlttier, N.C....................................................... Avery Institute, Charleston, S. C................................. Brewer Normal School, Greenwood, S. C...... .................. Beach Institute, Savannah. Ga................................... Dorchester Academy, Mclntosh, Ga.......... ................... Storrs School, Atlanta, Ga........................................ Ballard Normal Institute, Macon, Ga............ ............... Alien Normal and Industrial School, Thomasville, Ga........ Knox Institute, Athens, Ga...................................... Normal Institute, Albany, Ga.................................... Lamson School, Marshallville, Ga........ ....................... Cuthbert. Ga........................................................ Normal School, Orange Park, Fla.............................. . Fessenden School, Martin, Fla.. ................................ Trinity School, Athens, Ala...................................... Lincoln Normal School, Marion, Ala............................ Emerson Institute, Morjile, Ala.................................. Green Academy, Nat, Ala......................................... Normal and Industrial Collegiate Institute, Joppa, Ala...... Cotton Valley, Ala................................................. Ko waliga, Ala....................................................... Helena, Ark......................................................... Le Moyne Institute, Menrphis, Tenn............................. Slater Training School, Knoxvllle, Tenn........................ Warner Institute, Jonesrjoro, Tenn.................. ... ....... Grand View Academy, Grand View, Tenn.... .................. Pleasant Hill Academy, Pleasant Hill, Tenn....... ............ Big Creek Gap, Tenn............................................... Chandler Normal School Lexington, Ky........................ Williamsrjurg Academy, Wllliamsrjurg, Ky.................... Black Mountain Academy, Evarts, Ky........... .............. Lincoln School. Meridian, Miss.................................. Girls' Industrial School, Moorhead, Miss........ ............... Mound Bayou, Miss...................... .......................... Common Schools .................................................... 113 310 156 251 83 123 211 90 135 96 352 264 285 357 326 519 210 291 349 259 224 139 250 210 304 191 234 195 165 612 172 120 219 *!!> 188 270 277 115 820 106 87=43 =80 I The American Missionary Association has stood firmly from the first for unlimited opportunity in education. It was a pioneer in industrial training and at the same time it has refused to abandon higher educa tion. "Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the work of our higher institutions, in cluding the normal schools, which contain over 1,500 pupils. We believe in the higher education for those who show ability and aptitude. This is the most im portant part of the work of this Association. We utterly protest against the posi tion that primary studies and industrial work are all that should be taught the Negro. This Association must not swerve from its object; better facilities and more advanced courses of study should be the aim. An examination of the courses of study in a large number of the educational institutions of the American THE NEGRO CHURCH 153 Missionary Association shows that many of them are abreast of our best Northern schools in modern methods." 31. Summary of Negro Churches 1900=1903. Dr. H. K. Carroll reports the following membership of Negro church bodies in the United States, not including foreign mission membership, for the year 1903: DENOMINATIONS. Baptists ..................................... African Union Methodist Protestants. . TVttnl Ministers. 10,729 180 6,500 68 q OQfl 2,159 450 28,477 Churches. 15,614 205 5,800 68 3,042 Communicants. 1,625,880 16,500 785,000 2,030 551,591 O-lW 207,728 o,/^Ojoyo To these may be added the following figures as already given: DENOMINATIONS. Ministers. 189 OE 209 Churches. 230 200 353 Membership. 245,954 12,155 15,000 21,841 "Not including twenty-four Northern colored churches. This would make an approximate total of 3,522,843 communicants in Negro churches not including colored members of white congregations. The study of the different sects brings out striking facts. 1. Early tendencies toward race segregation. This is shown in the history of the secessions from Methodism. It had the advantage of showing the capabilities of the race, but the dis advantage of separating friends, helpers and co-religionists. 2. Later tendencies toward race co-operation. This has taken several forms. Among the Baptists there has been simple co-operation among independent churches. Some friction has arisen: the white Baptist mission societies have failed to understand the Negro desire for home rule and autonomy, and the Negro recipients have not fully appreciated the help they have received from without; the Episcopalians have insisted on treating the Negroes as wards under age, while the Presbyterians have made them a department in the church. The failure of mere charity. Nothing is more striking or hopeful for the Negroes than the manifest fact that mere charity or patronage, however bountiful, has not satisfied II 154 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE I them. The richest church has nearly the smallest Negro membership, not because it does not give to them, but because it does not treat them as equals. The church "with the largest Negro membership is confronted by the strange fact that its black members have actually refused its alms, while the Methodist Episcopal Church has a hard time to keep its colored membership from secession despite pecuniary advantages. 4. Negro ability to organize and control. Can Negroes rule? The experience of Hayti is not encouraging, but the experience of the African churches in America is pretty em phatic proof of the affirmative. What causes the difference? The African church is the oldest Negro organization, dating in part from Africa itself, and here Negroes have had the most liberty and experience. Political experience, on the other hand, they almost entirely lacked, and instead of teachers they had hindrances and detraction. In fact, we have in the history of Negro churches one of the most important examples of the meaning and working of Social Heredity as distinguished from Physical Heredity that the modern world affords. 32. Negro Laymen and the Church. Some 200 Negro laymen of aver age intelligence, in all parts of the country, were asked a schedule of questions and answered as follows. The states represented are Geor gia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The answers of a few ministers are in cluded : So far as you have observed what is the present condition of our churches in your community ? Very good...... ....... ............................... ........ 23 Good............. ....... ...... ................................ 49 Progressing, improving, prosperous ....................... . , . 16 Heavy financial burdens hindering spiritual conditions .. ........ 9 Fair financially, low spiritually; more intelligent................... 3 Not so well attended as formerly, but attendants more devoted.... 2 Good, bad and indifferent............ .......................... 6 Fair, with vast room for improvement.............. ...... ......... 13 Well attended, but mostly in financial straights..................... 12 Poor, bad; not what they should be.................. .... .......... 12 Here and there a sign of improvement.......... ................ 1 Too much involved with financial efforts........... ................ 5 Lack of piety and true missionary spirit; need of earnest preachers. 2 At a standstill spirtually; not influential enough among the young. 2 As far as general improvement is concerned, would say, Congrega- tionalists, the Methodists, then Baptists.......................... 1 Retrograding spiritually.............................. .............. 4 Can't say, don't know; not answered......... ................. 5 Is their influence, on the whole, toward pure, honest, upright living on the part of the members ? THE NEGKO CHUKCH 155 Yes ....................... ................ ....... . . 71 To a very large extent.... ........... .................. .. 13 To some extent.... . ................................................ 17 Boom for improvement.................... ......................... 5 Not so on account of preacher....................................... i Belief and doctrine advocated too much to have influence for good, upright living.............. ....................................... 1 Purport simply to bear good influence over the people.............. 1 Not sufficient emphasis laid on Christian living..................... 2 Influence good, but members do not live as they should............. 2 Cannot say positively yes, though there are exceptions ............. 3 No ......................................... ......................... 17 Generally so; much advancement ................. .. ............. 6 Not answered............ .................... ...................... 5 Are the ministers usually good men ? If not, what are their chief faults ? Cite some specific cases, with or without names : Yes...................... ................................. ..... 37 Generally good men.. ................ ...... ... .. ............ 10 Majority good; some exceptions. Fanlts: Intemperance, dishones ty, careless living, selfish ambition, sexual impurity............ . 31 Some good, some bad ....... ........................................ 9 Some good, majority bad........................................ ... 4 Few good, majority bad.............. ................ ...... ..... 3 Not intelligent.... . .................... ............ ......... 6 Fairly good....................... .............. ........ ......... 3 Chief faults: Selfishness and dogmatism . ................ ... .... 4 Fault of some: Immorality..................... ............... 8 Fault of some: Deceptiveness ...... .......... .............. 1 Fault of some: Too great love for money.......... ............... 3 Moral status low............. ............... .................... 1 Faults: Lack of earnestness, sexual impurity, intemperance, love of worldly things. ......... ........................•••••••••••• 6 Proportion of good ones is increasing.. . ...... . ........... 2 Fault of some: Bigamy............................. l Only a few whom I have not heard rumors about.... 1 Appear good, but do not know how to influence the young.. ...... 1 "No better than they ought to be"............. ........ ............ 2 Some good, but among others the chief faults are sexual impurity, improper attention to women, and selfishness..................... 4 No, not generally so .............. - - ............-..••••••••• 6 Miscellaneous.................................. • ..-...••-••• 7 Unanswered...... .............................. ....--.•• ....--..••• 5 Of the ministers whom you know, how many are notoriously immoral ? What direction does their immorality take: sexual impurity, dishonesty in money matters, drunkenness, or what? Cite some particular in stances, with or without names: None immoral; all good men . ..,............-•••••••••••-••••• Very few immoral ..................... ......... ........... •••-• Some few are not what they should be; do not come up to the true standard ....................................... ..••••••••••••••••• 1 156 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE One or more are lax in financial matters............... ............. 8 Some few are sexually impure and dishonest in money matters; ma jority good......................................... ............... 12 Intemperate.......................................................... 3 Some intemperate; some cannot be trusted in money matters...... 1 Chief faults of some: Sexual impurity and intemperance........... 8 Chief fault: Sexual impurity....................................... 12 Many guilty of all..........................-...---.--- ............. 6 Not answered................. ...................................... 17 Some of the answers are : Alabama I can name a few who are said to be immoral, but cannot say from personal knowledge that they are notoriously immoral.—Girard. I believe we have some ministers who are guilty of every fault named in question four, but I think that one of their worst habits is in their tearing down good church buildings; and in their rebuilding they don't seem to have any care for the strain they place upon their members.—Mobile. I think proselyting and exaggerating minor doctrinal differences a real hin drance. Also the loose methods in vogue of conducting church finances—both in collecting and expending—a serious drawback.—Mobile. Two at present in the city. I know others, but they are not preaching here now. Sexual impurity. They are the only ones in the city with the degree of D. D.—one a Methodist, the other Baptist. They both ruined the good names of two young women.—Mobile. Colorado I know some 500 ministers. Of that number probably about 100 are immoral; 10 per cent, of the 100 are sexually immoral, 20 per cent, dishonest, 70 per cent, drink.—Colorado Springs. Florida I know of no minister who is notoriously immoral. Yet occasionally there comes a little confusion in the churches here because when money is collected for one purpose, through the minister's influence it is used for another. Such actions always do cause church fusses which last for some time.—Gainesville. I know of five around this city who are grossly immoral. Their immorality takes these directions: intemperance, sexual immorality, and dishonesty in money matters. Two cases of gross immorality came to light recently on two preachers. One preacher has recently been dropped for dishonesty in money matters.—Jack sonville. Georgia I cannot say how many; perhaps twenty. Women and unfair dealings in money matters. I have known comparatively few who drink, and still fewer who drink to excess.—Atlanta. About one-tenth of all the ministers in that community (Perry, Ga..) are noto riously immoral, especially in the direction of sexual impurity, dishonesty and drunkenness.—Atlanta. One of the most common and general faults against preachers is their failure to pay promptly financial obligations. I know a few who are said to be guilty of sexual impurity, some others who get drunk.—Atlanta. THE NEGRO CHURCH 157 I regret that I know some ministers who are immoral and they are publicly known to be immoral, but they manage to hold congregations and preach (?) to them.—Augusta. The doubtful three might be classified as follows: Two for sexual impurity, one for general looseness, insincerity, questionable methods, etc.—Augusta. I know ten and could name more if I would strain my memory who are noto riously immoral. Some of these are sexual impurity, dishonesty in money matters and drunkenness. I have seen this on the streets of Albany. I have not seen any preacher drunk on the streets here in Brunswick.—Brunswick. By common report, yes. Sexual impurity, dishonesty in money matters lead in order given. I know ministers who drink, but they never to my knowledge become intoxicated.—College. I could name as many as ten who drink whiskey and are untruthful. Many are dishonest in money matters. There is a preacher near my home who is a down right drunkard. He first led his members astray by indulging them in this evil habit, so that now it is a corrupt church.—Jewells. About one-third of them are either sexually impure (these being perhaps in the majority), dishonest in money matters and [given to] drunkenness. These are distributed equally.—Macon. I do not know many who are grossly immoral. 1 have in mind three, two of whom are sexually impure; the other a drunkard, thief, and he was also sexually impure. They say all Baptist preachers in the country drink.—Newnan. Six: (1) three are dishonest in money matters, and are liars; (2) three, whose immorality seems to take almost every direction. I would add that nearly all of the ministers of my acquaintance in the rural districts are distrusted more or less from a moral standpoint.—Powelton. I know several who do not even try to conceal their habits of drink and sexual impurity, as well as being dishonest in money matters.—Savannah. Mississippi About 10 per cent, are notoriously immoral; about 2 per cent, are sexually im pure, 2 per cent, dishonest in money matters, and about 6 per cent, are liquor drinkers to a very great extent.—Coffeeville. In a radius of five miles of us there are twelve ministers. Five are exceedingly immoral in sexual impurity and drunkenness.— Westside. North Carolina Confining my answer to this community and to the present time, I know only one man of bad report. He is charged with stealing church funds.—Charlotte. Comparatively few. The Central North Carolina Conference is the largest one that I have—about 100 pastors. During the last ten years we have had an average of not more than one case a year, about equally divided between sexual impurity, drunkenness, and dishonesty in money matters.—Fayetteville. South Carolina About 10 per cent, are notoriously immoral. Immorality takes to sexual im purity, drunkenness, and dishonesty in money matters.—Hartsville. Tennessee Three or four. Their immorality takes all these directions.—Memphis. They drink a great deal, but do not get drunk.—Memphis. 158 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE \ Texas Fifteen notoriously immoral: nine sexually impure, four are drunkards, and two are dishonest in money matters.—Dallas. There are but few notoriously immoral. Some are sexually impure, some dis honest in money matters, still fewer drunkards. The great deficiency in the min ister's estimated salary causes failure upon their part to meet honest obligations, which places them in an awkward shape.—Littig. About one-fifth. The greatest number belong to the class of sexually impure; a few dishonest in money matters, and there are a few drunkards.—Paris. Virginia To the first, I say not one. While our ministers do not preach temperance as they should, yet I never heard of one being drunk.—Frederick's Sail. Two of whom I know are immoral. One is not an active minister, but a kind of missionary secretary in North Carolina. The other one was in our community, but is now in Kentucky, in jail, I am informed.—LyncKburg. I know a large number of ministers in this and other states. One out of every four I would regard as being morally bad. In the order named, I would say that sexual impurity holds the first place, drunkenness the next, and money matters third.—Petersburg. None. Some are not careful in the use of other people's money. Some abhor total abstainence and even temperance, while some others are by no means trust worthy.—Richmond. Four: Sexual impurity, 2; dishonesty in regard to money, 1; drunkenness, 1. One was excluded for over-exaction of money in connection with his mother-in- law.—Rappahannock. Is the Sunday-school effective in teaching good manners and sound morals ? Yes; it is effective ..... .............. ..... ............ ........ 66 Fairly so. To some extent partially so.............................. 29 Not as effective as it should be; vast room for improvement........ 11 The teaching is tending more and more in that direction........... 9 These ends are sought for............... .... ....................... 5 Not generally in manners, but they teach effectively sound morals.. 1 The Sunday-schools are doing a good work; greatest hindrance lack of attendance................................................ 1 To some extent; depends greatly on the home training.... ........ 2 Where we have teachers and preachers of this stamp they are..... 1 In part at least too many fail, but on the whole much good is done. 1 Sunday-school not so effective, but does much good.... ............ 2 My own exceptionally good in this. Can not speak definitely of others. I think they are good............ .... .......... ......... 2 Depends on teachers and officials..... ... .... ......... 2 These subjects generally neglected.......................... ...... 2 Cannot say definitely............ ... .................... ..... 3 No; it is not........................... .......... ........... 17 Some answers were : I fear that it is not. I think its ineffectiveness, however, is due to the lack of these in the home more than to the teaching. The hour, or hour and a half, out THE NEGKO CHUKCH 159 of 168 does not do effectively what the 167 or 166^ hours have failed to do or undo what they have done.—Houston, Tex. Most Sunday-schools in the West are merely playing at teaching. They lack purpose and thoroughness, interest and soundness.—Denver, Col. It is not generally used for that purpose, but to instil' sectarian animosity There are, however, some blessed exceptions.—Jackson, Miss. With but one exception, the Sunday-schools do not take up questions of morals and manners.—Troy, N. C. Real good manners, an almost obsolete term. Children are catching the spirit of the age. Some schools seem effective towards good manners and good morals — Atlanta, Ga. Do the churches you are acquainted with do much charitable and ref ormatory work among the poor in slums and jails or elsewhere ? Cite instances. Yes, some are quite active ............... ............ .............. n They aid the sick and the poor........ . ........................ 17 To a certain extent. Fairly well ... ................................ 10 Not very much...................... ................................ 29 Only one church here can claim any share in the charitable work of the community................ .................................... 17 They help the poor............ .................... ................ 2 They are attentive to the sick, and this is about as far as it goes.... 8 Not generally, but the number engaged in such work is constantly increasing. ............................ ... .............. 1 As much as they can according to their intelligence and ability. 1 No, they do not.. . ................................................ 40 Do not know; cannot say definitely................................. 3 Unanswered. ... .................................................... 4 Some answers follow: Some of them do creditable work along this line. One pastor preaches in a tobacco factory every Saturday .—Richmond, Va. Yes. First Congregational Church, poor-house and jail; Episcopal Church, Orphan's Home.—Memphis, Term. Until the meeting of the "Young People's Congress" very little of such work was accomplished, but a goodly number are now actively engaged in such work.— Memphis, Tenn. Yes. When we consider their small means, I think it can fairly be said that they do, in various ways, a large part of the charitable work. Aside from taking contributions, from time to time, for what is usually called missionary work, the churches, as a whole or body, are not doing much, I think, but individual mem bers of churches are doing much individual charitable work in various ways. They feed, clothe, warm and pay house rent for the needy. Twelve persons paid a girl's expenses at Fisk University last year, or half of that expense. The Negro's charity, for the present, consists more in his doing for the needy than it does in his giving.—Chattanooga, Tenn. They have no systematized methods nor regular general organizations for this Kind of work. Pastors and individual churches, however, take up such work. We it; 160 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE have a Home for Aged Women and an Orphan's Home which we support.—Alle gheny City, Pa. There is an Old Folk's Home supported by the Methodist Episcopal Churches, and another supported by the Baptist Churches. I know individuals who do prison work.—New Orleans, La. We have a notable instance in a Baptist colored clergyman, who for twenty years has solicited and distributed some $500 or more in the interests of a Thanks giving dinner for the white and colored poor in jails and asylums, and has funds left to repeat for both Christmas and New Year's dinners. Funds are given mostly by the whites, if not wholly—a marked instance of general confidence.— Mobile, Ala. In one church a day nursery, a kindergarten, a gymnasium, a kitchen garden, and reading room for boys are carried on with more or less persistence and suc cess. In another church there is a kindergarten.—Chicago, III. Do the young people join the church and support it ? Yes; they do..................................... ........ .......... 48 The young join, but do not do much supporting; chief support from the older members................................ ................ 28 Usually. In the majority of cases they do......... ........ ........ 3 Some do, others do not........................................... ... 4 Many young people help to support. Many recently joined........ 2 Depends on the church and the minister. Some churches have large numbers of them........................................... 1 Many join, but few remain in the church. The support is meagre.. 1 About one-fourth................. ..... ..... ........... ........... 1 Only a few young members, but they support as best they can...... 1 Very few, a small proportion. Majority of them do not............ 2 They do not support the church- .... ............... .............. 1 Not as much as they did a few years ago................... 1 To some degree. To a limited extent................................ 4 The accessions from among the young people are increasing rap idly.................................. ....................... ..... 1 The young are too much bent on pleasure..... ..................... 3 No; theydo not............................... ..................... 2 Unanswered........................................................ 4 Some answers are: The great masses who come into the church are young people. They make the best members, all things considered.—Richmond, Va. I think the young people need to be disciplined a great deal along that line.— Richmond, Va. They do to a degree commensurate with their home training.—Lynchburg, Va. They are being trained toward supporting churches and schools.—Bowling Green, Va. Not as I would wish, but more than is generally thought. About two-thirds of the girls and boys who come to our school are members of churches and support the church in a fairly good manner.—Austin, Tex. Many of them join the churches and make big promises but, as a rule, do but little. Some will pray, but won't pay; others will pay, but won't pray; a large THE NEGRO CHURCH 161 number won't pay nor pray, and a blessed few who both pray and pay.—Chatta nooga, Tenn. They join during revivals and leave at the close. They contribute often because they like to go up to the table. If this were stopped our churches would suffer financially.—Darlington, S. C. The young people when they have attained the ages of fifteen or twenty join the church, but as to supporting the church, I think those of the less aristocratic churches do more in the line of support for the church. In the aristocratic churches the older folks support the church.—Charleston, S. C. They delight in Sunday-school, Christian Endeavor, Young People's Union and church work. Are enthusiastic over it. The churches are largely made up of young people.—Allegheny City, Fa. Fairly well, but they are hindered by the old members and often caused to become discouraged and indifferent by the actions of the leaders and influential members.—High Point, N. C. Not generally among the men; more among the women. Church-going has de generated into a fashion.—Jackson, Miss. In those churches where the organization and training have been carefully done they do. In others I fear they do not systematically nor to the proper extent.— Augusta, Go. Not to the desired end, but there is being more and more thought and said con cerning this very important duty.—Atlanta, Ga. What is the greatest need of our churches ? An earnest, consecrated, educated, wide-awake, intelligent minis try.................................. ........ . ... 24 An educated, well-trained Christian ministry........................ 25 A good, pure ministry................................................ 6 True conversion, practical religion, true Christianity. . .4 Honest, upright leaders, both preachers and officers...... 9 Earnest, educated, consecrated Christian workers... ........... 5 Consecrated ministers and faithful members.. ...... More money and better preachers............ ........... The spirit of Christ and the Holy Ghost.................. Finance.. ............. ............. .,,.......,,,..,,. Unity and practical Christian living............................ Do not know.................. ........ Some answers are : I think there is need of improvement in intellect and in a financial way.—Vin cent, Ark. A practical knowledge of right and wrong.—Mobile, Ala. Regard for spiritual ideals.—Mobile, Ala. A more perfect knowledge of the requirement of Jesus upon his followers.—Col orado Springs, Col. Downright seriousness and actual missionary spirit and efforts.—Denver, Col. High-toned Christian ministers in the pulpits and teachers of the same kind in Sunday-schools.—Atlanta, Ga. m 162 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE Able and pure men as pastors and a warm oratory to reach and hold the masses.— Atlanta, Ga. I should say more spiritual life. This lack is very general in our churches of to-day.—Atlanta, Ga. First of all, better men in the ministry. It would follow that the members would be better.—Augusta, Ga. They need so many things it is hard to say dogmatically what is the greatest need.—Augusta, Ga. The greatest need is to live up to what we preach. Do away with so much emo tion and do practical work. " If ye love me keep my commandments."—Brunswick, Ga. 1. Properly trained ministers. 2. Upright, cultured and Christian officers who possess business knowledge. 3. Bibles for congregational reading. 4. Song books for congregational singing.—Sfacon, Ga. Decidedly, an educated ministry and a higher standard of morality.—Some, Ga. 1. Pure ministry. 2. Less costly edifices. 3. More charitable work. 4. Practical sermons, i. e., how to live, etc.—Savannah, Ga. Thoughtful workers.—Thomasville, Ga. Moral ministers who are able to chastise immorality.—Prlnceton, Ky. 1. The Holy Spirit's power. 2. Clean, heroic, unselfish pastors who love God, righteousness and souls. 3. Deacons who fill the scripture standard. 4. Members who fear God because they are really new creatures in Christ.—Jackson, Miss. The continued emphasizing of intelligent worship, spirituality instead of form ality, and efforts to keep them from substituting respectability and high social forms for Christian piety.—Allegheny City, Pa. Good preachers, who read, study, and can apply what they read. Thinkers who will make the churches attractive. Church boards composed of those who are not afraid to hold their preacher to a certain standard or get rid of him.—Darlington, S. C. Less emphasis on financial matters and more practical preaching as to economy in living and home-getting.—Florence, S. C. A broad, able and educated ministry, capable of entertaining the congregation, from the most illiterate to the most scholarly, with practical, common-sense doc trine.—Houston, Tex. Punctuality, business sense, stability, devotion, ideals and tact, a faithful, a well- enlightened, and a religious pew.—Littig, Tex. Men of high intellectual, moral and religious standings.—Paris, Tex. A pure ministry rather than an educated one. Spirituality. The abolition of questionable methods of raising money, such as festivals, entertainments, excur sions, etc.—Paris, Tex. A large membership of solid, sensible, exemplary men, who will take a lively in terest in the religious life of the church as well as its business matters.—Prairie View, Tex. More liberal support on the part of the church members.—Achilles, Va. Money to support pastors, and the Holy Spirit to enlighten the inner man. Bowling Green, Va. THE NEGRO CHURCH 163 Better learned ministers and punctuality.—Chula Depot, Va. Possibly education.—Frederick's Hall, Va. I am of the opinion that the greatest need is morally and intellectually trained leaders, especially pastors; and when I say "morally and intellectually," I mean all that those terms can imply in the highest institutions of learning and under the best influence. Nothing that is really good for a white person is too good for a Negro. I am of the opinion that when this is recognized and the Negroes have leaders accordingly, we shall be a long distance on the way to the solution of the so-called "problem."—Richmond, Va. Co-operation and sympathy with each other. This would make the work more effective and extend it more widely among the people.—New Orleans, La. Are the standards of morality in your community being raised or low ered in respect to sexual morals, home-life, honesty, etc. ? They are being raised .... 81 They are being raised gradually . . . . . . 8 Raised to some extent, yet room for improvement 14 Lowered in respect to sexual morals; raised as to the other quali ties ............ . 7 Cannot speak encouragingly on this line . . . . 8 The standards are being lowered 14 Do not believe they are ........ 2 Cannot say . 7 Unanswered ......... . . 9 Some answers follow: I think the standard is being raised, which is due mainly to increase in good schools.—Augusta, Ga. There is less intemperance in the new-made homes than formerly existed in the old homes. This is largely the work of the school teacher.—Augusta, Go. To this question I must sadly admit it is not what it was twenty-five years ago.— Brunswick, Ga, It is being raised. Young men and women coming from our colleges are mar rying and are setting the standard in their communities for higher moral living. Their home life and honest dealing in the community are helpful, and are being diffused in all the homes to some degree.—Brunswick, Ga. We have several homes that are models of purity and good morals.—La Grange, Ga. There is some effort being made toward a higher standard which, if supported and encouraged, will result in much good in that direction.—Borne, Ga. The church has influence on its members and they all live uprightly.—Prince- ton, Ky. A good condition generally obtains in the churches, and where suspicion rests the parties are made to feel uncomfortable owing to the popular sentiment.—Al- legJumy, Pa. As to the lower classes I do not know, but the educated few are being raised. Charleston is not as great an educational center as it ought to be and for this rea son, I think, for the masses it is not doing as much in respect to sexual morals and home life as it might.—Charleston, S. C. 164 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE It is being raised. The church and the schools are the levers.—Hartsville, S. C. The very best sign we have of the Negro's substantial progress is his rapidly increasing respect for the marriage vow, and the many living, beautiful, happy illustrations of his determination to keep that vow. There are hundreds and thousands of pure homes and beautiful, well-ordered families among us now, whereas, thirty-five years ago there were but few.—Chattanooga, Term. Yes, positively. An able, eloquent minister was forced to leave one of our churches here recently because there were "rumors" and a "belief" that he was immoral.—Austin, Tex. Yes, I think so—perhaps more through the influence of the schools than other wise.—Prairie View, Tex. Under conditions our people compare favorably with any other people.—Peters burg, Va. 33. Southern Whites and the Negro Church. The difficulty of getting valuable expressions on the Negro churches from Southern white peo ple is that so few of them know anything about these churches. No human beings live further apart than separate social classes, especially when lines of race and color and historic antipathies intervene. Few •white people visit Negro churches and those who do go usually for curiosity or "fun," and consequently seek only certain types. The endeavor was made in this case, however, to get the opinion of white people whose business relations or sympathies have brought them into actual contact with these churches. A few of the names in this list are of Northern people, but the great majority are white Southerners. The circular sent out was as f ollows: Your name has been handed to us as that of a person interested in the Negroes of your community and having some knowledge of their churches. "We are mak ing a study of Negro churches and would particularly like to have your opinion on the following matters: 1. What is the present condition of the Negro churches in your community? 2. Is their influence, on the whole, toward pure, honest life ? 3. Are the Negro ministers in your community good men ? 4. Are the standards of Negro morality being raised ? We would esteem it a great favor if you would give us your opinion on these points. Some of the answers follow : J. M. Wilkinson, President. Valdosta Southern Eailway Company, Valdosta, Ga.: 1. In fair condition. 2. Rood. 3. Most are. 4. Yes, I think so. Alfred D. Mason, Memphis, Tenn.: 1. Good. I believe they are doing good, faithful work. 2. Yes. THE NEGRO CHURCH 165 3. Yes, all that I know are. 4. Yes, I am quite sure they are. W. W. Dexter, Houston, Tex., publisher : 1. Very good. 2. Yes, among better class; but the greater influence is "fear of the law." 3. Many good ones; but as a class are of questionable repute. 4. Yes, possibly, on the whole. W. T. Jordan, Colorado: 1. Fair. They average with the white churches. 2. Yes. 3. So far as I know. 4. Yes. Rev. J. E. Ford, pastor of Zion Baptist Church, is president of the Denver Bap tist Ministers' Conference, and is a first-class pastor, preacher and manager. Rev. Mr. Peck of the Methodist Episcopal Church is another minister of the same type. The Negro churches in the whole state are doing fully as well as the white churches, and many of them a great deal better. Bev. J. M. Filcher, Corresponding Secretary Baptist General Associa tion of Virginia, Petersburg, Va.: 1. Excellent. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. 4. No. E. A. Morris, Austin, Tex.: 1. Fair. 2. In part. 3. Some are. 4. Not much. The most of them voted the anti-(Prohibitionist?) ticket which, I think, is bad. P. W. Meldrim, Savannah, Ga.: I answer all of the foregoing questions in the affirmative, so far as a general answer may be given. To the first question I beg to say that it is too vague to enable me to reply. James B. Gregg, minister First Congregational Church, Colorado Springs, Col.: 1. Very fair. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. 4. I can't say very definitely. There has been of late years an influx of Negroes into our town and there are more signs of immorality among them than when that population was small. But the ministers are de cidedly above the earlier ministers of that race here and that, I should say, indicates a higher tone in the Negro churches, if not in the Negro population, as a whole. B. Smith, County School Commissioner of Greene County, Wood- , Ga.: 1- Not good. 2. No. 166 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE 3. No. 4. No. I have given you my candid opinion of such churches and ministers that I know. There are some exceptions to the above. 1. There is a Presbyterian Church in Greensboro that has an intelligent pastor who is a good, true man. 2. I also think that the Methodist Church of same place is also doing pretty good work. A large portion of the ministers are ignorant and in some instances are bad men. I am truly sorry to have to write the above, but it is too true. W. J. Groom, Princeton, Ky.: 1. Very slow, if any advancement. 2. No. 3. Very few. 4. No. I regret to say, in my opinion, the Negro race has not advanced religiously, mor ally or financially. They have some few commendable ministers, but the majority are immoral and dishonest. J. H. Icosh, Nashville, Tenn.: 1. They are making advancement, slowly but surely. 2. I think so. 3. So far as I know. 4. Yes. It is not easy to give satisfactory answers to such questions without going into detail. I have answered, as seems to me, in accordance with the facts in the case. But information given in this way is not sufficient to furnish a basis for an intel ligent view. Am glad to work in any way to help the Negro brothers. James C. Stanley, Houston, Tex.: 1. Upward tendency for education, morality, and mutual advancement on American protective lines. 2. 3. 4. All I know, yes. Considerably. I have lived and been in newspaper business here for thirteen years. I have attached my answers to your questions above as to impressions made by expe rience. The memberships of churches are larger, the number of churches more; the schools are having greater attendance and teachers are of higher education and practical plane than when I first came here. There are 100 to one in business also. The careless pull all to a common level in race prejudice. I know of none seeking social equality, but many educational and legal and property rights equality. J. H. Kilpatrick, White Plains, Ga.: 1. Lack of discipline and not harmonious. 2. I think so. 3. Some are and some are not. 4. I think not. I see no decisive evidence of it. Geo. Wm. Walker, President Paine College, Augusta, Ga.: 1. A healthy spiritual condition. 2. Yes. THE NEGRO CHUKCH 167 3. Yes. 4. Yes. Prof. Burnell, Emerson Institute, Mobile, Ala.: 1. Improving, as I believe. 2. Yes. 3. The majority are; many notably so. 4. Yes. Geo. Standing, South Atlanta, Ga.: 1. Their influence is, on the whole, good. 2. The ministers are good men. 3. The morality of the people generally is very good. Wm. N. Sheats, State Superintendent Public Instruction, Tallahassee, Fla.: 1. Buildings fair, some good, some neglected and some poor. The propor tion of really pious members is about on average of white churches. 2. Certainly, but like other churches, the black sheep are too numerous. 3. Some are, and some are the greatest drawback to real piety and the spread of the gospel. 4. Yes, I think so, but entirely too slow for their good and the good of all. John D. Jordan, Pastor First Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga.: 1. Medium to good. 2. Yes. 3. Most of them; I really know no exceptions. 4. I think so. I take pleasure in sending favorable answers to all your questions. I wish well for our Brother in Black. J. Reese Blair, Troy, N. C.: 1. They are on the upgrade, but in need of better leaders. 2. Good. S. Some not what they should be. 4. I think so. In this county I consider the Negroes very much improved in the work of their teachers and churches. J. W. Newman, Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Tallade- ga, Ala.: 1. Fairly good. 2. Yes. 3. Generally. 4. Yes. T. C. Moody, Marion, S. C.: 1. Good. 2. Yes. 3. Yea 4. Very much. I hope the above answers will satisfy you, as they are the true condition of the churches here. The Negro race is improving in every way. 168 EIGHTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE J. W. Kein, Richmond, Va.: 1. Good and membership increasing. 2. Yea 3. They are. 4. Yes. W. L. Tillman, Columbus, Ga.: 1. They bring about idleness among the Negroes. 2. No. 3. Some may be. 4. No, getting worse. In many churches are too many so-called preachers. They demoralize the Negroes and keep them from regular work by their constant preaching night and day, and require them to give up the last coin they have. Some of the preachers are very good, but a large portion of them are bad men. The Negroes morally are growing worse. W. G. Bradshaw, High Point, N. C.: 1. Fairly good. 2. Yea 3. Yes. 4. Doubtful. E. H. Leidy, Memphis, Tenn.: 1. Good. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. 4. Yes. On the whole, I think our Negroes will compare with those of any section in this country. J. M. Collman, County School Commissioner, Putnam, Ga.: 1. There are too many—about three churches to one school. Buildings gen erally poor; creeds bitter against each other. Some churches established seemingly by local authority for "revenue only," the wandering priest dropping in and preaching and then a collection. 2. Not as a whole, but in part. 3. Some are, numbers are not. 4. Yes, but much too slow. In my opinion, here, where the teachers are selected by the County Board of Education, they are doing more for the race than the preachers. They are far better educated and, as a whole, better men and women. Sam Smitherman, Troy, N. C.: 1. They are, as a whole, bad. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. We have one good, honest and reliable Negro preacher in our community, and he is trying to raise the standard of living among his race. But he has an up-hill business to do so. The old Negroes, as a whole, are a long ways better than the young ones. The Negro preacher that I refer to is O. Faduma. Everyone that is acquainted with the Negro race knows that a Negro is better off without an edu- THE NEGRO CHUKCH 169 cation than he is with one, for when he has an education he begins then to want to do some mischief. He will either go to preaching or stealing or both. Of course there are some better than others. John N. Eogers, Professor of Agriculture, Dahlonega, Ga.: A large majority of the church buildings have been much improved in the past five or six years. The good sufficiently dominates to warrant their encouragement. The majority are good men and exert an elevating influence on the people among whom they labor. A few are a disgrace to the church and to their race. In answer to question No. 4, I would say that there is quite a noticeable im provement among the females, but among the males, young and old, there is quite a lack of regard for a high standard of virtue, either among themselves or for the opposite sex with whom they associate. The average colored man does not regard it as anything against him to be seen in company with the lowest woman of his acquaintance. In my seven years experience as school superintendent of the county, I had only two complaints of immorality of female teachers. I had four or five of male teachers. The lowest state of morals is found on the large plantations where the houses throw the families in as close contact as is usually the case in cities. The greatest improvement is noted in families living on small farms (either rented or owned by them) where only one or two families live in close contact. J. G. Collinsworth, Eatonton, Ga.: I