]> <emph>The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio.</emph> Electronic Edition. Talbert, Horace, b. 1853 Funding from the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition supported the electronic publication of this title. Text scanned (OCR) by Andrew Leiter Images scanned by Andrew Leiter Text encoded by Richard Musselwhite and Jill Kuhn First edition, 2000 ca. 450K Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000.

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 The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio. Rev. Horace Talbert, M.A. 286 p. Xenia, Ohio The Aldine Press 1906 Call number BX8443 .T3 (Rare Book Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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 Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998 English Allen, Richard, 1760-1831. African Americans -- Biography. African American clergy -- Biography. African Methodist Episcopal Church -- Clergy -- Biography. African Methodist Episcopal Church -- History -- 19th century. Wilberforce University -- History -- 19th century. 2001-01-23, Celine Noel and Wanda Gunther revised TEIHeader and created catalog record for the electronic edition. 2000-04-14, Jill Kuhn, project manager, finished TEI-conformant encoding and final proofing. 2000-04-10, Richard Musselwhite finished TEI/SGML encoding 2000-02-29, Andrew Leiter finished scanning (OCR) and proofing.

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 THE SONS OF ALLEN BY REV. HORACE TALBERT, M. A. TOGETHER WITH A SKETCH OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, WILBERFORCE, OHIO. XENIA, OHIO. THE ALDINE PRESS, 1906. COPYRIGHT, 1906. BY HORACE TALBERT. DEDICATION.

To the great African Methodist Episcopal Church throughout the world; to the memory of its founder, Richard Allen, whose Christ-spirit and dauntless courage made him a builder for time and eternity; to its constantly increasing membership and friends who gladly attest the vitality of its teaching in the formation of perfect Christian character, this book is affectionately and respectfully dedicated.

THE AUTHOR. PREFACE.

THE Wise Man truly said “of making many books there is no end,” and never were books good, bad and indifferent, more multitudinary than at the present day. But I offer no apology for adding to the number. For the story of a good man's life, however imperfectly it may be told, is the sowing of a good seed, destined to influence, directly or indirectly, the interested reader. And the possible good that may come to the young men and women of our Church from the perusal of the heroism, patience, determination and ultimate success as found in this little collection of sketches is the primal cause of its existence; and if one heart is encouraged to perseverance in duty's pathway, however rough and thorny it may be, the author will feel more than repaid for the time, labor and personal sacrifice represented by the book.

Not yet fifty years from slavery, these sketches portraying the proud success of lawyers, doctors, authors, editors, ministers, business men, scientists, college students, etc., are worthy of redemption from obscurity as an earnest of still greater things promised by the future. And I well know that there are hundreds of others whose life-stories are well worth careful preservation, but time and circumstances forbade their garnering by me.

A number of the sketches are meagre in incident, owing to the fact that many persons conversant with the lives of these noble men were lax and indifferent about furnishing the data and events, and it was virtually out of my power to gather fuller and more intimate knowledge concerning them; this fact, together with the many important calls upon my time has embarrassed and retarded the work. And to many, who perchance will criticise the sketches as lacking in incidents, I kindly say, you knew that I desired them and failed to respond to my plea. To those who have given material and sympathy to the work, I return my earnest and sincere gratitude for their aid.

I again say that the book has been prosecuted amid a steady pressure of other duties imperative in their nature, and part of the time when the shadow of bereavement rested on my home; but it goes to the public with the sincere wish that it may win admiration and remembrance for the worthy lives inscribed upon its pages, and carry with it the blessing of the great Father served by all.

THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. BY WILLIAM S. SCARBOROUGH, A.M., PH.D. THE SONS OF ALLEN.

THE Rev. Horace Talbert, B.A. M.A., the author of the following pages, is a graduate of Wilberforce University (Classical Course) and is pre-eminently qualified for the task he has taken in hand. He is a man of strong and vigorous mind, of scholarly attainments, and is a logical and forceful preacher—indeed a theologian of no mean type. By education and association a part and parcel of the great Church of Allen and Payne. Prof. Talbert is among the strong men of our Zion from whom we may expect great things.

After leaving his Alma Mater, by appointment he went East where he spent several years in Boston, Cambridge and other centers in that section of country, and where he had special opportunity of adding to an already well stored mind. He did not fail to make the best use of the advantage offered. The experience gained there constituted a grand outfit with which to begin life and was of especial service to him in his future work.

From the East he was called to a Professor's Chair in his Alma Mater, (Classical Department) thence to the responsible position of Financial Secretary and Business Manager of the Institution, a position which he now holds, and one in which he has rendered invaluable service to the University. It was he who secured, through the munificence of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the beautiful and substantial library building which now adorns the campus of the University. The bequests of Mr. George W. Hardester, of Urbana, Ohio, and Mr. James Callanan, of Des Moines, Iowa, were also secured through him.

It is with great pleasure, therefore, in compliance with the request of the author, that I offer a brief note of introduction to his book. “THE SONS OF ALLEN” is its title, and a more appropriate name could not have been chosen.

Allen and his sons mean much to the Race, much to the world. If Bishop Allen had not lived, we would not have had, possibly, the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

If Martin Luther had not lived we might not have had a Reformation. Yet it is possible to conceive of both without either of the great leaders mentioned. For if God had willed it otherwise, he would have provided other means, other agencies to accomplish the same end. But he did not. Richard Allen lived, and he lived for a purpose. He played his part well. God had reared him and set him apart for that end. He will, therefore, always live in the hearts and memories of those who are the recipients of his benefactions. Generations unborn, as they come into being, and as they come on the stage of action, will call him blessed. Well may they do so.

Richard Allen was more than a mere reformer, more than the mere founder and organizer of a great Church. He was a man, every inch a man, a man of ideas, of principles, a man of convictions, and the courage of the same. Though without the training of the schools, he had native ability—and best of all hard, common sense. Richard Allen had no superior among his fellows. He was pre-eminently a leader. He despised shams, and hated Race prejudice in all of its forms.

When therefore oppressed because of his Race and color, he seized the opportunity quickly, and as a result the African Methodist Episcopal Church sprang into being, and now, with nearly a million members and communicants its influence is felt the world over.

Who would not be proud of the Sons and Daughters of Allen's Church, its Bishops, its Clergy, its Laity—all that it represents? Here we find some of the ripest and best brain produced by the Negro people. Who would not be proud of a Church that makes it possible for this brain to receive the very highest development in all lives that make for the good of the Race, for the good of mankind; of a Church that knows neither color nor color prejudice? Of a Church that recognizes the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man?

God grant that such a Church may have no end of days, and that it may continue to grow and flourish. Its destiny, its future, however is in the hands of its sons and daughters.

It was only when Israel became an apostate—when she refused to heed the advice given her that God forsook her. He plead with her long and patiently through his prophets without avail. She had become wedded to her idols, so God let her alone. History does sometimes repeat itself. Allen's children have a precious legacy. Let them appreciate the responsibility and yet fear God and keep his commandments.

March, 1906. INDEX. THE ALLEN PILGRIMAGE . . . . . 22 THE CHURCH OF ALLEN AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE . . . . . 24 EXTRACTS . . . . . 28 WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, HER RISE AND PROGRESS . . . . . 263 THE GROWTH OF AFRICAN METHODISM . . . . . 284 ALEXANDER, REV. W. G., D.D, . . . . . 38 ALLEN, BISHOP RICHARD . . . . . 17 ALLEN, REV. G. W., D.D., . . . . . 142 ANDERSON, REV. W. T. . . . . . 240 ARNETT, BISHOP BENJAMIN WILLIAM . . . . . 182 ATWATER, ANAK THOMAS . . . . . 137 AVERY, JOHN MOSES . . . . . 164 BENTLEY, REV. DANIEL S., D.D., . . . . . 186 BIGGERS, REV. W. T., A.M., . . . . . 88 BOONE, REV. CHARLES HENRY . . . . . 114 BRYANT, REV. MARTIN STALEY . . . . . 193 BROWN, S. JOE, A.M., LL.D., . . . . . 80 BROWN, REV. GEORGE FREDERICK . . . . . 92 BROCKETT, REV. JOSHUA A. . . . . . 63 BROOKS, REV. REUBEN B., D.D., . . . . . 40 BROOKINS, REV. ROBERT BURNS . . . . . 194 BURGAN, REV. ISAAC M., D.D., . . . . . 54 BUTLER, REV. D. M. . . . . . 113 CALIMAN, REV. DAVID F. . . . . . 66 CAROLINA, REV. FRANCIS B. . . . . . 68 CARSON, REV. B. M. . . . . . 100 CHRISTY, REV. LEVI EDWARD . . . . . 146 COLEMAN, REV. JOHN CLAY . . . . . 86 COSTON, REV. W. HILARY, D.D., . . . . . 232 COX, REV. J. R. . . . . . 198 COOK, REV. WILLIAM DECATUR, D. D., . . . . . 140 COOPER, REV. JOHN WESLEY . . . . . 202 CRAY, REV. ISAAC CHARLES . . . . . 151 CURRY, REV. P. F. . . . . . 116 DAVIS, REV. HENDERSON . . . . . 206 DERRICK, BISHOP WILLIAM B. . . . . . 226 DICKERSON, REV. JOHN . . . . . 216 DICKERSON, REV. JOHN HENRY . . . . . 77 DOUGLAS, PROF. H. B. . . . . . 105 EDWARDS, REV. W. HENRY, D.D., . . . . . 236 FENWICK, DR. LOUIS MADISON . . . . . 124 FOUNTAIN, REV. WILLIAM A. . . . . . 132 GAINES, BISHOP WESLEY J., D.D., . . . . . 165 GAZAWAY, REV. JOHN WESLEY . . . . . 172 GIBSON, WILLIAM H., SR., . . . . . 102 GOINS, REV. JOSHUA VAN BUREN, D.D., . . . . . 218 GOULD, REV. THEODORE . . . . . 35 GRANT, REV. HENRY ALBERT . . . . . 237 GRANT, BISHOP ABRAHAM . . . . . 56 GRIMES, REV. W. W. . . . . . 158 GWYNN, REV. JOSEPH . . . . . 174 HAMILTON, REV. JOHN F. . . . . . 50 HIGHGATE, WILLIAM BALDWIN . . . . . 74 HILL, REV. ANDREW HENRY . . . . . 65 HUBBARD, REV. JAMES H. . . . . . 144 HUNT, REV. P. C., D D., . . . . . 98 HUNTER, REV. WILLIAM HAMMETT, D.D., . . . . . 36 HURLEY, REV. ROBERT FRENCH, D.D., . . . . . 148 JACKSON, REV. ADAM . . . . . 90 JACKSON, REV. THOMAS HENRY, D.D., . . . . . 200 JENIFER, REV. JOHN T., D.D., . . . . . 220 JOHNSON, REV. WILLIAM DECKER . . . . . 244 JONES, REV. JOSHUA H., A.M., D.D., . . . . . 253 JONES, REV. OTHO ELI, D.D., . . . . . 76 KEALING, PROF. H. T. . . . . . 60 LAMPTON, REV. EDWARD W., D.D., . . . . . 120 LAWS, REV. W. J., D.D., . . . . . 48 LEWIS, REV. JOHN WESLEY . . . . . 210 LEE, BISHOP BENJAMIN F., D.D., . . . . . 180 LEE, NATHANIEL HAMMOND . . . . . 112 LINDSAY, REV. JAMES A., D.D., . . . . . 170 LUCKIE, PETER ALPHEUS . . . . . 215 MASTERSON, PROF. GEORGE ELLSWORTH . . . . . 82 MAXWELL, HON. C. L. . . . . . 70 MAXWELL, REV. J. P. . . . . . 96 MIXON, REV. WINFIELD HENRI, D.D., . . . . . 44 MORLEY, REV. JONESIMUS, B.A., . . . . . 117 MORRIS, REV. J. E. . . . . . 150 MOTEN, REV. D. S. . . . . . 248 MOORE, REV. D. P. . . . . . 106 MSIKINYA, REV. HENRY COLBURNE . . . . . 136 MCDONALD, REV. J. FRANK . . . . . 250 NICHOLSON, REV. GEORGE W., D.D., . . . . . 58 NEWSOME, REV. HENRY NASBY, D.D., . . . . . 134 NGCAYIYA, REV. HENRY REED . . . . . 84 NORRIS, REV. J. W. . . . . . 78 PARKS, REV. HENRY BLANTON, D.D., . . . . . 212 PAYNE, REV. JAMES HENRY DAVIS . . . . . 241 PEARSON, REV. W. B. . . . . . 62 PHILLIPS, REV. W. A. J., D.D., . . . . . 196 PORTER, REV. GEORGE WELLINGTON, D.D., . . . . . 94 PRYOR, REV. PAUL STILL . . . . . 122 RANKIN, REV. JAMES W. . . . . . 108 RATLIFFE, REV. LOUIS WILLIAM . . . . . 110 ROBERTS, REV. B. W., D.D., . . . . . 126 ROBINSON, REV. O. D., D.D., . . . . . 176 SALTER, BISHOP MOSES B. . . . . . 199 SAMPSON, REV. GEORGE C. . . . . . 53 SCARBOROUGH, WILLIAM S. . . . . . 159 SCOTT, REV. JOHN R., D.D., . . . . . 154 SCOTT, REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT . . . . . 118 SCOTT, REV. O. J. W., D.D., . . . . . 168 SEALS, WILLIAM H. S. . . . . . 222 SEATON, REV. DANIEL P. . . . . . 42 SHIELDS, REV. S. W., P.E., . . . . . 188 SINGLETON, REV. R. H., D.D., . . . . . 156 SISHUBA, REV. ISAIAH GODA . . . . . 190 SMITH, BISHOP CHARLES SPENCER . . . . . 72 SMITH, REV. SETH DESMOND WALDEMA . . . . . 204 SMITH, REV. THOMAS J. BROAD-AX . . . . . 238 STEWART, REV. NICHOLAS BERNARD, D.D., . . . . . 208 SUTTON, REV. J. M. . . . . . 152 SYDES, REV. MARION FRANCIS . . . . . 246 TALBERT, REV. HORACE . . . . . 256 THOMAS, REV. WILLIAM H., M.A., . . . . . 93 TOLLIVER, REV. PHILLIP, D.D., . . . . . 224 TOWNSEND, REV. J. M., D.D., . . . . . 128 TRAVERSE, REV. MATTHEW W., D.D., . . . . . 138 TURNER, BISHOP HENRY M. . . . . . 32 TYREE, BISHOP EVANS . . . . . 234 WALKER, REV. JAMES W., D.D., . . . . . 162 WELCH, REV. ISAIAH HENDERSON . . . . . 130 WINSLOW, MR. CLYDE . . . . . 203 WOODSON, REV. THOMAS WESLEY . . . . . 131 WRIGHT, REV. CARTER . . . . . 46 XABA, REV. JACOBUS GILEAD . . . . . 229 YEOCUM, REV. WILLIAM HENRY . . . . . 178 THE SONS OF ALLEN. BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN. FOUNDER OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

IN HOLY ZEAL, in singleness of purpose, in purity of heart, in the joyous faith with which privation, toil and persecution were met, the life of Bishop Richard Allen embodies the words of him who wrote, “none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

On the fourteenth day of February, 1760, a slave woman belonging to the household of Benjamin Chew in Philadelphia, held in her arms a new born son, whom she little dreamed was to be the founder of the great African Methodist Episcopal Church throughout the world.

Richard was still a little boy when his parents and four of their children were sold to a man residing near Dover, Delaware; but he describes his new master as tender and humane to his slaves though not a Christian.

The religious experience of Bishop Allen began in his childhood; he early knew the rapture of loving faith, the darkness of doubt and the burden of unconverted souls around him; he delighted in his membership with the Methodist Society and was spiritually blest in the class-meetings held in the forest near the city of Dover.

The fact that he and his brother were permitted to go to meeting on every other Thursday was criticised by their master's neighbors, who said that such privileges would be ruinous to them; whereupon to show their owner that religion meant fidelity to duty they would stay at home when the crops seemed to demand their care. This loyalty was noticed by the master and he declared “that religion made slaves better and not worse,” and consented to Richard's request that some of the Methodist preachers might come and preach at his house; and it was through the influence of one of these men of God that he proposed that Richard and his brother should buy their time, paying him 60£ gold and silver.

This chance of freedom was heralded with joy, and Richard went to work cutting cord wood, but the unusual toil so blistered his hands that they were almost helpless; he prayed to the Lord for help, and in a few days his hands were well and he was often able to cut two cords a day. He then worked in a brickyard, did day's work, anything to swell the little pile that meant manhood and freedom, but wherever he was his heart was continually lifted in prayer, “sitting, standing or lying.” Driving a salt wagon in the time of the Continental war, he had his regular stops and preaching places on the road.

After the proclamation of peace, he traveled through a part of Delaware and New Jersey preaching the Gospel of Christ, often compelled to stop and cut wood or perform other labor, for he had but little money, and like St. Paul he desired to say, “these hands have ministered unto my necessities.” He more than once suffered from rheumatism, and his feet were blistered by continual walking. But he always found an open door of kindness, and hearts and hands ready to comfort and relieve.

His congregations were more often composed of white than colored people, and there was no thought of race distinction as they crowded around the altar, moved by his words of power, anxious to confess their sins and find peace at the Cross.

A present of a horse proved a great source of help. He traveled into Pennsylvania, meeting his first congregation at Lancaster, where he “found the people in general dead to religion and scarcely a form of godliness;” after preaching at Little York he went to Maryland.

In December, 1784, he attended the first General Conference of Methodists in America. It was held at Baltimore, and eminent divines from England were present. Here the Society merged into the Episcopal Methodist Church; ministers were set apart in holy orders and some claimed the dignity of the gown; this formalism was greatly deprecated by Rev. Allen and in after years he traced to it the decline in religious zeal of the church.

It is pleasant to note the cordial relations that existed between Rev. Allen and his white brethren in the pulpit. Bishop Asbury asked him to travel with him through the South, but told him he could not mix with the slaves and that he would often have to sleep in the carriage; the proposition was declined on the ground that in case of possible illness he might fail to receive the kind treatment desired.

In February, 1786, Rev. Allen was preaching in Philadelphia where he saw the need of evangelistic services among his own people, as but few of them attended public worship; he established prayer-meetings and organized a small religious body of forty-two souls; to them he suggested the erection of a church for colored people, but only three colored men, who like himself were members of St. George's Church, approved the plan; in a short time the separate prayer-meetings of the Negroes were forbidden by the Elder. Rev. Allen says in his little autobiography that the colored people “were considered as a nuisance.”

The congregation of St. George's Church began to look with disfavor upon the increased attendance of the black race upon its Sunday services, and they were moved from the seats usually occupied by them and placed around the wall; one Sunday morning the sexton ordered them to the gallery, and several of the trustees finding them too far in front, tried during prayer to force them from their knees and push them farther back. At the close of the prayer the colored people present left the church in a body. This outrage led ultimately to the building of the first African church in America.

Its erection brought a storm of persecution about its projectors. Threats of public dismissal from the great body of the church were made against them, and the white Elder was vehement in his efforts to stop the work. But many warm and sincere friends were found among the white people. Dr. Benjamin Rush and Mr. Robert Ralston proved especially true in their friendship, the latter acting as treasurer of the new church fund.

Rev. Allen, as the first proposer of the African Church, had the honor of putting the first spade into the ground when the cellar of the edifice was dug. After the completion of the building came the decision as to the denomination with which it should be connected. The majority of the congregation voted in favor of the Church of England; Rev. Allen and Rev. Absalom Jones made a small minority that desired an alliance with the Methodists; for notwithstanding the harsh treatment received from that organization he recognized it as the church most powerful in reaching and influencing the common people. But the majority carried the day, and the church went into the fold of the Church of England. In 1793, being then the only colored minister in the city, he was solicited to take charge of the new church; but allegiance to his Methodist convictions forbade it.

The desire for a Methodist Church for his people daily grew stronger; purchasing the frame of an old blacksmith shop, he moved it to a lot on Sixth near Lombard street, and had it fitted up for church purposes. In July, 1784, the little building was consecrated by Bishop Asbury, and the first African Methodist Episcopal Church was established.

The Church was induced to enter the white Conference. For ten years all went well, when unexpectedly a white presiding Elder demanded the keys and church books, and forbade the holding of sacred services only when specially permitted. The congregation claimed the premises, but found, to their surprise, that incorporation with the Conference had deprived them of the right of ownership. Legal advice was taken, and it was ascertained that if two-thirds of the Church so desired, withdrawal from the Conference was properly in order; it was effected without the knowledge of the Elder and a rumpus followed. For several years there were constant annoyances from some of the white Methodist charges who insisted upon furnishing the church with ministerial supplies and wanted exorbitant amounts from the congregation in payment. One resident Elder asserted his right in preaching and caring for the church, and upon being requested to confer with the trustees, replied that, “He did not come to consult with Richard Allen or other trustees, but to inform the congregation that on next Sunday afternoon he would come and take the spiritual charge,” but he found the pulpit occupied at the appointed hour. Another Elder appealed to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus, to know why the pulpit was closed against him. This brought about a law-suit which was decided in favor of the Church.

This state of affairs did not exist alone in Philadelphia, but was the experience of the colored people in Baltimore and other places, who had now organized places of worship for their own people.

But in 1816 many difficulties were removed by the calling and organizing of a Conference, which placed the African Methodist Episcopal Church among the legally recognized religious bodies of the world.

Rev. Richard Allen endeared himself to many of the citizens of Philadelphia during its terrible visitation with yellow fever in 1793; he nursed the sick and buried the dead with a Christian courage and tenderness that enrolls him among the heroes of the earth.

He lived to see the seed planted by his love and faith grow into a mighty tree that shall never wither, for its roots are fed by the love and care of the immortal Son of God; and in the glorious hope of a blessed immortality, at the age of seventy-two years, this fearless and valiant Christian man closed his eyes upon earthly scenes. March 26, 1831, was the day of his translation.

 THE ALLEN PILGRIMAGE. PROGRAMME OF THE FIRST GRAND PILGRIMAGE TO THE TOMB OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD, BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN, FOUNDER AND FIRST BISHOP OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BY MEMBERS OF THE THIRD EPISCOPAL DISTRICT, IN COMPANY WITH OTHERS WHO DESIRED TO GO. THE EXERCISES WERE HELD AT MOTHER BETHEL CHURCH, SIXTH STREET, BELOW PINE, PHILADELPHIA, PA., ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1905, ON THE 145TH ANNIVERSARY OF BISHOP ALLEN'S BIRTH. AFTERNOON MEETING. Devotional Exercises, conducted by Theodore Gould and Horace Talbert. “Richard Allen as an Educator,” Rev. I. W. L. Roundtree, D.D., Newark, N. J. “Richard Allen as an Emancipator and Benefactor of His Race,” Rev. G. C. Sampson, Clarksburg, W. Va. “African Methodism in New Jersey,” Rev. J. L. Hammond, Camden, N. J. Bishop B. W. Derrick, D.D., and Dr. Barnabus, of the Church of the Catacombs at London, England, addressed this meeting. EVENING MEETING. Invocation. “The Allen Pilgrimage; its Purpose and Influence,” Rev. C. M. Tanner, D.D., Allegheney, Pa. “The Itinerancy as a Factor in the Development of Methodism,” Rev. W. H. H. Butler, D.D., Harrisburg, Pa. “The A. M. E. Church as a Factor in the Development of our Racial Life,” Rev. D. S. Bentley, D.D., Pittsburg, Pa. “The Motives by which Allen was Actuated in Founding the A. M. E. Church,” Rev. R. W. Fickland, D.D., Philadelphia, Pa. Prof. C. W. Clark conducted the music. On the morning of February 14th a sight-seeing tour was made to old St. George's Church, Independence Hall, Book Concern and other points of interest. Committee of Arrangements, W. B. ANDERSON, R. H. BUMRY, W. H. BROWN, P. A. SCOTT, Secretary, C. M. TANNER, Chairman. THE CHURCH OF ALLEN AS A FACTOR IN<lb/> THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE. PART OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY REV. D. S. BENTLEY, D.D., AT THE FIRST ALLEN PILGRIMAGE CELEBRATION, IN PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 14, 1905.

RICHARD ALLEN, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was the embodiment of noble characteristics that enabled him to infuse an ideal manhood and womanhood into a people whose past was dim with antiquity and overshadowed with ignorance, and stained with the immoral habits and customs of their condition and environment; a people without hope of ever being lifted from shame and servitude except in some mysterious way by the power of Him who balances the spheres and holds the elements in control.

Through Allen's achievement we rise to a greater knowledge of the God that raised him up for the wonderful work; a work that reveals him not only as a champion for his black brother, but also as one who stood for the cause of human rights and religious liberty for every soul on the face of the earth.

More than a century has passed since the exodus from St. George's M. E. Church, (which, to say the least, was, to all intents and purposes, a strike for religious freedom) and within that space of time has developed a wonderful church organization whose power is felt throughout the world.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church in its structure, its polity vigorously carried out, stands to-day as an imperishable monument to the memory of its heroic founder. Its democracy of doctrine is, perchance, proving the strongest Church agency in solving the so-called Race Problem. For while in its inception it has sometimes been called a “Race Church,” and its mission from the day of its birth until the present time has been essentially to a people ostracized and discriminated against in nearly every walk in life, no person was ever excluded from its communion on account of race or national distinction. Its birth was of absolute necessity and by the laws of necessity it must live to accomplish its work of destruction of race barriers and race injustice. For the Christian civilization of a great republic like ours cannot dignify and promote its highest possible greatness without the concentration of all mental, moral and religious forces upon those sublime principles which have for their basis, “God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, and Man our Brother.” In this particular mission the Church of Allen shares the hopes and fears of all who believe in the principles of a Government, “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Racial advancement, in many things, is like that of an oak, slow in development but grand in potentiality; and while our material growth does not satisfy our highest ambition, nor measure up to our greatest expectation, yet when viewed in the light of the trying ordeals to which we, as a people, have been subjected, the heights reached are phenomenal when compared with other races of the world who possessed advantages far superior and means more ample.

When we emerged from the smoke of the struggle that liberated four and a half millions of people from abject servitude, the Church of Allen became the most practical agency in the hand of God in meeting those emergencies which came with the new conditions of American life; and the system of moral, mental and religious training inculcated by it has continued to adjust itself to every new condition and demand of the Race.

To those who would question the validity of this assertion we point with pride to the schools, colleges, universities and stately church edifices, whose existence relate not only the history of aggressive and successful effort, but measure up to the required standards of the age. A great Educational system which meets the demands of the Race with a financial department out of which is paid more than half a million of dollars annually to carry forward the work so well begun, is, in itself, an object lesson to the world. And the sincerity of the desire of our Race to attain the highest ideal of citizenship is attested by the practical, as well as the ethical lines along which this education of our young people is directed; the theological and literary departments in our institutions are close neighbors to the rooms in which the student is taught the science and art of the industrial world about him in which he is to play an important part.

To the influence of the Church of Allen may be ascribed much of the advanced religious thought of the times so vital to the permanency of national life and the development of a national conscience; its lessons of Christian faith, self-government and virtuous life are mighty factors in the establishment of character, both individual and national.

The history of the colored American is virtually embraced in the years stretching from 1787 to 1905. The founding of the little African Methodist Church in the city of Philadelphia was truly the Plymouth Rock of his religious independence, which in time was to become the corner stone of his intellectual and personal freedom; the one enfolded the other.

There is no diminution in the influence of this Church and its founder upon the lives and hearts of men to-day. His soul purified by the holy fire of Divine love and luminous with the white flame of consecration to the visible advancement of the Church of God, his heart tender with the wrongs inflicted upon his race and strong in an abnegation that meant persecution and suffering, constituted him a worthy leader in a cause that meant alliance with God in the salvation, both spiritual and physical, of a people that to-day delight to revere and bless his name

But great as is the honor due him, and gladly given, it must be shared with those upon whom his mantle fell when he was called to the Church Triumphant; heroic souls who, through the storm and stress of the early days of church establishment, uncomplainingly and patiently met defeat and persecution with undaunted hearts, confident that they were building for eternity and that the cause dearer to them than life, would be blessed with golden results by the Lord they served. Wonderfully has their faith been rewarded, for the African Methodist Episcopal Church to-day stands at the head of all activities of good in the elevation of our people and the development of a citizenship that is an honor and power in the land in which we live.

The golden age of our race lies not in the past but in the future, and the Church of Allen is one of the gates of blessing through which we enter into possession of its limitless promise.

 EXTRACTS TAKEN FROM AN ADDRESS ON “THE ITINERACY AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODISM,” DELIVERED BY REV. WILLIAM H. H. BUTLER, D.D., AT BETHEL A. M. E. CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, PA., FEBRUARY 14, 1905, ON THE OCCASION OF THE ALLEN PILGRIMAGE CELEBRATION.

METHODISM, both in its inception and development, is remarkable for the complexity of interests to be conserved, as well as for the specific and peculiar agencies necessary for its elaboration.

The summarizing of a set of rules for the regulation of the conduct and life of church members (as our “General Rules”), with the attachment of punitive laws for their infringement, would have been impossible of successful accomplishment, without a strong centralized form of ecclesiastical administration; itself subject to still higher inspection and change as regards the units constituting its membership.

The danger of misuse or abuse of delegated administrative and disciplinary authority is thereby reduced to a minimum, and a problem, the gravity of which can scarcely be estimated, has been happily solved by the system of the Itineracy, Methodism's just pride.

The history of the unprecedented growth and development of Methodism in all lands and among all peoples, is a trustworthy witness to the necessity and efficacy of the Itineracy as a Church agency. To properly consider it as a developmental factor it must be regarded from three standpoints: The Episcopacy, Presiding Eldership, and Pastorate. Reversing the order of presentation the Pastorate is the sacred office nearest to the people, the masses, for whose benefit Methodism was primarily intended; realizing also that both the Presiding Eldership and Episcopacy exist by the reserved authority and powers vested in the Itineracy.

Methodism denies that either the individual preacher, or society, has the right to limit the sphere in which the talents and services of one called of God, and accredited by the Connection, shall be employed while ministering to the flock of Christ and upbuilding the kingdom of God on earth. It maintains the Ministry is God's gift to His church, and it is for this reason “that all who continue to labor with us in the vineyard of the Lord” are solemnly forewarned that they “should do that part of the work which we advise, at those places and times which we judge most to His (God's) glory.” In this admonition lies the basic principle of the Methodist itineracy; to its observance is largely due the marvelous spread and development of Methodism, which means the bringing of the greatest good to the greatest number, which is verily a literal following of the great Teacher, who Himself “went about (itinerarium ) doing good.”

Methodists believe in calling into service the various gifts of those divinely called to preach, viz, the evangelizing, the seed sowing, the watering, the indoctrinating and the preservation of the standards of Christian living; and because it is difficult, if not impossible, to find all these spiritual qualifications embodied in one man, and inasmuch as each and every church needs care along all of these specified lines, the Itinerant system, in turn, brings to each the help desired; the evangelist to awaken, the pastor to feed and teach, the doctrinarian to confirm in the faith, and the disciplinarian to set spiritual and temporal affairs in orderly array.

We re-affirm the strength and power of the Methodist Itineracy, and all honor is due those unselfish men of God who come up to Conference, year after year, “not knowing what shall befall them,” glorying in their high privilege to spread abroad a Saviour's love and satisfied if they may spotlessly and safely keep the sacred charge committed to them.

The Presiding Eldership was a natural outgrowth of the rapid development of Methodism, and like the Episcopacy, was necessary for the protection of ministerial and lay interests which, though really mutual, might easily, under certain contingencies, become bitterly antagonistic and destructive of the peace, if not of the very existence, of Methodism.

To travel throughout his district, to superintend every part of his work, is an Episcopal function and prerogative; but in its widest sense this would mean the investigation of the spiritual and temporal affairs in each separate church society, a duty manifestly impossible for one man to accomplish, owing to the rapid increase of Methodist organizations; hence the appointment of Presiding Elders, who, as Episcopal subordinates, are assigned certain limited territory in which every pastor is visited once a quarter; his relation to his charge investigated, reports heard from the various church boards, and the maintaining or severing of the relation of pastor and people is mainly dependent upon the reports made to the Bishop at the meeting of the yearly Conference. The Presiding Eldership is a strong factor in the success of the Methodist church.

As to the efficiency of the Episcopacy as an itinerating agency in the spread of Methodism there can be but one opinion. From the time of the sainted Richard Allen, the first of an illustrious line, to the scholarly and consecrated bishops of the A. M. E. Church to-day, is an unbroken service of devoted lives illuminated with holy and unfailing zeal for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom through the power and might of the teachings of John Wesley. The African Methodist Episcopal Church is rich in the legacy of the heroic lives of its Bishops, and if our church lines are daily taking in new territory, if Methodism is advancing its banners among the religious organizations of the world, much, very much, of the credit and praise must be given to the sagacity, the foresight, the wisdom, the holy enthusiasm of the noble men that have constituted the highest ecclesiastical authority of the church at large.

Who can estimate the perils from which our dear church has, perchance, many times been saved through the prayerful deliberations of our Bishops, or the direful consequences of ill-advised and hasty legislation by our General Conferences, but for the wisdom and conservatism of the Episcopal Quadrennial Address, and their impartial rulings over the lesser councils of the church.

Under the immediate care of the Episcopacy are the Missionary, Educational and other vital interests of the church. Their exalted position removes them from the bustle and excitement attending the contact with petty details, yet their hands direct and govern all that affects the ministry and laity in their relation to the church and so serene has been this high authority, so wise its deliberations, that for eighty-nine years there has occurred no schism in the African Methodist Episcopal Church at large, albeit that body is world-wide in influence and has attained historical import.

No just estimate can be placed upon the impetus that the Episcopacy has given to the development of Methodism by prayer, the laying on of consecrating hands in the ordination of the ministry, by travels, sermons, and addresses.

In what balance can be weighed the world-embracing labors of Daniel A. Payne, Alexander W. Wayman, Jabez P. Campbell, Thomas M. D. Ward, William Paul Quinn, Henry McNeal Turner, Benjamin W. Arnett, William B. Derrick, Levi J. Coppin and others of worthy fame? Each and all have served the cause of Methodism as founder, evangelist, preacher, pioneer, historian, orator and missionary. It is impossible to estimate the value and magnitude of their work. The church never can know what it owes to the labor, zeal, devotion, and saintly character of its bishops. Many of them rest from their labors, but their work for the church so dear to their hearts wreathes their names with flowers immortal. They have heard the glad “Well done” in the glorious splendor of the Church Triumphant, but eternity holds for them the joyous gratitude of myriads of saved souls who will rise up to call them blessed.

 BISHOP HENRY M. TURNER.

[BISHOP HENRY M. TURNER.]

POSSESSING the love and honor of the great religious body over which he wields ecclesiastical authority, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner is a man eminent by reason of broad intellectual gifts and achievements, fervid piety and rare executive ability.

His parents, Hardy Turner and Sarah Greer Turner, were residing in the vicinity of Newberry Court House, South Carolina, at the time of the birth of their son, February 1, 1834. On his mother's side he was connected with one of the best families among those commonly spoken of as “Free Negroes.”

Educational advantages were very limited and he was early placed among the toilers in the cotton field, but unflagging determination made him master of the reader and the copy-book; at fifteen years of age he was employed as a servant in a law office at Abbeville Court House, and his willingness to act as Mercury between the young advocates and their sweethearts won the favor and interest of the office force and he was helped to a knowledge of History, the Bible, Astronomy, Arithmetic and Geography; but since his union with the Methodist Church South, in 1848, the purpose of his life was to be one “set apart” for its service, and upon receiving license to preach in 1853, he itinerated for several years through South Carolina, Georgia and other Southern States. In 1858 he transferred his membership to the A. M. E. Church and joined the Missouri Annual Conference; later he was transferred to the Baltimore Conference, and for four years was stationed in the city of Baltimore, and while there studied Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Theology and German at Trinity College, and took a special course in Elocution from Bishop Cummings of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

In 1863 he left the pastorate of Israel Church, Washington, D. C., to take the chaplaincy of the First Regiment, U. S. colored troops, being the first colored Chaplain commissioned in the war. He was mustered out in September, 1865, to receive from President Johnson a commission as Chaplain in the regular army, but served in an official capacity in the Freedman's Bureau in Georgia, resigning in a short time to return to the ministry.

But his able brain was needed outside of pulpit limits in that disturbed, almost chaotic, period of American history, and for a time he engaged busily in the work of organizing schools for colored children. After the enaction of the Reconstruction Laws by Congress, he called the first Republican Convention in Georgia, and made many eloquent speeches in the interests of the party. An election to the Constitutional Convention was followed by two terms in the Georgia Legislature. During the administration of President Grant he received the appointment of postmaster at Macon, and was afterwards appointed Inspector of Customs and connected with the United States Secret Service Bureau.

In 1876 the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church made him General Manager of its Publishing House in Philadelphia, and four years later the same body in convention at St. Louis, Missouri, raised him to the Bishopric; the obligations of this office have caused him to travel extensively, and conferences have been organized by him in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Transvaal and Queenstown.

In the line of literary work Bishop Turner has placed his church under many and great obligations to his pen; he is the author of a little volume, “Methodist Polity,” and has compiled a hymn book and written a catechism, besides various lectures and orations; two newspapers, now authoritative organs in the church, were born in his fertile brain.

During his ministerial connection with the church, Bishop Turner claims to have received over one hundred and six thousand persons into church fellowship in this country, Canada, Africa, and West India Islands.

Bishop Turner has two sons, born of his first marriage to Miss Eliza Ann Peacher in 1856; in 1893 he was wedded to Mrs. Martha Elizabeth DeWitt, and upon her death, the widow of the late Bishop A. W. Wayman became his wife in 1900.

Bishop Turner is entitled to write a long list of letters after his name, as the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.; Wilberforce University that of D. D.; and from Liberia College came that of D.C. L.

 REV. THEODORE GOULD.

[REV. THEODORE GOULD.]

FIFTY years of unceasing activity in the service of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, have won for the Rev. Theodore Gould the reverent praise and willing admiration of the thousands that have been directed and led on the “highway of holiness” by his earnest life and words. The tranquil look on his venerable face tells eloquently that the peace that “passeth all understanding” has been his comfort and stay during the half-century of storm and trial.

Rev. Theodore Gould was born August 12, 1830, and waslicensed to preach in 1853; six years later receiving Deacon's Orders, consecration to the Presiding Eldership following in 1861.

With the exception of six years connection with the New Jersey circuits and a three years pastorate at Fleet Street A. M. E. Church, Brooklyn, the first twenty-seven years of his ministry were passed in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, a large portion of the time being given to different pastorates in Philadelphia.

In 1887 he was transferred to the New England Conference, then going from a three years pastorate in Boston to Bethel Church in New York City; returning to the Philadelphia Conference in 1892, to be eventually given the Presiding Eldership over the Philadelphia District in the bounds of the Philadelphia Conference.

It is the purpose of this veteran of the church to shortly publish a detailed account of his ministerial labors, which will be warmly welcomed by the church at large.

 REV. WILLIAM HAMMETT HUNTER, D.D.

[REV. WILLIAM HAMMETT HUNTER, D.D.]

THE DARK shadow of slavery but lightly touched the life of Dr. Hunter, as his father bought himself, wife and family, when William, the eldest child, was but a mere lad, and brought them North to find a home on free soil.

William was born in Raleigh, N. C., June 21, 1831. After coming North his father settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., and William obtained employment as smelter and refiner in a jewelry manufacturing establishment in Newark, N. J.

The young man identified himself with Catherine Street A. M. E. Church in Newark, and determined to become a minister; his first preaching was in the pulpits of the churches at Elizabethtown and Rahway. In 1854 Bishop Quinn assigned him to the Penningtonville Circuit, but he was afterwards transferred to the Baltimore Conference and given a charge at Georgetown, D. C.

Feeling that a more profitable experience would come from greater intellectual qualifications, he entered Wilberforce University, remaining there three years, but during that period was zealous in the interests of his beloved Zion, establishing preaching places, the present charge at Lebanon, Ohio, proving the soundness of his work.

His education completed, Dr. Hunter returned to the Baltimore Conference, and was sent to Water's Chapel, Baltimore; while filling this appointment he received from President Lincoln a commission as the first colored Chaplain in the United States army, an honor of which he is justly very proud. Faithfully and earnestly did he sow the Gospel truth in the camps of the “boys in blue.”

At the close of the war, Dr. Hunter was assigned by his Conference to important charges in Washington, D. C., Wilmington, N. C. and Pittsburg, Pa. For several years he superintended the business affairs of the Book Concern of the A. M. E. Church, being transferred at the expiration of his term to the New England Conference, and stationed at Boston, which pastorate was followed by one at New Bedford; but the Virginia Conference wanted him, and he was sent to the city of Richmond, going afterwards to other leading charges in the State, to eventually return to the Baltimore Conference, to be made, at the close of a successful pastorate at St. Pauls, D. C., a Presiding Elder. His life of active service in the church was finished with the termination of his Eldership, and he was placed on the list of superannuated ministers.

He lives in comfort in his beautiful home at Anacostia, D. C., rejoicing in the consciousness of a life well spent, and that his work will in the morning of eternity, bring him an exceeding “great reward.”

 REV. W. G. ALEXANDER, D.D.

[REV. W. G. ALEXANDER, D.D.]

AS A CHRISTMAS gift, Rev. W. G. Alexander D.D., came to his parents, Lewis and Celia Alexander, in 1856.

His early schooling was obtained in the public schools of the District of Columbia, after which, on the recommendation of Dr. Chas. B. Purvis, he entered Howard University where his ability and studious habits won much commendation from his able instructors.

He became a member of the Baltimore Conference during its session at Union Bethel (now Metropolitan) under Bishop J. M. Brown and was ordained Deacon and Elder by Bishop D. A. Payne, at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1883.

Dr. Alexander began his ministry with a zeal peculiarly his own, and with a determination to succeed, that has ripened into large upbuilding of the interests of the church, and the mental and social progression of his race.

He has with great success filled important appointments at West River and Frederick, Md., Portsmouth, Va., Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala., and Columbus, Atlanta and Macon, Ga. In connection with his spiritual work has been constant care and interest in the building and remodeling of churches and parsonages in his pastorates.

While stationed in Virginia, Governor Fitzhugh Lee honored him with the Curatorship of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, and his capable services won for him liberal commendation from those in high places. In 1889 he was selected by the Bishop's Council at Charleston, S. C., as Fraternal Messenger to the C. M. E. General Conference at Little Rock, Ark., and his address to that assembly brought him wide-spread praise and fame.

The presidency of Payne University sought him, but he declined the flattering position, preferring to work in the rank and file of the itineracy; and he was one of the distinguished representatives of his race at the Congress of Religions at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893. Four years later he was elected Dean of the Theological Department of Morris Brown College where he acceptably filled the Chair of Biblical Literature.

As a lecturer upon religious themes Dr. Alexander has but few equals in the field; and his eloquence has thrilled the students of Tuskeegee, Clark University, Spellman Seminary and other prominent educational centres in the land. To his forethought and interest in his race, the influential Southern Afro-American League, organized at Macon, Ga., owes its existence.

Among the numerous honors conferred upon him, none are more highly esteemed than the degree of Doctor of Divinity bestowed by Wilberforce University, and he is, at the present time, greatly interested in his duties as Dean of Turner Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.

Besides being liberally endowed with unusual literary ability that has brought several thoughtful publications from his pen, as “Living Words,” “The Negro in Commerce and Finance,” “The Model Sunday School,” Dr. Alexander possesses the art of musical composition, and was selected by Bishop D. A. Payne to write musical settings to three of the Bishop's original hymns.

Dr. Alexander not long ago celebrated the “silver” anniversary in his ministerial work.

 REV. REUBEN B. BROOKS, D. D.

[REV. REUBEN B. BROOKS, D. D.]

SIX YEARS before the birth of the subject of our sketch, December 18, 1860, in Leon County, Florida, his father, Daniel Brooks, bought his freedom, but his mother remained a slave until freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

Reuben learned to read at his Sunday school, as in those days much of the instruction imparted was similar to that of the weekday school, and he became very familiar with the contents of Webster's blue-backed Speller and Saunder's First Reader, and soon committed to memory the two hymns that were a fixed part of the regular exercises, “I want to be an angel,” and “Come thou fount of every blessing.”

At fourteen years of age he was forced to leave the public school and go to work on a farm, as his father was dead and he was the chief support of his mother; but Providence placed in his hands a catalogue of Cookman Institute, and he procured the books that made the course of study in that institution, and at night after the hard day's toil was over, would gloat over their intellectual treasure; thus, when he had reached his nineteenth year he was able to successfully pass an examination for school teacher, and until 1883, was employed in the public schools of his native State. The next four years were given to mercantile interests, after which he published a paper and opened a real estate office in Ocala, Florida, later, for one year, filling the office of Inspector of Customs at Key West.

Since 1882, the year of his conversion, he had been licensed as an Exhorter and Local Preacher, and in 1893 entered the itineracy of the A. M. E. Church, and has done excellent work in a number of pastorates of the Florida Conferences. His sermons have convinced hundreds of the beauty and truth of the Christian life, and his energy and persuasiveness have proved very effective in freeing churches from debt and strengthening new organizations. He is now serving his second year as pastor in Macedonia, Florida.

Rev. Brooks has for four years most satisfactorily filled the office of Secretary of the Florida Conference, and was elected Recording Secretary at the last General Conference. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was the gift of Morris Brown College.

Rev. Brooks, has been twice married. His first wife, Miss Nannie Smith, to whom he was united in 1880, dying in two years; in 1884, Miss Jennie Denkins became his wife, and with their little flock of five children, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks live happy and useful lives in their pretty home at Jacksonville, Florida.

 REV. DANIEL P. SEATON.

[REV. DANIEL P. SEATON.]

NO MAN IS more widely and favorably known in the African Methodist Episcopal Church than Rev. Daniel P. Seaton, who is as well versed in medical lore as he is in theology.

He was born of free parentage in Reistertown, Baltimore County, Maryland. By a private teacher he was taught to read and write. Leaving his native place when about fifteen years of age, he went to New York, where he obtained a common school training.

He was still quite young when he was licensed to exhort by the Quarterly Conference of the Vine Street A. M. E. Church in Buffalo, N. Y. But feeling a need of more education he took a high school course before joining the New York Conference.

His first appointment was at Morristown station, but Bishop A. W. Wayman soon transferred him to the Philadelphia Conference, stationing him at Wilmington, Delaware. In two years he was sent to Frankford Church, Philadelphia; while in this city, his over-mastering love for study led him to take a medical course at the American University of Medicine, winning a diploma in 1871.

A number of the most influential pastorates in the A. M. E. Church have been strengthened and prospered through the ministry of Rev. Seaton; among them are St. Stephens, Wilmington, N. C.; Union Bethel, Washington, D. C.; and Bethel Church, Vermont street, Indianapolis.

Dr. Seaton has traveled extensively both at home and abroad; visiting the great cities of continental Europe, and was the first colored tourist to the land of the Saviour's wonderful earthly life.

While in Europe he was several times invited to deliver addresses that electrified immense audiences with their thought and eloquence, and widely extended his fame as an orator.

In 1888 he had the honor of being sent as a delegate by the Baltimore Conference to the World's Sunday School Convention in London, England. At its close he indulged in a second glimpse at the manifold attractions of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium and Scotland. In '92 and '93 he was privileged to gratify a long-cherished desire, and circumnavigated the globe. He occupied the pastorate of the A. M. E. Church at Norfolk, Va., upon his return, going from there to Portsmouth. He is now Presiding Elder of Potomac District, Baltimore Conference.

In the many and varied duties of his life, he has found time to add to American literature a delightful book, entitled, “The Land of Promise.”

 REV. WINFIELD HENRI MIXON, D.D.

[REV. WINFIELD HENRI MIXON, D.D.]

FOR “PUSHING AND PULLING” along the work of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, no man has a greater reputation than the subject of this sketch. He is noted far and wide for his readiness at all times to help in all good work, and so strong is the faith of others in his ability to plan and execute, that he has but little time that he can call his own.

Dr. Mixon was born near Selma, Dallas county, Alabama, April 25, 1859; was converted in 1876, was licensed to preach the same year, and entered the traveling connection of the Conference that met at Huntsville, in December 1879.

As pastor he has served efficiently at Decatur, Pratt City, Brown Chapel, Montgomery, Columbiana and other important places; was twice Presiding Elder of Birmingham District, and is now busy with the cares of the same office in Camden District.

Dr. Mixon has won the regard of the church for the capability evinced by him in his work as Minister and Elder, and also for his success as an organizer.

Extensive travel in the United States and abroad has added wide culture to his art as an orator, and he ranks among the distinguished speakers of the A. M. E. Church.

For many years he has been one of the active trustees of Wilberforce University, and that institution is peculiarly dear to him, for in 1896 he wooed and won its lady principal, Miss E. L. Jackson, for his wife; but she, and two bright little sons, have preceded him to the home in heaven. From the same college came his degree of Doctor of Divinity.

The establishment of Payne University at Selma, Alabama, was largely due to his foresight and zealous interest. Devoted to the work of the Sunday School, he was honored with the presidency of the State Sunday School Convention of Alabama; and no man in that part of the country is more often called upon to help on all lines of Christian work than is Dr. Mixon. Yet his manifold duties, someway, leave him time for excellent literary achievements, as he is the historian of his State, and has published several valuable books, the last being a “History of the A. M. E. Church in Alabama.”

The Third Alabama Conference of his Church is indebted to him for its establishment, and he is planning the organization of a Fourth Conference.

Like many of his ministerial brethren, Dr. Mixon stands high in Masonic circles.

 REV. CARTER WRIGHT.

[REV. CARTER WRIGHT.]

REV. CARTER WRIGHT had reached his forty-third year before engaging in the active ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was born in slavery, in the city of New Orleans, July 30, 1833, but fortunately the chains of servitude were held by kind and considerate hands, and he escaped the terrible suffering that fell to the lot of many of his people in bondage.

In 1841, a change of ownership moved the residence of his parents and family to Lexington, Kentucky, and a little later they all spent several years with their master's household in Florence, Italy, where young Carter attended an English school.

Their return to the United States was in 1845, landing in Philadelphia; owing to the kind interest of some English people, his mother had provided herself with free papers, which proved a happy precaution, for in 1847 the odious Fugitive Slave bill was passed.

When he was about twenty-two years of age he decided to locate in New Haven, Connecticut, where he caught the New England love of the ocean, and made several voyages to the West Indies.

In 1860 he experienced the divine forgiveness of his sins, and joined Bethel Church in the beautiful “City of Elms,” and in three years was licensed to preach. But feeling it a sacred duty to aid his country in her dark hour of peril, the following January he enlisted in the 29th Connecticut Colored Volunteers, and passed through the fiery ordeal of eight hotly contested battles. At the close of the war he returned to New Haven and found employment at Yale College, where he remained until he identified himself with the itineracy of the A. M. E. Church by joining the New England Conference in 1874, at which time he was ordained as Deacon by Bishop Shorter and appointed to the pastorate of the A. M. E. Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

He afterwards preached in Portland, Me., again in Bridgeport, Conn., Cambridgeport, Mass., Providence, R.I., receiving the office of Elder from Bishop J. M. Brown in 1882. Transference by Bishop Cain to the Philadelphia Conference came in 1885, and for four years as Pastor and Presiding Elder he was busy in the Harrisburg District; he was then placed by Bishop H. M. Turner in the Pittsburg Conference, since which time he has filled some of the most important appointments in the jurisdiction of that assembly; the new church at Cannonsburg was begun during his pastorate in that place.

He is now the honored Presiding Elder of Washington District of the Pittsburg Conference, working with a zeal and enthusiam that may well be emulated by younger men.

 REV. W. J. LAWS, D. D.

[REV. W. J. LAWS, D. D.]

AS A PULPIT and platform orator, Rev. W. J. Laws has won much public commendation, and his services as a speaker have been in requisition on many important occasions.

He was born in Frederica, Delaware, February 18, 1847, but at an early age was taken to Philadelphia, where his childhood was fostered by the kindly influences of Bethel A. M. E. Church; at seventeen years of age the searching sermons of Bishop A. W. Wayman led to the acceptation of the Divine Redeemer as his personal Saviour and a connection with the membership of the A. M. E. Church in New York City, entering at once upon the duties of Choir Singer and Sunday School Teacher. Three years afterwards he was licensed to preach, but more thoroughly prepared himself for pulpit work by a four years course at Lincoln University, where the distinction of being the first President of the Philosophian Literary Society gained for him a gold medal.

After his graduation in 1871, Bishop J. P. Campbell, at the meeting of the New York Annual Conference, ordained him as Deacon, but he was immediately transferred to the New England Conference and stationed at Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was ordained to the Eldership by Bishop James A. Shorter. Appointments followed at New Haven, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and New Bedford, Massachusetts; when he was again transferred by Bishop John M. Brown to the Illinois Annual Conference, receiving an assignment to Bethel Church, Chicago, where he remained four years. His itineracy then embraced the churches at Galesburg, Illinois; Keokuk and Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis. He stayed but a few months in the last named city, as Bishop Wayman sent him to St. James Church, Dallas, Texas; going after the close of a successful five years pastorate to Corsicana, and thence to the Metropolitan Church at Austin, Texas.

Dr. Laws has four times represented his Church at the General Conference, and twice has the degree of Doctor of Divinity been conferred upon him, the last time by Guadaloupe College, Sequin, Texas.

He had the honor of delivering the address of welcome at the Republican National Convention at Chicago, in 1884.

More than once the name of Dr. Laws has been mentioned in connection with the Bishop's office, but his extreme conservatism is said to bar his way to ecclesiastical preferment.

He is now President of Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas.

 REV. JOHN F. HAMILTON.

[REV. JOHN F. HAMILTON.]

OVERSHADOWED by the tragic sadness of slavery the childhood of Rev. John F. Hamilton was passed. His grandparents, originally free people in Africa, had been trapped to this country to undergo the horrors of slave-servitude in Maryland, where in 1846 the subject of this sketch was born.

He was but a few months old when an older brother and sister lost their lives in a fire that destroyed “the Quarters,” and his mother was scarred and maimed for life in the heroic rescue of her infant son.

His parents belonged to different masters, and the father was only permitted to spend three weeks out of the year with his family; none of her children were ever sold away from the mother, for she grimly told her master, Richard Bowie, “The day you sell one of my children, that day I cease working for you.”

She was a woman of strong character, deeply religious, and is numbered among the founders of the Bethel A. M. E. Church, in Baltimore. She lived to see her son a prominent and honored minister in the church so dear to her, and on her death-bed sent him the characteristic message, “Tell John I could not wait; and tell him to meet me in heaven.”

When John was about fifteen years of age, he was hired out to W. R. S. Giddings, of Baltimore, who one morning started to his farm accompanied by the boy; suddenly changing his mind, he returned to the city, saying that they would go tomorrow. But the free life of his ancestors seemed, all at once, to rush through the veins of the lad, and he resolved to be “free” or die; when night fell he slipped into a box car with a few ginger cakes in his pocket, and in three days was a “wandering Hamite” in Pittsburg, from which place he went to Guernsey County, Ohio, where he made his home.

He does not remember how he learned his letters; but Ray's Intellectual Arithmetic and Wright's Analytical Orthography fell into his hands, which were placed along with his Bible, making a library that was studied at odd moments until literally their contents became his mental possession.

In July, 1864, he entered the Union army (in which his father lost his life as a soldier) and was discharged August, 1865, with badly impaired health. In the Fall of '72 his name was enrolled as a student of Wilberforce University, with the small capital of $35, in his possession, but the kindness of one of his teachers enabled him to remain until the close of the school year. In September he began teaching, and his ability placed him at the head of the colored school in Bellaire, Ohio. But in little over a year he entered upon his life work as a Minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, and was ordained as Deacon, at Bellaire, in December, 1878, by Bishop Wayman. He joined the North Ohio African Conference, but upon the advice of Bishop Campbell, again took up the profession of teaching, retaining it until assigned to the charge at Warren Mission, which meant the giving up of an income of $78 a month for the meagre salary of $86 a year; but he quaintly says it was a change “from commotion to quiet.”

Rev. Hamilton afterwards occupied as pastor, pulpits in Youngstown Circuit, and in 1890 was made Presiding Elder of Cleveland District. In April, 1893, while in charge of the church at Delaware, he broke down from nervous exhaustion, and the following year was superannuated.

He has twice been elected a Trustee of Wilberforce University, but the honor that he prizes next to his call to the ministry was being asked to write and read the Memoirs of Bishops Armstrong and Payne, and Reverends March and Stewart at the Annual Conference in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1894.

Rev. Hamilton was married January 25, 1865, to Miss Nancy M. Ransom, of Washington, Ohio. Their marriage was childless, but two adopted daughters, Miss Mary B. Worton, and Mrs. Nettie A. Kirk, wife of the Secretary of Paul Quinn College, have blessed their lives with tenderest love and care.

Rev. Hamilton is, on account of ill health, a superannuate of the North Ohio Conference and is very comfortably located at Delaware, Ohio.

 REV. GEORGE C. SAMPSON.

[REV. GEORGE C. SAMPSON.]

THE SUBJECT of this sketch is an honored permanent trustee of Wilberforce University, and for thirty-six years has been one of the most earnest of the many devoted ministers of the A. M. E. Church.

He was born at Hamilton, O., February 16, 1846, and in his twentieth year consecrated himself in loving service to God as a preacher of His word. Three years were devoted to study at Adrian College, Michigan, and while there, in December, 1869, he was licensed to preach.

Upon his return to his home the following year, he increased his mental strength and financial support by two years of teaching in the schools of Falmouth and Paris, Kentucky; but the death of his father, in 1872, compelled a return to his home, and he determined to abandon the school-room for the itinerant service of the Church, and in April joined the Ohio Conference at Zanesville.

His first appointment was Bridgewater Circuit, and during this pastorate he added to his store of theological tenets by attending the Presbyterian Western Theological Seminary.

The ministerial work of Rev. Sampson has been chiefly in northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. He is now pastor of Allen Chapel, Indianapolis, Indiana. His unfailing interest in educational matters is appropriately recognized in his retention, for a number of consecutive years, on the Board of Education of the First Educational District.

Rev. Sampson was a delegate to General Conference in 1884.

REV. ISAAC M. BURGAN, D.D.

[REV. ISAAC M. BURGAN, D.D.]

OCTOBER 6th, 1848, is the date of the birth of the subject of this sketch, which took place near Marion, North Carolina. There the first years of his childhood were passed, and he was still a lad when he went to Tennessee, where he entered the free schools of the State.

When he was twenty-one years of age, he studied for some months at a select school in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after which several years were spent in the public schools of Evansville, Indiana, and the State Normal at Terre Haute. He taught his first school in 1875 at Lost Creek, near Terre Haute.

Holding a membership in the A. M. E. Church at Evansville, Indiana, in 1876 he was licensed to exhort, and the following year received a preacher's license and was ordained to Deacon's Orders by Bishop J. A. Shorter, and admitted into the connection of the Indiana Conference at New Albany.

Conscious of a need for wider reading in theology, in 1878 he matriculated at Wilberforce University, and for five years was a close student, but yet found time to fill many pulpit appointments.

Finishing the course in 1883, fifteen days after his graduation he was called to the Presidency of Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas, which place was most acceptably filled by him for eight years, when he resigned to return to the itineracy of the Church so dear to his heart.

His first charge was at Oakland, California, going from thence to Richmond, Indiana, afterwards to Vincennes in the same State.

But in 1896 he was again asked to fill the President's Chair of Paul Quinn College and acceptation seemed an imperative duty, where he served until 1904 as its hard-working head, his strong mentality inciting the pupils to strenuous intellectual labor, his sympathetic nature winning their confidence and his firm will encouraging their faith in themselves and the future. He was sent by the college as Ministerial Delegate to the General Conference of 1900.

The degree of Doctor of Divinity was received by him in 1884, from Philander Smith College, at Little Rock, Arkansas.

 BISHOP ABRAHAM GRANT.

[BISHOP ABRAHAM GRANT.]

FOR SEVENTEEN years Bishop Abraham Grant has been among those honored with the highest ecclesiastical authority that it is in the power of his church to bestow.

He was born August 25, 1848, near Lake City, Florida, and came into possession of the arts of reading and writing before the outbreak of the Civil War; he gladly took advantage of every opportunity of adding to his store of knowledge, attending the missionary schools after their establishment, and was enrolled as a pupil in the night school at Cookman Institute.

In October 1868, while present at a camp meeting at Lake City, he was led to accept Christ as a personal Saviour, and joined the A. M. E. Church at Jacksonville, Florida, taking up gladly the duties of steward and class-leader that came to him.

A license to preach was granted him in April 1873, and the following December he was ordained to Deacon's Orders, and in March, 1876, set apart as Elder. During his residence in Jacksonville he received the appointment of Inspector of Customs, and also served as County Commissioner of Duval County.

In 1878 he was transferred to Texas, and assigned pastorates at San Antonio and Austin; he was then made Presiding Elder and elected Vice President of the Board of Trustees of Paul Quinn College.

His elevation to the Bishopric came in May 1888, and the Ninth, Sixth, Seventh, First and Seventh Districts have been under his ecclesiastical jurisdiction; the first time the Seventh District included the State of Florida, the second time South Carolina was taken within its boundaries.

Bishop Grant's official duties have carried him across the seas; twice he has been in Europe and he has presided over Conferences at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Monrovia, Liberia, West Coast Africa.

His shoulders have been thought broad enough to carry other weighty burdens, so he was for years the Presiding Officer of the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University; for twelve years he was at the head of the Church Extension Board of the A. M. E. Church, and for a time one-third as long was President of the Publication Board of the A. M. E. Church (Philadelphia) and President of the Board of Trustees of Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia; for three years he had the casting vote of the Board of Trustees of Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina, and Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Florida.

In April, 1900, he was a member of the Ecumenical Missionary Conference held at New York City, and in October of the following year was one of the Ecumenical Council Methodist Conference, at Washington, D. C.

He is now in charge of the Fifth Episcopal District, which includes Missouri, Kansas and Colorado Conferences.

 REV. GEORGE W. NICHOLSON, D.D.

[REV. GEORGE W. NICHOLSON, D.D.]

THE father of the subject of this sketch was for many years a minister in the Baltimore Conference of the A. M. E. Church; and his son is nobly wearing the mantle of consecrated service that fell from the older servant of the Church at his translation to a better world.

Rev. George W. Nicholson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, April 24, 1851. Converted in his sixteenth year, he was early impressed with his duty to preach the gospel of Christ, but he continued teaching, (for which work he was prepared at the Howard Normal School in Baltimore,) for thirteen years, combining it with his first ministerial duties, for since 1878 he was connected with the Baltimore Conference as local preacher.

In 1879 his Conference elected him to a scholarship at Wilberforce University, where he studied until his graduation in 1883, with the degree of B.D. While pursuing his studies at this institution, he received from Bishop Shorter the temporary appointment to succeed Elder (now Bishop) Arnett at St. Paul A. M. E. Church, Columbus, Ohio, the latter having been elected Financial Secretary of the A.M. E. Church. Upon the return of Rev. Nicholson to the school, Bishop Shorter offered him the pastorate of Holy Trinity A. M. E. Church at Wilberforce.

His collegiate course completed, he was transferred by Bishop Payne to the Virginia Conference, but at the close of eight years itineracy in its territory, was again transferred to the Baltimore Conference, and for five years performed the duties of Presiding Elder in his home District.

In 1900, Payne Theological Institute conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The same year he was elected a Delegate to the General Conference, and served as a Member of its Educational Board. At this time he is serving a most successful pastorate in the Baltimore Conference.

 PROF. H. T. KEALING.

[PROF. H. T. KEALING.]

THE VERY able management of the A. M. E. Church Review for the past nine years marks the editor, the subject of this sketch, as one of the ablest and most influential journalists of the country.

He is a Texas man, born in the capital of the State, April 1, 1859. His educational attainments are wide, starting with the public schools and embracing a course at Straight University, New Orleans, La., with a diploma won at Tabor College, Tabor, Iowa, in 1881.

His work as teacher was begun immediately after the completion of his college career, starting in the public schools of Waco, Texas; which place he resigned to accept the position of First Principal in Paul Quinn College, where he taught for three years and was then made Assistant Principal of the Colored State Normal School at Prairie View, Texas, going at the end of three years diligent toil to Austin, in which city he was eventually promoted from Principal of the Grammar School to that of the High School, reaching at last the position of Supervisor of all the Colored Schools. He held this responsible place until called to take the Presidency of Paul Quinn College. The General Conference in 1896 called him to the Editorial Management of the A. M. E. Church Review, and the president's chair was exchanged for the “quill and scissors,” a work for which he is most eminently qualified, both by education and natural gifts.

Professor Kealing is also widely recognized as a speaker of unusual force and charm, and is always enthusiastically greeted at large educational assemblies and religious convocations. His speech at the meeting of the National Educational Association in Topeka, Kansas, when in behalf of Texas he responded to the address of welcome, will never be forgotten by the hearers in that great convention.

He has twice been elected President of the Texas State Teachers' Association, and had the honor of being the only colored member of the World's Fair Educational Committee in 1893.

In 1901 he was sent as delegate to the Ecumenical Conference at London, England, and with Bishop Tanner, spoke in behalf of the A. M. E. Church at that wonderful gathering. He was solicited to lecture in England, but home obligations forbade an acceptance of the tempting offer. The following year he carried fraternal greetings from the Bishops' Council of the A.M.E. Church to the General Conference of the M. E. Church South, sitting in Dallas, Texas.

 REV. W. B. PEARSON.

[REV. W. B. PEARSON.]

LIKE SAMUEL of old, the subject of this sketch was consecrated by his pious parents, in infancy, to the service of the Lord.

He is a son of the tropics, having been born on the Island of Jamaica, West Indies, in 1865. At the age of seven years he was sent to the district pay school, and while a little child gave his heart into the keeping of his Heavenly Father, and began to serve Him before his tender feet had been wounded in the paths of sin.

In school he proved an apt scholar, and was especially distinguished by his attainments in mathematics and Biblical knowledge, and when he had reached his twelfth year he stood at the head of his Latin class.

Entering Calabar College he very successfully passed the Cambridge (England) examinations, and studied for two years in that Institution; afterward he completed his schooling at Paddington, London, England, and won merited honor for himself in that great school.

Two years of travel on the continent and in Africa followed, after which he returned to Jamaica, where he married Miss Frances Gale, daughter of the sainted Adam Gale.

Coming to the United States, he connected himself with the New England Conference, but at the last meeting of that church-body he was given the arduous and responsible position of Superintendent of Missions of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Leaward Islands.

Rev. Pearson takes high rank among his clerical brethren as a fearless and logical speaker, and is also recognized as possessing strong ability as a financier.

REV. JOSHUA A. BROCKETT.

[REV. JOSHUA A. BROCKETT.]

REVEREND Joshua A. Brockett, the General Secretary of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Statistical Bureau of Negro Trades, Industries and Professions, organized at the last General Conference in Chicago, was born in 1861, in Currituck County, North Carolina. His school opportunities being extremely limited, the kindness of friends opened to him the doors of the best schools in New England where he obtained a liberal education, finishing at the Boston School of Oratory.

He began his christian work as Assistant Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, from which position he went to the itineracy of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; first, however, filling for some time the responsible positions of Assistant Principal of the North Carolina State Normal School, and the Presidency of the Building and Trades College, Southern Pines, before engaging in the direct work of the ministry.

As Pastor and Presiding Elder, Rev. Brockett has held numerous important charges in Virginia and Alabama, and was taken from a Presiding Elder's appointment in the last named State to occupy the Chair of Theology and Elocution in Turner Theological Seminary, Morris Brown College. For five years he lectured and taught with dignity and efficiency, and upon his resignation of the professorship was made Presiding Elder in the Georgia Annual Conference, an appointment held by him at the present time.

The fame of Rev. Brockett as a pulpit and platform orator is far wider than the limitations of his work, and he is classed among the successful and popular men of his race. He is an enthusiast in the temperance cause, and in his earlier days, while a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was associated with Rev. Francis Peabody of Harvard University, and other eminent men, on the executive committee for the prohibition work.

His family consists of his wife, five daughters and one son, and the mutual love existing makes it an ideal home.

 REV. ANDREW HENRY HILL.

[REV. ANDREW HENRY HILL.]

THOUGH he has served but sixteen years in the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Andrew Henry Hill, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, has established a reputation for earnest, enthusiastic, successful work for his Saviour.

He was born June 7, 1870 at Brintwood, Tennessee, and was only two years of age when his father moved to Arkansas, where he had the good fortune to be brought up on a farm and receive an elementary education in the public schools.

Converted at the tender age of twelve, the Ministry at once became the purpose of his life, and in 1889 license to preach was given him; but desiring to increase his intellectual attainments before engaging actively in ministerial work, he entered Branch Normal College, at Pine Bluff, and was afterwards sent by the South and East Arkansas Conferences for three years of study at Wilberforce University. Returning to his native State he began his itineracy at Fort Smith, being appointed to the second largest Colored Methodist Congregation in Arkansas.

Rev. Hill is greatly beloved by his Church, and a future of wide usefulness in the ministry and of honor to his race lies before him. He is now President of Shorter College, Little Rock, Arkansas.

 REV. DAVID F. CALIMAN.

[REV. DAVID F. CALIMAN.]

REVEREND David F. Caliman possesses the gift considered so desirable by the psalmist of old, that of “the pen of a ready writer,” as eight prizes for excellence of thought and expression have fallen to him in literary contests in Conference societies.

He is an Ohioian by birth, his native place being the Lett Settlement, in Muskingum County, where he was born July 11, 1853. His early life was passed in working on a farm through the summers, and attending district school during the winter months; at the age of nineteen he had the privilege of four months study in the public schools of Zanesville, Ohio, after which he taught for nine years in the schools at Middleport, Barnesville and Troy.

His conversion took place at Middleport, Ohio, in 1873; in 1881 he was licensed to preach by Dr. W. J. Johnson, and two years afterwards joined the North Ohio Conference, at Lebanon, and did effective pastoral work at Marysville, Mt. Vernon and Delaware, and further qualified himself for his profession by taking a three years course at the Ohio Wesleyan University, during which time he was ordained Deacon and Elder.

Bishop Payne, in 1891, transferred him to the Pittsburgh Conference, and for four years he preached at Chartiers Street Church, Allegheny, Pa., with great success; the conversion of one hundred souls blessed his pastorate at Williamsport, at the close of which, as Presiding Elder of Allegheny District, he labored hard, and with happy results for the advancement of religious interests in his appointed field.

Rev. Caliman is noted as a singer of unusual sweetness, a magnetic speaker and a fearless expounder of Bible truths. He was sent to the General Conference at Columbus, Ohio, and for five years held the Chief Secretaryship of the Pittsburgh Conference. He is now located at Washington, Pa., where he has largely increased the membership of his charge and aroused a special interest in Church Missions.

 REV. FRANCIS B. CAROLINA.

[REV. FRANCIS B. CAROLINA.]

THE LIFE work of the subject of this sketch, who is at present Presiding Elder over Forest City District of the South Arkansas Conference, has been one of persistent agressiveness against the enemies of righteousness.

His was born at Columbia, South Carolina, December 13, 1837. In 1885 he was received into the Methodist Church South. In 1866 his name was placed among the charter members of the A.M.E. Church organized at Columbia by Bishop R. H. Cain; and four years afterward, Rev. Thomas W. Long, of Florida, licensed him to preach and assigned him to Gainesville Mission, and in December, 1870, he was welcomed into the Florida Conference. A church was built at Gainesville and Archer during this pastorate.

He was then stationed for several years at Lake City Circuit, and while there was elected City Alderman, receiving every vote cast by both parties. During the winter of 1873-4, he served as Chaplain of the State Legislature, and for twelve months was Government Tax Assessor.

He preached next at Palatka, Florida, where he erected a church and was again made City Alderman. In 1878 he received the appointment of Presiding Elder by Bishop J. P. Campbell to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Elder John W. Wyatt; but the following year, by request of Bishop T. M. D. Ward, he was transferred to the South Arkansas Conference, in whose jurisdiction he served as Pastor and Elder.

In 1882 he was connected with the North Mississippi Conference, but in two years was again a member of the Arkansas body; later came transference to the North Louisiana Conference where he remained one year, but in 1892 was back again in Arkansas, a member of the South Arkansas Conference, with which he is still connected as Presiding Elder, having served in that relation the Districts of Clarendon, Monticello, Pine Bluff, Helena, Clarendon, and is now over Forest City District.

Rev. Carolina, in 1884, was a Delegate to the Ecumenical Conference at Baltimore, Maryland, and has four times been sent to the General Conferences,—Atlanta, Indianapolis, Wilmington and Chicago.

 HON. C. L. MAXWELL.

[HON. C. L. MAXWELL.]

BUT FEW MEN of his race have attained the honor and high position that life has brought to the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Maxwell is an Ohioian by birth, his childhood's home being in Fayette County, where he received the splendid out-door training under the benediction of nature that comes to boys who live on a farm. By studious application to his books he prepared himself for teaching, and in his nineteenth year began work in the school-room where he was eminently successful. The legal profession was more alluring, and after taking a law course at Wilberforce University, and before he had reached his twenty-second year he was a full-fledged attorney in Xenia, Ohio.

But clients did not fill his pockets with the gold that was a fair equivalent for thoughtful advice as rapidly as desired, so he again went to teaching, accepting the Principalship of the Pleasant Street School in Springfield, Ohio, where he won much praise as an instructor and disciplinarian during four years of faithful work. But his heart was with his law books, and after prospecting through the South, he concluded that, after all, Xenia was the place for his ambition and labor.

It proved a happy decision. This time fortune smiled upon the young barrister, and a prosperous business was built up by his careful attention and thorough understanding of the needs of his clients. His popularity with the citizenship of the place elected him to the position of City Clerk which he held for several terms. He was also honored with the Grand Worthy Secretaryship of Ohio Masons and appointed Recorder of Xenia Commandery, Knights Templars.

Much interested in national politics, Mr. Maxwell has been a prominent figure among Ohio politicians, and was a member of the National Republican Convention that met at Chicago. For his ardent party devotion and fealty to principle, President Harrison made him Consul General to San Domingo, which high official trust he held until the Fall of 1904, his conduct of the affairs of his important station meeting the unqualified approbation of the State Department and his host of friends.

Mr. Maxwell is distinguished in bearing, social in manner, and open-hearted to his friends. His domestic relations are most happy and fortunate, his wife, who was Miss Cousins, of Xenia, gracing his beautiful home with culture of mind and manner, and kindliness of heart. Their son and daughter have been finely educated, and the former now holds the position of Secretary to the Consul General who succeeded his father at San Domingo.

Mr. Maxwell is a staunch Methodist, and serves on the Official Board of St. John's A. M. E. Church, Xenia. He was a delegate to the General Conference in 1892.

Mr. Maxwell is and has been for years Dean of the Law Department at Wilberforce University.

 BISHOP CHARLES SPENCER SMITH.

[BISHOP CHARLES SPENCER SMITH.]

A NATIVE of Canada, where he was born at Colborne, March 16, 1852, Bishop Charles Spencer Smith stands as one of the strongest and most influential men in the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His father was Commissary Sergeant of a colored regiment in the English army and saw active service during the Mackenzie rebellion of 1837.

Bishop Smith is pre-eminently a self-made man. His scholastic privileges were limited to the primary education obtained in his boyhood in the school at Bowmanville, Canada; but natural ability, keen observation and extensive reading united with rare spiritual qualities, have richly fitted him for the exalted station that is his in the Church to-day.

He began his life-work as a school teacher. But his purpose was to enter the ministry, and he left the Anglican Church in which he had been baptized, and in August 1872, was licensed as a Local Preacher of the A. M. E. Church. Two years afterward he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Alabama Legislature.

In August, 1882, he founded the great Sunday School Union of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and for eighteen years the onerous duties of Secretary and Treasurer of the organization were his special care; to these labors were added the Publishing of all the Sunday School Literature used by the A. M. E. Church.

Bishop Smith was a Delegate to the Second and Third Ecumenical Councils of the Church, and in 1894 he visited the west and south-west coasts of Africa, the terminal point being St. Paul de Loanda; some months afterward he enjoyed a cruise to the West Indies, stopping at Cuba, San Domingo and Hayti.

The General Conference in session at Columbus, Ohio, in 1900, elected him to a Bishop's Chair, and placed him in charge of the Twelfth Episcopal District comprising the Conferences of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Hayti, San Domingo, Windward Islands, British Guiana and Cuba; the following year while attending the Third Methodist Ecumenical Conference at London, England, he visited Sheffield and Hull as one of the speakers at the platform meetings held in those cities.

In December, 1903, Bishop Smith was specially honored in being chosen as Messenger from the Church at Large, to bear the greetings and felicitations of that great body to the Republic of Hayti on the celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of its Independence, January 1st, 1904.

Bishop Smith has given the impressions and reflections of his Oriental journeyings in a charming volume, entitled “Glimpses of Africa's West and South-West Coast.” He is known throughout his people for his devotion to all that tends to their welfare and elevation. Few have studied the many-sided race question with more fairness and intelligence.

Mrs. Lucy Thurman, an older sister of the Bishop, is prominent in the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and in 1895 visited England as the guest of Lady Somerset.

 WILLIAM BALDWIN HIGHGATE.

[WILLIAM BALDWIN HIGHGATE.]

THE YOUNGEST in a family of six children, William Baldwin Highgate, one of the leading teachers of his race, was born at Syracuse, New York, on the tenth day of March, 1854.

He had started finely in the public schools of his native city, but when he was twelve years of age his parents moved to Philadelphia; his schooling there was brief, as in 1867 he went to Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, where he worked for two years before beginning his collegiate course. He was graduated in 1873, standing fifth in a class of eighteen. It is one of the pleasant remembrances of those days that Bishop Dickerson and Dr. W. Decker Johnson were among his college mates.

His very successful career as teacher began in Oxford, Mississippi; but a position in the State Recorder's office at Yazoo City, followed by editorial responsibility on the Yazoo City Herald, drew him away from the teacher's desk for several years until he was persuaded to accept the Presidency of the State Normal School at Holly Springs, where for thirteen years his life and precepts were the inspiration of the ambitious students.

In 1886 he went as instructor for one year to the school at Kansas City, Missouri, going then for three years of faithful toil in the schools at Warrensburg, in which city he secured the erection of a large school building for his pupils; then came four years service in the schools at Carrollton. During his residence in Carrollton he united with the A. M. E. Church and began at once to take an active interest in all departments of Christian work.

For the past ten years Professor Highgate has been the successful and greatly esteemed Principal of the Colored School at Saint Charles, Missouri, and is unwearying in his endeavors to instill high purposes of life and thought in the hearts and minds of his pupils.

 REV. OTHO ELI JONES, D.D.