Iliad An Autobiography with Reiniiiiiscences of the Last and Present 9 9 Century ? 9 W. GIBBS 3 5 JLaf * Consul to Madagascar W/V^ an Introduction by BOOKER T. WASHINGTON WARREN GREGORY- 1864-1927 WARREN GREGORY, a native Califbrnian, received the A.B. degree at the University of California with the Class of 1887. He was graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1890, and for 37 years practiced law in San Francisco. He served as president of the Alumni Association and as a Regent of the University of Cali fornia from 1919 to 1922. This book was purchased from the income of a memorial fund established by his family. 913a GIBBS, MIFFLIN WISTER. Shadow and Light. An Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century. 372 pp. Illus. 12mo, cloth. Washington, 1902. $75.00 The above work is a very scarce and uncommon book by an educated Negro who had many varied experiences in California and the Pacific Northwest. Born in Phila delphia, Gibbs was influenced at an early age by Frederic Douglas for whom he lec- ired and carried on propaganda work for the betterment of the Negro. He later went jverland to California in the gold rush, arriving in San Francisco in Sept., 1850. He first worked as a carpenter and then founded the firm of Lester and Gibbs, dealer in fine boots and shoes. In 1851, Gibbs, with Jonas P. Townsend and W. W. Newby, pub lished in the "Alta California," a public protest against being disfranchised and denied their right of oath. It was the first pronouncement of the colored people of the state of California. The protest caused much excitement at the time. Gibbs later published the first periodical in the state, "The Mirror of the Times," which advocated equal rights. In 1865, when gold was discovered on the Fraser River, he went there with a stock of goods. He resided in Victoria, B. C., for several years, being elected to the Common Council there in 1866. He later went to Florida, was appointed U. S. Consul to Madagascar; and in 1872 settled down to the practice of law in Little Rock, Ark., where he became a municipal judge. The above little work is an important contribu tion to the times and is seldom offered. SHADOW AND LIGHT AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY WITH REMINISCENCES OF THE LAST AND PRESENT CENTURY. MIFFLIN WISTAR GIBBS WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON A Fatherless Boy, Carpenter and Contractor, Anti-Slavery Lecturer, Merchant, Railroad Builder, Superintendent of Mine, Attorney-at-Law, County Attorney, Municipal Judge Register of United States Lands, Receiver of Public Monies for U. S , United States Consul to Madagascar Prominent Race Leaders, etc. WASHINGTON, D. C. 1902. COPYRIGHT, 1902. PREFACE. During the late years abroad, while read ing the biographies of distinguished men who had been benefactors, the thought oc curred that I had had a varied career, though not as fruitful or as deserving of re nown as these characters, and differing as to status and aim. Yet the portrayal might be of benefit to- those who, eager for ad vancement, are willing to be laborious stu dents to attain worthy ends. I have aimed to give an added interest to the narrative by embellishing its pages with portraits of men who have gained dis tinction in various fields, who need only to be seen to present the career of those now living as worthy models, and the record of the dead, who left the world the better for having lived. To enjoy a life prominent and prolonged is a desire as natural as worthy, and there have been those who sought to extend its duration by nostrums and drinking-waters said to bestow the vir tue of "perpetual life." But if "to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die," to be worthy of such memorial we must have done or said something that blessed the living or benefited coming generations. Hence autobiography is the record, for "books are as tombstones made by the liv- iv PREFACE. ing, but destined soon to remind us of the dead." Trusting that any absence of literary merit will not impair the author's cher ished design to "impart a moral," should he fail to "adorn a tale." Little Rock, Ark., January, 1902. INTRODUCTION. By BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. It is seldom that one man, even if he has lived as long as Judge M. W. Gibbs is able to record his impressions of so many widely separated parts of the earth's sur face as Judge Gibbs can, or to recall per sonal experiences in so many important oc currences. Born in Philadelphia, and living there when that city almost on the border line between slavery and freedom \vas the scene of some of the most stirring incidents in the abolition agitation, he was able as a free colored youth, going to Maryland to work, to see and judge of the condition of the slaves in that State. Some of the most dramatic operations of the famous "Under ground Railroad" came under his personal observation. He enjoyed the rare privilege of being associated in labor for the race with that man of sainted memory, the Hon. Frederick Douglass. He met and heard many of the most notable men and women who labored to secure the freedom of the Negro. As a resident of_.Califo:mia in the exciting years which immediately followed the discovery of gold, he watched the devel opment of lawlessness there and its results. A few vears later he went to British Colum- VI INTRODUCTION, bia to live, when that colony was practical ly nu unknown country. Returning to the United States, he was a witness to the ex citing events connected with the years of Reconstruction in Florida, and an active participant in the events of that period in the State of Arkansas. At one time and another he has met many of the men who have been prominent in the direction of the affairs of both the great political parties of the country. In more recent years he has been able to see something of life in Europe, and in his official capacity as United States Consul to Tamatave, Mada gascar, adjoining Africa, has resided for some time in that far-off and strange land. It would be difficult for any man who has had all these experiences not to be en tertaining when he tells of them. Judge Gibbs has written an interesting book. Interspersed with the author's recollec tions and descriptions are various conclu sions, as when he says: "Labor to make yourself as indispensable as possible in all your relations with the dominant race, and color will cut less figure in your up ward grade." "Vice is ever destructive; ignorance ever a victim, and poverty ever defenseless." "Only as we increase in property will our political barometer rise." It is significant to find one who has seen so much of the world as Judge Gibbs has, Diving, as lie does: "With travel some- \\liaf cxiciisivc and diversified, and with residence in Iropirai latitudes of Negro INTRODUCTION. vii origin, I have a decided conviction, despite the crucial test to which he has been sub jected in the past, and the present disad vantages under which he labors, that no where is the promise along all the lines of opportunity brighter for the American Ne gro than here in the land of his nativity." I bespeak for the book a careful reading by those who are interested in the history of the Negro in America, and in his present and future. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I 3 Parents, School and Teacher Foundation of the Negroes' Mechanical Knowledge First Brick A. M. E. Church Bishop Allen Olive Cemetery Harriet Smith Home "Under ground Railroad" Incidents on the Road- William and Ellen Craft William Box Brown. CHAPTER II 15 Nat Turner's Insurrection Experience on a Maryland Plantation First Street Cars in Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Meetings Amus ing Incidents Opposition of Negro Churches Kossuth Celebration, and the Unwelcome Guest CHAPTER III 20 Cinguez, the Hero of Arniistead Captives The Threshold of Man's Estate My First Lectur ing Tour with Frederic Douglass His "Life and Times" Pen Picture of George William Curtis of Ante-Bellum Conditions Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott, and Frances E. Harper, a Noble Band .of Women "Go Do Some Great Thing" Journey to California Incidents at Panama. CHAPTER IV 40 Arrival at San Francisco Getting Domiciled and Seeking Work Strike of White Em ployees Lester & Gibbs, Importers As saulted in Our Store First Protest from the Colored Men of California Poll Tax. CHAPTER V 51 "Vigilance Committee" and Lynch Law at "Fort Gunny" Murder of James King, of Wil liamA Paradox to Present Conditions. CHAPTER VI. 59. ( ! old Discovery in British Columbia Incidents on Shipboard and Arrival at Victoria Na tional Unrest in 1859 "Irrepressible Conflict" Garrison and Douglass Harriet Beecher CONTENTS. PAGE Stowe and Frances Ellen Harper-John Brown of Harper's Ferry-"Fugitive Slave Law - Flight to Canada. President-Rebellion Inaug- urated-Success of the Union Army-Re-Elec- tion of Lincoln-Bravery and Endurance of Negro Soldiers Assassination of Lincoln Lynching Denounced by Southern Governors and Statesmen-Words of Wisdom from St. Pierre de Couberton. CHAPTER VIII . My First Entry Into Political Life Intricacies of the Ballot Number of Negro Schools, Pupils and Amount of School Property in 1898 Amendment to Constitution and Interview with Vice-President Schuyler Colfax at Vic toria, B. C. William Lloyd Garrison, Jr., and James Russell Lowell on the Right to Vote. CHAPTER IX. . . . '..' - Philip A. Bell, a Veteran Editor of the "Negro Press" British Columbia, Its Early History, Efforts for Annexation to the United States- Meeting with Lady Franklin, Widow of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic Explorer, in 1859 Union of British Columbia with the Dominion of Canada in 1868, the Political Issue Queen Charlotte Island Anthracite Coal Company- Director, Contractor and Shipper of First Cargo of Anthracite Coal on the Pacific Coast Indians and Their Peculiarities. CHAPTER X 10? An Incident of Peril My Return to the United States in 1869 Thoughts and Feelings En Route Entered Oberlin Law College and Graduated Visit to my Brother, J. C. Gibbs, Secretary of State of Florida A Delegate to the National Convention of Colored Men at Charleston, S. C. "Gratitude Expensive" The Trend of Republican Leaders Contribution of Southern White People for Negro Education- Views of a Leading Democrat. CHAPTER XI 12: President of National Convention at Nashville, Tenn., in 1876 Pen and Ink Sketch by H. V. Redfield of "Cincinnati Commercial" Colored Leaders Desire to Fraternize for Race Protec- CONTENTS. xi PAGE tion William H. Grey, H. B. Robinson, and J. IT. Johnson, of Arkansas, Leaders and Planters My Arrival at Little Rock, May, 1871 Reading of Local Statutes in the Law Office of Benjamin & Barnes "Wheeler & Gibbs," Attorneys-at-Law. CHAPTER XII 134 Politics and Politicians Disruption of the Re publicans in Arkansas "Minstrels and Brin- dle Tails" Early Canvassing in the South, with Its Peculiarities Ku Klux Visits My Appointment as County Attorney and Election as Municipal Judge Hon. John Allen, of Mis sissippi, His Descriptive Anecdote. CHAPTER XIII 145 Lowering Cloud on Righteous Rule Compari son of Negro Progress Sir Walter Scott in His Notes on English History George C. Lorimer, a Noted Divine Educational Solution of the Race Problem Baron Russell, Lord Chief Jus tice of England Civil War in Arkansas- Expulsion of Governor Baxter and Instalment of Governor Brooks at the State House Stirring Episodes "Who Shall Bell the Cat?" Extraordinary Session of the Legisla tureMy Issue of a Search Warrant for the Seal of the State Recognition of Baxter by the President. CHAPTER XIV 158 Arkansas Constitutional Convention and New Constitution Adopted Augustus II. Garland Elected Governor My Letter from Madagas car on Learning of His Demise General Grant's Nomination in 1872 at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia Oliver P. Morton, of In dianaWilliam II. Gray, of Arkansasr-R. B. Elliot, of South Carolina "Henry at Ajin- court" Study of Obsolete Languages Versus Industrial Education Views of Lord Rose- bery. ox-Premier of England Also of Wash ington Post United States I lav.' Supreme Advantages for the Negro. CHAPTER XV 173 Presidential Elector in 1876, Receiving the Highest Vote President Hayes, His Yearn ings .-iiid Accomplishments Protest Againsi Lawlessness by the Negroes in Slate Conven- X ii CONTENTS. PAGE tions Negro Exodus from the Southern to the Western States in 1878 Secretary William Windom's Letter Hon J. C. Rapier, of Ala bama, and Myself Appointed by Secretary Winilom to Visit Western States and Report. CHAPTER XVI Appointed by the President in 1877 Register of U. S. Lands Robert J. Ingresoll on the Benignity of Homestead Law General Grant's Tour Around the World and His Arrival at Little Rock, 1879 A Guest at the Banquet Given Him Response to the Toast, "The Possibilities of American Citizenship"- Roscoe Conkling' s Speech Nominating General Grant for Third TermBronze Medal as one of the Historic "306" at the National Convention O f 1880 The Manner of General Grant's De feat for Nomination and Garfield's Success- Character Sketches of Hon. James G. Elaine, Ingersoll's Mailed Warrior and Plumed Knight Hon G rover Cleveland. CHAPTER XVII 195 Honorary Commissioner for the Colored Ex hibits of the World's Exposition at New Or leans. La. Neglected Opportunties Impor tant Factors Necessary to Recognition. CHAPTER XVIII 201 Effort of Henry Brown, of Oberlin, Ohio, to Establish "Schools of Trade" Call for a Con ference of Leading Colored Men in 1885 In dustrial Fair at Pine Bluff, Ark. Captain Thompson, of the "Capital Guards," a Colored Military Company Meeting of Prominent Leaders at New Orleans The Late N. W. Cuney, of Texas Contented Benefactions from Christian Churches. CHAPTER XIX 215 The Reunion of General Grant's "306" Ferdi nand Havis, of Pine Bluff Compromise and Disfranchisement Progress of the Negro "Decoration Day" My Letter to the "Ga zette" Commission to Sell Lots of the Hot Springs Reservation Twelve Years in the Land Service of the United States. CHAPTER XX 223 My Appointment as U. S. Consul to Tamatave, Madagascar My Arrival in France En Route CONTEXTS. xiii PAGE to Paris Called oil Ambassador Porter and Consul Gowdy Relative to My "Exequator" Visited the Louvre, the Famous Gallery of Paintings "Follies Bergere," or Variety Theater The "Dome des Invalids" or the Tomb of the Great Napoleon Mrs. Mason, of Arkansas and Washington, in Paris Mar seilles and "Hotel du Louvre" Embarkation on French Ship "Pie Ho" for Madagascar Scenes and Incidents En Route "Port Said" Visit to the "Mosque," Mohammedan Place of Worship. CHAPTER XXI 236 Si~: ex Canal The Red Sea Pharaoh and His Hosts Their Waterloo Children of Israel- Travel by Sea Arrival and Lauding at Mada gascarBubonic Plague My Letter From Madagascar. CHAPTER XXII 250 Island of Madagascar Origin and Character of the Inhabitants Their Religion and Super stitions Physical Appearance of Madagas car A Word Painting of Antananarivo, the Capital, by Cameron Forms of Government- Queens of Madagascar Slavery and Forced Labor. CHAPTER XXIII 265 Introduction of the Christian Religion Print ing the Bible, Edict by Queen Ranavakma Against It The New Religion "a Cloth of a Pattern She Did Not Like" Asked the Mis sionaries, "('MII You Make Soap?" "Dark Days" Persecutions and Executions for a Quarter of a Century Examples of Christian Martyrs Death of Queen Ranavalona Perma nent Establishment of the Christian Religion- Self-denial and Heroic Service of the Roman Catholics Native Race Protection Commit tee Forced Labor Abolished. CHAPTER XXIV 282 Cuba and the Philippines Their Acquisition Under the Plea of Relief From Spanish Mis rule Aguinaldo. Leader of the Filipinos The Fidelity and Bravery of llie American Negro in the Spanish War- Attestation by Many Wit nesses I ndu:*trial Education Othello's Occu pation Cone When Polls are Closed. X i v CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER XXV 298 Opposition Possibly Beneficent President Mc- Kinley's Order for Enlistment of Colored Sol- diers General Grosvenor's Tribute Fifteen Thousand in the Spanish War U. S. Supreme Court vs. The Negro The Basis of Congres sional Representation. CHAPTER XXVI 306 Departure from Madagascar Memories^ Gov ernor General's Farewell Letter Madagascar Branch of the Smithsonian Institute Wild Animals, a Consul's Burden Descriptive Let ter to State Department. CHAPTER XXVII 312 Leave-taking, its Jollity and Sadness Arrival at Camp Aden, Arabia An Elysium for the Toper Whisky Was Plenty, But the Water Was Out Pleasant Visit to U. S. Consul Cun ningham, of Knoxville, Tenn. Arrival at Suez My Visit to the U. S. Cruiser "New York" The Urbanity of Captain Rogers- Suez Canal Port Said "Mai de Mer" Mar seilles to ParisAcross the English Channel to London. CHAPTER XXVIII 320 My First Visit to the Land of Wilberforce and Clarkson Excursion on the Thames- Bank of England Visited To\vers of London Beauchamp Tower W T ith Its Sad Inscriptions- Arrival at New York National Negro Busi ness Men's League Convention at Chicago Booker T. Washington President Many Tal ented Business Men in Attendance CHAPTER XXIX 327 Visit to President McKiuley at Canton, Ohio His Assassination at Buffalo The Assassin Struck Down by James Parker President's Death The Nation in Tears A Christian Statesman A Lover of Justice Crucial Epochs of Our Country's History, the Negro at the Fore. CHAPTER XXX 336 President Roosevelt His Imperial Honesty Ex-Governor Jones, of Alabama Advance of Justice in Our Country Status a Half-Cen tury Ago Theodore Parker's Arraignment- Eulogy by Ralph Waldo Emerson. >rj T , CONTENTS. xv TAGE CHAPTER XXXI 343 Booker T. Washington a Guest at the White House Northern and Southern Press Com mentsThe Latter Not Typical of the Best Element of Southern Opinion. CHAPTER XXXII 361 Washington City, the American Mecca Ante-room at the White House The Diary of an Office Seeker William, the Innocent William, the Croker Colored People of the District of Columbia Colored Press of the Dis trict. CHAPTER XXXIII 269 Howard University Public Schools R. H. Terrell Appointed to a Judgship of the Dis trictUnlettered Pioneers Conclusions. ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 1. M. AY. Gibbs Frontispiece 2. Richard Allen 3. Wm. Lloyd Garrison l 4. Frederick Douglass 5. Booker T. Washington 44 6. PL M. Turner 7. Geo. H. White oi * 8. J. M. Langs'ton. 9. Abraham Lincoln <4 10. W. B. Derrick 11. Alexander Walters jj 12. H. P. Cheatham jy4 13. Edward E. Cooper : |J? 14. Judson Lyons 1-/5 15. Powell Clayton f 16. P. B. S. Pinchback 17. A. 11. Garland ^ 18. J. A. Booker 19. 1. G Ish 20. J. P. Green 1 21. P. L. Dunbar 1 22. B. K. Bruce 204 23. T. T. Fortune 210 24. W. A. Pledger 220 25. John C. Dancey 228 26. Abram Grant 253 27. J. E. Bush 263 28. J. P. Robinson 272 29. Martyrs '. 274 30. Chester W. Keatts 284 31. J. T. Settle 294 32. Justice Harlan 302 33. Charles W. Chestnut 312 34. William McKinley 327 35. James B. Parker 331 36. President Roosevelt 336 37. Secretary Cortelyou 341 38. W. Calvin Chase 367 39. R, H. Terrill . . . 370 CHAPTER I. In the old family Bible I see it recorded that 1 -was born April IT, 1823, in Philadel phia, Pa., the sou of Jonathan C. (iibbs and Maria, his wife. My father was a minister in the Wesley an Methodist Church, my mother a " hard-shell'- Baptist. But no dif ference of religious views interrupted the even tenor of their domestic life. At seven years of age I was sent to what was known as the Free School, those schools at that time invaluable for colored youth, had not graded studies, systematized, and with such accessories for a fruitful development of the youthful mind as now exist. The teacher of the school, Mr. Kennedy, was an Irishman by birth, and herculean in pro portions; erudite and severely positive in enunciation. The motto "Spare the rod and spoil the child" had no place in his cur riculum. Alike with the tutors of the deaf and the blind, he was earnest in the belief that learning' could be impressively im parted through the sense of feeling. That his manner and means were impressive yon may well believe, when I say that I yet have a vivid recollection of a bucket with an inch or two of water in it near his desk. In it stood an assortment of rattan rods, their size when selected for use ranging in 4 SHADOW AND LIGHT. tin' ratio of the enormity of the offence or the age of the offender. Among the many sterling traits of char acter possessed by Mr. Kennedy was econ omy; the frequent use of the rods as he raised himself on tiptoe to make his protest the more emphatic split and frizzled them the immersion of the tips in water Avould prevent this, and add to the severity of the castigation, while diminishing- the expense. A policy wiser and less drastic has taken the place of cor poral punishment in schools. But Mr. Ken nedy was competent, faithful and im partial. I was not destined to remain long at school. At eight years of age two events occurred which gave direction to my after life. On a Sunday in April, 1831, my father desired that the family attend his church; we did so and heard him preach, taking as his text the 16th verse of Chapter 37 in Genesis: "I seek my brethren; tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks." On the following Sunday he lay before the pulpit from whence he had preached, cold in death, leaving my mother, who had poor health, with four small children, and little laid by "for a rainy day." Unable to remain long at school, I was "put out" to hold and drive a doctor's horse at three dollars a month, and was engaged in sim ilar employment until I reached sixteen yejirs of age. Of the loving devotion and self-sacrifice of an invalid mother I have not words to express, but: certain it is, that SHADOW AND LIGHT. . 5 should it ever appear that I have done any thing to revere, or aught to emulate, it should be laid on the altar of her Christian character, her ardent love of liberty and in tense aspiration for the upbuilding of the race. For her voice and example was an educator along all the lines of racial prog ress. Needing our assistance in her enfeebled condition, she nevertheless insisted that my brother and myself should learn the car penter trade. At this period in the career of youth, the financial condition of whose pa rents or sponsors is unequal to their further pursuit of scholastic studies, it is not with out an anxious solicitude they depart from the parental roof. For the correct example and prudent advice may not be invulner- abel to the temptation for illicit pleasures or ruinous conduct. Happy will he be who listens to the admonitions of age. Unfor tunately by the action of response, sad in its humor, too often is: I like the advice but prefer the experience. The foundation of the mechanical knowl edge possessed by the Negro was laid in the Southern States. During slavery the mas ter selecting those with natural ability, the most apt, with white foremen, had them taught carpentering, blacksmi thing, paint ing, boot and shoe making, coopering, and other trades to utilize on the plantations, or add to their value as property. Many of these would hire themselves by the year from their owners, contract on their own 6 SHADOW AND LIGHT. account, and by thrift purchase their free dom, emigrate and tea'ch colored youths of Northern States, where prejudice contin ues to exclude them from the workshops, while at the South the substantial ware house and palatial dwelling from base to dome, is often the creation of his brain and the product of his handiwork. James Gibbons, of the class above re ferred to, and to whom Ave Avere appren ticed, Avas fat, and that is to say, he was jolly. He had ever a word of kind encour agement, Avise counsel or assistance to give his employees. Harshness, Avant of sympathy or interest is often the precur sor and stimulator to the many troubles with organized labor that continue to par alyze so nmny of our great industrial con cerns at the present time, resulting in dis tress to the one and great material loss to the other. Mr. Gibbons had but a lirilited education, but he possessed that aptitude, energy, and efficiency which accomplishes great objects, that men call genius, and Avhich is ofttimes nothing more than un tiring mental activity harnessed to inten sity of purpose. These constituted his grasp of much of the intricacies of mechanical knowledge. His example AVUS ever in evi dence, by word and action, that only by as- sidions effort could young men hope to succeed in the battle of life. Mr. Gibbons was competent and had large patronage. We remained with him I we reached our majority. During a religious revival we both became converted SHADOW AND LIGHT. 7 and joined the Presbyterian Church. My brother entered Dartmouth College, under Hie auspices of the Presbyterian Assembly, graduated and ministered in the church at Philadelphia. After a brief period as a journeyman, I became a contractor and builder on my own account. It is ever a source of strength for a young person to have 1 faith in his or her possibilities, and as soon as may be, assume mastership. While remaining subject to orders, the stimulus is lacking for that aggressive energy, indispensable to bring to the front. Temporary failure you may have, for -fail ure lies in wait for all human effort, but sneaks from a wise and unconquerable de termination. We read of the military prisoner, alone, dejected, and despairing, looking to the walls of his cell; he watches a score 1 of attempts and failure of a spider to scale the wall, only to renew an attempt crowned with success. The lesson was fruitful for the prisoner. Mr. Gibbons built several of the colored chnrclies in Philadelphia, and in the early forties, during my apprenticeship, he was a bidder for the contract to build the first African Methodist Episcopal brick church of the connection on the present site at Sixth and Lombard streets in Philadelphia. A wooden structure which had been trans formed from a blacksmith shop to a meet ing house was torn down to give place to the new structure. When a boy I had often been in the old shop, and have heard the founder, Bishop Allen, preach in the 8 SHADOW AND LIGHT. wooden building. He was much reverenced. I remember his appearance, and his feeble, shambling gait as he approached the close of an illustrious life. The A. M. E. Church was distinctively the pioneer in the career of colored churches; its founders the first to typify and unflinchingly assert the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. Dragged from their knees in the white churches of their faith, they met exclusion by cohesion ; ignorance by effort for culture, and pov erty by unflinching self-denial; justice and right harnessed to such a movement, who shall declare its ultimatum. Out from that blacksmith shop went an inspiration lifting its votaries to a self- reliance founded on God, a harbinger of hope to the enslaved. From Allen to Payne, and on and on along lines of Christian fame, its mission aries going from triumph to triumph in America, and finally planting its standard on the isles of the sea. A distinct line is ever observable between civilization and barbarism, in the regard and reverence for the dead, the increase of solicitude is evidence of a people's advance ment. Until the year 1848 the colored peo ple of Philadelphia used the grounds, al ways limited, in the rear of their churches for burial. They necessarily became crowd ed, with sanitary conditions threatening, without opportunity to fittingly mark and adorn the last resting place of their dead. RIGHT REV. RICHARD First Bishop of the A. M. E. Church. Founder of that Faith That Once Nestled in a Blacksmith Shop, But Now Bncircles the World. SHADOW AND LIGHT. 9 In the above year G. W. Gaines, J. P. Humphries, and the writer purchased a tarict of land on the north side of Lancaster turnpike, in West Philadelphia, and were incorporated under the following act by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania: "An Act to incorporate the Olive Cemetery Company,-' followed by the usual reserva tions and conditions in such cases provided. Among reasons inducing me to refer to this are, first, to give an idea of the propriety and progress of the race fifty years ago, and secondly, for the further and greater rea sons, as the following will show, that the result of the project was not only a palla dium for blessed memory of the dead, but was the nucleus of a benefaction that still blesses the living. The land was surveyed and laid out in lots and avenues, plans of gothic design were made for chapel and superintendent's residence, and contract for construction w r as awarded the writer. The project was not entirely an unselfish one, but profit was not the dominating incentive. After promptly completing the contract with the shareholders as to buildings and improve ments of the ground, the directors found themselves in debt, and welcomed the ad vent of Stephen Smith, a wealthy colored man and lumber merchant, to assist in liquidating liabilities, To him an unoccu pied portion of the ground was sold, and in his wife's heart the conception of a bounteous charity was formed. The "Old 10 SHADOW AND LIGHT. Folks' Home," so beneficent to the aged poor of Philadelphia, demands more than a passing notice. "The Harriet Smith Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons'' is a continuation of a charity organized September, 18(>4, and the first board of managers (a noble band of humanitarians) elected. The pre amble was as follows: "For the relief of that worthy class of colored persons who have endeavored through life to maintain themselves, but who, from various causes, are finally depend en t on the charity of others, an association is hereby organized." The work of this home was conducted in a largo dwelling house on South Front street until the year 1871, when, through the munificence of Stephen Smith and his wife, the land on the corner of Relmont and Girard avenues, previously purchased from the Olive Cemetery Company, together with a large four-story building, valued at f 40,000, was given to the Board. In 1871 it was opened as the "Harriet Smith Home," where it still stands as an endur ing monument to the original donors, and other blessed friends of the race, who have continued to assist with generous endow ments. Edward T. Parker, who died in 1SS7, gave |85,000 for an annex to the building. Colored people since its in- eipiency have given |200,000. The board is composed of white and colored persons. On a recent visit I found the home com plete, convenient, and cleanly in all its a])- SHADOW AND LIGHT. 11 purtenances, with an air of 'comfort and contentment pervading tlie place. From many with bent and decrepit bodies, from wrinkled and withered faces, the sparkling eve of gratitude could be seen, and prayer of thankfulness read; for this product of a benign clemency that had blessed both the giver and receiver. There can be no one with filial affection happy in the thought that it is in their power to assuage the p'ain or assist the tottering steps of their own father or mother, but will recognize the humanity, Christian character, and un selfishness of the men and women organ ized for giving the helping hand to the "unfortunate aged, made dependent by blameless conditions.-' During my apprenticeship, aware of my educational deficiencies, having been un able to pursue a consecutive course of study in earlier life, I spent much of the night and odd times in an endeavor to make up the loss. Tn joining the Philadelphia Library Company, a literary society of colored men, containing men of such mental caliber as Isaiah C. Wear, Frederick Hinton, Robert Purvis, .T. P. Bowers, and others, where questions of moment touching the condi tion of the race were often discussed with acumen and eloquence, I was both bene fited- and stimulated. It was a needed help, for man is much the creature of his environments, and what widens his horizon as to the inseparable relations of man to man and the mutuality of obligation, 12 SHADOW AND LIGHT. strengthens his manhood in the ratio he embraces opportunity. Pennsylvania being a border State, and Philadelphia situated so near the line separating the free and slave States, that city was utilized as the most important ad junct or way-station of the "underground railroad," an organization to assist run away slaves to the English colony of Can ada. Say what you will against old Eng land, for, like all human polity, there is much for censure and criticism, but this we know, that when there were but few friends responsive, and but few arnrs that offered to succor when hunted at home, old England threw open her doors, reached out her hand, and bid the wandering fugi tive slave to come in and "be of good cheer." As one of the railroad company men tioned, many cases came under my observa tion, and some under my guidance to safety in Canada. One of the most peculiar and interesting ones that came under by notice and attention, was that of William and El len Craft, fugitives from the State of Geor gia. Summoned one day to a colored board ing house, I w^as presented to a person dressed in immaculate black broadcloth and silk beaver hat, whom I supposed to be a young white man. By his side stood a young colored man with good features and rather -commanding presence. The first was introduced to me as Mrs. Craft and the other as her husband, two escaped slaves. SHADOW AND LIGHT. 13 They had traveled through on car and boat, paying and receiving first-class accommo dations. Mrs. Craft, being fair, assumed the habit of young master coming north as an invalid, and as she had never learned to write, her arm was in a sling, thereby avoiding the usual signing of register on boat or at hotel, while her servant-husband was as obsequious in his attentions as the most humble of slaves. They settled in Boston, living very happily, until the pas sage of the fugitive slave law in 1850, when they were compelled to flee to England. The civil war of 1861 and proclamation of freedom followed. In 1870, ariving in Savannah, Georgia, seeking accommoda tion, I was directed to a hotel, and sur prised to find the host and hostess my whilom friends of underground railroad fame. They had returned to their old home after emancipation. The surprise was pleas ant and recognition mutual. One other, and I shall pass this feature of reminiscence. It was that of William Brown, distinguished afterward as Wil liam Box Brown, the intervening "Box" be ing a synonym of the manner of his escape. A n agent of the underground railroad at Richmond, Virginia, had placed him in a box two feet wide and four feet long, ends hooped, with holes for air, and bread and water, and sent him through the express company to Philadelphia. On the arrival of the steamboat the box was roughly tumbled off as so inncli dead frieght on the 14 SHADOW AND LIGHT. wharf, but, unfortunately for Brown, on the end, with his feet up and head down. After remaining in such position for a time which seemed to him hours, he heard a man say to another, "Let's turn that box down and sit on it." It was done, and Brown found himself "right side up," if not "with care." 1 was called to the anti-slavery office, where the box was taken. It had been arranged that when he arrived at his destination, three slow and distinct knocks should be given, to which he was to respond. Fear that he was crippled or dead was depicted in the faces of Miller McKim, William Still and a few others that stood around the box in the office. Hence it was not without tre pidation the agreed signal was given, and the response waited for. An "all right" was cheerily given; the lifting of suspense and the top of the box was almost simul taneous. Out sprang a man weighing near 200 pounds. Brown, though uneducated, it is needless to say, was imbued with the spirit of liberty, and with much natural ability, with his box he traveled and spoke of his experience in slavery, the novelty of his escape adding interest to his descrip tion. Many similar cases of heroism in manner of escape of men and women are recorded in William Still's "Underground Railroad." SHADOW AND LIGHT. 15 CHAPTEK II. The immortal bard has sung that "there's a destiny that shapes our ends." At eight years of age, as already stated, two events occurred which had much to do in giving direction to my after life. The one the death of my father, as formerly mentioned; the other the insurrection of Nat Turner, of South Hampton, 'Virginia, in August, 1831, which fell upon tin 1 startled sense of the slaveholding South like a meteor from a clear sky, causing widespread commotion. Nat Turner was a Baptist preacher, who with four others, in a lonely place in the woods, concocted plans for an uprising of the slaves to secure their liberty. Em ployed in the woods during the week, a prey to his broodings over the wrongs and cruelties, the branding and whipping to death of neighboring slaves, he would come out to meetings of his people on Sunday and preach, impressing much of his spirit of unrest. Finally he selected a large num ber of confederates, who were to secretly acquire arms of their masters. The attack concocted in February was not made until August. 20, when the assault, dealing death and destruction, was made 1 . 16 SHADOW AND LIGHT. All that night they marched, carrying' consternation and dread on account of the suddenness, determination and boldness of the a tack. The whole State was aroused, and soldiers sent from every part. The blacks fought hand to hand with the whites, but were soon overpowered by numbers and superior implements of war fare. Turner and a few of his followers took refuge in the "Dismal Swamp, 1 ' almost im penetrable, where they remained two or three months, till hunger or despair com pelled them to surrender. Chained to gether, they were taken to the South Hampton Court House and arraigned. Turner, it is recorded, without a tremor, pleaded not guilty, believing that he was justified in the atempt to lib erate his people, however drastic the means. His act, which would have been heralded as the noblest heroism if perpe trated by a white man, was called religious fanatacism and fiendish brutality. Turner called but few into his confidence, and foolhardy and unpromising as the at tempt may have been, it had the ring of an heroic purpose that gave a Bossarius to i.uniT. kuowed that piu-her had to !< uni out. so I straddled down and iished it up. Masu-r was mad. Yause 1 si aid so l-.ng, so I up and tolls him. He fairly jumped and said "1M1 you oo down that well? Why didn't you come and tell me ami I would made Irish Mike, the ditcher, iro down. If you had droAvned I'd lost fSoO. Don't you do that agin." It is ii -Hess to say that this "brought down the house," and shortly the exit of the son of the Emerald Isle. At another time the inten npter said: "Will you answer me a question r two? Did you not 1:1-1 enouorh to eat?" -Yes." "A place to sleep?" - V "Was your master good or bad to you?" "Marster v as pn^tty sood. I must say." "Well, wh;u else did you want? That is a uood deal more than a ood many white men uet up here." The man stood for a mo ment bus with his thurers in a fruitless at tempt to : . i the fugitive ends of a curl of his hair. inporarily nonplussed at his palliating 'luessions. half apologetically said: "\\ .1 think it a heap brst to be free." Then suddenly and gallantly strengthening his defense: "but, look here. Mister, it* you think it ^o nice down" there, my place is still open." The questioner | d natnredly joined in the general merri ment. Very frequently we were enthused and inspired by Frederick Douglass. Henry Highland Garnett. Marten R. Delaney. and Tharles 1.. K.-inonl. an illustrious quartet SHADOW AND LIGHT. 25 of the hallowed band in the anti-slavery crusade, whose eloquence, devotion, and ef fectiveness stood unsurpassed. There were few, if any, available halls for these meetings. The only resort wa,s the colored churches. Those under the auspices of white denominations had members who objected to their use for such a purpose. Craven and fawning, content with the crumbs that fell from these peace-loving Christians, who deprecated the discussion of slavery while they ignored the claim of outraged humanity, these churches Avere more interested in the physical excitement of a "revival" than in listening to appeals in behalf of God's poor and lonely. Their prototypes that "'passed by on the other side" have been perpetuated in many climes, in those who believe that it is the formalities of contact with the building that blesses a people and not the Godliness and humanity of the worshippers that give glory and efficacy to the church. An an tagonism thus created resulted in a crusade against such churches styled "Come-Outer- ism," and many left them on account of such apathy to carry on the warfare amid congenial association. It has been said that citizenship was pre cipitated upon the Negro before lie was fit for its exercise. Without discussing the in congruity of this, when applied to the igno rant native Negro and not to the ignorant alien emigrant, it may be conceded that 26 SHADOW AND LIGHT. keeping them in abject bondage with no op portunity to protest, made slavery any thing but a preparatory school for the exer cises of civic virtues, or the assumption of their responsibilities. It was not true, how ever, with the mass in the free, or many in the slave States. Always akin and adjunct are the yearnings indestructible in human nature for equal rights. And in every age and people the ratio of persistency and sacrifice have been the measure of their fit ness for its enjoyment. During 25 years preceding the abolition of slavery the color ed people of the free States, though much proscribed, were active in their protests against enslavement, seizing every chance through press and forum "to pour the liv ing coals of truth upon the nation's naked heart/' setting forth in earnest contrast the theory upon which the government was founded with its administration as prac ticed. In 1848 Philadelphia Square, whereon the old State House of historic fame still stands, was made resonant by the bell upon whose surface the fathers had inscribed ''Proclaim liberty throughout the world and to all the inhabitants thereof," and was bedecked with garlands and every in signia of a joyful people in honor of the Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth. Dis tinctive platforms had been erected for speakers whose fatherland was in many foreign lands. Upon each was an orator re ceiving the appreciation and plaudits of an SHADOW AND LIGHT. 2T audience whose hearts beat as one for suc cess to the "Great Liberator." The "un welcome guests, 77 the colored men present, quickly embraced the opportunity, utilizing for a platform a dry goods box, upon which I was placed to give the Negro version of this climax of inconsistency and quintes sence of hypocrisy. This was the unex pected. All the people, both native and foreign, had been invited and special places provided for all except the Negro, and on the native platform he was not allowed space. The novel ty of the incident and curiosity to hear what the colored man had to say quickly drew a crowd equal to others of the occasion. Then, as now, and perhaps forever, there was that incalculable number of non-com mittals whose moral sense is disturbed by popular wrong, but who are without cour age of conviction, inert, waiting for a leader that they may be one of the two that take- place behind him, or one of three or four, or ten, who follow in serried ranks, that con stitute the Avedge-like motor that splits as- sunder hoary wrong, proximity to the- leader being in ratio to their moral fibre. Most of the audience listened to the utter ance of sentiments that the allurements of trade, or the exactions of society, forbade them to disseminate. The occasion was an excellent one to demonstrate the heartlessness of the projectors, who, while pretending to glorify liberty in the distance, were- 28 SHADOW AND LIGHT. treating it with contumely at home, where 3,000,000 slaves were held in bondage, and feeling keenly the ostracism of the slave as beyond the pole of popular sympathy or na tional compassion, with words struggling for utterance,! spoke as best I could, receiv ing toleration, and a quiet measure of ap probation, possibly on the supposition, realized in the fruition of time, that such discussion might eventuate in the libera tion of white men from the octopus of sub serviency to the dictum of slavery which permeated every ramification of American society. I heard Hon. Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, sometime in the forties, while making a speech in Philadelphia, say: "Gentlemen, the question is not alone whether the Negroes are to remain slaves, but whether we white men are to continue free." 80 bitter was the onslaught on all, and especially on white men, politically .and socially, who dared denounce slavery. SHADOW AND LIGHT. 29 CHAPTEK III. An event that came under my notice of startling character, attracting national at tention, was the arrival of the schooner "Amistad" at Philadelphia in 1840. This vessel had been engaged in the slave trade. With a cargo of slaves from Africa was destined for one of the West India Islands. Cinguez, one of, and at the head of the cap tives, rebelled while at sea, killing a num ber of the crew and taking possession of the ship. In the concluding scene of the foregoing drama, Mr. Douglass was an actor, I an ob server. After the decision giving them their liberty, the anti-slavery society, who had been vigilant in its endeavors to have them liberated ever since their advent on American shores, held a monster meeting to receive them. Frederick Douglass introduced "Cin guez" to the meeting. I cannot forget or fail to feel the inspiration of that scene. The two giants locked in each others embrace, looked the incarnation of heroism and dauntless purpose, equal to the achieve ment of great results. The one by indomita ble will had shaken off his own shackles and was making slavery odius by his 30 SHADOW AND LIGHT. matchless and eloquent arraignment; the other, "a leader of men/' had now written his protest with the blood of his captors. Cinguez, with un- intelligable utterance in African dialect with emphatic gesture, his liberty loving soul on fire, while burning words strove for expression, described his action on the memorable night of his emancipation, with such vividness, power, and pathos that the audience seemed to see every act of the drama and feel the pulsation of his great heart. Through an interpreter he afterwards narrated his manner of taking the vessel, and how it happened to reach American shores. How, after taking the ship, he stood by the tiller with drawn weapon and commanded the mate to steer back to Africa. During the day he com plied, but at night took the opposite course. After sometime of circuitous wan dering the vessel ran into Long Island Sound and was taken possession of by the United States authorities. Cinguez, as hero and patriot, enobled African charac ter. When majority and the threshold of man's estate is attained, the transition from advanced youth to the entry of man hood is liable to casualties; not unlike a bark serenely leaving its home harbor to enter unfrequented waters, the crew exhilarated by fresh and invigorating breezes, charmed by a genial sky, it moves "like a thing of beauty" with the hope SHADOW AND LIGHT. 31 of "joy forever." The chart and log of many predecessors may unheeded lie at hand, but the glorious present, cloudless and fascinating, rich in expectation, it sails on, fortunate if it escapes the rocks and shoals that ever lie in wait. It is un reasonable to expect a proper conception, and the happiest performance of life's duties at such a period, especially from those with easy and favorable environ ments, or who ha-ve been heedless of paren tal restraint, for even at an advanced stage in life, there have been many to ex claim with a poet: "Ne'er tell me of evening serenely adorning The close of a life richly mellowed by time, Give me back, give me back the wild fresh ness of morning Her smiles and her tears are worth even ing's best light." Twenty-one years of age found me the possessor of a trade, an attainment, and a capital invaluable for a poor young man beginning the race of life. For whether seen smutted by the soot of the blacksmith shop, or whitened by the lime of the plasterer or bricklayer; whether bending "beneath tool box of the carpenter or ensconced on the bench of the shoemaker, he has a moral strength, a consciousness of acquirement, giving him a dignity of manhood unpossessed by the menial and those engaged in unskilled labor. Let it never be forgotten that as high over in im portance as the best interest of the race is- 32 SHADOW AND LIGHT. to that of the individual, will be the uplift ing influence of assiduously cultivating a desire to obtain trades. The crying want with us is a middle class. The chief com ponent of our race today is laborers un skilled. We will not and cannot compete with other races who have a large and in fluential class of artisans and mechanics, and having received higher remuneration for labor, have paved the way for them selves or offsprings from the mechanic to the merchant or to the professional. These three factors, linked and interlinked, an ascending chain will be strong in its rela tion, as consistent in construction. In 1849 Frederick Douglass, Charles Lenox Remond and Julia Griffith, an Eng lish lady prominent in reform circles in England, attended the National Anti- slavery Convention held in Philadelphia, and presided over by that apostle of lib erty, Win. Lloyd Garrison. At its close Mr. Douglass invited me to accompany him to his home at Rochester, and then to join him in lecturing in the "Western Re serve/' Without salary, poor in purse, doubtful of useful ability, dependent for sustenance on a sentiment then prevailing, that for anti-slavery expression was as reserved as the "Keserve" was Western. T have often thought of my feelings of doubt and fear to go with Mr. Douglass, as an epoch in my life's history. The parting of the ways, the embarkation to a wider field of action, HON. FKKDKHK'K DOUGLASS. "Sajre of Anaeostia." The .\Iusl Distinguished Negro of the Hace As Statesman. Kditor, Orator, I'li'I- anthropist He Left an 1 Indelible Mark on tlie Page of His Country's History Horn in 1X17 at Tuekahoe, Maryland Died Febru ary. 1X0.") He was Author of "My liondage and My Freedom." "Life ami Times' of Frederick Donir'ass." and Oliiers. SHADOW AND LIGHT. 33 the close connection between obedience to an impulse of duty (however uninviting or uncertain the outcome), and the ever moral and often material benefit. Rochester proved to be my pathway to California. Western New York, 50 years ago, then known as the "Western Re serve," was very unlike the present as to population, means of travel, material de velopments, schools of learning, and humanizing influences. Mr. Douglass, in the Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., a short time before his death, told how, in 1849, we there traveled together; that where now are stately cities and villages a sparsely settled wilderness existed; that while we there proclaimed abolition as the right of the slave, the chilling effect of those December days were not more cold and heartless than the reception we met when our mission as advocates for the slave became known; churches and halls were closed against us. Stables and black smith shops Avould sometimes hold audiences more generous with epithets and elderly eggs than with manly de corum. God be thanked, Douglass, the grandest of "our grand old men," lived to see "the seeds of mighty truth have their silent undergrowth, and in the earth be wrought." A family, however poor, striv ing as best they may to give the rudiments of knowledge to their children, should have, if but few, books descriptive of the hopes and struggles of those no better 34 SHADOW AND LIGHT. situated, who have made impress on the age in which they lived. We seldom re member from whence we first received the idea which gave impulse to an honorable action; we received it, however, most probably from tongue or pen. For im pressible youth such biography should be as easy of access as possible. It has been said that " a man's noblest mistake is to be born before his time." This will not apply to Frederick Douglass. His "Life and Times 77 should be in the front rank of selection for blessing and. inspiration. A blessing for the high moral of its teaching; an inspiration for the poor est boy; that he need not "beg the world. 7 s pardon for having been born, 77 but by fos tering courage and consecration of pur pose "he may rank the peer of any man. 77 Frederick Douglass, born a slave, ham pered by all the depressing influences of that institution; by indomitable energy and devotion; seizing with an avidity that knew no obstacle every opportunity, culti vated a mind and deA^eloped a character that will be a bright page in the history of noble and beneficent achievements. For the conditions that confronted him and the anti-slavery crusade, have been well and eloquently portrayed by the late George William Curtis. That how terri bly earnest was the anti-slavery agitation this generation little knows. To under stand is to recall the situation of the coun try. Slavery sat supreme in the White SHADOW AND LIGHT. 35 House and made laws at the capital. Courts of Justice were its ministers, and legislators its lackeys. It silenced the preacher in the pulpit; it muzzled the edi tor at his desk, and the professor in his lecture-room. It sat a price on the heads of peaceful citizens; robbed the mails, and denounced the vital principles of the declaration of independence as treason. In the States where the law did not tol erate slavery, slavery ruled the club and drawing room, the factory and the of fice, swaggered at the dinner table, and scourged with scorn a cowardly society. It tore the golden rule from the school books, and from the prayer books the pictured benignity of Christ. It prohibited schools in the free States for the hated race; hunted women who taught children to read, and forbade a free people to com municate with their representatives." It was under such conditions so pun- gently and truthfully stated that Douglass appeared as a small star on the horizon of a clouded firmament; rose in intellectual brilliancy, mental power and a noble gen erosity. For his devotion w r as not only to the freedom of the slave with which he was identified, but for liberty and the bet terment of humanity everywhere, regard less of sex or color. His page already luminous in history will continue to brighten, and when statuary, now and hereafter, erected to his memory, shall have crumbled "neath the beatings of 36 SHADOW AND LICJUT. time;" the good fame of his name, high purpose and unflinching integrity to the highest needs of humanity, will remain hallowed "foot prints in the sands of time." Eminently fit was the naming of an institution in Philadelphia "The Fred erick Douglass Hospital and Freedmairs School;" the assuaging of suffering and the giving of larger opportunity for tech nical instruction were cherished ideals with the sage of Anacostia; also the lives of Harriet Beadier Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Francis E. Harper, and the noble 'band of women of which they were the type, who bravely met social ostracism and insult for devotion to the slave, will ever have -a proud place in our country's history. Of this illustrious baud was Julia Griffith, hitherto referred to, a grand rep resentative of those renowned women, who at home or abroad, did so much to hasten the downfall of slavery and encourage the weak and lowly to hope and effort. Thack- ery has said that, "Could you see every man's career, you Avould find a woman clogging him, or cheering him, or beckon ing him on." Having finished my intended tour with Mr. Douglass, and returned to Kochester, the outlook for my future, to. me, was not promising. The opportunities for ad vancement were much, very much less than now. With me ambition and dejec tion contended for the mastery, the latter