USA > Alabama > The cyclopedia of the colored Baptists of Alabama, their leaders and their work > Part 3
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The American Baptist Home Mission Society at this time adopted the school and engaged to give it $2,000 during its session of 1880-81. About $400 were spent on improvements of school grounds. Rev. Wm. A. Burch, late of Philadelphia. # now pastor of the First Baptist Church in Sehna, and Rev. W. W. Cully, a returned African Missionary, were members of this Convention. Brother McAlpine had raised from all ¿sources $1,976.85. Before the next session Brother McAlpine. at Brother Woodsmall's request. became president of the school.
FOURTEENTH SESSION.
Held in Mobile, November, 1881. The officers of the previous year were re-elected. Revs. A. Cunningham, Belle- ville, J. Blevins, Selma, and J. Cole, Montgomery, are no longer on earth.
The Home Mission Society gave $3,000 to the present school session. Dr. M. Stone, of Ohio, taught in the school without cost to the board of trustees.
Before the next session Rev. H. N. Boney, from South Carolina, became State Sunday School Missionary.
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
THE STATE CONVENTIONS.
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FIFTEENTH SESSION. £
Held in Tuscaloosa, November, 1882. Former officers re- elected, except that Rev. J. Dosier was made vice-president.
This year, the same as last, Brother McAlpine was re- tained president of the school.
Total receipts from Alabama, including tuition fees, were $2,588. Donation from Home Mission Society $3,350. The last session made Brother Pettiford financial agent, and the present session was greatly encouraged in view of his excel- lent success.
SIXTEENTH SESSION.
Held in Selma, November, 1883, in the First Colored Baptist Church, of which the writer was pastor. Rev. E. M. Brawley, late of South Carolina, was made president of our school, Rev. W. II. McAlpine having resigned in his favor.
Alabama paid 82,511 towards our educational work. Bro. Woodsmall was not present. Rev. A. N. McEwen, late of Tensessec, now pastor of Dexter Avenue Church, Mont- gomery, was present this session. Rev. H. N. Bouey was made financial agent.
SEVENTEENTH SESSION.
Held in Mobile, November, 1884. Officers of 1882 and 1883 were re-elected ; 83.224 reported as coming from the State.
Before the next session " The Minister's Union " was or- ganized in Talladega, with Rev. C. O. Boothe as secretary, and W. H. McAlpine, president.
EIGHTEENTH SESSION.
Held in the Sixteenth Street Church, Birmingham, No- vember, 1885. Officers of previous session re-elected. On the 10th of November, one day prior to the sitting of the Con-
vention, the Ministers' Union met and appointed a committee on the character of the author of this pamphlet, and which reported the following :
".We, your committee appointed on Bro. C. O. Boothe, beg leave to submit the following : On account of the complications of his marriage relations, his oppositions to the State work, and on account of his want of loyalty to truth, we recommend that we withdraw from him the hand of fellowship as a minister. C. S. Dinkins, J. Q. A. Wilhite, J. Dosier, committee."
The brother, who was excluded (?) by the adoption of this report, asked and was allowed to put in the minutes of the Convention the following : " To all who may read the reso- glution passed by the Alabama Baptist Ministers' Union bearing upon me, I affirm my innocence of each and all the charges therein presented, and appeal to the King of Kings, whose just judgmot I patiently await. C. O. BOOTHE."
Dark times follow upon the work and upon many individ- quals. The total receipts for this year, as reported by Bro. Bouey, were $2,200. Rev. J. P. Barton was made State mis- sionary, and Rev. J. Q. A. Wilhite was made financial agent of the school.
The school was getting into debt, and serious losses threatened. The founders of the work were not sufficiently willing to confer with each other.
NINETEENTH SESSION.
Held in Opelika, November, 1886. The same officers were re-elected, except Rev. J. A. Foster replaced Rev. John Dosier as vice-president. Rev. C. L. Purce was made president of the school, Dr. Brawley having resigned. The school was $6,000 or $7,000 in debt. A resolution looking toward mov- ing the University from Selma was adopted. Marion was proposed instead of Selma, and the larger cash donation was
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
THE STATE CONVENTIONS.
49
to fix the location. The contest was heated, and here and there rather ugly. The Baptist Leader favored Marion. Fi- nanees were rather short. ' Revs. G. W. Berry, from South Carolina, and E. J. Fisher, fof Georgia, were present at this session.
TWENTIETHI SESSION.
Held in Montgomery, in the Columbus Street Church, July, 1887. The Ministers' Union rescinded their vote passed in Birmingham in 1885, bearing upon the character of Rev. C. O. Boothe. Rev. W. R. Pettiford, of Birmingham, was elected president, and Rev. R. T. Pollard, clerk. Rev. William J. Simmons, of Louisville, district secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and Bro. Woodsmall, were present. Mrs. M. A. Boothe, president of the State W. C. T. U., addressed the Convention. Mrs. C. Thompson, agent in Ala- bama for the Women's Home Missionary Society of Chicago, also spoke. Stormy time, and no small amount of bitter feel- ing. The financial vote sustained Selma, and the University remained at the home of her childhood.
Debts were threatening our property. Mr. Puree en- deavored to prevent any increase of debts.
TWENTY-FIRST SESSION.
Held in Tuscaloosa, July, 1888. Officers of previous year were re elected. About $4,000 was raised this year. Dr. W. J. Simmons, district secretary of the Home Mission Society, was present with plans for missionary co-operation with our State, which were endorsed. Some of the school grounds had been sold to meet debts, six aeres having gone to meet the $7,000.
Rev. W. R. Forbes. of Virginia, pastor at Eufaula, was
present. The board recommended Rev. W. H. McAlpine as State Missionary under the joint plan with the Home Mission Society.
TWENTY-SECOND SESSION.
Held in Selma, July, 1889. Officers of previous session were re-elected. Rev. C. S. Dinkins, having severed his con- nection with the faculty of the University, was successfully operating an academy at Marion in connection with his pastor- ate. This project the Convention, on motion of Rev. A. N. McEwen, endorsed. Rev. C. O. Boothe was appointed General Missionary of Alabama on the joint plan with the Home Mission Society. This year our women, under the leadership of Miss S. A. Stone, gloriously rallied to the support of the University. Abont $5,700 was raised in the State. Rev. Washington Stevens, Montgomery, and Deacon D. Lane, Greensboro, had passed away. Time of session was again changed to November. Brethren R. T. Pollard and D. T. Gulley made Sunday Missionaries under the Publication Society on the joint plan. During this year, in May, a jubilee meeting was held in Seha and over $2,000 was raised. In this jubilee meeting we met Rev. HI. Stevens the last time on earth.
TWENTY-THIRD SESSION.
Held in Sixth Avenue Church, Birmingham; November, 1890. The officers of the previous session and all the mission- aries were re-elected. The Home Mission Society gave about $6,000 to Alabama, including $2,600 given for University buildings. The financial agent, President Purce, and the missionaries all made very encouraging financial reports- thousands of dollars having been collected ($5,400). Dr. W. J. Simmons and Rev. Henry Stevens crossed the dark river this year. Drs. Clanton and Brawley were present. This was
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
THE STATE CONVENTIONS.
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a good session-debts fast disappearing under the industrious and wise financiering of President Purce and Agent Wilhite. The missionaries were continued.
The Baptist Leader (once The Baptist Pioneer), which for several years had been successfully run by Editor McEwen, was continued under its old management.
This year, in July, a Baptist Congress was held in Mont- gomery in the Dexter Avenue Church. It was entertaining and instructive. Also in August a State Sunday School Con- vention was organized in Union Springs, with Rev. S. Jones as president, and is still doing a grand work, Brother Wells being still presiding officer.
TWENTY-FOURTH SESSION.
Held in Peace Baptist Church, Talladega, November, 1891. The same officers were re-elected, and also the same mission- aries, except that Rev. C. R. Rodgers was chosen to fill the place made vacant by Bro. Pollard's resignation. A grand session-never before in our history had our business seemed to be so much in the hands and hearts of wise, enltivated men and women. The Rev. Mr. Parks and Hon. James White, of Chattanooga, were with us. The mayor of Talladega, pastors of white churches, and everybody else, gave us a word of en- couragement and expressed themselves as pleased and profited by our presence. Prof. Peterson, a recent member of the fac- ulty of Selma University, was introduced to Alabama Baptists. One hundred and fifty churches and forty associations, besides Sunday school conventions and Sunday schools, were repre- sented by two hundred messengers. The year's income from all sources was reported by financial agents as footing up to $12,440. Statistical secretary reported as follows: "Seven hundred and eighteen churches and fifty-eight associations.
Twenty-eight of the associations give an aggregate member- ship of 83,000. Thirty associations have failed to report their numbers."
Dr. C. S. Dinkins had been operating an academy at Ma- rion, for the use of which he had paid $1,000. Our school property increased in value from $3,000 to $30,000. The pres- ident of our Convention, W. R. Pettiford, was at this time president of a successful banking enterprise. Last, and per- Thaps least, one of our number had made an humble contribu- tion to the literature of the denomination in the form of a little book entitled "Plain Theology for Plain People." Thus had we grown in twenty-four years.
Before the next session Dr. McAlpine was made teacher of institutes, under the Southern Board.
TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION.
Held in Franklyn Street Church, Mobile, November, 1892. Dr. Dinkins was elected president, and Rev. J. P. Barton, vice- president. With these exceptions, the old officers. as well as missionaries, were continued. Editor W. H. Stewart, of Ken- tucky ; Dr. Clanton, of Louisiana; the Rev. Mr. Luke, field secretary of the Foreign Mission Convention; Revs. T. L. Jordan and C. L. Fisher, of Mississippi, were present. For the most part, this was a good session. However, there were &signs of a rising stormcloud, which, it was, feared, foretold approaching evil; and perhaps a clogging of our educational and missionary operations would then soon come. A good money showing was made, and new financial plans were adopted. Dr. Pettiford was appointed financial agent and secretary. It was decided to attempt to establish two acade- mies-one in Mobile and the other somewhere in Northern Alabama. Before the next session of the Convention. Rev. C.
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
THE STATE CONVENTIONS.
53
O. Boothe resigned his position as general missionary of the State and pastor at Meridian, Miss. Dr. Purce severed his connection with the University, and Dr. C. S. Dinkins was elected president in his stead.' A division of the denomination was threatened in consequence of the presidential changes.
Again our debts were beginning to be a menace.
TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION.
Held in Eufaula, November, 1893. Rev. J. P. Barton, of Talladega, was elected president, and Rev. R. T. Pollard, sec- retary. Hon. Ad. Wimbs, of Greensboro, was a member of this Convention. Drs. Morehouse and Mc Vicar, of New York, were with us; also Dr. Crumpton, who represented the South -. ern Baptists. Many changes were made upon the Board of Trustees. A committee was appointed to plan a change in our school charter. The session was stormy and far from pleasant. Dr. Pettiford made a good financial report. Rev. S. L. Ross was Sunday school missionary. Dr. Dinkins made a good beginning as president of Selma University. Rev. Lewis Brown was elected treasurer.
TWENTY.SEVENTH SESSION.
Held in Mt. Zion Church, Anniston, Ala., November, 1894. Rev. J. P. Barton was again elected president, and Rev. R. T. Pollard continued as secretary. Times peculiar and money scarce. President Dinkins had prevented any increase of the debt of the university, and continued to grow in favor with all sections. The session, however, was not so orderly as it might have been. if there had been less personal feeling and ambition, and more real humility and consecra- tion.
COMPARISONS.
True, our white brethren were hindered by the wild forests, which were pathless and bridgeless, fieldless and crib- less, and by the savage beasts and friendless red men, as well as by the slowness of travel, but after all, we may be per- mitted to compare our progress with our white brethrens' struggles on educational and missionary lines ; and I think the foe will feel more hopeful of us, while the friend will see reason for encouragement and pleasure. The white Conven- tion organized in Salem Church, near Greensboro, in October, $1823, but they did not begin a school till 1834-eleven years. We organized in 1868 and started a school in 1878-ten years. Their school continued only abont five years, when their property was sold to pay their school debts. Our school still continues at this writing-1895. In 1839, they passed a reso- lution to encourage young men to study for the ministry. un- der capable pastors, and the money of the Convention was 01- dered to be paid out in support of operations on this line.
They now owe on Howard College. so I am informed. some $30,000 or 840,000 in the form of a bonded debt, the interest on which they find it hard to pay. Indeed, I very much regret to hear that they are thinking of making an a .. signment in the interest of their creditors. On careful ex- amination of the records of the Convention, we come upon the following important facts and lessons :
1. The blindness of the leadership as to the work to be done. In the jubilee meeting, Rev. Il. Stevens, said : " When I freresolved in 1868 to meet the call of the Montgomery Church for a Convention of delegates. I didn't see what we could do. I went only out of some sort of curiosity to meet other breth- ren and to look on. I got a little light before I reached Mont- gomery, as I listened to some things Brother MeAlpine had to
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
say along the way. And I was not much better off when the Convention closed. I did not know what they were talking about one-half the time." But few saw one inch ahead. The horizon increased only as we advanced. We grew up with the growth of the work.
2. The power of faith to give form and fixedness to pon- derous enterprises.
We vacillated till Brother Woodsmall appeared, so far at least as our school project was concerned. As the queen bec draws together her wandering swarm and fixes them in set- tled habitation and orderly toil, so did this saintly man do for the colored Baptists of Alabama. And his spirit is still among us.
3. Progress is born of progress.
Because we gained one step, we gained another step. Be- cause we made it to the top of one mountain, we could there- fore make it to the top of another.
III. ASSOCIATIONS,
[Under this head appear many points and facts of local interest.]
ALABAMA DISTRICT.
THIS District was organized in 1869 by Revs. N. Ashby. M. T Tyler, W. Stevens, J. A. Foster, Wm. Jenkins and other leading men of Montgomery and Lowndes counties. From their birth to this time, as an Association, they have been leaders in missionary and educational operations.
. LEADING MEN.
Among the leading men of this body we may mention : Rev. M. Tyler, Lowndesboro; Revs. R. T. Pollard, M. D. Brooks, E. W .. Picket, A. Moore, G. Mckinney, A. Campbell, and D. Ware, Montgomery ; Revs. M. C. Merrell, James Davis, and A. J. Knight, Fort Deposit; Revs. P. Gilchrist and B. Moss, Hayneville : Revs. C. Il. Payne, S. M. Reeves, and C. P. Cain, Letohatchie ; Revs. J. Il. Smith and E. Elias, Tallassee ; Revs. E. W. Jones, M. Snowdon, L. Barnett, A. Dansey. M. C. Williams, L. Calvary, D. Hall, J. Morris, H. W. Tarrant, W. Harris, D. S. Adams, M. E. Pleasant, postoffice unknown.
They report about 12,000 members. Their annual dona- tion for general purposes averages $300 or $400. This body contributed largely toward the purchase of our school property, and now liberally supports the school. Rev. S. Jones, Mt. Meigs, is a strong man in this Association, and no man in Alabama has done more for the education of his parishioners than he. Rev. J. C. Curry, also of Mt. Meigs, is one of their
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Rev. F. R. Kennedy, Pastor Galilee Baptist Church, Anniston, Ala.
ASSOCIATIONS.
most scholarly men and most able preachers. They talk of dividing into two bodies, hoping thereby to accomplish more for the furtherance of the gospel.
ALABAMA MIDLAND ASSOCIATION.
Organized in 1889, is a small body operating chiefly in Montgomery county. They report six churches. Could not ascertain the membership.
Revs. B. Bible, B. Coles, W. Harrison and T. L. Lewis lead them. I submit the following as good supplementary matter to what has been said of the above Associations :
MONTGOMERY.
THE FIRST COLORED BAPTIST CHURCH
Was organized in the basement of the white Baptist Church (First Baptist Church) just after the close of the war. The corner stone of their present building on Columbus street was laid in 1867. Their first pastor was the late Rev. Nathan Ashby, who, prior to the war, had preached to the colored membership on Sundays in the afternoon, in the basement of the white church. Mr. Ashby being stricken down by paralysis, closed his pastorate in 1870. Under his pastorate this church Issued the call for the first session of the State Convention in 1868; hence this church is the source-the mother-of our Convention.
For a few months the. Rev. J. W. Stevens supplied the palpit.
In 1871 the late Rev. James H. Foster was called to the pastoral office, which he served for the space of twenty years. leaving it only to answer the summons of his Master to appear in purer and higher spheres. Under his administration the church increased its membership from a few hundred to
-
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
ASSOCIATIONS.
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several thousand. He expended some $10,000 or $12,000 on the present edifice. Under his pastorate the Foreign Mission Convention was organized in 1880.
After Mr. Foster's death, December 1, 1891, Rev. A. J. Stokes, then pastor at Fernandina, Fla., was called to their pulpit, and now serves with great success, having added within the last two months about 500 by baptism. So far, his success is a wonder to the people of Montgomery. The special item under his administration is the organization of the young people for training and work.
Old Brother Boykin (about 85 years old) in speaking of the work about Montgomery, said : " The first colored preacher I saw after coming from Charleston, was Bro. Cyrus Hale. He came from South Carolina. He was an old man when I first met him. He was well read, was a good preacher, and the white people 'lowed him to go anywhere there was a call for him. He was the father of the work in this section. Follow- ing him, was Bro. Jacob Belser, and then came Bro. Nathan Ashby. Brother Hale must have been ordained, for he used to baptize in slavery time.
While we were worshiping in the white church, we had some 'sistant deacons-Bros. Fayette Vandeville, Jerry Fye, Peter Miles and Abe Blackshear."
Rev. William Jenkins relates the following : " I was born in Montgomery in 1835, and have been here every since. 1 began to speak in public in 1852, and continued to speak in the city and on neighboring plantations all the while. I was allowed to read the Bible, but I had rather been caught with a hog than with a newspaper ; because, for the hog, I was likely to get a whipping ; but for the newspaper I might get a hang- ing. And there was some faith them times. On a planta- tion out here where I used to preach, there was a balloon com- ing down one day. The overseer and the people saw it, and
as that was a new thing with them, it frightened them, and everybody fled except one brother, who, on seeing the man in the balloon, and believing that it was the Lord, ran towards the"descending balloon, exclaiming as he looked up : 'Lord, I's been looking for you for so long a time, and now you's come at last!' The balloon man said : 'Go away, boy ; I'm nothing but a man.'"
Montgomery is no longer what it was when, thirty years ago, Bro. Ashby spoke in the afternoon in the basement of the white church. Six colored Baptist churches now worship within the city and suburbs of Montgomery. The edifice of Dexter Avenue Church, standing near the first capital of the ex-Confederacy, is one of the most substantial and neat brick structures in the city, and the congregation which worships therein are people of money and refinement. Messrs. H. A. Loveless, the coal dealer, William Watkins, the contractor, and Charles Steers, the upholsterer, are owners and managers "of large affairs, involving thousands of dollars.
The colored people of this city own many hundred thou- sand dollars in real estate. Mr. Billingslea, the barber, is said to own $300,000. Dr. Dorsett runs a successful drug busi- iness in one of the lower departments of a two-story brick building owned by himself. The widow of the late Hon. James Hale has built and is maintaining an infirmary for the sick poor people of her race.
Contrast this state of things with thirty years ago, when the colored people, like "dumb driven cattle" before hound and lash, wended their way in the " death march " of slavery. and ask if the negro of to-day is the negro of thirty years years ago. There is on Dexter avenue, in the city of Mont- gomery, an old briek building wherein the "negro trader" used to pen his slaves to await his purchasers. Herein the
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COLORED BAPTISTS OF ALABAMA.
writer organized the Dexter Avenue Church. Compare the occupants of the slave pen, with the audience in Dexter Avenue Church.
DEXTER AVENUE CHURCH.
This church is a secession from the Columbus Street Church, occurring in the latter part of the year 1877. Its first meeting, with a view to organization, took place in the parlor of Mr. Samuel Phillips. The chief persons in the con- stitutional membership were Messrs. Samuel Phillips, John Phillips, Alfred Thomas (the father of Mrs. S. H. Wright), C. Sterrs, William Watkins and II. A. Loveless. The meeting for the recognition of the church was held in a hall on Dexter avenue, January, 1878, which in former days had been used as a slave trader's peu. Dr. J. B. Hawthorne, pastor of the First Church ( White), with his deacons, represented the white brethren, and Rev. J. A. Foster, pastor of the Columbus Street Church, represented his church.
The writer was the first pastor, but owing to embarrass- ments which soon followed, he did not remain long in charge of the work. Revs. J. W. Stevens, F. McDonald, J. C. Curry, A. F. Owens, T. Fryerson, A. N. MeEwen, Dr. Langridge, and others followed in the pastoral charge. The progress of the church was rather slow till the time of Mr. McEwen, under whom their present beautiful building was erected. The present pastor, Rev. R. T. Pollard, seems to be appointed the task of leading not so much on lines of material development. as in lines of spiritual growth. Many other good and pious persons have been added to their number, so that no church in the State can now boast of a people more thrifty, aspiring and refincd.
AUBURN ASSOCIATION.
Organized in 1870 by Revs. T. Glenn, D. Phillips, I. M. Pollard and others. This body operates chiefly in Lce, Macon
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ASSOCIATIONS.
and Tallapoosa counties. In the beginning of Selma University they contributed largely toward its establishment, and have since given it . liberal support. Lately, however, they are struggling, under the leadership of Mr. and Mrs. Wells, to plant a school in Opelika. They number about 8,000 members.
LEADING MEN.
Revs. Glenn and Phillips have left the cross for the crown. Among the present leadership we have the names of Revs. J. ER. Howard, M. M. Archer, A. Walton, K. T. Young, T. N. Huguely, J. Wood, G. Germany, H. Clark, A. M. McArthur, G. Moore, H. Jones, J. Thomas, J. T. Torbert, E. L. Goer, M. M. Ross, E. White, E. L .. Simms, F. T. Holmes, D. Upshaw, C. Young, E. Cain, R. Burton, J. David, P. Davis. Rev. I. T. Simpson, one of the strongest men in the State, is now in this ¿body as pastor at Opelika.
The school project in Opelika speaks well of its supporters and deserves to succeed. May God bring them in the path of success. The writer regrets to record that he saw something fat one session of this body that was by no means creditable to it. ", It was this selling business. The grounds about the church were almost covered with cake stands, etc., and the sermons could scarcely be heard for the noise made by the salesmen. Associations ought not to meet with any church which does not pledge itself to keep such off the grounds. The Associations of our white brethren are not troubled with such ugly conduct. The communities in which religious bodies convene should do all in their power to bring about the devotional spirit, the spirit of sincere worship.
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