The Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916

Acts of Assembly, 1831-1832, p. 20.

254

Senate Journal, 1832, p. 176.

255

Acts of Assembly, 1857-1858.

256

Grattan's Reports, Vol. 14, p. 260.

257

The Washington Union, April 14, 1848.

258

Daniel Drayton was a native of New Jersey who had spent several years following the water. He had risen from cook to captain in the wood-carrying business from the Maurice River to Philadelphia. Eventually he engaged in coast traffic from Philadelphia southward. He seemed to have drifted quite naturally from strong humane impulses, intensified by an old-time spiritual conversion, into a settled conviction that the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man was a reality and that it was his duty to do what he could to assist those in bondage.

Latterly his voyages had carried him into the Chesapeake Bay and thence up the Potomac. His first successful effort to assist the slaves was made on an earlier trip when he agreed to take away a woman and five children. The husband was already a free man. The woman had under an agreement with her master more than paid for her liberty, but when she had asked for a settlement, he had only answered by threatening to sell her. The mother and five children were taken aboard at night and after ten days were safely delivered at Frenchtown, where the husband was in waiting for them. Memoir of Daniel Drayton, Congressional Library.

259

The only punishment meted out to Judson Diggs for his act of betrayal, so far as is known, was that by a party of young men who, shortly after the occurrence, took him from his cart and after considerable rough handling, threw him into the little stream that in those days and indeed for many years thereafter, took its way along the north side of the old John Wesley Church, then located at a spot directly opposite the north corner of the Convent of the Sacred Heart on Connecticut Avenue, between L and M Streets.

A number of old citizens now living distinctly remember Judson Diggs, who lived, despised and avoided, until late in the sixties. One of these is Mr. Jerome A. Johnson of the Treasury Department.

260

Memoir of Daniel Drayton, Congressional Library.

261

The case against Drayton and Sayres was prosecuted by Philip Barton Key, the District Attorney, before Judge Crawford, and on appeal the prisoners were sentenced to pay a fine of $10,000 and to remain in jail until the same should be paid.

English was absolved from all criminal responsibility and given his liberty.

After an imprisonment of more than four years they were pardoned by President Fillmore, to whom such application had been presented by Charles Sumner.–Memoir of Daniel Drayton.

The fare at the jail was insufficient and of poor quality and a more wholesome and generous diet was frequently surreptitiously furnished by Susannah Ford, a colored woman, who sold lunches in the lobby of the Court House.

262

Stowe, "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."

263

The National Era, April 16, 1848.

264

Memoir of Daniel Drayton.

265

John Brent, the husband of Elizabeth, the oldest of the Edmondson girls, had first bought himself, earning the money chiefly by sawing wood; had then bought the freedom of his father, Elton Brent, for whom he paid $800, and finally bought Elizabeth's freedom, after which they were married. He purchased the ground at the southwest corner of 18th and L streets, now owned by his heirs, and erected a small frame dwelling. This was later enlarged and there the John Wesley A. M. E. Zion Church was established. He was a laborer in the War Department during forty years and died in 1885.–From interviews with Mr. Brent and other members of the family.

266

Hamilton Edmondson was sold in the New Orleans slave market about the year 1840 and took the name of his purchaser and was thereafter known as Hamilton Taylor. He learned the trade of cooper and was allowed a percentage of his earnings, but was unfortunate in having his first savings stolen. He eventually acquired his freedom through the payment of $1,000.

267

He continued in the cooperage business, was highly respected and became comparatively wealthy, having a place of business on Girard near Camp street. John S. Brent, who is his nephew and the son of the John Brent heretofore mentioned in this narrative, spent a week with his uncle, Hamilton Taylor, in 1865, on his return from Texas, when, as a member of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, he was mustered out of the service.–Interview with John S. Brent.

268

The fame of the Edmondson children through the incident of the Pearl was now wide indeed, and after the Brooklyn meeting there had been made many suggestions looking to their education and further benefit. The movement for the education of Emily and Mary was crystallized into a definite proposition and they were both placed in a private school a short distance out of New York. Miss Myrtilla Miner had already established her school for girls at Washington and had moved to a new location at about what is now the square bounded by 19th, 20th, N and O streets. Here, after returning from New York, Emily assisted Miss Miner in the school and it was in one of the little cabins on this place that the Edmondson family established their home after moving in from the country. Miss Miner, speaking of the establishment of her school at its new location, says: "Emily and I lived here alone, unprotected except by God, the rowdies occasionally stoning the house at evening and we nightly retired in the expectation that the house would be fired before morning. Emily and I have been seen practicing shooting with a pistol."–Myrtilla Miner, "A Memoir," Congressional Library; "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."

The parents of the children, however, were not yet entirely relieved of the fears that had so long haunted them, for there were still the two youngest children, Louisa and Joseph, whom the good mother frequently alluded to as "the last two drops of blood in her heart," and although she had scarcely ever seen a railroad train, she determined to go to New York herself to see what could be done and to thank the good people who had already brought so much of happiness to herself and family. While the mother was in that city the girls were brought to see her and in later years she often delighted to tell of their happy meeting and of the good white folks who were brought together to hear her story. She returned to Washington at the end of a week, carrying the assurance that the money would be provided for the redemption of the last two of her children.

Mrs. Louisa Joy, the last of the "Edmondson Children," died only a short while ago.

269

Note.–This personal narrative of Samuel Edmondson was related by himself at his home in Anacostia where he died several years ago.

270

Very little has been written about Lorenzo Dow. There is an article by Emily S. Gilman in the New England Magazine, Vol. 20, p. 411 (June, 1899), and also one by J. H. Kennedy in the Magazine of Western History, Vol. 7, p. 162. The present paper is based mainly upon the following works: (1) "Biography and Miscellany," published by Lorenzo Dow, Norwich, Conn., 1834; (2) "History of Cosmopolite;" or "The Four Volumes of Lorenzo Dow's Journal concentrated in one, containing his Experience and Travels," Wheeling, 1848; (3) "The Dealings of God, Man, and the Devil; as exemplified in the Life, Experience, and Travels of Lorenzo Dow," 2 vols. in one. With an Introductory Essay by the Rev. John Dowling, D.D., of New York. Cincinnati, 1858.

271

"Dealings," II, 169.

272

"Dealings," I, 178.

273

"Dealings," II, 148.

274

"Perambulations of Cosmopolite, or Travels and Labors in Europe and America," 95.

275

Ibid., 93.

276

Ibid., passim.

277

Biography and Miscellany, 30.

278

"A Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem or the Road to Peace and True Happiness," 71.

279

"A Journey from Babylon and Jerusalem," 71.

280

Ibid., 72.

281

"History of Cosmopolite," 544-546.

282

The African Repository, XXVI, 246, and XXIX, 14.

283

Jay, "An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies," p. 26 et passim; Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character, and Influence of the American Colonization Society," p. 63 et seq.; The African Repository, and Colonization Society Letters in the Library of Congress.

284

Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 8.

285

Colonization Society Letters, 1826, Letter of J. Gales, of Raleigh, North Carolina. Niles Register, XXXV, 386; XLI, 103.

286

The leaders of this meeting were: James Forten, chairman, Russell Parrott, secretary, Rev. Absalom Jones, Rev. Richard Allen, Robert Douglass, Francis Perkins, Rev. John Gloucester, Robert Gordon, James Johnson, Quamony Clarkson, John Sommerset, and Randall Shepherd. See Garrison's "Thoughts on African Colonization." Niles Register, XVII, 30.

287

Stebbins, "Origin, Character and Influence of the American Colonization Society," 194.

288

The address was as follows:

"Relieved from the miseries of slavery, many of us by your aid, possessing benefits which industry and integrity in this prosperous country assures to all its inhabitants, enjoying the rich blessings of religion, by opportunities of worshipping the only true God, under the light of Christianity, each of us according to his understanding; and having afforded us and our children the means of education and improvement; we have no wish to separate from our present homes, for any purpose whatever. Contented with our present situation and condition, we are desirous of increasing the prosperity, by honest efforts, and by the use of the opportunities, for their improvement, which the constitution and laws allow.

"We, therefore, a portion of those who are the objects of this plan, and among those whose benefits, with them of others of color, it is intended to promote; with humble and grateful acknowledgments to those who have devised it, renounce and disclaim every connection with it; and respectfully and firmly declare our determination not to participate in any part of it.

"Nor do we view the colonization of those who may become emancipated by its operation among our southern brethren, as capable to produce their happiness. Unprepared by education and a knowledge of the principles of our blessed religion, for their new situation, those who will thus become colonized will thus be surrounded by every suffering which can affect the members of the human family.

"Without arts, without habits of industry, and unaccustomed to provide by their own exertions and foresight for their wants, the colony will soon become the abode of every vice, and the home of every misery. Soon will the light of Christianity, which now dawns among that portion of our species, be cut out by the clouds of ignorance, and their day of life be closed, without the illumination of the gospel.

"To those of our brethren who shall be left behind, there will be assured perpetual slavery and augmented sufferings. Diminished in numbers, the slave population of the southern states, which by their magnitude alarms its proprietors, will be easily secured. Those who among their bondsmen, who feel that they should be free, by right which all mankind have from God and from nature, will be sent to the colony; and the timid and submissive will be retained, and subjected to increasing rigor. Year after year will witness those means to assure safety and submission among their slaves, and the southern masters will colonize only those who it may be dangerous to keep among them. The bondage of a large portion of our members will thus be rendered perpetual.

"Disclaiming, as we emphatically do, a wish or desire to interpose our opinions and feelings between the plan of colonization and the judgment of those whose wisdom as far as exceeds ours as their situations are exalted above ours, we humbly, respectfully, and fervently intreat and beseech your disapprobation of the plan of colonization now offered by the American Society for colonizing the free people of color of the United States. Here in the city of Philadelphia, where the voice of the suffering sons of Africa was first heard; where was first commenced the work of abolition, on which heaven has smiled, for it could have had success only from the Great Maker; will not a purpose be assisted which will state the cause of the entire abolition of slavery in the United States, and which may defeat it altogether; which proffers to those who do not ask for them what it calls benefits, but which they consider injurious and which must insure to the multitudes whose prayers can only reach you through us, misery, sufferings, and perpetual slavery.

"James Forten, Chairman,

"Russell Parrott, Secretary."

289

Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," p. 10.

290

The African Repository, II, 295 et seq.

291

It must be borne in mind, too, that The African Repository, in which appeared most of the letters of Negroes favoring emigration to Africa, was the organ of the American Colonization Society.

292

The African Repository, VII, 216.

293

Ibid., XII, 149-150.

294

During these years conditions were becoming intolerable for the free blacks in the South.

295

The African Repository, VII, 230.

296

Colonization Society Letters, 1832.

297

The African Repository, XXIII, 190.

298

Colonization Society Letters, 1848-1851.

299

The African Repository, XXVI, 276.

300

Ibid., XXVI, 194.

301

Ibid., XXVIII, (July 12, 1848).

302

Colonization Society Letters, 1831, passim.

303

Letter of T. H. Gallaudet in the Colonization Society Letters, 1831.

304

Jay, "An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the American Colonization Society," 28 et passim.

305

Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 22.

306

Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 22.

307

Ibid., 23.

308

Ibid., 11.

309

The resolutions were as follows:

"Resolved, That this meeting contemplate, with lively interest, the reported progress of the sentiments of liberty among our degraded brethren, and that we legally oppose every operation that may have a tendency to perpetuate our present political condition.

"Resolved, That this meeting look upon the American Colonization Society as a clamorous, abusive and peace-disturbing combination.

"Resolved, That this meeting look upon those clergymen, who have filled the ears of their respective congregations with the absurd idea of the necessity of removing the free colored people from the United States, as highly deserving the just reprehension directed to the false prophets and priests, by Jeremiah, the true prophet, as recorded in the twenty-third chapter of his prophesy.

"Resolved, That this meeting appeal to the generous and enlightened public for an impartial hearing relative to the subject of our present political condition.

"Resolved, That the gratitude of this meeting, which is so sensibly felt, be fully expressed to those whose independence of mind and correct views of the rights of man have led them so fearlessly to speak in favor of our cause; that we rejoice to behold in them such a strong desire to extend towards us the inestimable blessings in the gift of a wise Providence which is deemed by all nature, and for which their valiant fathers struggled in the Revolution.

"Robert Roberts, Chairman,

"James G. Barbardoes, Secretary"

–-Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 20.

310

Ibid., 13.

311

Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 23-24.

312

Ibid., 28-29.

313

Ibid., 30-31.

314

Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 31-32.

315

Ibid., 34-35.

316

Ibid., 49. Among the resolutions passed were:

"Resolved, That we hold these truths to be self-evident (and it is the boasted declaration of our independence), that all men (black and white, poor and rich) are born free and equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"Resolved, That we feel it to be our duty to be true to the constitution of our country, and are satisfied with the form of government under which we now live; and, moreover, that we are bound in duty and reason to protect it against foreign invasion; that we always have done so and will do so still.

"Resolved, That we view the efforts of the Colonization Society as officious and uncalled for. We have never done anything worthy of banishment from our friends and home."–Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 41.

317

Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 40-41.

318

Ibid., 33-34.

319

Ibid., 45-47.

320

Believing it his duty to aid any free person or persons of color who thought it best and wished to emigrate, instead of opposing them he had given his personal support in their efforts to leave the country. Records would show that he had helped the most prominent men of the Colony to get there, among them being John B. Russwurm and James M. Thompson, two excellent men and good scholars.–African Repository, X, 187.

321

Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme Considered," 7.

322

African Repository, XXIV, 158.

323

The African Repository, XXIV, 261.

324

Reference is here made to the "Black Laws" of Ohio, passed to prevent the immigration of persecuted blacks from the South into that commonwealth.

325

Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention of the Free People of Color.

326

At this time the free blacks throughout the country were being urged by Abolitionists to redouble their attacks on the American Colonization Society. The Negroes merely needed to follow their lead.

327

The African Repository, XX, 316, 317.

328

Having the idea that the colonization scheme meant the expatriation of the free Negroes, several of their eminent leaders and anti-slavery friends advocated the colonization of the colored people on the western public lands.

329

The African Repository, XXII, 265.

330

Ibid., XXVI, 221.

331

Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin and Influence of the American Colonization Society," 196.

332

Ibid., 197.

333

Ibid., 202.

334

Ibid., 199.

335

Ibid., 200.

336

Ibid., 201.

337

Ibid., 206.

338

Ibid., 206.

339

Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character and Influence of the American Colonization Society," 207.

340

Ibid., 208.

341

Ibid., 208.

342

Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme Considered," 7.

343

"Having now done what we could," said they, "we ask you in view of the whole case whether you ought longer to take advantage of our weakness and press on us an enterprise that we have rejected from the first? Whether you ought to persist in a scheme which nourishes an unreasonable and un-Christian prejudice–which persuades legislatures to continue their unjust enactments against us in all their rigor–which exposes us to the persecution of the proud and profligate–which cuts us off from employment, and straitens our means of subsistence–which afflicts us with the feeling that our condition is unstable–and prevents us from making efforts for our improvement, or for the advancement of our own usefullness and benefits and with our families."–Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme Considered," 8.

344

Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character and Influence of the American Colonization Society," 208.

345

The African Repository, XXVI, 294.

346

Douglass, "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass," 260.

347

Crummell thought so well of it that he went to Africa for this purpose. See The African Repository, XXX, 125.

348

Ibid., LXIII, 273.

349

Niles' Register, LVI, 165 and 180.

350

The African Repository, XXIII, 374.

351

Ibid., XXIV, 243.

352

Mr. Washington had been active in securing the assistance of a few men of superior ability and high ideals and finally entered into negotiations with the authorities for a tract of land in Mexico on which he proposed to colonize the free Negroes of the United States, but the war in that country prevented the execution of the plan. He was compelled finally to abandon the plan of a separate state in America, but gave all his time, voice and pen and means to the cause of emigration to Liberia. See New York Tribune, –, and The African Repository, XXVII, 259.

353

Anthony Bowen, who was at that time a messenger in the Patent Office at Washington, D.C., was the uncle of Nathaniel Bowen. See The African Repository, XXVIII, 164.