The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia

HRK.SKXTKI) mC^jO^ The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia By Joseph B. Earnest, Jr. / The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia 4^ T?7 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Virginia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of- Philosophy JOSEPH B.'feARNEST, Jr.. M. A. Norfolk, Va. THE MICHIE COMPANY, PRINTERS Charlottesville, Virginia 1914 (tJ 2^^ 3 ^^\o ^"3 Copyright, 1914, BY Joseph B. Earnest, Jr. Gift The Uijifcrsiiy OCT 27 1914 O' PREFACE. A'irginia is one of the richest fields for historical research; the Negro question is one of the most pressing of our day; the religious is the most neglected phase of the great Negro problem. It could not seem strange therefore that this study should be undertaken in the face of such a challenge. It is a fact, not without significance, that of the four disserta- tions issued from the School of History at the University of Vir- ginia, two have had as their subject, the Negro. To the influence of Professor R. H. Dabney, we ascribe this interest. Dr. J. P. McConnell's dissertation, "Negroes and Their Treatment in Vir- ginia from 1865 to 1867," U. Va. 1905, is an intensive study of a strategic period in the life of the Negro, and embraces legal, political, social and religious considerations. This present dissertation, in contradistinction to his, is an intensive study of one phase of the Negro's life in Virginia—the religious—from the date of the landing in America up to the present. The effort is conscientiously made to hew to that mark. Apologists and ex- coriators might shout the praises of the Negro or hurl at him verbal damnation, yet Time will record the amelioration of his religious condition while in America, as one of the proudest achievements of Anglo-Saxon Missionary energies. In the South, Virginia has taken a prominent part in this transformation or spirit-worshipping savages into worshippers of one God, men and women who sometimes show characters as deeply devout and conscientious as can be found anywhere. Just what factors and influences brought this about I shall endeavor to indicate. In this study nearly a thousand letters have been sent to prominent white citizens, prominent Negro citizens and Negro preach- ers. The endeavor was to secure evidence from every part of the State. About seventy-five per cent of these letters were carefully answered, which might be interpreted to indicate the sensitive state of public opinion on the subject. Of course, no one could expect that 100 per cent of such letters would be answered. Human nature is still human. Even in private conver- 4 PREFACE sation a few Negroes evidently invoked the principle, "Doan tell the white man nufifin ;" and in spite of an expression of my in- tention to strive to deal fairly with their much maligned race a few could not be convinced. Several white men answering the letters sent to them frankly confessed that they knew absolutely nothing about the religious life of the Negro and dared not ven- ture any opinion. If these letters served to stir the thoughtful of either race to consider the tremendous significance of the prob- lems presented, they will not have been sent in vain. The more thoughtful elements in both races are anxious for some adjustment in the near future by which the charity of the more highly developed race can aid in the uplift of the more un- fortunate race. That a religious oversight was the fixed policy up to the close of the War of Secession, I believe I shall be able to demonstrate. It is also true that the history of the years since then exhibit the struggles, both successful and unsuccess- ful, of a goodly number of dark-skinned men, single-handed, often burdened by false friends, patiently wrestling with the problem of racial uplift in things religious. No person who has undertaken to write a monograph has had better reason to be thankful to friends for invaluable advice and aid in collecting data, than I have. It almost seems to be their work instead of my own. Dr. R. H. Dabney, professor of History at the University of Virginia, suggested the subject and has ver}- frequently counseled me with his mature judgment. I acknowledge to him, first of all, my debt of gratitude. Among others who have laid upon me by their kindnesses, obligations which I fear I shall never be able to repay fully, are Mr. John S. Patton, Librarian, and Miss M. L. Dinwiddle, Assistant Libra- Libra- rian, University of \'irginia ; Mr. Earl G. Swem, Assistant rian, and Dr. II. G. Kckenrode, Archivist, Virginia State Li- brar}^; Mr. C. H. Ryland, Secretary and Librarian, Richmond College, and Librarian of Baptist Historical Collection, Rich- Morrison, Chief As- mond, \'a. ; Messrs. J. G. and Hugh L. sistants in Reading Room, Library of Congress; Mr. Wm. An- thony Aery, Press Service Manager, and Misses Leonora E. Herron and Mary E. Lane, Librarian and Assistant Librarian, Hampton Normal and Industrial School ; Mr. Edward C. Wil- son, i)rincipal of Friends' School, Baltimore, Md., and Mr. PREFACE 5 Kirk Brown, Keeper of Friends' Records at Park Avenue Meet- ing House, Baltimore, Md. It would constitute a book in itself should all the individuals, white and colored, be enumerated that have so freely given time and information to this work. I am deeply grateful to these many benefactors. It would be impossible, however, to fail to mention the names of the following, gentlemen, for signal serv- ices rendered me : Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, President William and Mary College, and Rev. E. Ruffin Jones, Rector of Bruton Par- ish Church, Williamsburg, Va., Dr. C. H. Hovey, President Vir- ginia Union University, Richmond, Va., and Hon. Rosewell Page, Hanover County, Va. It seems that it is not the custom to dedicate such studies as this to anyone. Were it the custom, this would unhesitatingly be dedicated to my mother, whose tenderest love and unbounded patience early taught me to see the good in everybody and in everything. J. B. E., Jr. University, Va., June ly, 1914. ; The Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia. INTRODUCTION. If the Negro is more susceptible to any other influence than to reHgious fervor we fail to know it. Whether propitiating the anger of enraged spirits in his African home, or in the ecstasy of narrating in America the details of a harrowing religious ex- perience at the time of his conversion, he is instinctively religious. Some think he is too religious ; others that he is not religious at all ; we believe that he is religious and is improving religiously. It seems that an average Negro is much sought after in this day for purposes of study. Where is an average Negro? One might point out a man like Major R. R. Moton, commandant at Hampton Normal School, and the world acknowledges his worth, yet he is not average ; he is nearer the ideal Negro. One sees elsewhere ragged, besotted, cursing black men bringing dis- grace upon themselves and their race. Neither are they average; they are below normal. Objections are raised to individ- ual characters as fast as they are presented. One is uppish after an education in the North ; another is toO' backward for refusing an education in the South : one is too temperate to be average another is too intemperate : one is too pert, another is too sub- missive: one is too ambitious, "another lacks ambition. This bewildering list of pro's and con's could be prolonged indefi- nitely, since we insist not only upon the possession of many qualities to satisfy ourselves, but also upon the fact that an average Negro from our viewpoint need not necessarily be an average Negro from the Negro's viewpoint. It is likely that our estimates will differ. \\'hom shall we have in mind as we trace the Negro's religious development in Virginia? It would have been delightful if in this study an average Negro could 8 RKLIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEGRO ha\e been selected in each decade and by simply watching him move and have his being, we could have thus traced the religious development in X'irginia from the arrival of the Dutch ship to this present day. But the world is all different from such a theoretical dream, and in absence of an average Negro we shall strive to indicate the race's religious evolution in Virginia. \'ery briefly, we must see what the Negro brought into Amer- ica religiously before we can appreciate this development. There are no contemporary records of what the Negro did religiously before 1619. We have to rely on observations of travelers of a later day and reports of students and missionaries who have lived among them. Even though R. E. Dennett has written a book entitled "At the Back of. the Black Man's Mind," we can be very sure that no white man has ever known what is, or was, back there. It is one of the inscrutable things of the universe. We can imagine, surmise, guess, but knowledge on that subject is forbidden to the white man. That there was something in the back of the black man's mind religiously before he came to America likely seems to be true. From what we can gather, it was a very disappointing something—yet it was something. The surest thing about their religion was the fact that it was a very low form, if, indeed, it could be called a religion at all.

Load more