Chapter 1

Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Karen Dalrymple, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by Cornell University Digital Collections.)

MAY, 1896

VOL. L

No. 5

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CONTENTS

EDITORIAL.

THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND, 145 ARREST OF OUR TEACHERS IN ORANGE PARK, FLA., 146 PARAGRAPHS--JUBILEE FIELD DAYS IN THE INTERIOR, 147

THE SOUTH.

THE OPENING CHURCH MISSIONS (Illustrated), 150 GRACIOUS REVIVAL IN SELMA, ALA., 155 COTTON VALLEY, ALA., 156 IMPARTIAL TESTIMONY, 157 WHAT OUR GRADUATES ARE DOING, 158 ALL HEALING, N. C.--PLEASANT HILL, TENN., 160

THE INDIANS.

PONCA, NEB.--FLYING BY'S VILLAGE, 160 HUT AND HEAVEN, 161

THE CHINESE.

LOS ANGELES MISSION, 162

WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS, 164

SHARES OF THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND, 166

RECEIPTS, 167

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NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION

Bible House, Ninth St. and Fourth Ave., New York.

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Price, 50 Cents a Year in advance.

Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as second-class mail matter.

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American Missionary Association.

PRESIDENT, MERRILL E. GATES, LL.D., MASS.

_Vice-Presidents._

Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill. Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass. Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo. Rev. HENRY A. STIMSON, D.D., N. Y. Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., Ohio.

_Honorary Secretary and Editor._

Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _Bible House, N. Y._

_Corresponding Secretaries._

Rev. A. F. BEARD, D.D., Rev. F. P. WOODBURY, D.D., _Bible House, N. Y._ Rev. C. J. RYDER, D.D., _Bible House, N. Y._

_Recording Secretary._

Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _Bible House, N. Y._

_Treasurer._

H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _Bible House, N. Y._

_Auditors._

GEORGE S. HICKOK. JAMES H. OLIPHANT.

_Executive Committee._

CHARLES L. MEAD, Chairman. CHARLES A. HULL, Secretary.

_For Three Years._

EAMUEL HOLMES, SAMUEL S. MARPLES, CHARLES L. MEAD, WILLIAM H. STRONG, ELIJAH HORR.

_For Two Years._

WILLIAM HAYES WARD, JAMES W. COOPER, LUCIEN C. WARNER, JOSEPH H. TWICHELL, CHARLES P. PEIRCE.

_For One Year._

CHARLES A. HULL, ADDISON P. FOSTER, ALBERT J. LYMAN, NEHEMIAH BOYNTON, A. J. F. BEHRENDS.

_District Secretaries._

Rev. GEO. H. GUTTERSON, 21 _Cong'l House, Boston, Mass._ Rev. JOS. E. ROY, D.D., 153 _La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill._

_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._

Miss D. E. EMERSON, _Bible House, N. Y._

COMMUNICATIONS

Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to the Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances, to the Treasurer; letters relating to woman's work, to the Secretary of the Woman's Bureau.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Bible House, New York; or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 153 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars constitutes a Life Member.

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label" indicates the time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made afterward the change on the label will appear a month later. Please send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and occasional papers may be correctly mailed.

FORM OF A BEQUEST.

"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH the sum of ---- dollars to the 'American Missionary Association,' incorporated by act of the Legislature of the State of New York." The will should be attested by three witnesses.

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THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY

VOL. L. MAY, 1896. No. 5.

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THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND.

In the last number of THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY we published the plea of the Executive Committee of this Association for an offering to relieve the Association in its financial necessities. We present below the working point of that document in these words:

It is proposed to raise during the next six months a special Jubilee Year Fund of $100,000, in shares of $50 each, with the hope and expectation that these shares will be taken by the friends of missions without lessening those regular contributions which must be depended upon to sustain the current work.

As the means of securing these gifts we subjoin the blank form of a pledge, which, when signed by individuals or officers of churches, may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Bible House, New York. When the amount pledged is paid our treasurer will send as a receipt a neatly printed certificate. On another page will be found a list of pledges already made.

We solicit especial attention to the closing paragraph of the sentence quoted above, asking that these special gifts _shall not lessen the regular contributions_, upon which the Association must depend to sustain the current work.

We send forth this appeal under a deep sense of responsibility. We know that business is still depressed and that many of the friends to whom we make this plea have responded generously to the calls of sister missionary societies. But we feel that it is a duty we owe to God and to the needy peoples for whom we labor to attempt the relief of this Association in its embarrassing and hindering liabilities. We confidently believe that many of the churches and generous individuals to whom we make this plea, feel as we do, a sense of duty and responsibility in this important matter. Some to whom this may come may be able to respond at once with a pledge of _one_ or _more_ shares. But to those who cannot, we urge that they lay by in store as God may prosper them the means for as prompt a response as possible to our call.

Share, $50. $100,000

THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND OF THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

I hereby take ...... shares (Fifty Dollars each) in the Jubilee Year Fund of the American Missionary Association, to be paid before the close of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 1896.

_Name_ ..................................... _P. O. Address_ ............................

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ARREST OF OUR TEACHERS IN ORANGE PARK, FLORIDA.

Rev. T. S. Perry, of Limerick, Me.; Mr. O. S. Dickinson, of West Granville, Mass.; Principal B. D. Rowlee, of East Woodstock, Conn.; Mrs. B. D. Rowlee; Miss Edith M. Robinson, of Battle Creek, Mich.; Miss H. S. Loveland, of Newark Valley, N. Y.; and Miss Margaret Ball, of Orange Park, Fla., with two patrons of the school (white) residing in Orange Park, were all arrested by the Sheriff at Orange Park, Fla., on Friday the 10th of April, charged with the crime of teaching young people of two races under the same roof. They were not taken to jail, but were given until Monday--the intervening days of Saturday and Sunday--to procure bail. This esteemed pastor of the Congregational Church in Orange Park, the most worthy teachers and the patrons are awaiting trial for this crime! and are only saved from jail by the bail which has been procured for them. This is as far as the State of Florida has descended in its shame at present.

This enactment, which we have been careful not to call a law, was pronounced by the National Council to be "not only repugnant to Christian principles, but also opposed to the civil rights guaranteed by our Constitution," and the Association was called to persistently resist it with all legal measures.

Senator Hoar of Massachusetts writes of it: "I am amazed that even in Florida such things can be done. I think that this cannot stand a moment before the Courts of the United States."

Arrests of Christian teachers because they instruct a few white children under the same roof with colored children will not only call the attention of the Nation to the gross darkness which dwells in the minds of those who could make such an enactment, but it will bring about a public opinion which will hasten the progress of the State from its present low condition faster than almost any other agency.

Meanwhile Florida remains in shame.

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The Hamilton Club has added the name of a colored man to the list of its members. It is the first of the leading men's social organizations in Chicago to abolish the color line. This special honor was conferred upon Adelbert H. Roberts. The name passed the test of posting and the directors were unanimous in his favor.--_Chicago Times-Herald._

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HORSE NEEDED.--A faithful minister in our mountain field has great need of a horse. He reaches half a dozen preaching-stations among these Highlanders, often going on foot. Fifty dollars would purchase him a good horse, and if any friend will respond to this appeal it will increase the efficiency of an earnest missionary very greatly. If a larger amount than this is received it will be expended in the work among these mountain people.

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REV. H. E. PARTRIDGE, of Pomona, Tenn., will be glad to write full particulars concerning an opening for a Christian merchant in a store on the Cumberland Plateau.

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JUBILEE FIELD DAYS IN THE INTERIOR.

SECRETARY CHARLES J. RYDER.

A reduction in the secretarial force of the American Missionary Association, in order to cut down current expenses and decrease the debt, has resulted in a serious loss in the effectiveness of the collecting field. The office at Cleveland, together with a most efficient and acceptable district secretary, was discontinued for economy's sake. The expenses, however, had to be cut down in some way, and so the burden was placed upon one of the secretaries in the New York office. With multiform duties already upon the hands of each one in the administration of the mission field, and almost constant Sunday service among the contributing churches, it seemed almost impossible to take up this new burden of work, which in some societies involves the constant labor of a large number of secretaries. To accomplish an undertaking which seemed almost impossible the pastors were conferred with, and cordially and generously promised all the assistance within their power for the American Missionary Association in its depleted condition. Right royally did these good brethren redeem their pledge.

A series of Jubilee Field Days was planned and carried out with great success and interest, largely through the co-operation of these faithful brethren in the ministry of the churches in the interior.

Just a word concerning the plan adopted. A campaign of five weeks was planned. Jubilee Field Day Rallies were to be held twice every weekday except Saturday, and as many times on the Sabbath as possible. Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana were the States to be reached.

The purpose of the campaign was to instruct and stimulate the churches and congregations reached. It was also hoped that the collections would pay all the expenses of this effort to scatter missionary information and enthusiasm, and that the regular collections of the churches would be largely increased.

The speakers consisted of the pastors of the several churches and missionaries from the fields, and the writer of this article. Just a word in reference to these friends who presented the work to the churches. The value of the address of the pastor in each case was very great. Standing on the vantage ground that an honored and beloved pastor occupies in any church and community, his indorsement and earnest and discriminating commendation carried greatest weight. I desire thus publicly to recognize the service of those generous brethren in the ministry to the American Missionary Association. That service was large.

The colored work was represented by Rev. George V. Clark, pastor of the Congregational Church at Memphis, Tenn. Born a slave, rescued by an American Missionary Association missionary from the degrading influences of a saloon into which he drifted as a lad when freedom came and no other opening was before him, his testimony and earnest appeal stirred the deepest convictions of his hearers. The quaint old slave melodies, which Mr. Clark sometimes heard as a boy in slave times, and often since by those who are freemen now, he rendered with peculiar effect. The weird and quaint pathos of these songs coming originally from the crushed and bleeding hearts of slaves, held the large audiences in hushed and sympathetic attention. Is there anything in the world like these slave songs sung by those who have known the bitterness of slavery?

From far-away Dakota Miss Dora K. Dodge brought the message to these several gatherings, of the discouragement and want, the hopefulness and progress, of the Christian work among the Indians. Her mission, seventy-five miles out on the prairie, with only Christian Indians--John Bluecloud and his wife--for associates, is of unique interest and importance. No one could have told the story of this wonderful movement among the red people of the prairie with more simple and earnest eloquence than did Miss Dodge.

Rev. W. G. Olinger, a native mountaineer, presented the work "Among the American Highlanders." Born in the humble cabin of the mountaineer, stirred from his earliest boyhood with the great desire for education and improvement, he struggled up through great discouragements, until to-day he can stand on any platform with interest to those who hear and with honor to himself. His manly presence is the illustration of the wonderful possibilities of these mountaineers; and his story is their agonizing cry for the light and opportunities which only an intelligent gospel and educational privileges such as the American Missionary Association is bringing, can satisfy.

The secretary, who had charge of the campaign, presented "The Claims of the American Missionary Association on this Jubilee Year."

The immediate results of this series of Jubilee Field Days were most encouraging. Nearly twenty thousand people gathered in the various audiences. Lincoln Memorial Day, celebrated at Oberlin, was most delightfully spent. Every service during the day, including Sunday-school, Mission Circle, Endeavor Society, as well as church services, was an American Missionary Association rally.

On the Sabbath large churches and towns were reached. During the week important centers were selected, and many surrounding churches sent pastors and delegates to the Jubilee Field Day services.

From a financial standpoint the result was also encouraging. More than three times as much was gathered as the campaign cost, and pastors and church members everywhere testified that the meetings were resultful in spiritual uplift and blessing, as well as in stimulating interest and greatly increased gifts.

The general feeling seemed to be that this was American Missionary Association year, and that during this Jubilee season the specials should float into this treasury and the regular contributions should be greatly increased. While _en route_ the joyful message came to us that the Board and the Home Missionary Society were both out of debt. When announced from various pulpits by American Missionary Association speakers, this glorious fact met with cordial applause. All the more did it seem incumbent upon the churches to take hold of the American Missionary Association, still burdened with its debt, and lift it out of the slough of financial despond. This, however, is only the reflection of the feeling among the churches throughout the land. The determination to lift the debt of the American Missionary Association, and to make it possible to continue at least its depleted work, is universal. Special collections, regular contributions, and hundreds of individuals taking the fifty-dollar shares in the Jubilee fund, will accomplish this most desirable result.

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The South.

THE OPENING CHURCH MISSIONS.

BY SECRETARY F. P. WOODBURY.

The Eureka Church-Arbor, shown below, sheltered the opening service of the new plantation missions in Southern Georgia. The people came under the shadows of the piney woods from every quarter. The first mission church was organized under this rude booth. There the meetings continued until the cold and rainy months of winter. Now, by the help of a grant from the Church Building Society, a small church building will speedily become the home of a beneficent church and school work.

This church of the forest took its start from the earnest convictions of its pastor, Rev. J. B. Fletcher. After long study of the New Testament, with the help of few other books than his tattered Greek lexicon, he resigned his ecclesiastical connection because he had found, as he thought, the free church polity on Bible principles. His discovery was substantially the Congregational system. He called his first church "Eureka." It now has nine other churches associated in the same work. A mission preacher, a devoted man residing near, a man who is highly respected by all the people, has immediate charge of the Eureka work and holds the Sunday-school and other services.

The abodes of many of the plantation preachers are as simple and humble as those of their people. We give an illustration of one of these homes. Usually there is a division into two or perhaps three rooms. Sometimes a small lean-to is built at the side or end, for use as kitchen. The chimney, erected on the outside, is often constructed of clay bound with sticks. It starts in a broad fireplace of stone, which warms the whole building. Some of these cabins have small glass windows; others of them have only openings for windows, with wooden shutters. In such dwellings there reside vast numbers of the plantation preachers, and some of our own mission preachers, at the early stages of mission work in the back country.

The picture given herewith of the church, parsonage, and school, in Marietta, Georgia, illustrates very many of the American Missionary Association church missions in the South. A neat church, a plain but comfortable house, with its adjoining school-room, are the type of the improving influences in both religious and educational service, which we seek to carry among these shadowed and suffering millions.

In both the Carolinas, as well as in Georgia, there is an awakening in the hearts of the colored people, both in the towns and in the country, for a better church life. This is inciting movements from the centralized forms of church government, with their arbitrary methods and hard taxation, into independency. Often the poverty of the people prevents their attaining anything beyond present and scanty shelter for their new free churches. The accompanying photograph is an illustration of such a chapel among the plantations of South Carolina.

In very many parts of the plantation South, the very idea of a church free from outside control and allied to education and morality, is utterly unknown. Neither education nor morality form any constituent element of the common church life. Their introduction is looked upon with suspicion by the masses, and is met by hostility in every possible form of persecution by many of the old-time preachers and their personal adherents.

While this is the narrow and local influence of our smaller schools, it is also the broader and deeper influence of our larger schools, like that at All Healing, N. C. (King's Mountain P. O.) Here the religious life is intensified. A number of devoted teachers supplement each other's work. A unique Congregational church has been formed, its pastor being the principal of the school, who adds this work to all his other services. The influence of the constant religious work done in this church-school and school-church is felt a hundred miles around. Young men and young women go out with higher ideals, and they awaken a demand in their home neighborhoods for both religion and education of a higher character. It is not too much to say that such work as that of Miss Cathcart and her fellow teachers at King's Mountain tends toward a general advance of the communities from which her pupils come.

In Georgia, after the Eureka church movement was noised about, Mr. Fletcher received and now receives calls from every side, chiefly from the plantation people. At Piney Grove, a preaching station was begun in an old dwelling house, and a little church of twelve members is the result. At Shady Grove, ten miles away, a small church building is going up for the brotherhood there. The ground was given and the work of building is carried on by a respectable colored farmer of the neighborhood, who with many of his neighbors welcomes a church fellowship which stands for education and pure religion. At Alford, in the adjoining county, there is now a membership of thirty-two, for whose use a comfortable church building is furnished by the white people. This, with Nellwood as an out-station, will probably soon receive an excellent pastor, trained in our Congregational ways and principles. A beginning has been made at Portal, twelve miles beyond. In the next county westward, the church work began at Swainsboro with twenty-nine members, at Kemp with seventeen members, near Garfield with thirteen members, and at Pilgrim with twenty-three members.