Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / Nov. 24, 1927, edition 1 / Page 1
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‘AND YE SHALL KNOW THE T$UTH, AND THE TRUTH DAY,N VOL. XLIX. jO'iK'fi NO. 47. - •• 3 l.. :• 1 1 SOME OF THE FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL MISSIONARIES-GIVE THEM TO US m ■-.- | By Rev. W. L. Metz, D. D. Mr. Editor:—I was given the Africo for the pace of five weeks under box car letters. I feel sure that I was given space oth ers should have had. But the blazers that were left over want ed to see in print an account of their chips and a brief account of what other think of them (the blazers). That is not a bad idea. The man of Galilee asked: “What think ye of Christ; or “Whom do men say that I am?” Five weeks were given Dr. Dillard, who wrote the sequel to the “Blazers and Chips.” I shall hot ruin the sequel by a single word or act; but I must congratulate Dr. Dillard, the largest oi tne emps, ior Keep ing true to form. Men who achieve something in life do hot forget the stone from whence they were hewn or the hole of the pit whence they were digged. If there is a man to be despised or one whom you should be du bious about * taking into your confidence it is the fellow (one held in slight esteem) who tries or who succeeds in covering the fact that he never was nor is a climber. Dr. Dillard tells us whence he came and how he came and by what he came. He came from “Spur Hill”—the place sounds hard luck—in Fair field County, S. C.; he came from one of those fathers who often reflected their ante-bellum mas ters, in their treatment to their childm bearing the burden in the heat of the day. Dr. Dillard was sold as chattle^—that is how __and came out as a chufchmar in reality, by applying his facul ties behind the mule in the field drawing the plow; by applying himself in Fairfield Institute; in Biddle University; in Howard University; and in the big, un friendly and deceptive world. When Dr. Dillard was pastor of Lauren’s church, Mt. Pisgah, and Sloans Chapel, in Clinton, S. C., my birthplace and my mother and father’s birthplace, he came to Clinton every other Saturday to preach at Sloan’s Chapel on the following Sabbath. His lodging place and eating place was my mother and fath er’s humble home. And it was their pleasure to see him eat and enjoy what was set before him. He had a most excellent appetite. As he often said in discussions on temperance, I used to be a great bu»»u», I quit.” He is quite correct. It was my father’s delight to have a nice flavored cigar, for Dr. Dil lard when the Richmond & Dan ville train would bring Dr. Dil lard from Laurens to Clinton, When he stepped from the trap he would have a paper m his hand or a book that he had been reading. He seldom,, if ever, wore an overcoat, be it ever so * cold. As to his trousers, black broadcloth—that kind of cloth is not made any more—; is to his coat, it was the teame; as to his hat, derby—the boys called them “hard hats;” as to his shoes, fine, hand-welted, con gress gaiters; and as to his ser mons and conduct, high. In Au gust, 1885, I heard him preach from the subject, .“The Great Commencement;” in l887 1 heard him preach on the doc trine of Regeneration. He dis cussed what it is not, and fin ally what it is. I was a lad only 17 years of age, but I have not allowed these sermons or the subjects of these sermons to be erased from my memory, al though I myself have passed through many dark valleys m the stillness of the night. ■ When Dr. Dillard made a visit to Clinton—soon after leaving Howard University—the first thing he sought was a house that the j people could call the “parsonage.” The late Rev. D. H. Culp, having preceded Dr. Dillard in the pastorate in Clinton, escorted Dr. Dillard: to an old once bar-room—the words “barroom” were painted on the side of the building in large let ters so drinkers would not miss their way—and said to Dr. Dillard, “This will make a fine ‘parsonage.’” Dr. Dillard did not seem to think it would. He elected to live in Newberry and finally Laurens. Years before I was in my teens I saw many a white and many a colored man enter this old barroom, which was sug gested to Dr. Dillard as a par sonage, and come out with less sense than they carried into lit. This bar was owned and operat ed by a colored man named Jim Boatman. They called him “Uncle Jim,” the shoemaker, for. he mfide shoes in connection with hisIbarrooin business. In my mind’s eye, I see him now stepping down Clinton’s main street, with his right knee bent in, for he was a cripple. At this time there were three bar rooms in Clinton and one groc ery store, which sold everything, but there was nothings like a policeman. You can imagine the time the fellows had when they wanted to get drunk. Perhaps Dr. , Dillard slept over August,. 1837, when the white citizens of Laurens county had a big prohibition ijoreetipgi hfeClintote bn -tJMfc-Saturday D*v Dillard was to run down from Laurens to preach on the Sun* day following. Dr. Pitts, one of the leading Baptist preachers of the State, was the speaker of the day. The speaking was in the spacious yard of the white Presbyterian church. The crowd was large and orderly; there were more white than colored people present, for it was a white man’s meeting; but all were interested one way or the other. '■ When I met Dr. Dillard as he stepped from the train, the Mayor, Dr. W. H. Shand, of Clinton, met him and spoke to him most cordially and with a smile, insisted that Dr. Dil lard should speak after Dr. Pitts, the speaker of the day. With the mental composure of a lion and with the manifesta tion of very little concern about what the Mayor had requested him to do, he walked with me down East Carolina Street to my parents’ home where he always made his home until he was ready to return to Laurens. When the crowd assembled the band began to play; white women tossed their parasols and handkerchiefs high in the air. The Mayor called for order; everybody obeyed. Dr. Pitts was introduced, ne spoke two hours.' He was a strong man. After he spoke Dr. Wm. Plum mer Jacobs, the white Presby terian preacher of Clinton and the maker of Clinton, spoke about 15 minutes. Then Mayor Shand introduced Dr. Dillard. The band men—the most of them were college students of the Presbyterian College, of Clinton—and every white per son came as near to the plat form as he could get. Every thing became as quiet as a graveyard. The white women, who were looking after the bar becue and tables, left their posts of duty and came near the. plat form. Dr. Dillard, a colored Presbyterian preacher, was to speak. “Something new under the sun"—to the white people of Clinton; but nothing new to Dr. DUlard. He walked upon the platform, surrounded by white men, many of whom thought a Negro preacher could make only fun for them. Many really did not know Dr. Dillard got ready for a good laugh, —Dr. Dillard did not know this, but I did. With his characteris tic deliberation, Dr. Dillard be gan by referring to what the world has achieved through the development of science and in ventions. This, he proved, was not through whiskey drinkers, but by sober-minded men, etc. Then he read from a daily paper he held in his hand some of the iestructive happenings in the State of South Carolina, on ac count of whiskey. He made the speech of the day within ten minutes. His speech was the daily talk in the streets of Clinton for many days, for its high tone. We heard nothing of Dr. Pitts’ speech, although, as -the old folk used to say, he walked about. It was “that man Dillard, the Presbyterian preacher of Laurens and Clin ton.” I could say more about this sky-pilot in other capacities: in the school room; in the Church courts; in his parish among his parishioners, or in the humble homes of Laurens, Clinton, New berry and Pitts. This which I have said I have kept over forty years; and it will sound better to Dr. Dillard as he with others of our group take passage on our west-bound train, which is on the shady side of life’s summit. Letter from an Old Guard As I write this article I have pn my desk a letter from Col. L, P. Berry, of Hixon, Tenn., 'with a rudest to give to the & nmr sketch of some of the first Sab bath School Missionaries in the South among our people, and a brief account of the old Synod ical Sabbath School Convention, etc., when the venerable Dr. James A. Worden was with us. Notwithstanding these sketch es take much of the Editor’s valuable space and time, and entail extra expense that we cannot divine; although the reading public may be tired now of Metz and Dillard on the lives and work of others, I am persuaded to come out later; meanwhile one must not over look the fact that I am busy from Monday morning at five oclock to Sunday night at elev en. My job is to preach at Edis to Island, Little Edisto Island, Bleak Hall; teach Sabbath school every Sabbath; teach school five days in each week; pastor the people of Edisto Island, Little Edisto, Bleak Hall; and then smile while all this is being done, although the path be narrow and rugged and the night dark and cold. Edisto Island, S. C. TO STUDY STATUS OF THE NEGRO. National Leaders to Gather in Research at Durham. Durham, Nov. 12.—Bringing together what is planned to be the largest gathering of Negro leaders ever assembled at one meeting, and with the aim of having1 all phases of Negro life in America represented, the “Durham Conference” will meet at Durham, December 7-9 for a stock-taking, fact-finding con ference on the American Negro. It is the purpose of the con ference to “survey the present day status of the Negro, ascer tain what he is doing in various fields, how far his organizations are. functioning, and what his needs are, as well as to suggest a program based on the findings of the conference.” To asemble the facts, there will be presented to the confer ence a, documentary report !ob preseat conditions tp be pared w an expert in the tieular field covered. Eight-phases of Regrolife and endeawr will be-: covered in this manner: work and wages; retail Jbuiness, commerce manufjftcturing; savings; it and# insurance; religious lief ^activities; political *nd college education; health and home like ; crime and social up lift. M Notoable among those who are on that program or who hhve been invited to attend are Dr. Robert R... Moton, Principal I of Tuskegpe Institute; Dr. W. SE. DuBois, editor of The Crisis; James Weldon Johnson, Secre tary or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. ’ OF EAST 5SEE Another a7 jisil meeting of the Synfed of East Tennessee has become history. We met, sang, prayedjjdeliberated, “resoluted.” Now wi|are back on our various fields W labor with greater determination to do more in the future %an we have done in the past. In other words we are down to, work to beat our best record, f . ! Convening in the Calvary Presbyterian church at Annis ton, Ala^ on Wednesday evening, Octobeip, 1927 at 7:30 and ad j owning at noon on Saturday, the Syriod completed another chapter jin its history—a chap ter that tells the story of illum inating and inspiring addresses igtoiffijaniL‘o| Interesting dscussions that issued in decis ions which give promise of new life and greater enthusiasm in the prosecution of the great commission and of the program of the Church. Indeed it was a great meeting. There was only one thing short about it, namdiy, the absence of so many of the “brethren” and the poor representation of the churches. Commenting on that phase some one remarked that what was lacking in quantity was made up in quality, meaning the spirit of the meeting and the decorum of the delegation. Of course, that is not intended to give aid and comfort to the absentes'e, especially those whose habit it is to absent themselves without sending their reason therefor. Perhaps one of the explana tions for the exceptional meet ing is the start it received. The opening session afforded a fine setting for such a meeting. The retiring Moderator’s sermon was a classic. Preaching from Matt. 21:10 and Psalm 24 Dr. J. H. Byers, of Johnson City, who was the retiring Moderator, sounded the evangelistic note in no un povfnin manner. One couldn’t help being impressed with the earnestness that characterized the delivery of the message. And that impression seemed to influence the entire session. Rev. A. W. Rice, of Anniston, Alabama, was elected Modera tor, and Elder S. J. Wentz, of the Shiloh church of Knoxville, Tenn., temporary clerk. Rev. Wm. ’ Sample was appointed Vice-Moderator. Addresses of welcome on be half of Education the Church, and the citizens of Anniston were delivered by Dr. C. E. Thomas, Rev. J. M. Miles, of the Congregational Church, and Hon. Rutherford Lapsley (white), respectively. Col. L. P. Berry delivered a very fitting response for the Synod. Thursday morning found the Synod dispensing with the ne cessary routine business that precedes the reports of the standing committees. With that out of the way, Board re ports became the order of the iay, beginnig with that of Na tional Missions. Drs. J. M. Saston, A. B. McCoy, C. J.Bak sr and S. L. Hayes represented the Boards and delivered ad iresses pending the adoption of the committees’ report. Reports from the schools and nission fields within the bounds *f the Synod were encouraging. Encreased enrollments were not hin all of the schools reporting, rhe efforts of the Sunday school Missionaries continue to com nend them to the favor of the dugrches and their fellow minis ters- The reports of this latter fn>up emphasize the still exist ng need of the missionaries in ;he Kingdom program. Accepting the invitation of he President and faculty of EJarber College for Women, Synod held its popular meeting n the College Chapel on Thurs: lay night. It was a joint af fair. Memorial services to the ate Margaret Barber fol owed the Synod’s program. Appropriate addresses were de ivered on the life of that con secrated and exceptional woman vhose philanthropy makes pos sible the existence, present ugh standing and future possk nlities for larger usefulness hat are prophetic of the insti ;Ution bearing her name. Dr. jlaston and Rev. J. B. Barber spoke for the Board of National Missions and the Synod. Substantial Individual Gifts The discussion of the report >f the Committee op National Missions, especially of the Divjia on for Colored People, w*a an iccasion for the n^easihs- of luring the year Dr. W. H. franklin, President Emeritus of Swift Memorial College, had ?iven nineteen acres.rf very val. .table land to the institution )ver which he presided for over two score years. Mrs. Maggie Johnson, a member of the Shi loh church at Knoxville, who iied recently, made provision in tier will for a “love gift” of five thousand dollars for her church, and the greater portion o a re maining sixty thousand dollar estate to the “General Assembly Dr the Board of the Presbyterian Church of which the Shiloh church is a part. This latter provision of the will is being contested. An offer of twenty live thousand dollars as a com promise has been made the trustees of the General Assem bly. The late Miss Mattie Kyle, another member of the Shiloh church, left a third inter est in her estate to her church. Bethel church at Dandridge, Tenn., reported a modest finan cial remembrance by Miss Fain, one of its members. Synod took cognizance of the efficient and tireless serivces of Dr. C. J. Baker, district super intendent of the Program and Field Activities Committee and special representative of the Board of Chrstian Education ir the Department of Men’s Work The sentiment of recognition and commendation was sincere as well as P^eral. Information that Rev. J. H Byers, D. D., contemplates re signing at Johnson City anc would locate without ih< bounds of Synod was an occa sion for kindly expressions fron "the brethren,” and thel Statee Clerk was directed to communi cate the Synod’s appreciation o: Dr. Byers and his services ii this Synod to the Stated Clerl of the Synod to which he goes. A Forward Step Two decisions were made a this meeting that constitute i forward step in the work of th Synod. One is the decision t publish the minutes. The othe is the creation of the office o Director of PuUMly or the Synod- 'the office, of. the Stated Clerk is the headquarters for the assembling and distribution of news of interest throughout the Synod. ?c * Rev. A. W. Rice was elected treasurer to succeed Dr. W. H. Franklin who found it necessary to resign after years of service in that position. The Stated Clerk was com mended for faithful perform ance of the duties of the office and for the accuracy wtih which the proceedings are recorded. At the final roll call the fol lowing ministers were absent without excuse: Revs. G. E. ?, A, Cooper, M. J. Jones, , White, D. D., R. Mayers, C. A. Edington, John H, Fort, W. G. Hamilton, B. C. Hood, ,, J. J. Shepperson, John F. Whitley, After reading resolutions of appreciation and thanks to mem bers and friends of the church for hospitality, to the faculty of Barber College for cooperation, and the students for the excellent music throughout the sessions,, and entertainments arranged in honor of the visitors, Synod ad journed in due form to meet at Shiloh Presbyterian church, Knoxville, Tenn., on Wednesday October 17, 1928, a t7:30 P. m! STATED CLERK. MORE COLORED THAN WHITES DIE. Sanatorium, November 18.— Two hundred and two more Negroes than whites died of tu» berculosis in North Carolina in 1926. During the year there were 2,769 deaths from; cUte&ia ill aflita. ft Iraces fh the State, 1,277 wnites, 1,479 Negroes, and 13 Indians. Buncombe County, as usual, had the highest rate from the disease among whites. Bum combe’s death rate from tuber culosis is abnormal because of the large number of tuberculosis sanatoria in the county. Next to Buncombe, Forsythe'had the highest total number of deaths, and also the largest number of deaths from the disease among the colored race. There were 29 white deaths in Forsythe Coun ty, and 96 colored during the year. Mecklenburg, Guilford and Wake came next to For sythe with the number of deaths from tuberculosis. Mecklenburg had 103 white and colored deaths, Guilford 99 white and colored and Wake 90 white and colored. From every death from tu berculosis careful surveys have shown that there are at least nine other active cases of the disease. This would give a total of 24,903 active cases of tuber culosis in the State at the pres ent time. A number of this ar my of 24,903 tuberculous do not know that they are infected. The early symptoms of tubercu losis are indefinite. If the 24, 903 people who are now infect ed with tuberculosis in the State could have a diagnosis of the disease made in the early stage and take sanatorium treatment, 93 per cent of them, according to the statistics of the North Carolina Sanatorium, ■ would recover. i 1 Early diagnosis and treatment ’ are the cures for tuberculosis. 1 If you are one of the possible ^ 24,903 active cases of tubercu ’ losis in the State, or you know : any one who might be, go to a 1 good doctor, ask him what the : symptoms of tuberculosis are. Then have him give you a good physical examination, including t a thorough chest examination. i It won’t hurt you if you don’t i have tuberculosis, and if you do > your chance for finding it, in the r early, curable stage is increased f many times. :
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Nov. 24, 1927, edition 1
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