'AND YR SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TR
VOL. L.
CHARLOTTE, N. C.,
" - #
^JANUARY 12, 1928.
MEMORIES OF OTHER DAYS
THE EARLY DAYS AT BIDDLE AS J RECALL THEM.
By J. E. Rattley, Class of '7?
(Reprinted from Johnson C. Smith University Alumni Journal)
(These observations are pure
ly from memory, and, therefore,
there are few dates, and then
may be a few slight errors be
cause I have stated some things
from hearsay; say, events prioi
to 1869.)
Under the auspices of the
Presbyterian Board of Missions
Biddle Memorial Institute was
organized at Charlotte, N. C., in
the year 1867, directed by Revs.
Willis L. Miller and Samuel C,
Alexander. The former, I learn,
was a native North Carolinian;
the latter a native of Pennsylva
nia, who, though espousing the
cause of the Union, held the
pastorate of the Steel Creek
Presbyterian church (white),
prior to and I think during the
Civil War.
Mr. Alexander married a Miss
“Nannie" Price, of a sturdy
Presbyterian Steel Creek family,
who, though Southern born,
held with her husband in his
allegiance to the Union, and
proved an able helper in his sub
sequent labors to elevate the
colored people.
As I was told, the early ses
sions of this Institute were con
ducted in the colored Presbyte
rian church (now Seventh Street
church), a long, rough, “strip"
structure, located in the portion
of Charlotte known as Logtown
(now- Brooklyn.)
Biddle at this tiipe was neces
- sarily nothing mor* than a pre
wren
say elementary, though most of
its students were mature men,
many past middle age. Most of
these men were in training for
the Presbyterian ministry, tak
ing an English course in theol
ogy specially adapted to supply
the then urgent demand for a
colored clergy.
One of the pleasures of recol
lection to me is centered about
those first students, among
whom were Abner B. Lawrence,
James A. Phifer, James Peoples,
Calvin McCurdy, James W. Al
exander, George W. Patterson,
Matthew Ijams, Isaac Steven
son, A. Pinckney White, Benja
min F. McDowell, Frank L.
Montgomery, Eli Walker and
Magager G. Hoskins. Revs.
Hoskins and McDowell, as far
as I know, are the only survivors
of that sturdy vanguard of the
ologues that gave tone and
character to the then Biddle
Memorial Institute. Rev. Hos
kins was then one of the finest
looking, best dressed, politist,
most popular of students at the
Institute, and a social “lion” in
the city.
These early days in the life
of Biddle are recollections pleas
ant to me because I entered
there at the age of fourteen,
somewhat advanced in studies
over many of these older theo
logues, and far in advance of
many full-grown men not taking
theology. I was the only boy
resident student, and most of
the men took me on “a social
equality,” and my, how a boy
enjoys the society and confidence
of a full-grown man! I am now
72 and the pleasure of looking
back to old Biddle runs a riot of
real pleasure through my whole
being.
In April, 1869,1 went to Char
lotte, entering the Presbyterian
Parochial School, taught by
Miss Margaret Miller, my for
mer teacher at my home, Frank
linton. N. C., and the above
mentioned Mrs. S. C. Alexander,
of the Steel Creek (Southern)
Presbyterian church. This
school closing late in the sum
mer. gave me three or four
months to Mrub up” in prepara
tion for the sessions at Biddle
which opened in October.
As I remember, at this time
there were only two regular in
structors at Biddle, the one,
Rev. S. C. Alexander, who man
aged affairs, and a Mr. Blandin,
a very earnest and much beloved
Christian gentleman, who,
though white, made the older
students his sole companions.
Rev. Miller, who at first seemed
the Principal, had now gone from
the school and I never saw him.
In 1870 Rev. Stephen Mat
toon, D. D., came as our first
President. Dr. Mattoon was a
recently returned missionary
from the Kingdom of Siam,
where he and his most beloved
wife had served foe about two
decades.
With the coining of .Dr. Mat
toon Biddle can date its organi
zation as a college and theologi
cal seminary and soon thereafter
was chartered a university.
From now on, one after anoth
er, came a fair quota of profes
sors, some of whom being of the
Alumni of Princeton, Harvard
and Yale, helped to formulate a
curriculum fof Biddle, as near
as possible, ip line with those
great universities. Nearly all
of the instructors were highly
appreciated by the students for
their kindliness, scholarship and
exalted Christian character,
some, of course, standing out
prominently, j|s, for instance—
wasThis'Vefy^&iccesslul teach
ing of geology, minerology and
botany; and
Prof. John Haskell Shedd, a
returned missionary from Per
sia, who spent his spare tim’e in
his large market garden with
the same efficiency as he filled
his chair in Greek.
Prof. Shedd, as did the Pres
ident and other ministers of the
faculty, preached nearly every
Sunday at some one of the many
churches of the countryside, for
none of these had a regularly
ordained colored pastor, not
even Seventh Street church,
which was then ministered to by
Dr. Mattoon.
Prof. Shedd was a great
preacher—not eloquent, but in
tensely earnest and possessed of
a marked, joyful, Christlike hu
mility. He it was who founded
“The Southern Evangelist,” the
first organ of Biddle, and that
oldest so-called Negro Presbyte
ry—The Catawba.
A short time prior to Prof.
Shedd’s return to mission work
in Persia, Rev. D. J. Sanders,
(not yet D. D.), then pastor of
the colored Presbyterian church
at Wilmington, N, C., took over
“The Southern Evangelist”
which he consolidated with his
own weekly and named it “The
Africo-American Presbyterian.”
Now comes to my mind Prof.
Samuel J, Beatty, the healthy,
ruddy-faced, taciturn one; but
behind his taciturnity resided a
mind equal to the exacting du
ties of his class-room. Old
timer, can you ever forget Mrs.
S. J. Beatty, the professor’s bet
ter nine-tenths? She was so
handsome, so magnetic, so pleas
ant, so musical. She had a very
slight “lisp” which added charm
to her cheery converse.
What I say of Mrs. Beatty I
can say of many of the wives
and daughters of the members
of the faculty. Theirs was a re
fining, moral influence which
helped to give Biddle of that
day its remarkably high moral
standing.
Mrs. Beatty led the Chapel
music, singing her inimitable
contralto which was a delight
0
to Biddle and Biddleville. I say
Biddleville, because then there
was no Presbyterian church in
the village, and on Sunday
nights the villager# throngetfto
the university chapel, where ser
vices were conducted by some
member of the faculty.
Who of the men of that day
will not thrill at the hare men
tion of Prof. Robert Nf. Hall—
that man skilled in mathematics
and mental philosophy—the de
fender of Christianity against
the attacks of agnostics and
atheists. Ingersoll and his type
of infidels who showed lack of1
'eep reasoning he handled with
satire; but for the evolutionist
of the Herbert Spencer, £hom*
as Paine, Darwin and Huxley
type, he sifted their learned
reasoning, and cannonaded
;heir unorthodox conclusions
with raking phillipics. He was
the Judas Maccabeaus of the
faculty in the fight against
Christian infidelity, which so
often insinuates itself in a stu
lent noay.
Hall was so profound, force
ful, and eloquent an orator that
lot even the “bad” student
;ould be led to “cut” his chapel
sermons. He was a man of un
faltering courage in all things
and often dared do and say
things that no one but “Ole
Hall,” as he wag lovingly called i
by us, dared.
I don’t suppose there arej
many Biddle men now alive who'
know there was ever a Professor
Talmon C. Perry on its faculty.
Well, there was, and I mention
him because he was such a pious
man and was said to be so
wealthy that he gave most of
his services without financial re*
munerdtion. , |
- - T^re was Harisell, -the hand*
some, immaculately attired I
Harvardite; he was no fop, but
a strong man, exacting nothing
short of the very best from
every student.
And how can I pass and not
mention among the notables,
Niece, the tutor? To my mind,
though not classed as a profes
sor, his learning in the languag
es was the most erudite. I
chink his first post as teacher,
after his graduation from Yale,
was at Biddle. He was very
exacting in the students’ rendi
tion of Greek and Latin into the
choicest English and an adept
in teaching Latin prose compo
sition. Dr. Wvche no doubt re
members that Mr. Neice,
though a learned linguist, could
never remember to call his
name aught but Mr. Wych-ie.
At the outset I spoke of the
Mattoons in a general way; now
particularly. Dr. Mattoon came
in the full vigor of robust man
hood. He towered 'above jthei
man of average height, carry
ing his well-developed, well-pro
portioned body with the majestic
mein befitting the Olympian
Jove.
Although he moved majesti
cally. he moved with agility,
seeming to be utterly devoid of
one single “lazy bone.” His ca
pacious head, with its full
thatch of hair, sat impressively
above his broad shoulders in na
ture’s ideal style.
Mentally and physically he
was strong. The first day with
us he impressed us with his
strong personality, and in a few
short months was the directing
force in Catawjba Presbytery;
this not of his own seeking, but
from a natural inclination of us
mortals to pay deference to a
master mind.
His hand was ever on the
pulse of the higher courts and
commissions of the Church and
so profoundly was he grounded
in Church History and “The
Confession of Faith” that he
was the expounder of Presbyte
rian law and regularity.
As President of Biddle Dr.
Mattoon was the impersonation
of industry, impartiailty, moral
' piety; and while in no
"he condone moral lax
>Jyas so humane. Many
‘nicknames** given*
the students, but the one
iominated was “The
To the imagina
; “us boys,” Dr. Mattoon
per have been a child,
aerva-Hke, he sprang
Dr. Mattoon.
a citizen Dr. Mattoon
|high, f or though he came
at a time when white
of colored people were
rather poor esteem by
stive whites, his superior
as one of nature’s no
St were so exemplified
was not long till he was
sed by all classes of citi
his true worth,
ir, finally, Mrs. Laura Mat
Mrs. Mattoon was an in
on at. Biddle. Then we had
ron and she made herself
r to every student who
way needed motherly
ation. With her teas and
she was ever on hand
bat measles and mumps,
er good cheer and incom
ly benignant smile, she
f aged the discouraged
and with her prayers, ex
Itions and Bible passages
Changed many wayward
righteousness.
Mattoon taught for some
the preparatory depart
and at all times of her
y .directed the University
th school. The Bible was
ief textbook, and few were
itudents who did not corn
memory “The Sermon on
bunt,” ‘*The Lead’s Pray
he Teh Commandments
Christian Armor.
I can now see the
back of the chapel rostrum,
“The Bible the Chief Book in
our Schools Forever.” On the
ad
right of this The Ten Command
ments, and to the “The law
of the Lord is pekclt, convert
ing the soul; the testimony of
the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple.”
Mrs. Mattoon confined her ac
tivities not solely to the univer
sity, but she was active in com
munity uplift, and by her inim
itable feminine appeal even
warded off evils that were defi
ant to masculine opposition.
She was slight in build and even
of delicate health, but she pos
sessed and practiced the virtues
that make a rooust soui.
Not long after my. graduation
in 1877 Mrs. Mattoon passed to
her exceeding great reward.
Dr. Thomas Lawrence in con
ducting her funeral rites spoke
of her modest, beautiful girl
hood. She was described as the
winsome Mary Laurie. Since
then I never hear the song, “An.
nie Laurie,” that I don’t think
the composer of that classic
might have written a more
beautiful song if he had but
known Mary Laurie.
She was laid to rest on a hill
side overlooking the Biddle site.
Her desire was, that her active
pall bearers should be entirely
of “her boys,” as she called the
Biddle students.
She was ever my best friend,
and tp. her sainted memory I ded
icate these lines:
Would but the muse inspire my
tongue
To sing her countless graces;
I’d strike my lyre and sing and
sing
In varied tones and paces.
Thus when I’d sung a hundredth
lay
In varied tones and measure,
I might e’en then her memory
show ,
Our heart’s eternal Treasure.
A true and broad culture
should heighten our enjoyment
even of such a material thing as
food. It should increase our
delight In a silnset, a landscape,
a' country lane.
TELL HOW CHURCH CaJ
AID LABOR TO SECURE*
RIGHTS. - ^
(From The New York World)
“The great task confronting
the clergymen of America is to
swing the Churches back into
the struggle for the rights of
the masses," the Rev. Dr.
Tippy of the Federal Council of
Churches, told the Congregation
al Industrial Seminary in Broad
way Tabernacle yesterday.
“The churches must rededi
cate themselves to the 40,000,000
manual laborers in the United
States,” he went on. “It is im
| portant that the churches be in
the forefront for the welfare of
struggling people such as the
miners. We need the co-opera
tion of all denominations in all
such struggles to show that the
churches are active.”
As one way in which to get
action, Dr. Tippy suggested that
che youne people’s and women’s
clubs and the Sunday schools be
interested in the work.
Dr. Tippy, with the Rev. Ed
ward L. Israel of Baltimore,
Chairman of the Social Justice
Commission of the Central Con
ference of American Rabbis,
were chief speakers at the
afternoon session of the semi
nar, which had for discussion
the topic, “The Church and In
dustry; What Can Be Done in
and Through the Churchy.
Dr. Israel told the seminar
that the “church has talked
in generalities too much and has
not particularized enough.”
“With the exception of a few
leaders,” said he, “there is an
absolute lack of understanding
of what concrete application of
religion means'tajjjie. social life
dwell upon idealism, but they
do not bring religion /jo indus
try nor industry to the church.
“The church is constantly
making excuses for its neutral
ity. We are not neutrals. We
stand for a definite concept of
human rights, for collective bar
gaining, for fair hours of labor,
and we do not have to apologize
for it. There is, however, a dif
ference between neutrality and
impartiality.
The churches should stop
spending their time passing
resolutions and adopting pre
grams and devote more time to
specific industrial conflicts. On
that score there should be a
greater intelligence in the rank
and file of the ministry. Until
the time comes when a man can
go into the pulpit and apply
himself directly to a case with
out having to apologize to his
Board of Directors or fear the
loss of his position, or play pol
itics we will get nowhere.”
The Rev. Dr. George J. Beck
er of Bayonne, following Dr.
Israel, declared the churches
lacked contacts with the masses
in the industrial East and Mid
dle West.
“We’ve got to develop a new
type of minister,” said he. “We
must create a ministry of indus
try.”
At the morning session, the
Rev. George E. Haynes spoke on
the Negro in Industry, and
Harry W. Laidler of the League
for Industrial Democracy, spoke
on Present Trends of American
Industry.”
NOTICE.
District No. 2, of McClelland
Presbyterial Missionary Society
will meet Sunday, January 22,
at 3:30 o’clock, at Mt. Zion
church, Due West, S. C. ’Repre
sentatives from each Missionary
Society in the District are urged
to be present, as this will be a
business meeting.
Publicity Committee:
.MISS LUCINDA H. WHITE,
Abbeville, S. C.,
MRS. MARIE B. ROGERS,
1 Anderson, S .C.
me the spade in your valuable
paper to tell a few things afoout
our splendid services held here
recently at St. John Presbyteri
an church, Fremont, N. C., by
Dr. Isaac H. Russel, of Durham,
and our pastor, Rev. . A. H.
George, of Wilson.
Despite the rain and cold our
services were well attended and
every one was held spellbound
throughout his discourse each
evening of his series of sermon's.
Dr. Russel is a powerful, gospel
speaker. He will bring joy to
your soul and tears to your eyes
if you hear him. We had won
derful services throughout his
stay with us and five young men
were added to our church. We
are indeed proud of these young
men and there is plenty of work
for them to do. They are all
splendid young men and the
highest type of citizenship. They
all have a great future before
them.
These young men are Messrs.
Jasper Newsome, Sylvester Ha
gans, Luke Morrisey, H. W.
Newkirk and Charliet Edwards.
We were indeed glad to have Dr.
Russell with us an our doors
stand wide open for him any
time he may wish to come this
way. • ' : -
Rev. George has been our pas
tor for seven years and not only
the members of our church but
members of all churches, and
eveip one else are glad always
to see him. Rev. George was
called from us two years
ago to take up other work and
every one asked us, if possible,
to keep Rev. George, and we
Committee on Supply of our
Presbytery to allow Rev. George
to remain with us. We are in
deed proud of him, and the El
der and Deacon Boards of our
church met with a great sur
prise on Christmas Eve, when
we were greeted with a large
package containing various
kinds of confectioneries to be
shipped to Rev. George and
family by the Ladies’ Home
Missionary Society of our
church. The Boards of our
church then joined in to make
it a complete send off.
Miss Willie Hargrave, of
Wilson, a teacher in our Junior
High School here, has played
an active part in the Missionary
Society and church work in gen
eral along with the other mem
bers. We are proud of Miss
Hargrave and our entire teach
ing staff. They all take an
active part in church and Sun
day school work.
Mrs. L. J. Foster, of Golds
boro, who is also a teacher here,
did her part in rendering splen
did music for us during Dr.
Russell’s stay with us. We were
also glad to have Dr. C. Dillard
of Goldsboro, with us during our
meeting.
Our collections were splendid
for the meeting. We raised
$40. Two prizes were given to
the ones contributing the high
est sum in our collection. The
first prize was won by Mrs.
Cora Outlaw, which was a pic
ture of Dr. Russell, by contri
buting the sum of $2.05. The
second prize was the Africo
American Presbyterian for one
year, which was won by the
Junior High School teacher
staff by contributing the sum of
$2.55. This prize was given by
Dr. Russell.
1 We understand that Dr. Rus
sell will be in Goldsboro during
the week of January 2nd, and
we would be very glad if he
could run up to Fremont during
his stay there.
ISAAC W. LEE.
If you keep a good joke to
yourself two days you’ll find that
everybody’s heard it.