|
|
|
THE
FREEDMEN'S RECORDVol. II.
BOSTON, FEBRUARY, 1866.
No. 2.
" The Freedmen's Record " is published monthly, and is the organ of the New-England Freedmen's Aid Society, now New-England Branch of the Freedmen's and Union Commission.
All communications for or relating to the "Record" should be addressed to R. R. Newell, 8, Studio Building, Boston; and must be accompanied by the name and address of the writer.
Terms per annum, $1.00 in advance; single copies, 10 cents. Postage 12 cents yearly, payable upon delivery.
CIRCULAR.
For the information of Auxiliary Societies, Teachers, and other friends interested, the Executive Committee publish the following statement: --
At a meeting of the Managers of the American Freedmen's Aid Commission, held at New York on Nov. 9, 1865, it was intimated that several prominent members of that Association and of the American Union Commission had discussed together the propriety of uniting the two Societies. It was accordingly voted, that a conference between the American Union Commission and a committee from the American Freedmen's Aid Commission be held in New York, at half-past seven, p.m., of the same day.
The meeting took place. The committee from the last-named body was composed of Mr. Shipherd, Secretary; Mr. McKim; Judge Bond; Dr. Parrish; Rev. J. Parkman; Rev. Dr. Clarke; and George C. Ward.
At that conference, it appeared that both organizations were managed by persons having the same interest in the freedmen; and that the Union Commission, in the words of its published circular, "recognizes no distinctions of caste or color," and " has always maintained a cordial understanding and co-operation with the various societies organized for the special benefit of the colored people." It was also argued that it was very desirable to do away all distinctions of color, and that none were more interested in this object than those who were the warmest friends of the negro, and most opposed to all caste distinctions. It was confidently affirmed that the proffer of equal advantages to the poor whites, as well as negroes, would tend to abate the hostility with which Freedmen's Aid Societies, in the exclusive sense of the term, were regarded at the South; and that, in addition to this practical advantage, was the further important one, that great saving would result in expenses, and all conflict between the agents of two societies be avoided, if a union was formed. It was further suggested that the New-England branch of the Freedmen's Aid Commission would be especial gainers by such a union, inasmuch as it would enlist agencies and influences which have not hitherto co-operated in its work.
In view of these and other considerations, it was the almost unanimous opinion of the conference, that there was no further necessity for the existence of two separate organizations. The chief, if not the only, difficulty which remained was the name of the proposed association. Several members of the Union Commission, and two members of our Association,--Mr. Shipherd and Dr. Parrish,--were in favor of dropping the word "Freedmen." This was most strenuously resisted by the other co-members of the committee, and the retention of the word was made by them an indispensable condition of union.
Other meetings of representatives of the two associations were held subsequently; and the final result was the union of both, under the name of " The Freedmen's and Union Commission."
The Constitution recommended will be found in another column. It has been subsequently modified in a few particulars, all unimportant with this exception, that, at the conclusion of the 2d Article, the words have been added,--"without distinction of race or color."
This movement, together with an offer
18
made by the New-England Refugees' Aid Society to join our organization, has made it imperatively necessary to change the name, and to modify one Article of the Constitution of the New-England Freedmen's Aid Society. This was done at a meeting of the Society, regularly called in accordance with the conditions prescribed in the Constitution, on the evening of the 15th of January, 1866. It was then voted, almost unanimously, that the title of the Society be, henceforth, " The New-England Branch of the Freedmen's and Union Commission;" and that this clause be inserted in the Constitution: --
"The object of this Society shall be the industrial, social, intellectual, moral, and religious improvement of persons released from slavery, and of other needy persons in the Southern States. In the pursuit of this object, no distinction of race or color shall be recognized; and especially shall no school be maintained from which pupils shall be excluded on the ground of such distinction."
The relinquishing of a title fraught with so much of historical interest, involved, to some of our number, a painful sacrifice; but none could deny that it was required, unless it was proposed to stand apart from a great national movement, having advantages which no isolated organization could hope to enjoy.
The Executive Committee feel that our Society has been induced to co-operate in this movement by the force of events, which it was not easy to resist, unless the alternative just referred to were adopted. They anticipate from it results favorable to our efficiency in the work which will always lie very near our hearts; viz., that of benefiting the freedmen.
For a long time yet,--at least, in some portions of the country, -- it is not probable that many besides colored people will seek, from Northern teachers, instruction. We should be glad to instruct poor whites; and shall feel, in so doing, that we are helping the poor blacks as well. Still, having proffered the privilege and asserted the principle of freedom from all caste distinction, it must be left to time to determine what numerical proportion the black will bear to the white scholars.
As respects the relation of teachers commissioned by our body, that will not be in any way changed. They will be paid by us, and will be expected to report to us, as before.
The Auxiliary Societies will also have no connection with the Parent Society, except as auxiliary to the New-England branch of that organization. They will be expected to pay their funds to our Treasurer, and to work in all respects through our agencies, as heretofore.
The Committee on Clothing and Supplies will issue a separate circular in accordance with the above.
J. Parkman,
For the Executive Committee.
IN MEMORIAM." They were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in death they were not divided."The stern, curt telegram announcing, with its painful but unavoidable brevity, the death, by drowning, of our three valued friends, was received too late for any other notice than of the shortest form in the January number of the "Freedmen's Record." None but those who know the strong and tender relation of sympathy which exists between the Committee on Teachers and most of those teachers whom they select and supervise, can appreciate the shock it caused in this office: not to a soulless Committee, intent only on business; but to those who hold themselves as guardians and friends of the many noble and self-sacrificing young women and young men whom they send forth, with joy and pity, to the deep satisfactions and the many privations and trials of this great work, -- hardships from which no care at home can shield them; but the brave endurance of which, by the greater number of them, wins and secures our loving reverence.
ELLEN S. KEMPTON and ELMIRA B. STANTON have been unfalteringly faithful to the high and holy purpose under whose impulse they left the endearments and protection and delights of home, a single-hearted, pure resolve to consecrate their time, their talents, and their superior position to the benefit of a long-injured race. With that sweet piety which recognizes a child of the Universal Father in every lowliest human being, they both entered on their work : no difficulties discouraged, no privations fretted them; but their latest letters to us are filled with the same glad enthusiasm which they manifested in the beginning.
JAMES P. BLAKE had also served under this Society in South Carolina, and lately established himself as a lawyer in Charleston, believing he might in that way largely benefit the oppressed freedmen, whose sufferings have called out his indignant pity and earn-
19.
est activity. His eloquent and pathetic appeals to the North in behalf of the thousands of men, women, and children who, following in the wake of Sherman's resistless course through Georgia, were cast adrift in those winter days among the Sea Islands, almost naked, famished, and frozen, aroused the pity, and secured the aid, which saved innumerable lives.
Christmas, 1865, was a fair and genial day over the creek of St. Pierre in Edisto Island: the guiding moon silvered the placid waters, while the small, insecure boat, too heavily laden, bore the three friends homeward from the neighboring plantation. An anxious listener on the bank heard the sound of their mirthful voices, marked the interruption of a sentence, the pause, and then the sounds of anguish: the Father's last Angel had folded all beneath his protecting wing, and borne them to the beautiful home, and to the "Well done, good and faithful servants." No dirge sounding amid cathedral walls from grand-toned organ could have been so impressive and fitting as the plaintive native songs of their loving, weeping pupils, moving in a funeral train, almost as simple in all its arrangements as the Puritan obsequies on Plymouth Rock in 1621.
Tenderest sympathy for the bereaved homes whose deep loss is keenly felt by us; sweet, enduring memories of the faithful teachers, the beloved friends, -- these fill our hearts. That life is not to be reckoned short which has borne fruit so beautiful; nor that death untimely which calls the faithful soul to higher duties.
HOW THE WORK PROGRESSES.
The following is an abstract of the Report of the Secretary, to the Executive Committee, of the New-England Freedmen's Aid Society, now New-England Branch of the Freedmen's and Union Commission, for the months of December and January : --
I find it necessary to visit most places, and make preliminary arrangements, in order to insure a successful meeting. In a few places, the people have taken hold and arranged their own meetings; but such cases are exceptions to the general rule. Of about sixty towns visited, eleven have been found unavailable to us; being pre-occupied, in most instances, by the American Missionary Society. Lecturers or agents are instructed to organize societies, and start subscriptions at their meetings; but this is not always practicable. The following table will indicate about what has been accomplished in the way of organization: --
Meetings arranged and advertised ................ 54
Meetings held to date.....................................45
Societies organized or revived....................... 86The remaining meetings advertised will be held before the 5th proximo.
The pecuniary results to be realized from these societies cannot, as yet, be stated with certainty. Two societies have promised (and remitted in part), $1,000 each; twelve societies, $500 each; others have pledged smaller sums, ranging from $60 to $150 each. This does not include supplies of clothing, which every society furnishes, more or less. The above list does not include the cities and larger towns, most of which had organizations before the period covered by this Report.
Some places I find alive with interest, others indifferent, and a few, as yet, utterly incorrigible. The people where no societies exist would facilitate the work, and materially aid the cause, if they would make the necessary arrangements for a meeting, provide a hall, or other convenient place, and then confer with me about a lecturer, if they have not one among themselves who will answer their purpose. Calls for lecturers can usually be supplied on one week's notice, and often in less time.
Those parts of Massachusetts not yet visited for the purpose of inaugurating our work will receive attention early in February.
J. H. CHAPIN, Secretary.
TO SUBSCRIBERS.
We would remind our good friends, that this is the second number of our second year's issue. We shall send it to all old subscribers, presuming that they wish to renew their subscriptions; and we hope they will also exert themselves to procure new subscribers.
LEGISLATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF FREED NEGROES.
All that we hear from the South shows, that, if the former masters are to be allowed to decide the fate of the colored people, it will be melancholy indeed. "Why keep our soldiers in the Southern States when no one there wishes to go to war?" asks a Democratic newspaper. The Southern whites are at war with their black fellow-countrymen. The wolf does not wish to go to war with the shepherd, he wishes him away. He only wants the shepherd to leave his charge to his tender mercies. How desirable is peace!
20.
Let me devour in peace: I accept the station, he says. If our Government forsakes its charge, then will vagrant and apprentice laws, provisions forbidding slavery except for crime, agreements to employ only under very hard conditions, refusal to receive black testimony, and other provisions of slave-codes, make the condition of the freedman as intolerable as was that of the slave. Insurrection will follow, with the possible extinction of the negroes, the possible destruction -- some political economists may do well to remember -- of nearly a million of laborers; but not until the horrors of St. Domingo have been repeated by white and black men, barbarized alike under the demoralizing influences of slavery.
In view of these possibilities and perils, not only every Northern, but every Southern American ought to rejoice at the prospect that Congress, at least, does not mean to have our national faith broken by giving to the negro a freedom which is only such in name. Senator Trumbull has just introduced in the Senate a bill, as amended by the Judiciary Committee, to enlarge the Freedmen's Bureau. It provides that there shall be twelve districts in the Southern States, each of which shall be under the supervision of an assistant commissioner, having the necessary clerks, -- all being under military protection. For destitute negroes as well as white sufferers, the Secretary of War is authorized to issue rations of fuel and clothing. In addition, the bill proposes to give the President authority to reserve, for the freedmen and loyal refugees, unoccupied lands in Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas, not exceeding in all three million acres of good land; each family to have forty acres, at such rent as may be fixed upon by the commissioner, with right to purchase and own the lands, on valuation. And lastly,--a tardy act of justice, -- the titles granted under General Sherman's special order of Jan. 16, 1865, are made valid.
Strong hopes are entertained, by those acquainted with the temper of both Houses, that this bill, in its substantial features will pass, and become a law. With it, though of course, many evils incident to a transition period will still remain for years to come, we may hope that at least two favorable influences will come into play. One will be, that it being the duty of the commissioners and their agents to travel through the Southern country, and to address assemblies of the negroes and white people, a great deal will be done in the way of correcting mistakes, and of enlightening the minds of all classes as to their mutual interests as well as duties. The very best effects in this regard have been already produced. The other favorable influence on the negro's future, and one which has also begun to tell, in Alabama especially, is the high price of cotton. In 1866, cotton -- fair to middling -- will, according to the best authorities, bring from 25 to 30 cents per pound in gold, which affords a net profit of 16 to 20 cents. "At this price, a field-hand will produce, on the average, at least $500 worth of cotton, while his wages and hoard will not average $260."
The natural result of this state of things begins to show itself. Gen. Howard, says the "New-York Tribune," is in the receipt of letters from his subordinates throughout the South, showing an improved state of feeling between the whites and blacks. "Hiring is brisk, and the negroes are not disinclined to work when assured of kind treatment and fair wages." Gen. Swayne writes from Alabama that "the demand for labor exceeds the supply: and those planters who ill-treated the freedmen last winter found it impossible to secure labor; and have been, in some instances, obliged to abandon their farms in consequence."
We would not leave the freedmen, even under such safeguards as self-interest will give, to the tender mercies of their employers, without the additional safeguard of law. Indeed, without this latter check, large profits would only be an additional inducement to compel labor. Still, under the security and restraint of law, we cannot but hope for the negro a far better condition in all respects than that which many of our friends fear for him.
EQUAL SUFFRAGE IN THE "DISTRICT."
The first triumph of equal rights on Southern soil has been won. The pitiful delinquency of Connecticut and Wisconsin has been fitly rebuked by the voice of the House, which has voted, by an overwhelming majority, to strike out the word "white" from all laws qualifying electors within the range of its jurisdiction. This bill was not unworthy of its precedence in a series of important measures. By it, Congress stands pledged to a radical and vigorous legislation on the great questions of reconstruction. Every means was set at
21.
work, by the opposition, to defeat the bill; but threats and sophistry were alike unavailing. Even the intelligence qualification, which, in itself, was doubtless approved by the majority, was rejected, lest any limitation should obscure the plain and simple declaration, that hereafter Congress will recognize no distinctions of race or color on soil subject to national authority. The sweeping vote by which the bill finally passed, gives every reason for confidence, that the Republican party will be a unit in its future action, which, for a time, seemed doubtful. At all events, the principles of true freedom and republicanism have been recognized and established on one spot of slave territory, and that, in itself, is a great triumph.
Nor are the colored people of the District unworthy of the privilege bestowed on them. They have always been altogether the most respectable portion of the community, unless, by courtesy, we except our own representatives there. In 1860, with a population of fourteen thousand, they supported twenty-one churches. When colored troops were called for, they sent thirty-five hundred volunteers into the ranks ; comprising nearly all the men capable of bearing arms. The disloyal white population, numbering sixty thousand, sent fifteen hundred. And that the use of the bayonet wins the claim to the ballot is most true, not only because the soldier has bought the privilege with his blood, but because there is no school which raises the negro so quickly in manhood and intelligence as the volunteer service. The schools now in operation for the freedmen are thronged. The black population of Washington and its vicinity has recently increased very largely, and is now estimated at forty thousand. Among them, there are now no less than fifty-three schools in operation, directed by one hundred and twelve teachers, and attended by between five and six thousand pupils. Thirty-three of these schools, with seventy-three teachers, and from three to four thousand scholars, are in the city itself. In Alexandria, four large schools, with from two to five teachers each, are in operation; also several private schools, with a total attendance of over a thousand scholars. In Georgetown, there are six schools, with nine teachers and five hundred scholars; and at Arlington, there is a large school with two hundred scholars. In addition to these, there are several industrial schools, and evening schools for adults.
More than a dozen benevolent societies in the North are engaged in this work, which is thoroughly organized, and already shows admirable results. Its success and importance will be still more conspicuous in the future. The next generation of voters will be ready to challenge any intelligence qualification that the most rigid conservative would desire to exact.
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
General Fiske has extended the operation of the Bureau over Kentucky, in consequence of the ratification of the constitutional amendment. The announcement was not received with much cordiality. A convention of planters, lately held at Frankfort, passed resolutions denouncing the Government and the amendment, and voted to import white laborers, and exclude the freedmen. As the maximum of wages they propose to offer is considerably less than the ordinary rates north of the Ohio, it is not likely that Irish and German laborers will emigrate to Kentucky simply to please former slave-owners. In other parts of the State a more sensible feeling is manifested.
The Bureau is now in operation in all the Southern States except Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware. Missouri has adopted so liberal a constitution of her own, that outside control is unnecessary; and, in the other States, it is deemed sufficient to exercise a general supervision from Washington, and enlighten the local authorities as to their duty whenever it is necessary, as has happened repeatedly in Maryland, where a sheriff recently informed the officers of the Bureau that he should not permit the opening of a freedmen's school in his district, as it was contrary to the laws of the State. It is needless to say that the school was established.
Besides the bill of Senator Trumbull, defining and extending the power of the Freedmen's Bureau, two propositions for the establishment of a Bureau of Education have been recently laid before Congress, and received with favor; the one having in view a thorough educational system for the whole country, the other having particular reference to the improvement of the States lately in rebellion. This latter resolution, which was adopted by the House, runs as follows : --
Resolved, " Whereas the disasters which have afflicted the nation are traceable in a great degree to the absence of general education
22.
among the people of the rebellious States," therefore, "that the Committee on Reconstruction be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a rational Bureau of Education, whose duty it shall be to enforce education, without regard to race or color, upon the population of all such States as shall fall below a standard to be established by Congress, and to inquire whether this should Dot be made an essential and permanent part of any system of reconstruction."
Some three hundred freedmen of Elizabeth City and County, Va, have formed a stock company, and invested thirty thousand dollars, the accumulation of their own savings, in the purchase of a large and valuable estate in that county.
The whole number of Freedmen's schools now in operation in the Southern States is stated to be 631, with 1,240 teachers and 65,000 pupils daily.
THE REMOVAL OF GEN. SAXT0N.
The announcement of the removal of Gen. Saxton from his post in South Carolina has produced a wail of sorrow, which comes to our ears from all quarters. One write : "To add to all this, General Saxton, the friend and protector of the freedmen, has just been relieved, by order from Washington. At present, we know not upon whom his mantle may fell; but we fear it may never cover shoulders alike broad and generous with his. His removal carries with it all civilians, at least under his command. The removal of General Saxon will undoubtedly embolden the rebels while the military authorities will not be likely to increase in zeal for the great work left for them to accomplish. But God yet rules and reigns; and the unbounded trust which these despised and down-trodden ones repose in him will prove not to have been misplaced."
The following letter was sent to General Saxton, on hearing of his removal, by the request of the Committee on Teachers:--
NEW-ENGLAND FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY,
8, STUDIO BUILDING, TREMONT STREET,
Boston, Jan. 17, 1866
GENERAL AND HONORED FRIEND,--The Committee on Teachers have instructed me to express to you the profound regret and dismay which they feel at your removal from the post you have so nobly and faithfully filled in South Carolina.
The persistency, generosity, and immovable fidelity to the best instincts of humanity with which you have maintained the cause of the oppressed, in the face of all opposition, military and political; the tender appreciation you have shown of the rights and of the sufferings of the humblest; your truly paternal care of these poor outcasts, -- have endeared your name to us, as well as to them: and, in parting from you, as the superior under whom we have been working for them, we regard our loss as irreparable. It seems now like cultivating a garden whence the beneficent sunshine and the blessed dews have been excluded.
He who watches the sparrow in its fall will take care of the poor child-race; and that sweetest of satisfactions must ever be yours, -- a high trust worthily held. Your name will appear down the pages of history, in letters of grace, as of one who knew the meaning of the great problem of his age, and did his best to make the possible a fact.With sentiments of deep respect and most friendly regard, yours,
Hannah E. Stevenson,
Secretary Committee on Teachers
The Old Cambridge Freedmen's Aid Society has recently published its first annual report. The interest in the work has greatly increased during the year, and the prosperity of the Society grown accordingly. The number of members now reaches nearly two hundred. The receipts in money have amounted to $1,761.40. Two teachers have been supported, and furnished liberally with funds and supplies for their charitable work. The Society is at present in a highly nourishing condition, and expects to accomplish still more during the coming year. We hope their next report will record even more excellent results than the above.
SEWING-SCHOOLS.
Miss Learned, the teacher of one of the freedmen's schools in Baltimore, has lately visited Boston for the purpose of procuring material for furnishing the sewing-schools established by the Maryland Freedmen's Aid Society in that city. These schools will be mainly taught by volunteers from the city itself; and, according to the plan laid out, about five thousand children will partake of
23.
their benefits. Many of our teachers in other places are also establishing sewing-schools, and will be very glad of assistance in this important branch of the work.
Pieces of calico, cotton or woollen goods, donations of needles, threads, tapes, buttons, &c., will be very acceptable. Simple garments, ready cut and basted, will save the teacher many a weary hour of preparation; and nothing will be more welcome than nicely fitted squares of patchwork all ready for the fingers of the little beginners in this fascinating handicraft. How many a kind old grandmother or aunt, as she sits by her cosy home-fire, may prepare her offering for the teachers' box, and thus save to her who has gone on her distant mission, an hour or two for needed relaxation, or for precious ministrations to her suffering charge! All can do something. We would almost parody the poet's lines, and say,--
" There is no great and no small,
for the freedman needeth all."
PHOTOGRAPHS.
The photographic art has been put to a great many pleasant and profitable uses, but we would like to suggest one more. It would gratify us very much to have portraits of all our teachers. It is not always easy for every member of the teachers' committee to recall the faces of the hundred or more teachers whom we send out yearly. Besides, in offering a teacher to a Branch Society, it would be very satisfactory to let the truth-telling photograph speak for us. And then, we confess, we have a proud feeling of the historic value of our work, and believe that hereafter many would gladly see the faces of the noble army of teachers who have borne the brunt of the battle against prejudice and ignorance at the South.
If any teachers or their friends will send us their photographs, we shall esteem it a very great favor.
CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN FREEDMEN'S AID
AND UNION COMMISSION.Article 1. This organization shall be known as The American Freedmen's Aid and Union Commission.
Art. 2. Its object is to aid and co-operate with the people of those portions of the United States which have been impoverished by the war, in the improvement of their condition, upon the basis of industry, education, freedom, and Christian morality.
Art. 3. The Commission shall consist of the persons hereinafter named, their associates and successors; and shall have power to appoint and remove at discretion its own officers; shall elect associates at discretion; shall audit the accounts of its officers; make necessary regulations, and be responsible for the efficiency and fidelity of its agents; shall not permit its number to diminish, but shall fill its own vacancies from two or more persons named by the department in which the vacancy may occur.
Art. 4. The Commission shall comprise an Eastern, a Western, and a Southern department; the presidents, vice-presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers of which shall be, ex-officio, members of the Commission. Each department shall be independent of the other, so far as the collection of money and goods, and the selection, supervision, and payment of teachers and agent*, may be concerned.
Art. 5. The officers of the Commission shall be a president, one or more vice-presidents, one or more secretaries, and a treasurer.
Art. 6, The executive committee shall consist of the officers of the Commission, and the corresponding secretaries and treasurers of the departments, together with eight delegates from each department; and it shall finally decide, subject to the revision of the Commission, all questions relating to the general policy and action of the Commission.
Art. 7. Teachers and agents shall be accredited in the name of the Commission; their credentials being attested by the president and one of the secretaries, and countersigned by the corresponding secretary of the department from which they issue.
Art. 8. Each department shall account to the general treasurer for all moneys received and expended, and for all goods received and distributed.
Art. 9. Contributions from Europe, the Pacific coast, and other common sources, shall go into the general treasury, unless otherwise directed by the contributors. Funds in the general treasury shall be distributed by the executive committee to the departments, or otherwise applied for the purposes of the Commission. The general treasurer shall make to the Commission annual exhibit of all receipts and disbursements.
Art. 10. The secretaries shall make an annual report to the Commission, which, with the annual exhibit of the general treasurer, shall be published under the direction of the executive committee.
24.
ART. 11. The persons next hereinafter named, their associates and successors, shall constitute the Commission.
President, MATTHEW SIMPSON, Philadelphia.
Vice-Presidents, JOSEPH P. L THOMPSON, New York; WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, Boston; CHARLES G. HAMMOND, Chicago.
Secretaries, JACOB B. SHIPHERD, Washington; LYMAN ABBOTT, New York, GEORGE C. WARD. New York.
EX-OFFICIO.Hugh L. Bond, Baltimore, President of the Eastern Department.
__________________Vice-President.
J. Miller McKim, New York, Secretary of the Eastern Department.
Charles P. McIlvaine, Cincinnati, President of the Western Deportment.
___________________ Vice-president.
John M. Walden, Chicago, Secretary of the Western Department.
Roswell B. Mason, Chicago, Treasurer.
John Parkman, Thomas Russell, Jacob M. Manning, Edward L. Pierce, William Claflin, Boston.
John G. Whittier, Amesbury, Mass.
Samuel Coney, Augusta, Me.
William A Buckingham, Norwich, Conn.
Francis G. Shaw, John Jay, Robert Haydock, Henry Ward Beecher, Joseph P. Thompson, Geo. Whipple, New York.
Stephen Colwell, Francis R. Cope, J. E. Rhoads, Joseph Parrish, John P. Crozer, Philips Brooks, William Still, Philadelphia.
Hugh L. Bond, Archibald Stirling, jun., Evans Rogers, William J. Albert, Baltimore. Sayles J. Bowen, Washington. C. G. Hussey, John B. Clark, William D. Howard, Pittsburg.
Levi Coffin, Adam Poe, D. H. Allen, Bellamy Storer, Cincinnati. Calvin Fletcher, Indianapolis.
J. S. Newberry, L. F. Mellen, Joseph Perkins, Cleveland.
James H. Fairchild, Oberlin, O
Daniel A. Payne, Xenia, P.
George Duffield, Detroit.
Charles S. May, Kalamazoo, Mich.
R. W. Patterson, W. W. Patton, Grant Good rich, Chicago.
Abram M. Taylor, John P. Wood, Charles T. Coffin, Robert Morrison, Society of Friends in the West.ART. 12. The Commission shall meet upon its own adjournment; and upon the call of the president, or of one of the secretaries.
Art. 13. This constitution may be amended by the Commission at any regularly called meeting, provided previous notice of the changes proposed shall have accompanied the convening call.
TO THE FRIENDS OF THE POOR, LEICESTER, MASS.
Charleston, S. C., Dec. 18, 1865.
Sometime early last spring, I received through the Freedmen's Aid Society of Boston, fifty dollars from the town of Leicester, " for my work" here and at Hilton Head. I promised to give a faithful account of its expenditures, both on my own account, and for the satisfaction of the donors. When I received that $50.00, I could scarcely believe I held the precious amount in keeping for such relief of the misery around me as only money can bring.
I never expended it except on the most urgent occasions, and it fell on this people in a gentle shower of blessings as long as it lasted. At Hilton Head, I gave a poor man, with a large family, $1.00 to purchase seed potatoes for planting; to a deformed man, 50 cents; to a temporary hospital, established in a church, for the sick and dying of colored refugees from Sherman's army, $11.00.
For printing patriotic songs to be sung in the newly opened schools of Charleston, $7.00. These were "America," "Rally round the Flag, Boys," and "Star-Spangled Banner." By this means the thousands of liberated slave children in this rebel city filled the school buildings with their music, and haunted the grass-grown streets with songs of loyalty.
To Mr. Redpath, establishing an orphan asylum for the stray colored children cast up by the tide of war, $20.00 to purchase sheets. That is now a flourishing institution, one of the greatest blessings of this city. To a poor girl who had walked forty miles from the country, and fallen sick, and who had to eat rice without salt, $1.25 for purchasing coffee, milk, and bread, which she might relish. To candles for a sick man, 20 cents; for ten, and loaf of bread for an old African woman, one hundred years old, 60 cents. To two loaves of bread for Emeline, just out of Roper's Hospital, still sick and penniless; and to cash to Emeline, as she tottered to the cars with nothing to eat, 70 cents. This girl was twenty-two years of age, as white as myself, the daughter of an aristocratic lawyer. She has blue eyes, light hair; yet she was put in the field to work at the age of seven years, and, during the war, has with her sister ploughed all the grounds of her master. Her sister Ann
25.
was obliged to cut wood in the forest by the cord, while Emeline drew it with mule and cart to the river, and waded in to load it on the raft.
To candles, crackers, and tea, for a poor, sick white teacher in our school, $1.75. To pencils for teaching writing on Edisto, $2.00. To loaves of bread, on different occasions, to those who had no money or food, $1.50; to a poor woman and her two boys, $1.60. To combs and chalk for school, $1.00. I have been thus particular, that the usefulness of this money might be better understood. If time allowed, the distribution of each loaf of bread would have a most touching interest. Almost every day I am asked for a " little bread, missis;" " piece wood, missis," &c, &c. I tender you the gratitude and blessings of all these sufferers who have shared your gift, and beg you to accept my thanks for the honor and pleasure afforded me by this timely aid.
Very respectfully yours,
A. F. PlLLSBURY.
EXTRACTS FROM TEACHERS' LETTERS.
Letters from our teachers in Norfolk inform us, that Concert Hall, the building in which our schools were held, was partially destroyed by fire on Saturday, Jan. 6. The teachers say there is no doubt that this fire was set by white people, for the express purpose of breaking up the " nigger schools," as they have threatened to do for some time. Besides this outrage, stones or coals have been thrown into the parlor of the Teachers' Home. These indications show the difficulties which will beset our work as soon as military protection is withdrawn. We give below extracts from letters from Norfolk: --
Norfolk, Jan. 9,1866
The white rowdies are doing what they can to put down the schools. They commenced taking what they could find in our schoolrooms; we had locks put on the desks and doors; they pressed off the locks, and took books and slates. We were startled on Saturday morning by the cry of fire Concert Hall had been set on fire in four places It was burned inside of the building: the outside was saved. They say they are determined to put down these schools, and I suppose think they have done it now; but we hope to commence to-morrow morning in our old home, the " Bell Church," where we taught over two years.
We were startled from sleep about twelve last night. Some one threw a piece of coal through the window, smashing one pane of glass. Mr. Coan says we are very imprudent to stay here without a guard. For my part, I am not trouble about their touching us.H. W. has left her distressed body. You will recollect her severe trials. She died shouting “Glory, hallelujah!" Aunt Peggy is able to attend church. Her son hired a stand to sell meat the last two years for $90; he hired again last Monday for $295. This is to show you how the white men run up their rents, hoping to make them give up business. Two of our schoolgirls were engaged by a secesh lady to clean her house, and promised six dollars. When it was done, she refused to pay. They came here in trouble. We sent them to the Bureau. Mr. Johnson wrote her note; she did not heed it: he went himself, and collected it.
I have had two barrels of very good clothing, mostly new, in reply to my call, from Worcester. They came just in time. Many of the children were not able to come to school, and many were without decent garments to cover them. Wood is $8 a cord, and coal $15 per ton: provisions of all kinds dear. No Miss Smilie, with comforts for the sick, or rations for the suffering. I visited twenty-five families last Friday in the poorest part of the city. It was distressing to witness such poverty, particularly among the sick and aged.
Miss Ellis has received a box; Miss Clark, a box; Mrs. Axtell, two barrels. We shall give out the clothing as judiciously as possible.
E. P. Smith.
Norfolk, Jan. 12,1866.You have doubtless received our letters, written the early part of the week, telling you of the burning of Concert Hall on Saturday night. I did not then know how much injury the building had sustained, nor what was the loss to the society in school furniture, &c. I can now tell you more of these details. The fire did not do half as much damage as thieves: it yielded too readily to the efforts of the firemen, if we may believe what colored men who were on the ground say. The windows were broken and knocked out, the partition and doors destroyed, but the floors not badly burned. Capt. Flagg, the Superintendent of this Department, says it can be repaired at a not very great expense. Our schools were all on the second floor. Our stoves, made of cast-iron, were thrown out of the windows and badly broken, and almost all our stove-pipe stolen. Our blackboards even knocked to pieces, and our maps torn to fragments. Our coal, which was in the basement, was nearly all stolen; but I do not think a stick of wood was taken away or burned. The latter was piled away up stairs. The burning of this building was a pure act of vandalism. Threats have reached our ears all winter, that " that nigger school should be broken up."
We are now teaching in the " Bell Church," and get along very comfortably, though of course we
26.
have regrets for our nice little rooms at Concert have regrets for our nice little rooms at Concert Hall, where our schools could be in separate apartments. I do not know what has occasioned this fresh outbreak of hostility against us. It cannot be any thing we have done, for we pursue our work in as quiet and unobtrusive a way as possible. Twice within a week, have bricks and coal been thrown against our house. Yesterday, a little fellow, about four years old, accosted Miss Clark on the street opposite our house with the question, "Do nigger-teachers live over there now? " I have never been so full of hope for the future of the colored people as since I have been here. One sees in Norfolk much of the good fruit of the three years of labor here. A few days ago, I had a conversation with a man who told me that he, with a number of others, were going into the country to settle. They had purchased a lot of land, a thousand acres, for ten thousand dollars. But, said I, "that is a great deal of money; where will you get it?" He said it was to be paid in instalments,-- fifteen hundred dollars down: they had already raised that, and were moving their families out there this very week. His two sons, fine fellows of eighteen and twenty years, are in my night class. Thus I lose them. I asked him if he had ever been a slave. " Oh, yes," was his reply, " but Abraham Lincoln fixed me. I have his picture hanging up in my house, and I love to look at it, and think how much I owe him." He said when his colony was nicely settled, he should want one of the ladies to come out there and teach school.
F. E. Ellis.
From Baltimore.
By expending a great deal of money for advertising in our own city and county papers, we have at last gained the attention of the thinking public to our schools. Our Superintendent of Schools, an elderly Quaker, has visited the localities where our schools have been disturbed; and, by firm and resolute talk, yet on the suasive style, he has received promises from the secesh that the schools shall be protected. We are now moving on swimmingly, and regret to be stopped in our efforts. We have made arrangements to make another appeal to the public, and shall apply to our Legislature and City Government for aid; but, from the two latter, expect nothing, unless the Government at Washington stands firm. We have now applications for upwards of forty teachers, and there are now sixteen schoolhouses waiting for teachers; and greatly regret we cannot meet the demands. We will do our best to keep the ball in motion.
We have now in the city eighteen teachers, and in the counties twenty-five schools, and eight teachers in the normal schools for whom schools are ready. Notwithstanding the burnings and beatings we are opening schools in the worse counties of the State, and expect soon to have one in each. county in Maryland.
On Thanksgiving Day, some of the churches took up collections for us; so, you see, we are improving.
J. T. Graham,
Actuary Md, Soc.
From Richmond.
We are just now having one week's rest in which to repair the rents in "tired nature," as well as those in our clothes; and expect to start again, next Tuesday morning, with such an accumulation of propelling power that we shall not be obliged to stop again for repairs until the sun is a long way higher. As I would by no means bo "negligent of duty," I write; and, as I do so, wonder what I have done during the past month that I can tell to interest you.
We are up every morning at the call of our new bell, which hangs high; then to our work, where we are greeted by many bright faces and cheerful "how d'ye's," which inspire us for our day's work. What could make us happier? . . .
I heard, the other day, the story of a poor widow, whose two children are members of my school, but who were absent on account of not having proper clothing, the only means of obtaining which had been taken from her. That was a pig, which she hud been caring for all through the summer, and which would have brought her enough to have given each of the family a winter suit; but some of her white neighbors were perhaps in greater need than she. She can get no work, and what is she to do? I can put the children in condition to attend school; but I cannot cure heart-aches, for want of justice done. Most of my scholars are progressing finely, and the worn-out leaves of " abs " are discarded almost entirely for " cow," " boy," " man;" and these in turn for Hillard's number 2.
Our house is as pleasant as ever, and our family as happy. We have reason to thank the good God, that it is so well with us.
Mary E. Clark.
From Richmond.All well and flourishing at the Laboratory, where the Stars and Stripes are now thrown to the breeze every morning at sunrise. The little "secesh" who left "the white school" in disgust when the flag first went up, has not yet been reconstructed, and so remains at home in his ignorance, " a true son of Virginia."
I am writing at the Third-street School, between
27.
the morning and afternoon sessions, with a dozen girls around me, eating their "snacks" and discussing "Mother Goose,"-- quite a descent from their last lesson in geography, a few minutes since, among the Alps. One of them progresses so rapidly that her mother is alarmed about her, and thinks "certainly she will kill herself studyin'." They are all doing well, but are not, I think, in any immediate danger from over activity of brain. I have a new class of young men in my day school, who have just been contemplating with wonder my large map of the United States. "Which State is the largest?" I asked, as they were comparing them. "I think Massachusetts is, but I know it isn't," said one. "It ought to be, for it's the best," he added. Tell it not in the streets of Richmond! That reminds me to tell you, that, in our night school, we have the daily doings of Congress read, and animated discussions thereupon. Last night, the term "Radicals" was explained by special request. Oh these irrepressibles! When will they learn that they are neither to vote or think?
Bessie L. Canedy.
New Berne, Dec. 28,1865.
If we had a little recitation-room, and you could send out an assistant teacher, we could accomplish a great deal. We could have the scholars go out, a class at a time, to write. Three-fourths of them, or more, are primer scholars. I have to hear them recite in concert, usually, in order to get through with all. They recite by benches full. This disturbs the rest of the school, and is objectionable in various ways. Some of the scholars are grown up, and I feel as if I ought to pay especial attention to them; for I know they ought to learn fast, and go to work again. Then there are so many things I would like to teach them orally, that I have no time for. I have to drive through without much of the " play-work" that one can have in teaching, if she has the time.
A little girl, about twelve years of age, came to Mrs. Howard's school, one day last week, and asked her for some clothes. Mrs. Howard told her she would buy some " light 'na " from her if she could come to the house. Yesterday she came, and said she had brought some wood the day before, but found us gone, and left it with some white people" next door, who said they knew us, and would bring it in when we returned. We don't know them, and they did not bring it. When she found this out, she went after it, and brought us what they had not used, She is lame: her ankles are deformed. She lives a long way out of town, beyond Fort Totten, and she has to go still further for the wood. Her mother is sick, and unable to work. She is nearly blind. There are two children younger than this one; and this little creature is the main support of the family. They do not draw rations. She said she wished she could go to school. She went to school to a colored man, a week, once, and paid him ten cents. She had to give it up when her mother was ill. She was barefoot, and very ragged and cold. Mrs. Howard gave her a dress, and I gave her two nice pairs of stockings and a pair of shoes from the barrel of clothing sent from Fitchburg. She was delighted with them, and came again with two large bundles of wood to sell, and her new shoes on. The dress had to be altered, and she had not had time to do it. I gave her a slice of bread and butter, which she ate greedily. Probably she does not often get butter to eat.
I have begun teaching in the evening school, and and it hardly any work at all. The scholars are perfect ladies and gentlemen. They always have excellent lessons; and, really, going to the evening school is about all the dissipation I want. I have been to two parties since I have been here with Northern people. They were great events in the even tenor of our lives, and our going was entirely a surprise to us.Ellen F. Stearns.
From Raleigh.This is the sixth week since I recommenced my labors, which seem pleasanter than before. It was gratifying to see how glad my scholars were to meet me again. I have a very interesting school. The scholars are studying geography and arithmetic. Several will begin the study of grammar as soon as books can be obtained from Wilmington. They are like all scholars; some so roguish as to require constant attention; others so anxious to please their teachers and do right, that a single word of reprimand, or a failure in recitation, will bring tears. I am happy to announce that " Boston," whom I taught his letters when I first came, has so well improved his opportunities that he was last week promoted, and is now in my room, and has begun to study arithmetic. We gave him some clothes today, which pleased him much.
We have an evening school which is well attended. I have a large class of young men who are beginning to rend in the primer. Two of them had no home, except in some stable, until this week. They have been sent to a large house in this city, with a number of others, where they may have a home and regular meals. They had been in the habit of cutting wood for their meals wherever they could; and when there was no wood to cut, they had not much to eat.
One wanted a book, but said he would have to cut wood for Mr. L. to pay for it. Often my
28.
morning scholars have come to school without breakfast:.some of them, when they could have
it by being late at school; but they would rather be in season. Out sabbaths are very busy days;
we have sabbath-school from nine in the morning until church time; after church, dinner; and, generally, in the afternoon a walk to the colored hospital, where we read, talk, and sing to the patients, -- one of whom is a very interesting young girl who was accidentally shot. Her case is doubtful, and may terminate in consumption. She is very patient, and evinces a Christian spirit. She does not wish to live, or seem to care for any thing earthly. The physician calls her his"Patient Angel."E. F. Hancock.
From Kingston, N. C.This day has been full of interest to me, and I wish that I were able to transfer its scenes to my paper, that you might enjoy them with me. We had no school last week, but our time was fully occupied; partly in visiting the people at their homes, and partly in assisting and directing them in their preparations for the celebrations to-day. The procession was very large for the place and the day, which has been rather unpleasant. We estimated the whole number as high as twelve or fifteen hundred. Mr. Fowler tried to get a flag in New Berne, but was unsuccessful. I fear they have grown scarce in this part of the country. So we made a shield, and fastened it on a white banner trimmed with red, white, and blue. On the reverse we put the mottoes, -- " Free Labor," "Free Schools," "Free Homes," made in evergreen letters. This banner headed the procession: next in order was one bearing a picture of Lincoln, encircled with a wreath of ivy leaves with a border of the same on one side; and on the other the closing words of his memorable Emancipation Proclamation, -- " Shall be for ever free. Jan. 1st,1863." I think I may be excused if I say that this is the most beautiful thing of the kind I ever saw. All day long that noble face seemed to look down upon us with a sweet and solemn gaze, that I am sure spoke eloquently to every heart. The schools brought up the rear,--our with a banner, bearing on one side, "Lincoln School;" and, on the reverse, "In God we Trust." The other had "Grant School" on one side, and "Knowledge is Power" on the other -- all made out of evergreens. We were obliged to do nearly all this work ourselves, for it is something entirely new to the colored people here. A goodly number of discharged soldiers were in the procession, which marched in much better order than I had supposed possible. Unfortunately, they were unable to obtain any music, unless I except one fife, and an old broken-down drum. Oh, but you should have heard the shout that went up, when with one accord they halted in front of the court-house, which was the old market-place and where, only one year ago to-day, many of them stood upon the block to be hired, or sold and then were crowded into the jail near by to await their master's coming! The court is in session, having assembled to-day; and you may be sure we enjoyed it all the more for seeing the wondering faces that looked out from doors and windows, as the crowd passed by. The procession spent some three hours or more in marching through the principal streets of the village and finally halted in front of the Lincoln Schoolhouse, when the schools sang several pieces, -- "America," "Shout, shout, the Kingdom's Coming," " Rally round the Flag, Boys," &c. There were also declamations by three or four of the scholars. "The Nation's Dead," and Whittier's "Song of the Negro Boatmen," were recited in a way that would do credit to boys of much greater privileges; the earnest attention, and the hearty cheers that followed, proved that not only their efforts, but the sentiments they uttered, were appreciated by the crowd. Then followed the hymn, "Blow ye the Trumpet, Blow;" a prayer; a part of 1 Cor. xv., with comments; and several short addresses from colored men. Some good things were said, such as,--
"What makes good luck, my friends, is diligence. Liberty does not mean idleness, but the privilege to labor for ourselves and our families. We want equality before the law. We cannot "if we would, and we would not if we could, make a law that will make a black man a white one before morning, or a white man a black one before night; but he that is most meritchus (meritorious), honest, industrious, and intelligent, will stand highest without regard to color." Another alluded to the heavy burden of taxes resting upon the land, and said they "were willing to till the land, make crops, and help to lift it, if the white man would give them a fair, liberal chance. While the white man was raised at the foot of a school-mistress or master, they were raised at the feet of the taskmaster and trader; they had worked like the faithful ox, honestly and patiently waiting till the day of deliverance came. We are all three years old today. This is your country as much as anybody's, and you should expect to do something for it in civil life, as you have done in the field." I regretted that we were unable to procure a copy of the Proclamation to read on the occasion.
Sarah E. Keyes.
--The following letters were written to the secretary of the committee on Teachers, by two of the pupils in a school at Clumford's Creek, N.C. : --
29.
Clumforts Creeke, Pine Grove
Settlement, Jan. 3d, 1868.Miss Stevenson Dear Madam I hereby Write you a few lines to Let you know about Our School affairs. Our Meeting house has bin burnt and our School has Bin broke up. But we ar thankfull to Say that We ar going to School again. but when our School Got burnt I Went to School to Newberne two months an then Miss Carrie Game back again, an now I am Going to School Regular We ar vearry thankfull to you for your good kindness to us I think our School is prospering I Am Studdying Geography an Arithmetic. and Reading in a third Reader and Spelling in a Common School Speller. I Wish you Would give me an answer I wrote to you before and I never received any answer from you atall Our School is increasing I think vearry much indeed I Am one of Miss Carrie's Schollars and I Expect to be her Schollar as long as She Stay's here I think if She Continue here She will have .a. large School this Winter & Spring We ar vearry thankfull that you Sent us a Teacher I hope that the Lord Will bless you and take Care of you. yours &c
John W. Gaskill.
Clumfort's Creek., Piney Grove
Settlement, Jan. 3,1866.Miss Stevenson Dear Madam I have Writen you one Letter before & I never Received any answer For it. Our Church is Burned up. But we have Build another One, & I Am verry thankfull to all of the North people for senden us A Teacher & for helping us to Build Our Church house & we have had A verry sick Fall & A Good many of the People Died up. I am Studin Arithmetic & Geography, third Reader & Common School Speller my Teacher are well Yours Respectfully
James T. Gaskill.
From Charleston, S. C.
I have been teaching, and looking after the interests of a "Home for the Aged." This object, so much desired by myself, and absolutely so necessary for that most unfortunate class of freedmen, is at length accomplished. So far, we have admitted sixteen of the friendless and infirm wandering about the city without food or shelter.
Through the politeness of Capt.---- , A. Q. M. Freedmen's Bureau, we have received three boxes of clothing, which has made them all comfortable and clean. When I took charge, there was not a bedstead in the house; some were lying on the floor, some on straw beds placed on the floor. Now all have bedsteads which I procured last summer. They have all the clothing needed except shoes, -- they need large easy shoes; and if any one in Boston would like to give them a change of diet from the rations (mush, made of meal, sometimes sour, and bacon, with a scant supply of tea and sugar), they can do so, by sending money to my care, which will be carefully expended for them. To-day, I asked an old blind man, at twelve o'clock, what he had to eat. He said, "Nothing, my dear missis; I couldn't eat." "Well," I replied, "could you eat any thing?" He said, "I could eat a piece of bread and some tea." There was no bread, but I bought some for him. It has always been the custom to cast off these poor old slaves, and now South Carolina does no better. In her poverty, -- which is a new and strange word here, -- she is glad to get food and clothing for herself, and so continues to cast out these infirm decrepit slaves, without a mouthful of food, without money, and without shelter. I cannot express my pleasure in attending upon them, carrying them blankets, looking after their comfort in every way, and speaking kind words to them. I often ask," Have you any family, -- a wife, husband, or children?" The general reply is, " No, my dear missis, -- had wife, had husband, had children, -- none now: all gone, -- sold, on'y me one." They crave some variety of food, and ask me for "little tater," "little rice," "little bread," "little peas," &c.
No one at the North can understand the want and destitution everywhere in this city and State. Last week, when two hundred freedmen were going to Edisto and other places, I went down to distribute among them what clothing I could spare, -- two large sacks full; but it was only a drop in the bucket: nobody seemed supplied. As far as I have seen, -- and the streets and wharves are thronged, -- the people of these islands are in a terrible condition. How they will pass through the winter, God only knows.
We go daily to the Orphan House, founded and kept in operation by the humanity and perseverance of Mr. James Redpath. You know, perhaps, that this was the home of Memminger, the Secretary of the Confederate Treasury, -- a fine house, piazzas, spacious grounds, abundant shrubbery, &c. Here are about seventy children, some orphans and some half-orphans. They have the large parlor for a schoolroom, and are learning as fast as time will allow. No one can imagine the utility of this institution, unless they become intimate with the wants and suffering of the freedmen. I have found mothers sick on floors, with from two to six children; have been obliged to send the parent to the hospital, with the comforting assurance, however, that her children should go to the Orphans' Home, and that, if she recovered, and was able to take charge of them again, she could have them. Their rooms are large, and kept beautifully clean. They have iron bedsteads, sheets, and warm blankets. If
30.
this State, and others of the Confederacy were blessed by numerous institutions of this kind, there would be more hope for the rising generation of uncared-for children. We are constantly picking them up from the streets; some have lost their parents in their wanderings, and are taken to the Home until they are found. Some are black, and some nearly white. Our school is very orderly and quiet. Scarcely a spare moment is mine; but I am glad of the opportunity to undo some of these burdens, and bring a little joy to sadness. All the united efforts of those willing to work in this field, will not much diminish the general amount of ignorance and suffering.
A. F. PlLLSBURY.
From Orangeburg, S. C.
This is one of the towns which were laid in ruins by General Sherman's army in the march through South Carolina. There is a small military force stationed here, under command of Colonel E. A. Kozlay, Fifty-fourth New-York Volunteers. It would not be safe for teachers to remain at this place, if the people were not held in check by the presence of the United-States troops. There is much bitterness of feeling toward any person at all interested in the colored race. There is not a family who can yet speak a friendly word to a teacher of colored persons. Were it not for the wife of Colonel Kozlay, we should be without a female acquaintance. A small house (15 feet by 20) has been built for us, in which we are now living. It is of rough, unseasoned lumber, with the frame covered only on the outside. A partition divides it into rooms. In the front-room there are two windows, and one in the sleeping-room. All are, as yet, without sashes. We have wooden shutters, which protect us from the cold, but exclude the daylight. When too cold to sit with them open, we must light our lamp to read or write by. Our furniture is very simple and scanty. A schoolhouse has been built by direction of the commander of the post, who is also an officer of the Bureau. It will accommodate one hundred and fifty. The average daily attendance is one hundred and forty; ages from six to eighteen, -- a few older. As yet there are no window-sashes in the schoolhouse, and neither blinds nor shutters. Two days last week it was impossible to teach for any length of time, and our pupils were sent home. We regretted being compelled to do it; but only a regard for the health of ourselves and them, prompted us to do it. For a few days we had a fire in a small stove in the room; but it was of little use, -- with the openings for windows. They have promised to have our room made comfortable this week We hope soon to establish a sewing-school. We shall do as much visiting among the people as possible.
The citizens were very much opposed to the establishment of the school, and have threatened to burn the house. A guard is kept there at night, -- also one in sight of our own little house. We hope to be able to stay several months. This the first opportunity the majority have had of learning, and they are here, as we find them in all places, eager to improve.
We trust that all may learn to know the letters, and many to read and write, during our stay; and that the seed which we sow may spring to a rich harvest in coming days.
Louise Fisher.
TO BRANCH SOCIETIES.
The " Record " is the official organ of communication with branch societies, and we shall endeavor to give all possible information in it which will interest them. A copy will be sent to the president of each society, and we would respectfully ask them to notify us of any failure of its reception, or of any error in the list of officers.
BRANCH SOCIETIES SUPPORTING TEACHERS.
ROXBURY. (LINCOLN FREEDMEN'S AID.)
President, Mrs. L. C. Bowles.
Secretary, Miss Anna C. Lowell.
Teachers, Thomas E. Younger, Maryland; Caroline F. Thompson, New Berne, N. C.; Lucy Chase, Georgia; Jane Hosmer, Hilton Head; Mary E. Clark, Richmond.WEST ROXBURY.
President, Mrs. Charles W. Dabney.
Secretary, Miss Emily Greene.
Teachers, Lydia B. Chase, Halifax, N. C.; Frances W. Perkins, Washington.BROOKLINE.
President, Edward S. Philbrick.
Secretary, Ellen M. Wellman.
Teachers, Anne P. Merriam, New Berne, N. C.; J. Stuart Banfield, Georgia.WEST NEWTON.
President, Mrs. J. A. Newell.
Secretary, Mrs. Edward Hinckley.
Teacher, Sarah M. Pearson, New Berne.BOSTON "TWIG."
President, Miss Annette P. Rogers.
Secretary, Miss Lilian Clarke.
Teacher, Louise Fisher, Orangeburg, S. C.
31.
WOBURN.
President, Mrs. A. G. Carter.
Secretary, Mrs. S. R. Pippy.
Teacher, S. Frances Hancock, Raleigh, N. C.SOMERVILLE.
President, Cutler Downer.
Secretary, F. H. Raymond.
Teacher, Sarah E. Foster, Richmond, Va.DORCHESTER (BARNARD FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY.)
President, Daniel Denny.
Secretary, Mrs. William Pope.
Teachers, Mrs. A. F. Pillsbury, Charleston, S. C; S. Virginia Lawton, Alexandria, Va.; Sarah Clark, Norfolk, Va.; Selma Wesselhoeft, Hilton Head, S. C.LEICESTER.
President, Samuel May, jun.
Secretary, A. H. Coolidge.
Teachers, Sarah E. Chase, Georgia; E. Mariana Lawton, Alexandria, Va.NORTHAMPTON.
President, James C. Ward.
Secretary, Miss Mary E. Cochrane.
Teacher, Elizabeth P. Breck, Hilton Head, S. C.GRAFTON.
President, Mrs. Seth J. Axtell.
Secretary, Mrs. Jewett. Teacher,
Mary C. Axtell, Norfolk, Va.BEVERLY.
President, Mrs. Charlotte Eastman.
Secretary, Miss E. B. Choate.
Teacher, Mary S. Osborne, Church Creek, Md.
HINGHAM.
President, Joshua Young. Secretary, Mrs. L. B. Lincoln. Teacher, Anna Gardner, Charlottesville, Va.
Gloucester.
President, Miss H. E. Davidson, H. D. Secretary, W. C. High. Teacher, Letitia Sargent, Georgetown, S. C.SALEM.
President, Prof. Alpheus Crosby.
Secretary, Rev. E. B. Wilson.
Teachers, Mary R. Kimball, Roanoke Island, N. C.} Mary Horton, Roanoke Island, N. C.; Mrs. Mary B. Stoddard, Orangeburg, S. C.HOPEDALE.
President, E. D. Draper.
Secretary, Jerome Wilmarth.
Teacher, Ellen M. Patrick, Charleston, S. C.FITCHBURG.
President, Rev. George M. Steele.
Secretary, E. Foster Bailey.
Teacher, Ellen F. Stearns, New BerneMlLFORD.
President, Rev. A. A. Cook.
Secretary, Rev. Joseph Scott.
Teacher, Harriet F. Stone, Kinston, N. CBlLLERICA.
President, Dr. Prank Bundy.
Secretary, Miss Anna Faulkner.
Teacher, Elizabeth R. Ball, Richmond, Va.LAWRENCE..
President, Rev. George Packard, D. D.
Secretary, Rev. A. J. Church.
Teacher, Octavia C. Page, Charleston, S. C.CEN. COM. FRIENDS, ENGLAND.
Secretary, Joseph Simpson.
Teachers, Arthur Sumner, Charleston, S. C; Andrew Washburn, Richmond, Va.PLYMOUTH.
President, Rev. Edward H. Hall.
Secretary, Miss Mary E. Kendall.
Teacher, Martha H. Chase, Richmond.WHITNEY-FAMILY SOCIETY.
Teacher, Elizabeth H. Botume, Beaufort, S. C.CAMBRIDGE.
President, Miss Maria Bowen.
Secretary, Miss Sarah Ropes.
Teacher, Harriet Carter, Washington, D.C.DANVERS.
President, Augustus Mudge.
Secretary, John S. Laroyd.
Teacher, Samuel P. Fowler, Kinston, N. C.WATERTOWN.
Teacher, Helen A. Learned, Baltimore.MAYHEW SOCIETY, IN BOSTON.
President, Mrs. Charles G. Loring.
Secretary, Miss Horatia Ware.
Teachers, Mrs. Esther H. Hawkes, Jacksonville, Fla.; Emma V. Browne, Washington, D.C.HAVERHILL.
President, Mrs. W. H. Hewes.
Secretary, Mrs. A. W. Avery.
Teacher, Angelina Ball, Richmond.OLD SOUTH CHURCH SOCIETY, IN BOSTON.
President, Mrs. Blagden.
Secretary, Miss Abby Walley.
Teacher, Adelaide F. Boyden, Edisto Island.ARLINGTON-STREET CHURCH SOCIETY, IN BOSTON.
President, Mrs. Henry Grew.
Secretary, Mrs. Edward W. Forbush.
Teachers, Peter H. Woolfolk, Richmond, Va.; Sarah P. Lillie, Hilton Head.DR. N. ADAMS'S CHURCH SOCIETY, IN BOSTON.
President, Mrs. Arthur Wilkinson.
Secretary, Miss Gray.
Teacher, Frances E. Ellis, Norfolk.
32.
THEODORE-PARKER FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY.
President, Mrs. Sarah B. Otis.
Secretary, Miss Sarah O. Babcock.
Teachers, Sarah D.Thomas, Washington; Almena S. Allen, Jehosse Island.INDIANA-PLACE CHURCH SOCIETY, IN BOSTON.
President, John H. Stephenson.
Secretary, Miss Tolman.
Teacher, Fanny S. Langford, Beaufort, S. C.BRATTLEBORO'.
Secretary, Miss Anna S. Higginson.
Teacher, Francelia Smith, Raleigh.JOHN-WOOLMAN SOCIETY.
Secretary, Rev. Fred. Frothingham.
Teacher, Lymas Anders, Hilton Head, S. C.DORCHESTER AND MILTON LOWER MILLS.
President, Henry L. Pierce.
Secretary, Mrs. J. Y. Pettee.
Teachers, Mary A. Fowler, Hilton Head; Ella Bates, Halifax, N. C.GROTON.
President, Col. Daniel Needham.
Teacher, Harrison T. Fletcher, Cumberland, Md.LOVEJOY FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY.
Secretary, Rev. Fred. Frothingham.
Teacher, Melissa Chamberlain, Charleston.SPRINGFIELD.
President, Mrs. Eliza Farrar.
Secretary, Mrs. E. B. Hooker.
Teachers, Harrison Leland, Raleigh; Elmira B. Stanton, Edisto Island.SOUTH DANVERS.
President, Mrs. D. C. Perkins.
Secretary, Mrs. H. F. Osborne. Teacher, Mary C. Green, Charleston".CAMBRIDGEPORT.
President, J. M. S. Williams.
Secretary, J. N. Barbour.
Teacher, Jane B. Smith, Hilton Head.CONCORD
President, Hon. George M. Brooks.
Secretary, John Brown.
Teacher, Harriet Buttrick, Summerville, S. C.NEW BEDFORD.
President, Mrs. Loum Snow.
Secretary, Mrs. John Hastings.
Teacher, Ellen S. Kempton, Edisto Island.MONTPELIER.
Secretary, A. R. Reed.
Teacher, Albert Everett, Edisto Island.LANCASTER.
President, Mrs. John Wore.
Secretary, Miss E. P. Russell.
Teacher, Abby Jane Knight, Edisto Island, S. C.DORCHESTER. ( Mattapan Freedmen's Aid Society.)
President, Mrs. George Hollingsworth.
Secretary, Miss C. E. Cook.
Teacher, Sarah G. Brown, Townfield, Va.HUBBARD-FAMILY SOCIETY.
Teacher, Mary Ames, Edisto Island.NEWMAN-FAMILY SOCIETY.
Teacher, Jane E. Clark, Sandy Spring, Md.CHELSEA.
President, Mrs. James W. Yerrington.
Secretary, Mrs. J. O. Hollis.
Teacher, Luella J. Chase, Charleston, S. C.FRAMINGHAM.
President, J. W. Clark.
Secretary, Miss Harriet N. Williams.
Teacher, Mrs. Leland, Raleigh.WORCESTER
President, Mrs. I. Washburn.
Secretary, Mrs. Theo. Brown.
Teacher, Mrs. Smith, Norfolk, Va.SOUTH DEDHAM.
President, Hon. Joseph Day.
Secretary, Francis O. Winslow.
Teacher, Mary E. Perkins, Baltimore.THOMAS CLARKSON FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY.
Secretary, G. H. Frothingham.WESTFORD.
President, Mrs. George M. Rice.
Secretary, Miss C. A. Fletcher.
Teacher, Sarah E. Keyes, Kinston, N. C.GREENFIELD.
President, Rev. J. F. Moors.
Secretary, Miss Hannah Reed.
Teacher, Caroline Alvord, Fairfax Co., Va.MEDFORD.
President, Baxter E. Perry.
Secretary,HARTFORD.
President, Prof. C. E. Stowe.
Secretary, Mrs. F. W. Cheney.
Teacher, Harriet E. Hamilton, Washington, D.C.WlNCHENDON.
President, Mrs. Oliver Adams.
Secretary, Mrs. C. P. Fairbanks.
Teacher, Anna F. Clarke, Raleigh, N. C.AMESBURY AND SALISBURY.
President, Mrs. D. C. Bayley.
Secretary, Mary E. Carter.KEENE, N. H.
President, William O. White.
Secretary, Rev. Mr. Clark.
33.
OTHER BRANCH SOCIETIES.
CHICOPEE.
President, Mrs. John Wells.
Secretary, Miss Sarah Stackpole.WEST BROOKFIELD.
President, William B. Stone.EAST BOSTON.
President, Ed. F. Porter.
Secretary, E. M. McPherson.SOUTH BOSTON.
President, Rev. Frederic Hinckley.
Secretary, Capt. H. W. Wilson.EAST CAMBRIDGE.
President, Alison Hooker.FLORENCE.
President, S. L. Hill.
Secretary, George T. Cutter.FITCHBURG LADIES' SOCIETY.
President, Mrs. Sarah W. Boutelle.
Secretary, Mrs. S. A. Norcross.HOLLIS, N. H.
President, Mrs. T. G. Worcester.
Secretary, M. B. Day.LEOMINSTER.
President, Samuel H. Virgin.
Secretary, Rev. John B. Greene.LUNENBURG.
President, W. A. Mandell.
Secretary, N. F. Cunningham.MALDEN.
President, J. W. F. Barnes.
Secretary, Rev. Mr. Reed.MILFORD, N. H.
President, David Heald.
Secretary, Miss E. A. Livermore.NORTON.
President, Mrs. E. B. Wheaton.
Secretary, Miss M. E. Peabody.PLYMOUTH, N. H.
Secretary, Miss Mary E. McQuesten.PORTLAND, ME.
President, W. W. Thomas.
Secretary, M. A. Blanchard.RUMNEY, N. H.
President, Miss Kate Merrill.
Secretary, Mrs. A. M. Ruggles.SOUTHAMPTON.
President, N. B. Fellows.
Secretary, Edson Hannum.TAUNTON.
President, Mrs. E. H. Reed.
Secretary, Mrs. Robert Carver.WESTBORO'.
President, T. A. Smith.
Secretary, S. M. Griggs.BARNSTABLE.
President, Mrs. Abby M. Ladd.
Secretary, Miss C E. Phinney.DEDHAM.
Secretary, Mary E. Bridge.BOYLSTON.
President, Mrs. David K. Lamson.
Secretary, J. H. Fitz.METHUEN.
President, Mrs. K. C. Gleason.
Secretary, Mrs. S. Q. Hersey.FOXBORO'.
President, Rev. N. S. Dickinson.
Secretary, W. H. Thomas.READING.
President, Rev. W. H. Willcox.
Secretary, Mr. Knight.SOUTH READING.
President, Rev. Mr. Bliss.
Secretary, Mrs. C. A. Windship.SOUTHBORO'.
President, Mrs. Daniel Whitney.
Secretary, Mrs. Joseph Fairbanks.MARLBORO'.
President, Rev. W. Start.
Secretary,DUXBURY.
President, G. B. Weston.
Secretary, Mrs. Charlotte Bradford.HARWICH.
President, Zebina H. Small.
Secretary, Mrs. Sidney Brooks.YARMOUTH.
President, Rev. J. B. Clark.
Secretary, Mrs. Thos. Rider.BRIDGEWATER.
President, Rev. W. F. Farrington.
Secretary, W. o. Osborn.MONTAGUE.
President, Mrs. John S. Ward.NORTHFIELD.
President, Mrs. Coles.
Secretary, Mrs. John Mattoon.DEERFIELD.
Secretaries are requested to send notice of any error in the above list, and of all changes which may occur from new elections or otherwise.
President, Mrs. William Sheldon.
An American Antiquarian
Society Online Exhibition
Curated by Lucia Z. Knoles, Professor of English, Assumption College