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Berea College, Ky. : an interesting history / approved by the Prudential Committee. 1875.

Berea College, Ky. : an interesting history / approved by the Prudential Committee. 1875. 400dpi TIFF G4 page images University of Kentucky, Electronic Information Access & Management Center Lexington, Kentucky 2002 b92-280-32301924 Electronic reproduction. 2002. (Beyond the shelf, serving historic Kentuckiana through virtual access (IMLS LG-03-02-0012-02) ; These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Berea College, Ky. : an interesting history / approved by the Prudential Committee. 1875. Elm Street Printing Co., Cincinnati : 1875. 108 p. ill., plates ; 19 cm. Coleman Microfilm. Atlanta, Ga. : SOLINET, 1995. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (SOLINET/ASERL Cooperative Microfilming Project (NEH PS-20317) ; SOL MN04990.01 KUK) Printing Master B92-280. IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognition (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has been done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. Berea College History. Izgi gfl tL j This page in the original text is blank. NS- -- 0 1 1 t .-ZI I& t, r, 0 v-,.- -- I , - Berea College, Ky. AN JNTERESTING JISTORY. A4P1uW Y0 LX) E 2 Tl" 71LE 1875. CINCINNATI: Elm Street Printing Company, 176 and 178 Elm Street. 87,5. Entered according to Act of Congres3, in the year 1875, by E. H. FAIRCHILD, In the Office of the Librarian of C'ongress, Washington, D. C7. Stereotyped by OGDEN, C-\MrL3EI L &( CO., Cicinnati BEREA COLLEGE. ITS LOCATION. MANY persons have examined the maps for the location of Berca, but have failed to find it. Berea is a small village of about five hundred inhabitants, considerably scattercd, and of some- what recent growvth; and the inlhabitants are none of them wealthy, and many of tlhem poor. There are not more than a dozen good lhouses in the village. If thlese reasons do not sufficiently account for the al)sence of Berca from recent maps of Kentucky, the same reason vliiieli 1has hitherto excluded the College from the State School Superintendent's Aunnual Report may bo added. Berca College is near the center of the State, in the soutlhern part of Miladison County, one of the most poputlous counties of thlc State. Fromi Cincinnati it is reached by the Kentucky Central Railroad to Lexington one hundred miles, tlhence (3) BEREA COLLEGE, KY. by stage to Richmond twenty-six miles, thence by hack to Berea fourteen miles. From Louis- ville it is about one hundred and fifty miles by the Richmond Branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Our nearest depot is Paint Lick, eight miles distant. Wfe leave here at five o'clock A. M., and reach Cleveland, Chicago or Pittsburg, via Louisville and Cincinnati, the next morning. A macadamized road connects Berea with Richmond, and thence with all the large towns of the State. Kentucky excels most, if not all, other States in macadamized roads. Its common roads are generally very poor. It is not an uncommon thing for county roads to be obstructed by farm gates as often as once in a mile or two. But the gates are so constructed that a horseback rider can open them without alighting. IS IT WELL LOCATED Berea ridge is about two miles long, of ir- regular shape, sometimes narrow and sometimes wide, and sometimes branching, and elevated about fifty feet above the surrounding coun- try. The College grounds are about the center of the ridge, and on its widest part. Toward the south and east we look out upon a moun- tainous region, broken into more than a dozen distinct knobs from four hundred to eight hun- 4 ITS LOCATION. dred feet high, and from one mile to six miles distant. Each has its distinct name, and all are favorite resorts of companies seeking exercise and pleasure. To the north and west lie the rich, undulating blue grass lands, famous every- where for their hemp, pastures, cattle, horses and magnificently formed men. These lands come within a mile of Berea, and spread out from sixty to eighty miles to the north and west. The nutumn scenery viewed from the observa- tory of the Ladies' Hall is exquisitely beautiful. It is hardly surpassed by any scenery on the Hudson River. The air is perfectly pure, every lot is easily drained, the water is soft and gener- ally good, and is obtained by digging about fif- teen feet. The climate is delightful, especially from April to December. There are, of course, stormy, windy days, and long, hot days in the summer; but I have never experienced a day more oppressively hot here than in Chicago. The nights are always comfortable when the days are hottest. The Boil is not rich, but with proper culture is very good for gardens and. fruit. This season, for the first time in forty years or more, nearly all fruit is destroyed by freezing blasts in April, from the ice and snow of the North. BEREA COLLEGE, KY. But the location is well chosen for a more im- portant reason. It is on the line of separation between two classes of people, as unlike each other in their physical development, tlheir habits of life, and their views of society, as if they belonged to distinct races. And when we see them, onl the morning of our Annual Com- metncenent, pouring in by hundreds, the rich in their carriages from tbe plains, and the poor from the mountains on horses and mules, and, meeting on this common ground, we feel that the place was selected by Him who is " the Maker of tlhem all." And when we look upon the crowd of two thousand people, white and col- ored, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, min- gling- without distinction and wvith perfect order, listeningi to speakers anid singers of all shades of coruplexioii, the, wordls on the College seal seem wonderfully appropriate: " God hatli made of one blood all nations of men." Twenty miles from this line, onl Cether side. snllch a company could not be gathered. ORIGIN OF TIHE COLLEGE-MR. FEE. Rev. John G. Fee was born in Bracken County, Kcntucky, in 1816. His father, a farmer, was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and the owner of thirteen slaves. John early embraced 8 ITS ORIGIN. religion, and commenced preparation for the ministry. Ile entered College at Augusta, Kell- tucky, studied two years at Oxford, Ohio, and graduated at Augusta. His theological course was taken at Lane Seminary, Ohio; where, after much discussion, with earnest prayer for light, terrible mental struggles and many tears, he l)e- came convinced of the great evil and sinfulness of American slavery. With a full sense of the obloquy and danger he must meet, he conse- crated himself to preach the gospel of impartial love in his native State. He first labored several months with his pa- rents; but failing to persuade them to liberate their slaves, with great sadness he relinquished the effort, and carried the gospel to others. His father, a severe man; disowned and disinherited him, giving him one dollar in his will. His mother wept over her deluded son. He contin- ned to visit his parents, though twice the (door was shut against him. Afterward he was in- vited in. Learniing that his father was about to sell a female slave, wife of a slave man of the family, and a member of the same church with her master, he bought her at the price demanded, and liberated her. His father was very angry because he would not sell her back. Before he became an abolitionist his father 7 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. had given him a farm, in Indiana, which he sold for two thousand four hundred dollars, and spent the whole in buying this slave, in publish- ing an antislavery manual, and in self-support. His people, in Lewis County, promised him one hundred dollars for preaching, but being offended by an antislavery sermon, very mild and gentle, paid him but twenty-five dollars. For two years he received two hundred dollars annually from the American Home Missionary Society. But finding that this society was aiding fifty-two slaveholding churches, he felt that he could not conscientiously solicit contributions for it, and hence must decline to receive its support. On joining the Presbytery he made a full statement of his antislavery convictions. As these convictions ripened, his antislavery efforts multiplied. His church, in Lewis County, passed resolutions denouncing slavery as sinful, and re- fusing fellowship with slaveholders. The Synod reviewed this action, and censured Mr. Fee for disturbing the peace of Zion, and introducing a test of membership not known to the Constitu- tion of the Presbyterian Church. Assured by the Presbytery that "repentance on their part was hopeless," after fully stating his views, he withdrew, and received a qualified letter of dis- mission. The publication of these facts in the a ITS ORIGIN. New York Evangelist brought him to the notice of the American Missionary Association, and its aid was offered him. From that time to this, a period of twenty-six years, he has been supported wholly or chiefly by that society. In Lewis and Bracken Counties lie labored eight years, and organized three antislavery churches. At the request of Cassius M. Clay he sent a box of the antislavery manuals, which were scattered through Madison County. The result was, the people invited him here, where, after preaching nine sermons, he organized a church which refused fellowship with slavehold- ers, and after one year he became its pastor. This relation he has now sustained twenty years. There was little to encourage when he came. The place was a wilderness. It was inviting chiefly because it was central. The same reasons which led to the organiza- tion of antislavery churches demanded an anti- slavery school. This was organized in 1855. Its first teacher was Win. E. Lincoln, who came from England to pursue his studies in Oberlin College. He was one of the Wellington rescuers, and has since been a preacher in Ohio, and is now in the State of New York. Its next teacher was Otis B. Waters, also a student of 9 THE OLD GLADE MEETING-HOUSE. 'IN -, 1-4- -f ,- lk w - II- ITS ORIGIN. Oberlin College. He has for several years boon a professor in Benzonia College, Michigan. In 185G AIr. Fee experienced a series of mobs in this region. Re had before this been mobbed in Lewis, Mason and Bracken Counties. The first of this series was at Dripping Springs, the next near Mt. Vernon, the third, and most vio- Ilet, was near Texas, in Madison County. Mr. Fcc was preaching on the subject of Christian union, and was accompanied by Robert Jones, a native of the county, who was acting as a col- portcur of the American Missionary Association. Ile was also sustained by the two Messrs. Field and MIr. Mlarsh. There was apprehension of dan- ger, and MIr. Fee had been consulted as to the propriety of carrying guns. He said: "No; if I am disturbed I will appeal to the courts." He believed in the right of self-defense, but opposed the practice of carrying arms, and believed they were oftener a source of danger than a means of safety. The sermon had commenced when a mob of sixty men, with.pistols and guns, surrounded the house. One came in and said to Mir. Fee: " There are men here wvho wish you to stop and come ont." Ile replied: "I am en gaged iii the exer- cise of a constitutional right and a religious duty; please do not interrupt," and preached on. The 11 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. man went out and soon two others returned and demanded that he come out. He preached on. They seized him and dragged him out, no resist- ance being made. A man with a rope swore they would hang him to the first tree, unless he would promise to leave the county and never return. Ile replied: "[I am in your hands. I would not harm you; if you harm me, the re- sponsibility is with you. I can make no pledge; duty to God and my country forbid." They swore they would duck him in the Kentucky River as long as life was in him, unless he would promise to leave the county. He said: "I am a native of the State. I believe slavery is wrong. I am acting for the good of my country and all her people. You will know my motives at the judgment." He had proceeded but a few mo- ments when one exclaimed: " We didn't come to hear a sermon; let us do our work." They stripped Robert Jones naked, bent him down, and gave him thirty-three lashes with three syca- more rods. He was so injured that he could not walk the next day. But he made no pledges and did not leave. They said to Mr. Fee: " We will give you five hundred lashes if you do not leave the county and promise never to return." He knelt down and said: " I will take my suffer- ing; I can make no pledges." The whip was 12 ITS ORIGIN. raised above him, but one cried: " Don't strike." The man with the whip replied: " I feel that I ought to, but I don't like to go against my party. Get up and go home "-with an oath. With Jones on his horse behind him, and a guard in front and rear, he rode three miles when the mob left them. They went into the wood, read the fourth chapter of Acts, and prayed. That night he preached in the house of Mr. Jones' cousin, and both the man and his wife covenanted to be the Lord's. The Berea Church became terribly alarmed and advised Mr. Fee to leave the State. For four weeks no man but Ham. Rawlings entered his yard; none but women attended church. That brave man, Cassius M. Clay, though still friendly to Mr. Fee, notwithstanding their difference on the higher law question (Mr. Fee holding that a law confessedly contrary to the law of God ought not to be enforced), advised him to leave. But he continued his labors, Mr. Waters continued his school, and the excitement gradually died away. In the meantime two lawyers had been engaged to prosecute in behalf of Jones. The mob met in Richmond and swore they would give five hundred lashes to any lawyer who would prosecute the case. The grand jury never inquired into it. Thirteen months after the mob 13 B.TEREA COLLEGE, KY. Prof. Rogers closed a session of the sehool with ninety-six pulils an(l an exlhibiLion, at which there were five hundred in attcndanoe. Four of the principal leaders of the mol) soon came to violent deaths. 8o it was with all the mobs. Several of the most active in them soon (lied by violence. It became a common saying among them: "Old master is against us." PROF. ROGERS Is a native of Cornwall, Connecticut. He pre- pared for College at Williams Academy, gradu- ated at Oberlin, taught two or three years in New York City, and took his theological course at Oberlin. Being about to return WCst from a visit to New York, lie was requested to take a company of orphans to Roseville, Illinois. lIe preached on Sunday, and on Monday -was re- quested to remain. From this pleasant field, with numerous friends, and nine hundred dollars a year, bie heard tle call from Kentucky, and in 1858 caime to the work in Berea, under the corn- mission of the American Missionary Association, at a salary of four hundred dollars, walking eighty miles of the distance from Maysville. In arude school-hoIUSC, With a single unpIlasterCd room, without desks or the most comnmon coti- venicuces, ho opened a select school with fifteen it pupils. Wjith an cnergy, entliusiasm, lbnoyamlcy, skill and love not wlioll v his own, lie addressed himself to the work. Desks were szuppliied, maps and chlarts graced the walls, miuyic and lectures vere introduced. The young people were charmed; visitors from many milcs away frequented the school, and before the close of the term a hundred names were enrolled. Mrs. Rogers, a charming little woman from Philadel- phia, leaving her babe during school hours with a nurse, went to the aid of her husband aud added greatly to the enthusiasm. The interest culminated in the exhibiption at the close of the term. Teachers, pupils, and the Whole Community gave themselves heartily to preparation for the anticipated event. The Keo- pIe, proud of their school, and the wonderful attainments of their children, .Xland hopeful as to the future prosperity of their place, volunteered a public (linner to all wlho slhould attend. Tho exercises 'yore held under a sylvan bowver, con- structed(1 ith exquisite taste. The pillars wvero grand(1 o0l o0als, festooned with flowems. The liglht was subdued by the thick matting of icaves, and the joyous faces of a hundred pupils upon the extensive platform spread a charmn ov-r tho lwhole au(lience, the larrest cecr assendiled iii the settlement; though " the glades " at the foot 15 ITS ORIGIN. BEREA COLLEGE, KY of the ridge had long been a place of public gatherings for horse races and political speeches. The hand of the Lord was manifestly in it. The closing speaker, a leading pupil, in reviewing the term and pronouncing his valelictory, was completely overcome with emotion, and for some moments the audience were in tears. Brief, but enthusiastic speeches by gentlemen from a distance followed; and an ex-legislator from an adjoining county privately remarked: "If this school goes on, Kentucky is bound to become a free State; but I am going to hold on to my niggers as long as I can." After dinner a subscription was raised without difficulty to build an addition to the school-house, which still stands and is used for a district school. This charming day, at the close of June, 1858, may perhaps, more than any other, be regarded as the natal day of Berea College; although not till the September following was any attempt made to organize a Board of Trustees, and not till a long time after was the organization com- pleted and the school placed under its care. The second term of the school was opened in September, and two additional teachers were em- ployed, Mr. John G. Hanson and his wife, who brought to the work hearty enthusiasm, patient effort and full faith in the enterprise. A hundred 16 Al THE FIRST COLLEGE BUILDING. BEREA COLLEGE, KY. pupils were gathered, not a few of them young men of tine abilities, some of whom have since exercised no small influence as teachers and pro- fessional men, and some have given their blood for their country. Though an antislavery spirit pervaded the school and the place, and the teach- ers expressed their sentiments with entire free- dom and boldness, yet such was the reputation of the school and such the joyous atmosphere that pervaded it, that many young people from slaveholding families were attracted to it, and not a few became insensibly enamored with the love of liberty. During this term, in the Young Men's Literary Society, the question was long and earnestly discussed, whether, if a colored person should apply for admission to the school, he should be rejected. This was the first public discussion of this question. It had previously been discussed and settled, as will appear, at a meeting held for the organization of a College Board of Trustees. Happily the question was not embarrassed by legal considerations, for there was no law of Kentucky forbidding education to free colored persons, or even to a slave, with his master's consent. As this was a question affecting the whole community, it became a topic of general interest. Tho opinion of all the teachers, as 18 ITS ORIGIN. well as of him who was the father of the com- munity, was decided and uniform, and may be expressed in a single declaration of the Princi- pal of the school: "If any one made in God's image comes to get knowledge which will en- able him to understand the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, he can not be rejected." This seln- timent was not acceptable to the slaveholding families that patronized the school; and though none of the pupils left before the close of the term, the opposition became so great during the vacation, that few returned at the opening of the third term. But the school went on under the original teachers. Increased difficulties only inspired to greater efforts. The work they be- lieved was of God and could not fail. With the opening of the fourth term, in the fall of 1859, came additional encouragement. The affection of the' former pupils had not ceased; the resolute perseverance, the manifest faith and cheerful hope of those, who, according to ordinary calculations, should have been dis- couraged, impressed the people that perhaps a divine power was sustaining them, and they might succeed. But before the close of the term an event occurred ill Virginia which shook the verv foundations of the school, though it did not destroy them. Before describing the 19 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. effects of the John Brown raid, as felt in Bcrea, we will return and take up a thread that was dropped. THE COLLEGE CHARTER AND CONSTI- TUTION. The first effort made to form a constitution for the College of which Berca school was re- garded the embryo, was made on the seventh of September, 1858, when several gentlemen met for that purpose at Mr. Fee's residence, and ap- pointed him Chairman of the mecting, J. G. Hanson, Secretary, and Mr. Rogers Chairman of a Committee to draw up the proposed coustitu- tion. At that meeting a constitution was re- ported, discussed and agreed upon, and signed by those present. In order to secure the co- operation of gentlemen who could not be pres- ent, the meeting adjourned to meet in December. The meeting was held, and several subsequent meetings, but it was not till the fo11owving July that the present constitution, essentially the same as the first, was adopted. At this meetiug, after much prayer, three topics of inquiry were con- sidered. First: "Is there a demand for a per- mnancnt College of such a character as we have inl View here" Secondly: "Are we the men called of God to carry it forward " Thirdly: 20 CIIARTER AND CONSTITUTION. "Is it to be for God, and for him alone" By the third topic of inquiry it was the desire of those mrnaking it to exaruiule themselves aud see if, so far as theirl knowle(dge extended, they could give up all selfish motives in going fo)rward with the work. Undoubtedly, however honest they were, Infinite Wisdom saw in their hearts that which when developed would call for great hu- miliation on their part and mercy on his; but He who accepts the earnest desire to do His will, did not despise their weakness or ignorance of themselves, of which they have had occasion silce then to learn not a little. After days of discussion upon various points, almost all of them pertaining to the Christian character of the school, a constitution and by- laws were adopted. Two of the by-laws will sufficiently indicate the wishes of those who were planning for the future of the Institution: " This College shall be under an influence strictly Christian, and, as such, opposed to sec- tarianism, slaveholding, caste, altd. every other wrong institution or practice." it The object of this College shall be to furnish the facilities for a thorough education to all per- sons of good moral character, at the least possi- ble expense to the sanmc, and all the inducements aud facilities for manual labor which can reason- 21 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. ably be supplied by the Board of Trustees shall be offered to its students." This constitution was signed by Rev. John G-. Fee, Rev. J. S. Davis, Rev. Geo. Candee, John Smith, Win. Stapp, T. J. Renfro, John G. Han- son and Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, and four other gentlemen were invited to unite with them in taking steps to obtain a charter under a general law of the State. Many difficulties arose in ob- tainitig suitable co-operation and completing the preliminary steps tor obtaining a charter. Mean- while a tract of land, which was felt to be the most desi rable for the College ground, was offered for sale. Four of the trustees, on their own re- sponsibility, purchased the tract, containing more than a hundred acres, for one thousand eight hundred dollars, and Mr. Fee was asked to go East to obtain funds for securing the same for the College. It was while he was absent that the John Brown raid occurred, which had so potent an influence upon the future of the Berea school. Before this raid, as has becn already stated, Berea had become an object of suspicion and hatred. Any power for liberty was regarded with great jealousy, and if it was in the form of a school giving promise of becoming imnport- ant, it was gecnrally felt that it must be put 22 OHARTER AND CONSTITUTION.2 down. Yet in Kentucky there was enough of the old traditional love of free speech and fair play to prevent any acts of violence against a school intrenched in the hearts of many, and with which -no fault could be found, save that it was exerting an influence in favor of freedom. But when John Brown made his raid, it wvas felt by some that an opportunity had arisen for the suppression of the school. All Northern men were regarded as dangerous, and especially those who openly and fearlessly opposed slavery. Who knew but that John Brown's band was only one of a hundred others scattered through the South for the purpose of stirring up insur- rection among the slaves It was urged that there were many strong, if not decisive, proofs that the colony at Berea was one whose ultimate aim was violence. A number of families were moving into Berea, and some men had left their families behind. Then what should bring them to such a place as Berea, where the soil was re- garded as too poor to enable men to get a com- fortable living, but some sinister motive Again it was said that the location of Berea, at the base of the foot-hills of the Cumberland Mountains, was perfect in a strategic point of view, and that it was by no means certain that the Bereatis could not exercise a controlling influence over 23 2BEREA (COLLEDGE. KY. the mountain men. By reason of such declara- tions, and abundant talse rumors, and the real fear produced throughout the South by the John Brown raid, inany were really alarmed. Women told their husbanIds that they could not sleep at night, and that the Berearis inrust be driven out of the State. It was announced in one of the papers that a box of Sharpe's rifles had been in- tercepted on the way to Berea. Il view of this fact it was thought prudent by somne gentlemen in Richmond to examine several heavy boxes containing the household goods of Rev. John Boughton, who had moved to Berea. Accord- ingly, at night, they carefully examined some of the most suspicious-looking boxes in one of the warehouses. At first all seemed to be right, and the boxes to contain not ling but the usual family goods; finally, however, some trepidation may have been produced by the discovery of what was declared to be an 4 internal machine," which turned out to be a large set of Yankee candle- molds. In consequence of this state of things, several organized effiorts were made to suppress the school, and drive those who were directing it out of the State. The first and second efforts for uniting the people of Madison County as a whole for this despicable work proved abortive. At length a new wave of terror having swept 24 CHARTER AND CONSTITUTION. over the State, and the people having become more intensely excited by virulent and false statements in the newspapers of the county and other parts of the State, a mass meeting was held at the Court House in Richmond, violent speeches were made, and a committee of sixty-five, com- posed of the wealthiest and " most respectable " citizens of the county, was appointed, to secure the removal from the State, peacefully if possi- ble, within ten days, of Rev. John G. Fee and Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, and such others as the committee should think necessary for the public quiet and safety. A long address to the people of the county and community at large was adopted by the meeting. In this address it was set forth that liberty and slavery could not dwell together, that in a slave State men advocating liberty were a dangerous element, and that, as self-preservation was the first law of nations as well as individuals, and that, as it was a settled matter that Kentucky was to remain a slave State, it was essential to the peace of the com- monwealth that the school at Berea should be suppressed, and those who were its originators and supporters should be driven from the State; and that, although this could not be done by law, necessity was higher than all law. It was the old doctrine of Caiaphas, truer than he knew, 25 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. that the few must suffer for the good of the many. Assurning that it was right and just that Kentucky should be perlpettually a slave State, the argument would havre some force. But at this declaration "He who sitteth in the heav- ens did laugh." Always, just as wickedness secures its ends, suddenly they fail. Meanwhile the people of Berea were having additional experiences in their life of trial. The air was dark with threats. It did not sound pleasantly in the ears of a delicate woman to be told that her husband was to be hung to a limb before the school-room door. The Principal of the school wrote to the press denying the asser- tions in regard to the Bereans, and correcting the false report of Mr. Fee's speech in Brooklyn, but could not get a hearing. So abundant were the threats against Mr. Fee that he was advised not to return to the State. With characteristic courage he determined to come, but was provi- dentially hindered by an accident in Cincinnati. The people of Berea gathered together every night to pray for God's protection and guidance, and most marvelously were the Scriptures opened to their understanding. They could now easily see why Luther felt that he could not have lived but for the Hundred and eighteenth Psalm. The Thirty-seventh Psalm seemed written especially 26 for them, and not ouly calmed their fears, but cheered their hearts. At length, after several days of expectation, the mnob, then orgranized gentlemen," appeared. On the twenty-third of December, 1859, while Mr. Rogers' family wsvere at dinner in the cottage which he had just erected in the woods adjoin- ing the grounds selected for the College, and not yet surrounded by a fence, it was hastily an- nounced that the men had come. Ile stepped to the front door, and there sixty horsemen, more or less, completely armed, were forming themselves in wedge shape before the house. He stepped out of the door, and at once the leader of the band came up and delivered to him a document, demanding in the name of the com- mittee that he should leave the county within ten days. He attempted to reason with the leader, and told him that if he had violated any law of the State, he was willing to abide the consequences, that he was quietly laboring for the good of the community and the support of his family, and that in the exercise of his rights he must not be disturbed. A disturbance arose in the crowd, and the whole company then wheeled and went to ten other families, most of them native Kentuckians, and left a similar doc- ument. Every-thing was done in as orderly and unobjectionable a manner as possible. 27 THIE MIOB. BEREA COLLEGE, KY. Those warned to leave the State, and others most interested, met for prayer and deliberation. Some thought that when persecuted in one city it was duty to flee to another, and that it was plainly the part of wisdom for those who must cope with the xuass of the people if they re- mained, to go quietly away. Others counseled to remain till forcibly removed. No decision was reached. On the following day it was decided to appeal to the Governor of the State for protec- tion, though with scarcely a ray of hope that it would be of any avail. As the petition sets forth briefly the facts of the case, it is given entire:- To -His Excellency, the Governor of the State of Kentucky: We, the undersigned, loyal citizens and residents of the State of Kentucky and County of Madison, do re- spectfully call your attention to the following facts: 1. We have come from various parts of this and ad- joining States to this county, with the intention of mak- ing it our home, have supported ourselves and families by honest industry, and endeavored to promote the in- terests of religion and education. 2. It is a principle with us to " submit to every ordi- nance of man for the Lord's sake, unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and the praise of them that do well," and in accordance with this principle we have been obedient in all respects to the laws of this State. 28 THE PETITION. 3. Within a few weeks evil and false reports have been put into circulation, imputing to us motives, words and conduct calculated to inflame the public mind, which imputations are utterly false and groundless. These im- putations we have publicly denied, and offered every facility for the fullest investigation, which we have earn- estly but vainly sought. 4. On Friday, the twenty-third inst., a company of sixty-two men, claiming to have been appointed by a meeting of the citizens of our county, without any shadow of legal authority, and in violation of the con- stitution and laws of the State and United States, called at our respective residences and places of business, and notified us to leave the county and State, and be without this county and State within ten days, and handed us the accompanying document, in which you will see that unless the said order be promptly complied with, there is expressed a fixed determination to remove us by force. In view of these facts, which we can substantiate by the fullest evidence, we respectfully pray that you, in the exercise of the power vested in you by the constitution, and made your duty to use, do protect us in our rights as loyal citizens of the State of Kentucky. J. A. R. ROGERS, SWINGLEHURST LIFE, J. G. HANSON. JOHN SMITH, I. D REED. E. T. HAYES, JAS. S. DAVIS. CHAS. E. GRIFFIN, JOHN F. BOUaHTON, A. G. W. PARKER, W. H. TORRY. BEREA, MADISON COUNTY, Ky., December 24, 1859. 29 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. The petition was taken by two of their num- ber to Governor Magoffin, who received them courteously, but replie(d that the public mind was deeply moved by the events ini Virginia, and that he could not engage to protect them fromn their fellow-citizens, who had resolved that they must go. At last it became plain to all that they must leave the State for the present, but with the sure expectation of returning again in due time. So confident were some of them made, by the Spirit of God, in regard to their return, that they doubted it scarcely more than the rising of the morrow's sun. They believed in God and his righteousness, and his love of the poor and op- pressed, and clearly foresaw that such conduct would only hasten. the day of freedom. They plainly declared to friends and foes that they were going away, but that they should return again. They had no disposition to sell their homes. They counted them worth not a dollar less than before the troubles in Virginia. Sore were the partings between those who left and those who remained. The whole community gathered as the exiles left, and under the broad sky, with bared heads and trusting hearts, they were committed to thie care of Almighty God by Rev George Candee. 30 THE DEPARTURE. who had come from his home in Jackson County to cheer with his undaunted faith those who were about to leave. The ten families which left numbered about forty persons, and were merci- fully guided by the God of all grace and wisdom. They went in various directions, and engaged in such work as came to hand, making no per- manent engagements, but waiting the call of God to return to their former homes. Soon the war broke out, and the exiles plainly saw that, if they had been permitted to remain in Berea, the school must have been suspended. Mr. Fee met his retiring friends in Cincinnati and fully approved their course, but was not yet convinced of the necessity of his leaving his native State. He went over to Bracken County to fullill an appointment, though Mr. Mallet, a teacher from Oberlin, had recently been mobbed there, and Mr. Davis, a preacher, also from Ober- lin, had been mobbed in Lewis County. A county meeting was called, about eight hundred attended, and a committee of sixty-two warned him and others to leave. He miade no promises but to do what should seemn to be duty. All friends advised him to leave the State. A day of fasting and prayer wvas observed. His decis- ion was that he had no right seriously to imperil his friends against their will, and he left. 31 BMEREA COLLZGE, KY. After some months he brought the corpse of his little boy to the cemetery of the Free Church of Christ in Bracken, and left with the impres- sion that he ought to return to the State. He came with grave-stones for the little mouand, and a mob took him from the omnibus; but they soon released him, and he preached the next Sabbath. One of the prominent trustees of Berea Col- lege, and for a short time a teacher, was JOHN G. HANSON, A native of Bracken County, Kentucky. About the first of March, 1860, he returned to Berea for the purpose of sawing some three hundred logs left at his mill, and of selling the mill, un- less he found the way open for his remaining. The next Monday being county-court day, the Mob Committee convened and agreed to meet at the Glade Meeting House on Saturday, for the removal of Mr. Hanson. Only thirty-five met, and with a few speeches and much whisky they dispersed, two of them going to the mill and carrying off an iron eagle, an ornament on the mill, which was returned to its place the next day. It was then thought the mob spirit had nearly died out. But as events proved it was passing from the original "sixty-five sensible 32 JOHN G. HANSON. and discreet men " to those sunk so low in vice and pollution as to seem "condemned already." Even C. M. Clay advised Mr. Hanson's friends not to stand by him. Monday morning twenty- five armed men searched his boarding-place, and swore they would search every house in the neighborhood, but they would have him and he " should hang." But he had escaped to the woods without being seen, and at night he trav- eled twenty miles afoot into Jackson County, where for a week he hid in cliffs and caves in the daytime, and at night went to a friend's house for food and lodging. The mob went from house to house, threatening to shoot people un- less they would tell where Mr. Hanson was. As they approached the house of George West, his daughter, a young woman, fastened the door, and they broke it down upon her and walked over it while she lay under it. They rushed to her father, who sat in his bed propped up with pillows, being low with consumption, and, put- ting their pistols to his breast, demanded where Hanson was. In the meantime the daughter, a motherless orphan, had extricated herself from the door, and one of the ruffians thrust his pis- tol against her breast and pressed her back against a cupboard, cursing her for shutting the door against them. Vile language was addressed 33 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. to a younger sister. In Rock Castle County they broke down the door of Mr. Burdett's house, and, putting their pistols to the breasts of his wife and daughters, threatened to shoot if they did not reveal the hiding-place of Mr. Hanson. This they repeated again and again; but as he could. niowvhere be found, they returned to Berea. On their way they met a company of Berea men going to Mr. West's, having heard of his ill treatment. Both parties cried out: "Don't shoot!" The mob fired about thirty shots, by the order of Colonel Mundy, and the Berea men returned two. None were seriously injured. Having accomplished nothing they returned to Richmond for recruits. A cannon was secured from Lexington, and the next day they returned to Berea, two hundred and nineteen strong. Finding no Berea men at home they went to Mr. Hanson's mill, tore off the roof, pulled down the smoke stack, broke every wheel, ruined the boiler, and left all a complete wreck. They unroofed a neighbor's smoke house, tore a log from the wall of his dwelling, pulled his chimney down and shot many of his chickens. Then. leaving the names of fifteen men, who they said must leave in fifteen days, they re- turnedi to Richmond, and, as an eye-witness asserts, the circuit court adjourned to hear their 34 JOHN G. HANSON. report. Such a state of society had slavery pro- duced. Many in Jackson County urged Mr. Hanson to remain with them, and pledged their lives, their property and their sacred honor in defense of his rights. But not willing to bring on a conflict between the two counties, and knowting that his life was in constant danger, he deter- mined to leave the State. On the third of April he left the mountain fastnesses, and, walking all that night, he passed his beloved home and his mill in ruins. The next day, having passed the small town of Kirksville, he was pursued by two of the original committee of " sixty-five sen- sible and discreet men." They searched him for "fighting tools," as they said; but he assured them he never carried any, and had no wish to hurt any man, and was then going out of the State. They told him they were in honor bound to deliver hinm in Richmond. A brother of one of the committee told him he must now go to Richmond and "pull rope." And they started slowly on, the committee riding and he walking in front. But they knew that to take hiiii to Richmond was to murder him, and they began to shrink from such a crime. One proposed to let him go, and got off his horse and requested him to ride. Finally, after a long consultation, 35 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. they told him they had been deceived in him, that they did not wvish to see a hair of his head hurt, that a reward of one hundred dollars was offered for his delivery in Richmond, but they would not deliver him. They advised him to endeavor to escape, and gave him directions for his safety. Leaving them he crossed Kentucky River, on his way to the Kentucky Central Rail- road at Nicholasville. He found he was pursued and lay in the fields all night, and barely escaped being retaken. He desired to find some " Charter Oak" in which to conceal the archives of the young Institution, which he bore with him, being still its Secretary, as he continued to be fourteen years. He spent the most of the night and the next day on the Cedar Bluffs of Hickman Creek, near where Camp Nelson was afterward located. The next night he passed Nicholasville, at early dawn passed between Lexington and Ashland, and reached Paris in time for the cars, which he took to Falmouth. Thence he walked nine miles, and slept in a house the first time for a week. A weary walk of fourteen miles brought him to his father's house, thankful for God's pro- tection and for warm and true hearts to cheer him. Mr. Hanson closes his narrative, of which this is an abstract, with the following expression of his feelings: 36 JOHN G. HANSON. ",When I reflect what my course of life and my labors have been, what I had at heart and wished to do for my countrymen in Kentucky, and think of what I have received at their hands, it makes me weep and love them more; as they show by their madness that ' they know not what they do,' and are tending fast to eternal sorrows. In the course that I have followed I have nothing that I regret. Trusting in God I shall still labor that so good a land, filled with many generous spirits, and many wailing slaves, shall yet be free." Mr. Hanson returned at the close of the war, and found that justice, which had "stood afar off," was coming nigh. He recovered a portion of his loss, rebuilt his shattered mill, and, with the aid of his brother, erected another, and also a planing mill. But not one-fourth the damage (lone him has been made good, and he has been constantly embarrassed. He is still a trustee of the College and a member of the Prudential Committee. In 1862 Mr. Fee made another effort to return to the State. He sent his family forward to Berea, but in attempting to join them was stopped by the battle of Richmond, and for ten weeks no communication passed between them. That year he was mobbed in Augusta, where 37 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. he graduated. He was takers into the office of his cousin, and, after being threatened with death if he should ever retuirn, was put across the Ohio River at midnight. Two skiff loads of ruffians followed, swearing they would whip him like hell; but on landing in the darkness they failed to find hirn. Four of the leaders of this mob died sudden and violent deaths. Five weeks later he returned to Bracken County, and was mobbed while waiting for the stage at the house of a Presbyterian minister in an adjoining county. He was committed to five men to be taken to Augusta. But a friend joined the company and adroitly diverted them to Maysville, where he crossed the river. Being assured by friends that he could not travel in Kentucky, he turned aside to a village in Ohio, sent for his family and remained some ten months, then returned to Berea, where his wife, aided by his oldest son, opened a school. Till the close of the war much of his time was spent in Camp Nelson, a natural fortress, with sublime scenery and a rich soil, almost en- circled by the high anld rugge(l banks of the Kentucky River, nineteen miles south of Lex- ington and thirty-six from Berea. Here he aided in establishing schools for colored soldiers and their women and children, and here had a 38 JOHN G. FEE. little of his peculiar experience. Among seven white teachers a single bright, genteel quadroon was introduced, and five of the seven refused to eat with her. HIe wvas advised to remove her, but refused. The average Kentuckian would say: " The five did just right." Bereans wvould say: "' They did just wrong." At Camp Nelson there is still a large colored settlement, the most moral, harmonious and hopeful in the State. The school still continues, and is at present under the superintendence of Howard S. Fee, a graduate of Berea College. This brief account of the persecutions and hardships of those days of trial needs to be filled up by the reader's imagination; and there is little danger that they will overdo the matter. The thrilling stories of our sisters, with which, hour after hour, they enchain the wives of us who were not actors in those scenes, would form an interesting chapter of annoyances, and dan- gers, and marvelous deliverances, of midnight watchings, and fears, and prayers, of cheerful courage, and faith, and hopes delayed, of the self-sacrificing adherence and protection of some, and the contemptuous scorn and perfidy of others, which it would be easy to write; but our object is not a story, but a plain, historical account of Berea College. 39 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. REOPENING OF THE SCHOOL. In 1865 the school was reopened. Prof. Rog- ers and family returned, and W. W. Wheeler and wife came from Camp Nelson, as assistants. A charter for a College was obtained under a general law of the State, the Board of Trustees was reorganized, other land was purchased, stu- dents came in to the number of seventy-five or more, and everything seemed promising; when a new question arose, or rather an old question in a practical form. Before the war, when it was decided to " furnish facilities for education to all persons of good moral character," three of the trustees had resigned; for all persons included colored persons. And the discussion of the question, whether, if a colored person should ask for admission to the school, he should be rejected, had greatly diminished the number of pupils. Now the question took a practical shape. Three colored youths asked admission. This raised no difficult question. But one decision was possible to such men; and that was already made. They were "persons of good moral character," and must be admitted. But it was manifest that a tempest of opposition would follow, mobs might rally again, and the school might be broken up Though duty was plain, the consequence might 40 REOPENING OF THE SCHOOL. lve like a crucifixion. The morning that those three harmless youths walked in, half the school walked out. The whole country was excited, and, but for the discipline of the war, and the awe produced by the triumph of liberty over slavery, and the abolitionists of Berea over their enemies, doubtless another expulsion would have been chronicled. Rumors of raids came from- far, and rowdyism sometimes disgraced itself very near. Pistols were discharged by drunken idiots racing through the streets, and occasionally were fired into the buildings. But the opposi- tion generally confined itself to exhibitions of disgust, and published declarations that "Berea is a stench in the nostrils of all true Kentuck- iais "-delicate words recently published by the State Superintendent of Public Schools, and by our own county paper. But this, we trust, we shall have grace to endure, so long as we know of but one school more patronized by Kentuck- iatns than this, and those, too, the truest Ken- tuckians that Kentucky can claim. The vacancy made by the white deserters was soon filled with colored recruits, and eventually nearly all that left returned and became fast friends of Berea. At no time have the colored exceeded three-fiftlhs of the school, and the present year, when the attendance was largest, there were two more 41 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. white than colored. And the evils which the wise ones knew would result from this union have never occurred. The most serious collision which the writer remembers to have occurred be- tween the races was where an uncultured white girl complained that a colored girl called her "poor white trash," and the colored girl replied that she did not do it till she called her " nigger." The controversy was settled without great diffi- culty. There is no school in the State easier goverr -d than this. The question whether the colored pupils are not necessarily a drag upon the classes would never be asked by one who had any fair criterion by which to judge. Pu- pils who have had the best school advantages from their infancy, ceteris pariibus, will surpass those who learn their alphabet at fifteen or eighteen. This is the chief source of inequality among our students. The certain amalgamation which was to follow is all in the future. What dangers await us in this respect we know not; but of this we feel sure, that any alliances which may possibly result from the social relations es- tablished here will he a blessing compared with the disgusting concubinage which abounded in the days of slavery, and is so very common still that it excludes no one from honorable positions or genteel society. We feel sure also that free- 42 SOCIAL RELATIONS. dom, education and equality will tend, not to promote, but to cure all social evils. All history proves that the beautiful women in the lower walks of life are a prey to lustful men who look down upon them from a more elevated position. Aside from pure religion we know of no so sure protection for them as social elevation, which carries with it self-respect and commands the respect of others. But all such reasoning aside, we know it can not be dangerous to love our neighbors as ourselves, and do to others as we would that they should do to us. The influence which has kept the colored population in a de- graded condition, and still seeks to keep them there, is not love and justice, but lust and op- pression. For more than forty years some of us have heard this amalgamation alarm, but it sel- dom canme from those who "nremembered them that were in bonds as bound with them;" but was always loudest, as it still is, from those who have the least care what becomes of either white or colored people, so that their own selfish lives are not interrupted. We know that many good people have their honest fears on this subject, and we shall always be thankful for their advice arid prayers in dis- charging our most difficult and delicate respon- sibilities. BEREA COLLEGE, KY. Many of our friends desire to know precisely what relations our white and colored pupils sus- tain to each other, and it is our desire that they shoiild know. Our school regulations make no distinction whatever on account of color. They recite in the saine classes, eat at the same tables, room in the same buildings, attend the same meetings, and meet in all general social gatherings. It is no uncommon thing on. such occasions as Thanks- giving and Christmas to see three hundred per- sons-teachers, pupils and citizens-mingling in the most perfect social equality, without the least friction, or the least sense of impropriety. Do persons of different races and sexes attend each other to and from literary lectures and. social assemblies There is no rule against it, and sometimes they do. If we saw that the parties were in danger of exposing themselves to violence, or special suspicion of improper motives, or were disposed to make an offensive display of themselves, we should interfere to prevent it. If such parties should become es- pecially intimate, and appear to be contempla- ting a life union, being, as teachers, to a great extent, in loco parentis8, we should remind them of the contempt and ostracism society would visit upon them, and if thought necessary com- 44 SOCIAL RELATIONS. municate with their parents. But even such an alliance, if conducted in other respects with propriety and discretion, would not disturb their relations to the school. Their own judgment, and the social influences bearing upon them, are their best and only necessary protection against an imprudent decision. We are often asked how our white pupils en- dure this condition of things. They come with a perfect knowledge of the character of the school, and with their minds prepared to endure it; and, heaving remained a week or twvo, they find there is nothing to endure. The difference between a colored person's sitting at the table and standing by it is too slight to be disturbed about; and the difference between lifting at the same log and vorking at the same problem is hardly discoverable. They never did shrink from contiguity with colored people and why should they now The trouble is at the other end of the line and not here. A pronlient gen- tleinan, a democrat and ex-rebel, a l)reacher and distinguished educator, living sixty miles dis- tant, met one of our professors at a Sabbath- school convention, and the president at a teach- ers' institute, a white student at another institute, and a colored student as a teacher in his county, and became convinced that Berea College was 45 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. the best school for his own son. With a great struggle, himself and wife, and son overcame their own prejudices, and concluded to bear the contempt of their neighbors. The father in- formed a Democratic, Christian brother that he had concluded to send his son to Berea, and he at once replied: You had better take him out and shoot him! On their way here thev avoided the houses of old friends, to escape un- pleasant talk. Their trouble was not here. Many of their neighbors have also availed them. selves of the same advantages, and the trouble is greatly diminished there. Four nice young ladies came one hundred and twenty miles to attend the school, but said they were obliged to fight their way here, and that we had no idea what opposition they had to contend with. One of them received a letter from a young friend informing her that if she came home at the close of the first term she would probably be received into society again, but she could never occupy the place she for- merly did. She thanked him for his interest in her welfare, and assured him that her true friends would not forsake her, and told him that proba- bly some of her friends needed to be tried. An- c)ther was told that she must not expect to be employed as a teacher in that county; but she 46 SOCIAL RELATIONS. soon obtained one of the best schools, and all feel so little damaged that they are very anxious to return. A lady came here to reside for the sake of educating her son, but not till her friends had secured a promise that the daughter should never attend the school. What compromise has been made I am not aware, but the daughter is now attending and enjoys it very much. It is a moral discipline for a white Kentuckian to at- tend Berea College, which is often more valuable than the knowledge obtained. We are often advised by our Kentucky visi- tors that a single change would add greatly to the usefulness and prosperity of our school. If we would just separate the blacks by them- selves, and instruct them as we do now, only in separate buildings, we would be crowded with students, and money would flow in upon us abundantly. It seems as if we were standing in our own light. We reply that this would double the expenses of the school, and the two depart- ments might as well be in different towns; also it would defeat one of the chief objects of the school, to eradicate prejudice and caste; also we ask, what other school in the State has been enabled by its friends to furnish as good build- ings and as good an education as we, at as low 47 BEREA COLLEOE, KY. a rate Also we inform them that money enough could not be offered to induce us to make such a change. Oil the general question of admitting persons of good moral character, without regard to race or color, the school has maintained a uniform position; but as to the application of the general principle, in particular cases, difficult questions have arisen, and considerable diversity of views has existed. It is not without much discussion, and serious misgivings onl the part of some, that we have reached all the practical principles here explainied in detail. So far as appears there is perfect harmotly among us at present, and in tvo years or more there has been no discussion oln these subjects. TEMAPORARY BUILDINGS. A large influx of students in 1866-7 necess tated the furnishing of room. Two buildings suitable for stores, were erected. One was used for a boardling hall, the upper story and the at beihlg divided into rooms for young ladies and lady teachers, and the other for a store and dwelling. Two nice but cheap little cottages were erected for dormitories for young men, and three box houses, about fifteen by thirty, 48 :;tH::f:1m rFW rT' BEREA COLLEGE, KY. rough plank. wsith outside stairways to the attics for tre snarne piii,)4se. Aiiotlher buildlillg of sim- ilar coinstriictioii, tliirty-two l,+-sixty-four, was divided iiat' tliree schol-roIoii., a hall and a ,hapel. The wvliole building is used as a chapel now. It is whjitewashed and tolerably comforta- ble in the surixiner, but cold in the winter. These buildings, trom top to bottom, were filled with students, sonme occupying attics where they could hardly stand erect, when President E. II. Fairchild came, in the spring of 1869. He was called at the meeting of the trustees in July, 1868. PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD. He is a native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, but was reared in Northern Ohio. Ile and his brother James, now President of Oberlin Col- lege, constituted the first Freshman Class of that institution. Their father was a farmer of mod- erate means, yet was able, with great economy, and the hearty co-operation of all the family, to send three sons and two daughters through the entire college course at Oberlin; and another daughter through the ladies' course; and the sons through the theological department. Ed- ward Henry, the President of Berea College, at the early age of sixteen, while a student at the Elyria High School, under the supervision of 50 '.3 00 t3 X HL C aw to f I "I ,, r t 4 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. John Monteith, became greatly interested in the antislavery movement, which was beginning to stir the hearts of a few in many parts of the country. At the close of six months' discussion of the subject in the school, he, with a school- mate, prepared a colloquy for the public exhibi- tion held in the Court House, in which they represented a slave trader, a planter, a driver, a slave pen in hearing, but not in sight, its keeper, an abolitionist, a slave sold, whipped and liber- ated1, with hot blood and high words, and a show of weapons. The whole county was excited by it. At Oberlin he participated in the long and earnest discussion of the question of admitting colored students. He was present when the i-ro- testing students from Lane, with President Ma- han and Prof. Morgan, were welcomed, and listened to the twenty-one lectures of Theodore Weld, delivered soon after. At twenty-one, wheni good material was not abundant, he was commissioned as an antislavery lecturer by the American Antislavery Society, and sent three months to Northern Pennsylvania. At twenty- two he was engaged for four months, as teacher of a large colored school at the foot of Western Row in Cincinnati, receiving his expenses for his salary. At twenty-three he was employed three months by the Ohio Antislavery Society. 52 PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD. In these various labors for the oppressed he re- ceived his share of attention from mobs, and cold shoulder from preachers; and once, at Columbus in Pennsylvania, after speaking an hour amid a din of horrns, tin pans, swearing, screeching, siniging,and flyingg missiles,was driven from the house by burning brimstone. At twen- ty-six, having finished his theological studies, and taken for his companion the maid whom his heart selected whenl he was fifteen, he was called to preach to the First Congregational Church of Cleveland. Having continued in the ministry twelve years, in various places, lie was appointed Principal of the Preparatory Department of Ober- lin College, and held that position sixteen years, having supervision of five hundred young men and over forty teachers each year. The last two years he acted as financial agent of the college and raised eighty thousand dollars. This work called the attention of incipient institutions to him, and, while desired at Oberlin, he received three appointments, almost simultaneously, from three colleges, remote from each other, all of them desirable, and a visit from a fourth. He accepted the call to Berea, after a visit to the place, and entered upon the work in April, 1869. This year Howard Hall was erected by the Freedmen's Bureau, at a cost of eighteen thou- 53 BEREA COLLE'JE. KY. sand dollars. It is a very fine three-story wood building, forty by eighty, with a tin roof, and presents a much better appearance than its pic- ture. It is a dormitory for young men, and embraces a reading room and two nice society rooms. LADIES' HALL. In 1870-71 our accommodations for young ladies were found much too strait for them. Nine were sent into the attic, which was one large room, with a window in each end. There was no room for further development, and such ac- commodations as we had were of a very inferior style. The dining room was also used for com- mon sitting room and parlor. A new building was a necessity; but whether to erect a tempo- rary or a permanent edifice was all important question. After consulting friends on whom we must largely depend for the means, it was de- termined to erect such a building as would meet our wants for many years, not with the expecta- tion of filling it immediately, but, as we hoped in a few years. The Ladies' Hall at Oberlin was taken as a pattern, and its excellencies were, if possible, improved, and its defects remedied. It is one of the most perfect buildings of its kind to be found in the countrv. It is of brick, three 54 F BEREA COLLEGE, KY. stories high, above a superior basement, having two fronts of one hundred and twenty feet each, and a roof of slate and tin. The first story em- braces a reception room, office, parlor, assembly room, society roomi, reading room, dressing room, a large dining room, an tipper kitchen with a china closet and variety room, and the steward's rooms. The basement, which on one side is en- tirely above ground, embraces, besides furnaces and wood rooms and cellar rooms, a superb kitchen, with a meal room and the cook's living room adjoining, and dumb waiters, a porter's room contiguous to the elevator and the fur- naces, a wash room and ironing room, and a railroad for carrying trunks to the elevator and wood to every place where it is needed. The two upper stories furnish rooms for ninety ladies, with water tanks, water closets and bath rooms on both floors. The first story and the corridors are heated by three suiperior furnaces, and the rooms in the two upper stories with stoves. Every room has a ventilator and a transom, and every lady's room a closet. The whole is fin- ished with butternut and chestnut, and varnished. The garret is one large room, with a smooth, nice floor over the whole, an excellent place for exercise or for drying clothes in stormy weather. A door from the wash room opens to the eleva- PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD. tor. Besides the tanks in the building, there are three large cisterns and a large well outside. There is also a forcing pump to send water from the well, which never fails, to the tanks above. This building is surrounded with six acres of ground, embracing a large grove of forest trees at one side, coming up to the street, in which, by permission, young gentlemen may meet the ladies for croquet. In the rear of this grove is a vineyard, and in the rear of the vineyard a garden. There is also a fine grove in the rear, for ladies alone. The front yard is graded and covered with grass, dotted with evergreens, and furnished with permanent walks of slate and gravel. On the two fronts is a beautiful and substantial picket fence. The cost of the whole, including the ground and a substantial barn, was fifty-six thousand dollars. All other College buildings, including Howard Hall, Recitation Hall, which is a transformation of the second boarding hall, Office Building, Grammar School, a very good building, Inter- mediate School, very poor, and the Chapel, are situated in the College Campus, consisting of two large and beautiful groves of forest trees, embracing about twenty-five acres. The larger grove, in which the buildings are, is on the high land, and the other in the plain, fifty feet below. 57 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. FINANCE. Besides the buildings, which are estimated at seventy-five thousand dollars, the College owns three hundred and fifty acres of land, not in- cluding the grounds about the buildings, worth about fifteen thousand dollars. Much of this land lies on the best streets of the village, and is laid out into lots, averaging about one hundred feet by three hundred, which are held at one hundred dollars a lot. It owns also about twenty-five good business lots, twenty-five feet by one hundred and twenty-five, held at one hundred dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars a lot. The College has the begin- ning of an endowment, thirty-four thousand dollars, which has been secured with little effort. The effort in this direction has just commenced. A portion of this endowment has been borrowed by the College, with the consent of the donors, and secured by a lien upon its land. On another portion interest is paid to the donor, an aged man, during his lifetime. Only nineteen thou- sand dollars bring an income to the College. Our debts to individuals and banks are about twelve thousand dollars. We know of subscrip- tions and bequests sufficient to pay them, but they are not available for that purpose at pres- ent. Our current expenses are about ten thou- 58 DEPARTMENTS OF THE COLLEGE. sand dollars, and our income four thousand dol- lars. The balance is made up by benevolent contributions. Many of our students are ad- mitted free of tuition, on aceount of funds con- tributed for that object; hence our income from that source is very small: tuition is only nomninal, being but seven dollars and a half to ten dollars and a half a year. It will probably be entirely relinquished when a sufficient endowment is Se- cured. DEPARTMENTS OF THE COLLEGE. The constituency of the College is such as to compel the keeping up of all grades of schools from the primary to the college proper. It is especially a school for the poor, and for those who have had little or no opportunity for edu a- tion. It keeps up primary, intermediate and grammar schools; and divides the superior por- tion of the school into college, literary normal and preparatory departments, with about t-he usual courses of study in the several depart- ments. A year each, of French and (erman. is required in the ColleUS course. The literary course is the sanie as is usually styled the ladies' course. It is designed not only for ladies, but for gentlemen, who desire a thorough English education without Greek, and with only the 59 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. amount of Latin required for entering college. The normal course is what its name implies. No department of the Institution is of greater importance than this. Kentucky has no greater need than a large reinforcement of competent, native school teachers, both white and colored. There is no great demand for foreign teachers. The native born will generally be preferred, and they are sufficiently numerous to meet all de- mands. They simply need better qualifications; and, from the number of actual teachers who have recently oome to this school, we judge the prospect for improvement is encouraging. GRADUATES. The first College Class entered in 1869, and graduated in 1873. It consisted of three white young men, all natives of Kentucky. One of them died within a year, one is teaching a high s(ehool in Illinois, and the other is a theological kttudent, now traveling for his health, with a good prospect of recovery. The next year there were four graduates, two white and two colored, three of them Kentuckians by birth. One of them is principal of a large colored school and assistant editor of the American Citizen, one is principal of the colored high school at Camp Nelson, one has been teaching a country school, 60 PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS. and the other is tutor in Doane College, Nebraska. There were three graduates in 1875, one of them colored. But one, a wvhite lady, has finished the literary course, and one lady the normal course. Graduates are few in Kentucky, and will con- tinue to be till common school education is ad- vanced far beyond its present condition. It communities wx here one-fourth of the adult pop- ulation can not read, and another fourth can read but poorly, few can be found who will see the propriety of spending six years in school, after having acquired a better education than a majority of their teachers have. PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS. The President is Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Financial Secretary. Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, Professor of Greek and Associate Pastor. Prof. Geo. McMillan, a native of Ireland, a graduate of Oberlin College and for fifteen years Professor of Latin in Hillsdale College, Michi- gail, has the chair of Latin. Mr. L. V. Dodge, of Ohio, a graduate of Hills- dale College, Principal of the Normal School at Geneva, Ohio, after teaching six months at Berea, was chosen Professor of Mathematics. He will 61 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. enter upon his work in September. He was offered a professorship at Ilillsdale. Rev. C. G. Fairchild, soIn of the President, two o years connected with the State Normal School at Trenton, New Jersey, and two years financial agent of Berea College, is appointed Professor of Natural History, with the understanding that he is to teach one term in the year and devote the rest of his time to tile finances of the College. He is at present in England, and there has been no time to hear of his acceptance. Rev. J. G. Fee, who is pastor of the church, is also Lecturer on Evidences of Christianity and Biblical Literature. Mr. H. R. Chittenden, of Michigan, a gradu- ate of Oberlin College, is Principal of the Pre- paratory Department. The salary of a Professor is twelve hundred dollars, the President's fifteen hundred. Of the ladies employed at present Miss Sara Ferguson, of Pennsylvania, a graduate of the Ladies' Department of Oberlin College, is Acting Principal of the Ladies' Department. Miss Kate Gilbert, of Massachusetts, a teacher of much experience, both in her native State and among the Freedmen, is teacher of Higher English Branches. Miss Alice Warren, of Vermont, graduate of 62 PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS. a female seminary in that State, and for two years teacher in the high school at Moline, Illi- nois, has charge of the Granmmar School. MiF- Elizabeth Greg-, of Kenttieky, a gradu- ate of the La-lie,, Department of Oberlin College, has the Intteiritediate School. Miss Alice -A. Peck, of New York, an Oberlin student, and an experienced teacher, has charge of the Primary School. The salaries of these teachers are from two hundred and seventy-five dollars to three hun- dred and fifty dollars, with their board. We have also teachers of music, vocal and instrumental; also of penmanship and book- keeping; but commonly they have been students, or otherwise employed, and are not mentioned. For the number of students, which has varied from two hundred and fifty to three hundred a year, this teaching force seems large. Twice as many pupils would require no more teachers. But for the number of classes, and branches of study taught, it is not large. All are fully occupied. These minute details can hardly be interesting to the general reader, but to our donors, for whom this book is especially designed, they are due, whether interesting or not. 63 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. BOARD OF TRUSTEES. Rev. John G. Fee, President of the Board. Rev. E. H. Fairchild, Vice-President. Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, Secretary. John G. Hansou. Mlorgani Burdett, farmer of Berea. Elisha Harrison, farmer of Berea. Rev. Gabriel Burdett, pastor at Camp Nelson. W. W. Wheeler, Indian Superintendent, Wis- con sin. Arthur J. Hanson, merchant of Berea. S. J. Marshall, physician, removed to Ohio. Rev. E. M. Cravath, Secretary American Mis- sioniary Association. Rev. Geo. Candee, preacher, Peru, Massachusetts. Wm. Hart, Treasurer and Steward, Berea. THE FOLLOWING WERE RECENTLY ELECTED Rev. J. H. Heywood, Louisville. Rev. J. E. Roy, Secretary Home Mission Society, Chicago. Peter H. Clark, Superintendent Colored Schools, Cincinnati Ten of these, it will be seen, are residents of Kentucky, and three have removed from Ken- tucky since their election. 64 FORMER TEAORERS AND OFFICERS. FORMER TEACHERS AND OFFICERS. At this point we have concluded, though not without hesitaticn, to give a briefly descriptive list of all the teachers and other officers, not already mentioned, who have had part in this work. I do this for the gratification of those who have known them personally and by repu- tation here, at the risk of being a little tedious to those who care more for the facts bearing on the present and prospective influence of Berea College. I commence with the ladies and follow very nearly the order of their services. Jennie Donaldson, teacher, of the family of Donaldsons, near Cincinntati. They are a wealthy family from England, and were abolitionists, and special friends of the Lane Seminary dissidents, in 1834. She is still living in Southern Ohio. Mrs. - Blaisdell, a relative of Miss Donald- son, from Yellow Springs, Ohio, was employed as matron. Louisa Kaiser, teacher, of G nadenhutten, Ohio, graduate of the Ladies' Departitment of Oberlin College, now wife of Dr. S. F. Marshall, of Southern Ohio. Eliza M. Snedaker, teacher, still living at her home in Adams County, Ohio. Hattie Pratt, teacher, graduate of the Ladies' 66 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. Department of Oberlin College, now wife of Rev C. C. Starbuck, of Nebraska. E. Ada Cleghorn, teacher, graduate of the Ladies' Department of Oberlin College, now missionary in China. Charlotte M. Blake, matron, from Wisconsin, now in Peoria, Illinois. Mrs. Duncan, Acting Principal Ladies' De- partment, formerly a teacher and city missionary of Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Frances E. Woodrow, Acting Principal Ladies' Department, formerly from Trumbull County, Ohio, a graduate of the Ladies' Depart- ment of Oberlin College, then a teacher in San- dusky High School, then teacher and Principal Ladies' Department of Ripon College, Wiscon. sin, now wife of J. K. Newton, teacher of Mod- ern Languages in Oberlin College. Mrs. S. W. Hart, matron, a native of New York City, wife of the present Treastirer. They were old-time abolitionists of Woodstock, Illi- nois. He was born in Vermont, but spent most of his life in Illinois. During the war, at his own request, he was commissioned by President Lincoln to aid in organizing colored regiments While connected with the Quarter Master's De- partment at Camp Nelson he became acquainted 66 FORMER OFFICERS AND TEACELRS. with Mr. Fee. She died among her friends, at Jamestown, New York, in 1872. Rhoda J. Lyon, teacher and Acting Principal Ladies' Depaitment, formerly a student at Ober- lin, then a teacher in Ohio, then among the Freedmen in Georgia and Alabama, now wife of Geo. L. Pigg, A. B., of Berea, teacher in Illinois. Elizabeth Hulsart, teacher, from Romeo, Mich- igan, a teacher among the Freedmen, both be- fore and since her two years' service here. Saphronia Hall, teacher, from Dover, Ohio, daughter of a missionary among the Freedmen in Jamaica, and student in Oberlin College. Eliza Burdett, teacher, a native of Kentucky, graduate of the Normal Department of Berea College, now teacher of the public school in Berea. Mrs. J. H. Clark, Principal Ladies' Depart- ment, from Painesville, Ohio, formerly from. Massachusetts, sister of Rev. Dr. Chamberlin, of Chicago, and Governor Chamberlin, of South Carolina, an experienced teacher. She retained the office two years and resigned in 1874. Charlotte White, Assistant Principal, a niece of Mrs. Clark, from Massachusetts, a student at Mt. Holyoke Seminary. She retained her office a year, then remained a year as a pupil. She is now a teacher in Massachusetts. 67 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. J. L. Barber, of Woodstock, Illinois, Steward and Mechanic. He had formerly kept the Boarding Hall at Lane Seminary, and had had considerable experience as Superintendent of Sunday-schools. Henry F. Clark, graduate of Oberlin College, of Painesville, Ohio, became Professor of Latin in 1868. He was after three years excused a year to complete his theological studies, and after another year resigned. He was very active while here in the general Sunday-school work. He is now a professor in Oberlin College, where his abilities as a teacher became known, while away from Berea College on leave of absence. J. H. Clark, husband of the Lady Principal, and father of the Professor, superintended the building of the Ladies' Hall, and for a short time was Acting Treasurer. C. A. Richardson, teacher of English, from East Cleveland, a graduate of Oberlin College, now a Congregational preacher. A. A. Wright, a graduate of Oberlin College, for several years a teacher at Cleveland Heights, was elected Instructor in Mathematics and Nat- ural Sciences, then Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science. He was excused a year to qualify himself more perfectly for his professor- ship, and received an effectual call from Oberlin. 68 FORMER OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. Rev. C. C. Starbuck, a graduate of Oberlin College, and for many years a missionary among the Freedmen of Jamaica, was employed one year as Instructor in Latin and History. Joel F. Vaile, of Kokomo, Indiana, a gradu- ate of Oberlin College, was one year Acting Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science, and was desired for a permanent professor, but previous engagements forbade. He is now prac- ticing law in Indiana. Rev. A. B. Pratt, Treasurer and Trustee, for- merly a Congregational preacher in Michigan, now in Nebraska. Wm. N. Embree, brother of Mrs. Rogers, and son-in-law of Mr. Fee, a merchant in Berea, was a Trustee, and, for a time, Assistant Treasurer. He is now in business in Kansas. We are glad to give all these names a place in our little book. We shall always count them among our true friends, and gratefully cherish their memory. The fact that so large a proportion of these teachers were from Oberlin is no indication that Oberlin has had any responsibility in the found- ing and furnishing of Berea, but only that Ober- lin gives practical lessons in human brotherhood, one of the chief studies in every course in this Institution; and a current having been formed 69 BEREA COLLEOZ, KY. from that school to this, it was easy for it to widen and deepen. ITS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. The inquiry is often made: " To what religious denomination does Berea College belong" It belongs to every Church which has living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior from sin, and is seeking to save the lost through him. Whatever their peculiar views and practices may be, if this is their faith and work, we are heartily with them. They can not be so far astray in aniythiing that we need to have a con- troversy with them. We will counsel them as brethren if we think they err, but we will not exclude them from our fellowship, nor be ex- cluded by them if we can avoid it. Our church is called: " The Church at Berea," which is the common style of the New Testa- ment. It holds all the doctrines on which the great mass of the Protestant churches unite, and tolerates every phase of opinion and practice not inconsistent with true Christian character. In its government all members of the church have a vote. Its pastor, Rev. J. G. Fee, was originally a Presbyterian. In 1852 he embraced the doctrine of immersion and still adheres to it; but he 70 ITn CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. earnestly insists that every true Christian is en- titled to a place in the church, whatever his views may be as to the mode and subjects of bap- tism. While he conscientiously administers only immersion, he as conscientiously yields to his brethren in the chureh the privilege of other modes and of infant baptism. Anti-sectarianiism is and always has been a fundamental principle of Berea College and church. In the days of slavery the church re- fused to fellowship slaveholders and slaveholding churches, because it believed they were destitute of Christian character. It is to advance pure and undefiled religion that Berea College exists. It belongs wholly to Christ, and seeks to educate all its pupils for his service. It has no interest in promoting educa- tion to be enlisted against Christianity. We have occasion often to mourn our want of success, but we regard it as our first and chief duty to lead our pupils to the Savior of sinners. We have occasion also to rejoice that our labors in this respect are not in vain. A large majority of our adult pupils, we hope, are Christians; and all but one of our graduates are professors of relig- ion. He several times covenanted to be the Lord's, but never seemed established. He has gone to his account. 71 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. POLITICS. Berea College not only has a religious, it has a political character. It is political because it is religious. The Christianity it teaches does not permit men to ignore their obligations to main- tain, so far as they have the power, a righteous government. We pray for guidance and suc- cess in politics the same as in education and religion. Our political principle is: " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" We are not parti- sans. We would not be blind to the faults, nor submit to the dictation of any party. We be- lieve in equal civil rights to all citizens; and we stand ready to co-operate with that party through which we can most effectually promote that principle. Which that party has been since the opening of the war we have had no difficulty in deciding. MISSION OF BEREA COLLEGE. The work of all Christian colleges is in geii- eral the same-to promote education, religion and general civilization; to do this by furnishing Christian teachers, preachers and cultured busi- ness men to instruct and lead the people. Any such college, well sustained, is an incalculable blessing to any community. But some colleges have a peculiar responsibil- 72 THE COLORED PEOPLE. ity. In the providence of God, or by some special teaching of his Spirit, some great doc- trine, or principle, or refortl, seems especially intrusted to their keeping and promotion. If this is not, in sonie measure, true of Berea Col- lege, we are utterly in the dark as to wants of the country. This College sustains peculiar relation to two classes of people, who constitute two-thirds of the population of the State-the colored people and the mountain people. THE COLORED PEOPLE Believe that they owe their freedom to the self- denying labors of such men as Mr. Fee, President Fairchild, Prof. Rogers, and that class of nleii throughout the country who are sustaining Berea College. They know we are their friends and that we will not deceive them. They believe in our political principles, and though they find it diffi- cult in their modesty to associate with white people on terms of equality, they believe in the principle, and rejoice to see it wrought out. They have their own church relations and modes of worship, and are attached to them like other people, and will not easily fall in with any ideas or modes that are new to them. Yet we are welcome always to all their religious gatherings, 73 74 BERZA COLLZGR, KY. and they rejoice to hear the counsels we have to give. Like all uneducated people, they will very gradually learn to appreciate the importance of education. They will not rush into every- thing good more than other people. But it was never the privilege of any Christian laborers to work for a more grateful, impressible and confiding people. God has laid upon us special responsibilities in regard to them. Till within two years the State has made no provisions whatever for their education, and the provisions now made are en- tirely inadequate. They have no share of the general school fund. The white people will not submit to be taxed for their education. There is no general desire for their education. No conventions are held, no general subscriptions are made or so- licited to promote it. They have a special com- mon school law, which denies them the right to vote in school matters. The county school com- missioner, a white man, has the sole responsi- bility of organizing the county into districts and appointing colored trustees. If he is in- different or reluctant it will not be done. The fund provided by the law has thus far amounted to only fifty cents a scholar for the year. This furnishes, in a district of fifty scholars, only 74 THE COLORED PEOPLE. twenty-five dollars to keep up the school a year. White districts receive one dollar and ninety cents a scholar. It is a question whether this school law is ot any benefit whatever to the col- ored people. It produces great dissatisfaction, as it ought to, and the money- it furnishes hardly compensates for the trouble it makes. Twvo other features of the law exhibit the spirit which dictated it. A colored school-house in the country must not be within a mile of a white school, nor in towns within six hundred feet. Also it is unlawful for a colored child to attend a white school, or for a white child to attend a colored school. This law is a fair indication of the interest of the people of the State in the education of the colored people. To the honor of the city of Louisville it should be said that within two years much zeal has been exhibited in the establishment of colored schools. They have erected two large and commodious school buildings, which are filled with pupils, and teach- ers are well paid. A third large school is taught in a less commodious building, and a fourth in the large building erected by the Freedmen's Bureau. The colored people have not their equal share in the management of the school, as they ought to have, but they are allowed a Visit- ing Committee. 75 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. Lexington also has made a good beginning within a year, and has maintained eleven teach- ers, who have had less than half the pay of white teachers. Six of these teachers are stu- dents of Berea College, as are a large proportion, perhaps a majority, of the colored school teach- ers in the State. Other towns probably have done something for colored schools, but if so it is very recently. With such a law, and with the public interest it indicates, it is manifest that the colored peo- ple will be but poorly provided with schools, un- less aid comes from some other quarter. In a few places they are able to support their own schools, but the most of them are very poor. Ten years ago they were, with few exceptions, entirely destitute of property. They had no homes, no lands, no stock of any kind, no edu- cation, no experience in business, no school- houses, few churches and no teachers. They were in the midst of a people who looked upon them as their property, of which they had been wickedly robbed. They had always declared that the negro could not take care of himself, and were disposed to make their declarations good. Before the courts they could neither tes- tify, plead, nor judge, but were entirely at the mercy of men who had always held it to be 76B THE COLORED PEOPLE. right to compel negroes to work for whatever they were disposed to give. It is not strange that a people so circumstanced are not yet able to sustain their own schools. Nor is it strange that some of them are not able to see, as many wiser people are not, why, having paid taxes like white people, and even a dollar poll tax more, they should not have free schools as well. These poor people are on our hearts and hands continually. We meet very few who give any indications of caring for them as we feel we must. A few noble men and women there are in the State who see and deeply feel their wants, and will dlo to the extent of their ability. There were always such, and the number has not greatly increased. In proof of this statement we mention the fact that year after year the State Sunday-school Convention has called to- gether the warmest-hearted Christians of the State, andi never till this year has a single i iqluiry been mlade concerning the wants of that most needy, most accessible and( most impressible peo- ple constituting one-third of the population of the State. And this year it was not in the pro- gramme, but was introduced by the special re- quest of a most noble Christian gentleman, who superintends a large colored Sunday-school in Lexington, and takes with him his wife and a 77 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. respectable number of white teachers. There has recently started a similar effort in Paris, and another in Nicholasville, and there is great rea- son to hope that the fires thus kindled will spread till they envelope the State. It devolves on Berea College, Moore than on :IiI) other power, to furnish this people with teachers. But this is not all. We feel that we must do something to aid feeble districts in the support of their teachers; and we have already promised, or rather a committee appointed by the Faculty has promised, between twenty and thirty teachers, that, having secured all they can from the people in addition to the State fund, they may look to us for aid in providing for them a moderate compensation. But we re- quire that the schools shall be free, so that no child shall be excluded on account of poverty. For this aid we have appealed to the benevolent of this State and the North. Last year many of our best teachers spent their long vacations in other labor, because the schools that needed them were not able to pay. Twenty or thirty dollars will be sufficient to help out such a school. But this is only a limited and temporary effort. The great work of Berea looks to a vast and fundamental change in the views, tastes, feelings 8 THE COLORED PEOPLE. and customs of society. White and colored people must be perfectly equal before the law. They must have the same civil rights, and be protected alike in the enjoyment of them. We can have no permanent peace, nor, what is more important, any exalted sense of honor and vir- tue, till this is effectually secured; and it never can be secure(l till the race prejudice, the caste feeling, the spirit of domination is eradicated. It seems astonishing that a white man can pros- ecute a colored man before a jury exclusively white, and therefore prejudiced, and see nothing dishonorable in it. Yet so it is all over Ken- tucky. A colored man has never been known to sit upon a jury in the State; the laws forbid it; and the Governor says the people will never tolerate it. Yet few see anything unjust or dis- honorable in it, or any cause of complaint on the part of the colored people; and the colored people themselves do not feel it as they whould if long oppression had not trained them to it. White people feel in their place, controlling negroes, and it is a mercy that the colored peo- ple are able to endure it so well. Colored people are taxed on their property the same as white people, and pay a dollar more of poll tax; but the governing masses of the State see no impropriety in it, or, if they do, 79 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. they have not sufficient honor to protest against it. They say it is for the benefit of the colored people; it goes to the support of their schools. Yet they receive for their schools only about one-fourth as much per scholar as poor white people do; and the feeling seems to be that even this is more than coul(l reasonably be ex- pected. Few feel disgraced by the publication of such laws; few see any impropriety in charg- ing colored women the same fare as others and then compelling them to ride in the smoking car; or, if they see it, they have not the honor to object to the injustice. Very few are able to see the ridiculous absurdity of taking colored servants into the ladies' car, and excluding those who are not servants. The prevailing idea or feeling is that all colored people should take the position of servants; that they are out of their place when appearing anywhere as the equals of white people. They mntist not eat in the same restaurants; nor shave in the same shops; nor sit in the same churches, uniless dis- tinctly separated; nor stop at the same hotels; nor attend the same schools. These distinctions are kept up, not because , olored people are personally disagreeable to the white people. There is little such feeling at the South. Not because of their immorality; for as so THE COLORED PEOPLE. servants they are admitted everywhere. It is sim- ply a caste feeling, a prejudice of position. This feeling controls legislation, it blinds judges and juries, it corrupts executive officers, it biases witnesses. Against this prejudice, or feeling, or taste, or caste, whatever it may be called, Berea College has thoroughly committed itself, and fulfills one of its most important missions in mitigating and removing it. This it seeks to do through its students, who carry the principles and feelings here imbibed to all parts of the country; by the constant ex- hibition of perfect equality and perfect harmony to all visitors, and especially to thousands at our annual commencements; by lectures, addresses and sermons of professors and advanced students, to colored, and white, and mixed audiences, gathered for religious, political, or educational purposes; and through the medium of a weekly paper published at Lexington, and jointly edited by colored men at Lexington and professors at Berea. WVhat these influences are accomplish- ing let a beholder and not an actor answer. Prof. A. P. Peabody, of Harvard, closes his very able article in the Unitarian Review, on the Coeducation of the Races, with the follow- ing paragraph:- 81 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. Of all the experiments in coeducation that have been instituted, we regard Berea College, in Kentucky, as the most important in its sphere of influence and in its prophecy (f enduring benefit to the colored race. It ha, carried the war into the enemy's camp, and has brought its whole Christian panoply and armament into the iminediate encounter with the surviving spirit of siavery -- a spirit made all the more virulent by the doe. trr'ieti''n ., :t, beedv. At other institutions black stu- dents are admitted to an equality with the white; at Berea white -rutients are admitted to an equality with the black. The trustee, and professors at Berea can not invite their white neighbors to unite with them in throwing the doors of their Institution wide open to all that choose to come. They must first gather their little flock of black pupils, with a very few white youths from their own or friendly families, and then they must make their light shine bright enough and far enough to win the regard and confidence of a distrustful and scornful public, and to demonstrate to that unwilling public that it is for their own and their children's interest that they patronize this Institution. This has been effected. The College has shown its large educational eapasity. Its public exercises have been attended in successive years by persons of established reputation as educationists and literary men, and have received their unqualified com- mendation and praise. The re is, for many miles around, no institution of learning that does nearly so much or so well for its pupils. The consequence is that those at first vehemently opposed to it are fast falling into the 82 THE COLORED PEOPLE. ranks of neutrals or friends. Many who deemed it a nuisance have already sent their children to it. Its ster- ling value as a seminary of education is now recognized on all hands. But it is of much more worth for its si- lent, yet most efficient, propagandism of the due rela- tion between the races: for coeducati-m includes within itself, or involves as its noecessary consequence. equality in all civic and social rights, immunities, duties and ob- ligations. Moreover, a State in which white citizens already seek for their children the privilege of coeducation with col- ored youths, can not long retain its hostility to public schools common to both races. The universal establish- ment of such schools in the late slave States is, as we have said, essential to their political and social well- being; and for the advancement of this end Berea Col- lege is now doing more than can be effected by any pos- sible legislation, by any action of political parties, or by the combined influence of press, platform and pulpit. For two principal reasons we advocate the co- education of the races. 1. It is impossible to educate both races separately. In the rural dis- tricts it is impossible to maintain two sets of schools. In the cities it may be done, but in the country it can tot. [1 hundreds of districts there are very few, from five to twenty-five, col- ored children. They must be admitted to the schools which white children attend, or be left without schools. In other districts the same is 83 4EBXEA COLLEGE, KY. true of white children. 2. The separation fostem a spirit of contempt, andl haughtiness, and domi- neerinIg on the one side, and a sense of debase- ment, and a spirit of sycophancy or surliness on the other, entIrely inconsistent with the highest good of either. It is cruel and abusive to teach the colored children from the very beginning that they are only fit for servants of white peo- ple, and are not at all to be tolerated in the same school-room with white children. Such treat- ment will never make them self-respecting, pa- triotic, independent citizens. There is nothing, in the absence of coeduca- tion, which can secure the mutual regard, confi- dence and honorable deportment which must exist between these races, if we are to have a peaceful, intelligent and virtuous community. We are well aware that in seeking to work such a revolution in southern society, we accept a herculean task. We are not greeted with cheers and aplplause at every step. We have learned to get on without them. We know that God approves, and that many true friends pray for us, and are ready to share the burden. We also know that our cause w ill triumph. We have seen much greater revolutions both at the North and the South. Forty years ago the whole nation was agitated when a single college 84 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. admitted colored students. Now very tew col- leges at the North reject them. In comlniuOI schools the chance is hardly less. The South will change more rapidly, for there is little color prejudice to be overcome. If the laws of the State prohibiting coeducation were repealed, many districts would at once admit the few col- ored children they have. THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. When we speak of this class of people at the North, we soon hear the words: "Poor white trash!" We wish to say at the outset that they sustain no relation to that miserable class of peo- ple. The "poor white trash" have sustained a miserable existence, by petty jobs and petty pilfering among slaveholders, and were despised by the slaves themselves. Kentucky has had but a small share of them. The mountain peo- ple have been almost entirely separated from slavery and slaveholders, and have had little in- terest in them; and have been, in the main, inde- pendent of them. Had Kentucky been wholly a slaveholding State, it would have been wholly a rebel State. But it was neutral; not because its individual men were neutral, but because its zealous rebel element was neutralized by a union element just as zealous. The mountain men 85 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. were nearly all for the inioii, awil some counties furnished more union soldiers than they had men liable to military duty. A. ttiv mountain men were violent rebels, and a few slaveliolders were ready to sacrifice everything for the union. But the grand division was between the moun- tains and the plains; and there is the same di- vision still. The mountain counties are gener- ally republican, some of them almost exclusively so; and the Blue Grass counties are democratic, their white population almost entirely so. Thus, though the mountain people were not abolition- ists, and had no special sympathy with the col- ored people as slaves, there are now several bonds of union between them. They agree in politics, and are working together to overthrow the aris- tocratic rebel party; anl they are destined to succeed. They are much alike in their style of living. 13eino geenerally poor, they are obliged to wvork for their daily bread, and en joy hut few of the luxuries of life, anid look- with the same sort of jealousy upon tile aristocracy. They have alike beeni deprived of tie advantages of education. One-fourth ot the adult p)optllation of the mountains canl not read. The rich have had little more interest in general education than in the e(lucation of their slaves, and the neglect is felt by them in some measure alike. They 86 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. feel that they are looked upon with about the same haughty contempt by the shoddy aristocra- cy, and in this respect they have a fellow-feeling. It is from the mountain people that the most of our white students come. It is generally a great trial to them to think of associating with colored people. Tlhey have their prejudices to overcome. But they find it easier to endure it than to endure the manners of aristocratic stu- dents. Probably no school out of the moun- tains has so large a representation from them as this. Nothing hut poverty prevents their com- ing in large numbers. It would be easy to crowd our buildings to overflowing, if we could assure them that they could pay their expenses by manual labor. To this people we have access. We are in- vited to their Sunday-school conventions and teachers' institutes; and their churches are open to us when we choose to occupy them. They seek our aid in establishing Sunday-schools, and our students teach many of their day schools. They thankfully receive second-hand libraries furnished through us by Northern churches and Sunday-schools. About twenty Sunday-schools were organized in a single year through the in- fluence of these libraries. It is a very simple way of accomplishing much good. ST BEREA COLLEGE, KY. As the State common-school system improves, these mountain people will improve, and their political power will increase. There are among them men of property, and education, and moral power; and such men often come from fifty to a hundred miles on horselback to attend our comn- inencenients, and carry back reports of what they have seen. Often they come with their prejudices and return without them, or greatly modified. There is not a more needy or important field of labor than these mountains, and the only limit to the labor we can perform in it is the limit of our numbers, time and strength. The majority of the people live in log houses, and probably half of them in houses without glass windows. Their school-houses very commonly have no windowvs, and often no doors, and sometimes no floors. In traveling through six counties the writer saw but one painted and plastered school- house. Where they have churches they usually have preaching about once a month, and their preachers receive little or no compensation. They are commonly laboring men; and nothing is more common than to hear them assure their hearers that they are not indebted to their " book learning," but to the Spirit for their sermons. These people are not to be suddenly transformed 88 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. to an intelligent, industrious, cultured people. Half their schools are taught but three months in the year, with few books, no maps, and no blackboards, and by teachers poorly qualified to give oral instruction. They generally have no libraries and take no papers. Those who are able to read, read but very little. Frequently but one paper, and sometimes not one, is taken in a school district. The most hopeful means of doing them good is to induce many of their most promising young men and women to go to some good school and fit themselves for teachers. This is the field of Berea College. We have had students from ten different States at a time, but our great work is among the poor people of Kentucky. Young men have walked sixty miles to get here, and sometimes without a dol- lar, hoping here to find work to pay their way. Two young men came sixty-five miles with a pair of tvo-year-old calves before a cart to haul their baggage, and a boy to drive the team back. A young mountain woman met the President in the street, and said: "Is this Mr. Fairchild I want to go to school; I have no money; I ani an orphan; I can not read; I have three ucles; who might help me, but they think I had better stay in the mountains and work, but I want to know something as well as other folks." " WeIW" 89 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. says the President, " are you willing to work for your board" "Oh yes, I am willing to do any- thing I can. I am not much use(l to house work, as they do it here; but I can hoe corn as well as anybody." "How many hours do you think you should work in a day for your board" "I don't know; you know better than I do." "Do you think five hours" "That looks like a right smart time; but I am willing to do any- thing you say." "How much do you get a week for your work" "A dollar a week." "How long do you work Ten hours" "Oh yes; I work from sun up to sun down, and more too." "Well, if you work ten hours, and half of that time for your board, that would leave five hours a day a whole week for a dollar. Now, if you had the money to pay you could not get your board, and room, and washing, and fuel, and lights, for less than two dollars and a half a week. So you see that if you work five hours a day for your board, you will get more than twice as much for your work as you do when you work in the mountains for a dollar a week." " Well, I am willing to work five hours and more, if you say so." "Now I advise you to go to Mrs. H., and tell your story to her, and tell her you will work five hours a day for your board, Sun- days as well as other days, if it is necessary, and 90 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. do just as well as you can. We will give you your tuition, and I will contrive to get you a book." She was very thankful, had good suc- cess, and near the close of the first quarter the President asked her how she was getting on. She says: "I don't know, but I think right smart. I have read all the first reader but fomr pages, and I can read every word. I (iidn't know my letters when I began." She continued three terms, and was obliged to leave to earn money. Another year will make her a school teacher. Another mountain girl was so impressed at commencement that she told her mother she must go to school. She said if she had five hun- dred dollars she would give it all to be able to read such essays as some of those young ladies read. Her parents had no money, and depended on her to make their "crop." But she found a place to work for her board, and in emergencies went home to help about the crop, and with great perseverance and determination she was enabled in two years to teach school; and a year ago, though her studies are by no means com- plete, the Mountain Echo, in giving an account of a teachers' institute, reported her as having read two essays, for which she received votes of thanks; and made a statement as to her mode of 91 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. managing a school, which was highly compli- mented. We must not multiply individual cases, interesting as they are to us. "The poor have the gospel preached to theni." The mission of Berea College also embraces efforts, through its professors, to promote Chris- tlaii union and vital piety. A State association has been organized, called: " The State Associ- ation of Christian Ministers and Churches of Kentucky," which holds meetings semi-annually, and has published resolutions and an. address on the subject of Christian Union, which have called forth favorable comments from individu- als in several States. The association is small, but we hope not useless. Our great desire is to aid in elevating the standard of holy living; to promote Christian activity, through Sunday-schools and prayer- meetings; to encourage family prayer and more regard for the Sabbath; to promote temperance and abstinence from deadly weapons. Two of the greatest evils of Kentucky are whisky and pistols. Fights are frequent in which somebody is killed, and seldom is there anly investigation by magistrates or grand juries. Miost men drink occasionally and many excessively. Yet there is considerable interest on the subject of temper- ance, and many voting districts (we have no 92 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. townships) have voted no license, according to the provisions of the local option law. The Glade District, in which Berea is, voted no li- cense, by a majority of four to one. Many drinking men voted no license. The religion of the South is such as might nat- urally be expected to accompany the system of slavery. Christians who practiced and defended slave-holdintg, should not be expected to have very exalted ideas of love to God and man. They probably feel the need of religion as much as any people, and contrive to have it in some form; yet it would not be strange if they should shrink from bringing their lives very near to God in the prayer: "1 Search Ile, 0 God, and know my heart, and see if there be any evil way in me." There seems to be much lack of prayer. Family worship is the exception, and by no means the rule in Christian fitifilies. A promi- nent Presbyterian preacher, Ahell knowin in Ken- tucky, had been spending a Sabbath in a village of two thousand inhabitants, where chlrches are abundant, and the elder, by whom he wvas entertained, expressed the belief that his family was the only one in the town which kept up a family altar. This was probably a mistake; yet it is the belief of intelligent preachers, who have 93 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. traveled extensively in the State, that very few Christian families maintain family worship. Tius far no wave of sorrow for the sin of slavery has spread over the churches, as there surely will, when (God pours upon his people, in mighty torrents, -,a spirit of grace and supplica- tions; anid they shall look on 11im. whom they have pierced." THE KU-KLUX Have never paid us a visit. Many rumors of their hostile intentions have reached us, and ru- mors that our College buildings and some of our private houses had been burned, have spread through the country; but, from what we knew of their operations near us, we did not apprehend any disturbance from them. For a year or two, about 1870 and later, the country was completely under their control. There was no protection for anybody against whom their violence was directed. One night they took possession of Richmond, to the number, as was said, of a hun- dred and fifty or more, took a man from the jail, who had given himself up to the authorities and was awaiting trial, and hung him in the Court House yard; and pinned an order upon his back, directing that he should hang there till four P. M. the next day; and there he hung, 94 THE KU-KLUX. in a village of fifteen hundred inhabitants, where hundreds were passing every hour, till the time appointed, no authority venturing to interfere. It was said that the man was a desperado, and had killed several persons, and deserved to be hung. It may have been so, but it is claimed by others that he had acted in self-defense. The best place to ascertain those facts was in the Court House, by the appointed authorities, and not at midnight, by a band of lawless ruffians. One night they took two negroes from the jail, whipped one and hung the other, and ordered that he should hang till eleven A. M., and then be buried on a certain farm near Silver Creek, and the order was obeyed. They hung a man one Saturday night within three miles of Berea. It was rumored that he had participated in a murder during the war, but there was never an investigation. To record all the accounts that have reached us of their lawless violence would fill a book. Their object was not robbery, as some have sup- posed; nor, in this region, did it seem to be po- litical; nor was their attention directed espe- cially against the colored people. They had old grudges to avenge, and new misdemeanors to regulate; and it appeared as if many prominent men preferred that method of keeping things in 95 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. order. The negroes were constantly in alarm, and white Republicans nearly as much so, for it was understood that neither of those parties was represented in the Ibands. These organizations seen-i to have disbanded two or three years ago, soon after a large, num- ber of them had been arrested lvy United States authority. Much opposition w\'as made to this interference of the General Government, as was to be expected; but the General Government never performed a more humane or timely deed. The whole State was under the control of the Ku-Klux for years, very many murders were committed, and innumerable deeds of violence; and in some places they are the terror of the people still; yet if a single member of the Klan was ever punished by the State authorities, it has not come to our knowledge. This is not to be charged altogether to the indifference or collu- sione of State officers. If they were ever so much disposed to pulllish them, it would be very diffi- cult. They are so numerous and have so many sympathizers that no man likes to expose him- self to their wrath by exposing them. ANNOYANCES. Those very common annoyances of tramps and blurlars we are entirely exempt from; being 96 ANNOYANCES. too poor to present a temptation, or too remote from the railroad for their convenience. Our beggars we soon become acquaintedwyith, and have seldom a new case to investigate. Petty pilfering exists to some extent, but is by no means common. President Fairchild declares that for two or three months, while he was build- ing, his furniture was so exposed that many things might easily have been taken; that they seldom lock their house when all the family leave it, which is commonly several times a week; that their barn is always open; that tools are ex- posed all over the premises; that their garden is accessible from various directions, and much of it is invisible from the house; yet in six years not the smallest article has been missed. The most serious annoyance of Berea is the riding through the streets of intoxicated men, shouting and occasionally firing their pistols, not careful where the balls may strike. This has greatly diminished, and is chiefly confined to seasons of fairs and exciting elections. The disposition to injure Berea seems to have passed away. For several years the inhabitants have felt as safe as the inhabitants of most Northern villages. If we have more armed rowdies, we have less robbers and burglai-s There is great respect for women in Kentacky. 97 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. There is probably no place where they are more safe. It is exceedingly wonderful, and according to human calculations unaccountable, that during all these years of opposition to Berea and her people, not a hair of any head of any one of them has perished. Any good people, who would like a pleasant Southern home, with unlimited opportunities for usefulness and superior educa- tional advantages, would be foolish to avoid Berea from fear of violence. OSTRACISM. It is the common lot of most teachers of col- ored schools, and, to some extent, of business men from the North, to be isolated and deprived of all, or nearly all white society. It is not so here. While many people undoubtedly have no desire to cultivate our acquaintance, we have right about us more white Kentucky friends of excellent character, who invite us to their houses, than we have time to visit as we desire. Some of the principal families in Richmond exchange visits with us, and some in Lexington, and some in Louisville, and so in many places through the Blue Grass region we are welcomed, and almost everywhere in the mountains. Our business relations with Kentucky people 98 REGULATIONS. are as agreeable as could be desired. Our pat- ronage is sought, and credit is offered us to suit our convenience. Banks accommodate us cheer- fully and bountifully, with no other security than our signatures. Of course we pay, or our credit would fail very soon. We have no reason to think that our credit is in the least affected by the fact that most of us are Northern men. The reputation of the College as a school is also good. It is perfectly common to hear it called the best school in the State. Of course all such compliments are received with much allowance for carelessness of language, and want of informatio i in regard to the schools of the State; just as when a horse is said to be the best in the county, when three-fourths of the good horses in the county have never been seen. But though as compliments, such expressions will hardly bear criticism; as indications of feeling they are significant. REGULATIONS. A little book of rules is given to every student on entering the school. It is unnecessary to give quotations from these rules, but a few general statements may be desirable. Applicants for admission to the school must bring certitiecates of good moral character, and 99 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. students must maintain such a character, not only while in school, but during their absence in vacation. They are required to abstain entirely from the use of intoxicating drinks, and are not allowed to use tobacco in or about, the College buildings or premises, or in other public places. They are advised to give up tobacco entirely, and the most of them do. They are also pro- hibited from frequenting all places of public re- sort, or absenting themselves from any school duties, or leaving town wsithout permission; and young men are required to be in their own rooms after ten o'clock at night, and young ladies after half past seven, during the fall and winter, and eight (luring the spring term. No secret societies are allowed in the Institu- tion, and students are not allowed to have any active connection with such societies while in attendance at the school. The religious exercises upon which students are required to attend are one preaching service and a Bible class upon. the Sabbath, a religious lecture or sermon on Tuesday, and a Bible class on Thursday, and daily prayers, in the morning at their boarding places, and in the evening at the chapel. At all these exercises there is al- most perfect punctuality, and there are no indi- cations that they are felt to be burdensome. 100 REGULATIONS. The uniting of the two sexes in the same school is an innovation ini Kentucky, and the regulations pertaining to their social intercourse are among the most important. They recite in the same classes when pursuing the same studies, and attend the same religious exercises and scien- tific lectures, but do not belong to the same lit- erary societies, nor do they visit each other's societies except on public occasions. They must not attend each other to and from religious meetings; but may, with special permission, at the regular monthly scientific lectures, and other occasional public literary exercises. They take their meals in the same dining hall and at the same tables, but room in separate buildings, about sixty rods apart, and concealed from each other by a grove of forest trees. They must never call at each other's rooms, except by special permission in case of sickness, on pain of ex- pulsion. Young men, at certain designated hours, may, with special permission, meet young ladies at the public parlors; general social gath- erings are occasionally permitted; and some- times parties are allowed, with proper supervis- ion, to ride to the mountains; but single couples are never permitted to ride or walk by them- selves. It is our conviction, after much experi- ence and much investigation, that in a well- 101 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. managed school such a union of the sexes as is here described is profitable to both parties, and adds much to the interest and refining influences of all social and religious meetings. The young men have prayer-meetings by themselves, as do the ladies also, and they have a weekly young people's prayer-meeting in which both unite. The a priori theories, which many hold in op- position to the coeducation of the sexes, are gen- erally dispelled by a little of the proper kind of experience. EXPENSES. It is the desire of the Trustees to bring the advantages of the school, as far as possible, within the reach of all. The charges for room rent, fuel, and incidentals, are barely sufficient to pay expenses and keep the buildings in re- pair. The highest tuition is ten dollars and a half a year, and provision has been made for free tuition to a large number of the needy; and the probability is that on receiving a sufficient endowment all tuition, except in instrumental music, will be free. Vocal music is now free. Board is nine dollars a month, barely sufficient, with a large number of boarders, to pay the cost. A young lady is furnished with board, a furnished room, fuel, lights and tuition for one hundred dollars a year. This must be paid 102 quarterly in advance. When paid monthly in advance the expense is a trifle more. The special arrangement of one hundred dollars a year has not been extended to young men. In thus reducing expenses we have not been unmindful of the truth that that which cost nothing is generally esteemed to be worth noth- ing. The price of board alone at the lowest possible rate is entirely beyond the reach of the most of those who would be glad to patronize this school. One hundred dollars a year to the average of our patrons is more than a thousand dollars to the average of those who send their soiis and daughters through college. We find it necessary not only to make expenses as low as possible, but to furnish all possible opportunities for students to defray a portion of their expenses by means of manual labor. Some defray half, and some more than half, in this way. Con- tributions to enable promising youth to attend the school, who would otherwise be unable, have been among those most gratefully received. DONORS. There is a class of men, and women too, of whom we can not speak as we feel, without offense to them. We are grateful to them every day and cherish their names in our hearts, and 103 DONORS. BEREA COLLEGE, KY. feel like giving them here. But they do not sound a trumpet before them when they give alms, nor do they wish others to do it for them. They are our fellow-workers in this labor of love, no less essential to it than those on the ground; and evince equal faith arid interest in it as the work of God. Their motives are not appreciated by a portion of the Southern people. A South Carolina editor, after having been kindly enter- tained, and led through the principal buildings, and shown all that he wished to see, gave, in his paper, a full and flattering account of the school and the buildings, expressing his opposition, of course, to the coeducation of the races, and then pronounced the whole "the work of Northern spite." We hope that he, and some others like him, may live to appreciate a class of men whose all-controlling motives are entirely above their conception. Many good men regard it as a work of real but mistaken benevolence. A few look upon it as a wonderful work of God, and the number of such is constantly increasing. A few only have sufficiently identified themselves with the work to feel it a privilege to contribute to it. Probably, outside of Berea, the State of Ken- tucky has not contributed over twenty-five hun- dred dollars to this school. About two thousand of this came from Louisville. We have reason 104 PRESENT WANTS. to hope for larger contributions from the same source before many months. Among the most liberal contributors to this College, we may properly name two, who have gone to their re- ward, Gerrit Smith and John P. Williston. The former had recently given about six thousand dollars, and the latter had continued his con- tributions for many years. PRESENT WANTS. Next to provision for current expenses, the first pecuniary want of Berea College is relief from debt, which, though not hazardous, is con- stantly embarrassing. We greatly need a new chapel; the present is very uncomfortable in winter, and not suitable for such a school. Five thousand dollars, in addition to a fund already on hand for that purpose, would furnish as good a chapel as we need. We also need two addi- tional school-rooms, which would cost about fifteen hundred dollars each. This would make us comfortable for several years. Other build- ings will be needed by and by, when Kentucky is ready to build them. Our library, of two thousand excellent vol- umes, which are much used, needs increasing. Our cabinets of natural history and mineralogy 105 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. are still small, and our chemical and philosophical apparatus very meager. By vote of the Trustees a special effort will immediately be entered upon to increase our en- dowment. This should not be less than two hundred thousand dollars. It is now thirty-four thousand. But little effort has been made in this direction. We have encouragement from various friends that an appeal to them will not be in vain. To the honor of Christianity, and for the encouragement of those who may follow us, we wish to bear testimony that our efforts in raising money have brought us into contact with many such glorious, warm-hearted men of wealth as we did not suppose the world contained. While we have met numerous striking illustra- tions of the saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaveii," we have found not a few rich men to whorn the gates are wide open. They have " made to themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. who shall receive them to everlasting habitations." Another want of Berea is good Christian in- habitants to surround the school with an atmos- phere of intelligence and Christian love. If there is any place where a life of energy, purity, meekness, love, faith and patience will redound 106 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. to the glory of God and the salvation of men, it is here. Farmers, mechanics, fruit-growers, dairy-men, if you desire to find a mild climate and a pleasant home, but especially to do good, come and see us. Our last, and first, and greatest want, com- pared with which all others dwindle to insignifi- cance, is the blessing of God. Without this we want nothing else, we ask nothing, we can do nothing, we can hope for nothing. If He had not been on our side in many dangers and straits, we should have failed. If He go not with us still, we shall still fail. Reader, please pray for us. AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. We can not, without injustice to ourselves and friends, close this narrative without paying our tribute of gratitude to that association, which, al most from the beginning of Mr. Fee's labors in the State, has given its constant support to this work. Though it never exercised any con- trol over Berea College, and can not, with pro- priety, be said to have founded it; yet, but for its pecuniary aid, and its perennial stream of encouragement, counsel, sympathy and cheer in all the days and years of darkness, danger, doubt and fear, who can say that the College would 107 BEREA COLLEGE, KY. ever have existed or that this mission could have been continued And, having sustained this intimate relation to the American Missionary Association for so many years, we wish to bear our unqualified tes- timony to the wisdom, the fidelity, the energy and the economy with which it has prosecuted its Southern work. It was in this field with the gospel of freedom when all other organizations working here succumbed to slavery; it met the first contrabrands with schools and the gospel at the opening of the war; and it has been the principal agency by which the Southern work, the most important of this generation, has been carried on to the present time. We wish its patronage were multiplied many fold. Our es- teem and reverence for that society partake much of the affection of children for parerts, yet we believe we can speak of its work with intelligent impartiality. 108

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