File:The Negro in American history (microform) - men and women eminent in the evolution of the American of African descent (1914) (14597422428).jpg

Title: The Negro in American history (microform) : men and women eminent in the evolution of the American of African descent
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Cromwell, John W. (John Wesley), b. 1846
Subjects: African Americans -- History African Americans Slavery -- United States
Publisher: Washington : The American Negro Academy
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
ion. He thus narrates the circumstancesof its purchase: I met the trustees who urged me to purchasethe property of Wilberforce for the A. M. E. Church. I beggedfor three months time in which I could consult the spring con-ferences in order that I might secure their sanction and co-operation. But the trustees refused for the reason that theState of Ohio desired the property for one of its asylums, thatthe legislature then in session demanded an answer by noon onthe 11th. Still I hesitated and begged for time to consult andsecure the pledge of the spring conferences. Said they: Nowor never. Then immediately I threw myself on the strong armof the Lord, and said: In the name of the Lord, I buy theproperty of Wilberforce for the African Methodist EpiscopalChurch. The brethren (all white men) cried out, Amen,Amen, Amen, then fell on their knees and prayed for mysuccess. United in his early effort for Wilberforce were the late BishopJames A. Shorter and Rev. John G. Mitchell. The wife of the
Text Appearing After Image:
1 -z fl^irllC UlkiA^Y \ ASrOB, LSTIOS AMD DANIEL A. PAYNE 123 former gave the first hundred dollars. Within three months thefirst payment of $2,500 was made and the title deeds werehanded the three, Payne, Mitchell, and Shorter, as agents ofthe A. M, E. Church. Bishop Pa>Tie was elected to its presi-dency, which made him the first Negro college president in theUnited States. Within eighteen months $5,000 more of thepurchase-money was paid. By a remarkable coincidence, on the day when the Nation wasmourning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1865,the main building was destroyed by fire, believed to be thework of an incendiary. Bishop Payne was then in Baltimoreholding a conference. In the sixteen years in which the bishop was president ofWilberforce his work was tremendous. As bishop he exacted ofall applicants for the ministry that they should give considerabletime to systematic study and lead exemplary lives; as an edu-cator in this critical period, the first ten year

Note About Images