Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama Part 39

1874 474,346.52[1803]

1875 565.042.94[1804]

CHAPTER XX

RECONSTRUCTION IN THE CHURCHES

SEC. 1. THE "DISINTEGRATION AND ABSORPTION" POLICY AND ITS FAILURE

The close of the war found the southern church organizations in a more or less demoralized condition. Their property was destroyed, their buildings were burned or badly in need of repair, and the church treasuries were empty. It was doubtful whether some of them could survive the terrible exhaustion that followed the war. The northern churches, "coming down to divide the spoils," acted upon the principle that the question of separate churches had been settled by the war along with that of state sovereignty, and that it was now the right and the duty of the northern churches to reconstruct the churches in the South. So preparations were made to "disintegrate and absorb" the "schismatical" southern religious bodies.[1805]

The Methodists

In 1864 the Northern Methodist Church declared the South a proper field for mission work, and made preparations to enter it. None were to be admitted to membership in the church who were slaveholders or who were "tainted with treason."[1806] In 1865 the bishops of the northern organization resolved that "we will occupy so far as practicable those fields in the southern states which may be open to us ... for black and white alike."[1807] The General Missionary Committee of the northern church divided the South into departments for missionary work, and Alabama was in the Middle Department. Bishop Clark of Ohio was sent (1886) to take charge of the Georgia and Alabama Mission District. The declared purpose of this mission work was to "disintegrate and absorb" the southern church, the organization of which was generally believed to have been destroyed by the war.[1808]

In August, 1865, three Southern Methodist bishops met at Columbus, Georgia, to repair the shattered organization of the church and to infuse new life into it. They stated that the questions of 1844 were not settled by the war; that, "A large portion of the Northern Methodists has become incurably radical.... They have incorporated social dogmas and political tests into their church creeds." They condemned the northern church for its action during the war in taking possession of southern church property against the wishes of the people and retaining it as their own after the war, and for its more recent attempts to destroy the southern church.[1809]

In the confusion following the war, before the church administration was again in working order, the Protestant Episcopal Church, especially the northern section, attempted to secure the Southern Methodists. Some Methodists wanted to go over in a body to the Episcopalians. The great majority, however, were strongly opposed to such action, and the attempt only caused more ill feeling against the North.[1810]

At the time there was a belief among the Northern Methodists that in 1845 thousands of members had been carried against their will into the southern church, and that they would now gladly seize the opportunity to join the northern body, which claimed to be the only Methodist Episcopal Church.

Those thousands proved to be as disappointing as the "southern loyalists"

had been, both in character and in numbers. The greatest gains were among the negroes, and to the negroes the few whites secured were intensely hostile. In 1866, A. S. Lakin was sent to Alabama to organize the Northern Methodist Church.[1811] After two years' work the Alabama Conference was organized, with 9431 members, black and white.[1812] In 1871, Lakin reported 15,000 members, black and white.[1813] The whites were from the "loyal" element of the population. There was great opposition by the white people to the establishment of the northern church. Lakin and his a.s.sociates excited the negroes against the whites and kept both races in a continual state of irritation. Governor Lindsay stated before the Ku Klux Committee that in his opinion the people bore with Lakin and his church with a remarkable degree of patience; that Lakin encouraged the negroes to force themselves into congregations where they did not belong and to obstruct the services; and that they also made attempts to get control of church property belonging to the southern churches.[1814] No progress was made among the whites, except in the white counties among the hills of north Alabama and in the pine barrens of the southeast. The congregations were small and were served by missionaries. Lakin and his a.s.sistants had a political as well as a religious mission--General Clanton said that they were "emissaries of Christ and of the Radical party." They claimed, nevertheless, that they never talked politics in the pulpit. Lakin once preached in Blountsville, and when he opened the doors of the church to new members, he said that there was no northern church, no southern church, there was only the Methodist Episcopal Church.[1815] But every member of this church, he added, must be loyal, and therefore no secessionist could join. He said that he had been ordered by his conference not to receive "disloyal" men into the church.[1816]

The political activity of these missionaries resulted in visits from the Ku Klux Klan. Some of the most violent ones were whipped or were warned to moderate their sermons. Political camp-meetings were sometimes broken up, and two or three church buildings used as Radical headquarters were burned.[1817] Every Northern Methodist was a Republican; and to-day in some sections of the state the Northern Methodists are known as "Republican" Methodists, as distinguished from "Democratic" or Southern Methodists.

The Baptists

The organization of the Baptist church into separate congregations saved it from much of the annoyance suffered by such churches as the Methodist and the Episcopal, with their more elaborate systems of government. Yet in north Alabama, there was trouble when the negro members were encouraged by political and ecclesiastical emissaries to a.s.sert their rights under the democratic form of government by taking part in all church affairs, in the election of pastors and other officers. Often there were more negro members than white, and under the guidance of a missionary from the North these could elect their own candidate for pastor, regardless of the wishes of the whites and of the character of the would-be pastor. This danger, however, was soon avoided by the organization of separate negro congregations.[1818]

The Southern Baptist Convention, organized in 1845, continued its separate existence. The northern Baptists demanded, as a prerequisite to cooperation and fellowship, a profession of loyalty to the government.

During 1865 the southern a.s.sociations expressed themselves in favor of continuing the former separate societies, and severely censured the northern Baptists for their action in obtaining authority from the Federal government to take possession of southern church property against the wishes of the owners and trustees, and for trying to organize independent churches within the bounds of southern a.s.sociations. They were not in favor of fraternal relations with the northern Baptist societies.[1819]

The Presbyterians

In May, 1865, the Presbyterian General a.s.sembly (New School) voted to place on probation the southern ministers of the United Synod South who had supported the Confederacy.[1820] Few, if any, offered themselves for probation, while as a body the United Synod joined the Southern Presbyterians (Old School). The General a.s.sembly (O. S.) of the northern church in 1865 stigmatized "secession as a crime and the withdrawal of the southern churches as a schism." The South, the a.s.sembly decided, was to be treated as a missionary field, and loyal ministers to be employed without presbyterial recommendation. Southern ministers and members were offered restoration if they would apply for it, and submit to certain tests, namely, proof of loyalty or a profession of repentance for disloyalty to the government, and a repudiation of former opinions concerning slavery.[1821] Naturally this policy was not very successful in reconstructing their organization in the South. The General a.s.sembly (O.

S.) of the Presbyterian Church in the South met in the fall of 1865 at Macon, Georgia, and warned the churches against the efforts of the northern Presbyterians to sow seeds of dissension and strife in their congregations.[1822] A union was formed with the United Synod South (N.

S.), and the "Presbyterian Church in the United States," popularly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, was formed. To this acceded in 1867 the a.s.sociate Reformed Church of Alabama.[1823]

The Episcopal Church in the United States during the war had held consistently to the same theory in regard to the withdrawal of the southern dioceses that the Washington administration held in regard to the secession of the southern states. There was no recognition of a withdrawal, nor of a southern organization. The Confederate church was called a schismatic body, and its actions considered as illegal. The roll in the General Convention was called as usual, beginning with Alabama.[1824] But after the war a generous policy of conciliation was pursued; the southern churchmen were asked to come back; no tests or conditions were imposed; the House of Bishops of the northern church upheld Wilmer in his trouble with the military authorities. The acts of the southern church during the war were recognized and accepted as valid by the northern church. Such a policy easily resulted in reunion.

The attempt at Reconstruction in the churches had practically failed. Only the Episcopal Church, one of the weakest in numbers, had reunited.[1825]

The others seemed farther apart than ever.

The other denominations had recognized the legal division of their churches before the war. Now they acted on the principle that territory conquered for the United States was also conquered for the northern churches. Southern ministers and members were asked to submit to degrading conditions in order to be restored to good standing. They must repudiate their former opinions, and renouncing their sins, ask for pardon and restoration. Naturally no reunion resulted.

SEC. 2. THE CHURCHES AND THE NEGRO DURING RECONSTRUCTION

At the end of the war nearly every congregation had black members as well as white, the blacks often being the more numerous. With the changed conditions, the various denominations felt it necessary to make declarations of policy in regard to the former slaves. General Swayne, a.s.sistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in Alabama, in his report for 1866, stated that at an early date the several denominations expressed themselves as being strongly in favor of the education of the negro. "The princ.i.p.al argument," he said, "was an appeal to sectional and sectarian prejudice, lest, the work being inevitable, the influence which must come from it be realized by others; but it is believed that this was the shield and weapon which men of unselfish principle found necessary at first."[1826]

The Baptists and the Negroes

The Alabama Baptist Convention, in 1865, pa.s.sed the following resolution in regard to the relations between the white and black members:--

"_Resolved_, That the changed civil status of our late slaves does not necessitate any change in their relations to our churches; and while we recognize their right to withdraw from our churches and form organizations of their own, we nevertheless believe that their highest good will be subserved by their retaining their present relation to those who know them, who love them, and who will labor for the promotion of their welfare."

The Convention also ordered renewed exertions in the work among the negroes by means of lectures, private instruction, and Sunday-schools.[1827] In 1866 the North Alabama Baptist a.s.sociation directed that provision be made for the religious welfare of the negroes and for their education in the common schools. The negroes were to be allowed to choose their own pastors and teachers from among the whites.[1828] But soon the results of the work of the northern missionaries and political emissaries were seen in the separation of the two races in religious matters. The negroes were taught that the whites were their enemies, and that they must have their own separate churches.

They were encouraged to a.s.sert their rights by obstructing in all the affairs of the churches, and in the north Alabama Baptist churches, where they were in the majority, there was danger that they would take advantage of the democratic system of the church government and, prompted by emissaries from the North, control the administration. They were, therefore, a.s.sisted by the whites to form separate congregations and a.s.sociations.[1829]

The princ.i.p.al work of the northern Baptists in central and south Alabama was to separate the blacks into independent churches, and the second Colored Baptist Convention in the United States was organized in Alabama in 1867. The free form of government of this church attracted both ministers and members. In 1868 Bethel a.s.sociation (white) reported that a large number of the negroes desired no religious instruction from the whites, although they were in great need of it, and that this opposition was caused by ignorance and prejudice. But, the report stated, there should be no relaxation in the effort to impart to them a knowledge of the Gospel; that the first duty of the church was to instruct the ignorant and superst.i.tious at home before sending missionaries to the far-off heathen; that all self-const.i.tuted negro preachers who claimed personal interviews with G.o.d and personal instruction from Him should be discouraged, and only the best men selected as pastors. Advice and a.s.sistance were now given to the negro congregations, which were organized into a.s.sociations as soon as possible. In 1872 three negro churches with a white pastor applied for admission to Bethel a.s.sociation. But it was thought best to maintain separate a.s.sociations.[1830] For years the white Baptists of Alabama exercised a watchful care over the colored Baptists, whom they a.s.sisted in the work of organizing congregations and a.s.sociations, and in the erection of schoolhouses and churches. Church and school buildings destroyed by the Ku Klux Klan were rebuilt by the whites, even when the colored congregation was only moderately well behaved. The whites in Montgomery contributed to build the first negro Baptist church in that city, and a white minister preached the sermon when the church was dedicated and turned over to the blacks. A number of white ladies were present at the services.[1831] For fifteen years Dr. I. T. Tichenor was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery. During that time he baptized over 500 negroes into its fellowship. At the end of the war there were 300 white and 600 negro members. Dr. Tichenor tells the story of the separation as follows: "When a separation of the two bodies was deemed desirable, it was done by the colored brethren, in conference a.s.sembled, pa.s.sing a resolution, couched in the kindliest terms, suggesting the wisdom of the division, and asking the concurrence of the white church in such action.

The white church cordially approved the movement, and the two bodies united in erecting a suitable house of worship for the colored brethren.

Until it was finished they continued to occupy jointly with the white brethren their house of worship, as they had done previous to this action.

The new house was paid for in large measure by the white members of the church and individuals in the community. As soon as it was completed the colored church moved into it with its organization all perfected, their pastor, board of deacons, committees of all sorts; and the whole machinery of church life went into action without a jar. Similar things occurred in all the states of the South."[1832]

The old plantation preachers were ordained and others called and regularly ordained to the ministry by the whites. But good negro preachers were overwhelmed by an influx of "self-called" pastors who were often incompetent and often immoral. At last the whites seem to have given up as hopeless their work for the negroes. In 1885 an urgent appeal from the Colored Baptist Convention for advice and a.s.sistance met with no response from the white convention. Politics and prejudice, imprudent and immoral leaders, had completed the work of separation. Still something was done by the Home Mission Board towards instructing negro preachers and deacons, and in 1895 this Board and the Home Mission Board of the northern Baptists agreed to cooperate and aid such negro conventions as might desire it.

But the Alabama negro convention has not yet asked for a.s.sistance.[1833]

The Presbyterians and the Negroes

In 1869, encouraged by the white members, the negro members of the c.u.mberland Presbyterian Church in Tennessee and north Alabama asked for and received separate organization and were henceforth known as the African c.u.mberland Presbyterian Church.[1834]

It is this division of the c.u.mberland Presbyterians that is now (1905) hindering somewhat the union of the c.u.mberland Presbyterian with the Northern Presbyterian organization. The blacks demanded the separation of the races; the whites now demand that it be continued.

Various branches of the Northern Presbyterian organizations worked in Alabama among the negroes. The princ.i.p.al result of their work was the separation of the blacks into independent churches. The Southern Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in the United States) made earnest efforts for the negro after the war, and with some success. The Inst.i.tute at Tuscaloosa for the education of colored Presbyterian ministers is now the only school in the South for negroes which is conducted entirely by southern white teachers.[1835] The work of the Presbyterians among the negroes has continued to the present day, though in 1898 a movement was started to separate the blacks of the Southern Presbyterian Church into an independent church. This movement was not successful, as not a majority of the negro preachers desired separation.

But the number of colored Presbyterians has always been small.[1836]

The Roman Catholics

The Roman Catholic Church did much work among the negroes in the cities and at first with a fair degree of success. It was strongly opposed by all Protestant denominations, both northern and southern, and especially by the Northern Methodist Church. It seemed to be dreadful news to the Methodists when it was reported that the Catholic Church was about to open fifteen schools in Alabama for the negro, where free board and tuition would be given.[1837] The American Missionary a.s.sociation, supported in Alabama mainly by money from the Freedmen's Bureau, used its influence among the negroes against the Catholic Church, which, the a.s.sociation stated in a report, "was making extraordinary efforts to enshroud forever this cla.s.s of the unfortunate race in Popish superst.i.tion and darkness."[1838]

But the Catholic Church had no place for the negro preacher of little education and less character who desired to hold a high position in the negro church. There was better prospect for promotion in the Baptist and Methodist churches, and to those churches went the would-be negro preacher and, through his influence, the majority of his people.[1839]

The Episcopalians

The Protestant Episcopal Church did nearly all of its work among the negroes in the cities and among the negroes on the large plantations of the Black Belt. This church offered little more hope of advancement to the average negro preacher than the Roman Catholic, and the hostility of the military authorities to this church in 1865 and 1866 and the efforts of the missionaries and politicians caused a loss of most of the negro members that it had. In 1866 the laity of the State Convention seemed rather unenthusiastic in regard to work among the negroes, and left it to be managed by the bishop and clergy. The General Convention established the "Freedmen's Commission" to a.s.sist in the work, which was not to be under the jurisdiction of the bishop. Bishop Wilmer stated that he was unwilling to accept this "schism-breeding proposition," but would be glad of a.s.sistance which would be under his direction as bishop. No such aid was forthcoming. In 1867 only two congregations of negroes were left, one in Mobile and one in Marengo County. A few solitary blacks were to be found in the white congregations, and during Reconstruction these suffered real martyrdom on account of their loyalty to their old churches. They were ostracized by the other negroes, were called heathen and traitors, and were left alone in sickness and death. Under such treatment, the majority of the negro members were forced to withdraw from the Episcopal churches.[1840]

The Methodists and the Negroes