By the Rivers of Water

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By the Rivers of Water Page 66

by Erskine Clarke

men, role of, 293–294

  Njembe, 295, illustration H

  poison, 251–252

  polygamy, 243

  population, decline in, 288

  prostitution, 244

  rainforest, life in, 262–263

  sailboats, 222, 238, 257

  secret societies, 290, 293–295, 367

  slave ownership, 224, 227, 239, 249, 250

  slave resistance, 251

  slave settlements (ompindi), 227

  slave trade, 229, 239, 249, 257, 259, 300–301

  slaves, fear of, 251

  slaves, killing of, 251–252

  sophistication, 242–243

  storytelling, 225–227

  table manners, 248–249

  trade dispute with Shékiani, 228–235

  war, causes of, 261

  witchcraft, 243, 244, 251–252, 320

  women, role of, 227, 260–261, 295, illustration I

  Mt. Sinai Presbyterian Church, 370, 372

  Mt. Zion, S. C., 36, 61, 343, 370

  Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church, 285, 326, 354, 370, illustration 4

  Nghaga (King George’s Town), 229

  Njembe, 295

  Njina (gorilla), 281–282, 300, 308

  Northern Presbyterian Committee on Freedmen, 355

  Northern Presbyterian School, São Paulo, 362

  “Notice of the External Characters and Habits of Troglodytes Gorilla, A New Species of Orang from the Gaboon River” (Savage and Wyman), 282

  Nullification controversy, 57

  Ojo, 264

  Old Homestead. See Pine Grove plantation

  Ombwiri, 151, 293–294

  Ompindi, 227

  Opelousas, 151, 153

  Or ga, 295

  Ossabaw Island, GA, 10, 32, 88

  Ozyunga, 253, 277

  Pah, 174–177, 232

  Palaver, 79, 81–82

  Palaver house, 107

  Pange. See Fang

  Parasites, 296

  Patriotism, 334

  Pawley Island, SC, 376

  Pidgin English, 73, 82, 97, 125, 157, 177, 224, 239

  Pine Grove plantation (later Old Homestead)

  change of name, 350

  Freedpeople’s life at, 348

  Gullah culture, 37

  landscape of, 39–40, 90

  memories that challenge whites’ memories, 37, 357

  schools at, 352–353

  slave church membership, 37–38

  slaves’ identification with landscape, 40–41, 357

  Wilsons’ last days at, 370–373

  Polygamy, 243, 314

  Polygamy, church membership and, 182

  Pregnant women, dangers of malaria to, 99

  Presbyterian General Assembly, 332–333

  Prince Glass’s Town, 278

  Princeton Theological Seminary, 25, 43, 55, 56, 131, 311

  Protestant missionary movement, xii, 313

  Quinine, 100

  Racism

  at Baraka, 369

  colonization as form of, 64

  in Liberia, 138–139, 365

  in Lowcountry, 31, 57, 58, 60, 335

  scientific, xii, 308, 323, 364

  in U. S., 63, 134, 188, 308, 335

  of Westerners, 110

  Religious revival, xii, 44–45

  Remboué River, 229, 254, 278

  Resistance, slave

  charms and conjuring, 16–17

  poison, 17

  revolt of 1822, 48

  runaways, 8

  Rice fields, 121–122

  Richmond-on-Ogeechee plantation, 31, 59, 213, 344, illustration 2

  Rio de Janeiro, 362

  Rivers. See Altamaha; Black River; Cavally; Como; Remboué; Savannah River

  Rock Town, 105, 107–108, 162

  Rockdedundy River, 10

  Rome, GA, 343

  Root doctors, 17, 37

  Roswell, GA, 285, 309

  Rum

  banned from colonies, 112

  as trade for rice, 174

  as trade for slaves, 239, 249, 258

  Russwurm Island, 305

  Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, Salem, SC, 43, 354, illustration 3

  São Paulo, 362

  Sapelo Island, GA, 10, 32, 88

  Sassy wood ordeal, 111, 187–190, 365, illustration 14

  Savannah

  Philadelphia, contrast to, 29

  as place of oppression, 9

  Savannah River, importance of to, 3–4

  slave life in, 3–4, 6–10

  slave markets in, 4, 5, 7

  surrender of, 344

  Savannah Republican, 24

  Savannah River, 3–4

  Schools, mission, 102, 103, 162–165, 186, 278

  Scientific racism, xii, 323, 364

  Scottish Highlanders

  opposition to slavery, 5

  settlement in Lowcountry, 5

  as slave owners, 5

  Secession Convention, 326

  Second African Baptist Church, Savannah, 8

  Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, 44, 308

  Settlers, African American

  business transactions with slave ships, 146

  conflict with Grebo, 138–139, 156–157

  Davis’s conversion, opposition to, 184

  death rate, 192

  dependence on Grebo, 135, 138

  Grebo church membership, opposition to, 177, 184

  Grebo education, concern about, 138

  purchase of rice from Grebo, 135

  regard of Grebo as beneath them, 74–75, 114, 138

  trade with Africans, 75, 138

  war with Africans, 307, 317

  Shékiani

  trade dispute with Mpongwe, 228–235

  Walker and, 256

  Sherbro Island, 73

  Sinoe, 376

  Slave markets

  in Brazil, 73

  in Charleston, 4, 5, 7, 35

  in Cuba, 73, 77, 222

  drawing, illustration 7

  on Goree Island, 93

  in Jamaica, 222

  in New Orleans, 323

  in Savannah, 153

  Slave resistance, in Gabon, 224–225, 251

  Slave resistance, in US, 8, 16–17, 48

  Slave ships, 4, 5, 77, 100, 146, 184, illustration 6

  Slave ships, American built, 100, 224, 301

  Slave trade, international

  abolition of by British and Americans, 249

  abolition of by France, 266

  by Africans, 126–127, 174, 229, 239, 249, 257, 259

  on Atlantic highways, 72

  in Brazil, 249, 259, 301, 361

  British navy patrols, 249

  in Cuba, 77, 249

  influence of slave traders, 127

  Leighton’s opposition to, 146

  provisions for slave ships, 174

  reopening of, 324

  rum and, 239, 249, 258

  statistics on, 361

  Slavery, US

  church doctrine and, 341

  entrenched power of, 283–284

  expansion of, 309–310, 323

  justification of, 323

  proslavery radicals, 324

  transition to freedom from, 85–86

  Slavery and slaves, in Gabon. See Mpongwe

  Slaves, in US

  church membership, 37–38, 47, 213

  cotton plantations and, 36–37, 192–193

  at Fair Hope plantation, 32

  freeing, difficulty of, 65

  hired out, 19, 29

  housing arrangements, 21

  listening to stories from Africa, 235

  literacy, 20

  owners’ power over, 5–6, 39

  at Pine Grove plantation, 37–38, 40–41

  religious life, 8–9, 37–38

  runaway, 8

  work of, 5–7, 28

  Smallpox, 288, 319

  Societies, voluntary, 47–48

  South Africa, aggressio
n of white settlers in, 144, 187, 269

  South Carolina

  secession of from Union, 326

  Sherman’s punishment of, 345

  slave economy in, 37

  South Carolina, 361

  Southern Presbyterian Church

  commitment to missions, 338, 341, 360

  defense of slavery, 341

  formation of, 338–340

  post-war crisis of faith, 350–352

  on responsibilities of church and state, 340–341

  Southern Presbyterian Review, 324, 326

  Southern whites

  inability to understand loss of war, 351

  maintenance of Southern way of life, 357–359

  misunderstanding of blacks, 356–357

  paternalism toward blacks, 352

  Spring, Gardiner, 327

  St. Catherine’s Island, GA, 10, 32, 88

  Storytelling

  among Grebo, 175–176

  among Gullah, xiii, 11–12, 15–16

  among Mpongwe, 225–227

  among white Southerners, 22–23, 35

  Sunbury, GA, 10

  Swimming, 105

  Syphilis, 288, 319

  “The Foreign Slave Trade: Can It Be Revived Without Violating the Most Sacred Principles of Honor, Humanity, and Religion?” (Wilson), 324

  “The State of the Country” (Hodge), 329

  Theology, Christian

  baptism, 8, 37, 183, 213, 367

  belief in Jesus Christ, 26, 46

  conversion, 46, 178–179

  daily devotionals, 26, 159, 162

  death, 46, 179–180

  eternal life, 180, 342

  grace, 26, 179

  heaven, 26

  hell, 45

  hymns, 26, 30, 31, 38, 71, 131, 159, 165, 186, 208, 236, 246, 265, 290, 353, 365

  Lord’s Supper, 26, 38, 183, 213

  providence, 109–110, 133, 179, 351, 356, 371

  resurrection, 169, 180, 342

  Sabbath observance, 26

  Satan, 234

  self-knowledge, 179

  sermons, 8, 26, 29, 37, 43, 61, 64, 111, 132, 177–178, 255, 265, 285, 293, 309, 343, 370, illustration N

  Tom Larsen’s Town, 254, 259

  Tornados, 98

  Trade, legitimate, 185

  Transportation

  canoes, 73, 78, 79, 94, 105, 119, 122, 174, 185

  coaches, 24

  coastal schooners, 10, 32, 57, 88

  Mpongwe sailboats, 222, 238, 257

  packet ships, 24

  sailboats, 72

  sailing ships, 71, 83, 144, 184, 221, 237

  schooners, 82, 91, 154

  sloops-of-war, 270

  trading ships, 100

  “Trus-me-Gawds,” 148

  Transportation revolution, 309

  Tybee Island, GA, 4, 10

  US Navy, 204–207, 365–366

  Vai, 83, 242

  Vandalia, USS, 203, 204

  Waterwitch, 228–229, illustration 12

  Western Africa: Its History, Condition, and Prospect (Wilson), 314–316

  Whitening America, 64, 118

  Wife house, 21

  William’s Town, 239

  Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 35

  Witchcraft

  in Gabon, 243, 244, 251–252, 320

  in Liberia, 111, 188

  in Lowcountry, 16–17, 37

  Yabo, 176

  Yellow fever, 19, 22, 24

  Zion Presbyterian Church, Charleston, 308, 357

  INDEX OF NAMES

  Abbott, Joel, 270, 273

  Adger, James, 44, 50, 308, 339

  Adger, John

  friendship with Leighton, 42

  as minister to Charleston blacks, 308

  as Southern Presbyterian Church commissioner, 339

  on South’s Civil War defeat, 351–352

  as translator of Bible, 52, 210

  Adger, Margaret, 52–53, 308

  Agassiz, Louis, 308

  Allison, Francis, 171, 237, 254, 277

  Anderson, Rufus

  on colony’s authority over mission personnel, 143

  Griswold, rebuke of, 207

  at Leighton’s commissioning service, 91

  on military duty for mission personnel, 195–197

  on mission strategy, 91–92

  publication of Leighton and Wynkoop’s journals, 88

  publication of Leighton’s rescue of Grebo man, 112

  publication of Waterwitch adventure, 235

  science, control of malaria by, 91

  as secretary of American Board, 58

  on training indigenous people to produce books, 171

  Wilson slaves, arrangements for, 151–152

  on Wilsons’ slave ownership, 216

  Awĕmĕ, 320

  Baker, Daniel, 29

  Baker, Maria, 186, 245, 277

  Baker, Wasa

  at Baraka, 245

  conversion, 190

  at Episcopal mission, 277

  marriage, 186

  at Sarekeh, 186

  as student at Fair Hope mission, 165

  Ballah, Simleh (Bill Williams)

  and Grebo culture, 97

  as interpreter/translator, 80–81, 102, 125, 132, 170, 177

  learning English, 167

  as Leighton’s language teacher, 101

  meals with Wilsons, 96, 160

  as signer of treaty with Liberian government, 317

  travel to Baltimore for code of laws, 113, 123

  on trip to interior, 124–127

  Bancroft, George, 272

  Banks, John, 376

  Baphro (Joe Holland)

  and Grebo culture, 97

  interest in school, 96

  at palaver about land sale, 80–81

  son as student in U.S., 97

  Bayard, Andrew, 25

  Bayard, Ann Livingston, 23

  Bayard, Bubenheim, xii, 22

  Bayard, Esther McIntosh, 23, 24

  Bayard, James, 25, 62, 210, 211

  Bayard, Jane. See Wilson, Jane Bayard

  Bayard, Jane (Wâwâ), 228, 290–291

  Bayard, Margaret. See Eckard, Margaret Bayard

  Bayard, Nicholas

  arrangements for emancipated slaves, 149–151

  Civil War losses, 344

  death of, 370

  emancipation of family slaves, 92–93

  management of Jane and Leighton’s affairs, 92, 147–149, 213–214

  marriages, 213, 285

  in Roswell, Ga., 285

  Bayard, Nicholas Serle, 22–24

  Bayard, Sarah, 25, 89

  Bayard, Theodosia, 25, 210, 211, 307

  Best, Jacob, 302

  Blanco, Pedro, 73, 141, 174

  Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 363–364, 377

  Bouët-Willaumez, Edouard, 267, 270

  Brent, Mrs., 241

  See also Edwards, Mrs. John

  Brent, Thomas, 241

  Bruce, Henry, 275

  Bushnell, Albert, 273, 277, 291, 298, 366

  Bushnell, Mrs. Albert (formerly Mrs. Stocken), 245, 277, 301, 345

  Butler, Fanny Kemble, 10–11

  Buxton, Thomas Fowell, 269, 270

  Canning, Lord Charles John, 272

  Cassell family, 71

  Chaillu, Paul Du, 299–300

  Charles (Sansay), 5, 19, 29, 93, 155–156, 189, 280

  Charlotte (Sansay)

  as free person at Cape Palmas, 155–156, 189–190, 214, 280

  as personal servant of Jane Bayard, 5, 28, 31

  Cinqué, 198

  Clay, Eliza

  as model for Bayard sisters, 30–31

  religious instruction for slaves, 31, 213

  as teacher for Margaret Strobel, 59–60, 89

  as witness for Wilsons’ commissioning, 92–93

  Clay, Joe

  accompanies Leighton on first visit to West Africa, 64, 71–72, 80

  as clerk and deacon at First Afric
an Baptist, 59, 87–88

  Clay, Thomas, 59, 66, 92–93, 213

  Clay, Thomas Savage, 31

  Clealand, Mary. See Dorsey, Mary Clealand

  Coe, George, 254, 277

  Cooper, Jane, 237, 245, 292, 299, 302

  Cornish, Samuel, 134

  Cumming, Joseph, 55

  Cunningham, Henry, 8

  Davis, William (Mworeh Mah)

  conversion of, 179–183, 336

  enrollment of daughter in mission school, 120

  interconnection with Grebo culture, 180–181

  as interpreter/translator, 120, 167, 170

  learning English, 167

  as Leighton’s guide on trip to interior, 174–177

  meals with Wilsons, 96, 160

  settlers’ hostility toward, 177, 184

  stolen goods dispute, role of in, 203, 206–207

  as teacher, 170, 183–184

  travel to Denah with Leighton, 120–123

  DeHeer, Cornelia, 318, 331, 333, 334, 342, 370, 372

  DeHeer, Cornelius, illustration J

  Dorsey, Celia, 369

  Dorsey, Josiah, 254, 258, 277–278, 299, 368

  Dorsey, Mary Clealand

  children of, 368–369

  marriage, 278

  naming of, 120

  as teacher at Baraka, 245, 277–278

  teaching alphabet to father, 167

  Dorsey, Sarah, 369

  Dorsey, William Leighton, 278, 368–369

  Douglass, Frederick, 284

  Drayton, Jenkins, 317

  Dyer, Samuel, 270, 321

  Eckard, James

  at Ceylon mission, 89, 210

  engagement and marriage, 5, 34, 55, 59

  as pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 282

  return to US, 210, 213

  reunion with Wilsons, 282, 307

  Eckard, John Leighton, 282

  Eckard, Margaret Bayard

  at Ceylon mission, 89, 210

  death of, 370

  emancipation of Hutchinson Island slaves, 93, 214

  engagement and marriage, 5, 34, 55, 59

  at Fair Hope plantation, 31

  in Philadelphia, 25–28

  return to US, 210

  reunions with Wilsons, 213, 282, 307, 347

  in Savannah, 5–6

  Edwards, John Mr. and Mrs., 241, 254, 258, 277

  Edwards, Peter, 247

  English, Thomas Reese, 326

  Ford, C.A., 302, 319

  Freeman, King (Pah Nemah)

  death of, 306

  negotiations for mission land, 81–82

  palaver to settle colonists’ complaints, 114–115

  Russwurm, relationship with, 279, 306

  sassy wood ordeal and, 187

  stolen goods dispute and, 202, 205

  Wilsons, relationship with, 95–96, 160

  Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 286

  Garrison, William Lloyd, 63, 134, 144, 284

  Gatoomba, 158

  George, King (Rassondji), 257, 263

  Girardeau, John Lafayette, 308, 357

  Glass, King (R’Ogouarouwé)

  acceptance of French officials’ gift, 289

 

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