REVEREND W E NORTHCROSS 0505-ALA/#363 I&WAS BORN A SLAVE IN 1840, IN COLBERT COUNTY, ALABAMA. EDUCATION WAS DENI ED ME, HENCE I GREW UP IN IGNORANCE. MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE CARRIED FROM ME WHEN I WAS ONLY NINE YEARS OLD, BUT AS SOON AS CHANCE PRESENTED ITSELF I RAN AWA Y AND WENT TO THEM. MY WHITE PEOPLE BROUGHT ME BACK, AND AS THEY WERE NOT CRUEL O ,H IR SLAVES ,H(Y ID NOT BUCK M(. I ST YED WITH THEM UNTIL I WAS FIFTEEN2 S UMMERS OLD. DURING THIS TIME MY MISTRESS MADE ALL THE CHILDREN, BOTH GIRLS AND BOYS, COME TO HER EVERY SUNDAY, AND SHE TAUGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL. THE BOOK USED WAS THE OLD FASHIONED CATECHISM. Ic WAS AGAINST THE LAW FOR THEM TO LEARN TO READ AND WRITE, SO SHE TAUGHT T HEM THE LORD'S PRAYER AND A FEW OTHER THINGS IN THE BOOK. SHE SAID THAT SHE WAN TED THEM TO KNOW HOW TO PRAY, HOW TO TELL THE TRUTH AND NOT TO STEAL, AND ALWAYS Y O ORIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF EVERYBODY AND IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. WITH THESE INFLUENCES, I CONFESSED A HOPE IN CHRIST AT THE AGE OF THIRTEEN YEARS. WHEN SHE DID NOT TEACH HERSELF, SHE HAD AN ADOPTED GIRL TO DO THE SAME. FI NALLY THE ADOPTED GIRL MARRIED AND MOVED TO THE FARM WHERE I WAS BORN, THE FARM FROM WHICH I RAN AWAY. ABOUT THIS TIME, I WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD. I FELT THAT TH ERE WAS SOMETHING FOR ME TO DO. I BEGAN TO LEAD PRAYER MEETINGS. STILL I FELT THAT THERE WAS MORE FOR ME TO DO. I&FELT SURE THAT I WAS CALLED TO PREACH, THOUGH UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT. I TREMBLED AT THE THOUGHT OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL, BUT SOMETHING SEEMED TO PUSH ME FoRWARD IN THAT DIRECTION. SO I ASKED THE PEOPLE TO LET ME PREACH. THIS REQUE ST WAS GRANTED. THE PEOPLE AT THAT TIME HAD MO PLACE OR HOUSE OF WORSHIP. I BE &AN TO FAST AND PRAY NIGHT AND DAY. BEING UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT MY HEART SILEN TLY MURMURED - - - "BREAD OF HEAVEN, BREAD OF HEAVEN, FEED ME TILL I WANT NO MORE." THIS WAS THE ONLY SCHOOL I ATTENDED, BOTH DAY AND NIGHT. AT THIS TIME I DID NOT KNOW "A" FROM "B", BUT I MET A MAN WHO COULD READ A LITTLE. THIS MAN LIKED ME AND PROMI SED TO TEACH ME HOW TO READ, PROVIDED I WOULD KEEP IT SECRET. THIS I GLADLY PRO MISED TO DO. I&AM WEAK, THOU ART MIGHTY, HOLD ME WITH THEY POWERFUL HAND. 9I SECURED A BLUE-BLACK SPELLER AND WENT OUT ON THE MOUNTAIN EVERY SUNDAY TO MEET , IS GENTLEMAN, TO BE TAUGHT. I WOULD STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN ALL DAY SUNDAY WITHOUT FOOD. I CONTINUED THIS WAY FOR A YEAR AND SUCCEEDED WELL. I HIRED MY OWN TIME AND WITH MY BLUE-BLACK SPELLER WENT TI THE MOUNTAIN TO HAVE THIS MAN TE ACH ME. THE MOUNTAIN WAS THE GREAT SCHOOL WHICH I ATTENDED. I WENT FROM THERE TO THE BLACKSMITH SHOP TO WORK. FROM THAT PLACE I WAS CAPTURED BY THE YANKEES A ND CARRIED TO WAR. AS I WAS CRIPPLED I WAS ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS. WHILE WE WERE AT CAMP AT ATHENS, ALABAMA, GENE RAL FOREST CAME UPON US AND DEFEATED, CAPTURED, AND KILLED UNTIL THEY WERE ALMOS T LITERALLY WIPED OUT OF EXISTENCE. I HAD BEEN KIND TO SOME LITTLE WHITE CHILDR EN, BY WHICH I HAD WON THEIR LOVE, AND OF COURSE, THE LOVE OF THEIR PARENTS, AND ST YED6WITH THEM THREE DAYS DURING THE BALLTE. I CAME TO A-RIVnR jND Tu nEDAS IDE TO A FARM FROM WHICH ALL THE PEOPLE HAD GONE TO SAVE THEMSELVES FROM THE WAR , I GOT A MAN TO HELP REACH AN ISLAND WHERE I WRKED THREE DAYS WITHOUT ANYTHING O EAT EXCEPT GRAPES AND MUSCADINES. I PREFERRED TO DIE ON THE ISLAND ,HAN O BE KILLED BY THE SOLDIERS. THEREFORE, IN TIME OF DANGER, I RUSHED TO THIS HOUSE AND ,HE7GOOD PEOPLE HID ME AND CHANGED MY CLOTHES. HENCE, WHEN I FOUND I WAS T AKEN FOR ONE ON THE GENTLEMAN'S SLAVES. WHEN I WAS PERMITTED BY THE MAN TO TRY TO RETURN TO LAGRANGE, AND HAD GONE SOME DISTANCE, I WAS CAUGHT BY DESERTERS FRO M THE SOUTHERN ARMY, WHO VOTED TO SHOOT ME. THEY BOUND ME AND KEPT ME OVERNIGHT , INTENDING TO DO AWAY WITH ME THE NEXT DAY. IT WAS A LONELY DESERT ON THE TENN ESSEE RIVER. I COULD NOT SLEEP, SO ALL NIGHT I PRAYED TO GOD, AND THE WIVES OF THE MEN PRAYED TO GOD FOR THE POOR NIGGER, AND ALSO PRAYED TO THEIR CRUEL HUSBAN DS. THEIR PRAYERS PREVAILED, AND I WAS ROBBED AND LET GO. I HAD VOWED NOT TO R EVEAL THEIR WHEREABOUTS. I LEFT LOVING GOD AND BELIEVING IN HIS PROVIDENCE AS I HAD&NEVER BELIEVED BEFORE. ER,HHAb0NO SORROW THAT HEAVEN CANNOT HEAL. I WENT HOME AND GOT ANOTHER SPELLING-BOOK, ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT ALLOWED. SO ME OF MY OWN PEOPLE TOLD MY MASTER THAT I HAD A BOOK TRYING TO READ. HE SENT FO R ME TO COME TO THE HOUSE, I OBEYED, THOUGH I DREADED TO MEET HIM, NOT KNOWING W &AT THE CONSEQUENCE WOULD BE. BUT HIS HEART HAD BEEN TOUCHED BY DIVINE POWER AN D HE SIMPLY HOLD ME THAT HE HEARD THAT I HAD A BOOK, AND IF I WAS CAUGHT WITH IT I WOULD BE HUNG. SO I THANKED HIM AND DEPARTED. NOTWITHSTANDING MY MASTER'S C OUNSEL I THIRSTED FOR KNOWLEDGE AND GOT SOME OLD BOARDS AND CARRIED THEM TO MY H OUSE TO MAKE A LIGHT BY WHICH I COULD SEE HOW TO READ. I WOULD SHUT THE DOORS, -UT ONE END OF A BOARD TO THE FIRE, AND PROCEED TO STUDY; BUT WHENEVER I HEARD ,HE GS BRI GI&WOULD THROW MY BOOK UNDER THE BED AND PEEP AND LISTEN TO SEE WHAT WAS UP. IF NO ONE WAS NEAR I WOULD CRAWL UNDER THE BED, GET MY BOOK, COME OUT, LIE FLAT ON MY STOMACH, AND PROCEED TO STUDY UNTIL THE DOGS WOULD AGAIN DI STURB ME. I DID THIS FOR MANY NIGHTS. I CONTINUED IN THIS WAY TO TRY TO SPELL AND READ AS BEST I COULD. BLESSED ARE THEY WHO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNES\,6FOR ,H(Y \HjLL BE FILLED. , LIKE THE ETHIOPIAN, WANTED A GUIDE. I MOVED O MISS S-MlREy OlD'b. & oD BLESS HER] SHE GAVE ME A LESSON EVERY NIGHT FOR A PERIODOOF6oOuR8 Ej . 3 (nN I WENT TO MY OLD MASTER'S BROTHER, WHOSE WIFE HELPED ME EVERY NIGHT AS LONG AS I WOULD GO TO HER FOR HELP. REVEREND SHACKLEFORD GREATLY AIDED-ME6oOR APPnR ODO F THREE YEARS. BOYS AND GIRLS, GRASP THESE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES WHICH ARE NOW EXTENDED YOU FROM ,HE SCHOOL ROOM. UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT AS I WAS I CAME ALONG THAT6W Y N TIL THE PRESENT TIME. MY READERS HAVE BETTER CHANCES THAN I HAD. SO I HOPE THA T THEY WILL MAKE GOOD USE OF THEIR TIME AND MAKE MY HEART GLAD TO SEE THEM SETTI NG THEIR MARKS HIGH AND PREPARING THEMSELVES FOR THE GREAT BEYOND WHERE ALL MUST Go.& THITHER ALL NATIONS WILL BE CALLED BEFORE THE MIGHTY JUDGEMENT SEAT OF THE RULER OF THE UNIVERSE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT FOR THE DEEDS DONE IN THIS WORLD. MY -RAYER FOR THE READER IS, THAT THEY MAY MAKE STRONG, USEFUL, WISE AND CHRISTIAN MEN AND WOMEN, AND AT THE END OF TIME MEET THEIR GOD IN PEACE. I&WILL ENDEAVER, IN THIS CHAPTER, TO TELL SOMETHING ABOUT MY WORKS AND WHER EABOUTS. I WAS ORDAINED TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY IN 1867 BY REVEREND MISTER SLATE R, AND REVEREND HENRY BYNUM. REVEREND STEPHENS COLEMAN AND REVEREND HENRY BYNUM T AIDED BY DOCTOR JOSEPH SHACKLEFORD LAID DOWN THE FOUNDATION STONES FOR THE COL ORED BAPTIST CHURCHES IN MORGAN, FRANKLIN, COLBERT, LAUDERDALE, AND LAWRENCE COU NTIES, ALABAMA. I AM PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AT TUSCUMBIA, ALABAMA. NTIES, ALABAMA. I AM PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AT TUSCUMBIA, ALABAMA, WHICH IS THE BEST NEGRO EDIFICE IN NORTH ALABAMA. THIS CHURCH WAS ORGANIZED TH IRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, BY ME, WITH SEVENTY-FIVE MEMBERS, BUT IT NOW HAD A MEMBERSH IP OF NINE HUNDRED. I HAVE PASTORED IT FOR THESE MANY YEARS. THIS CHURCH IS AN 5 XCELLENT RICK E I IC(. A6F W6O,H R RE,H RN AND *YSELF6O GA IZED ,HE MUSCL E SHOALS BAPTIST ASSOCIATION - ONE OF THE OLDEST AND LARGEST ASSOCIATIONS IN ALABA MA. I HAVE BEEN MODERATOR FOR FOUR YEARS AND ITS TREASURER FOR SIX YEARS. I BU ILT THE CHURCH AT RUSSELVILLE, ALABAMA, AND PASTORED IT FOR FOUR YEARS, AND THEN ORDAINED BROTHER P JONES AND RECOMMENDED HIM AS PASTOR. I BUILT THE BARTEN CHU RCH AND PASTORED IT FOR A PERIOD OF FIFTEEN YEARS, AFTER WHICH I RECOMMENDED REV EREND JAMES HAMPTON THERE AS PASTOR. I PASTORED THE CHEROKEE CHURCH FIVE YEARS , ORDAINED BROTHER DENNIS JACKSON AND RECOMMENDED HIM THERE AS PASTOR. I PASTOR ED LIBERTY BAPTIST CHURCH FOR THREE YEARS, ORDAINED BROTHER ALEX BROWN AND RECOM MENDED HIM THERE AS PASTOR. I SERVED LIKA, MISSISSIPPI FOR FIVE YEARS AND THEN RECOMMENDED A BROTHER FROM THE WEST, WHO BELONGED TO THE MOUNT OLIVE ASSOCAITION , TO IT. I BUILT UP THE SHEFFIELD CHURCH, PASTORED IT THREE YEARS AND THEN RECO MMENDED BROTHER G B JOHNSON THERE AS SHEPHERD. I ALSO BUILT UP MOUNT MORIAN CHU RCH AT PRIDES, ALABAMA. I FREQUENTLY UTTERED THESE WORDS: WHERE JESUS LEADS ME I WILL FOLLOW AND HIS FOOTSTEPS I'LL PURSUE. I6ORGANIZED SAINT PAUL CHURCH AND PASTORED IT FOR TWO YEARS. -REenrnnD&E&C WHITE, WHO IS NOW ASSISTANT MODERATOR OF THE MUSCLE SHOALS ASSOCIATION, WAS ORDA INED BY ME. I HAVE ORDAINED MORE THAN TWENTY PREACHERS TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY, BAPTIZED SIX THOUSAND PERSONS, UNITED IN MARRIAGE FIVE THOUSAND COUPLES, AND BUR IED ABOUT SEVEN THOUSAND PERSONS. I HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL TO EVERY CHARGE. 9IHAVE NEVER LEFT THE OLD MARK. NOT AN ONE OF THE CHURCHES WHICH I HAVE PA STORED HAS BROUGHT A CHARGE AGAINST ME. ,(E DE OEST SERETS6OF6OUR8HERTS \HALL \RT$Y BE MADE K O>. 9I8HAVE BEEN MRRIED , REE TIMES AND HAVE KNOWN NO WOMAN BUT MY S FE, ,HOUGH UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT. I NEVER HAD BUT ONE FUSS WITH MY WIFE. I TOLD HER AT ONE TIME TO HUSH AND SHE FAILED TO DO SO, THEN I SLAPPED HER, AFTER WHICH I WENT TO THE LORD IN PRAYER AND ASKED TO BE FORGIVEN. I REGRET VERY MUCH INDEED TO I NFORM THE WORLD IN PRINT THAT I HAVE DBEEN DRUNK FROM INTOXICATING LIQUORS TWICE , WHICH WAS BEFORE I PROFESSED RELIGION. NOTWITHSTANDING I HAVE EVER HELD UP TE MPERANCE AND AIMED TO KEEP IT HIGH UNTIL SHILOH COMES TO GATHER UP HIS JEWELS. RECOMMENDATIONS SHOW THAT THE BEST PEOPLE OF TUSCUMBIA THINK A GREAT DEAL OF ME. THE HISTORY OF THIS CHURCH HAS UNDERGONE MANY CHANGES, BUT THEY ALL WORKED FOR ITS BETTERMENT. AT THE CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR THE FEW MEMBERS WENT FROM BRU SH ARBOR TO BRUSH ARBOR FOR THREE YEARS. THEN THEY HELD SERVICES IN GIN HOUSES AND UNDER SHELTERS FOR TWO YEARS AND SIX MONTHS. THEN AS THE CHURCH WAS GROWING RAPIDLY, THEY THOUGHT BEST TO DRAW OUT, BUY A LOT, AND BUILD TO THEMSELVES. SO THEY BOUGHT A LOT FOR WHAT THEY PAID FIFTY DOLLARS AND ERECTED A FIVE HUNDRED D OLLARS. BUILDING THEREON IN WHICH TO WORSHIP THE LORD. SO THE CHURCH CONTINUED TO GROW UNTIL IT NOW HAS A MEMBERSHIP OF NINE-HUNDRED, A SPLENDID BRIlK EDIFICE WORTH ABOUT SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS AND A THRIVING CONGREGATION. THE CHURCH HAS N EVER HAD BUT ONE PASTOR, AND I HAVE BEEN AS FAITHFUL AS A CLOCK. THROUGH ME THE CHURCH WAS BUILT, AND I HAVE EVER SINCE HELD HIGH THE BAPTIST DOCTRINE THROUGHO UT NORTH ALABAMA. X XXX