The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865

by C. Perry Patterson

V. The Presbyterians.

The Presbyterians were the first denomination to cross the frontier line into Tennessee. Rev. Charles Cummings and Rev. John Rhea, both of this church, were the first preachers in Tennessee.[140] “It was the custom of Mr. Cummings on Sunday morning,” says Goodspeed, “to dress himself neatly, put on his shot pouch, shoulder his rifle, mount his horse, and ride to church, where he would meet his congregation, each man with his rifle in his hand.” In 1778 Samuel Doak was called to the congregations, Concord and Hopewell, in what is now Sullivan County. Rev. Doak in 1785 chartered Martin Academy, first educational institution west of the Alleghanies. In 1775 Abingdon Presbytery was founded, and it became the gateway of Presbyterianism to the other portions of the State. Thos. B. Craighead and Rev. William McGee, brother of the Methodist John McGee, were also among the early ministers of this denomination.[141]

The Presbyterians, like all the denominations that were national, could not in the very nature of things remain a unit on the slavery question. The question came up in various synods in 1774, 1780, and 1787, when the synods of New York and Philadelphia declared in favor of training the slaves for freedom.[142]

The question reached the General Assembly in 1793 and 1795, when it was decided that as there were differences of opinion relative to slavery among the members of the church, “notwithstanding which they live in charity and peace according to the doctrine and practice of the apostles, it is hereby recommended to all conscientious persons, and especially to those whom it immediately respects, to do the same.”[143]

At this same assembly, a committee made a strong recommendation, urging religious education of the slave. The assembly rejected the report of the committee, and said they “have taken every step which they deem expedient or wise to encourage emancipation, and to render the state of those who are in slavery as mild and tolerable as possible.”[144] The assembly referred the members of the church to its action of 1787 and 1793 for its position on slavery.

This action settled the question for 20 years. It came before the assembly again in 1815, due to the action of the Synod of Ohio. This assembly urged religious education and the use of prudent measures to prevent the slave traffic.[145] The assembly of 1816 asked that masters who were members of the church present the children of parents in servitude for baptism.[146]

The sale of a slave member of the church provoked rather drastic action by the Assembly of 1818,[147] but in the same proceedings it expressed its sympathy for those upon whom slavery had been entailed as “a great and most virtuous part of the community abhor slavery, and wish its extermination as sincerely as any others.”

The Assembly of 1825 said:

We notice with pleasure the enlightened attention which has been paid to the religious instruction and evangelization of the unhappy slaves and free people of color of our country in some regions of our church.... No more honored name can be conferred on a minister of Jesus Christ than that of Apostle to the American Slaves; and no service can be more pleasing to the God of Heaven or more useful to our beloved country than that which this title designates.

The slavery question came up again in 1836 when the church was pretty well divided. There was a majority report which recommended taking no action, and a minority report which strongly opposed slavery. The majority report was accepted by the assembly.[148] Twenty-eight members protested this action of the assembly. The Presbyterians had an anti-slavery element all along that they could not control. This element separated from the church in 1821 and called itself the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church.[149] There was a second element, calling itself the New School, that based its action very largely on slavery. This element kept up an anti-slavery propaganda, repeating in 1846 and in 1849, the slavery declaration of 1818. The southern and more conservative element was able to control the assembly, and in 1853 the New School element withdrew from the church.[150] This was the last division in the church until the guns fired on Fort Sumter.

The attitude of the Tennessee Presbyterians on slavery was well expressed by the Synod of Tennessee in 1817, in an address to the American Colonization Society. This memorial, after congratulating the society upon its purpose, said:

We wish you, therefore, to know, that within our bounds the public sentiment appears clearly and decidedly in your favor.... We ardently wish that your exertions and the best influence of all philanthropists may be united, to meliorate the condition of human society, and especially of its most degraded classes, till liberty, religion, and happiness shall be the enjoyment of the whole family of man.[151]

There were several very prominent anti-slavery Presbyterian leaders in Tennessee, among both the laymen and the clergymen. Judge S. J. W. Lucky was a prominent example of a layman who was an active anti-slavery worker. Hon. John Blair, who was a ruling elder and representative of his district in Congress for twelve years, became convinced that slavery was wrong, and offered to give a bill of sale of his slaves to Dr. David Nelson. He was unable to see any practical way out of slavery.[152]

Among the ministers were three who did valuable service in the cause of freedom. Rev. John Rankin’s work as an anti-slavery leader has been noticed in another connection. He was one of the pioneers in the cause. Rev. Dr. David Nelson, a native of Washington County, and brother-in-law of Chief Justice James W. Frederick, was one of the most determined anti-slavery men in the country.[153] He had to be saved from a mob for proposing to his congregation to take a subscription with which to buy and colonize slaves. He was eloquent in promoting colonization.[154] Rev. E. T. Brantley, a West Tennessee Presbyterian minister, said of him: “He cordially disapproved of slavery. He found no justification of it anywhere. All look forward to the extinction of slavery.... If the North could be aware of the progress of anti-slavery sentiment at the South, particularly among Christians, they would think the day of emancipation had already dawned.”[155] Rev. Dr. Ross, of Tennessee, was one of the most able leaders in Presbyterianism in the South. He was the spokesman of Southern Presbyterianism in the general assembly, which met at Buffalo in May, 1853. It was in this assembly that the committee on slavery recommended that a committee consisting of one member from each of the synods of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Virginia, be appointed to investigate the slaveholding members of the church on the following points, and report to the next general assembly:

1. The number of slaveholders in connection with the churches, and the number of slaves held by them.

2. The extent to which slaves are held, from an unavoidable necessity imposed by the laws of the States, the obligation of guardianship, and the demands of humanity.

3. Whether the Southern churches regard the sacredness of the marriage relation as it exists among the slaves; whether baptism is duly administered to the children of the slaves professing Christianity; and, in general, to what extent, and in what manner, provision is made for the religious well-being of the enslaved.[156]

Dr. Ross warmly opposed this action, asserting emphatically that the South never submitted to a scrutiny. He proposed a substitute motion to the effect that “a committee from each of the Northern synods ... be appointed to report to the next general assembly on the following points:

1. The number of Northern church members who traffic with slaveholders, and are seeking to make money by selling them negro clothing, handcuffs, and cowhides.

2. How many Northern church members are concerned, directly or indirectly, in building and fitting out ships for the African slave trade, and the slave-trade between the States?

3. How many Northern church members have sent orders to New Orleans and other Southern cities, to have slaves sold, to pay debts coming to them from the South? (See Uncle Tom’s Cabin.)

4. How many Northern church members buy the cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, oranges, pineapple, figs, ginger, cocoa, melons, and a thousand other things, raised by slave labor?

5. How many Northern church members have intermarried with slaveholders, and have become slaveholders themselves, or enjoy the wealth made by the blood of the slaves, especially if there be any Northern ministers of the Gospel in such a predicament?

6. How many Northern church members are descendants of the men who kidnapped negroes in Africa, and brought them to Virginia and New England, in former years?

7. What is the aggregate and individual wealth of church members thus descended, and what action is best to compel them to disgorge this blood-stained wealth, or to make them give dollar for dollar in equalizing the loss of the South by emancipation?

8. How many Northern church members, ministers especially, have advocated murder in resistance to the laws of the land.

9. How many Northern church members own stock in underground railroads, running off fugitive slaves, and Sabbath-breaking railroads and canals?

10. That a special committee be sent up Red River, to ascertain whether Legree, who whipped Uncle Tom to death (and a Northern gentleman), be not still in connection with some Northern church, in good and regular standing.

11. How many Northern church members attend meetings of Spiritual Roppers, are Bloomers, or Woman’s Rights Conventionalists?

12. How many are cruel husbands?

13. How many are henpecked husbands?”[157]

Dr. Ross said: “He did not desire discussion on this subject, but still he had no opposition to make if others wished to discuss it. As a citizen of the state of Tennessee, a state which partakes of the fire of the South and the prudence of the North, he was perfectly calm on the subject.[158] He said again, “If anyone would present him with a handsome copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he would keep it on his center-table, and show it to all his visitors.”[159]

The Presbyterians had a large number of slaves as members, but in their reports there is no distinction made between whites and blacks. “In many places,” says Rev. James H. McNeilly, “separate houses of worship were provided for them, and in a great many churches large galleries with comfortable seats were assigned to them. Often the planters on large plantations built neat and commodious chapels for them, and in these chapels the planter and his family frequently worshipped with their servants. In the cities and towns the white people gave up their churches to the negroes for afternoon service.” Dr. McNeilly says: “I remember that in 1855 the Presbyterian General Assembly met in the First Presbyterian Church at Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Edgar, the pastor, gave some of the Northern commissioners opportunity to see and preach to some of the negro congregations. These ministers were surprised to see the fine dressing, the happy faces, the apparent devotion of the people, and were much gratified to find the evidence of the interest of the churches in the spiritual welfare of the slaves.”

“In the spring of 1860,” says Dr. McNeilly, “I was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Nashville and spent nearly six months in preaching in two counties of Middle Tennessee. The members of my congregation owned a considerable number of slaves, to whom I preached regularly every Sabbath afternoon, although most of them were members of Methodist and Baptist churches.”[160]

The Presbyterians were profoundly interested in the welfare of the slaves. In the Synods of Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Tennessee, “it is,” says Harrison, “the practice of a number of ministers to preach to the negroes separately once on the Sabbath or during the week.”[161] There were Sabbath Schools also, and, with few exceptions, a number of negroes formed a portion of every Sabbath congregation.

The Presbyterians did not let the negroes preach as much as the Baptists and Methodists did. These denominations had real preachers with their congregations, but the Presbyterian conception of the character of a preacher practically excluded the negro. They had, however, negro exhorters. In fact, the negroes did not want a preacher they could understand. Even a white preacher, if he tried to simplify his language to suit them, would become unpopular with them. They liked big words, and would always praise the Lord when a high-sounding word was used. Rev. McNeilly tells of a young theologian who began his sermon to the negroes thus, “Primarily we must postulate the existence of a duty.” After a short pause, some old colored patriarch fervently responded, “Yaas, Lord, dat’s so. Bless de Lord.”[162]

The Tennessee Presbyterians voted against the Spring Resolutions in the general assembly at Philadelphia, and participated in the convention at Atlanta in August, 1861, which adopted among other resolutions, the following: “Our connection with the non-slaveholding states, it cannot be denied, was a great hindrance to the systematic performance of the work of evangelization of the slave population. It is true that the northern portion of the Presbyterian Church professed to be conservative, but their opposition to our social economy was constantly increasing.”[163] The synods of Memphis and Nashville, together with various Presbyteries, participated in the convention at Augusta, Georgia, in December, 1861, which organized the Southern Presbyterian Church. Tennessee has remained a strong center of Southern Presbyterianism to the present.