1828-1838.
Richard Randall, the newly appointed agent, arrived at Monrovia on December 22, 1828. He found the Digby incident still unsettled. King Brister (or Bristol) had been threatening. Randall thought it best, however, not to pursue active warfare and attempted to adjust matters without fighting. He was a man of excellent ideas, devoted to his duties, active and energetic. He was imprudent, however, in caring for himself, and died on April 19th, having been in the colony only about four months. He was succeeded by Dr. Mechlin who had come out with him as physician in December. Mechlin remained as agent for some years, although, on account of bad health, he was obliged to return once during that period to the United States. It was during his agency that the first printing press was erected in Monrovia, in 1830, and the first newspaper, The Liberian Herald, was printed with J. B. Russwurm as editor. It was in 1830 that Mechlin took his furlough to the United States; he was at first relieved by Dr. J. W. Anderson who died on April 12th, having been in Liberia less than two months; upon his death, the vice-agent, Anthony D. Williams, took charge until the return of Dr. Mechlin. Mechlin negotiated several treaties with native chiefs and increased the land holding of the colony through purchase; he visited Grand Bassa and negotiated for land around Cape Mount; it was during his administration that the Dey-Golah War took place. He seems to have been a well-meaning man, and certainly accomplished something, but there was considerable dissatisfaction with his administration, and when he left, it was questioned whether he was a good financier and used judgment and economy in administering money matters.
One of the most exciting incidents in the history of Liberia was the Dey-Golah War of 1832. Hostilities had been threatened against the colony by King Bromley, but he died before serious difficulty occurred. It was soon found that the Deys and others were combining; deeds of violence were practiced against the colonists and recaptured Africans; captives had been taken by King Willy; a messenger was sent to demand their release, but the letter was torn up and the messenger told to inform the agent that they would seize and hold every colonist they could find. The next day the enemy, standing on the river bank opposite Caldwell, blew war horns, fired muskets, and challenged the colonists; a body of recaptured Africans, 100 in number, was sent against them; finding a large force gathered, they were driven back, and one man was killed. The enemy barricaded their own town, and sent word that, if the colonists did not promptly meet them in the field, they would attack Caldwell and Millsburg; the Golah were acting with the Dey in this affair. Mechlin left Monrovia on June 20th, with the regular militia and volunteers, eighty in all; they had a large field piece with them; at Caldwell they were joined by seventy volunteers and militia, and 120 recaptured Africans; all were placed under Capt. Elijah Johnson. One day’s march from Caldwell brought the force to Bromley’s town which they took without trouble, camping there for the night; the next day they advanced over an exceedingly difficult road—seven hours being required for ten miles’ progress; after mid-day the recaptured Africans, who were in advance, were engaged with the enemy; the field piece was brought up until only twenty-five or thirty yards from the barricaded town. A few firings forced the enemy to abandon their position; under cover of the field piece, the colonists now rushed forward and cut through the barricade; the field piece was advanced and the town captured, the enemy escaping in the rear. In this engagement Lieutenant Thompson, of the colony force, was killed and three men wounded; of the enemy fifteen were killed and many wounded. The captured town was burned and also Bromley; the force returned to Caldwell for the night and then to Monrovia. Lieutenant Thompson was interred with the honors of war. Messengers promptly arrived from Kings Willy and Brister; Mechlin demanded that the kings themselves appear in person at Monrovia; Brister, Sitma, Long Peter, and Kai appeared; Willy sent New Peter as his representative; they agreed to the terms offered and a treaty of peace was signed.
It was also during Mechlin’s agency that the colonization of Maryland in Africa began. In 1831 Dr. James Hall with 31 colonists from the Maryland Colonization Society stopped at Monrovia; they had been sent out to locate a settlement where the colonists should devote themselves exclusively to agriculture (refusing trade) and should be devoted to temperance principles; they were not received with cordiality by the people at Monrovia, and no particular inclination was shown to aid them in securing a site for their purposes; Dr. Hall, therefore, left them temporarily at Monrovia, while he returned to the United States for advice and further supplies; he returned in 1833 with 28 new colonists; taking those who were at Monrovia, all sailed farther down the coast until, at Cape Palmas, they found a location to their satisfaction; they landed there, engaged in negotiations with the native chiefs, and founded what was at first known as Maryland in Africa; it was entirely distinct from the settlements under the direction of the American Colonization Society.
About this time there was a tendency for local branch organizations of the American Colonization Society to be formed and to undertake their own settlements, although these were not considered to be actually independent of the mother society and of the people at Monrovia. Considerable settlements had been made in the neighborhood of Grand Bassa. Among these, one of the most promising was Edina which was laid out upon a tongue of land upon the north side of the St. John’s River; it was named Edina from Edinburgh, Scotland, citizens of which had contributed quite liberally to the funds of the American Colonization Society. After Edina was founded, a neighboring settlement was made through the efforts of the Pennsylvania Young Men’s Colonization Society—an organization of Friends; it was organized with the idea that agriculture should be the chief interest; that trade as a means of income should be forbidden; that temperance and sobriety, involving a pledge of abstinence, should be demanded; and that war and resistance should be forbidden. Non-resistance and peace-principles, however, were not in place at that time and region; in 1835 this little colony was wiped out of existence by a brutal attack on the part of natives instigated by a slave trader who feared that the presence of the colonists would interrupt his trade. Joe Harris and King Peter, brothers, were the active agents of destruction; for several days their people spied upon the settlers, informing themselves whether any arms were in the place; there was one gun only there; the assault took place at night, and about 20 persons, mostly women and children, were killed; the agent Hankinson and his wife were rescued by a Kruman who concealed them; those who escaped were taken to Monrovia and cared for; the authorities at Monrovia took immediate action, marched an armed force against the aggressors, put them to flight, and destroyed their towns; King Peter and Joe Harris agreed to forever abandon the slave trade, to give free passage from the interior through their country, to rebuild the settlement, and return the property; a better spot was selected and a new settlement made.
When Mechlin returned to the United States, Rev. John B. Pinney, who was already in Liberia as a missionary, succeeded him. He found everything in a state of confusion and dilapidation; himself a man of vigor, he acted promptly and made notable improvements; he attempted to give agriculture its proper position as the fundamental interest of the community; he purchased fertile lands in the interior for cultivation; he emphasized the claims of Liberia to lands lying behind Cape Mount; he adjusted difficulties between the Congoes and Eboes, recaptured Africans; had he remained long in office, he might perhaps have accomplished much. He, however, left Liberia at the end of 1834 for home. Dr. Ezekiel Skinner took his position; at the time of Pinney’s retirement he was the colonial physician. His labors were arduous and multiform; in performing them he suffered repeated exposures which brought on a serious fever under which he was reduced so low that he was obliged to return to the United States, leaving Anthony D. Williams as agent in his place.
Williams, in fact, seems to have been agent at intervals from the time of Randall’s death until he gave way to Thomas Buchanan in 1839. Inasmuch as most authorities speak of him as if he were a white man, it may be well to raise the question. Late in November, 1836, Rev. Charles Rockwell, chaplain of the United States Navy, was in Liberia. In his Sketches of Foreign Travel he says: “Mr. Williams, who has for years been the acting-governor of Monrovia, took the lead in entertaining us and in doing the honors of the place. He was from Petersburg, Va., where, if I mistake not, he was once a slave. He has a peculiarly modest, sedate, gentlemanly deportment, and during his repeated visits to the United States has, by his intelligent and good sense, justly secured the esteem and confidence of those with whom he had intercourse. He came to Africa as a clergyman of the Methodist Church, and for a year or more was engaged in the self-denying work of a missionary among the natives at a distance of 150 miles in the interior. Under the title of vice-agent, he has for years been head (actively) of the colony, and as far as I could learn, has so discharged the duties of his office as to secure the confidence alike of his fellow citizens and of the society from which he received his appointment.” When, in 1839, he gave up the agency to Thomas Buchanan as Governor of the newly established Commonwealth of Liberia, the Board of the Colonization Society expressed itself as well satisfied with his long services; but it was their opinion “that the time had not yet arrived when the interests of the colony would permit it to remain permanently under the direction of a colonist.” It would seem as if these two quotations amply establish the fact that Williams was a colored man; we have thought it worth while to raise the question, inasmuch as his services were serious, and if rendered by a black man, deserve special recognition.
With the year 1836 there arrived in Africa a man of great ability and extraordinary energy, Thomas H. Buchanan; he was sent out as the agent of the New York and Pennsylvania Societies to take charge of their settlements at Bassa Cove; these settlements recognized the superior authority of Monrovia and the American Colonization Society; but it was deemed better that they should have a special superintendent in charge of them. It is well enough to notice that, at this time, there were three totally different associations at work within the area of what now is Liberia, besides Maryland; there was the original settlement of Monrovia on Cape Montserrado with extensions in the direction of Cape Mount and the Junk River; this district included Monrovia and several villages around it; “the people were not much given to agriculture; they were shrewd at driving trade and better liked to compete for some gallons of palm oil or sticks of camwood than to be doing their duty to their fields and gardens;” politics and military concerns occupied considerable of their attention, and they were called upon to adjust claims with the neighboring settlements. Secondly, there were the Bassa Cove villages; there were several of these in the neighborhood of the St. John’s River; they depended mainly upon agriculture and trade; they encouraged temperance and desired peace. Third, there were interesting settlements in Sinoe along the Sinoe River upon its rich agricultural lands; Greenville was a flourishing town; the settlers in this vicinity came from Mississippi, and their region was known as Mississippi in Africa.
Just as the New York and Pennsylvania Societies engaged a special governor to take charge of their settlements, so the Mississippi Society sent out a special governor to take charge of Mississippi in Africa. The appointment was of special interest in the person of I. F. C. Finley. Governor Finley was a son of the Rev. Robert Finley, to whom the organization of the American Colonization Society was in reality due. In September, 1838, Governor Finley left for Monrovia on business as well as for his health; making a landing in the neighborhood of the Bassa Cove settlements, he was robbed and murdered by the natives on September 10th; it is believed that the motive to this murder was the desire for gain, as the Governor had considerable money upon his person. The murder led to disturbance between the settlers at Bassa Cove and the natives who were implicated; one or two of the latter were killed, several wounded, and some houses were destroyed.
One rather interesting incident in connection with the Bassa settlements was the experience of Louis Sheriden. He was a colored man of some means from North Carolina, who came to Liberia in February, 1838; he at first planned to settle at Bassa Cove, but on visiting the settlements and examining the laws of their government, he was dissatisfied and refused to take the oath required of those who became citizens, saying that he had “left the United States on account of oppression and that he would not subject himself to arbitrary government in Africa”; he finally decided to locate at Bexley, six miles from Bassa Cove; he took a lease of 600 acres and soon had more than a hundred men in his employ; his intention was to develop an extensive sugar and coffee plantation, but he died before his plan could be realized.
An interesting man in this period, although but indirectly connected with the colony, was Theodore Canot; he was born in Florence in 1803 and had a life of excitement and adventure; in 1826 he became a slave trader; he finally located with Pedro Blanco at Gallinhas, and was sent by him to New Cess; he was a witness of the Finley murder; after Blanco retired from the slave trade, Canot, being hard pressed by the British officers, decided to abandon the business also. He finally retired to New York, where he met with Brantz Mayer, who wrote a book which purported to be autobiographical material supplied by the old adventurer. Canot not infrequently came into contact with the Liberian authorities. He must have known the whole colonial experiment better than almost any other white man. Of Liberia he says: “Nevertheless, the prosperity, endurance, and influence of the colonies are still problems. I am anxious to see the second generation of colonists in Africa. I wish to know what will be the force and development of the negro mind on its native soil—civilized, but cut off from all instruction, influence, or association with the white mind. I desire to understand, precisely, whether the negro’s faculties are original or imitative, and consequently, whether he can stand alone in absolute independence, or is only respectable when reflecting the civilization that is cast upon him by others.”
As was to be expected, considerable feeling arose between the four separate colonies—Liberia, Bassa Cove, Mississippi in Africa, and Maryland. Thus, in May, 1838, Anthony D. Williams wrote: “I regret to say, our neighbors of Bassa Cove and Edina seem to entertain the most hostile feelings toward the colony and everything connected with it. They have manifested such a disposition as will, if continued, lead to serious difficulties between the settlements. The policy which the colonizationists are now pursuing is assuredly a bad one and will inevitably defeat the object they aim to accomplish. Nothing can be conceived more destructive to the general good than separate and conflicting interests among the different colonies, and this consequence will certainly follow the establishment of separate and distinct sovereignties contiguous to each other.” This was felt to be a serious problem; after due consideration, an effort was made to more strongly unite the colonies outside of Maryland; a new constitution was accordingly drawn up by Professor Greenleaf, of Harvard College, the name “Commonwealth of Liberia” was adopted, and Thomas Buchanan, who had been governor of the Grand Bassa settlements, was appointed governor of the newly organized commonwealth. We have [already referred] to him as a man of vigor and enthusiasm; it is seldom indeed that Liberia has had an equally capable director.
“It is not every man that we can honestly advise, or desire to come to this country. To those who are contented to live and educate their children as house servants and lackeys, we would say stay where you are; here we have no masters to employ you. To the indolent, heedless and slothful, we would say, tarry among the flesh-pots of Egypt; here we get our bread by the sweat of our brow. To drunkards and rioters, we would say, come not to us; you never can become naturalized in a land where there are no grog-shops and where temperance and order is the motto. To the timorous and suspicious, we would say, stay where you have protectors; here we protect ourselves. But the industrious, enterprising, and patriotic, of whatever occupation, or enterprise—the mechanic, the merchant, the farmer, and especially the latter, we would counsel, advise, and entreat, to come over and be one with us, and assist us in this glorious enterprise, and enjoy with us that to which we ever were, and to which the man of color ever must be a stranger, in America.”