Stephen Allen Benson was born in Maryland, in 1816; he removed to Liberia in 1822; he was captured and held by the natives for some little time; he was inaugurated President in January, 1856. During his administration Napoleon III presented the Republic with the Hirondelle and equipment for 1000 armed men. During his administration there were various troubles with the coast natives, especially in the neighborhood of Cape Palmas; in the month of January, 1857, the difficulty was so serious that the very existence of the colony and the American missionaries at Cape Palmas were threatened. A force of Liberian soldiers under Ex-President Roberts was sent upon an English war steamer to their relief; the arrival of so considerable a force awed the natives and led to a palaver; the natives promised submission and an indemnity for the destruction they had caused.
The independent colony of Maryland in Liberia had had a fairly successful existence. Their first governor, J. B. Russwurm, died in 1851. He was succeeded by McGill, and he by Prout. At the time of the Grebo War, J. B. Drayton was Governor. Largely as a result of this trouble it was decided that Maryland should join with the other colonies and become a part of the Republic; this annexation took place February 28, 1857, ten days after the ending of the Grebo War.
A curious incident took place in 1858. The French ship, Regina Coeli, arrived on the Kru Coast, and the Captain treated with Kru chiefs for men to be shipped as laborers; the men supposed that they were shipped for a trip along the west coast, as usual, to serve as seamen; learning, however, that their destination was the West Indies, they became alarmed and believed that they were to be sold into slavery; the Captain was still on shore, treating with the chiefs; the men mutinied, seized the ship, and killed all the white crew except the doctor; they then returned to shore and left the ship without a crew; had she not been noticed by a passing English steamer, she would no doubt have been wrecked; she was taken into a Liberian port. The French Government investigated the matter, but it was clearly shown that the Liberian Republic was in no way responsible for the incident.
In 1860 troubles with British traders in the region of the Mano River began; these are so fully discussed in [another place] that we need not present the facts here.
A great deal of trouble was encountered by the Republic in preventing smuggling by foreign ships; as it was impossible to adequately man all the ports along the coast with customs-officers, a law was passed naming certain Ports of Entry at which only it was permitted for foreign boats to trade; this rendered the detection of illegal trade and smuggling easier.
In 1864 Daniel Bashiel Warner became President. He was a native of the United States, born April 18, 1815. It was during his administration that the Ports of Entry Law was passed; it was also during his term that an immigration of 300 West Indian negroes took place; among those who came at that time were the parents of Arthur Barclay, later prominent in Liberian politics; Arthur Barclay himself was a child at the time.
In 1868 James Spriggs Payne became President. He was a clergyman of some literary ability; he was author of a small treatise upon political economy; during his first administration he sent Benjamin Anderson on an official expedition to the interior. Anderson penetrated as far as Musahdu, an important town of the Mandingo; Payne served a second term, but not immediately following his first; after him were President Roye and President Roberts; it was in 1876 Payne was inaugurated a second time.
In 1870 Edward James Roye, a merchant and ship-owner, became President of the Republic; he was a full negro; he represented the “True Whig” party. His administration is notable for the turbulent character of its events. It was under him that the famous loan of 1871 was made. Before he became President, an effort had been made to amend the Constitution in such a way as to make the presidential term four years instead of two; the amendment was not carried; when, however, his term of office neared its end, he proclaimed an extension of his period for two years. Public dissatisfaction with the loan and a feeling of outrage at this high-handed action aroused the people so that they rose against him; in the strife several lives were lost; the President’s house was sacked; search was made for him and one of his sons was caught and imprisoned; in the effort to escape to a British steamer standing in the harbor, it is said that he was drowned. Roye’s deposition took place October 26, 1871. A committee of three was appointed to govern the nation until a new election could be held; these gentlemen were Charles B. Dunbar, R. A. Sherman, and Amos Herring.
In this moment of public excitement and disorder the people looked to their old leader, and Joseph Jenkin Roberts was again elected to the presidency; this was his fifth term. His time was largely devoted to bringing about calm and order; Benjamin Anderson, in 1874, made a second expedition to Musahdu; in 1875 there was a war with the Gedebo (Grebo) of some consequence.
After President Payne’s second administration Anthony W. Gardner became President; he was inaugurated in 1878. It was under his administration that the difficulties with England culminated, and Liberian territory was seized by British arms. In 1879 took place what is known as the “Carlos incident;” the German steamer, Carlos, was wrecked at Nana Kru; the natives looted the vessel and abused the shipwrecked Germans who had landed in their boats; the Germans were robbed of everything they had succeeded in bringing to shore with them and were even stripped of their clothing; they were compelled to walk along the beach to Greenville. The German warship, Victoria, was immediately despatched to the point of difficulty; she bombarded Nana Kru and the towns about; she then proceeded to Monrovia and demanded £900 damages on behalf of the shipwrecked Germans; the Government was unable to make prompt settlement and eventually paid the claim only under threat of a bombardment and with the help of European merchants in Monrovia. It was under President Gardner’s direction that the Liberian Order of African Redemption was established; the decoration of the order consists of a star with rays pendent from a wreath of olive; upon the star is the seal of the Republic with the motto, THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE. Gardner was re-elected twice, but finally, in despair on account of the misfortune which his nation was suffering, resigned his office in January, 1883; at his resignation the Vice-President, A. F. Russell, took the chair.