THE HOUSE IN WHICH CHARLES T. WALKER WAS BORN. STILL STANDING NEAR HEPHZIBAH, GA.
CONTENTS
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| Parentage and Birth | 19 |
| Ancestry—Character of Dr. Walker’s Father—Dr. Walker’s Uncles—Dr.Walker’s Birth—Character of Dr. Walker’s Mother—W.A. Clark’s Tribute—A Generation of Preachers—Dr. Walkerthe Greatest of Them All. | |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| Early Childhood | 25 |
| Richmond County During the Slave Period—The Hardships ofSlavery—The Evils of Slavery—Dr. Walker Becomes an Orphan—HisStrange Conversion—Joins Franklin Covenant BaptistChurch. | |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| The Student Period | 29 |
| First Taught by His Mother—Yankee Teachers—Enters the AugustaInstitute—Dr. Joseph T. Robert—Dr. Walker’s Struggles—Readyto Leave School—Students Come to Rescue—OthersInterested—Mr. Bierce’s Narrative—Dr. Walker’s Failureto Graduate—His Ordination. | |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| Early Pastorates | 35 |
The Call to Franklin Covenant Baptist Church—Other Calls—StrangeCustom of Negro Preachers—Dr. Walker TeachesSchool—Some of His Early Pupils—His Marriage—The Workat LaGrange. | |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| The Work at Augusta | 39 |
The Call to Central Baptist Church—The Unholy Wrangle Prior toHis Call—His First Sermon—New Life for a Time—TheTroubles Renewed—Central Baptist Church Sold—TabernacleBaptist Church Organized—New Church Dedicated—WonderfulRecord—The Pastor Goes North—Justin Dewey Fulton’sCommendation—Dr. Walker’s Report on His Return. | |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| Other Work at Augusta | 47 |
Business Manager of the Augusta Sentinel—Founder of the WalkerBaptist Institute—A Dream for the Future—Director-Generalof the Negro Exposition—The Exposition—Lends a HelpingHand to Many. | |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| Influence in Georgia | 55 |
Offices Held—Public Addresses—Interest in Public Affairs—As anEvangelist—Securing Competent Leaders for Churches andSchools—Dr. Walker’s Unselfishness. | |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| The Visit to the Holy Land | 59 |
Provision for the Trip—Traveling Companions—Itinerary—Preachesat Mount Olivet Baptist Church on His Way—HisReturn—His Account of the Journey—On the Lecture Platform. | |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| A Colored Man Abroad | 69 |
Extracts From Dr. Walker’s Writings—Tribute to the Sea—FirstSabbath at Sea—Spurgeon’s Tabernacle—A Storm onthe Mediterranean—Manners and Customs of the East—TheTestimony of the Mountain—Drifting on Life’s Ocean—Anarchy—Warning. | |
| [CHAPTER X.] | |
| As a National Figure | 77 |
First National Baptist Convention—Dr. Walker one of the Founders—HisReply to Rev. H. C. Bailey—Resolutions Adopted—ANational Leader—At Indianapolis—“A Strong Man in aCrisis”—Receives His Degree—Offices Held in National BaptistConvention—Chaplain U. S. V.—Vice President InternationalSunday School Convention—Calls to Other Churches. | |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | |
| Chaplain U. S. V. | 83 |
At San Luis, Cuba—Great Crowds Hear Account of Experiences—ResolutionsPassed. | |
| [CHAPTER XII.] | |
| As an Evangelist | 88 |
Sphere Limited—Powers as an Evangelist—The New York Campaign—AtAtlanta—In Kansas City. | |
| [CHAPTER XIII.] | |
| Leaves Augusta—Goes to New York | 98 |
Resignation of Augusta Church—Efforts to Retain Him—LastSunday Night in Augusta—Mt. Olivet Church—His Success—Officersof Mt. Olivet Church. | |
| [CHAPTER XIV.] | |
| Colored Men’s Branch Y. M. C. A. | 108 |
Movement Started—Adopted by City Association—Secretary Coles—Obituary—Boardof Management—Mr. Dugas—Miss Connelly—APerpetual Monument to the Founder. | |
| [CHAPTER XV.] | |
| Called to Augusta Again | 115 |
The Recall—Mass Meeting in New York—Letter of Dr. Bitting—Speechof Col. Powell—Mass Meeting at Augusta—Dr. Walker’sDecision. | |
| [CHAPTER XVI.] | |
| Extracts from Sermons | 125 |
What Hath God Wrought—Go Forward—Infallible Proofs of theResurrection. | |
| [CHAPTER XVII.] | |
| Extracts from Orations and Addresses | 138 |
Eulogy on President McKinley—Reply to Hannibal Thomas—TheGolden Rule as an Individual Motto—An Appeal to Cæsar—ColoredMen for the Twentieth Century. | |
| [CHAPTER XVIII.] | |
| Extracts from Newspapers | 155 |
The Examiner—Sun—World—Journal—Tribune—Times—Augusta(Ga.) Chronicle—Fall River (Mass.) Evening News—GeorgiaBaptist—Augusta Chronicle—Georgia Baptist. | |
| [CHAPTER XIX.] | |
| Anecdotes | 171 |
“The Black Sturgeon”—Reading and Counting for Negroes—Prayingfor Money—Praying for Converts—About Jay Birds—EarlyReligious Impressions—Electing a Church Treasurer—Dr.Walker’s Complexion—The Negro a Novelty. | |
| [CHAPTER XX.] | |
| Appearance, Manners, Habits | 178 |
Description—Still a Rustic—Democratic—Remarkable Memory—Shy—HisSermons—The Bible and the Newspaper—Huntingand Fishing—Love for Little Children. | |
| [CHAPTER XXI.] | |
| Traits and Characteristics | 184 |
Patience—Motto of Dr. Walker’s Life—The Faithful Minister andHis Trials—Humility—Gratitude—Other Characteristics—Nota Perfect Man. | |
| [CHAPTER XXII.] | |
| Conclusion | 191 |
God’s Best Gift to Man—The Magnetism of Goodness—Scope ofInfluence—Goodness is Communicable—The Real Forces ofLife. |
LIFE OF
CHARLES T. WALKER, D. D.
CHAPTER I.
PARENTAGE AND BIRTH.
It has long been a mooted question as to which State in the Union produces the best class of Negroes. Though there are no scientific data from which to draw definite conclusions, it is very generally agreed that the best Negroes—the most intellectual, most industrious, wealthiest, and the best behaved Negroes—come either from Virginia or Georgia. If that be true, then, if one is so fortunate as to be a native Georgian with Virginia ancestors, or vice versa, he ought to be considered a Negro of superior birth, to say the least. Viewed in this light, Charles Thomas Walker was born to superiority. In 1773, a family of Negroes was brought from Virginia to Burke County, Georgia, by the grandfather of the late Col. A. C. Walker, who was a prominent Georgia planter and politician and who for many years was a member of the Georgia legislature. In 1880, Col. Walker, writing of the Negro Walkers who had descended from the family brought to Georgia by his grandfather, said: “As slaves, they were noted for their admirable qualities, and as freedmen they have sustained their reputation.”
Charles Thomas Walker was the fourth in descent from this family. His father was a man of the name of Thomas Walker, and was one of three brothers. Thomas Walker was his master’s coachman—a position which only the best and most trustworthy slaves were allowed to hold, and a position which the slaves themselves always considered as a place of honor. The fact, also, that he was a deacon in the church of which he was a member attests the esteem in which he was held by the other slaves. Two of Charles T. Walker’s uncles, Joseph T. Walker and Nathan Walker, were both Baptist ministers. The Franklin Covenant Baptist Church, about five miles from Hephzibah, Ga., and only a short distance from the Burke County line, was organized for the colored people in 1848. In 1852 or 1853, this church, though its membership was made up of slaves, raised the necessary amount and purchased the freedom of the Rev. Joseph T. Walker, at that time their pastor, in order that he might devote himself entirely to his church work and to the preaching of the gospel in the counties of Richmond, Jefferson and Burke. In this work, Rev. Joseph T. Walker continued until the close of the war. The Rev. Nathan Walker, though a licensed preacher before the war, was not ordained to the ministry until 1866, when he succeeded his brother as pastor of the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church.
In 1848, Thomas Walker was married to a young woman of the name of Hannah Walker. To them eleven children were born—six females and five males. On the 5th day of February, 1858, near Hephzibah, Richmond County, Ga., about sixteen miles southwest of Augusta, their youngest child—Charles Thomas Walker—was born. Thomas Walker, the father, was buried the day before Charles was born, having died of pneumonia. Mrs. Hannah Walker survived her husband eight years, dying in Augusta, Ga., in 1866. It is related of her that she was a woman of unusual piety and strength of character, being a devout member of the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church, of which her husband was a deacon. She had high hopes and fond expectations for her youngest child, and longed to live to see him make a great and good man of himself, and especially so, because of the sad death of his father which occurred only two days before the child was born. God willed otherwise, and took her home to be with him and to watch from the “high and uplifted” battlements of glory the career of her son.
The following tribute to Mrs. Hannah Walker is taken from “Under the Stars and Bars; or Memories of Four Years’ Service with the Confederate Army.” This book was written by Mr. Walter A. Clark, Treasurer of Richmond County, Ga. Mr. Clark was a prominent officer in the Confederate Army; he is a graduate of Emory College (Georgia), and a literary man of great merit; he is a nephew of the late Col. Walker, already quoted in this book, was reared along with the black Walkers and knows whereof he speaks. His tribute to Mrs. Walker is no less a credit to the memory of the deceased than it is a testimony of the goodness of heart and magnificent manhood of the writer.
“My heart prompts me to pay its earnest tribute to one whose memory the sketch above recalls—dear old Aunt Hannah. How her name brings back to my heart and life to-day the glamour of the old, old days that will never come again—days when to me a barefoot boy, life seemed a long and happy holiday! I can see her now, her head crowned with a checkered handkerchief, her arms bare to the elbows, her spectacles set primly on her nose, while from her kindly eyes there shone the light of a pure white soul within! She was only an humble slave, and yet her love for me was scarcely less than that my father and mother bore me; and when, on a summer’s day in 1861, my brother and myself left the old homestead to take our humble places under a new born flag, there was not a dry eye on the whole plantation, old Aunt Hannah wept in grief as pure and deep as if the clods were falling on an own child.