Who's who among the colored Baptists of the United States ...

Front matter

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Dedication

To her — whose every thought is mine,

Whose faith and hope and love Inspire my soul with power divine,

Attracted from above, To strive to reach a greater height

Preface

The word "biography/' in its broadest, deepest sense, has a higher meaning than that which is derived from superficial analysis. Bi — life — refers not merely to physical existence, but to intellectual vitality and to spiritual being. It implies constant change, growth, progress ; for no living thing can remain stationary. It opens out toward a glorious future with limitless possibilities ; toward an ever-widening vista that reaches to the Infinite.

A nation's life, or that of a race, is the life of its great men ; those who combine in themselves the constructive agencies that comprise the bone and sinew of the people.

To consider the history of a people or of 'an individual apart from those things that have possessed a dominating influence in the development of character; to fail to give due credit or allowance to natural or hereditary disposition, to environment and to reactionary force, would not only be unjust, but would cause error in the delineation of national or individual genius.

Although personal genius, to a certain extent, is the outcome of social conditions, it remodels the society from which it has evolved. And in so far as it extends beyotfd the heights attained in the aggregate, thus far does it not only express, but intensify the national type.

In the description of prominent men and women herein recorded the writer has made no attempt at an exhibition of brilliant scholarship, but he has endeavored in a simple presentation of facts to take cognizance of underlying qualities — of causes and incentives — and to point out the high destination of the soul through the proper unf oldment of its moral and intellectual faculties, that younger generations may find inspiration.

6 Who's Who Among ths Colored Baptists. .

The details of what a man has accomplished are not so important to his fellows as are the motives that actuated him, the purposes and determination, the dominant idea, that led to successful effort, and the means by which that idea was shaped or obstructed, whether by natural inclination or by constraining force.

It is impossible to write a complete or exhaustive biography, for there is much which enters into the life of each person that cannot be fully comprehended nor explained. But the author of this work has been interested from boyhood in the subject, and he has felt the spiritual uplift that comes from high aims and an earnest desire to benefit the race. However, he will be amply compensated if the book encourages but one reader to look upward instead of downward ; if but a slight impetus is given to racial progress.

No denomination of color has made, since the Civil War, a record that compares favorably with that of the colored Baptists. They emerged from slavery with a numerical strength far less than that now found in any one of the Middle Western States. To-day, through the ceaseless efforts of such men as the lamented Dupee, Hamilton, Foster, McAlpine, Johnson, Brockington, Holmes, Jasper, Simmons and Brooks, whose sketches are to appear in "Landmarks of History," and such living pioneers as Pardee, Massey, A. R. Griggs and D. Sawyers, together with a large number of younger men and women, many of whose histories appear in this volume, the denomination has a total' membership of 2,444,055, with approximately 18,000 ministers and 18,000 church edifices, valued at $25 000,000.

The colored Baptists have demonstrated the truth of the assertion that the real price of labor is knowledge and virtue, of which wealth and credit are signs; and although the signs may be counterfeited, that which they represent cannot be imitated.

It is a source of satisfaction to introduce to one another, through these pages, new recruits, as well as many whose names have long appeared upon the roll of fame — men and women of noble occupations and callings. Ir\ the compilation of this work it was found impracticable to place the subjects in alphabetical order, having been made up as the material was secured.

Volumes II. and III., which are to appear soon, will contain sketches of other representatives equally as distinguished as those found in this number.

The author is indebted to Professor J. Dallas Bowser, who read the manuscript and offered friendly suggestions ; to Mr. C. Brown, and to others who tendered assistance; to Simmons' "Men of Mark," from which much information relative to pioneers was gleaned; and to Rev. Dr. E. A. Wilson, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, under whose able endorsement this book makes its bow to the public, in full confidence that the lofty ideals embodied in the subjects of these articles justify their publication.

Samuel William Bacote.

22 i o Kansas Avenue,

Kansas City, Missouri.

August i, 1913.

Introduction

History only stoops to notice men with a song, men who have a message, men who have a mission to perform. They who have trodden the highest peaks of human accomplishment have been those whose names were linked inseparably to great epochs and great deeds. Like the stars of the firmament, they may differ in their brightness ; buty unlike the stars, they are not too numerous to be counted.

In these grand and sublime times, men whose names live, and will forever dawn the pages of history, are those who perform no witchcraft or work no miracles to reach the lofty planes of greatness — but, on the other hand, must march to the orders of the century's call, "Do, serve, or die."

We desire to present to the reader a star of the first magnitude: a prolific writer, an erudite scholar, a prince among church-builders, a successful pastor and an able expounder of the gospel.

The subject of this sketch, Samuel W. Bacote, A.B., A.M., B.D., D.D., saw the light of day February i, 1866, at Society Hill, South Carolina. His parents, Dembo and Harriet Bacote, both rocked in the cradle of slavery, were highly respected and loved by white and black of the entire community. His father possessed superior ability to that of most of the slaves, being able to read and write, and was honored as deputy sheriff of Darlington County for a number of years. His mother- died when Samuel was only three months old, leaving him to the care of his father and grandmother.

At the early age of seven he was sent to the public school and soon showed remarkable ability in reading, orthography, penmanship and mathematics.

At seventeen years of age he entered Benedict College, South Carolina. Having only $17.00 in his pockets, one suit of clothes and sockless feet, he was easily recognized as the poorest boy on the campus. With poverty staring him in the face, he was unmoved, but pressed forward with dauntless courage and tireless zeal until he had reached the goal.

Starting in the lowest class, working at odd hours, he succeeded in three years in graduating from the Normal Department and was elevated to the position of private secretary to the president and director of all the classes in penmanship and bookkeeping. In 1888 he graduated from the higher English course of the school. He then took the public examination and received a first-grade certificate at Anderson Court House.

After serving for one year as principal of Johnston Academy, Edgefield County, South Carolina, he resigned to enter Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina, where he studied for one year.

In the fall of 1889 he matriculated in the Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, and graduated May 17, 1892. with honors, having distinguished himself in Hebrew and Greek, also serving as assistant teacher during the entire course.

In 1892 he was called to the pastorate of the Second Baptist Church, Marion, Alabama, and elected principal of the Baptist Academy. Here he succeeded in a short time in paying off a long-standing debt of the school and raised it to a higher standard, both in the financial and scholastic world.

March 3, 1895, he received a unanimous call to the Second Baptist Church, Kansas City, Missouri. In less than a year he succeeded in canceling a debt of four thousand dollars. Plans were laid for the erection of a superstructure on a large basement, and during the second year of his pastorate he had raised $14,000. In a few years a magnificent edifice was reared as a monument for the Negro Baptists, an ornament and a blessing for the race. During the eighteen years of Dr. Bacote's pastorate he has raised more than $100,000, all of which has been properly expended on the new church, which now stands free of all indebtedness.

io Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists.

Still thirsting 1 and hungering after knowledge and realizing that "the mind is the standard of the man," the Rev. Mr. Bacote in 1896 matriculated at Kansa's City University (white), Kansas City, Kansas, and graduated with the degree of B.A. ; two years later he received the degree of M.A. from the same college. While pursuing his classical course at Kansas City University he was a favorite with his classmates, being the only colored member of the class and the first Negro graduate of the .university. Upon several occasions while a student he was honored with favors, and at one time was the principal speaker to address one of the college fraternities. In 1904 Kansas City University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. /

In 1901 he was elected statistician of the National Baptist Convention. He at once set about his work, bringing it to a high standard, editing the National Baptist Year Book; this so efficiently systematized the various departments of our denominational enterprises, making it an easy matter for any one at a glance through the columns of the Year Book to tell exactly the standing of Negro Baptists of the world.

In 1900 Doctor Bacote was united in holy wedlock to Miss Lucy Bledsoe, Topeka, Kansas. Mrs. Bacote is a most accomplished musician, having studied at the Conservatory of Boston and holding the Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory of Kansas City University. She is at present musical director of the choir of the Second Baptist Church, and in every respect is a helpmeet; refined in bearing, gentle in manners, sweet in disposition and helpful to all, Mrs. Bacote is the silent force that has greatly assisted her husband in attaining the prominence and honors which he holds to-day. Two bright little children bless their home life and give them joy and happiness.

In 1892 Doctor Bacote was a delegate to the Parliament of Religions in connection with the Columbian Exposition. In 1910 he was a delegate with others of the National Baptist

Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists. ii

Convention at the World's Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland.

While abroad he toured Europe, visiting the following points of interest : Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Paris, Modena, Munich, Geneva, Lucerne, Genoa, Rome, Naples, Mount Vesuvius, Milan, Florence, Venice and Oberammergau.

Dr. Bacote is sending forth his first volume. "Who 's Who Among the Colored Baptists." We pray that you will not view this book with a critic's eye. but as you read it for information that you will be able to know the lives and scan the deeds of some of the most brilliant men and women of our great denomination, the largest and most intelligent in the world.

For such a book as this and for the untiring efforts of the author to hand to coming generations this heritage of Negro Baptists, he has erected for himself a monument more enduring than the Pyramids of Egypt or the pride and pomp of marble bust and stone. He has built a monument of honor and virtue, a monument that will last when

E. Arlington Wilson, Pastor of First Baptist Church.

Muskogee, Oklahoma, May 30, 1913.