men, role of, 293–294
Njembe, 295, illustration H
poison, 251–252
polygamy, 243
population, decline in, 288
prostitution, 244
rainforest, life in, 262–263
sailboats, 222, 238, 257
secret societies, 290, 293–295, 367
slave ownership, 224, 227, 239, 249, 250
slave resistance, 251
slave settlements (ompindi), 227
slave trade, 229, 239, 249, 257, 259, 300–301
slaves, fear of, 251
slaves, killing of, 251–252
sophistication, 242–243
storytelling, 225–227
table manners, 248–249
trade dispute with Shékiani, 228–235
war, causes of, 261
witchcraft, 243, 244, 251–252, 320
women, role of, 227, 260–261, 295, illustration I
Mt. Sinai Presbyterian Church, 370, 372
Mt. Zion, S. C., 36, 61, 343, 370
Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church, 285, 326, 354, 370, illustration 4
Nghaga (King George’s Town), 229
Njembe, 295
Njina (gorilla), 281–282, 300, 308
Northern Presbyterian Committee on Freedmen, 355
Northern Presbyterian School, São Paulo, 362
“Notice of the External Characters and Habits of Troglodytes Gorilla, A New Species of Orang from the Gaboon River” (Savage and Wyman), 282
Nullification controversy, 57
Ojo, 264
Old Homestead. See Pine Grove plantation
Ombwiri, 151, 293–294
Ompindi, 227
Opelousas, 151, 153
Or ga, 295
Ossabaw Island, GA, 10, 32, 88
Ozyunga, 253, 277
Pah, 174–177, 232
Palaver, 79, 81–82
Palaver house, 107
Pange. See Fang
Parasites, 296
Patriotism, 334
Pawley Island, SC, 376
Pidgin English, 73, 82, 97, 125, 157, 177, 224, 239
Pine Grove plantation (later Old Homestead)
change of name, 350
Freedpeople’s life at, 348
Gullah culture, 37
landscape of, 39–40, 90
memories that challenge whites’ memories, 37, 357
schools at, 352–353
slave church membership, 37–38
slaves’ identification with landscape, 40–41, 357
Wilsons’ last days at, 370–373
Polygamy, 243, 314
Polygamy, church membership and, 182
Pregnant women, dangers of malaria to, 99
Presbyterian General Assembly, 332–333
Prince Glass’s Town, 278
Princeton Theological Seminary, 25, 43, 55, 56, 131, 311
Protestant missionary movement, xii, 313
Quinine, 100
Racism
at Baraka, 369
colonization as form of, 64
in Liberia, 138–139, 365
in Lowcountry, 31, 57, 58, 60, 335
scientific, xii, 308, 323, 364
in U. S., 63, 134, 188, 308, 335
of Westerners, 110
Religious revival, xii, 44–45
Remboué River, 229, 254, 278
Resistance, slave
charms and conjuring, 16–17
poison, 17
revolt of 1822, 48
runaways, 8
Rice fields, 121–122
Richmond-on-Ogeechee plantation, 31, 59, 213, 344, illustration 2
Rio de Janeiro, 362
Rivers. See Altamaha; Black River; Cavally; Como; Remboué; Savannah River
Rock Town, 105, 107–108, 162
Rockdedundy River, 10
Rome, GA, 343
Root doctors, 17, 37
Roswell, GA, 285, 309
Rum
banned from colonies, 112
as trade for rice, 174
as trade for slaves, 239, 249, 258
Russwurm Island, 305
Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, Salem, SC, 43, 354, illustration 3
São Paulo, 362
Sapelo Island, GA, 10, 32, 88
Sassy wood ordeal, 111, 187–190, 365, illustration 14
Savannah
Philadelphia, contrast to, 29
as place of oppression, 9
Savannah River, importance of to, 3–4
slave life in, 3–4, 6–10
slave markets in, 4, 5, 7
surrender of, 344
Savannah Republican, 24
Savannah River, 3–4
Schools, mission, 102, 103, 162–165, 186, 278
Scientific racism, xii, 323, 364
opposition to slavery, 5
settlement in Lowcountry, 5
as slave owners, 5
Secession Convention, 326
Second African Baptist Church, Savannah, 8
Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, 44, 308
Settlers, African American
business transactions with slave ships, 146
conflict with Grebo, 138–139, 156–157
Davis’s conversion, opposition to, 184
death rate, 192
dependence on Grebo, 135, 138
Grebo church membership, opposition to, 177, 184
Grebo education, concern about, 138
purchase of rice from Grebo, 135
regard of Grebo as beneath them, 74–75, 114, 138
trade with Africans, 75, 138
war with Africans, 307, 317
Shékiani
trade dispute with Mpongwe, 228–235
Walker and, 256
Sherbro Island, 73
Sinoe, 376
Slave markets
in Brazil, 73
in Charleston, 4, 5, 7, 35
in Cuba, 73, 77, 222
drawing, illustration 7
on Goree Island, 93
in Jamaica, 222
in New Orleans, 323
in Savannah, 153
Slave resistance, in Gabon, 224–225, 251
Slave resistance, in US, 8, 16–17, 48
Slave ships, 4, 5, 77, 100, 146, 184, illustration 6
Slave ships, American built, 100, 224, 301
Slave trade, international
abolition of by British and Americans, 249
abolition of by France, 266
by Africans, 126–127, 174, 229, 239, 249, 257, 259
on Atlantic highways, 72
in Brazil, 249, 259, 301, 361
British navy patrols, 249
in Cuba, 77, 249
influence of slave traders, 127
Leighton’s opposition to, 146
provisions for slave ships, 174
reopening of, 324
rum and, 239, 249, 258
statistics on, 361
Slavery, US
church doctrine and, 341
entrenched power of, 283–284
expansion of, 309–310, 323
justification of, 323
proslavery radicals, 324
transition to freedom from, 85–86
Slavery and slaves, in Gabon. See Mpongwe
Slaves, in US
church membership, 37–38, 47, 213
cotton plantations and, 36–37, 192–193
at Fair Hope plantation, 32
freeing, difficulty of, 65
hired out, 19, 29
housing arrangements, 21
listening to stories from Africa, 235
literacy, 20
owners’ power over, 5–6, 39
at Pine Grove plantation, 37–38, 40–41
religious life, 8–9, 37–38
runaway, 8
work of, 5–7, 28
Smallpox, 288, 319
Societies, voluntary, 47–48
South Africa, aggressio
n of white settlers in, 144, 187, 269
South Carolina
secession of from Union, 326
Sherman’s punishment of, 345
slave economy in, 37
South Carolina, 361
Southern Presbyterian Church
commitment to missions, 338, 341, 360
defense of slavery, 341
formation of, 338–340
post-war crisis of faith, 350–352
on responsibilities of church and state, 340–341
Southern Presbyterian Review, 324, 326
Southern whites
inability to understand loss of war, 351
maintenance of Southern way of life, 357–359
misunderstanding of blacks, 356–357
paternalism toward blacks, 352
Spring, Gardiner, 327
St. Catherine’s Island, GA, 10, 32, 88
Storytelling
among Grebo, 175–176
among Gullah, xiii, 11–12, 15–16
among Mpongwe, 225–227
among white Southerners, 22–23, 35
Sunbury, GA, 10
Swimming, 105
Syphilis, 288, 319
“The Foreign Slave Trade: Can It Be Revived Without Violating the Most Sacred Principles of Honor, Humanity, and Religion?” (Wilson), 324
“The State of the Country” (Hodge), 329
Theology, Christian
baptism, 8, 37, 183, 213, 367
belief in Jesus Christ, 26, 46
conversion, 46, 178–179
death, 46, 179–180
eternal life, 180, 342
grace, 26, 179
heaven, 26
hell, 45
hymns, 26, 30, 31, 38, 71, 131, 159, 165, 186, 208, 236, 246, 265, 290, 353, 365
Lord’s Supper, 26, 38, 183, 213
providence, 109–110, 133, 179, 351, 356, 371
resurrection, 169, 180, 342
Sabbath observance, 26
Satan, 234
self-knowledge, 179
sermons, 8, 26, 29, 37, 43, 61, 64, 111, 132, 177–178, 255, 265, 285, 293, 309, 343, 370, illustration N
Tom Larsen’s Town, 254, 259
Tornados, 98
Trade, legitimate, 185
Transportation
canoes, 73, 78, 79, 94, 105, 119, 122, 174, 185
coaches, 24
coastal schooners, 10, 32, 57, 88
Mpongwe sailboats, 222, 238, 257
packet ships, 24
sailboats, 72
sailing ships, 71, 83, 144, 184, 221, 237
schooners, 82, 91, 154
sloops-of-war, 270
trading ships, 100
“Trus-me-Gawds,” 148
Transportation revolution, 309
Tybee Island, GA, 4, 10
US Navy, 204–207, 365–366
Vai, 83, 242
Vandalia, USS, 203, 204
Waterwitch, 228–229, illustration 12
Western Africa: Its History, Condition, and Prospect (Wilson), 314–316
Whitening America, 64, 118
Wife house, 21
William’s Town, 239
Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 35
Witchcraft
in Gabon, 243, 244, 251–252, 320
in Liberia, 111, 188
in Lowcountry, 16–17, 37
Yabo, 176
Yellow fever, 19, 22, 24
Zion Presbyterian Church, Charleston, 308, 357
INDEX OF NAMES
Abbott, Joel, 270, 273
Adger, James, 44, 50, 308, 339
Adger, John
friendship with Leighton, 42
as minister to Charleston blacks, 308
as Southern Presbyterian Church commissioner, 339
on South’s Civil War defeat, 351–352
as translator of Bible, 52, 210
Adger, Margaret, 52–53, 308
Agassiz, Louis, 308
Allison, Francis, 171, 237, 254, 277
Anderson, Rufus
on colony’s authority over mission personnel, 143
Griswold, rebuke of, 207
at Leighton’s commissioning service, 91
on military duty for mission personnel, 195–197
on mission strategy, 91–92
publication of Leighton and Wynkoop’s journals, 88
publication of Leighton’s rescue of Grebo man, 112
publication of Waterwitch adventure, 235
science, control of malaria by, 91
as secretary of American Board, 58
on training indigenous people to produce books, 171
Wilson slaves, arrangements for, 151–152
on Wilsons’ slave ownership, 216
Awĕmĕ, 320
Baker, Daniel, 29
Baker, Maria, 186, 245, 277
Baker, Wasa
at Baraka, 245
conversion, 190
at Episcopal mission, 277
marriage, 186
at Sarekeh, 186
as student at Fair Hope mission, 165
Ballah, Simleh (Bill Williams)
and Grebo culture, 97
as interpreter/translator, 80–81, 102, 125, 132, 170, 177
learning English, 167
as Leighton’s language teacher, 101
meals with Wilsons, 96, 160
as signer of treaty with Liberian government, 317
travel to Baltimore for code of laws, 113, 123
on trip to interior, 124–127
Bancroft, George, 272
Banks, John, 376
Baphro (Joe Holland)
and Grebo culture, 97
interest in school, 96
at palaver about land sale, 80–81
son as student in U.S., 97
Bayard, Andrew, 25
Bayard, Ann Livingston, 23
Bayard, Bubenheim, xii, 22
Bayard, Esther McIntosh, 23, 24
Bayard, James, 25, 62, 210, 211
Bayard, Jane. See Wilson, Jane Bayard
Bayard, Jane (Wâwâ), 228, 290–291
Bayard, Margaret. See Eckard, Margaret Bayard
Bayard, Nicholas
arrangements for emancipated slaves, 149–151
Civil War losses, 344
death of, 370
emancipation of family slaves, 92–93
management of Jane and Leighton’s affairs, 92, 147–149, 213–214
marriages, 213, 285
in Roswell, Ga., 285
Bayard, Nicholas Serle, 22–24
Bayard, Sarah, 25, 89
Bayard, Theodosia, 25, 210, 211, 307
Best, Jacob, 302
Blanco, Pedro, 73, 141, 174
Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 363–364, 377
Bouët-Willaumez, Edouard, 267, 270
Brent, Mrs., 241
See also Edwards, Mrs. John
Brent, Thomas, 241
Bruce, Henry, 275
Bushnell, Albert, 273, 277, 291, 298, 366
Bushnell, Mrs. Albert (formerly Mrs. Stocken), 245, 277, 301, 345
Butler, Fanny Kemble, 10–11
Buxton, Thomas Fowell, 269, 270
Canning, Lord Charles John, 272
Cassell family, 71
Chaillu, Paul Du, 299–300
Charles (Sansay), 5, 19, 29, 93, 155–156, 189, 280
Charlotte (Sansay)
as free person at Cape Palmas, 155–156, 189–190, 214, 280
as personal servant of Jane Bayard, 5, 28, 31
Cinqué, 198
Clay, Eliza
as model for Bayard sisters, 30–31
religious instruction for slaves, 31, 213
as teacher for Margaret Strobel, 59–60, 89
as witness for Wilsons’ commissioning, 92–93
Clay, Joe
accompanies Leighton on first visit to West Africa, 64, 71–72, 80
as clerk and deacon at First Afric
an Baptist, 59, 87–88
Clay, Thomas, 59, 66, 92–93, 213
Clay, Thomas Savage, 31
Clealand, Mary. See Dorsey, Mary Clealand
Coe, George, 254, 277
Cooper, Jane, 237, 245, 292, 299, 302
Cornish, Samuel, 134
Cumming, Joseph, 55
Cunningham, Henry, 8
Davis, William (Mworeh Mah)
conversion of, 179–183, 336
enrollment of daughter in mission school, 120
interconnection with Grebo culture, 180–181
as interpreter/translator, 120, 167, 170
learning English, 167
as Leighton’s guide on trip to interior, 174–177
meals with Wilsons, 96, 160
settlers’ hostility toward, 177, 184
stolen goods dispute, role of in, 203, 206–207
as teacher, 170, 183–184
travel to Denah with Leighton, 120–123
DeHeer, Cornelia, 318, 331, 333, 334, 342, 370, 372
DeHeer, Cornelius, illustration J
Dorsey, Celia, 369
Dorsey, Josiah, 254, 258, 277–278, 299, 368
Dorsey, Mary Clealand
children of, 368–369
marriage, 278
naming of, 120
as teacher at Baraka, 245, 277–278
teaching alphabet to father, 167
Dorsey, Sarah, 369
Dorsey, William Leighton, 278, 368–369
Douglass, Frederick, 284
Drayton, Jenkins, 317
Dyer, Samuel, 270, 321
Eckard, James
at Ceylon mission, 89, 210
engagement and marriage, 5, 34, 55, 59
as pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 282
return to US, 210, 213
reunion with Wilsons, 282, 307
Eckard, John Leighton, 282
Eckard, Margaret Bayard
at Ceylon mission, 89, 210
death of, 370
emancipation of Hutchinson Island slaves, 93, 214
engagement and marriage, 5, 34, 55, 59
at Fair Hope plantation, 31
in Philadelphia, 25–28
return to US, 210
reunions with Wilsons, 213, 282, 307, 347
in Savannah, 5–6
Edwards, John Mr. and Mrs., 241, 254, 258, 277
Edwards, Peter, 247
English, Thomas Reese, 326
Ford, C.A., 302, 319
Freeman, King (Pah Nemah)
death of, 306
negotiations for mission land, 81–82
palaver to settle colonists’ complaints, 114–115
Russwurm, relationship with, 279, 306
sassy wood ordeal and, 187
stolen goods dispute and, 202, 205
Wilsons, relationship with, 95–96, 160
Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 286
Garrison, William Lloyd, 63, 134, 144, 284
Gatoomba, 158
George, King (Rassondji), 257, 263
Girardeau, John Lafayette, 308, 357
Glass, King (R’Ogouarouwé)
acceptance of French officials’ gift, 289