|×|-
|-

WILLIAM L. CLEMENTS
LIBRARY
-
Purchased from the
Trust Fund of
Lathrop Colgate Harper
LITT. D.










MARY S. PEAKE,
Tº ſºlorth Jºhtºr at jurirt; tımrot.
By REV. LEWIS C. LOCKWOOD,
FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE FREEDMEN AT FORTRESS MONR0E, 1862.
WITH AN APPENDIX.
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
28 CoRNHILL, Boston.



C O N T E N T S.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Birth and Parentage. – Education.— Religious Convic-
tions.— Prayers in the Tomb. —Union with the Church.
– Labors for the Poor. — Marriage.
. . . . . . . . . . - 5
CHAPTER II."
Commencement of the Mission at Fortress Monroe. —
Flight of the Rebels from Hampton.— Burning of the
Town. — The Place reoccupied by Freedmen. . . . . . . 16
CHAPTER III.
Opening of Religious Services and Schools. – Mrs. Peake
a Teacher. — Singing in the Schools. – Christmas Fes-
tival. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 30
CHAPTER IV.
Failure of Health. – Religious Joy. — Farewell Messages.
— Death. – Funeral. – Conclusion.
. . . . . . . . . . . 39
APPENDIX. . . . . .
- - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . 53
(8)


MARY S. PEAKE.
CEIAPTER I.
Birth and Parentage.—Education. – Religious Convictions.
–Prayers in the Tomb.-Union with the Church.-
Labors for the Poor. — Marriage.
THE subject of this narrative was born
in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1823. Her maiden
name was Mary Smith Kelsey. Her moth-
er was a free colored woman, very light,
and her father a white man—an Eng-
lishman of rank and culture. She was a
very lovely child in person and manners,
and as she grew up, developed traits of
character which made her a universal fa-
vorite.
(5)

6 MARY S. PEAKE,
When she was six years old, her mother
sent her to Alexandria, for the purpose of
attending school. She remained there in
school about ten years, residing with her
aunt, Mary Paine. Mrs. Paine occupied a
house belonging to Mr. Rollins Fowle, and
near his residence. This gentleman and
his family were distinguished for their
kindness to colored people. He frequently
bought slaves who were in danger of being
sold into bad hands, gave them their free-
dom, and set them up in business. John
Paine, Mary's uncle, was one whom he
freed in this way. Mary was a great pet
in Mr. Fowle's family, and was treated
almost like a daughter.
A schoolmate of hers, now residing in
Providence, Rhode Island, says Mary was
a very amiable girl, and a good student.
They for a time attended a select colored
school taught by a colored woman. Af
terward they attended a colored school

THE COLORED TEACHER. 7
taught by white teachers. The last teach-
er was Mr. Nuthall, an Englishman. He
taught till a law of Congress enacted that
the law of Virginia in relation to free col-
ored people should prevail in the District
of Columbia. This was several years be-
fore Alexandria was retroceded to Vir-
ginia. This law closed all colored schools
in the city. Mary was compelled to leave
the school in consequence of being in-
formed of as having come from Virginia.
- While at school, Mary acquired a good
English education, and, in addition to this,
a knowledge of various kinds of needle-
work, and also dress-making. Her aunt
was a devoted Christian, and no doubt had
a very happy influence on Mary. Her
mother also was converted when Mary was
two or three years old. Under these influ
ences she was early the subject of serious
impressions. Though fond of general
reading and study, there was no book she

8 MARY S. PEAKE,
loved so well as the Bible. This was her
companion and text book, and she com-
mitted large portions of it to memory.
When sixteen years old, having finished
her education, she returned to her mother,
at Norfolk. Soon afterward, those reli-
gious elements which had existed from
early childhood — grown with her growth
and strengthened with her strength – be-
came dominant by the grace of God, and
asserted their power over her.
Near her residence was a garden, con-
nected with a large old mansion, between
Fenchurch and Church Streets. In this
garden was a dilapidated family tomb. It
was impressed on her mind that she must
go into this tomb to pray. At the dead
hour of night she sought this gloomy
abode of moldering coffins and scattered
bones. As she entered and knelt in the
death cell, she trembled with a fear which
her prayers could not dissipate. Quickly

THE COLORED TEACHER. 9
and stealthily she retraced her steps, and
hurried back to her home. Yet the next
night, this girl of sixteen had the courage
to seek the dismal place again, and the
next night yet again, with similar results.
But at length light broke upon the dark-
ness of the tomb, and it became a place
of delightful communion with her Lord ;
whence it was afterward called “Mary's
parlor.” At the midnight hour, she left
the tomb, and broke the silence of the
night with a jubilant song, fearless of the
patrol. The song was this strain of Watts,
in which many a saint has poured forth
his soul: —
“Stand up, my soul, shake off thy fears,
And gird the gospel armor on ;
March to the gates of endless joy,
Where Jesus, thy great Captain, 's gone.
* Hell and thy sins resist thy course,
But hell and sin are vanquished foes;
Thy Jesus nailed them to the cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.

10 MARY S. PEAKE,
“Then let my soul march boldly on,
Press forward to the heavenly gate;
There peace and joy eternal reign,
And glittering robes for conquerors wait.
“There shall I wear a starry crown,
And triumph in almighty grace;
While all the armies of the skies
Join in my glorious Leader's praise.”
This strain fell on the waking ears of
ladies in the house adjacent to the tomb,
and they inquired, “What sweet music is
that 7 Who is serenading at this hour?”
Little did they know the spirit-promptings
of that song.
Soon after this, Mary went to visit some
friends in Hampton. As she entered the
yard, and approached the house, she sang
another expressive hymn of Watts : —
“Firm as the earth thy gospel stands,
My Lord, my Hope, my Trust;
If I am found in Jesus' hands,
My soul can ne'er be lost.

THE COLORED TEACHER. 11
“His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All whom his heavenly Father gave
His hands securely keep.
“Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove
His favorites from his breast;
Safe on the bosom of his love
Shall they for ever rest.”
Her friends opened the door at the
sound of the tender music, and as they
looked on her face, and listened to her
song, they were overcome, and could not
restrain their emotions.
Soon afterward, she united with the
First Baptist Church in Norfolk, on Bute
Street. The pastor was Rev. James A.
Mitchell, who served the church from the
time of Nat Turner's insurrection till his
death, about 1852. He was emphatically
a good man, and a father to the colored
people—a very Barnabas, “son of consola-
tion” indeed. A considerable portion of

12 MARY S. PEAKE,
his church were colored people, and he
would visit them at their houses, take meals
with them, and enter into their affairs, tem-
poral and spiritual, with a true and zealous
heart. He never loved slavery ; his pri-
vate opinion was against it, but he was
obliged to be cautious in the expression of
his sentiments. He endured great trials
for this proscribed class, and was almost a
martyr in their behalf, his pastorate having
begun just after Nat Turner's insurrection,
which caused great persecution and re-
striction of privileges. But the Lord was
with him, and made him to triumph.
Mary's mother says that she delighted to
visit the poor in Norfolk, and especially the
aged. A very old man, in the suburbs,
often came to Jher door, and never went
empty away; and frequently at evening
she would go and carry him warm tea, and
in the winter she brought him wood in
small armfuls. When he died, he said he

THE COLORED TEACHER. 13
wanted Mary to have all that belonged to
him. Though he was scarcely worth three
cents, it was a rich heart gift.
Her Christian course was marked with
usefulness. Self-denying devotion to the
glory of God and the good of others char-
acterized her earlier, as her later career.
A deacon of the church on whom the wri-
ter called when recently in Norfolk, says
she had a strong desire for the conversion
of souls, and was often found exhorting
them to repentance. Other members of
the church bore the highest testimony to
her uniform Christian deportment.
In 1847, Mary’s mother was married to
Thompson Walker, and bought a house in
Hampton, where they resided until the
town was burned by the rebels in 1861.
Though sustaining herself by her needle,
Mary found time for many labors of love.
Among other things, she originated a be-
nevolent society, called the “Daughters of

14 MARY S. PEAKE,
Zion,” designed for ministration to the
poor and the sick. It is still in existence.
Her house, like that of Mary and Mar-
tha of old, was a place of spiritual resort.
There the pastor, deacons, and other lead-
ing members of the church found con-
genial society. She early began the ex-
ercise of her gifts as a teacher. At that
time, fifteen years ago, she had among her
pupils Thompson Walker, her stepfather,
William Thornton, and William Davis, all
now able and eloquent exhorters. She
was afterward of great service to others,
who are now efficient exhorters and mem-
bers of the church. Up to the time of the
burning of Hampton, she was engaged in
instructing children and adults, through
her shrewdness and the divine protection
eluding the vigilance of conservators of
the slave law, or, if temporarily interfered
with, again commencing and prosecuting
her labors of love with cautious fearless-

THE COLORED TEACHER. 15
ness, and this in the midst of the infirmi-
ties attending a feeble constitution.
In 1851, Mary was married to Thomas
Peake, formerly a slave, but afterward a
free man, light colored, intelligent, pious,
and in every respect a congenial com-
panion, with whom she lived happily till
her decease.
The bereaved husband bears affectionate
testimony to the strong mind and sound
judgment which dwelt in that feeble frame.
He loves to speak of his indebtedness to
her richly stored mind for much of his
knowledge of the Bible. At his request,
she would sit for hours and relate Bible
history. Others of our leading brethren
also gratefully acknowledge that they have
drawn largely from the same storehouse of
biblical and varied knowledge.

16 MARY S. PEAKE,
CEIAPTER II.
Commencement of the Mission at Fortress Monroe. -
Flight of the Rebels from Hampton. — Burning of the
Town. — The Place reoccupied by Freedmen.
ABOUT the first of September, 1861, the
writer commenced the mission at Fortress
Monroe, under the auspices of the Ameri-
can Missionary Association, and was quar-
tered in a building called the Seminary.
Three months before this, the Union troops
entered Hampton from Old Point. The
exciting scenes connected with this event
have been narrated to me by eye-witnesses.
Among these troops were Duryea’s Zou-
aves, called by the people “red men,”
from the color of their dress.
The utmost consternation seized the
inhabitants of Hampton, when they found
the Union troops were approaching. Many

THE COLORED TEACHER. 17
of the colored people even were in a state
of suspense. All kinds of stories had been
told in regard to what the Yankees would
do with them. Yet hope predominated
over fear. They could hardly believe that
the Yankees meant them any harm. But
unmitigated fear filled the breasts of the
secessionists. There had been loud boasts
of what they would do; but when the red
trowsers approached, their bravery all ran
down into their nimble feet. The battery
of several large guns which they had
planted, and which might have done great
mischief to the Union troops, had they
been bravely manned, was drawn off. In
their confusion, the bridge was first fired,
and then the fire extinguished. Men,
Women, and children ran screaming in
every direction, crying, “They come! they
come ! What shall we do **
Here is a man within doors, gun in
hand, pacing the floor in consternation,
2

18 MARY S. PEAKE,
ever and anon rushing to the window,
and casting a frightened glance in the
direction of the road from the fort, till he
espies the Turk-like looking forms, moving
“double quick,” when he darts from the
house, screaming, “They are coming they
are coming l’’ Off he flies, with the fleet-
ness of fear, and in a few moments is seen
In O In Ore.
But in one house there are two indi-
viduals, fearless and calm : Mrs. Peake
and her little daughter Daisy sit alike un-
alarmed ; the one in child-like faith, the
other in child-like simplicity. Mrs. Walker,
Mrs. Peake's mother, is in a neighbor's
house. Some time previous, the lady of
the house, an intimate friend, having great
confidence in sister Walker's prayers, said
to her, “Sally, you must pray harder.”
“Oh,” said she, “I do pray as hard as
I can.”
“How do you pray, Sally * *

THE COLORED TEACHER. 19
“I pray that the Lord's will may be
done.”
” said one
“You don’t pray right, Sally,
of them; “you must pray for Jeff Davis.”
“Oh,” said she, “I pray as well as I
can, and as hard as I can. I am praying
all the time.”
“That's right,” said the other; “pray
on, Sally — your prayer will surely be
heard. You can’t pray any better prayer
than you do. Pray that the Lord's will
may be done: I am sure it is the Lord’s
will that the Yankees should not come
here to disturb us; and I have faith to
believe they will not. Pray on, Sally;
pray as hard as you can.”
“I will, ma'am.”
Time passed on ; and now, on that fear.
ful morning, just after the sun has peeped
above the horizon, lo, the Yankees. The
strong faith above expressed fails the pos-
SeSSOr ; and she, who would scarcely have

20 MARY S. PEAKE,
set foot on the ground for very delicacy,
and who would not have been seen riding
out, unless in a fine carriage, drawn by
fine horses, elegantly harnessed, is now
heard calling for any old horse or mule,
and any rickety wagon or cart, with rope
harness—any thing—any thing to take
her out of the reach of the Yankees |
Masters and mistresses are now turned
fugitives.
Here is one of many interviews between
masters and slaves.
“What's the matter, master 7 °
“Oh, the Yankees are coming 1°
“Are they are they : What shall I
do, master 7" with affected tokens of
fear.
“Get out of the town as soon as you
can.”
“Oh, master, I'm afraid to leave the
house. Oh, those Yankees' Do you think
they will hurt me * *

THE COLORED TEACHER. 21
“Yes, they’ll take you and sell you off
to Cuba. Perhaps they’ll kill you.”
“Will they, master 7 ° -
“Yes, I tell you; why don’t you leave
the town, you rascal ?”
“Oh, master, I don’t know what to do.
You an’t a-going to leave us for the
Yankees to catch; are you ?”
“Yes, I’m off, and you better be off
with yourself — if you don't I’ll shoot
you.”
“Oh, master, don’t shoot me — don't
leave me!”
“There they come !”
“Where, master, where 2 where 7°
“I can't stop–good by—you better
be off!”
But Tony laughs in his sleeve, and says,
with upturned eyes, “I’m not afraid of
the Yankees | Bless God, old master's
gone- hope he'll never come back any
more l’”

22 MARY S. PEAKE,
The Zouaves, on “double quick,” ap-
proach nearer, and up rides one of the
secessionists, in hot haste.
“What's the matter, master What's
the matter 7 ° inquires an intelligent ne-
grO.
“Oh, matter enough, you villain. You
brought all this trouble on us. I am dis-
appointed in you ; I thought you would
stick by us; but you desert your best
friends in extremity. You won’t find
those Yankees what you expect.”
“Oh, master, won’t you stay and pro-
tect us '' -
“No ; good by, you villain. I’m out
of town, and so you had better be, very
quick.” And on he flies.
The Zouaves are now crossing the bridge,
— now they enter the town, - and as they
pass through street after street, with hats
off, they bow politely to the colored people,
who cheer them from doors and windows.

THE COLORED TEACHER. 23
Now every fear is dissipated. Colored
knees are bent, and colored lips praise the
Lord. The hope that had all along pre-
dominated over fear is more than met,
and the town is full of gladness. The
tidings spread, and the place is soon
thronged with colored people from the
country around.
But how different with the white inhab-
itants Go with me to the Sinclair estate
—a mile or two north of the town. One
of the officers rides up to the house, and
SayS,-
“Do you own this place 7"
“Yes.”
“Well, deliver up all your horses.”
Sam Simpson, the colored foreman, says,
“Boys, bring up the horses.”
“Oh, sir, spare an old man l’”
“Hurry out those horses 1’’
“Oh, Sam, stand by me! Oh, dear, I
shall die! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave
Inne ! 22

24 MARY S. PEAKE,
Poor old man His ill-gotten riches are
taking wings; the day of retribution has
come upon him, and, in spite of a sense
of its justice, we can not withhold our
pity.
The colored people were soon set to
work in constructing the battery in Hamp-
ton, under the superintendence of Mr.
Pierce, of the Massachusetts regiment,
since then superintendent of the Port
Royal cotton culture. They worked with
a will, so that he was obliged to suspend
labor during the heat of the day, lest they
should over-exert themselves. After a
month had elapsed, the battle of Big
Bethel was fought, and not won ; and
soon after, the disastrous defeat and flight
of Bull Rum occurred.
To reënforce the army of the Potomac
a large part of the troops at Fortress
Monroe were ordered away. General But-
ler, concluding that he had not sufficient

THE COLORED TEACHER. 25
force to hold Hampton, ordered it to be
evacuated. He gave a week's notice to
the colored people to leave, and find refuge
on the other side of the bridge. But
many of them delayed too long, and were
able to move but a part of their goods;
in consequence of which they suffered
serious loss.
Among these was Mr. Peake. He lost
a large part of his furniture, as well as
his two houses. The order of the rebel
General Magruder to fire the place was
a gross exhibition of vandalism, without
the justifiable plea of military necessity.
The incendiary work began on the west
side of the village, and spread toward the
wharves. Hemmed in by the conflagra-
tion on one side, and our firing on the
opposite shore, many of the executers of
the order fell dead or wounded, and were
consumed by the voracious flames. Those
who witnessed it said it was an appalling
sight.

26 MARY S. PEAKE,
The evacuation took place on the 7th
and the conflagration on the 8th of Au-
gust. I arrived about a month afterward,
and on visiting Hampton, in company with
the provost marshal, Captain Burleigh, I
found only about half a dozen houses that
had escaped. One large house had had
its floor fired, but the fire had mysteriously
gone out, without doing much damage.
A large new building, a little out of town,
was also standing uninjured. But the
most of the village was a charred ruin;
the unsightly chimneys, and a few more
or less dilapidated walls, surviving to tell
the story of what had been. -
Thus the place remained in abandoned
isolation during the winter. But with the
beginning of spring, the progress of our
arms opened Hampton to reoccupation.
It was thought proper that those who,
during the winter, had been confined in
large houses, overcrowded, should at once

THE COLORED TEACHER. 27
build up the ruins, and provide themselves
homes. To this end, application was
made for an appropriation of government
lumber for past services. Some lumber
was received in this way, and the evacua-
tion of the camps by the soldiers, who
had winter quarters here, furnished still
In 101°C.
Quite a large number of neat cottages
have already been built. I encouraged
the people to build these small tenements
on lots belonging to the most decided
rebels, hoping that, if not claimed by
former owners, these homesteads would be
given to the occupants by government.
Thus Hampton is becoming quite a thriv-
ing, free settlement, supported by fishing,
oystering, huckstering, artisanship, gar-
dening, and farming. Colored people have
settled on farms vacated by owners, and
will do well in keeping dairies, and culti-

28 MARY S. PEAKE,
vating the land, and gathering its fruit,
if not molested.
The old court-house walls, that sur-
vived the fire, have been inclosed for a
church and school house. The work was
done by colored mechanics. It seems fit
that this place, where injustice has been
sanctioned by law, should be converted
into a sanctuary of justice, righteousness,
and free education.
We consider that we are here trying
the very highest experiment with ex-slaves.
They are here emphatically “turned loose,”
and are shifting for themselves, – doing
their own head-work and hand-work. It
is not to be expected that on the “sacred
soil of Virginia” this experiment should
be carried out without encountering diffi-
culties; but we feel it to be a thing of
blessed interest to follow as Providence
leads, and do the work of faith and love,

THE COLORED TEACHER. 29
leaving the result with him. There is
inspiration in the reflection that we are
doing a representative work, and whatever
the issue, the work will not be burned up,
nor the workers permitted to suffer essen.
tial loss. We know that our labor is not
in vain in the Lord.

30 MARY S. PEAKE,
CHAPTER III.
Opening of Religious Services and Schools.-Mrs. Peake a
Teacher.—Singing in the Schools.-Christmas Festival.
THE religious and educational part of
the mission has been one of blessedness
and promise. And in this, as in every
thing else, I have aimed to teach self-
development. In connection with the
gathering of the people in religious meet-
ings, I proposed to commence Sabbath and
week-day schools, with such teachers as I
had at hand. Meanwhile, some of the chil-
dren of the vicinity, getting perhaps some
hint of my intention, or prompted by an
impulse from on high, called on Mrs. Peake,
and requested her to teach them, as she
had taught the children in Hampton.
It was with much gratification that I

THE COLORED TEACHER. 31
learned this request. I soon found from
observation, as well as information, that we
had in her a teacher of the choicest spirit,
and of peculiar qualifications. She was
happy in having pupils as ready to learn
as to request instruction. Her school
numbered at first only about half a dozen,
but in a few days she had between fifty
and sixty. These scholars were found to
have generally very fair intellectual capa-
bilities, and a few evinced quite rare tal-
ents. Among these was her own little
daughter, five years old, named Hattie, but
familiarly called by the pet name of Daisy.
She learned to read simple lessons fluently
in a very short time. Others also exhib-
ited a precocity which from day to day re-
Warded and stimulated the ardor of this
devoted teacher.
Mrs. Peake was not satisfied with the
ordinary routine of the week-day school
room, but felt that the teacher of a mission

32 MARY S. PEAKE,
school should aim to educate the children
for eternity as well as for time. She found
great assistance in the primer, catechism,
and other elementary religious books, with
which she had been furnished. She felt
that the teachings of the week-day school
ought to be largely preparatory to the re-
hearsals of the Sabbath school. What an
impression for good would be made upon
the rising generation, were this course uni-
versally pursued
Mrs. Peake deeply realized that every
undertaking, and especially that of train-
ing the young, should be begun and con-
tinued with prayer. She not only prayed
with her pupils, but taught them to pray.
Having a rich store of scriptural knowl-
edge, and feeling its worth, and the im-
portance of simplifying it to the young, in
order to awaken their interest, she be-
stowed special attention on catechetical
instruction. Not satisfied with having

THE COLORED TEACHER. 33
Scripture truths committed to memory,
she explained and inculcated them, with
line upon line and precept upon precept,
drawn from her own knowledge and expe-
rience. I can not think that this spiritual
instruction interfered in the least with the
other, but rather was a handmaid to it,
furnishing a pleasant as well as profitable
variety, awakening and developing heart
and mind at once.
Mrs. Peake also considered singing an
important part of a right education.
Among the favorite hymns first learned
and sung in her school were, “I want to
be an angel,” “There is a happy land,”
“Around the throne of God in heaven,”
“Here we meet to part again,” “In heaven
We part no more,” and others of kindred
spirit, so familiar in the Sabbath schools at
the North. How ardent was her desire to
win the young intellect and affections for
Jesus and heaven With strict appropri-
3

34 MARY S. PEAKE,
ateness may we apply to her the poet's
language, –
“And as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
She tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.”
While Mrs. Peake attached prime impor-
tance to the training of the rising genera-
tion, she felt that great improvement might
be made among the adults. This view
inspired her action from the first in Hamp-
ton, and with a blessed result, that is now
apparent to all. She was accordingly very
ready to gratify the desire of a number of
adults for an evening school, notwithstand-
ing her increasing infirmities. The result
is, that several, who scarcely knew the al-
phabet before, now begin to read with con-
siderable readiness.
In these multiplied labors, she exhibited
a martyr spirit, of the true type. Often
when she was confined to her bed, her

THE COLORED TEACHER. 35
pupils would be found around her, draw-
ing knowledge as it were from her very
life. Again and again did Dr. Browne,
brigade surgeon, who concerned himself
for her like a brother, advise her to con-
sider her weakness, and intermit her ex-
hausting duties. The scene of these labors
was the Brown Cottage, near the seminary,
fronting on Hampton Roads. The school
room was the front room, first story. Her
own family apartment was the front room,
second story. It will ever be a place about
which precious memories will linger.
It was proposed that, on Christmas day,
the children of the school should have a
festival. All the week previous, they were
busy, with their teacher, in preparations
and rehearsals. A large room on the first
floor of the seminary was decorated with
evergreens for the occasion, and at one end
a platform was constructed. At an early
hour in the evening, the room was crowded

36 MARY S. PEAKE,
with colored children and adults, and sol-
diers and officers. The programme opened
with the singing of “My country, 'tis of
thee.” Chaplain Fuller read the account
of the nativity of Christ. Dr. Linson
prayed. Then the children discoursed
very sweet music in solo, semi-chorus, and
chorus, and at intervals spoke pieces in a
very commendable manner, considering
that it was probably the first attempt of
colored children in the South.
Little Daisy, (Mrs. Peake's only child,)
about five years old, was the acknowledged
star of the evening. She sang very pret-
tily in solo, and also in connection with the
chorus. She sang alone the whole of the
hymn, “I want to be an angel.”
I spoke of the contrast between the pres-
ent and the past. A year ago, white chil-
dren in Hampton could enjoy a scene of
this kind, but colored children were ex-
cluded. But now times have changed.

THE COLORED TEACHER. 37
The white man's child is away, and the
colored man’s child is on the stage, and
swells the choral song. And this is but a
miniature picture of what will be. The
present is prophetic of the future. The
few hundred children about Fortress Mon-
roe, now gathered into schools, after the
pattern of this first school, are types of one
million of children throughout the sunny
South, on whom the sunlight of knowledge
is yet to shine.
After the concert exercises, the members
of the school and others repaired to the
Brown Cottage. Here we were conducted
into the school room, which, like the con-
cert room, was tastefully decorated with
evergreens; and we filed around a long
table laden with refreshments, and sur-
rounded with Christmas trees, loaded with
good things, all gotten up spontaneously
by, and at the expense of the colored
people in the neighborhood. The viands

38 MARY S. PEAKE,
were partaken of with a relish, and by
unanimous consent it was declared a merry
Christmas of the right type; the children
sang, “ Merry Christmas to all! Merry
Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!”

THE COLORED TEACHER. 39
CHAPTER IV.
Failing of Health. – Religious Joy. —Farewell Messages.-
Death. – Funeral. – Conclusion.
AFTER the exciting scenes of the Christ-
mas festival, Mrs. Peake's health sensibly
declined, and in a week or two she was
obliged to suspend, and soon to give up
entirely, the charge to which she had
clung with such tenacity. I visited her
frequently, and was the bearer of clothing
and other tokens from friends at the North.
Every thing in our power was done to
cheer her, and never were ministerings
more cordially bestowed, or more grate-
fully received and richly repaid. To visit
her had always been a privilege, but the
privilege was doubly precious during her
last illness. To see how a frail woman,

40 MARY S. PEAKE,
with an exquisitely nervous temperament,
could deliberately and calmly bid farewell
to family, pupils, and friends, and yield
herself into her Father's hands, to pass
through the ordeal of sickness and death,
was a privilege and a blessing.
In her presence I was a learner, and,
under the inspiration of her words and
example, obtained new strength for fresh
endeavors in the cause of God and human-
ity. In one of my visits, she told me that
I must give her love to the committee in
New York, and all the friends of the mis-
sion; that she had had a bright vision of
her Saviour, and he had assured her that
the cause would triumph; that we were
sowing seed which would spring up and
become a tree, to overspread the whole
earth; that we should be a great blessing
to this down-trodden people, and they
would fulfill a glorious destiny. “Oh,
yes,” said she, “brother Lockwood, you

THE COLORED TEACHER. 41
will succeed, for Jesus has told me so this
morning.”
For two weeks previous to her death, she
seemed to be in the “land of Beulah,” on
the “mountains of the shepherds,” where,
like Bunyan's pilgrim, she could clearly
descry the promised land. She had a
strong desire to depart and be with Christ,
which was far better than even his most
intimate earthly visits. Again and again,
as I called to see her, she assured me that
she had had a fresh visit from her Saviour,
and he had told her that where he was she
should be, and she would be like him when
she should see him as he is. She knew
not where in the universe heaven might
be, but where her Saviour was, there would
be her heaven, for she would be with
him.
Her constantly increasing cough and
expectoration, though not attended with
much pain, were, as usual, accompanied

42 MARY S. PEAKE,
with uneasiness, want of sleep, and great
weakness, which made her frequently re-
quest prayer that she might have patience
to bear all without a murmur, and await
her Father's will. She wanted to say, with
the feelings of Job, “All the days of my
appointed time will I wait, till my change
come. I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
At one time, her symptoms seemed more
favorable, and I expressed a hope of her
recovery. “No,” said she “I have taken
leave of my family, and of every thing on
garth, and I would rather go, if it be God's
will; only I want to wait patiently till he
comes to call me.” Her husband and
mother told me that, during the previous
night, she had bidden them all farewell,
and left farewell messages for her school,
and the church, and all her friends. She
had thus set her house in order, to die, or,
rather, to live a diviner life, and she was
waiting the summons home. She said that

THE COLORED TEACHER. 43
she felt like a little child in her Father's
arms; and if, by lifting a pebble, she could
hold back her spirit, she would not do it.
Several days before her death, she re-
quested me to sing “The Christian's Home
in Glory,” or “Rest for the Weary’” — a
hymn, with its tune, dear to her for itself and
for its associations. As I repeated the cho-
rus, she exclaimed, again and again, with
great tenderness and emphasis, “Rest, rest,
rest! Oh, brother Lockwood, there I shall
rest, rest, rest This weary head shall
rest on my Saviour's bosom.”
When I had sung the last stanza, -
“Sing, oh, sing, ye heirs of glory,
Shout your triumph as you go,” – .
she burst out in an ecstasy that seemed as
if the spirit would break away from the
body, “Oh, brother, I shall sing ! I shall
shout! Won't we sing? Won’t we shout?
Yes, we shall—we shall sing and shout!”

44 MARY S. PEAKE,
On Saturday morning, February 22, she
was in a very happy frame of mind, and
said that she had had precious visits from
her Saviour; he had told her that he was
coming soon, and would fulfill her heart's
desire in taking her to him. Her mother
said, that during the previous night she
had been constantly reaching up, and
sometimes she would cry out, with great
earnestness, “Do not leave me, dear Jesus.”
She requested me to sing for her, and I
sung, “The Shining Shore,” and “Home-
ward Bound.” During the singing of the
last stanza of the latter song, she was filled
with joy.
“Into the harbor of heaven now we glide,
We're home at last !
Softly we drift o'er its bright silver tide,
We’re home at last ! -
Glory to God! All our dangers are o'er;
We stand secure on the glorified shore;
Glory to God! we will shout evermore,
We’re home at last !”

TEIE COLORED TEACHER. 45
“Yes,” she exclaimed, “home at last!
Glory to God! Home at last ! Oh, I
shall soon be home — home — home at
last !”
On the night of that day, about twelve
o'clock, her waiting, longing spirit went
home. Washington’s birthday was her
birthday to a higher life. After many a
sleepless night, this last evening she was
permitted to rest quietly, till the midnight
cry struck upon her ear, “Behold, the
bridegroom cometh l’’ It found her ready,
with her lamp trimmed and burning.
Calling for her mother, she threw herself
into her embrace, as her spirit did into the
embrace of her Saviour.
Just at midnight, on all the ships in
Hampton Roads, – and which are so near
us that the cry on shipboard is distinctly
heard on shore, — the watchman cried
aloud, as usual, “Twelve o’clock, and all's
well!” The sound penetrated the sick

46 MARY S. PEAKE,
chamber, and the dying invalid apparently
heard it. She smiled sweetly, and then
breathed her last sigh, and entered upon
that rest which remains for the people
of God.
The next morning, which was the Sab-
bath, I called, and found her husband and
mother bearing up under their bereave-
ment with Christian fortitude. They
could smile through their tears; though
they wept, it was not as those who have no
hope. In the services of the day, the be-
reaved were remembered in fervent, sym-
pathizing prayer. We all felt sorely af.
flicted, and would have grieved, but for the
thought that our temporary loss was her
eternal gain. In the evening, a prayer
meeting was held till midnight in the room
where her body lay; but all felt like say-
ing, She is not here; her spirit is with
her Father and our Father, her God and
our God.

THE COLORED TEACHER. 47
On Monday, at eleven o’clock, a large
concourse assembled at her funeral. We
met in her school room, at the Brown Cot-
tage, a place sweetened and hallowed by
associations with her crowning labors, and
thus a fit place for these leave-taking ser-
vices. The occasion was one of mingled
sorrow and joy. The services were begun
by singing, according to her request, the
familiar hymn, -
“I would not live alway,” –
” in which
to the tune of “Sweet Home,
it is generally sung by the people here,
with the chorus, –
“Home! Home ! Sweet, sweet home !
There's no place like heaven, there's no place like
home 1”
The impression was very thrilling.
Chaplain Fuller, of the sixteenth Massa-
chusetts regiment, offered prayer — pray-
ing fervently for the bereaved mother and

48 . MARY S. PEAKE,
husband, and for little Daisy, who would
one day realize more than now a mother's
Worth by her loss. We then sung, accord-
ing to her request, her favorite hymn,
“The Christian's Home in Glory,” or
“Rest for the Weary.” I selected for my
text Hebrews 4: 9 – “There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God.” At
the conclusion of the sermon the children
Sang, —
“Here we suffer grief and pain;
Here we meet to part again;
In heaven we part In O In Ore.
Oh, that will be joyful,
Joyful, joyful, joyful,
Oh, that will be joyful,
When we meet to part no more.
“Little children will be there,
Who have sought the Lord by prayer,
From every Sabbath school.
Oh, that will be joyful, &c.
“Teachers, too, shall meet above,
And our pastors, whom we love,
Shall meet to part no more.
Oh, that will be joyful,” &c.

THE COLORED TEACHER. 49
The coffin was then opened, and we
took the last, lingering look at a face
whose heavenly lineaments I can never
forget.
In long procession, in which her recent
charge bore a prominent part, we accom-
panied her to her resting place. The place
of her sepulture is about a hundred yards
north of the seminary, on the bank of
the inlet. A live-oak tree stands at her
head, projecting its emblematic evergreen
foliage over the sod-roofed tenement.
The departed selected, as a remembrance
of her immortality, the 17th verse of the
118th Psalm, “I shall not die, but live.”
The thirty-nine years of her earthly exist-
ence were but the prelude to a life beyond
the sky; and while her spirit survives the
ravages of death, her name shall live in
memory.
In this unpretending memoir may its
4.

50 MARY S. PEAKE,
subject live again, and not in vain. May
teachers gather from her example fresh
inspiration, and the benevolent Christian
fresh impulses in doing good. May they
who enjoy advantages superior to those
of her proscribed race, take heed lest the
latter, by the better improvement of the
little light enjoyed, rise up in the judg-
ment and condemn them.
Let Sabbath scholars, and children of
pious parentage and Christian education,
who from earliest years have not only
been taught to lisp the Saviour's name,
but to read it, pity the slave child, shut
out from such advantages, and give heed
to instruction, lest, having more given and
unimproved, they be beaten with many
stripes. Let all who have an interest at
the throne of grace remember little Daisy,
and pray that she may walk in her moth-
er's footsteps, as far as she followed Christ,
only following more closely, attaining still

THE COLORED TEACHER. 51
greater excellence, achieving still greater
usefulness, and winning a still brighter
crown of glory. -
As the enlarging harvest field whitens
into ripeness, may the Lord of the harvest
send forth an increasing number of labor-
ers. Oh, who will give ear to the echoing
cry, “Come over and help us”? Come to
the harvest work, and you too, with arms
full of golden sheaves, shall shout the
harvest home. Who will pay the hire of
the laborers ? Who will lend to the Lord
the capital needful to secure the harvest
in season and well ? For such there shall
be untold riches laid up in heaven. And
who will sustain those who bear the burden
and heat of the day, by the buoyancy of
prayer This is a work thrice blessed to
all concerned. -


APPENDIX.
-----
MISSION TO THE FREEDMEN.
ON the 8th of August, 1861, a letter was
addressed to Major-General Butler, then in
command at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, by
the treasurer of the American Missionary As-
sociation, respecting the people whom he had
denominated “contrabands.” In this letter,
the writer communicated to General Butler
the wishes of some persons in the free states,
that, as considerable embarrassment was felt
by the public authorities with regard to the
increasing numbers of colored persons who
had fled and were fleeing for protection to the
forts and camps of the United States, they
should be sent into the free states to obtain
employment. A prompt and courteous reply
was received, and, in reference to the desire ex-
pressed, General Butler stated that the “con-
(53)

54 APPENDIX.
trabands” would be protected; that many of
them would be employed in government ser-
vice; that there was land enough to cultivate
in Virginia; and as the freedmen would
never be suffered to return into bondage,
there was no necessity for sending any of
them to the Northern States.
The executive committee of the association,
feeling highly encouraged by these assurances,
at once determined to commence a mission at
Fortress Monroe. Rev. Lewis C. Lockwood
was commissioned as their first missionary to
the freedmen. He repaired to Washington,
where he received encouragement from the
government, and recommendation to the com-
manding general, Wool, who had succeeded
General Butler. General Wool received him
cordially, heartily approved the plan, and af.
forded him all needful facilities.
Mr. Lockwood conferred with the leading
persons among the freedmen, investigated
the condition and wants of the people, made
arrangements for week-day and Sabbath meet-
ings, organized week-day and evening schools,
employed several of the most intelligent and
gifted colored people as assistants, and through
the committee in New York made urgent ap-

APPENDIX. 55
peals for clothing, &c., for the destitute, and
also for additional missionaries and teachers.
The late lamented Mrs. Mary S. Peake was
the first teacher employed. She continued to
teach as long as her health permitted, and
near to the time of her decease. Other teach-
ers have been employed; chaplains in the
army and pious soldiers have proffered their
occasional services, and the religious meetings,
Sabbath schools, and week-day schools, have
been well attended. Mr. Lockwood labored
there thirteen months, and then removed to
another field. In his final report, he states
that he had ministered to a congregation at
Hampton, where the average attendance was
four hundred; and to a congregation at For-
tress Monroe, where the average attendance
was about the same.
A day school was kept in a house, near
Hampton, formerly the residence of Ex-Presi-
dent Tyler, which was wholly given up for
the use of the freedmen. This school was sub-
sequently removed to the old Court House at
Hampton, which had been fitted up for the
purpose, government furnishing a portion of
the lumber. This school became the largest
under the care of the freedmen's teachers,

56 APPENDIX.
and numbered at one time five hundred schol.
ars. Among the ruins of Hampton, which
had, at an early period of the rebellion, been
burned by the rebels, the colored people erect-
ed rude cottages, the materials being gathered
from the vacated camps, the deserted dwell-
ings of fugitive slaveholders, &c.
Such of the freedmen as were not em-
ployed by government have obtained a
living by fishing, oystering, huckstering,
carting, washing, &c.
-
INTERESTING FActs.
Many highly interesting facts have been
communicated with regard to the freedmen—
their natural endowments, their facility in ac-
quiring knowledge in letters and arms, their
industrial habits, their shrewdness in business
transactions, their gratitude, their courage,
their acquaintance with passing events, their
confidence that the result of the rebellion
will be the liberation of their people, and
their piety. Some of these facts have been
extensively published, and have been read
with high gratification. It is thought that
a few of these facts may add to the value
of this little publication.

APPENDIX. 57
Schools For THE CHILDREN.
A young teacher at Hampton, Virginia,
writes as follows: “When I first commenced
the school here, I found the children such
as slavery makes – quarrelsome, thievish, un-
cleanly in their persons and attire, and seem-
ingly inclined to almost every species of
wickedness; and it appeared to me that they
were too far gone to be ever raised to any
thing like intelligent children at the North.
But I found that I had reckoned without my
host in the persons of these children.
“At the end of the first week there was a
decided improvement manifested, and in four
weeks you hardly ever saw one hundred and
fifty children more cleanly in their persons
and apparel. Their lessons were, in most
cases, quickly and correctly learned, and their
behavior was kind and affectionate toward
each other, while in singing the sweet little
Sabbath school songs, I should not hesitate
to put them side by side with the best of our
Sabbath-school scholars at the North. And
they so fully appreciate my humble efforts in
their behalf, that my table in the school room
is loaded, morning and noon, with oranges,

58 APPENDIX.
lemons, apples, figs, candies, and other sweet
things too numerous to mention, all testifying
their love to me, although I can do so little
for them.”
Another teacher, at Beaufort, South Caro-
lina, writes: “My school numbered about
forty of the children. Most of them were
very dirty and poorly dressed, all very black
in color. A happier group of children I never
expect to witness than those who composed
my school: bright eyes, happy looks, kind and
patient dispositions, made them look attractive
to my eyes, though they were horribly black,”
as some have called them, and very dirty at
first. But they were so innocent, so despised
by others, and with also anxious to learn, that
I felt a true sympathy for them.
“Their masters have kept them in dark-
ness and degradation. This is only the result
of slavery.
“They are very eager to learn. Every one
wishes to be taught first ; yet, unlike some
white children, they are patient and willing
to wait. They do not easily tire of study,
but are very diligent in getting their lessons.
I have known them to teach each other, or
sit alone and drill over a lesson for two hours
at a time.

APPENDIX. 59
“Let me relate to you a little incident that
will illustrate what I have just said. One
day, at Beaufort, soon after we landed, while
walking through the upper portion of the
town, I heard a little voice saying the alpha-
bet, while another wee voice, scarcely audible,
was repeating it after the first. I looked
quickly around to discover from whence the
voice came ; and what do you think I saw 2
Why, seated on the piazza of a large empty
house were two of the blackest little negro
children, one about seven, the other not more
than three years old. The elder had his arm
thrown lovingly around the almost naked
form of the other, and with an open primer
in the lap of one, they were at their study.
An hour after, I returned by the same spot,
and was both pleased and surprised to find
them still at it. God bless the little ones |
“This desire, or rather eagerness, to learn
to read, is manifested by all. I have stopped
by the wayside many a time, and have imme-
diately collected a group of old and young
about me, and have made them repeat the
alphabet after me slowly, letter by letter.
They esteem it the greatest kindness I can
show them, and as I turn to depart, the fer-

60 APPENDIX.
vent God bless you, massa,’ ‘Tank de Lord,
massa, reach my ears.”
MoRALs of THE FREEDMEN.
After the mission had been established, one
of the officers' wives remarked to another, “I
do not miss my things nowadays.”
Nearly all the church members had taken
the temperance pledge.
“They have their vices,” writes a northern
physician on one of the plantations on Port
Royal Island; “deception and petty thieving
prevail. They are careless, indolent, and im-
provident. They have a miserable habit of
scolding and using authoritative language to
one another. All these vices are clearly the
result of slave education, and will gradually
disappear under improved conditions.
If one is honest with them, and gets their con-
fidence, the rest is easily accomplished.”
MARRIAGE.
A very large portion, probably, at least,
more than half of the “married” freed people,
had been married only in slave fashion, by
“taking up together,” or living together by
mutual agreement, without any marriage cere-

APPENDIX. 61
mony. The missionary proposed to such that
they should be married agreeably to the usages
in the free states. The leaders of the colored
people were conversed with, and they, with-
out exception, agreed as to the propriety of the
measure. One, now advanced in life, said,
that when he proposed to his companion to
go to a minister and be lawfully married, she
replied, “Oh, what use will it be 2 Master can
separate us to-morrow.” But he coincided
fully in the propriety of the proposed course.
Mr. Lockwood, after preaching on the sanc-
tity of the marriage relation, proceeded to
unite in wedlock several couples, among
whom were some who had lived together
for years. He gave each of the parties a cer-
tificate, in handsome form, which they seemed
to prize very highly. It appeared to have a
most beneficial effect upon the parties them-
selves, and the whole population.
NATIVE ELoquiº NCE.
Not a few of the freedmen, though illit-
erate, exhibit remarkable powers of elo-
quence. The missionary, in describing the
address of one of them, after a discourse by
the former, says, “The address was a master-

62 APPENDIX.
piece. It melted every heart. He appealed
to the soldiers present who were in rebellion
against God, striving to put down rebellion
in this land, and asked them how they, who
had been taught to read the Bible, and had
learned the Lord's Prayer in infancy from a
mother's lips, could stand in judgment, when
a poor, despised, and inferior race, who,
though denied the Bible, had been taught of
God, and found their way to Christ, should
rise up and condemn them. He then turned
to his fellow ‘contrabands,’ and entreated
them to embrace thankfully, and improve, the
boon already given. He considered the pres-
ent a pledge of the future — the virtual eman-
cipation of fifteen or eighteen hundred the
promise of the emancipation of four millions.
The Lord works from little to great.”
CHURCH MEETING.
The missionary wrote: “Last Thursday I
had an opportunity to observe the intellectual
state of a considerable number of the breth-
ren at a church meeting. I was surprised at
their understanding and wisdom in regard to
church order and propriety, and tone of dis-
cipline. As the church records had been

APPENDIX. 63
burned up in the church edifice at Hampton, I
inquired how far any of them could recall
their contents. One or two replied that they
could almost repeat the church regulations
from memory.
“In the discussion, high ground was taken
in regard to the Sabbath, the temperance
cause, and other matters of Christian morality.
In discipline, stress was laid on the propriety
and duty of private admonition, in its suc-
cessive scriptural steps, before public censure.
On this point one brother said he had pri-
vately admonished a neighbor of the impro-
priety of taking articles to the camp on the
Sabbath, and he had acknowledged his fault,
and promised amendment. The duty of for-
giving offenders, and undoing wrongs, was
also insisted on. Several had been improperly
excluded from church privileges through the
influence of white power. It was, therefore,
decided to-day that those who had the confi-
dence of the church should be restored to
church-fellowship unconditionally.”
One of the members, and an aged leader,
stated that he had on one occasion been
seized by a white deacon, dragged down from
the gallery, and threatened with thirty-nine

64 APPENDIX.
lashes, because there was a little of the Meth-
odist in his composition, and he had “got
happy and shouted in meeting.”
On another occasion, William Davis con-
cluded some remarks as follows: “I hope that
all of you, old and young, will learn to read,
as I did. When I was converted, I was
anxious to learn to read God’s book. I
kneeled down by my book, [he here kneeled
by the table, and prayed that God would
teach me to read it – if only a little, I would
be thankful. And I learned, and you can if
you will, for you have no one to hinder you,
as I had. We should all show that we are
worthy of freedom. Only educate us, and
we will show ourselves capable of knowledge.
Some say we have not the same faculties and
feelings with white folks. . . . All we
want is cultivation. What would the best
soil produce without cultivation * We want
to get wisdom. That is all we need. Let us
get that, and we are made for time and eter-
nity.”
-




- -
-
- -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - -
-
-
-
-
- -
-
- - -
- -
-
- -
-
- -
- -
-
-
-
-
- -
- -
-
-
-
-
-
- -
- - -
-
-
-
- -
-
-
-
- -
-
-
-
- -
-
-
-
-
-
-
- -





C 9. - / e º ºn 1
º, º
lo