Deliberations and Summary Booklet Cato

Deliberations and Summary Booklet
Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank
United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research ISSN: 1947-7384
Topic: The American Society of Freedmen Descendants
April 30
Prepared by
Harry Bradshaw Matthews
United States Colored Troops Institute
Hartwick College
Oneonta, New York
April 30 - May 2, 2010
The funding for this booklet was provided by the Pluralism Associates
League for Students (PALS) and the Student Senate of Hartwick College.
The content of this booklet contains abridged material from copyrighted
publications authored by Harry Bradshaw Matthews. This booklet may be
reproduced only with the written consent of Matthews.
The images associated with the logos for the American Society of Freedmen
Descendants and the American Freedmen Descendants Commission are
provided by the privately owned Matthews Collection for the Preservation of
Freedom Journey Classics.
For further information, please contact:
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Associate Dean
USCT Institute President and Executive Director
U.S. Pluralism Center, 103 Bresee Hall
Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York 13820
607-431-4428
www.hartwick.edu/usct/usct.htm
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Slave Descendants Attend Cato Freedom Conference &
Think Tank
USCTI at Hartwick College
Hartwick College hosted 20 descendants of slaves the weekend of April 30,
2010 during the Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank. For three days,
descendants from along the Eastern Seaboard and Tennessee joined researchers,
authors, and preservationists in telling stories of their enslaved ancestors.
“Hartwick is proud to host this conference of black troop descendants and historic
preservationists,” said Dr. Margaret L. Drugovich, Hartwick College President. “The men and women whose memories
we evoke through this discussion deserve to be recognized and celebrated, and this conference helps to assure that our
nation will never again overlook or underestimate their important contribution to the evolution of U.S. democracy.”
Among those participating in the conference were Roverta Russaw of Tennessee, who was able to trace back to 1815
an ancestor who had relocated from Barbados to Cooperstown, and Darlene Colón, a descendant of Underground
Railroad agents and United States Colored Troops from Pennsylvania. New York State historian and senior archivist
Robert Weible also joined the participants. The conference—organized by Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Associate Dean
and founding president of Hartwick’s United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research—
is named for a black Revolutionary War soldier buried in Otsego County. Freedom was identified by Matthews and
Hartwick students in the Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project as a native-born African whose enlistment with a
Connecticut Regiment during the Revolutionary War resulted in his freedom and that of his family in 1783. By 1816,
they had relocated to Burlington, NY, less than 20 minutes from the Hartwick campus. Freedom and his wife are buried
at the Butternuts Valley Cemetery in Otsego County.
The discovery of Freedom led to the formation of the USCTI’s Cato Freedom Project, which seeks to identify and
research black Revolutionary War soldiers and their white officers. The project expands on the Center’s previous
research into Civil War personalities, and in the six months since its formation, a heritage trail has begun to emerge in
the Oneonta area. To date, four black and two white patriots have been identified.
“One of the best means for racial healing is preserving the burial sites of those who were enslaved,” Matthews said.
“Remembrance events such as the Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank prompt dialogue and recognition of the
contributions enslaved Africans made to the development of this nation.”
The goal of the conference and think tank was to establish the American Freedmen Descendants Commission, which
will be made up of the conference’s 20 guests, as well as 10 Hartwick participants. The commission was charged with
exploring means of racial understanding through heritage appreciation, Matthews said. A second goal is for participants
to critique a proposal for the establishment of the American Society of Freedmen’s Descendants, a group dedicated to
respecting the societal contributions of enslaved Americans. The conference and think tank follow 2008-09’s year of
events focused on issues surrounding Abraham Lincoln. Hartwick and the USCTI are an endorsed site of the United
States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
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united States Colored Troops Institute
for Local History and Family Research
Hartwick College
Telephone: 607-431-4428
E-Mail: [email protected]
Oneonta, NY 13820
Fax: 607-431-4025
www.hartwick.edu/usct/usct.htm
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, President and Executive Director
May 30, 2010
Dear Participant:
Thank you for participating in the initial Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank that was
hosted by the United States Colored Troops Institute for Local History and Family Research at
Hartwick College during the weekend of April 30-May 2, 2010. The event was co-sponsored by
the Pluralism Associates League for Students and the Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project.
The 31 participants attending the event were descendants of enslaved Americans, researchers,
and/or preservationists who have documented the lives of enslaved ancestors from the time of the
Revolutionary War era through the Civil War period. The participants served as the beginning
members of the American Freedmen Descendants Commission, charged with exploring the steps
necessary to further research, preservation, and remembrance of enslaved Africans in America
(including the United States, Canada, and Caribbean territories). Further, the participants
critiqued the document calling for the re-start of the American Society of Freedmen Descendants.
Commemorating the event was a specially designed certificate that was presented to each
participant at the final dinner. This Deliberations and Summary Booklet shares the proceedings
resulting from the Think Tank and will be made available to the public prior to the November
2010 re-enactment of the United States Colored Troops Grand Review, commemorating the
historic event in 1865 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Should you have questions regarding this booklet or about ASFD or the USCT Institute, please
contact me at [email protected] or by telephone at 607-431-4428. I prefer messages
during the summer via e-mail, since I can access them away from my office.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Harry Bradshaw Matthews
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Associate Dean
and President, USCT Institute
An Endorsed Site of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
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Honoring Cato Freedom
Cato Freedom earned his freedom through service in the Revolutionary War. The recovery of his
legacy has significance beyond the freedom that he gained as a consequence of enlisting in the
Third Connecticut Regiment, as well as serving in the 5th Company of the Seventh Regiment
until September 1783.
February 2010 marked the 180th anniversary of Cato’s death, with his birth extending back to his
native Africa in 1734. Fortunately, his tombstone, that of his wife, Parmelia, and the tombstone of
their daughter, Charlotte, remain intact. These memorials help to support and facilitate interracial
understanding through the sharing of intersecting reference points in American history and
interdependence.
Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank - Invited Participants
Name
Locale
Reason for Nomination/Selection
1. Sharon Amos
2. Nalisha Bascom
3. Cherry R. Baylor
4. Fern Beavers
5. Emmanuella Brakye
6. Reggie Brown
7. Stephanie Pointer Brunetta
8. Kenneth E. Butler
9. Yvonne Captain
10. Christine Carter
11. Rev. Paul Carter
12. Darlene Colón
13. Margaret L. Drugovich
14. Adia Ferris
15. Charlene Fleurinord
16. Charles Ben Hawley
17. Lester Hawley
18. Brittanie Kemp
19. ZSun-nee Matema
20. Harry Bradshaw Matthews
21. Dwayvania Miller
22. Andrea Quinlan
23. Edythe Ann Quinn
24. Millicent Reid
25. Roverta Russaw
26. Madeline Scott
27. Michael Tannenbaum
28. Khadian Thomas
29. Nicole Thornhill
30. Loretta Watson
31. Robert Weible
Amherst, NY
Brooklyn NY
Hempstead, NY
Buffalo, NY
Bronx, NY
Albany, NY
Oneonta, NY
Hempstead, NY
Silver Springs, MD
Auburn, NY
Auburn, NY
Lancaster, PA
Oneonta, NY
Jamaica, NY
Dorchester, MA
Silver Springs, MD
West Haven, CT
Nassau, Bahamas
Baltimore, MD
Oneonta, NY
Nassau, Bahamas
Harlem, NY
Oneonta, NY
West Long Branch, NJ
Talbott, TN
Amherst, NY
Oneonta, NY
Albany, NY
Milton, MA
Richmond, VA
Albany, NY
Preservationist
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
USCT/Slave Descendant
Historic Preservationist
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
USCT Research/Hartwick College
Slave Descendant
Slave Descendant
Harriet Tubman Home/AME Zion
Harriet Tubman Home/AME Zion
USCT/Slave Descendant
President/ Hartwick College
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
USCT/Slave Descendant/
USCT/Slave Descendant
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
Slave Descendant
Slave Descendant
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
USCT Historian/Hartwick College
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
Slave Descendant
USCT/Slave Descendant
Provost & VP/ Hartwick College
SOSU/BU/Hartwick College
Harriet Tubman Mentor/HC
USCT Descendant/Indian
NYS Historian & Chief Curator
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Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank – Schedule
4 - 4:45 p.m.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Registration and Exhibit, U.S. Pluralism Center, 103 Bresee Hall
5:00 p.m.
Negro National Anthem, Andrea Quinlan
Welcome remarks by President Margaret L. Drugovich, and Think
Tank Representatives, Chesebro Room, Dewar Hall
5:30 p.m.
Opening Presentation: “The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial and
Hartwick College’s History in the Anti-Slavery Movement,” Harry
Bradshaw Matthews, and Guest Commentator Maria W. Stewart
aka Emmanuella Brakye
6:00 p.m.
Social/Dinner
7:00 p.m.
Preliminary Conversation Regarding the Timeline for Meetings
8:00 p.m.
Free Time
8 a.m.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Buffet Breakfast, Chesebro Room, Dewar Hall
9 a.m.
Opening Session, Eaton Lounge, Bresee Hall
9:15 a.m.
Identifying a Freedmen [group discussion w/outcomes]
9:30 a.m.
Documenting Lineage to a Freedmen, Darlene Colón, USCTI VP
9:45 a.m.
Defining a Freedmen Descendant [group discussion w/outcomes]
10:30 a.m.
Cato Freedom Gravesite Salute, Butternut Valley Cemetery
12:15 p.m.
Luncheon Program, Welcome by Robert Weible, NYS Historian,
Hartwick Provost Michael Tannenbaum, and presentation by the
Harriet Tubman Mentors/USCTI Interns, Brittanie Kemp and
Dwayvania Miller, and Maria W. Stewart— aka Emmanuella
Brakye, Chesebro, Dewar Hall
1:30 p.m.
Think Tank Strategy and Recommendation Session, Eaton Lounge
3:30 p.m.
American Freedmen Descendants Commission, Eaton Lounge
5:00 p.m.
Free Time
6:00 p.m.
Social & Dinner Recognitions, Chesebro Room, Dewar Hall
8:00 pm.
SOSU/BU Annual Formal – Take a Peep or Stay, Free Time
8:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Buffet Breakfast, Chesebro Room, Dewar Hall
Wrap-Up, Eaton Lounge, Bresee Hall
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Resistance and Liberation of Enslaved Americans
Through the Civil War: The African American Experience
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, President and Executive Director, USCT Institute/
Associate Dean, Hartwick College
[email protected]
www.Hartwick.edu/usct/usct.htm
Resistance and Liberation
1. Slave Revolts
2. Establishment of Independent Churches
3. Establishment of Secret Societies
4. Establishment of Newspapers
5. Classically Trained Men of African Descent
6. Declaration of an Identity as Colored Americans
7. Writings to Define the History of Africans in America
8. Underground Railroad
9. Establishment of a College for People of African Descent
10. Enlistment of United States Colored Troops
Freedom Journey
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Anti-Slavery Sentiments
Abolitionist Actions
Underground Railroad
Enlistment of the United States Colored Troops
Self Help Proclamations and Actions
Local History and Family Research
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Oral History
Reviewing Local Records and Family Documents
Surveying Publications and Web Sources
Ordering Census Records
Ordering Family Documents
Documenting Back to 1870
Surveying Elder Relatives’ Community [Before and After Slavery]
Documenting Probable Families Who Owned Your Ancestors
Establishing Links to an Enslaved American
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Images of Freedmen and Descendants
Mr. and Mrs. Preston Jones,
Omaha, Nebraska
Mrs. Rebecca Killingsworth Parler,
Denmark, South Carolina
USCT Corp’l Abraham Quamony,
Conestoga, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Eliza Stanton G. Johnson,
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Revolutionary War Soldier
Private Cato Freedom,
Burlington, New York
Thomas Henry Barnes,
Lewistown, Pennsylvania
Olean, New York
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Part 1: African American Family History Research
1. Providing images of the USCT: There are images of the USCT that have been used widely in
books, some of which show cartoonist images of the black men. There are images, however, that
provide a heroic and positive image of the black soldiers and their white officers. These images
are included in:
A. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: The Civil War in Art, by Harold Holzer and Mark Neely,
1993.
B. Battles of the Civil War, 1861-1865: The Complete Kurz & Allison Prints, 1979.
C. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated History of the Civil War, by Mrs. Frank Leslie, 1894.
D. Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War, by Alfred H. Guernsey & Henry M. Alden, 1866.
2. Reviewing 1850-1870 Federal Census and Other Census Records for Family Connections:
The name of each free person in a household was first recorded in the 1850 Census; the 1860
Census included pre-Civil War free families.
During 1860, 90 percent of the 4.4 million Africans in this land were enslaved. The five larger
congregated groupings existed in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia.
The five states with the larger concentration of the 488 thousand free Africans were Maryland,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. Thus, by 1860, there were distinctions among the
Africans in America, but they shared the dominant commonality of being enslaved in the country
of their birth, associated with less than 20 percent of white households in the United States.
Those households were primarily small units, including less than 20 Africans each. Frequently,
one to three generations of an enslaved family resided among a homestead. During that year,
slave labor produced 57 percent of the total export of the South, e.g., cotton that was valued at
$192 million. The Southern state that had least to loss from slave labor at the commencement of
the Civil War was Delaware, which had 1,798 enslaved Africans, as compared to 19,829 free
black brethren and women.
The neighboring state of Maryland had the unusual distinction of having an African population
almost equally divided with 87 thousand enslaved and nearly 84 thousand free. When the 58
thousand free brethren of Virginia were added along with the 11,000 in Washington, DC, the four
areas became a powerful extension of the Underground Railroad.
3. Reviewing Tax Books: Frequently, men of color, Negro, black, etc, were listed in a separate
listing in the back of tax books. The information provides important clues as to who were
landowners, business owners, and were free persons prior to and during the Civil War. The
information can help improve the interpretation of the role these men played within their
respective communities.
4. Reviewing Newspapers such as the Colored American, Anglo-African, Emancipator,
National Anti-Slavery Standard: They shared the important issues, names and
communities/states of men and women of African descent. The newspapers, particularly the
Colored American and the Anglo-African, have been frequently overlooked by historians
interpreting Southern History during 1830-1865. Yet, each of the newspapers is full of insights
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regarding the opinions and actions of people of African descent, including soldiers during the
Civil War.
5. Reviewing Free Negro Heads of Families in the United States in 1830: Carter G.
Woodson’s book was published in 1925–with each family identified with the name of the head of
household along with numerical counts for others in each household. The compilation was done
by state, county, and town/city. Entries were missing for Somerset County, Maryland. A
substitute census of all persons of African descent in Somerset was taken during 1832, following
the Nat Turner revolt in Virginia the year before. It was the location during 1682 at which John
Puckham, an Indian, married Jane Johnson, Negro.
The event was so revolutionary, that a white religious historian, Rev. L.P. Bowen, in his 1885
book, The Days of Makemie; or The Vine Planted: A.D. 1680-1708, lied about the racial identity
of the wife, changing her to “Jane Johnson, white maiden.” The actual marriage created an
extended family link to the first black family of Jamestown, Virginia, as well as signaled the
interracial mating of Africans and the Algonquian Indians along the eastern seaboard. The false
interpretation of the marriage created a distortion of history that lasted well over 100 years.
The enslaved Africans who were brought to this land represented multiple ethnic groups who
possessed multiple values and customs. They were forced to combine words, actions, and skills
in order to survive a cruel system of bondage. The outgrowth was the foundation for an ethnic
identity grounded in America. By 1840, it was estimated that 75 percent of Africans in this land
had been born here, with that number increasing to 90 percent by 1860. Further, of those born
here, 10 percent were estimated to have been of mixed ancestry–white, black, and Indian.
Deliberation I: Identifying a Freedmen
Reactions by Participants
What is your definition of a Freedmen?
1. An individual who previously had been a slave, but was freed due to escaping, or by law,
or by the action of his owner.
2. One who was released from the bondage of slavery.
3. The recognition of a person that has been released from an enslaved environment or
situation.
4. One who is freed from slavery, as opposed to a free person of color who may have been
two or more generations free. What about indentured people? What about Native
American Freedmen?
5. A Freedmen is an individual who is no longer enslaved to another human being.
6. A person of African descent who gained freedom by resistance, manumission, or as a
United States Colored Troop.
7. A person who was free to think and free to discover his life after the Civil War.
8. One who was of African/Native descent that won his freedom or took his freedom from
slavery.
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Part 2: Important Resources for Setting the Stage
1. Know Your Topic: There have been numerous books and articles written about the
Freedmen in America. The problem is that most of the population does not know it. Start by
reading an article, book, or even a good brochure. Several of the better ones that I have read
include:
A. The Book of First, Last, Etcetera: Black Soldiers during the Civil War Era 1861- 1837, by
1837, by John Raymond Gourdin, 2003.
B. Underground Railroad, National Park Service, 1999.
C. Prologue, Summer 1997, Vol. 29, No. 2, National Archives and Record Administration.
D. “The Hard Fight was Getting into the Fight at All,” by Jack Fincher, Smithsonian,
October 1990, Volume 21, Number 7.
E. Climbing Jacobs Ladder: The Rise of Black Churches in Eastern American Cities, 1740-1877,
by Edward D. Smith, Anacostia Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, 1988.
F. “Escape from Slavery: Underground Railroad,” by Charles L. Blockson, National
Geographic, July 1984, Vol. 166, No. 1.
G. Negro Americans in the Civil War: From Slavery to Citizenship, by Charles H. Wesley and
Patricia W. Romero, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, 1968.
H. “25 Brief Answers,” United States Colored Troops Institute, Hartwick College, 2003.
I. The Politics of Race and Class: Legacies and Visions, Diversity Initiative 2004-05, Harry
Bradshaw Matthews, Hartwick College, 2004.
2. Check Indices on Microfilm, Internet, and in Books: Do not try to re-invent the wheel.
These resources are valuable to any researcher, teacher, or history buff. The discussion about the
role of African Americans in the Civil War is a hot item, as is also the role of the darker brethren
with the Underground Railroad. There are books being written about individual regiments, with
the names of the soldiers from various states being included. In addition, local history books are
quite important for beginning a research project for it often includes references to local
newspapers and churches that were located in the early black communities. Some examples
include:
A. African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related Sites, 1823-1870: Freedom
Knows No Color, by Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers,
2008, ISBN: 978-0-9799537-4-3.
B. Honoring New York’s Forgotten Soldiers: African Americans of the Civil War, With
Research Examples A-Z, by Harry Bradshaw Matthews, 1997, August 1998.
C. Enrollment Cards of the Twenty-Sixth USCT Regiments, B0807, New York State Archives.
D. The Roster of Union Soldiers 1861-1865: United States Colored Troops, edited by Janet
B. Hewett, 1997.
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E. Black Soldiers – Black Sailors – Black Ink: Research Guide on African-American in U.S.
Military History, 1526-1900, by Thomas Truxtun Moebs, 1994.
F. A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, 1863-1865, by Luis F. Emilio, 1969 reprint.
G. The Fourteenth Regiment: Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored) in the War to Preserve the
Union, 1861-1865, by William H. Chenery, 1969 reprint.
H. 1890 New York Census Index of Civil War Veterans or Their Widows.
I. Black Roots: A Beginner’s Guide to Tracing the African-American Family Tree, by Tony
Burroughs, 2001.
J. African American Genealogical Research: How to Trace Your Family History, by Harry
Bradshaw Matthews, 1992, 2007 reprint.
Deliberation II: Documenting Lineage to a Freedmen,
Darlene Colón, USCTI VP
Reactions by Participants
How do you verify your link to a Freedmen?
1. Use oral history to set the stage for future research; use census records, land
deeds, tax records, court order books, marriage certificates, death certificates,
original letters, family bible, and National Archives pension records.
2. Use obituaries, funeral director records, church records, wills, business records,
and publicize your search so that others may be of help to you.
3. Use newspapers, manumission records, diaries, and city directories.
4. Use school records, wedding announcements, internet sources, and message
boards.
5. Use Freedmen Bank records, draft registration records, hospital records, and
prison records, and local history books.
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Part 3: Beginning a Research Project
1. Use Oral History as a Starting Point: The stories shared by your parents and other elders
(including non-blood members of your extended family) probably include important names,
dates, places, and other relevant information. Write down all the stories that you remember. At
this point don’t be overly concerned about the accuracy of the information; just write down
whatever you remember (or think you remember). Oral history can frequently be the starting
point for a story, but is not recommended to be the only source for validating the accuracy of a
story. Remember, the interpretation of the story is determined by the person telling it, and can be
easily changed as it is passed from one person to another; or from one generation to the next.
2. 1865 Township Military Enlistment Books, GAR Books, etc.: Each township was required
to prepare a book record listing the men from its township who served in the Union ranks. While
some of the records are misplaced or lost, the New York State Census of 1865 provides a rare
opportunity to identify soldiers from each locale.
3. Review Local Cemetery Records and/or Visit Local Cemetery: Here you will learn if
USCT are buried because gravestones frequently included the soldiers name, regiment, and
company. Be careful not to confuse a USCT regiment with a state regiment.
4. Cross-Reference Findings: It is not at all uncommon to learn that the entries of USCT in
town records do not match the information in recent book indices and the 1890 Census Index of
Civil War Veterans or Their Widows. Why? Soldiers frequently started by enlisting for a
particular regiment, but were re-assigned to another. In addition, for protection purposes, it was
not uncommon for a USCT to use an alias when he enlisted. Thus, a final record of an enlistment
may or may not also include the alias.
5. Acquiring Military and/or Pension Records: Pension claims became a reality for both
former Union and Confederate Civil War soldiers, with a major record compiled during 1883.
Records of black pensioners, as well as for those who were denied claims, are included in
extraordinary detail in files at the National Archives. Important records also exist at state archives
throughout the country.
With the enlistment of black soldiers and sailors in the Union ranks during the Civil War, an
extraordinary opportunity emerged. For the first time, a large number of black men were
identified by name and family relations within official government records. The warriors
numbered more than 200,000. Following the conflict, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of
Pennsylvania presented Bill H.R. 29, “Reparations Bill for the African Slaves in the United
States,” during the first session, Fortieth Congress, March 11, 1867.
Among other issues, he proposed using the confiscated lands of those who were in rebellion to
provide 40-acre lots to each formerly enslaved adult male and widow. He also called for some of
the land to be sold in order to gain $500,000 to provide for pensions for the former soldiers and
sailors, as well as providing compensation to loyal Union citizens harmed by the conflict. The
bill never became a law. And the lands were returned, with few exceptions, to the former owners
who had been granted amnesty by President Andrew Johnson. However, during March 1871, the
Southern Claims Commission was established to review over 22,000 claims made by Southerners
loyal to the Union. The records at the National Archives are filled with family documents and
local history tidbits.
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Deliberation III: American Freedmen Descendants
Commission
Reactions by Participants
How do we organize to provide maximum remembrance of Freedmen?
1. We need a meeting place, headquarters where those who are trained come to
research and disseminate information. Offer training sessions to send people out
to churches, schools, community centers to teach the people techniques so they
can do the work themselves. Need consultants to help people who are doing
research.
2. Publish a peer-reviewed journal and newsletter, and appoint a PR person for the
Commission to spread the work. Also, partner with other organizations.
3. Incorporate all societies and enslaved remembrance organizations as partners.
Host an annual Expo event; get published in historical society publications; place
public (permanent) markers; and give “how to” workshops at churches, sororities,
and other major African American organizations.
4. Acquire grants to offer internships for preservationists; exhibit family history at
public events; engage youth in family to participate.
5. Document history; publish articles, hold family reunions, conduct cemetery tours.
6. Develop programs at the local level to honor Freedmen; engage Greek and
Masonic organizations.
7. Compile list of documentation to showcase; do a display and donate the
information to a valuable institution; target media, historically Black colleges, and
prisons.
8. Partner with Afrigeneas.com and AAHGS.com; create a family e-mail of events.
9. Seek grants for student internships that will assist with programs that highlight the
Freedom Journey.
10. Prepare an internet directory of our research conferences; link to other sites, teach
Roots classes; prepare adult education courses; and provide re-enactors as
educators.
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Part 4: American Society of Freedmen Descendants
Reviewed Guidelines for Re-Activation at the
Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank
Opening
Harry Bradshaw Matthews opened the meeting in October 1998 with greetings and
requested that a quorum be established. It was moved by Rosetta O’Neal and seconded
by Agnes K. Callum that a quorum be the majority of those present. Sylvia Cooke Martin
was designated Recorder. Matthews informed the group of the desire to establish a group
of descendants of American Freedmen. Some discussion regarding the name of the
organization took place. Stanton F. Biddle moved that the name of the organization be the
American Society of Freedmen Descendants; Angela Walton-Raji seconded the motion
and the motion carried. [Accepted]
Historical Sketch Leading Up to the Endorsement
The American Society of Freedmen’s Descendants [ASFD] was conceptualized in 1995
as a national organization to honor descendants from those Africans who survived the
passages to America; who through arms, intelligence, and shear will power survived to
gain their freedom; and who left a legacy through the subsequent generations who
comprise this Society. The founding of ASFD was initiated by Harry Bradshaw
Matthews, Associate Dean of the Sondhi Limthongkul Center for Interdependence &
Director of U.S. Pluralism Programs, located at Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York.
The other persons who assisted with the early design of ASFD were Maurice Byrd,
Saundra Brown, Darlene Farmer, Barbara Furr, Mary Jewell, Vonda McCrae, Valencia
Nelson, Victoria Robinson, and Angela Walton-Raji. It is through their leadership that
ASFD has progressed to this Final Establishment Proceedings. The participants of the
African American History and Genealogy Conference were positioned to prepare the
document that will now serve as the guide for ASFD’s membership becoming a great
Society under God. [Accepted]
Preamble
The Keepers of the Society will uphold the highest possible standards of remembrance,
providing ancestral legacies on the continuum, starting with the time that Africans arrived
to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619; through the days of their assertive strives in affirming
spiritual faith, military courage, and family love; to the time they became Freedmen
(remembering the fact that some were always ‘free’ before the 13th Amendment was
passed in 1865); to the time they became African Americans signified by their legal right
to vote (following passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments), to the timing of their
spiritual guidance in the founding of this Society. [Accepted]
15
Aims of the Society
Agnes Kane Callum moved that the aims of the Society be accepted as written. The
motion was seconded by Rosetta O’Neal. The motion was amended to state: ...
“Honoring their devotion to faith in God as moved by Leroy Carter.” It was moved by
David Anderson that we add “Honoring their devotion to be stewards of the Land...”
Both motions carried, with adjustments made to read:
Aims of the Society are to respect the memory of ancestors and pay them homage in
America by the following:
1. Honoring their devotion to faith in God;
2. Honoring their devotion to family, community, and nation;
3. Honoring their devotion to the reconstruction of family history;
4. Honoring their devotion to gaining and using education for advancement;
5. Honoring their devotion to be stewards of the land. [Accepted as Amended]
Membership Categories
After a discussion of the categories of membership, Sylvia Cooke Martin moved that the
categories of membership be: Associate, General, Fellow, and Senior Fellow-Corps
D’Afrique. The motion was amended to add “Honorary.” The categories are defined
below:
Associate Membership is open to any adult regardless of ethnic, racial, religious or
national background who wants to join the Society, but cannot personally document
lineage to American slavery. The donation for this membership will be determined by the
USCTI. [Accepted as Amended]
General Membership is open to a person who documents direct descendance from a
Freedmen of 1870 or earlier. The donation for this membership will be determined by the
USCTI. The key here is all information must be documented. General membership is
divided into three categories:
1. General Member © 2. General Member (A) 3. General Member (NA) -
Census to 1870
County Records and other Antebellum Materials
Native American Records
Acceptable documents for General Membership are Federal Census records, plus
subsequent documents providing descendance from the individuals listed. Also, any
official documents from county courthouses are acceptable for Antebellum category; and
Native American records from the Five Civilized Tribes (Dawes, Guion, Wallace Roll,
Kern-Clifton Roll, Western Cherokee) and other Indian Census records are required for
N.A. category. [Accepted]
Fellow Membership requires a “Preponderance of Evidence” statement. In addition,
military records, pension records (if they are available) of any veteran of 18th and 19th
century (Pre-Spanish American War). The donation for this membership will be
determined by the USCTI. [Accepted as Amended]
16
Senior Fellow - Corps D’Afrique Membership is open to a person who individually
documents direct descendance to an African in America who performed in the
Revolutionary War, or served in the military up to and including the Civil War; survived
as a free person of color in America prior to the Civil War; or can document enslaved
ancestry during the Civil War. A copy of a completed manuscript or published book
delineating such history is required in addition to the requirements for general
membership. Membership donations for this category will be determined by the USCTI.
[Accepted as Amended]
Honorary Fellow is an elected membership determined by the USCTI and bestowed on
persons whose achievements are exemplary and reflect the aims of the Society.
[Accepted]
Fees for Membership
It was moved by Hugh MacDougall that all references to a dollar amount be changed to
read “the donation for this membership will be determined by the USCTI.” The motion
was seconded and carried. David Anderson moved, and Stanton F. Biddle seconded, that
the paragraph on “Funds” in the discussion paper be amended to read:
All funds will be received and maintained by ASFD in a special account, accessible only
by authorized personnel designated by the USCTI. Such reasonable expenditures will
include, but not limited to, mailings, travel, publications, etc. Members will receive a
yearly statement at the Annual Meeting. Once a member of ASFD, a person will provide
an annual membership donation to be determined by the USCTI, regardless of the initial
donation. It will be the responsibility of the member to provide additional donations if
he/she is moving from one membership category to another. All business of ASFD will
be the responsibility of the USCTI’s advisory groups, e.g., the American Freedmen
Descendants Commission and ASFD Committees, and business will be conducted via a
central location. The United States Colored Troops Institute and the ASFD will seek
external funding to support mutually beneficial activities and programs that support the
goals and aims of the USCTI and the ASFD. [Accepted as Amended]
Keepers of the Society
Harry Matthews moved acceptance of this body and David Anderson seconded. After
discussion of the intent of this statement, the motion carried, to read:
The American Society of Freedmen Descendants will be guided by the Keepers of the
Society which are its founding units: American Freedmen Descendants Commission,
Genealogy Committee, Preceptors Committee for Education, Military Review
Committee, and the Public Relations Committee.
*American Freedmen Descendants Commission will function as the advisory
body to the USCTI for matters pertaining to the Society. Members are appointed by the
Founding President and Executive Director of the USCTI.
17
*Genealogy Committee will be certified by the USCTI, and is charged with
verifying applicants for membership.
*Preceptors Committee for Education will oversee the preparation of lessons
regarding educational programs to share with genealogical and educational institutions.
Members must be willing and able to prepare lesson plans and workshops to share with
members and the public. Lesson plans pertaining to the goals and objectives of ASFD are
completed in consultation with the USCTI.
*Military Review Committee will oversee re-enactments, the USCT Youth
Corps and other experiential activities. Members must be willing and able to prepare and
implement plans for honoring the lives of Africans in America who served or supported
the United States military through the Civil War. Planning and implementation can, and
frequently will be, in consultation with the Preceptors Committee for Education, with
approval from the USCTI. It is important that members of this Committee have members
knowledgeable of military records, protocol, planning events, public relations, etc. As a
supplement, plans can also be extended to the recognition of soldiers who served after the
Civil War.
*Public Relations Committee will assist the USCTI with the publicity of ASFD
via a newsletter and media articles, communicating with other organizations and
societies, and strong work in the area of fundraising and grant writing, speaking, and
communicating Society business. [Accepted as Amended]
The Pledge of ASFD’s Members
David Anderson moved acceptance of this section. Roland Barksdale-Hall seconded, and
the motion carried, to read:
“Under the ruling of God and this country, we, the members of the American Society of
Freedmen Descendants, are obliged and encouraged to pursue the scholarly and
professional research necessary to reclaim our ancestors, so that we can completely and
truthfully document our history in the shaping of this Nation.” [Accepted]
Grandfather Clause
All persons who were previously involved in 1998 with the preparation of the original
document establishing the American Society of Freedmen Descendants shall be
remembered as founding members of ASFD, including, but not limited to:
David Anderson, Ruth Anderson, Roland Barksdale-Hall, Audrey Quick Battiste, Stanton F. Biddle,
Sylverine Fontenot Burt, Maurice Byrd, Saundra Brown, Agnes Kane Callum, Yvonne Captain, Leroy
Carter, Diane Ciccone, Betty J. Craft, Deborah Rochelle Robinson Cuffy, Deborah McClelland Davis,
Willie Jean Davis, Darlene Farmer, Patsy Mose Fletcher, Annette Fisher-Carter, Janis Minor Forté, Barbara
Furr, John R. Gourdin, Marcus Hodge, Ruth Hodge, David Julian Hodges, Dorothea Caroline Holmes,
Shirley Houck (Associate Member), Gerald Hunter, Sr., Mary Jewell, Vonda McCrae, Hugh MacDougall
(Associate Member), Mary M. Marshall, Sylvia Cooke Martin, Myra Debow Mason, Harry Bradshaw
Matthews, Pamela L. Matthews, Valencia Nelson, Edythe Ann Quinn (Associate Member), Rosetta
O’Neal, Victoria Robinson, David Garland Smith, Brenda J. Norris Smothers, Karen E. Sutton, Andrea
Evette Troutman, Sonia L. Walker, Angela Walton-Raji, Claude E. White, Joseph O. White, and Clifford
M. Wilson III.
18
Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank Participants
A Gravesite Salute to Cato Freedom and Family
Butternut Valley Cemetery, Burlington, New York
May 1, 2010
19
Part 5:
African American Ancestors in Historical Context:
Development of an Identity and Civic Infrastructure
Harry Bradshaw Matthews, Executive Director, USCT Institute/
Associate Dean, Hartwick College
[email protected]
Http://www.Hartwick.edu/usct/usct.htm
Important Resources for Identifying Local African American Personalities
1. Oral History - Utilize the stories told by elders; examine pictures, family documents, etc., for clues.
2. Free Negro Heads of Families in the United States in 1830, Carter G. Woodson, 1925 - Each family
identified with name of head of household along with numerical counts for others in each household.
Compilation is by state, county, and town/city; a few locales are missing.
3. Colored American, Anglo-African, Emancipator, National Anti-Slavery Standard newspapers,
etc., - Included the names and communities/states where men and women of African descent resided.
4. Church Records -AME, AME Zion, Delaware Methodist, Baptist, and other churches - Include not
only names, but frequently cite incidents involving members.
5. Tax Books - Frequently, men of color, Negro, black, were listed in a separate listing in the back of tax
books.
6. 1865 Township Military Enlistment Book, Military Pension Records, GAR Books, etc. - Each
township was required to prepare a book record listing the men from its township who served in the Union
ranks.
7. 1850 - 1870 Federal Census and other census records - The name of each free person in a household
was first recorded in the 1850 Census; 1860 Census included pre-Civil War free families.
Chronology of an Organized Resistance to Slavery
1784
Grand Lodge of the Prince Hall Masons founded in MA
1793
Upper Canada [Ontario] led by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe passed legislation “to
prevent the introduction of slavery”
1794
African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded at the home of Richard Allen in Philadelphia;
Article 6: “That although we consider every child of God a member of the mystical body of
Christ, yet in the political government of the Church, we do prohibit our white brethren from
electing or being elected into any office among us, save that of a preacher or speaker.”
The AME Church was official during 1815-16.
1796
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America [AME Zion Church] established in New York;
James Varick of Newburgh elected first bishop in 1822.
1800
Gabriel Prosser was betrayed preventing him from leading thousands of men in a well designed
slave revolt in Richmond, VA. He was hung.
1803
Toussaint L’Ouverture led successful Haitian revolt against France’s Emperor Napoleon.
20
1808
Congress prohibited further importing of slaves.
1808
Abyssinian Baptist Church established by Rev. Thomas Paul in New York City, along with
African American and Ethiopian merchants.
1813
Union Methodist Church of Delaware became first to effect an organization separate from whites
[Wilmington].
1815
Church Conference in effort to unite AME, AME Zion, and Union Methodist of Delaware; the
decision was made to remain with individual governances.
1816
American Colonization Society established to send free Africans in America to Liberia and other
colonies; members included prominent men in the North and South; black men in the United
States attacked the scheme as a means to separate free blacks from their enslaved brethren.
1826
Edward A. Jones graduated from Amherst College; John B. Russwurm graduated from Bowdoin
College.
1827
New York State abolish slavery - July 5 Celebrations held in Albany, Cooperstown, Rochester,
Staten Island, New York City, to commemorate freedom of Africans in the state; Rev. Nathaniel
Paul, pastor of the First African Baptist Society, Albany stated:
“The progress of emancipation, though slow, is nevertheless certain:
It is certain, because that God has made of one blood all nations of men,
and who is said to be no respecter of persons, has so decreed; I therefore
have no hesitation in declaring from this sacred place, that not only
throughout the United States of America but throughout every part of the
habitable world where slavery exists, it will be abolished...”
1827
Sojourner Truth joined Mother AME Zion Church in New York City. Prince Hall Masons
declared its independence from white Masons.
1828
First black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was established in NY by Samuel E. Cornish, with
Bowdoin College graduate John B. Russwurm as the paper’s editor. Cornish organized the First
Colored Presbyterian Church in NYC.
1828
David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World called for armed resistance to
slavery. Following his death in 1830, Maria W. Stewart became Walker’s advocate.
1829
Sir John Colborne, Governor of Upper Canada declared that men are not known by color in his
land and welcomed every black man, free or slave, into his land.
1830
Bishop Richard Allen served as president of the Colored Men’s Convention that was held in
Philadelphia, with Austin Steward of Rochester, NY as vice president.
1831
Nat Turner slave revolt in Virginia aroused panic among whites throughout South.
1831
Colored Men’s Convention advocated from a college in Connecticut and relocation to Canada
West.
1832
Colored Men’s Convention reported that Connecticut citizens was against a college for colored
persons and that while 2,000 black persons had migrated to Canada living on 500 acres, a backlash
was occurring among Canadians. Call for an end to slavery in Washington, DC.
1832
Maria W. Stewart, became the first woman, black or white, to lecture to a mixed gender crowd in
Boston, Massachusetts in September. She had been mentored by David Walker.
21
1833
Colored Men’s Convention reported that Connecticut law banned literary societies among black
people. Delegates voted against further colonizing in Canada.
1833
American Anti-Slavery Society was established, linking smaller efforts into a major network; local
auxiliary groups emerged on county and state levels.
1834
Slavery abolished in British Empire. English-speaking territories became havens for escaped
Africans from the United States. Emancipation Day Celebrations were held on August 1st.
1834
Colored Men’s Convention called for the establishment of moral reform societies and Phoenix
Societies at the local level for advancing morals, literature, and the mechanical arts. General
Superintendent of the AME Zion Church at the lead along with Rev. Theodore S. Wright of NY’s
Shiloh Baptist Church.
Resolution passed petitioning Congress for citizenship for black men. William Whipper of
Columbia, PA called for the removal of the words “African” from all organizations and the similar
removal of the word “colored;” the proposal was rejected. Whipper also called for the Convention
of American Moral Reform, with Revolutionary War patriot, James Forten Sr. as president.
1835
24-year-old Daniel Alexander Payne enrolled at the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary.
1836
The Colored American was new name from Weekly Advocate, which was established by Phillip A
Bell, with Samuel E Cornish as editor; donations received from Gerrit Smith, Arthur Tappan,
Lewis Tappan, and others.
1836
Dr. James McCune Smith completed medical studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
1837
Daniel A. Payne licensed by abolitionist Franckean Synod [Lutheran] of Otsego County, New
York. He pastured at the Colored Presbyterian Church in East Troy, NY. He headed up the Mental
and Moral Improvement Society in Troy. He was heralded by the Colored American as a scholarly
advocate of the darker brethren.
Other college-educated black men included Rev. Wright from the Princeton Theological
Seminary, Edward Mitchell graduated from Dartmouth College; Martin R. Delany studied at
Jefferson College, Charles Bennett Ray educated at the Wesleyan Academy and briefly at
Wesleyan University.
1837
David Ruggles, a free CT-born man, moved to NYC. During 1837, he served as secretary of the
New York Committee of Vigilance, protecting escaped Africans. He operated a printing plant in
CT and a bookstore that turned out many pamphlets advocating the overthrow of slavery.
1837
Elijah Lovejoy killed by mob in Ohio for publishing antislavery material. Women organized AntiSlavery Women’s convention in NYC as first women’s political convention in the USA, with
more than 200 black and white delegates joining together, including black and white officers.
1837
William Whipper of Columbia, PA wrote a essay, “On Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression,”
to which editors of the Colored American responded:
“We publish this address with pleasure, hoping our readers will make the most
of all the principles and arguments presented in favor of universal “peace;”
but, we honestly confess that we have yet to learn what virtue there would be
in using moral weapons, in defense against a kidnapper or a midnight [raider]
with a lighted torch in his hands.”
1838
Payne assumed penname of Origen. He meets with Gerrit Smith and Beriah Greene in NY. He
relocates to Carlisle, PA during his year-long illness.
22
1838
2nd Women’s Anti-Slavery Convention held at Philadelphia, PA, with Pennsylvania Hall burnt to
the ground by more than 15,000 protestors.
Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery in MD; he was aided by David Ruggles’ NY Vigilance
Committee, and married by Rev. Wright. Douglass; he joined William Lloyd Garrison’s
abolitionist wing in 1839.
1839
Henry Highland Garnet, an escaped African from Maryland, graduated with honors from the
Oneida Institute, Whitesboro, NY; he became a licensed preacher, and was later head of Shiloh
Presbyterian Church in NYC; he was also an active member of the Liberty Party.
Payne delivered antislavery address at the conference of the Franckean Synod, Ft. Plain, NY.
1840
Payne relocated to Philadelphia and opened a school, attracting attention from the AME Church.
Garnet pastured at the Liberty Street Presbyterian Church, East Troy, NY.
1840
Jamaica Convention Declaration - Thomas Van Ranselaer of New York, Aaron Wood of Flushing,
Rev. JWC Pennington of Newtown, and William P. Johnson of New York issued call for a state
convention “to address disenfranchisement, debarred from higher learning, insulted by proprietors
of public conveyance, outraged by system of public caste throughout the community;” the state
convention occurred in Albany, New York; it created resentment among many white abolitionists,
including Gerrit Smith, Garrison, etc.
Convention also opposed by Dr. Smith because it was limited to black men, but he attended.
Austin Steward of Rochester elected President of the Convention, held in Albany, NY.
1840
State of Maryland passed law banning free persons of color from traveling in and out of its state. It
was targeted against the resistance and liberation that free persons of African descent were
engaging in as a means of liberation enslaved brethren. The number of slaves decreased in the
state from 111.5 thousand in 1810 to 89.7 thousand in 1840.
American Anti-Slavery Society rejects Abby Kelley [Garrisonian] as a member of its business
committee on gender lines. The Society split, with the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
organized with Gerrit Smith support, including the endorsement of the Liberty Party. Garrison
attempted to gain resolution of support from the darker brethren at Rev. Wright’s church meeting.
The attempt failed.
1841
James W.C. Pennington, an escaped African from Maryland, and later pastor of the African
Congregational Church in Hartford, CT, published his book, A Text Book of the Origin and
History of the Colored People. He received his Doctorate of Divinity degree at the University of
Heidelberg.
1841
Maryland passed law banning black men from belonging to secret societies because of the fear
that the African Grand Lodge of the Prince Hall Masons would gain strong inroads in the state.
AME Church established newspaper, African Methodist Episcopal Church Magazine.
1842
Jermain Wesley Loguen, an escaped African from Tennessee, studied at Oneida Institute, ordained
minister AME Zion, Syracuse; he was known as the “superintendent of the Underground
Railroad.”
1842
Frederick Douglass lectured for the American Anti-Slavery Society; visited Rochester, New York.
Garnet start two newspapers in Troy, NY; National Watchman and the Clarion. Liberty Party
member, Stephen Meyers in Albany, NY, established the Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate.
23
1842
Daniel A. Payne joined Bethel AME in Philadelphia. Western Citizens of Chicago indicated that
Fort Malden, Canada had $400,000 worth of former enslaved Americans residing there.
1843
Henry Highland Garnet, then 27-years of age, gave oration at Buffalo Convention of Colored
Men, including Frederick Douglas, William Wells Brown, Charles B. Ray, Charles L. Remond.
Garnet stated resolution, modeled from David Walker’s Appeal, which was defeated by one vote:
“Brethren, arise, arise! Strike for your lives and liberties. Now is the day and
the hour. Let every slave throughout the land do this, and the days of slavery
are numbered. You cannot be more oppressed than you have been - you cannot
suffer greater cruelties than you have already. Rather die freemen than live to
be slaves. Remember that you are four millions!”
Frederick Douglass, a Garrisonian, challenged Garnet.
1843
Martin Delany published the Northern Star, later the Mystery in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Payne gain full association with AME Church, although still listed in the books of the Lutherans.
1843
Garnet helped organized the Colored Men’s Convention in Albany and gained the passage of a
resolution endorsing the Liberty Party, as a direct affront to the Garrisonian principles.
1846
Frederick Douglass’ book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was a big hit in England.
1847
Frederick Douglass began publishing his newspaper, North Star, at AME Zion Church in
Rochester with the help of Delany.
1849
Delany leaves the North Star; Douglass proclaim, “I thank God for making me a man; Delany
thanks God for making him a black man.”
1848
Free Soil Convention brought together members of Free Soil Party and Liberty Party.
1849
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland. Pennington writes the Fugitive Blacksmith.
Williams Wells Brown, wrote the book, Anti-Slavery Harps, a series of poems.
1850
President Millard Fillimore signed the Fugitive Slave Law that in affect allowed any white man to
accuse a black person of being an escaped slave; kidnapping resulting in black persons being
captured without legal rights; many fled to Canada.
Tubman risked her life by returning to Maryland to help her sister and children escape. The
Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave was published.
1851
Frederick Douglass at the American Anti-Slavery Society Convention challenged the
Garrisonians, expressing it the duty of every American citizen to use his political as well as moral
power for slavery’s overthrow. Gerrit Smith offered to merge his paper with Douglass’ paper.
1851
Anti-Slavery Society of Canada [Toronto headquarters] established. Truth delivered her explosive
speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio.
1852
Daniel A. Payne elected sixth bishop of AME Church; established Wilberforce University in 1856.
1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed slavery to enter into a territory where it was previously banned
since the 1820 Missouri Compromise.
1857
Harriet Tubman joined AME Zion Church in Auburn, NY.
24
1857
Dred Scott Decision - Supreme Court ruled that a slave traveling from the slave state of Missouri
to a free state of Illinois, and the free territory of Minnesota, did not make him free, and in effect,
he did not have a right to bring a suit. Chief-Justice Taney presided.
Decision sparked the coming together of “conscience” Whigs and Free Soilers to organize the
Republican Party, the favorite party of black men, including Garnet, Ray, Douglass.
1859
John Brown led 21 men with an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA, with the idea
of acquiring arms and distributing them to local black persons, and seizing the town; included
were Shield Greens and Dangerfield Newby, who were former slaves.
1861
Abraham Lincoln inaugural - “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the
institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I
have no inclination to do so.”
1861
Payne, Garnet, Crummell, and other met in April to discuss the war issue, including the enlistment
of black men. Others joined in the call. Payne met with Frederick Douglass in the summer.
1862
Payne traveled to Washington, DC to visit Senator George Sumner and President Lincoln. Several
months later Payne relocated to Washington, DC.
1862
Isaac Newton Arnold, a former student of the Hartwick Seminary and Academy, and Republican
Congressman from Illinois, was credited with the HR bill that led to the ending of slavery in
Washington, DC and the Florida territory. Payne met Lincoln urging that he signed Arnold’s bill.
National Anti-Slavery Standard, Anglo-African, and other abolitionist papers were regularly
urging the enlistment of black men into the Union ranks.
1863
Emancipation Proclamation included provision for President to bring freedmen into the Union
ranks, which eventually numbered more than 200,000 black soldiers from the United States, the
Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Cuba, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica and other Caribbean territories, in
addition to some Indians, men of Asian descent particularly from India, and 7, 000 white officers.
Massachusetts’s Fifty-fourth Colored Regiment became first Northern regiment of black soldiers
organized during the Civil War. The white abolitionist, Gerrit Smith contributed $500 to support
the regiment, as well as urged black men in New York to organize a regiment which he promised
to support financially. In March, Jermain Loguen of Syracuse issued the call, “Men to Arms.”
Lewis Douglass, son of Frederick, held the highest enlistment rank of Sergeant Major. His brother,
Charles, was also a Sergeant. Stephen Swails of Cooperstown and Elmira, became the first black
enlisted soldier to be promoted to Lieutenant. Garnet became the acting chaplain of the three
regiments organized in New York; Delany was appointed a field officer, etc .
1864
Representative Isaac Newton Arnold introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives,
which was passed, calling for an amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery in the United
States. This sparked debates, defeats, reconsiderations, and finally the House passage of the
Thirteenth Amendment following the pace-setting action in the Senate.
1865
President Lincoln instructed General Benjamin Butler to proceed with developing plans to remove
all black soldiers and their families to a colony in Columbia, South America. President Lincoln
was assassinated before the plan was put into effect.
1865
The Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery in the United States became law in December 1865.
25
Part 6: Historical Steps in Preservation
Important Steps:
1. Congress authorized Interior Department, NPS, to investigate Underground Railroad, 1990
2. USCT Symposium of Delaware and Otsego Counties, New York, 1997-98
3, Underground Railroad Revisited, Gannett News, September 1997
4. New York State Freedom Trail Act, 1997
5. National Park Service – Index of Black Civil War Soldiers, November 1997
6. Governor George Pataki’s Proclamation recognizing New York’s USCT, January 1998
7. African American History and Genealogy Conference, Oneonta, NY, April 1998
8. African American Civil War Memorial established, Washington, DC, July 1998
9. Honoring New York’s Forgotten Soldiers: African Americans of the Civil War, August 1998
10. USCT Institute for Local History and Family Research established at Hartwick College, 1998
11. USCT Civil War Digest Special Issue 2000
12. Voices from the Front Line: New York’s African American Statesmen of the Underground
Railroad Freedom Trail and the United States Colored Troops Organized in the Empire State
1863-1865, released as a preliminary issue, 2000
13. USCTI featured in Stars and Stripes [associated with Pentagon] Source, February 2002
14. USCTI Web Site selected for inclusion in the online Guide to African American
Documentary Resources, managed at Cornell University, 2002
15. Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust Award presented to USCTI, September
2003
16. USCTI presented African American Patriots Consortium National Achievement Medal, 2004
17. USCTI honored by State of Maryland Senate Resolution 423 for historical and genealogical
Contributions to the African American culture, February 2004
18. USCTI honored by Maryland House of Delegates Resolution 258, February 2004.
19. USCTI hosted regional conferences in Rochester, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Columbia, MD;
Charleston, SC; and Kinston, NC, 2003-05, with conference in Carlisle, PA, 2006.
20. New York State Assembly and Senate passed respective resolutions urging Governor George
E. Pataki to declare Isaac Newton Arnold Day as the third Saturday of April. Resolutions
sponsored by the USCTI of Otsego and Delaware Counties, NY, April 2005.
21. USCTI featured in Times Union, Albany, NY, Sunday, February 19, 2006.
22. New York State Commissioner of Education appointed Harry Bradshaw Matthews to the
Advisory Council for State and Local History, March 2006.
26
23. National Geographic Magazine consults with USCTI re: Arlington N.C. for June 2007 issue.
24. PBS “History Detective” consulted with USCTI for “Grand Army of the Republic” July 9.
25. Freedom Knows No Color: The African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related
Sites, 1823-1870 - preliminary copies were donated to 15 research sites by Harry Bradshaw
Matthews, 2006.
26. Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project established at Hartwick College in conjunction with the
United States Colored Troops Institute, supported by the Matthews Collection, September 2007.
27. African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related Sites, 1823-1870: Freedom
Knows No Color, ISBN 978-0-9799537-4-3, was published by Africana Homestead Legacy
Publishers, 2008.
28. Hartwick’s Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Symposium was endorsed by the U.S. Abraham
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, supported by the Matthews Collection, September 2008.
29. The Cato Freedom Project was announced as a component of the USCT Institute with a focus
upon documenting the burial sites of black Revolutionary War soldiers based upon research by
Matthews and members of the Harriet Tubman Mentoring Project, May 2009.
30. The Cato Freedom Conference and Think Tank was initiated as a forum for re-activating the
American Society of Freedmen Descendants as an offering of the USCT Institute, April, 2010.
31. Matthews named speaker at New York State Library in support of the traveling exhibit,
“Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation,” September 29, 2010.
32. Matthews named keynote speaker for the USCT Grand Review honoring the 145th
anniversary of the 1865 event held in Harrisburg, PA, November 4, 2010.
Notes
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