South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1859-04-01
Henry Evans, the Negro Preacher.


In the course Of his autobiography. Bish-
op Capcrs refers to some of those remark
able characters who may be found in many
parts of the South, to shame our abolition
lists and who are denominatel ,.Liack rrca-
chcrs." The account Of Henry Evans, Of
North Caroliua. exhibits one of these:
Henry Evans was cnnfcsScdiv the faith
or of the Methodist Church, white and
black. III Fayetteville, and the best prca-
cher Of his time in that quarter, and was
so remarkable rs to have become the great
est curiosity of the town. irsomuch that
distinguished visitors hardly felt that they
might pass Sunday i'll Fayetteville. with
out hearing him preach Evans WAS from
Virginia shoemaker ly trade, and.
think, was born free. He became Il chris
'ian and :; Methodist quite young. and was
licensed to preach in Virginia. While vet
young man. he determined to remove to
Charleston, s. c.. thinking he might sue
crcd hest there ut his trade. /.
This determined him to stop in Fayct;c-
VILE; and he began 10 preach to the nc
grocs with great effect The town cuurcil
interfcrcl. and nothing in his rowcr could
prevail with them to permit him to preach
lie then Withdrew to the sanGhi'iS. rut nt
town. and held meetings in the woods.
changing his appointments from place to
place. No law was vion,c,l, while the
counc:; was cfIcc'ually clulc,l. and 50 the
opposition passed into the hands of the
mob. These he worried out by chnnpiur
his appointments so that when they went
to work their will upon him. he was preach
mg somewhere else. Happily
for him and the cause Of religion, his hon
est conntenancc and earnest plradings were
soon powerfully seconded by the fruits of
his labors. One after another began to
suspect their servants Of attending his
preaching. not because they were made
worse. but wonderfully better. The effect
on the public morals Of the negroes, too.
began I" he seen. particularly as regarded
their habits Oh Sunday. and drunkenness.
And 1t was not long before the mob was
called Oft, "y change of opinion, and T.
vans was allowed to preach in town At
that time. there was not single cdiiicc in
town. and hut one c"ngrrgation-Prcsh
tcr'an-who worshiprod in what was called
the state house. under which was the mar
kct: and it was plainly Evans, or nobo..y.
to preach to the negroes. Now. too. all of
The mlstrcsScS, there were not few, and
some masters, were brought to think that
the preaching which l.a,' i.r"v-,t 81 ,-..;i-
r'"' t" 'i.-:. t-rv.ntS. might he good fng
th'm also. AMI the famous negro preacher
had some whites as well as blacks to hear h:.n
Seats: distinctly separated, were at first an.
Nr"priatcd t" the whites. near the pulr;t
But Evans had already become famous. and
these seats we're insufficient. Indeed the
negroes seemed likely to lose their preach.
or, negro though he was. while the whites
crowded out Of their appropriate seats. took
possession Of those in the rear.
3 Meanwhile. Evans had represented to
the preacher of BIadcn Circuit, how things
were going. and induced him to take his
meeting house into the circuit and cons,i-
tutc church. AS there was no longer
room for the negroes in the house when
Evans preached. and for the accommoda-
. ton Of both classes, the wcatherboards
were knocked of, and sheds were added to
the house on either side: the whites occu-
pying the whole of the original building
and the negroes those sheds rs a part of
the same house. Evans dwelling was a
shed Mt the pul pit end of the church.
1t was my practice TO hold a meeting
with the blacks in the church, directly af-
ter morning preaching. every Sunday. and
on the Sunday before his death, during this
meeting the little door between his humble
shed and the chanccl where I stood, was
opened, and the dying man entered for a last
farewell to his people, lie was almost too
feeble to stand at ALL but supporting him
self by the railing Of the chanccl. he sad,
II have come to say my last word to you.
1t IS this: None but Christ Three times
l have had my life inj'"pardy for preach
ing the gospel to you. Three times have
broken the ice on the edge of the water,
and swan across the Cape Fear river, to
preach the gospel to you. And now, il in
| my last hour. l could trnst TO anything
else but Christ cruciGcd, for my salvation
all would be lost, and my soul persisted
forever"