The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-11-24
PITY IT'S NOT TRUE.
A ROMANTIC STORY CONCERNING soupAH's
FALsB PROPHET.

CoEEELLsvILLB, Pa, November 15-In
the earlier part of the present century a
large cargo Of slaves direct from the Arabic
speaking regions Of Northern Africa was Sc
cretly landed near Yorktown, Virginia. This
ship load Of human chatteIs was delivered to
awaiting agents. Eight hundred intelligent
Mshommedsn. light skinned Africans vera
distributed among the planters Of Eastern
Virginia. Fierce as untamed tigers, these
wild followers Of the Prophet Of Mecca gave
the slave owners more trouble than any other
eight hundred bondsmen south of Mason and
DiXon's line. Many Of them could read their
native language and Of course were not long
in discovering surreptitious methods Of learn
ing to read and write English. The masters
lash never fully subdued their proud spirits
A large proportion OF them escaped North
by the Underground Railroad, and many Of
their descendants now live in Fayette conn
ty. Among them are the Blues, Jacksons,
Muncys, Palmers, Manaways and Others,
whose thin lips, high forehesds, aQuiline
noses. superior intellectual capacity and
splendid physique stamp them at once as su-
perior in every respect to the full blooded
negro.
TEE RALsE PROPHETS FATHRR-
Among others who escaped and came
North were George Johnston and wife.
Georges real name was Beyash ell Azwah.
He was . sheik and q priest OF the order of
IIami. For several years he lived in the
mountains near ConnoIlsvills, but fearing
recapture went to Canada. In 1880 he re-
a.
Uniontown. In 1854 he removed to Browns
vile and subsequently to Pittsburgh, where
he died in 1877 at a very advanced age. In
1880. while at Connellsville, his son Thomas
was born. At the age Of ten Thomas had
lsarned the Koran from his father and could
repeat hundreds of pages in Arabic. No
turreted mosque reared its massive walls, no
bearded nuezZin called the ex-slaye and his
family TO worship. but BeyAsh ell Azwah
never forgot '"There is but one God and Ma
hommad Is His Prophet" and in q land of
Christian strangers secretly adhered 10 the
faith of bis fathers
In 1s49 Thomas johnson drifted to Cali.
fornis. In storm at sea, near San Francis
co, be astonished the British Consul, who had
travelled extensively in Oriental lands by re-
peatlng passages from the Koran in his pray.
ers. About 1881 he returned to bis parents,
at Uniontown. Pa, with about thousand
dollars in gold. In 1883 he sailed for Europe
and, after visiting the British Isles, went to
Paris and enlisted in the French army.
ACROSS THE GREAT DKsERT.
With his regiment he was sent to Algiers
where, to the surprise of bis superior ofhcers
he learned to converse with the native Arab:
in few months and was detailed to stat
duty. At the close of his term Of service he
joined . caravan and crossed the great deser
of Sahara, southwark into Soudan. For sew
eral years he lived among the natives Of thai
almost inaccessible region. With his almost
! perfect mastery Of the Koran, and his supe
rior knowledge of the arts Of civilization, g.
pecially Of war, he forged to the front as 8
I leader. In 1861 he sent . leng letter to hi.
1 parents at Brownsville, Pa, and q draft fol
! three hundred pounds on the Bank Of Eng
/ land, and asked them to return to the land
| OF their nativity. But, the aged couple hsv.
/ ing lived fifty years ir America and fearing
/ the dangers of the long voyage and a chang,
| of climate, refused to go.
| In the latter part OF 1862 a number OF box
es of knives and spear heads arrived at Eg
| rabi, in Soudan, from Massachusetts. The
/ instruments were wrapped with copies oi
American newspapers. johnson eagerly read
Ihe contents of the papers and Tor the first
time learned OF the civil war raging in the
! United States Fired with an ambition Il
help free the slaves OF the South. he wrote 8
long letter to President Lincoln Offering tC
recruit a thousand Arab zouaves for the
Union army, lfIthe United States Government
would furnish transportation. The letter
was received, fell into the hands Of the news
paper correspondents infesting the White
House, and was published the length and
breadth Of the land as huge joke. In 1885,
Johnson came to America, but the war bad
| lust closed. Yet no more enthusiastic lover
of the Union cause stood upon Pennsylvania
avenue, in the city of Washington, on the
dav of the last grand parade of the Federal
armies than the tall. red-capped Sheik John
sou. fresh from the wilds Of Africa After
calling on the Turkish Minister, he visited
CopneIlsyflle, Uniontown. Brownsville and
Pittsburgh to see his aged father.
PRocLAIHINe HIHsELF TEE PROPHET.
In August he went to Egypt. There, rs is
the duty of all Mahommedans, he made q
niloriuace to the tomb OF the Prophet at the
sacred city OF Mecca. Returning to Soudanr
he ACQUIRED q greater influence than ever
over the semi-civiliZed inhabitants Of that
extensive country and claimsd prophets
poyers. As time rolled Cd his wealth and
mower increased and when the English in