Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-01-05
Is THIS The FALSE PROPHET.

Is THIS The FALSE PROPHET.
u til" earlier part # III" present
c.4'Uf' a i'lr-, carT of slaves direct
fr.rl ,h, Araj5c ~lo!',:u-. ro5in:.- u
nor;u,ln Africa MS secretly landed
Near Yorktown. Thi- cargo wa Gr
livrred (" agents and TINS sUr intel
li-sH; Mnhamelan light skinned
Africans We're distributed among the
planters Of eastern Virginia. Fierce
u nntan"d tiger. these wild follow
cr, oi III" Prophet ii Mecca gay" the
slave owl"r- mulc truublc than any
other StW bondsmen south o. Ma -un
and DiXon's line. Many OF ihcin -
cap"l to the North. and their de
scrndants live in Faycttr county in
TINS State. Among them are the
B.uc,. Jack,ons. Mundy-. Palmcrs,
Monawaye. and Others whose thin
lips. high foreheatlS, aquiline noses.
superior intellectual capacity. and
splendid physique distinguish them
from full blooded negroes. A Phila
delphia Tim"s correspondent has
found among these people the old
home of the Great False Prophet of
Soudan His story is this: Among
these escaped Mohammedans We're
George Johnson and wife. Georges
real name was Beyash FL Asewah.
He was sheik and priest of the
Order of Hami. For several years
he lived i'll the mountains near Con
nellsville, but, fearing recapture,
went to Canada. In 1850 he re
turned to Pennsylvania and settled
in Uniontown. In 1850. he removed
to Brownsville, and subsequently to
Pittsburg, where he died in 1877 at
very advanced age. In 1880, while
at Connellsville. his son Thomas was
born. At the age of 10 Thomas had
learned the Koran from his father.
No turreted mosque reared its mas
sive walls, no bearded Muezzin
called the ex slave and his family to
worship, but Beyash Ell Asewah
never forgot "There is but one God,
and Mohammed is his Prophet" and
in land of Christian strangers Sc
cretly adhered to the faith of his ia
Tiers.
In 1919 Thomas Jefferson drifted
to California, to return to Uniontown.
Two years later, in 1853, he went to
Paris and joined the French army.
He was sent to Algiers at the close of
his term of service. He joined a car
AVIAN and crossed Sahara southwark
into Soudan. For several years he
lived among the natives of that al
most inaccessible region. With his
almost perfect mastery of the Koran
and his superior knowledge of the
arts of civilization, and especially of
war, he forged to the front as lead
er. In 1862, when he heard of the
war of the rebellion, fired with an
ambition to help free the slaves of
the South. he wrote long letter to
President Lincoln offering to recruit
a thousand Arab zouaves for the
Union Army if the United States
would furnish transportation. The
letter got into the newspapers, and
was published as great joke. In
1865 he returned, just as the war
closed, and visited Connellsville,
Uniontown, Brownsville, and then
Pittsburg to see his aged father. In
August he returned to Egypt, and
thence to Soudan, where he acquired
a greater influence than ever over the
semi-civilized people Of that extensive
country, and claimed prophetic pow
ers. As time rolled on his wealth and
power increased, and when the Eng
fish invaded Egypt he proclaimed
himself Imam Mahdi, or the last
prophet Allah shall send to conquer
the enemies eff Islam and rule su-
preme over the world. While Arab
Pasha was suffering defeat, rumor
has 1t that the False Prophet was
achieving extraordinary victories and
staying thousands of his foes. Ac-
cording to Mohammedan belief Imam
Mahdi is to come with great signs
and wonders just before the judg-
ment day. He will appear on milk
white charger. accompanied by an
innumerable army of bearded Mussul-
mans, all mounted on snow-white
stations. The Imam Mahdi must be
avisible ruler, with power and vic
tory on his side. If he manages to
spread the report that he is killing
Jews, Christians, and pagans by thou
sands, he may be accepted most will
ingly by the Moslems. The defeat of
Arab, who claimed to fight for the
cause of Islam, may cause all Mo
hammedans to turn to johnson as
their coming Prophet
1t may be added that one of the
False Prophets hundred wives is a
native of Fayette county, an octo-
room from Uniontown. She accom-
panied him to Mecca and to Africa in
1865, and is said to be the mistress
of his harem. She, too, is direct
descendant of the Arabs of the slave
ship of Yorktown. She still writes
L. IL. -, D1--1-1-:n