The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-09-25
AN APPEAL FOR AID.

Rev. MIR. Smal1wood Tells of the Efforts of
the White Caps and Ku Klux to Stop his
Work for Colored Men
To the Editor of the PRESS:
Will you please allow me space in the
columns of your very valuable paper to
make an appeal for the Temp erance In
dustrial and Collegiate Institute, and for
the negro race of Virginia and the South?
AS a race we are passing through a
most embarrassing and trying time.
Thirty-two negroes were lynched in the
South alone last week, commencing with
September 9th and ending with Septem-
Der 18th. How sad is all of this, yet
how true. We of the Temperance, In
dustrial and Collegiate Institute at
Claremont, Virginia, have worked both
night and day to accumulate school
property, and to get money with which
to buy lumber and material for our new
buildings. We ate one meal day, often
times having the commonest kind of
food. We have sat in our Office, as we
are now doing, from O'Clock a. M. to
and 2 o'clock am, at work for our
race, our country and our God. We had
just bought a most delightful farm,
upon which We had saw mill, plain
ing machine, barrel and hopping ma
chine, a coach shop, bender's tools. a
blacksmith shop and forty-fve barrels
of vinegar made for our school from
the apples of our orchard. We had upon
the grounds $4,000 feet of lumber, pine
and oak. This with the mill and two of
our best buildings were burned Friday
night, Sept. 14th. The property had
just fallen into our hands. We had no
time to have it insured, since the deed
and title were made to us while / was in
Maine begging money for school, during
July and August. We have today only
one house standing upon our grounds
except the common barn and horse stable
built of common pine logs We have 125
pupils knocking at our doors. We have
no room now since two of our best build
ings were burned to the ground, doubt
less by the White Caps and Ku Klux.
Since the Temperance, Industrial and
Collegiate Institute purchased the "Old
Alien Farm, "fronting the James river,
there has been the greatest opposition to
negro institution by the socalled White
Caps an Ku Klux. am every day the
recipient of letters in which l am told
to leave Surry county, my home, my life
which God has called me, all because
| am teaching negroes not to drink
whiskey, to buy land, to learn trades,
to attend church upon time, to respect
themselves, to defend their families and
to love their wives. | am told daily
through the mails that I must leave my
home before Oct. 18th, because I de-
he 1vn of rpa nd
negro women, because our negro girls
are true, polite and virtuous. have de-
clared, do now declare, that ! will
not go one single yard from my house
and office except it is upon business for
the institution which | am trying to
build. After the transaction of such
business I shall return to Claremont. i
My house and Office are now being guard
ed every night by armed negroes. |
have told them to kill the first white
man who dares come to my door upon
White Cap or Ku Klux business. One
of our little negro girls, very dark in
her complexion, beautiful and easy in
her manner. winning with her general
demeanor, polite, modest, religious@and
earnest, is without mother. father or
home. | picked her up from peanut
farm, where she was working for fifteen
cents per day. She, our good little
Oracle, left the humble home of her
poor, uneducated, but religious aunt
and came to us. She soon became the
pet of all in the intuition. School
closed Juhe 9TH, 1894. Oracle left our
institution, went back to her aunt's.
A white man commenced as soon as he
found that this 10 year old black negro
girl, had returned to the hum BILE, scanty
home of her aunt to visit her house at
every inopportane time. He made time
after time ungentlemanly advances to
Oracle. We had taught her virtue here.
We had taught her truth, morality and
religion. So when this man, a married
white man, a wealthy white farmer,
commenced to make improper REQUESTS
of Oracle she told her poor aunt that
he had offered her (Gracie) shoes,
dresses and money. He had sent her
notes and in them had begged negro
child to meet him at a late hour in the
night. Her poor, widowed, uneducated
black aunt asked him to let her niece
alone. He persisted in his inhuman
efforts to destroy the life, the moral and
religious glory of this poor child. / was
in Maine. Her appeals to me did not
reach me until came home Septem her
18th. Gracie's aunt told the mans wife,
thinking that she could and would re-
strain him. She told her white neigh
bors and appealed to them to help her to