St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-09-10
A GrandchiId of Hampton.

Hampton has grandchildren, increas-
ing in number almost every year, as
the influence OF Tuskegee spreads
abroad in the smaller schools which
are being established among the peo-
pie of the Black Belt of Alabama.
Such are Snow Hill, Mt. Mcigs, and
Kowaliga.
OF these Kowaliga is particularly
interesting, with its quaint Indian
name, in which, oddly enough, the
"g" is pronounced soft, like 81" 1t
is only two years since work was
begun in this field. Now the school
issues lit,le catalogue, the first par
agraph OF which gives this descrip
ton: "Kowaliga Institute is stu
ated among the hills of East Ala
bama, thirty-six miles from Tuskegee
and Montgomery respectively. There
is no incorporated town, only a
thickly settled farming community Of
one thousand inhabitants or more,
two thirds of whom are colored.
The nearest railroad is Tallassee, f.
teen miles distant"
Mr.. W. E. Benson, a young colored
man, native OF Kowaliga, has been
largely instrumental in establishing
the school there. No statement OF
the situation could be more graphic
than the story of the work, which he
has written
IL was born on my fathers farm"
he says, land lived there until | was
fifteen wears old. | then went to col
lege, where spent six years, gradu
ating in 1895. Having fully made
up my mind to live in the South, re-
turned to my old home Immediately
after graduating, and settled down
in the merchandise business with my
father. Being accust omed to the in
fuences of school life, and having an
ardent pleasure in society and the
many amusements which one hndsin
the city, all OF which missed at the
old home, | was naturally at first
little disconnected with the old scenes
and general condition of the people
around me, beyond which my years
of study and training had placed me.
But | had fully made up my mind to
live there; was settled as to that
So the only thing for me to do that
could see was to set to work and
build up the community, elevate the
people, and thus surround myself
with such conditions as | craved.
AT my solicitation, Clinton !.
Galloway, who had then just gradu-
ated from Fisk University in Tennes-
see, and had at one time been my
classmate, was persuaded to take
charge of the regular session of the
summer school at my home. 1t is
needless to say that we were of great
assistance to each other in a district
so remote from civilization; and, al
most from the beginning, we were
inspired to establish school on the
plan OF Tuskegee Institute, only on
smaller basis, of course. Although
we had never attended school at
Tuskegee, we had known great
deal OF Mr.. Washington, and believed
in his idea for the elevation of our
people. But the thought OF such a
school in the backwoods, said
our friends, is ridiculous! and many
maintained that we were only slight
ing good opportunities to do well in
the city, and sinking our lives in
worthless effort. But we had been
taught that there was a way where
there was will, and therefore were
determined.
Very soon we called the patrons
together in grand rally meeting,
and told them OF our plans. The
outlines OF two story building were
roughly drawn on the blackboard,
which we told them we wanted to
erect. They said they were too poor,
many of them scarcely being able to
live from year to year, and stand
clear OF debt. Some even laughed at
our 'high-falutin' ideas, and init
mated that, il we were representa-
tive college men, they wanted no
more like us. But, again, we had
been taught to think, and were pre-.
pared for this emergency. We told
them that certain white lady in the
community had large plantation to
clear up, and offered to give us all
the timber thereon if we would cut it
down. We told them we knew thev
had no money, but plenty of labor
and muscle to spare; and, if each one
would contribute so much in this
way toward cutting down the tim
Der and getting it to the sa w mill,
ETC., we could work both to the mu-
tual advantage of ourselves in get.
ting building material, and also to
the advantage of the lady in getting
her land cleared With feeling that
after all, our ideas OF erecting such a
building were not so ridiculous, the