The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-07-22
NEWS FROM LIBERIA.
What 3 Wsmaa Who Lived There
Tairty Years Says Of It.
LIVING TaEgE SAFE As HERE.
Some Bad

The Augusta Herald publishes the
following, which will be interesting to
reading those who are interested in
question of colonizing the negroes to
Liberia or any other locality:
The story that Rosa Crawford, a
negro woman, just returned from Lib
eria. Africa, has touch of local color,
in that she was married in Augusta
while enroute to the Dark Continent
in 1865. The woman has returned to
Columbus, Ca, and the following are
her experiences: The young woman
joined the first colonizing party that
left Columbus after the war. In 1865
she ran away from her parents and
Joined party Of some two or three
hundred negroes that left for the
Promised Land Of the newly-freed
slaves. She had been a house girl at
the home Of the late Colonel Mott, on
Motifs green, and in the course OF a
year OF two would have been cooking.
While en- route to her new home, she
married in Augusta, her husband be-
ing one of the colonistS. At Charles
ton the negroes were placed aboard a
new ship and after d long voyage they
found themselves in the old home Of
their race-Africa. The colonists set
tied in the seaport Monrovia, which is
the ca apital of the country.
The Crawford woman gives an inter-
esting account Of her experiences in
Africa. She is intelligent, and noted
incidents more closely than the aver
age negro. She said that those who
went over went to work in pretty
much the same stations as at home
some cooking, others laundering,
others keeping hous:, etc. She her
self is a laundress and says that she
made a good living there about the
same living she could have made at
home. She spent practically all the
time in Monrovia, not going into the
interior except on rare occasions, and
then not far from town. She says the
natives around Monrovia are peaceable
but further back in the interior they
are dangerous. Agriculture is actively
carried on near the coast, corn, grain
and all the vegetables ordinarily raised
in Georgia being successfully grown.
No cotton is grown in the colony. She
saws that health conditions there are
not so very different from what they
are in this county-the climate suits
some and disagrees with others just as
at home, where some are healthy and
others unhealthy. She says that when
she first went to Liberia all the sugar,
molasses, etc., consumed in MonroHia
and the other towns was made up in
this country, but that in later years
this industry has declined so that most
Of such articles are now Imported.
Formerly the settlers in the upper part
of Liberia sawed much lumber. but
now the lumber is imported, she says.
The original settlers had much energy,
but the present generation is not in
clined to develop these industries.
The Crawford woman says that
when she first went to Liberia two OF
three American ships touched at Mon
rovia every week. Now sometimes
two or three years pass without an
American ship visiting the port. The
foreign trade is in the hands OF Eng
lishmen, Germans. Dutchmen and
Norweigians, the American interest
having stea lilly declined. Many Of the
retail stores in Monrovia are kept by
colored people. There are but few
white people in Monrovia. She says
that Monrovia is hardly as large as
Columbus.
While good many of American
negroes there are dissatisfied with
their lot and wish to return to America
and would do 50 if they could pay their
passage, yet many are content with
their surroundings and intend to spend
the rest OF their lives in Africa. The
Crawford woman says that the Ameri-
can negroes are exercising a civilizIng
| influence over the native Americans:
that they bring the children Of the ma
tives into the towns, teach them, and
that the colony has churches and
schools just as the negroes in America
do.
Fifteen years ago her husband died.
In 1898, she moved to Sierra Loane,
the English colony just north Of Ii
| IBERIA. Here she found many rich
white families who were willing to
pay we'll for fine laundry work, and
she says that she was able in the
course Of year or so to save the
money with which to buy her pas
sage home. She landed in Florida
port, from which she afterwards pro-
ceeded by steamer to Brunswick.
From there she went to Atlanta,
meeting her brother, and also her Sis
ter, Matilda Dawson, Of Columb bus.
who had been wired to come to At
lanta. They had not seen each other
in thirty-eight years. and made such a
demonstration that an Atlanta police
man came near locking both up.
She is now with her sister at 1918
Third a1eDue. She says she enjoyed
excellent health during her entire
/ stay in Africa. OF the Columbus ne
groes who went to Liberia in 1866,
less than half dozen have returned to
this city.
A Fatal Tornado.
At Streator, Ill.,, on Friday tor
nado killed Ave persons, injured a
score Of others and caused heavy
property loss. The dead are: Harry
Doyle, n. II. Bivens, R. Purcell,
Charles Snyder and an unknown ne
gro. All except Purcell we're killed
at the race track. A new building
had just been erected and the races