The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-01-11
HENRY EVANS, A
NEGRO
Remarkable Man of His Race,
Whose Preaching Wrought Such
Change Among the Slaves That
White Men Heard Him Gladly

\tfGLIS AslSV&ES
White Men Heard Him Gladly
lAutobiocrapfy Of Bishop Capers.)
Tbe most remarkable man III ray
etteville when ! went thcre' dHo WIZ
died during my stay, was d negro ~
the name OF Henry Evans. / say lie
most remarkable i'll view OF ms tldSS'
and | all him negro with un1elgheo
respect. He was a negro; thal IS ne
WAS Of that race. without any adnlS-
turc of another. The name Simply
desicnates the race, and it is vulgar TO
regard it with opprobrium. ! have
known and loved and ono not a
few negroes in my Hfe' VINO "ele p'ou
ablv as pure Of heart as Evans, or
ANYBODY else. such were my olo
friends CASTLE Selbv and John Boquet,
OF Charleston: Win Campbell ana
Harry Myrick, of Wilmington; YORK
Cohen, of Savannah, n others l
might name. These nn1sht cali {
rlarxab bic for their goodness. but L
use the word in a broader sense Tor
Henry Evans, who was conIessediy tne
father of the Methodist Church, "hlte
and black. in Fayetteville. II the
best preacher Of his time III tfa' qdai-
ter; and he was SO rel1ark1pie a9 ~
have become the greatest CURIOSITY OF
the town: insOmuch that distinguished
visitors hardly felt that they might
pass q Sunday in Fayetteville without
hearing him preach. Evans was from
Virginia; a shoemaker by trade. ana
/ think, was born free. he became a
Christian and q Methodist quite young
and was licensed to preach in Virginia.
While yet a Young man, he determined
to remove TO Charleston, South caro-
lima, thinking that he might succeed
best there at his trade. But having
reached Fayetteville on his way 10
Charleston, n something OBTAINING
him for Il few days, his spirit was
stirred at ~perceiving that the people
of his race IN that town were wholly
given to profanity and 1ewdness, never
hearing preaching OF any denomlna-
ton, and living e~mphatically without
hope and without God IN the world.
This determined him to stop in Fay
~etteville; and he began to preach to
the negroes. with great effect. The
town council interfered, and nothing
IN his power could prevail with them
10 permit him to preach. He then
Withdrew TO the sand-hiIls. out Of
town, and held meetings in the woods,
changing his appointments from place
10 place. No law was violated, while
the council was cffectually Guided;
and SO the opposition PASSED into
the hands Of the mob. These he WOr-
ried out by CLEANSING his APPOINT
meEtS, SO that when they went TO work
their will upon hin he was preaching
somewhere else. Meanwhile. what
ever the most honest purpose of Il
simple heart could DO to reconcile his
enemies was employed by him for that
end. He eluded no one in private, but
sought opportunities 10 explain him
sell; aNoWed the purity Of his inten-
Ions: and even begged to be subjected
TO the scrutiny OF any surveillance
that might be thought proper 10 prove
his inoffensivenesS; any thing. SO that
he might but be allowed to preach.
Happily for him and the cause OF re-
izg'on, his honest countenance and
earnest ~ploadInGS were soon power
sully by the fruits CT his la
bors. One after another began to
suspect their servants OF attending
his preachingt not because they We're
made worse, but wonderfully better.
The effect on the public morals OF The
negroes, too, began to be seen. partic-
nlarly as regarded their habits on Sun
day and drunkenness.
1t was not long before the mob was
called off by a change in the current
of opinion. ana Evan was allowed tc
preach i'll town. At hat time
there was not a single church-edifict
ia town. and but one congregation
fPfesbyteritn>. who Worshipe0 il
what Was ttiit2 the state house, 0fl'
der which was the market and i
was plainly Evans or nobody 10 preach
to the negroes. Now, too, Of Tia
mistresSes there We're not q few, ant
some masters, who were brought t,
think that the preaching which hat
proved SO beneficial to their servant
might be good tor them also: and tn
famous negro preacher had SOM,
whites a. we'll as blacks to hear him
From these the gracious infIuenc,
spread TO others. and q mecti1g-hCus
was built. 1t was a frame Of wood
weather-boar0ed only on the outside
without clustering, about fifty fec
long by thirty feet wide.
Seats, distinctly separated. were =
first appropriated 10 the whites. n+a
the pulpit. But Evans had alrcaG,
become famous, and these seats wrr
insufficient. Indeed. the necr0a
seemed likely to lose their preacher
negro thonGh he was. while the whites
out OF their a~OuTaDria+ o.,+c