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AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY
OF THE
DOUGLASS MONUMENT
Biographical Facts and Incidents
IN THE
Life of Frederick Douglass
His Death at anacosta, d. C, and Funeral at Washington,
D. C, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y.,
TOGETHER WITH
portraits and illustrations of important incidents of the
Four Years' Struggle to Complete the Work.
By J. W. THOMPSON.
" Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause bled nobly
and their deeds, as they deserve, receive proud recompense".
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
Rochester Herald Press
1903-
< AND
TILDEN FOUN OPTIONS.
r isas L
Copyright, 19(13,
By J. W. THUMPSON
INTRODUCTION
At the request of friends, the author has consented to give
an authentic history of the Douglass monument at Roches-
ter, 1ST. Y., unveiled June 9, 1899, together with a short
biographical sketch of facts and incidents in the life of Fred-
erick Douglass, his death and funeral at Washington, D. C,
the arrival of his remains and funeral at Rochester, N. Y.,
and many interesting facts with which the public are not yet
acquainted.
This little volume will doubtless be read by all with keen
interest and will be a valuable addition to the history of
Frederick Douglass and his country, it being the first monu-
nieut erected by popular contribution, to the memory of an
Afro-American statesman, and carried on to completion by
one of his own race. Its history will be an inspiration for
generations to come, inciting American manhood to love of
country and unconquerable devotion to the great cause of lib-
erty and justice to all mankind as such was the lesson taught
in the "North Star," which paper was established in Roch-
ester during the vear of 1847.
THE AUTHOR.
Rochester, N. Y.
Chapter
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
CONTENTS.
Page
Biographical Facts and Incidents in the Life of Douglass. . . 7
Death of the Great Ex Slave Statesman 14
Elaborate Preparations for the Funeral by Rochester's Com-
mon Council 21
Funeral Ceremonies at Central Presbyterian Church 28
Resolutions Adopted by Various Official Bodies 35
Origin and Progress of the Movement to Erect a Monument. 39
Selection of a Site for the Monument at Rochester, N. Y. . . 47
Masonic Exercises at the Laying of the Corner Stone 53
Correspondence Between Mr. Thompson and the Haytien
Government 62
Musical and Literary Entertainment and Douglass Birthday
Exercises 7 l
Unveiling Exercises and Disappointment at Non-Arrival of
Statue 81
The Date Selected and Arrangements Completed 113
The Unveiling Ceremonies at Douglass Park 120
Descriptive and Interesting Facts and Letters 156
How Douglass was Regarded by the Rochester Press 167
How Governor Roosevelt was Entertained in Rochester. . . 180
Comment on Douglass' Life by the American Press 191
How the National Afro-American Council was Formed 196
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Jno. W. Thompson Frontispiece
Frederick Douglass 16
The Douglass Monument 32
Hon. George A. Benton 48
Hon. John Van Voorhis 56
Scene at the Corner Stone Laying 64
Enoch R. Spaulding 80
Benjamin Myers 96
Col. Nathan P. Pond 112
Scene at the Unveiling 1 20
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt 128
Miss Gertrude A. Thompson 144
Hon. William A. Sutherland 152
Charles R. Douglass 160
Mrs. R. Jerome Jeffrey I76
Medal Presented to J. W. Thompson 192
HISTORY OF THE
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
CHAPTER I.
BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS AND INCIDENTS IN THE
LIFE OF DOUGLASS.
Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Talbot county,
eastern shore, Maryland, in February, 1817. His mother's
name was Harriet. She was a slave owned by Colonel Ed-
ward Lloyd, a wealthy planter. Few slaves knew anything
of their fathers and Douglass was one of this kind. Whis
pe rings among the slaves, however, led to the belief that the
master was also the father.
Until seven years of age Douglass was reared by his grand-
mother, then he was sent to the plantation home where he
witnessed scenes of most atrocious cruelty and barbarity,
even murder. At the age of ten he was sent to Baltimore to
live with a relative of his master. There he learned to read
and write. And while there the first seeds of freedom were
sown. Unlike other slaves lie was allowed to hire himself
out and keep what money he earned during his leisure time.
He entered the employ of a shipbuilder at $3 a week.
Long had he cherished the resolve that <>ne day he should
be free. It was his dream by night and his chief thought by
day. Many times he attempted to escape but obstacles hin-
dered. Persistence won the victory and on September 3,
1838, he eluded his master and fled to Philadelphia. Thence
8 HISTORY OF THE
to New York and from there to New Bedford, Mass., where
he married his first wife, Anna Murray, and lived for two or
three years supporting himself by day labor on the docks and
in the workshops.
While there he changed his name from Lloyd to Bailey and
later to Douglass. He was aided in his efforts for self educa-
tion by William Lloyd Garrison.
The starting point in Douglass' career as a national char-
acter was in the summer of 1841 when be attended an anti-
slavery convention in Nantucket. There lie made a fiery
abolition speech which set the entire North agog. Press,
clubs, societies and churches took up the slogan, and every-
where Douglass was in demand as a platform speaker.
Abolitionists offered him the agency of the Massachusetts
anti-slavery society. Acting in this capacity he toured the
New England states and for years his eloquent voice rang
cut in appeal from a thousand platforms for the emancipa-
tion of the colored man.
Thence he went to Europe in 1845 and lectured on slavery
to enthusiastic audiences.
Douglass touched England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
and vividly pictured the misery of Itlie American negro.
Great men of letters, wealth and political prominence enlist-
ed in his aid. Thousands of petitions were sent to the presi-
dent supplementing the plea of the orator.
Up until this time Douglass was still a human chattel.
He was the recognized lawful property of Colonel Lloyd.
He might be captured and again reduced to bondage.
Friends in England feared the contingency and $750 was
soon subscribed to have him manumitted in due form of law.
That was one year after he sailed abroad, yet he remained
there another year before returning home.
Upon his return to this country in 1847, Douglass came
to Rochester and began the publication of the "North Star"
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 9
which was later changed to "Frederick Douglass Paper," a
weekly journal. Regarding this venture, Douglass, in an au
tobiography written by himself in 1855, says:
"Intimation of my purpose reached my friends in Boston,
and I was prepared to find them heartily opposed to it. Some
went further. * * * I can easily pardon those who have
denounced me as ambitious and presumptions in view of my
persistence in this enterprise. I was but nine years from
slavery. In point of mental experience I was but nine years
old. That one in such circumstances should aspire to estab-
lish a printing press among an educated people might well
be considered, if not ambitious, quite silly. My American
friends looked at me with astonishment ! 'A woodsawyer
offering himself to the public as an editor. A slave brought
up in the very depths of ignorance assuming to instruct the
highly civilized people of the Xorth in the principles of lib-
erty, justice and humanity ! The thing looked absurd !
Nevertheless I persevered."
History records the famous John Brown raid in 1859 at
Harpers' Ferry. Douglass was implicated in it by some.
Governor Wise of Virginia believed it and he made a requi-
sition upon the governor of Michigan for the arrest of Doug-
lass. Such exchanges of courtesies between governors was
common and a search was made for Douglass, who was
thought to be in Detroit. But he was spirited away in the
night and off into Canada, whence he escaped to England.
After the bubble of excitement had burst he returned to
this country, coming to Rochester, X. Y. He resurrected
the "North Star," and soon his vigorous pen lashed the slave-
holders of the south. Shortly thereafter the civil war broke
out.
Then Douglass urged upon President Lincoln the employ-
ment of colored troops and the pi-oclamation of emancipa-
tion. For two years the president hesitated, but in 1863 he
II) HISTORY OF THE
gave permission to enlisl such troops. Douglass set to work
and enlisted many negroes, especially filling the 54th and
55th Massachusetts regiments with them. Throughout the
war he was a warm supporter of the martyr president, Abra-
ham Lincoln.
After the white-winged dove of peace had spread her
wings over the land, Douglass discontinued his paper. He
applied himself to the preparation and delivery of lectures
before Lyceums. But be again picked up the pen in 1870,
when he became editor of the "New National Era," in
Washington, which was continued by his sons, Lewis and
Frederick, Jr.
Now, Douglass' star shone in another firmament. He en-
tered the field of politics, tie was appointed assistant secre-
tary to the commission to Santo Domingo. A year later
he was appointed, by President Grant, one of the territorial
council of the District of Columbia. In 1872 he was elected
the presidential electoral Large from New York state. He
was chosen to carry the electoral vote to Washington, some-
thing never before done in the history of the United Slates.
Four years later he was appointed United States marshal
for the District of Columbia by President Hayes, which
office he retained until L881, after which he became recorder
of deeds in the district. Tn 1886 he was removed by Presi-
dent Cleveland.
Yearning to again visit the friends he had made in Eng-
land, Douglass set sail. He remained a year abroad and was
royally received by the hoi polloi and nobility alike.
As a litterateur Douglass was unique and original and had
the gift of a forceful, sententious pen. His published works
are entitled: "Narrative of My Experience in Slavery,"
(Boston, 1844), "My Bondage and My Freedom" (Roches-
ter, 1855), "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" (Hart-
ford, 1885).
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
II
During the nine years following Douglass was much on
the public platform. He became a strong advocate of equal
suffrage for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony were great friends of Douglass.
TITLE DEED OP FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
The reader will be gratified to see the title deeds of trans-
fer and emancipation, by which this man is proved to have
been once a chattel, and subsequently to have obtained pos-
session of himself. We reprint from an English publication,
entitled "Monthly Illustrations of American Slavery" :
"Know all men by these Presents, That I, Thomas Auld,
of Talbot county, and State of Maryland, for and in. consid-
eration of the sum of one hundred dollars current money to
me in hand paid by Hugh Auld, of the city of Baltimore, in
the said State, at and before the sealing and delivery of these
presents, the receipt whereof, I, the said Thomas Auld, do
hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and
by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell unto the said
Hugh Auld, his executors, administrators, and assigns, one
negro man, by the name of Frederick Baily, or Douglass, as
he calls himself, — he is now about 28 years of age, — to have
and to hold the said negro man for life. And I, the said
Thomas Auld, for myself, my heirs, executors, and adminis-
trators, all and singular, the said Frederick Baily, alias Doug-
lass, unto the said Hugh Auld, his executors, administrators
and assigns, against me, the said Thomas Auld, my executors
and administrators, and against all and every other person
or persons whatsoever, shall and will warrant and forever de-
fend by these presents. In witness whereof, I set my hand
and seal, this thirteenth day of November, eighteen hundred
and forty-six. "THOMAS AULD.
"Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
"Wrighton Jones,
"John C. Leas."
12 HISTORY OF THE
The authenticity of this Bill of Sale is attested by N. Har-
rington, "a Justice of the Peace of the State of Maryland,
and for the county of Talbot;" dated same day as above.
"To all whom it may concern: Be it known, that I, Hugh
Auld, of the city of Baltimore, in Baltimore county, in the
State of Maryland, for divers good causes and considerations,
me thereunto moving, have released from Slavery, liberated,
manumitted, and set free, and by these presents do hereby
release from Slavery, liberate, manumit, and set free, my
negro man, named Frederick Baily, otherwise called Fred-
erick Douglass, being of the age of 28 years, or thereabouts,
and able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and mainreii-
ance; and him the said negro man, named Frederick Baily,
otherwise called Frederick Douglass, I do declare to be hence-
forth free, manumitted, and discharged from all manner of
servitude to me, my executors or administrators forever.
"In witness whereof, I the said Hugh Auld, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the fifth of December, in the
year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
"HUGH AULD.
"Sealed and delivered in presence of:
"T. Hanson Belt,
"James N. S. T. Wright."
The attestation of this Deed of Manumission is signed by
T. Hanson Belt, a "Justice of the Peace of the State of
Maryland, in and for the city of Baltimore," dated "on the
day and year aforesaid."
Note — 'Some time previous to the date of his legal free-
dom, it appears that Frederick Douglass had been trans-
ferred, as a little token of fraternal affection, from one
brother to the other. But before Hugh Auld could lawfully
execute a deed for F. D.'s manumission, it became necessary
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 13
that he should show how he had obtained him. Hence the
"Bill of Sale," already quoted.
As the phrase, "for divers good causes and considerations,
me thereunto moving," may appear to some a little mysteri-
ous, the following is annexed by way of explanation:
"Baltimore, December 12, 1846. Received from
, of , by the hands of ,
the sum of seven hundred and eleven dollars and ninety-six
cents, in full of the consideration of a certain Deed of Man-
umission of a negro man known by the name of Frederick
Bailv, otherwise Douglass, formerly my slave for life, bear-
ing date on the fifth of December, eighteen hundred and
forty-six.
CHAPTER II.
DEATH OF THE GKEAT EX-SLAVE STATESMAN.
Frederick Douglass, the great ex-slave statesman, died
suddenly February 20, 1895, at his home on Anacostia
Heights, D. C, aged 78 years.
Mr. Douglass had been about the city of Washington a
greater part of the day, and was in the best of spirits, In
the morning Mr. Douglass was driven to Washington, ac-
companied by his wife, Helen Douglass.
She left him at the congressional library, and he continued
to Mezerott Hall, where he attended the sessions of the
Women's Council, returning to Cedar Hill, his residence,
between 5 and 6 o'clock.
After dinner he had a chat in the hallway with his wife
about the doings of the council. He grew very enthusiastic
m his exclamations regarding one of the events of the day
when he fell upon his knees with his hands clasped.
Mrs. Douglass, thinking this was part of his description,
was not alarmed, but as she looked he sank lower and lower,
and finally lay stretched upon the floor, breathing his last.
Realizing that he was ill, she raised his head, and then
understood that he avjis dying. She was alone in the house,
and rushed to the front door with cries for help.
Some men who were near by quickly responded and at-
tempted to restore the dying man. One of them called Dr.
J. Stewart Harrison, and, while he was injecting a restora-
tive into the patient's arm, Mr. Douglass passed away, seem-
ingly without pain.
Mr. Douglass had lived for some time at Cedar Hill with
his wife and one servant.
He has two sons and a daughter, the children of his first
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 15
wife, living in Washington. They are Louis H. and Charles
E. Douglass and Mrs. R. Douglass Sprague.
Mr. Douglass was to have delivered a lecture that night
at Hillsdale African Church, near his home, and was waiting
for a carriage when talking to his wife. The carriage ar-
rived just as he died.
\ Mrs. Douglass said her husband had apparently been in
the best of health lately, and had showed unusual vigor for
one of his years.
The news of the death <>f Mr. Douglass reached the Na-
tional Council of Women during the evening session.
Mrs. May Wright Sewall, the president of the council,
announced it to the audience as follows:
"A report as unwelcome as sad and solemn has come to us
of the sudden and most unexpected death of Frederick
Douglass.
"The news cannot be received with silence by the council.
That historic figure which individually and intellectually
was the symbol of the wonderful transition through which
this generation has lived, has been with us in our council
during both of our sessions to-day.
"When he arrived an escort was directed to conduct him
to the platform. We felt that the platform was honored by
his presence. I am sure there was no divided sentiment on
this subject although we have here women whose families
are related to all political parties of our country, and con-
nected by ancestry with both sides of the great question.
"It is surely to be regarded as a historic coincidence that
this man, who embodied a century of struggle between free-
dom and oppression, spent his last hours a witness of the
united efforts of those who have come from so many different
places and along such various avenues to formulate some
plan for a new expression of, freedom in the relation of wom-
an to the world, to societv, and to the State."
H] HISTORY OF THE
Mr. Douglass was a regularly enrolled member of the Na-
tional Woman's Suffrage Association and has always attend-
ed its conventions.
It was probably with a view to consistency in this respect
that he appeared at Metzerott Hall.
Although it was a secret business session of the council,
Mr. Douglass was allowed to remain, and when the meeting
had been called to order by Mrs. May Wright Sewall, the
president of the council, she appointed Miss Susan B. An-
thony and Rev. Anna H. Shaw a committee to escort him to
the platform.
Mrs. Sewall presented Mr. Douglass to the council, and
contenting himself with a bow in response to the applause
that greeted the announcement, he took a seat beside Miss
Anthony, his life-long friend. When Miss Anthony heard
of Mr. Douglass' death at the evening session of the council,
she was very much affected.
Miss Anthony and Mr. Douglass formed an intimate
friendship when both resided in Rochester, 1ST. Y., and that
friendship has continued for many decades.
One incident in connection with their relations was re-
called by Miss Anthony. During the early days of the anti-
slavery agitation, Miss Anthony and her venerable associate,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, appeared at an anti-slavery meet-
ing where Frederick Douglass was taking a prominent part.
Women were not welcome as public speakers in those
days, and Mr. Douglass had agreed to read an address pre-
pared by Mrs. Stanton. His rendition of her written re-
marks did not suit that lady, and, stepping forward, she took
the paper from his hands with the remark:
"Here, Frederick, let me read it." And she did so, thus
marking the initiative in the appearance of women as actors
in public gatherings.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 17
LAST RITES IN WASHINGTON, D. C.
The remains of Frederick Douglass were conveyed early
in the morning of February 25th to the Metropolitan Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, there to lie in state until the funeral
services in the afternoon. Before the removal from Cedar
Hill, Anacostia, Mr. Douglass' late residence, brief services
for the immediate relatives were conducted by the Rev.
Hugh R. Stevenson, of the Anacostia Baptist Church. The
service consisted simply of a prayer and the reading of the
Scriptures.
The body was then conveyed to the church which was
beautifully decorated with flowers.
As the time for the services approached the crowd in the
street increased to such proportions that passage was almost
impossible, and early the church was well filled with those
admitted by special card, general admission being denied un-
til after the beginning of the services. Delegations of rep-
resentative colored men and women were present from New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Annapolis, the Baltimore
delegation, more than 100 strong, being headed by Bishop
Wayland. The body of the great freedman resting in a plain
but massive oak casket, was placed in front of the altar
guarded by an officer in uniform from the General Russell
A. Alger Camp, 25, G. A. R.
A simple bunch of lilies decorated the casket but about
the altar and the pulpit was banked a wonderful profusion
of flowers in appropriate designs. Among the floral tributes
besides the beautiful set pieces sent by the Haytien Govern-
ment, was a cross by Capt. B. F. Auld, of Baltimore, a son of
Mr. Douglass' former master. Flowers were also sent by
the scholars of many of the schools for colored children in
the district.
The services were somewhat delayed, and it was after %
o'clock when the funeral procession filed into the church..
XS HISTORY OF THE
Among the guests of special honor were : Justice Harlin, of
the Supreme Court, Senators Sherman and Hoar and a num-
ber of members of the House of Representatives. There was
also a large delegation from the Woman's Council. The fac-
ulty of Howard University attended in a body.
The funeral services which began at 3 o'clock, were con-
ducted by Rev. J. G. Jenifer, D. D., pastor. Bishops Turner
and Wayman took part, and John W. Hutchinson, the last
of the famous Hutchinson family of abolition singers and a
life-long friend of the deceased, sang a solo. The sermon
was preached by Dr. Jenifer, and brief eulogistic remarks
were made by Rev. Dr. Rankin, President of Howard Uni-
versity; Rev. Hugh T. Stevenson, of Anacostia Baptist
Church, and Rev. Dr. J. F. Grimke.
The honorary pall bearers were ex-Senator B. K. Bruce,
"W. H. A. Wormley, Hon. John R, Lynch, John F. Cook, E.
C. Messer, P. B. S. Pinchbeck, Dr. C. B. Purvis, Leonard C.
Bailey, John H. Brooks, J. H. Meriweather, Dr. John R.
Francis, F. J. Barbadoes, Capt. D. L. Pitcher, B. E. Messer
and Congressman George W. Murray.
Speaking as the long time pastor of Mr. Douglass, Dr. Jen-
ifer said: "Mr. Douglass was a Christian. He broke with
the American Church and with the Christian dogma when
he said that it sanctioned and sustained the enslavement and
bondage of a brother. He held Christ to be above creed and
above the church. In this terrific soul conflict he blundered
into bewilderment, but his deliverance came and he has often
spoken to me of the joy of his soul in God."
During the services, a letter from Elizabeth Cady Stanton
was read which, after reviewing her first meeting with
Douglass, closed as follows: "As an orator, writer and editor,
Douglass holds an honored place among the gifted men of
his day. As a man of business and a public officer he has
been pre-eminently successful; honest and upright in all his
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
19
dealings, he bears an enviable reputation. As a husband,
father, neighbor and friend — in all social relations — he has
been faithful and steadfast to the end. He was the only man
I ever knew who understood the degradation of the disfran-
chisement of women. Through all the long years of our
struggle he has been a familiar figure on our platform with
always an inspiring word to say. In the very first convention
he helped me to carry the resolution I had penned, demand-
ing woman suffrage. Frederick Douglass is not dead. His
grand character will long be an object lesson in our National
history. His lofty sentiments of liberty, justice and equality,
echoed on every platform over our broad land, must influence
and inspire many coming generations."
Remarks followed by Miss Susan B. Anthony. Mrs. May
Wright Sewall, president of the Woman's Council, also spoke.
M. J. Nicholas, who came to represent Mr. Haentjens,
Haytien Minister to this country, spoke in French. Then fol-
lowed an address by ex-United States Minister Durham, who
formerly represented the United States in Hayti. Remarks
were also offered by Rev. Dr. W. D. Derrick, of New York.
A touching incident of the service was the tribute paid to
Mr. Douglass by John Hutchinson, of Boston, who himself an
extremely aged man with snowy beard and long white locks
reaching down over his shoulders, is said to be the last of the
well known Hutchinson family with whom Douglass was as-
sociated in slavery days. The old man had come all the way
from Boston to be present at the funeral and sing an old abo-
lition song with which, by Douglass' side, he had inspired
many an audience in New England and abroad against the
evil of slavery. He made a few reminiscent remarks and
then sang the song, at the conclusion of which there were few
dry eyes in the audience.
The benediction was pronounced by Bishop Williams. In-
stead of diminishing, the crowd which gathered around the
20 HISTORY OF THE
church and in the street, had increased during the service so
that it was almost impossible for the funeral procession to
make its way to the carriages outside. The services were ex-
tremely long and it was after 5 o'clock when they were con-
cluded. The body was escorted to the depot by letter carriers
of the district as well as by a large number of personal friends
of the deceased. The remains were put aboard the 7.10 train
for Rochester.
CHAPTER III.
ELABORATE PREPARATIONS FOR THE FUNERAL
BY ROCHESTER'S COMMON COUNCIL.
Action by Rochester, N. Y., Common Council.
Special Meeting, February 23, 1895.
Aid. Merton E. Lewis, president of the Board, in the chair.
Present— Aldermen Calihan, McMillan, Green, Adams,
Edelman, Ashton, Dewey, Cook, Pauckner, Lewis and Har-
ris— 11.
Mayor's Office,
Rochester, N. Y., Feb. 23, 1895.
Theodore S. Pulver, City Clerk:
Sir — You will please call a special meeting of the Common
Council for this, Saturday afternoon, at 2.30 o'clock, to take
such action as may be necessary and appropriate in connec-
tion with the funeral of the Hon. Frederick Douglass, for
many years a respected resident of this city.
MERTON E. LEWIS,
Acting Mayor.
Aid McMillan-
Mr. President — I rise to a question of privilege and beg
leave to submit the following memorial and resolutions on
the death of our former fellow townsman, the Honorable
Frederick Douglass.
MEMORIAL.
At his residence in "Washington, February 20, 1895, Fred-
erick Douglass, a former resident of Rochester, died, and this
Council have met this afternoon to honor his memory.
Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, near Easton.
22 HISTORY OF THE
Talbot county, Maryland, February 14, 1817. His early
boyhood was passed in slavery upon the plantation of Colonel
Lloyd. When about nine years of age he learned to read and
write; September 3, 1838, he escaped from slavery and took
up his residence in New Bedford, Mass., where he was first
married. It was here he met and was assisted in his efforts
to secure an education by William Lloyd Garrison. In 1841,
Mr. Douglass made a speech at an anti-slavery convention at
Nantucket which brought him before the attention of the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and this society at once
employed him as one of its agents; for them he lectured
through New England for about four years, upon the subject
which he was so eminently qualified by nature and experience
to speak. So successful was he that in 1 845 he made a tour
of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, receiving marked
attention everywhere. Rochester was honored by his making
it his home in 1847, and here he resided for the most part
until 1870.
When he first settled in Rochester he began the publica-
tion of a paper known as the "North Star," an organ devoted
to the abolition of slavery, and which he continued a greater
part of the time until the emancipation of his race removed
the cause for its existence.
Mr. Douglass filled many positions of trust with eminent
credit to himself and his country. In 1871 he was appointed
assistant secretary to the commission of Santo Domingo and
later by President Grant as a member of the Territorial
Council of the District of Columbia. In 1872 he was elector
at large for the state of New York and the messenger of the
Electoral College. From 1876 to 1881 he was United States
marshal for the District of Columbia, and recorder of deeds
for that district from 1881 to 1886. But it was as an orator
and author that Mr. Douglass was perhaps best known from
the time
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 23
land abolitionists until his last public appearance a few years
since. He was an orator whose oratory was spontaneous, nat-
ural and convincing and the citizens of Rochester have not
forgotten the occasions when he held as if by magic, the large
audiences which would congregate to hear him. As an au-
thor he achieved distinction by his works: "Narrative of My
Experience in Slavery," "My Bondage and My Freedom,"
published here in 1855, and "Life and Times of Frederick
Douglass."
Rochester is proud that he is one of her sons and that he
will rest in her beautiful city of the dead.
In his life and life work, our youth can find much worthy
of emulation and its lesson to all cannot be lost.
"Whoe'er 'amidst the sons
Of reason, valor, liberty, and virtue
Displays distinguish'd merit, is a noble
Of Nature's own creating."
Resolved, That we do hereby tender to the family and rel-
atives of Honorable Frederick Douglass our sympathy in
their affliction, and that this memorial be spread upon the
minutes of this Council, a copy of this memorial and these
resolutions be sent to his family, and further,
Resolved, That the family of Mr. Douglass be requested
to permit his body to lie in state in the City Hail on the day
of the funeral, and further
Resolved, That this Common Council attend the funeral
services in a body.
Adopted.
Aid. Pauckner moved that a committee of five members
of the Council be appointed to make arrangements for the
funeral of Mr. Douglass. Carried.
The Chair appointed as such committee: Aldermen Pauck-
ner, Adams, Ashton, Green and Harris.
On motion of Aid. Dewey the board then adjourned.
24
HISTORY OF THE
MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
The committee of the Common Council, consisting of Al-
dermen Pauekner, Green, Harris, Adams and Ashton, met fil
Mayor Lewis' office February 25 and made arrangements for
the funeral. All members of the committee were present as
was Mayor Lewis and several interested in the completion
of the arrangements. Aid. Pauekner acted as chairman.
The first business to come before the meeting was the selec-
tion of a church in which the funeral exercises should be held,
Joseph Farley and Frank Van Doom were present in behalf
of Plymouth Church congregation, to offer that house of
worship, in which to hold the services. It was stated that
inasmuch as Mr. Douglass had attended Plymouth Church
when in Rochester, that it would be appropriate to hold the
services at that church. The committee decided to have tii<3
funeral services in Central Church at 2 o'clock February 26.
Rev. W. C. Gannett officiated at the funeral.
J. W. Thompson appeared at the meeting and stated that
the Douglass League desired to act as a guard of honor in
conducting the remains to the city hall and later to Mt. Hope
cemetery. The offer was accepted. Mr. Thompson was
asked to appoint the active and honorary bearers which he
did.
These gentlemen were appointed as active bearers: Charles
P. Lee. William Allen, A. H. Harris, R. J. Jeffrey, R. L.
Kent, H. A. Spencer, F. S. Cunningham and Charles B. Lee.
Mr. Thompson also appointed William Oliver, Hon. H. S.
Greenleaf . J. K. Post and Hon. John Van Voorhis honorary
bearers. Mayor Lewis suggested that several of the ex-
Mayors of the city act as honorary bearers and it was decided
that the four gentlemen named above and ex-Mayors Henry
L. Fish, William Carroll, Richard Curran, Charles W. Briggs,
George G. Clarkson and X. C. Bradstreet complete the list.
Superintendent of Police J. P. Cleary entered the meeting
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 95
and proposed that four members of the national guard and a
like number of policemen act as a guard of honor in the City
Hall. Superintendent Cleary also suggested that a cordon
of police act as an additional escort from the depot and to
the cemetery. It was decided to have the policemen act as an
escort and to have four men stationed in the City Hall as a
guard of honor. In relation to the national guard it was
thought best to confer with Capt. Henderson to ascertain
whether they would wish to turn out. All other organiza-
tions which wished to march were requested to report to Su-
perintendent Cleary at 6 o'clock that evening, February 24.
It was stated at the committee meeting that Charles Doug-
lass, son of the dead statesman, was captain of a military or-
ganization in Washington, and that it would be appropriate
for any military companies wishing to be in line to do so. A
band was secured to lead the funeral procession and accom-
pany the escort from the station.
Of this committee, Aldermen Adams and Ashton went as
far as Canandaigua to meet the train, and accompanied the
funeral party to Rochester. At the station the party was met
by one of the most imposing gatherings that has ever awaited
the arrival of the remains of a private citizen. The Mayor
and the Board of Aldermen were there; the Douglass League,
a guard of honor from the Eighth Separate Company, and
committees from several municipal and other organizations,
but, most impressive of all, was the crowd. The people were
there and that showed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, what
they thought. The crowd, like all the crowds at every gath-
ering place throughout the day, was representative in the
highest sense. It included the leading business and profes-
sional men of the community; gray-haired citizens, whose
life in Rochester dates to the older time when Douglass was
here; white and colored children of the present time, and all
the classes that intervene in age and character. This crowd
26 HISTORY OF THE
filled the station and its approaches so that it was difficult
for those directly connected with the ceremony of reception
tc make their way to the train.
The party that accompanied the body of the orator from
Washington consisted, in part, of Mrs. Frederick Douglass,
widow of the celebrated statesman; Messrs. Lewis H. and
Charles R. Douglass, sons; Mrs. R, Douglass Sprague, daugh-
ter: Misses Estelle and Harriet Sprague, granddaughters, and
Joseph H. Douglass, grandson. General John A. Eton and
Professor George W. Cook, representing the Howard Uni-
versity, were also present, and Rev. J. H. Chilcote of Asbury
Church, Washington. General Eaton was ex-commissioner
of education.
As the passengers alighted from the train and moved out
of the station the crowd surged in with so much determina-
tion that it was all the large force of police on hand could do
to keep a way clear for the procession. While it moved, the
54th Regiment Band played a funeral march, and after the
casket had been placed in the hearse, the march to the city
hall, via North Clinton street, East and West Main streets
and the city hall, was'begun. Eirst came the 54th Regiment
Band, then carriages containing the committee of the Com-
mon Council and the remaining members of that body, then
the honorary bearers and the active bearers; then the hearse,
under the escort of the Douglass League, followed by other
carriages containing friends and relatives.
The cortege reached the city hall by way of Fitzhugh
street and the casket was placed at the central point of the
ground floor, where the main and transverse halls unite. The
interior of the building was draped with emblems of mourn-
ing and with a profusion of flags, the latter predominating.
There was also a profusion of flowers and palms and the effect
was beautiful in the extreme.
At the city hall, the custody of the body was given over
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 27
to a guard of honor consisting of four members of the 8th
Separate Company, under command of a corporal, and four
officers of the police department, commanded by a lieutenant.
This is a bare statement of one of the most impressive
scenes that has ever been seen in Rochester. All along the
line of march the streets were thronged and the crowd stood
with bared head, and in silence, as it passed; then as though
by common consent the people fell into line and followed on
to the city hall to take their turn with the waiting multitude
in looking upon the face of the dead. Although, everything
practical was done to hasten the movements of the crowd it
remained undiminished, so far as any one could see, until it
became necessary to remove the casket to the church, at 3
o'clock in the afternoon.
The higher grades of the public schools were dismissed at
10 o'clock, and, in charge of their teachers, passed the dais
upon which lay the body of the man, who, when their parents
were school children, had been compelled |to plead for the
right to send his own little ones to the public schools of Roch-
ester, because they were black. The thousands who passed
the catafalque, in silent and respectful interest, included
many who were unborn during the stirring days of the active
life of Douglass and other thousands who did not set foot
upon American soil until after it was all done. But, with
one and all, there was the same evidence of sorrow and of
respect.
CHAPTER IV.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES AT CENTRAL PRESBY-
TERIAN CHURCH.
When the time came for the ceremonies at the church, it
was necessary to force a way to the casket and to clear the
building. The line of march was formed on Fitzhugh street
with the right resting on West Main street and was, perhaps,
the most imposing that was ever seen in the city of Rochester
to march so short a distance. It was as follows:
Captain McDermott, four lieutenants and forty-eight men
from the police drill corps.
54th Regiment Band.
Eighth Separate Company, commanded by Captain Hen-
derson, 65 men.
Mayor M. E. Lewis and members of the Common Council,
including the committee.
Police commissioners.
The hearse, followed by the active and honorary bearers
and Douglass League, T. E. Platner, commanding, as escort.
The family, relatives and friends of the deceased.
The active bearers were the following members of Doug-
lass League: Charles P. Lee, William Allen, A. H. Harris, R.
J. Jeffrey, R. L. Kent, H. A. Spencer, F. S. Cunningham and
C. B. Lee.
The honorary bearers were: Hon. H. S. Greenleaf, Hon.
John Van Voorhis, J. K. Post, William Oliver, E. A. Frost,
and ex-Mayors Henry L. Fish, William Carroll and Charles
W. Briggs.
The line of march as directed by Superintendent of Police
Cleary was through Fitzhngh to Church street to the Central
Church. The policemen formed in line at the Church street
entrance to the house of worship and the procession entered
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 29
at this side and inarched down in front where the remains
were deposited in front of the altar. Five hundred seats
were reserved for the family, relatives, friends and escort.
The procession moved by way of Fitzhugh street, West
Main street and Sophia street and stacked arms, the details
of the guard of honor accompanying the remains of the dead
orator to the church, while the street was held by the com-
pany at large.
Long before the procession reached the street, all the seats
in the great auditorium, except the 500 reserved for the im-
mediate friends of Mr. Douglass, were filled and the street
was thronged with people who would have been glad to ob-
tain admission but could not do so. The casket was placed
in front of the platform and was surrounded by the wealth
of floral gifts that had come from this city, from Washing-
ton, Boston, Mass., and elsewhere. Every seat and every
available bit of standing room in the great church was occu-
pied when the services began.
Seated upon the platform were Rev. Dr. H. H. Stebbins.
of the Central Church; Eev. Dr. William B. Taylor, of the
Brick Church; Eev. Dr. J. P. Sankey, of the United Eresby-
terian Church; Eev. H. Clay Peepels, of the Park Avenue
Baptist Church; Eev. Dr. W. C. Gannett, of the Unitarian
Church; Eev. G. W. Peck, of the ^Torth Presbyterian
Church; Eev. Wesley Ely, of Zion Methodist Church; Eev.
Dr. J. E. Mason, presiding elder of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church of the district; Sherman D. Eichardson,
Miss Mary Anthony and many others. Mayor M. E. Lewis
and the aldermanic committee, consisting of Messrs. Pauck-
ner, Harris, Ashton, Adams, Green, McMillan and Super-
intendent of Police Joseph Cleary also occupied seats on the
platform, as representatives of the municipal government.
It is not easy to say anything about the services from first
to last, without the danger of growing over-eloquent. The
30 HISTORY OF THE
church full of people that sat or stood through the long serv-
ice was one that it would be difficult to draw on any occasion,
however important, and impossible to bring together upon an
occasion of less significance. The last time that the church
held such a gathering was when Douglass sat on the platform
with President Harrison on the Sunday before the unveiling
of the soldiers' monument in May, 1892.
After the procession had passed down the aisle, and the
casket had been placed before the altar, Dr. Taylor of the
Brick Church, led in the opening prayer. After this Sher-
man D. Richardson read the following poem:
I saw the slave of Maryland
Upon the soil of freedom stand.
The waves that once the Mayflower bore
Were dashing on New England's shore.
The Stars and Stripes showed Northern will
On breezes from old Bunker Hill,
And as he drank in liberty,
I saw the man from serfdom free.
I saw him like a monarch stand,
With Lincoln's edict in his hand;
With lips infused from heaven's fire,
With thoughts that would all time inspire,
Transfigured on Columbia's sod;
A living type from Freedom's God;
Incarnate soul of Liberty
He stood — A race and land were free.
I saw again God's Pioneer,
In grand repose upon his bier.
The lines that showed the reaper's path,
Were softened with death's aftermath.
But yet that face more grandly taught
Of will and power, of battles fought,
Of victories won for Liberty —
The crown at last, the soul was free.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 31
At the conclusion of the poem, and after music by the
choir, Miss Mary Anthony, who was one of the warmest and
staunchest friends of Mr. Douglass, in his days of trial, read
a spirited sketch of his life and work.
Then, after another musical selection, came the address
of the day, delivered by Rev. Dr. W. C. Gannett, which was,
in part, as follows:
"This is an impressive moment in our city history. There
was a man who lived in one of its humbler homes whose name
barred him from the doors of the wealthier mansions of our
city. This man has come home to a little circle of his best
beloved ones. He has come, as it were, alone, and our city
has gone forth to meet him at its gates. He has been wel-
comed for once in the most impressive way. His remains
have laid in our city hall. Our school children have looked
upon his face, that they may in the future tell their children
that they have looked on the face of Frederick Douglass.
What a difference! Think of the contrast ! What does it all
mean? It means two things. It is a personal tribute and it
is an impersonal tribute. It is personal tribute to the man
who has exemplified before the eyes of all America the in-
spiring example of a man who made himself. America is the
land of opportunities. But not all men in this land can use
their opportunities. Here was a man who used to the utmost
all the opportunities that America held forth to him and
when opportunities were not at hand he made them. Nature
gave him birth, nature deprived him of father and almost of
mother. He was born seventy-eight years ago, forty years
before anti-slavery was heard of as a watchword.
"That was his home, his welcome to the earth. It was
heaven to be born a slave in Maryland. He was born at a
time when the laws of that state were links to hold the black
man to the ground, and you know what the North did in the
way of keeping the law which required that fugitives from
32 HISTORY OF THE
slavery should he sent hack to bondage. You know what the
public opinion in the North was against the slave. You know
that Northern law sent back a slave, if he escaped, to his
Southern master. He had no school, not even the college of
the wood pile to which so many of our Northern statesmen
point so often with pride. All the school he knew was the
lash with which his cruel master laid on his back with force>
"The kind mistress he had three or four years gave him
in her innocence the A, B, C's. A hard master gave him the
lash. Both caused him to be Frederick Douglass. Read in
his autobiography how the boy made up his mind to obey his
master until he was abused unlawfully. Read the story of
two hours' combat between the master and slave. He did
not hurt his master, but he did not let his master strike him.
At the end Douglass was a free man in his soul. He had
dared death and nothing else had any terror for him. This
was the last flogging Frederick Douglass ever received.
"Then came the escape. He went to a little anti-slavery
convention in New England and made a little speech. The
next day Douglass found himself famous. New England sud-
denly discovered that it had discovered an orator and you who
heard him knew his eloquence came from his heart. Mean-
while history was making. All the rivers in the great valley
to the west run into one. All the streams in national life
wore running into one stream during the years 1860 and
1861 and that stream was slavery. The war followed. Then
history was being made and the war being done, Douglass be-
came an American citizen; he became presidential elector
for New York state; Douglass became the honored minister
of the United States to Hayti; Douglass became the honored
guest in all the North; Douglass became a part of the coun-
try'-! history.
"He is not simply a self-made man, although he was one of
the greatest. A man self-made but large hearted. Who ever
THE DOCGLASS MONUMENT.
THE
ft nEva/ YORK
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 33
Lad better opportunity to be great hearted? Who ever need-
ed to be a greater hearted man more than Frederick Doug-
lass? Think of the chronic results for which he labored al-
most to the end of his life. Notwithstanding that the lash
had been lifted from his back, still he encountered shrugs of
the shoulders, lifting of the eyebrows and an edging away
from his fellow men when he approached them, always
under that opportunity of insult.
"His great heart had a chronic forgiveness. The sweetness
of his nature grew in the latter part of his life till it touched
the features of his face. Charity, ever growing charity,
should always accompany our thoughts of Fred Douglass, be-
cause his life was charity personified. Xo sweeter nature
could be imagined. How true it is, the word of Emerson:
"The things of the man of which vTe visited were once in the
dark and the cold.' There will never be a tribute like this
awaiting us when we come to our last day. Yea, and often
he lived in the darkness of coldness and insult, to-day we
bring him into the sunlight of true appreciation.
"But that was not all. It is not simply a tribute to the
man. The personal tribute rises and loses itself in a grander
and nobler thought. It becomes transfigured into an imper-
sonal thought. We are in an era of change on a great sub-
ject. White people here are honoring a black people. An
exception? Yes. Great men are always exceptions. An ex-
ception? Yes, but an instance as well, an example of how
the world's feeling is changing. Not only that. I like to
think over our 140,000 people of Rochester and pick out the
two or three or four who will be called our first citizens twen-
ty or thirty years hence. Very few in Eochester are famous
through the Xorth; very few are famous through the
nation; very few are famous throughout the wTorld.
Yet the papers of two continents had editorials about
the man whose remains lie before us. We have but one
84
HISTORY OF THE
bronze monument in our streets. Will the next be that of
Fred Douglass, the black man. the ox-slave, the renowned ora-
tor, the distinguished American citizen? I think it will be.
In and around our soldiers' monument we group the history
of war. It i< not only the monument of Lincoln, although
Lincoln's figure is represented there. It is the monument
of the war.
•"The nation to-day, thnnk God, is not only celebrating- its
emancipation from slavery, but also its emancipation from the
slavery of prejudice and from tin slavery of caste and color.
Let me end with one great word. It is his word. There are
but six words in tin- sentence and it is one of the great sen-
tences worthy to be painted on church walls and worthy to be
included in such a book as the Bible. It i-: "One with God
is a majority." "
A prayer and the pronouncing of the benediction by Dr.
11. II. Stebbins closed the services at the church, but the
crowd which had gained access to the building joined the
hundreds who had lingered outside, and waited until the cas-
ket had been placed in the hearse, until the relatives and im-
mediate friends had taken their places and the procession,
headed by its cordon of police and by the militia, had taken
up its march toward Mt. Hope. The band and the dual escort
went only to the gates of the cemetery. Beyond that point
the funeral was like that of any other citizen. There was a
brief prayer by the Rev. W. li. Taylor in the chapel, after
which the same clergyman spoke the few words of formal
committal to the receiving vault, where the body remained
until spring, and was then buried in the family lot, 26, Sec. T.
There was a noticeable increase in the number of arrivals
upon incoming local trains on all lines, showing the high es-
teem in which the great man was held in all this region.
CHAPTER V.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY VARIOUS OFFICIAL
BODIES.
BY THE MONUMENT COMMITTEE.
Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. Frederick Doug-
lass, tip- city sustains the loss of an eminent citizen, whose
life and services in behalf of human rights will illumine one
of the most interesting and exciting chapters in the history
of the nineteenth century. In Rochester his earlier strug-
gles for equality and humanity were commenced. His phe-
nomenal success and honorable career, combined as they were
with strict integrity, inspired by unfaltering zeal for his
life's mission in behalf of his race, commanding for him, as
citizen, patriot, emancipator and statesman, the respect and
admiration of the civilized world, unite to render him one of
the unique characters in history.
We deem it appropriate that in our city, where he built his
first home as a freeman, he should find his last resting place,
and that here the last sad rites should be performed over his
mortal remains, by interment in the same fair city of the
dead where repose so many of his former compatriots.
Recalling the fact that his home in our city commanded a
view of Mt. Hope and of the adjacent grounds, now known
as Highland Park, we would respectfully suggest to the hon-
orable, the Common Council, and to the Board of Park Com-
missioners of Rochester, that appropriate action be taken to
change the name of that park to Douglass Park, and that we
hereby request the co-operation of all to the end that at the
earliest practical date, a life size or heroic statue of the dis-
tinguished fellow citizen, whose death is so generally de-
plored, hut whose memory we will ever honor, be erected on
the loftiest spot therein.
36 HISTORY OF THE
Resolved, That we will attend the funeral of the deceased
as a body.
Eesolved, That we tender the family of the deceased,
dwelling in the shadow of their great sorrow, our heartfelt
sympathy.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be communi-
cated to the honorable, the Common Council, and to the
Board of Park Commissioners of Rochester.
H. S. GREENLEAF,
C. S. BAKER,
GEORGE A. BENTON,
JOHN W. THOMPSON,
HENRY A. SPENCER,
CHARLES P. LEE,
Committee.
BY THE DOUGLASS LEAGUE.
A special meeting of Douglass League, an organization of
colored men named in honor of the dead leader, was held at
its headquarters last evening. This memorial upon the death
of Mr. Douglass was adopted:
Whereas, God in His wisdom has removed from the scenes
of an active life our most distinguished brother member,
Hon. Frederick Douglass; and
Whereas, We feel that his death leaves a vacancy which
cannot be filled; therefore
Resolved, That by the death of Mr. Douglass this organ-
ization loses its most illustrious member, the race a trusted
friend and counselor, the country one of its greatest orators,
an able diplomat, a wise statesman and a patriotic citizen.,
and the whole civilized world a shining light.
Resolved, That we recognize in him a leader whose ability
was of the highest order, his wisdom far reaching and in
whose integrity we sincerely believed and implicitly trusted.
Resolved, That we will ever honor his name and cherish
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 37
his memory and hand down to our children and children's
children the example he has set for their emulation.
Resolved, That when we take in consideration the condi-
tion which surrounded his birth, and pursued him in his flight
toward the polar star, still harrassed in the land of sup-
pressed freedom until his manumission was purchased with
gold, yet followed during his whole life by an unjust, unrea-
sonable prejudice, which had its birth in slavery; the severity
of which prejudice was diminished only by his intellectual
power and force of character, may be truly called one of the
world's greatest men.
Resolved, That in memory of our departed brother, the
headquarters of the league be draped and each member wear
a badge of mourning for the space of thirty days.
Resolved, That these resolutions be recorded on the min-
utes, published in the daily papers and a copy sent to the
heart-stricken family.
Resolved, That we extend our sincere condolence to the
sorrowing family in this their great bereavement, and that
we attend the funeral in a body.
J. W. THOMPSON,
A. H. HARRIS,
R. L. KENT,
Committee.
BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
At a meeting of the Board of Education the following me-
morial was adopted:
In the death of Hon. Frederick Douglass the people of
this country sustain a great loss and the people of his race
will miss a staunch friend and a noble example. Upright in
manhood, the strength and purity of his personality will com-
mand respect and honor in all future time.
As a former citizen of Rochester, as a friend and patron
of our public schools, Mr. Douglass will be personally re-
38 HISTORY OP THE
membered by our citizens with great pride. It is well to
honor the memory of that distinguished citizen whose life
will serve as an example to the rising generation of sterling
and stalwart Americans. He was generous and kind; he
never betrayed a friend or a cause and in his personal life he
was a distinguished example; be it
Resolved, That this board record its appreciation of his
great services to his country and the cause of freedom.
As a further mark of respect to the memory of the de-
ceased orator the pupils of the Free Academy and of the
upper grades of the grammar schools visited City Hall and
viewed the remains.
BY THE STATE ASSEMBLY.
Hon. James M. E. O'Grady, of Rochester, introduced and
the Assembly adopted the following:
Resolved, That the Assembly hears with regret of the sud-
den and unexpected death of the Hon. Frederick Douglass
of Washington, born in slavery, thrown upon his own re-
sources at an early date, self educated entirely, and endowed
with great natural ability he successfully filled the positions
of orator, editor, diplomat and statesman.
His death removes one of the foremost citizens and most
striking figures of the republic as well as the most distin-
guished member of his race of modern times.
As a former resident of this state and who has been sig-
nally honored by our citizens, it is fitting that wo should take
public notice of his death.
CHAPTER VI.
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT TO
ERECT A MONUMENT.
At a meeting of Eureka Lodge, No. 36, F. and A. M., held
in the city of Rochester, N. Y., November 20, 1894,
after making a short address, J. W. Thompson made a mo-
tion that a committee be appointed for the purpose of erect-
ing a monument in memory of the Afro-American soldiers
and sailors who had fallen in the Civil War. Mr. Thompson
was elected chairman of the committee and authorized to
appoint others to act with him. At the next meeting he an-
nounced the following committee: Hon. George A. Benton,
Hon. Charles S. Baker, Hon. William Purcell, Hon. H. S.
Greenleaf, treasurer, Hon. Richard Curran, Messrs. R. L.
Kent, Thomas E. Platner, H. A. Spencer, C. J. Vincent,
Leon J. I)u Bois and F. S. Cunningham. Before the com-
mittee had a meeting the chairman sent a communication to
Hon. Frederick Douglass in regard to the project. In answer
the foil' *\ving was received:
Mr. J. W. Thompson: Anacostia, D. C, Dec. 3, 1804.
My Dear Sir — I am more than pleased with the patriotic
purpose to erect in Rochester a monument in honor of the
colored soldiers who, under great discouragements, at the
moment of the national peril volunteered to go to the front
and fight for their country — when assured in advance that
neither by our own government nor that of the confederates
would they be accorded the equal rights of peace or of war.
The colored soldier fought with a halter about his neck, but
he fought all the same. I shall be proud if I shall live to see
the proposed monument erected in the city of Rochester,
where the best years of my life were spent in the service of
our people — and which to this day seems like my home.
Yours very truly, FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
40 HISTORY OF THE
December 21, the same year, appeals were made for funds
in all of the city newspapers and splendid editorials appeared
approving the effort to honor the memory of the heroes in
granite and bronze, those who died for their country's flag.
The movement met with some opposition from unexpected
quarters among the colored people, who claimed that one
soldiers' monument represented all who were killed in the
Civil War. Chairman Thompson did not see it in that light,
as he stated at a meeting held in Zion's Church. "I have
visited the monument in Washington's Square," said he,
"and made an examination of the bronze figures. The fea-
tures of three represent the American white soldier and
sailor, one the Irish soldier and one the German, while the
Afro-American is not represented in features." The next
day after this meeting Hon. H. S. Greenleaf, Hon. Charles
S. Baker and Chairman Thompson met in Mr. Baker's office
and decided to erect a shaft in memory of the soldiers and
sailors and place upon it a bronze statute in honor of Fred-
erick Douglass. The committee then entered upon its duties
and the soliciting of funds began for the purpose.
On the night of February 20, 1895, news reached the city
that Frederick Douglass died suddenly at his Anacostia home.
A I r. Thompson made the announcement in the morning news-
papers that the monument would be erected in memory of
the late Frederick Douglass. In 1896 and 1897 the financial
condition of the country was in a worse state than it had been
since 1873. Money was hard to collect. The most of the
committee after a short struggle turned in their books or
refused to try longer to do anything, but the chairman de-
clined to give up the work, and in 1897 he appointed as
members of the committee Mrs. R. Jerome Jeffrey, T.
Thomas Fortune, New York Age; Bishop Alexander Wal-
ters, N J. ; Thomas H. Barnes, Olean, K Y. ; E. R. Spauld-
ing, Owego, !N". Y. ; Benjamin F. Cleggett, Geneva, !N\ Y. ;
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ±\
Theodore Duffin, Geneva, N. Y.; Rev. James E. Mason, D.
D., Rochester, N. Y. With these newly appointed members
to the committee, J. W. Thompson continued his effort to
raise the needed $10,000 to complete the work, and the grand
completion and unveiling was the proudest day of his life.
MR. J. W. THOMPSON BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY.
Mr. Thompson appeared before the finance committee at
Albany, N. Y., January 24, 1897, and asked an appropriation
of $5,000 for the Monument Fund. Mr. Thompson said:
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:
To stand within the walls of this capitol building the very
essence of architectural beauty and elegance, the wealthiest
and most influential state in the union, to address this honor-
able and respected committee of the Assembly of the state
of New York on this occasion, for a few brief moments ask-
ing an appropriation to aid us in erecting a monument to the
memory of the late Frederick Douglass, in the city of Roch-
ester, N. Y., where he resided for nearly forty years, I esteem
it the honor of my life.
I shall make no effort, however, to speak for this ex-slave
leader and statesman who has fallen by the will of the Al-
mighty, after reaching the highest round in the ladder of
fame. Last Friday as I stood at the foot of his grave, watch-
ing the six United States flags placed there by myself last
Decoration day, and as they were being tossed by the win-
ter's wind, T said to myself the remains of Frederick Douglass
wrapped in the narrow confinement of the grave, resting un-
der our National flags in their magnificent silence, are more
eloquent than any words that could be used by me to-day, I
shall therefore give a few reasons why the state should make
the appropriation asked for.
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in the year 1838.
He went to New Bedford, Mass., and worked in a ship yard
42 HISTORY OF THE
for nearly two years. There the Liberator, a newspaper ed-
ited by William Lloyd Garrison, fell into his hands. He said
the sentiments expressed in that paper against slavery were
the sentiments of his own soul. He left that city and went
to Europe, and on his return to Rochester, N. Y., he estab-
lished a newspaper known as the "North Star," in the in-
terest of freedom and justice, by which he created a senti-
ment against human slavery that caused hundreds of thous-
ands of New York's bravest men to declare that they would
march to the front and put down the horrible and wretched
curse of slavery. They went with thousands from other
states but the work was not accomplished until the Afro-
American was adorned with the uniform of the United
States and marched side by side with their brothers to the
field of battle in defence of the American flag, and in this
Frederick Douglass was an important factor. He traveled
in every state this side of the Mason and Dixon line soliciting
volunteers to preserve our glorious Union. In this he de-
clared as a citizen of the United States and the great state
of New York, I shall do my duty. He was chosen by the
citizens of Rochester to deliver a Fourth of July oration in
the year 1S55. Later on he came very near being elected
a member of Assembly from the city of Rochester. He was
a great orator, and a prominent figure in the history of our
state; he was a Presidential elector from this state; he at-
tended many. National Conventions and received votes for
the highest office in the gift of the American people. He
was Minister to Hayti; he was United States Marshal under
President Hayes; he was Recorder of Deeds of the District
of Columbia. So great was his ability and his high character
that at his death the State Assembly adjourned in respect to
his memory; the 26th day of February, 1895, his remains
were received in Rochester in the honored presence of the
Mayor and Common Council of that city and thousands of
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 43
citizens with uncovered heads; his remains lay in state in the
City Hall, schools were closed that teachers and scholars
might view for the last time the picturesque form of Freder-
ick Douglass.
Now, Mr. Chairman, if you will grant us the appropriation
asked we will add to that the $2,500 already pledged; we will
solicit the balance and unveil the monument of Frederick
Douglass very shortly, and will place those features and form
in bronze that these same children and the people of the
world may know that the citizens of the Empire State regard
a man and a statesman as such, regardless of his color or pre-
vious condition. Now, sir, grant our appeal and gladden the
hearts of millions of our citizens; grant this appeal and we
shall rear a monument which shall testify that we are not
unmindful of him and his noble work. Far beyond that —
by the erection of such a memorial we may leave a witness
which shall speak long after our tongues are hushed, a witness
whose silent testimony shall be eloquent, which shall be a in-
spiration for generations to come, inciting .American man-
hood to love of country; to unconquerable devotions to a
great cause, telling our boys that the humbleness of birth is
no insurmountable barrier to eminence, that all doors swing-
open to those who keep their heart right, and give themselves
with unremitting toil and high purpose to the work which
lies before them.
Happy am I to speak for his monument, and happy, thrice-
happy, will be those who by your recommendation will be
given an opportunity to vote for this appropriation.
THE BILL AS PASSED FEB. 3, 1897.
The bill, changed by the Finance Committee from $5,000
to -1^,000, was introduced by W. W. Armstrong, as follows:
An ACT making an appropriation to assist in the erection of
a monument to the memory of the late Frederick Doug-
lass, at his former place of residence within this state.
-J-4 HISTORY OF THE
The People of the State of New York, represented in Sen-
, ate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The sum of three thousand dollars is hereby
appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not other-
wise appropriated for the purpose of assisting in the erection
of a monument to the memory of the late Frederick Doug-
lass at the city of Rochester, N. Y., his former place of resi-
dence within this state for which contributions are now being
publicly solicited of the citizens of this state by the colored
people, and the comptroller is hereby authorized to pay the
same 10 the committee having the same in charge whenever
it shall be satisfactorily shown by such committee that the
collectible subscriptions for such purpose together with the
sum hereby appropriated will be sufficient to purchase and
erect such monument.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
The bill as amended passed in the Assembly and Senate
unanimously and was signed by Governor Frank S. Black,
The whole sum was paid to Chairman Thompson during
August and September, 1898.
THE ROLL OF HONOR.
The names of those who donated their services to help
raise the funds by assisting in entertainments were: Miss
Susan B. Anthony, Miss Mary E. Sampson, Rev. Anna Shaw,
Philadelphia; Mrs. Victoria E. Mathews, Xew York; Prof.
Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, Ala.; Hon. J. M. E.
O'Grady; Miss Florence Sprague; Mrs, R. Jerome Jeffrey,
Mrs. J. W. Thompson; Col. J. S. Graham; Col. N. P. Pond;
Col. Sherman D. Richardson; Mrs. A. E. Stockton; Ludwig
Schenck; Frank Mandeville; Miss May Lepeon; Miss Olive
Franklin; Miss Maude Bannister; Miss Marion Curtis; J. F.
Marshall; Prof. James H. Cash; Arthur Coleman: J. Frank
Washington; J. W. Thompson; D. L. Ainsworth; Miss Ma-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
45
line Thomas; Miss Ella M. Young; Miss Carrie Sprague;
Thomas H. Barnes; Miss Pearl Fundy; Elliott Sprague.
The juveniles took part in helping to build the monument
by presenting a little drama entitled "The Ten Virgins,"
taken from incidents found in the twenty-fifth chapter of St.
Matthew. The bride was Mary Burks, and the groom, Ed-
ward Buckingham. The ten virgins were : Pauline L. Thomp-
son, Emma Miller, Gladys Myers, Emma Gibbs, Kittie
Mason, Elsie Townes, Gertrude A. Thompson, Vera Burks,
Ethel Gilbert, LaBell M. Kent, Chriselda Cash, Abbie Frank-
lin.
Much credit is due Messrs. Ira S. Wile and Percival DeW.
Oviatt, two prominent young men of Rochester, N. Y., for
their efforts to raise the sum necessary to take up the note
that had been given the Smith Granite Company by John W.
Thompson, chairman of the committee, for $2,000. The en-
tertainment took place at the Lyceum Theater February 20,
1899, but less than $200 was realized. The participants of
the effort were some of the best local talent, among them be-
ing Mrs. O. W. Moore, elocutionist ; University of Rochester
Mandolin Club; the Cedar Hill Quartette; Henry J. Sehlegel,
soloist; George E. Fisher; Charles E. Van Laer; Charles R.
Osgood, soloist: Robert P. Levis; Richard Sutherland; Wal-
ter W. Arnold; George P. Culp, and M. S. Taylor.
The patronesses were Mrs. R, Sibley, Mrs. W. E. Hoyt,
Mrs. C. W. Dodge, Mrs. W. Eastwood, Mrs. W. H. Mont-
gomery, Mrs. W. S. Little, Mrs. F. S. Newell, Mrs. Joseph
O'Connor and Mrs. Martin W. Cooke.
This entertainment for so noble a cause took place just
four years to the very day after the death of the statesman for
whose monument the fund was to be applied. It was a nota-
ble fact that the night was the coldest of the winter which
had much to do with the small attendance.
4g HISTORY OF THE
ACTION BY A. M. E. ZION CONFERENCE, JUNE 4, 1898.
J. H. Anderson, D. D., offered the following resolutions
which were unanimously approved:
Whereas, We have heard with pleasure from Mr. J. W.
Thompson, of Rochester, N. Y., that the proposed Douglass
monument to be erected in Rochester is an accomplished fact
so far as the collection of funds is concerned, there having
been appropriated $3,000 by the state of New York, $1,000
by the Haytien government and about $2,000 raised by his
own efforts, thus there being about $0,000 raised of the
$7,000 necessary to erect the monument; therefore.
Resolved, That we heartily commend the energy, tact and
successful efforts of Mr. Thompson, and that the New York
Annual Conference of the A. M. E. Zion Church, of which
Frederick Douglass was an honored member, contribute
$100.00 to this highly commendable enterprise in which is
involved the interests of the entire negro race in America.
CHAPTER VII.
SELECTION OF A SITE FOR THE MONUMENT AT
ROCHESTER, X. Y.
Shortly after the passage of the bill appropriating three
thousand dollars to the Douglass monument fund, Chairman
Thompson was requested bj many citizens to have the monu-
ment placed in Plymouth Park. The chairman appeared be-
fore the Park Board and made the request which was referred
to a committee at the next meeting. The request was granted
by a unanimous vote after all of the property owners had
been consulted and their permission given. Many people
complimented the committee upon their excellent choice for
the statue of Douglass, as when placed at that park it could be
seen many blocks away and would show to a great advantage
from Plymouth Avenue. This was during 1897. The events
of the succeeding year, however, demonstrated the fact that
there were objections to the monument of the great states-
man being placed in Plymouth Park, which had been asked
for by the committee and granted by the Park Commission-
ers. This objection counted for but little, however, as there
were many other sites offered. A large number of admirers
of Mr. Douglass were open in their criticism of the committee
for selecting the park, giving as their reason that it would
only be seen by persons going that way, while the statue of
Douglass was an object lesson and ought to be in the heart of
the city. For that reason Chairman Thompson raised no ob-
jections believing the site near the Central station the best.
At a meeting of the Park Commissioners January 30,
1898, the following protest was raised:
To the Park Commission of the City of Rochester:
Gentlemen — We, the undersigned, residents and property
owners around Plymouth Park, are informed that it is the
purpose of your body to place in Plymouth Park the statue
48 HISTORY OF THE
of the late Frederick Douglass. While we feel with other
citizens of Rochester that the honor is due his memory, still
we think a larger park would be more appropriate. There-
fore we ask your honorable body to select some other location,
as we protest most emphatically against its being placed in
Plymouth Park.
Signed — Helen M. Hess, L. Powis, Mary Powis, Immacu-
late Conception Church Association, per the Rev. James F.
O'Hare, M. L. Hughes, Winifred Egan, Margaret B. Mar-
shall, F. J. Hess, E. J. TCelsey.
After President Moore had stated that permission had al-
ready been granted to erect the monument in Plymouth Park
and that such action had only been taken after the views of
the property owners in the vicinitv had been obtained, the
privilege of the floor was granted to John AY. Thompson,
chairman of the Douglass Memorial Committee. Mr. Thomp-
son said that there was no desire on his part to force the mon-
ument on any one. Personally, he favored Plymouth Park.
but if the residents there did not want it, he would leave thy
matter in the hands of the board. Mr. Thompson said that
he was sure that Mr. Douglass, if he were alive, would not
care to have a monument to his memory placed in a park
where it might be objectionable to the people.
A genera] discussion of the matter followed, several Com-
missioners participating in the debate. Commissioner Gra-
ham suggested that the matter ought to be treated in a public
spirit. He did not think Plymouth Park was the best place
for the monument. A much better place would be at the en-
trance to one of the large parks, particularly Genesee Valley
Park. Another good place would be on the triangle at the
corner of North St. Paul Street and Central Avenue, oppo-
site the Central Pailroad station, where thousands of people
passing through the city could get a look at the monument
which the city of Eochester had erected in honor of Douglas-.
HON. GEORGE A. BENTON.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 49
the greatest of his race. The discussion was ended by having
the matter referred to the City Park Committee with instruc-
tions to report back at the next meeting of the board. Mean-
while this committee was to confer with a committee from
the Douglass Monument Committee.
It was said by some that the cause of the objections to
placing the monument in the park was on account of the
smallness of the park, while it was hinted by many that the
protest was brought about by race prejudice on the part of
the signers. The writer who attended during the four years
it took for the erection of the monument every entertain-
ment or meeting of any kind for the Douglass monument, or
where the name of Douglass was discussed, desires to say, to
the everlasting credit of the citizens of Rochester, ~N. Y.,
that he never observed any feeling of race prejudice in re-
gard to the monument to Frederick Douglass. Every site
in the city was offered except the one in question.
The joint committee, consisting of the city property com-
mittee of the Common Council, the City Park Committee of
the Park Board, and the Douglass Monument Committee,
met in the rooms of the Park Commissioners at 4 o'clock
February 10, 1898. The following were present: J. W.
Thompson, chairman, and Hon. George A. Benton, R. L.
Kent and Benjamin Simms of the Monument Committee;
Chairman Moore of the Park Board; Chairman Elwood, of
the City Park Committee, and Commissioners Wright and
Ritter; Chairman Pauckner, of the City Property Commit-
tee of the Common Council, and Aldermen Rauber, Edelman
and Tracy.
Alderman Pauckner was elected chairman of the joint com-
mittee and Secretary Stone of the Park Board, secretary for
the joint meeting. Mr. Thompson was then called on to
state the object of the meeting and the status of the monu-
ment movement.
50
HISTORY OF THE
Mr. Thompson arose and said: "Some time ago in behalf of
the monument committee, I made application to the park
board for Plymouth Park for the purpose of obtaining a site
for the Douglass monument. The commissioners granted the
site by a unanimous vote. Afterwards a protest was filed by
the residents in the vicinity of Plymouth Park. If Frederick
Douglass were alive, I am sure that he would not want to see
his statue placed among people who did not want it there.
That is the feeling of his friends. To-day I come to ask you,
so far as I am personally concerned, and I think that I voice
the sentiments of a large part of our committee, that the pro-
posed monument be given a site in the triangle at the corner
of North St. Paul Street and Central Avenue.
"I think it will be an appropriate place for the memorial
of the man who is the first statesman of my race to have a
monument. The spot to which I refer is one situated in the
heart of the city, and those who pass through the city from
east to west will see the monument as well. There are ob-
jections to the site as it exists to-day, but I am assured that
it can be made much more sightly by raising the surface of
the tract in question and grading it properly, which I have
been assured will be done."
Commissioner Wright agreed with Mr. Thompson. He
thought that the triangle was the place above all others. Peo-
ple passing through on the trains would be sure to see the
monument and Rochester was better known to many people
as the home of Frederick Douglass than in any other way.
He had when traveling many times met people who would
speak of this city and refer to it as the home of Frederick
Douglass. People passing through would be sure to see and
speak of the monument. Mr. Wright thought that the size
of the spot in question, 00x50 feet, as sufficient to afford am-
ple room for a site. Highland Park, which had been men-
tioned, he considered too remote from the heart of the city;
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 51
too few people would see the monument there. It ought to
have a place of exceeding great prominence.
B. L. Kent also thought that the triangle was the proper
place for a monument to Douglass. He believed that the site
Avould meet with the general approval of all.
Judge George A. Benton was called upon for an expres-
sion of opinion and said: "Before the Douglass monument
was thought of I had looked at the triangle and wished that
a monument might be erected there. I understand that Mrs.
Douglass objects and prefers Highland Park. Aside from
her objection I think that the argument is all on the side of
the triangle. What better place for a monument to Freder-
ick Douglass than this where he would face the north and the
stream of travel, with his back to the south?"
Alderman Bauber, of the Fifth Ward, said that if the pro-
posed site was large enough, he was in favor of it by all
means. It was in his ward and his people wanted to get the
monument located there. He had feared that the site was
not large enough, but after listening to the discussion he was
satisfied that he had been mistaken, and that the triangle was
by all odds the place for the monument.
Dr. Moore asked Mr. Thompson to enlighten the meeting
regarding the progress of the raising of funds and the plans
of the committee. Mr. Thompson replied that the state had
voted $3,000, to be available when the committee had raised
$4,000. The committee had on hand in cash and good sub-
scriptions about $2,000 more. The monument complete, in-
cluding the pedestal, was designed to cost $10,000, and it was
hoped that it could be unveiled in August. Mr. Thompson
said that he saw Mrs. Douglass on Sunday, and she spoke of
her desire to have the monument located at Highland Park.
Alderman Pauckner said that Highland Park was in his
ward, and the Fourteenth Ward people wanted the monu-
ment up there where Douglass had once lived.
52 HISTORY OF THE
Dr. Moore objected. Said he: "A monument should be
in the heart of a city among the people, where they are the
busiest. At Highland Park, for many years at least, few
people would see the monument. At the triangle the crowds
that will see it will grow larger every day."
Reference was made to the statue of Horace Greeley, lo-
cated on Thirty-second Street, New York City, and the fact
Avas commented upon that it is situated in a cramped place,
but purposely located where it would be seen by multitudes
of people. It was suggested that after the triangle had been
graded and raised several feet, and after Mr. Laney had ex-
ercised his skill in beautifying it, it would be an admirable
site.
Judge G. A. Benton then moved that it was the sense of
the joint committee that the triangle should be appropriated
for the site of the Douglass monument. The motion was
unanimously carried after a short discussion. Alderman
Tracy then suggested that Mr. Thompson address a commu
nication to the Common Council asking for the site, in order
to bring the matter before that body in proper form, the tri-
angle'not being under the jurisdiction of the park commis-
sioners. The meeting then adjourned.
Mr.Thompson stated before the meeting was called to order
that while there had been some adverse comment on the Cen-
tral Avenue site, he did not think that the objections were
well taken. Tie thought that the spot could be made beauti-
ful, and while the atmosphere would be smoky and sooty in
the vicinity of the railroad at limes, the monument was to be
of bronze and would not show the effects of the state of the
atmosphere. Then, ton, if the monument were properly
eared for there would be no trouble.
CHAPTER VIII.
MASONIC EXERCISES AT THE LAYING OF THE
CORNER STOXE.
That creed or color proved to be nothing to the people of
Rochester when they are afforded the opportunity of paying
homage to the memory of a man who was truly great, was
demonstrated on the afternoon of July 20, 1898, when hun-
dreds, including many of the city's most prominent citizens,
assembled at the ceremonies attending the laying of the cor-
ner stone of the monument to the Hon. Frederick Douglass,
the greatest and noblest statesman of his race and a former
Rochesterian.
The circumstances connected with the raising of a fund
sufficient to secure a monument in commemoration of the
man had but served to increase the universal interest of the
public and to render the realization of the effort put forth of
greater satisfaction to those of his race who were in attend-
ance at the ceremonies. These ceremonies, as conducted by
the Grand Lodge of the State of Xew York, assisted by the
members of Eureka Lodge, F. and A. M., of Rochester, were
most impressive and were admirably arranged by the Doug-
lass Monument Committee.
At 3.30 o'clock, Eureka Lodge, accompanied by Estella
Chapter, Xo. 7, of the Order of the Eastern Star, the auxil-
iary organization, assembled at the headquarters of the lodge
in the Durand building, and, headed by the Fifty-fourth
Regiment Band, were escorted at 4 o'clock to Douglass Park,
the new name given to the triangle at the corner of Central
Avenue and Xorth St. Paul Street, where the monument
stands.
There had been built a comfortable and commodious cov-
ered platform decorated with the national colors and facing
54
HISTORY OF THE
the site of the monument. In addition tO' the members of the
Masonic organizations there were seated on the platform Dr.
E. M. Moore. Hon. John Van Voorhis, Hon. Charles S.
Baker, Hon. C. E. Parsons, Hon. W. W. Armstrong, Hon.
George A. Benton, Rev. J. P. Sankey, D. D., Rev. W. C.
Gannett, D. D., who pronounced the benediction, Rev. R.
Alonzo Scott, pastor of A. M. E. Zion Church, Mrs. A. Scott,
Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. R. Jerome Jeffrey, president of the
Women's Club, and others.
In the meantime a vast crowd had gathered in the streets
to witness the ceremonies, and although the heat was most
intense, nearly all remained that they might attest their rev-
erence for the memory of Douglass. After a national air had
been played by the band, Chairman John W. Thompson, of
the monument committee, made a brief opening address, in
which he said that the committee was pleased to witness the
assembly of so many who had contributed to the fund, and
that they were privileged to see the consummation of the
project.
Grand Marshal M. R. Poole commanded silence and the
Masonic services were opened by Grand Master E. R. Spauld-
ing. Prayer was offered by Chaplain Leon J. Dubois, follow-
ing which was an ode given by the members of Eureka Lodge.
The list of articles placed in the corner stone was then read
by Grand Secretary Benjamin Myers, after which the box
containing them was placed in the stone by Grand Treasurer
M. L. Hunter. The working tools were presented to the
grand master by Master Architect William Oscar Payne and
were distributed among the proper officers.
Then followed the grand Masonic honors and the conse-
cration ceremony. The ceremonies, accompanied by sacred
music, were very impressive and were performed by the
proper officers in a manner that could only be understood in
the seeing. Grand Master Spaulding then introduced as the
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 55
first speaker the Hon. John Van Voorhis, who spoke as fol-
lows :
The citizens of Rochester were proud of Frederick Doug-
lass, and proud that he made this city his home. Considering
what he was and what he did for our country and for man-
kind, he was pre-eminently our first citizen. It is fitting that
the corner stone of the monument to be erected to his mem-
ory should be laid under the beautiful rites of Masonry. And
yet Frederick Douglass was not a Mason. He belonged to no
orders. Sublimer themes engrossed his whole attention. He
knew no brotherhood but the universal brotherhood of man.
He had a mission to perform. That mission was to elevate
the republic in the eyes of mankind by wiping from it the
stain of African slavery. That mission was to emancipate
millions of slaves. To accomplish that mission he devoted his
entire time and the energies of his great genius.
He lived to see that mission successfully accomplished. He
lived to witness the emancipation of 4,000,000 of slaves. He
lived to see the stigma of slavery which had attached to this
republic in the begining entirely destroyed. Monuments of
bronze and marble may be erected to him here and elsewhere,
but his greatest monument will be found in the history of
his time. As an emancipator he stands by the side of Abra-
ham Lincoln. It was largely his work that made the emanci-
pation proclamation possible. He visited every free state, and
every city and village therein, and spoke from more platforms
than any other man in our generation. He taught the people
the wrongs of slavery and prepared them to stand by Lincoln
when he made his famous proclamation. There is not time
to do Frederick Douglass justice on this occasion. Many of
our able men preached against the wrongs of slavery. Among
them were Freeborn G. Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Charles
Sumner and Garrett Smith, all great orators, but Douglass
was the chiefest of them all.
5(3 HISTORY OF THE
There was no chance to criticise Douglass except on ac-
count of his complexion, and educated and cultivated people
never did that. The prejudice against color does not exist.
in other countries as it does here. If Frederick Douglass
had been an Englishman he would have been awarded a niche
in Westminster Abbey. He was not to be blamed for his
complexion, the Almighty created him that way. Shakes-
peare makes the Prince of Morocco, a black man, say:
"Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowy livery of the unburnished sun."
In listening to Frederick Douglass upon the platform, or
m private conversation, no one thought of his complexion.
He was the most magnificent orator who ever stepped upon
an American platform. Although not able to read or write
until twenty years of age, he became a great scholar and han-
dled the English tongue most admirably. Whenever he was
to speak crowds were there to hear him. Whenever he would
stop speaking the crowd was anxious to have him continue.
He never wearied an audience, but invariably left his audi-
ence anxious to hear more.
In private conversation he Avas a master. He always had
something interesting to say, and said it in a most interesting
maimer. Wherever Douglass went the best people thronged
around him and treated him with the greatest courtesy.
Learned men like Lincoln, Seward, Chase and Sumner were
proud to meet him. The argument based on complexion had
no effect with such men. It is only among the ignorant and
the vulgar that the complexion of Douglass is ever alluded
to in an unfavorable manner. He was a man of great dignity
of character. He had the power of talking into submission
the most unruly audience and the most threatening mob.
I remember one occasion in our City Hall, Ira Stout had
been convicted of murder and was awaiting execution. Cer-
tain kind-hearted people who did not favor capital punish-
HON. JOHN VAN VOORHIS.
// TH :
( NEW YO'
PUBLIC LIS
:a'ry
Astor, Li
\\. Fi
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 57
nient called a meeting at the City Hall with a view to ask the
governor to commute the sentence of Stout to imprisonment
for life. The Rev. Samuel J. May, a very eloquent pulpit
orator from Syracuse, was advertised as the speaker of the
occasion. When the time arrived, there marched into the
hall an organized, angry and shouting mob. The mob filled
the greater part of the hall. When Mr. May rose to speak,
not a word that he attempted to utter could be heard, so great
was the noise of the howling mob. Again and again Mr. May
attempted to speak, but at last gave it up. Other persons
sought to get the attention of the audience, but were shut
off by the mob. Frederick Douglass was in the audience, and
when it was apparent that none of the speakers would be per-
mitted to speak, he walked deliberately upon the platform,
stood before the mob for a moment or two, and surveyed it
calmly. Then, with a voice of power, which none but Doug-
lass possessed, he began to speak. He talked the mob into
silence and compelled it to listen to his speech. That is only
one instance of many occasions where Douglass showed his
mastery over men who sought to interrupt public meetings.
The first time I ever saw Douglass was somewhere in the
forties, probably about '45. I was a boy living with my
father on his farm in the town of Mendon in this county. It
was rumored about that Frederick Douglass and Charles
Lenox E-emond would speak against slavery on a Sunday
afternoon in the Quaker Church at Mendon Center. It was
a great novelty, and I with others went to see the per-
formance. The Hixite Quakers were conservative then.
and their managers had decided not to allow Douglass to
enter their church, and to accomplish that result they locked
up the church and nailed up the gates to the grounds. But
the younger men of the church — Quakers only by birthright,
opened the gates, confiscated a lumber yard near by, and
made a platform on the church grounds with seats for the
58
HISTORY OF THE
audience, and upon that platform Douglass and Remand
spoke to an enormous crowd. I cannot remember ever to
have heard such denunciation of slavery and its abettors as
Douglass poured forth to that audience. He paid his respects
to the Quaker authorities who had denied him free speech by
locking up the church. It was such an occasion as had never
been seen at that Quaker church before and never since.
The impression that I got of Douglass at that time was
such that T never afterwards failed to go to hear him when
an opportunity offered. Those who only heard Douglass
speak in his old age can form no conception of the power of
his oratory in his earlier years. He was invited to speak
everywhere, before senators and legislators, before lawyers
and judges, before .scholars and men of learning, before doc-
tors of divinity and religious organizations, and I believe it
is a fact that he never in his life made a poor speech. He
was invited by the assembly of the state of New York to give
an address in the assembly chamber in the presence of the
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the judges of the Court of
Appeals and the members of the state government. The
chamber was packed to the utmost and the oration was a
great success. Directly in front of Douglass sat that dis-
tinguished ISTew Yorker, Thurlow Weed, with his hand up
behind his ear so that he might catch every utterance which
came from the lips of the orator.
It mattered not where Douglass went; in England, in
Scotland and in Ireland he spoke to great audiences with the
same success. In Ireland he was introduced to an immense
audience by the then greatest orator of Europe, Daniel
O'Connell, as the black O'Connell of the United States.
It is no wonder that the citizens of Rochester meet to
honor the memory of Frederick Douglass and to erect a
monument to him. He has honored Rochester as no other
man has ever done.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 59
"The sweet remembrance of the just,
Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust."
The next speaker was Dr. E. M. Moore, the venerable
president of the Park Commission, who, like Mr. Van Voor-
his, had enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of Doug-
lass, and recalled incidents connected with the famous or-
ator's life that were peculiarly interesting at such a time.
Dr. Moore said:
AVe meet to-day to perform a duty, long since due from
the citizens of Eochester to one of the striking figures in
modern American history. Our great Civil War must ever
remain as one of the most notable events of all time. I do
not refer to the stupendous volunteering defense of the coun-
try, but rather to the emancipation of the slave. It must
be recollected that it was not merely slavery that was con-
cerned, slavery in various forms has existed the world over,
but when of the same race, there have always been modifying
circumstances. Time usually has softened the asperities of
the condition, but when we reflect upon the fact that the
beneficiaries of the emancipation were of another race and
the furthest removed, the execution of the deed successfully
was deemed by reasonably conservative men as a pure chi-
mera.
The exodus of the Israelite from Egypt has perhaps been
regarded as the most towering fact of liberation presented by
history. But the emancipation of the slave in this country is a
far greater fact of liberation. The servitude of the Ameri-
can slave had no modification. It was simply perfect. The
man had no rights that a white man was bound to respect as
announced by the chief justice of the United States. And
yet with one bound the slave leaped to the status of his for-
mer master, his political equal before the law.
The fact that though fraud may deprive the voter of his
right, still he is the equal of the white before the law. Among
QO HISTORY OF THE
the marked men of the oppressed race was to be seen the
commanding- figure of Frederick Douglass, whose ability re-
futed the calumnies that flowed from countless lips. In per-
son, he was of imposing stature, and when in public speech,
he was urging the claims of his race, his eloquence was lofty
and fervid. The theme inspired the man. While there were
many others that brilliantly proved their right to the free-
dom they plead for, there was perhaps, no one of them that
stood upon so high a pedestal as he. But in order apparently
to prove that he could play on more than one string, he ap-
peared on the rostrum of the lyceum, while the stage still
held Emerson and Holmes. His lecture on "William the
Silent," settled that point.
I recollect him when a young man. He had just escaped
from bondage, bright, alert with a hunted look, he came to
my father's house, one of the stations on "the underground
railway," for the slave. This was the era of the fugitive
slave law urged and signed by Vice President Fillmore,
which, perhaps the greatest statesman that the country has
ever produced, received with exultation as a sort of finale.
"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer
by the son of York."
But great movements are not checked by unjust laws or
quotations from Shakespeare. To-day we commemorate the
ability and worth of this truly great man. We raise a mon-
ument of imperishable bronze and place it here in the flowing
tide of commerce where the stranger that enters our gates
may see in what a permanent way we have honored our
slaves.
The exercises closed with the singing of "America" by the
audience and benediction by Dr. W. C. Gannett.
The trowel used by Grand Master E. R. Spaulding was a
handsome silver one with an ivory handle and was presented
to Mr. Spaulding by the members of Eureka Lodge, No. 36,
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. Q±
F. and A. M., at a meeting held the night before. The pres-
entation speech was made by Benjamin Simms and responded
to by the grand master.
Among the articles which were placed in the corner stone
were two leaflets furnished by Susan B. Anthony, one of
which was eminently fitted to so repose, being a copy of the
declaration of sentiments expressed at the first convention
ever called to discuss the civil and political rights of women.
This convention was held in Seneca Falls, and during the sec-
ond day, which by a remarkable coincidence was just fifty
years ago, July 20, 1848, a resolution was adopted urging the
elective franchise for women, which was signed by Douglass.
The other was a copy of an article written by Miss Anthony
last year for the Arena, giving in brief what has been accom-
plished for the enfranchising of women, since the memorable
convention alluded to. The other articles placed in the stone
were :
Road map of Monroe county; calendar for 1898; book,
"Slavery Unmasked," by Rev. Philo Tower, published by E.
Darrow & Bro., in 1856, and donated by Mr. Darrow; list of
those who assisted at laying of the corner stone; members of
the Literary, Musical and Home Circle, of Toronto, Ont.;
letter donating $1,000 from the government of Hayti, and
note from Minister W. F. Powell, accepting the gift; names
of members of the monument committee appointed Novem-
ber 20, 1894, and names of members afterwards appointed;
resolutions of committee; notes of women's clubs, Rochester;
record of the Mt. Moriah Lodge, F. and A. M. ; copies of the
Post Express, Democrat and Chronicle, Herald, Union and
Advertiser, and Rochester Times.
CHAPTER IX.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MR. THOMPSON
AND THE HAYTIEN GOVERNMENT.
Rochester, K Y., October 11, 1897.
Hon. ^y. E. Powell, Legation of the United States, Port Au
Prince, Hayti:
My Dear Sir — I am a stranger to you. I desire to in-
troduce myself by saying that I am engaged at this time in
trving to raise funds for the purpose of erecting a monument
in this city in memory of the late Erederick Douglass, as you
will see by the enclosed clippings. I write you asking that
you use your influence with President Sam in regard to the
matter as I have also written to him to-day asking a con-
tribution from his government because Mr. Douglass was at
one time Minister, representing this government at Port-au-
Prince. He also represented the government of Hayti at the
World's Fair at Chicago. He was indeed faithful to hi*
trust. Anything you can do to help along the project will
be greatly appreciated by me.
Yours very truly,
JOHN W. THOMPSON.
In answer to Mr. Thompson's first letter to Hon. W. F.
Powell the following was received:
Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, Hayti, December 15, 1897.
Mr. John W. Thompson, Rochester, N. Y. :
Sir — Your favor of November 27 reached me in this mail,
in which you request that I shall do all in my power to get
Hayti represented in the contribution of funds for the pur-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 63
pose of erecting a monument to commemorate the deeds and
virtues of the Hon. Frederick Douglass, at one time minister
resident and consul-general to this republic. My instructions
are of such a character that I cannot comply with the request
you have made to me, but whatever I can do in an unofficial
way I will be glad to do. AVith you I think too much honor
cannot be done to the dead hero, whose name should not only
be imbedded in the marble monument you propose to erect,
but should be enshrined in the hearts of not only this, but of
future generations.
Each child should be taught from its infancy until it has
gained the estate of manhood or womanhood of the great
virtues possessed by the lamented Douglass. We, as a race,
are prone too often to forget those who have been the ex-
ponents of that race in the past. Unless such love is engen-
dered on the part of the living to the dead, our pride of race
will soon be extinct.
I cheerfully wish you success in this great and grand move-
ment on your part toward the illustrious dead. As I have al-
ready stated, in an unofficial way my services are at your
command. I have the honor to remain.
Your obedient servant,
W. E. POWELL.
J. W. Thompson made this reply to Mr. Powell's letter of
December 15, 1897:
Rochester, K Y., December 15, 1897.
Hon. W. E. Powell, Legation of the United States, Hayti:
My Dear Sir — I am truly grateful to you for the prompt
attention given my letter. I regret that your instructions are
of such a character as to make you unable to act in an official
way. You can doubtless do much, however, in an unofficial
way which might bring about some good results. I am glad
you appreciate my efforts to erect a monument in memory
(54 HISTORY OF THE
of the hero of our race and one Avho we can say that this
country is better because he lived in it and our city is much
the richer because his remains rest within its walls, and his
monument though silent shall be magnificent and an inspira-
tion to generations yet unborn. Do the best you can and re-
member nothing would be more pleasing to me than to have
Hayti represented by a contribution to this fund.
Yours very truly,
JOHN W. THOMPSON.
Hon. Brutus St. Victor's note to Hon. W. F. Powell, noti-
fying him of the contribution to the Mounment Fund, was as
follow-:
Department of State for Foreign Relations,
Port-au-Prince, February 11, 1898.
Mr. Minister — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of January 20 last, -by which you have trans-
mitted to me a copy of the one you received from Mr. John
W. Thompson, relative to the project for the erection of a
monument to the Honorable Frederick Douglass, who was
Minister Resident of the United States to Hayti, at the same
time you make an appeal for that object to all the admirers
of that great American citizen of the same race as he.
I had at heart, Mr. Minister, to submit the project to the
Council of Secretaries of State, under the presidence of His
Excellency the President of the Republic, and I am happy to
announce to you that the government associating itself to the
thoughts of those who have had the initiative and wishing to
contribute towards its realization, takes part in the sub-
scription opened for the sum of one thousand dollars.
Please accept, Mr. Minister, the assurances of my high
consideration.
BRUTUS ST. VICTOR.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 55
Hon. W. F. Powell's acknowledgement of the contribution,
was as follows:
Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, Hayti, March 21, 1898.
Honorable Brutus St. Victor, Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, Port-au-Prince, Hayti:
Sir — I note with pleasure your dispatch of March 5, 1898,
that your government has directed you to inform me that it
desires to be commemorated in the monument about to be
erected by the citizens of the United States, in the city of
Rochester, 1ST. Y., a monument of one of the ablest of Amer-
ica's sons, Frederick Douglass, one whose voice was ever
raised in behalf of the oppressed not only of his own race,
but that of others of other climes. He claimed for that race
witli which he was identified, that if equal advantage be
given it in the race of life, it would achieve equally great re-
sults, as a proof of this, it was his pride to point to the great
results obtained by your Republic under the most adverse
circumstances, from the day that you won your independ-
ence from one of the great nations of the world to the present
time. That under all difficulties that have since beset you,
isolated as it were from the great family of nations, you have
maintained your integrity, and with it the honor of your Re-
public, neither of which have become tarnished or diminished
by age, until to-day you stand as the recognized factor of
what a race can achieve under the blissful light of freedom,
of independence.
The last days of his life, he often referred to the happy
hours he passed in your midst as the representative of a gov-
ernment that at one time denied to him and the members of
his race the common attributes pertaining to man.
Permit me, sir, to express to you in behalf of Mr. Thomp-
son, and the committee associated with him, and to you, Mr.
66
HISTORY OF THE
Minister, personally, their thanks as well as my own for this
grateful act to this illustrious American citizen.
Accept, Mr. Minister, my high regard and personal esteem,
I have the honor to be, sir,
Your obedient servant,
W. F. POWELL.
March 29 Mr. Thompson received the following:
Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, Hayti, March 21, 1898.
Mr. J. W. Thompson, Chairman Douglass Monument Fund,
Rochester, N". Y. :
Sir — I am happy to inform you that the Haytien govern-
ment has contributed to the monument fund to the memory
of the late Frederick Douglass the sum of $1,000. This sum
I will send to you by draft upon the return of the Foreign
Secretary. If you have this correspondence published have
the same also inserted in some of our race papers, as the
"Age," or the "Colored American." Be kind enough to send
two or three copies of the same to hand to members of the
Cabinet. At the same time will you also send me a copy of
paper that contained my reply to your previous letter. I am
very glad, sir, this amount has been secured (and congratulate
you upon the same and a speedy erection of the monument,
and with it a happy conclusion of your labor and that of the
committe associated with you.
I am, sir,
Your obedient servant,
W. F. POWELL.
Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, Hayti, April 13, 1898.
Hon. John Sherman, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C:
Sir — I respectfully inform the department that this re-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. Qf
public has donated the sum of one thousand dollars towards
the erection of a monument by the citizens of Rochester in
that city, to the memory of the late Hon. Frederick Doug-
lass, at one time Minister Resident and Consul-General here.
I inclose copies of correspondence that has taken place be-
tween the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Legation.
I have the honor, sir, etc., etc.,
W. F. POWELL.
Legation of the United States,
Port-au-Prince, Hayti, August 15, 1898.
Mr. J. W. Thompson, Chairman Douglass Monument Fund,
Rochester, N. Y.
Sir — I have sent by this mail to the State Department,
Washington, the promised draft from the Haytien govern-
ment. I will endeavor to send also photograph of Cabinet
by this mail. I trust your imposing exercises in unveiling the
monument of the illustrious Douglass will be crowned with
success. Respectfully yours,
W. F. POWELL.
Department of State,
Washington, April 29, 1898.
His Honor, the Mayor of Rochester, 1ST. Y. :
Sir — I enclose for the information of the citizens of Roch-
ester copy of a dispatch from our Minister to Hayti, report-
ing that that Republic has donated one thousand dollars
toward the erection of a monument in your city to the late
Frederick Douglass, at one time Minister Resident and Con-
sul General to Hayti.
Respectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Acting Secretary.
gg HISTORY OF THE
Department of State,
Washington, August 31, 1898.
J. W. Thompson, Esquire, Chairman Douglass Monument
Committee :
Sir — Eeferring to the Department's letter of April 29 last
to the Mayor of Rochester, and by him referred to your com-
mittee, whereby the information was conveyed that the gov-
ernment of the Republic of Hayti would donate the sum of
$1,000.00 towards the erection at Rochester of a monument
in commemoration of the late Frederick Douglass, I have
now to enclose, as Hayti's contribution to the above object,
a draft, No. 2,515, for $990.10, United States currency,
drawn by Oh. Weymann & Company, Port-au-Prince, Au-
gust 22, 1898, on Messrs. Lyon & Company, New York, to
the order of the Secretary of State, Washington, and by me
endorsed to the order of the Douglass Monument Committee,
Rochester, N. Y., which draft was handed by the Minister
for Foreign Affairs of Hayti to the Minister of the United
States at Port-au-Prince and was by the latter forwarded to
this Department.
I shall be pleased to have you acknowledge its receipt.
Respectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Acting Secretary.
J. W. Thompson tendered thanks to the government of
Hayti, and received the following from Washington:
Department of State,
Washington, September 7, 1898.
John W. Thompson, Esquire, Chairman of the Douglass
Monument Committee:
Sir — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the 3d instant, expressing gratitude for the donation made by
the Haytien government to the Douglass monument fund.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. QQ
A copy of your letter has been forwarded to our Legation
at Port-au-Prince. Eespectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Acting Secretary.
Department of State,
Washington, May 18, 1898.
John W. Thompson, Esquire, Rochester, N. Y. :
Sir — In compliance with the request contained in your
letter of the 16th instant, our Minister at Port-au-Prince ha3
been instructed to present to the Haytien Foreign Office the
thanks of the Frederick Douglass Monument Committee for
the donation made by the government of Hayti to the erec-
tion of the monument to Mr. Douglass.
Respectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Assistant Secretary.
Department of State,
Washington, July 12, 1898.
J. W. Thompson, Esquire, Chairman, Douglass Monument
Committee, Rochester, !N". Y.:
Sir — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the 7th instant asking that the United States Minister to
Hayti be informed that the Douglass monument is to be un-
veiled on the 14th of September in your city and that he be
requested to extend an invitation to the President and mem-
bers of the Cabinet of Hayti to be present.
Copy of your letter has been transmitted to Mr. Powell
with instructions to communicate the contents to the Haytien
government. Respectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Acting Secretary.
70 HISTORY OF THE
Department of State,
Washington, August 17, 1898.
J. W. Thompson, Esquire, Chairman Douglass Monument
Committee, Rochester, 1ST. Y. :
Sir — Referring to your letter of the 7th ultimo, and to
the Department's reply of the 12th ultimo, I have. now to
inform you that our [Minister at Port-au-Prince reports to
the Department, under date of the 1st instant, that Mr. J.
!N\ Leger, the Minister of Hayti at this capital, will repre-
sent the President of Hayti and his Cabinet at the unveiling
of the Douglass monument at Rochester, !N\ T.
Respectfully yours,
J. B. MOORE,
Acting Secretary.
CHAPTER X.
MUSICS L AND LITERARY ENTERTAIXMEXT AND
DOUGLASS BIRTHDAY EXERCISES.
A pleasing literary and musical entertainment was given
in Unitarian Church, May 11, 1898, for the benefit of the
Douglass monument fund.
"Frederick Douglass" was the subject of an address by
Mr. James M. E. O'Grady. He briefly but vividly and com-
prehensively sketched the life of the noted orator and emanci-
pator, from its beginning as a slave on a Southern plantation
to its peaceful conclusion in the Nation's capital. In conclud-
ing Mr. O'Grady said:
"In summing up the career of Frederick Douglass, one is
at a loss to select the capacity in which he excelled. He was
great as an orator, as a writer, as a debator, and as an admin-
istrator of business affairs. As an orator he ranks in the first-
class. Those who once heard him can never forget him. The
impression left upon his hearers was indelible. His splendid
personal appearance, his magnificent head, his graceful and
appropriate gestures, his voice, sweet, low, persuasive, harsh,
forbidding, sonorous or clarion-like, swayed his hearers at his
sweet will. It is true that his greatest effect was upon his
immediate hearers, and these he could move to laughter or
to tears at his pleasure. He had great logic, deep sarcasm
and inimitable wit.
"I well remember the impression made upon me upon the
last occasion upon which I heard Douglass in Rochester. It
was at an open air meeting held in Franklin Square, to cele-
brate Memorial Day. The sun shone brightly through the
newly leafed trees upon an immense throng that almost com-
pletely filled the inclosure. On a stand in the center of the
park stood the orator. He was then between 65 and 70 years
of age, robust, rugged, and in the fullness of his manly
72 HISTORY OF THE
strength. For upwards of an hour he spoke most eloquently,
holding the absolute attention of his hearers, and profoundly
moving them with the pathos and patriotism of his utter-
ances. To speak to and hold the attention of an audience in
the open air is the greatest test to which a public speaker can
be put; and I know of no man who could excel Douglass in
this power.
"Many people rank Douglass higher as a writer than an
orator, and believe that his work in this line will live longest.
He was indefatigable as ;i worker. He entered in news-
papers and did all the drudgery connected therewith in the
early days. He cull ivated a pure and graceful style, and I he
volume and felicity of his expression is really amazing to one
who knows his history. He read far and wide, and was a
hard student. He was a self-made man in every sense. He
illustrated another exception in that he demonstrated the
fact that it is not always necessary for a man to be a college
graduate to succeed m literary life. Although university
education was wanting to him, he made up for it by intense
application to the work of college men. He never believed
liis education was finished, but was a student until the day of
1 1 is death.
"To an American the lesson of this man's life can never
l>e lost. To rise from the lowliest and most hopeless con-
dition to a position of great power among the rulers of the
nation, by one's own personal efforts, is possible only in the
great republic founded upon the equality of all men before
the law. And when the example is that of a member of a
down trodden race, lifting himself from absolute human
slavery and bondage, by self education and self effort, and
against the greatest odds, to a point where he becomes the
chosen constitutional instrument to receive and record the
vote of the greatest state of the Union for the highest office
of the nation, and the chosen representative of that nation
D( >UGLA88 MON1 Mi. ;'i <jrg
in the making of it treaty with •>> foreign conn
directly does it come dom': to us that our country i- founded
upon the very rock of human liberty. Truly will the
of tlii- man live after him.
"His race can alway poinl to him as a star of the first mag
nitudc. What he was others within human limitation may
become- Mi- oratorical ability may be Impossible of accom
plishment, because they w< re God given gifts; bu1
position, tin: uprightness of his character, his
high sense of honor, and his honesty and integrity '•;>)) be
attained of nil men. Not only hi.-; own race may profit b;
pie; ;ill men, of what< rer race or creed <>r color, can
point to liim with pride, as one of the noblest examph
human endeavor, to be emulated as long ;«- the human c
acter t< nds upwards towards the highest ideal
DOUG
Dougla 1 birthday < 1 rcises vere held at Plymouth Church,
February 15, L897, under the management of the Woe
Club, to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the fore
most repre entative of t } j r - colored race. The object of this
meeting was twofold: To preserve the memory :>n<] eulogize
the life of Douglass ;«r"l to further the project for ered 1
monument to him.
Plymouth Congregational Church threw open ii doo
such a meeting; and the spacious edifice was thronged. Every
taken and extra "hair- were brought in and utilized
in ;ill available spaces. There were many colored people in
the audience; and seated side by side with them were some of
pres< ntative citizens of Roche
Ov< - '!.' '- w formerly occupied by Douglass and hi- fam-
ily were emblematic decorations; and immediately in fronl of
the pulpit was ;i large portrait of the man to whose memory
nearly two thousand citizens of Roc embled to
do honor and reverence
74
HISTORY OF THE
Susan B. Anthony presided, in itself an honor to the occa-
sion. On her left was seated Rev. Anna Shaw, who had
come on to Rochester to spend her fiftieth birthday with Miss
Anthony, who to-day celebrates her seventy-seventh birthday
anniversary. On Miss Anthony's right sat Mrs. Victoria
Earle Mathews, who represents the National Association of
Colored Women in the movement for the erection of a mon-
ument to Frederick Douglass. Others on the pulpit plat-
form were Rev. William F. Kettle, pastor of Plymouth.
Church, and Mrs. R. J. Jeffrey, president of the local Col-
ored Woman's Club.
In opening the meeting Miss Anthony said :
"I am very happy to be here to-night in Plymouth Church,
not only because it is the church which Frederick Douglass
and the members of his family attended, but because it is the
church which my elder sister and my brother-in-law attended
for many years; and as I used sometimes to accompany them
I feel that I am not altogether a stranger in Plymouth
Church.
"I think there is no one who remembers that magnificent
figure of Frederick Douglass but cherishes the memory of
one whom they estimated to be at least a very marked figure
in their presence; a man who, if he had not had the taint of
slavery in his veins, would have taken the very highest place
as an orator and as a statesman in this city and in this coun-
try.
"I never shall forget what was said by him that night when
the news reached us that Lincoln had been murdered. There
was a meeting in City Hall. There were speeches by prom-
inent men, ministers, the president of the University and
others. ]STone felt that the very soul of the matter had been
touched, however, till someone called for Douglass. He
made a speech that thrilled the heart and stirred the soul
of every listener. But because of the taint of slavery that
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 75
brooded down upon him he had never before been recognized
among his fellow men and women, until that night."
Later in the meeting Miss Anthony mentioned the names
of the following Rochesterians among the few who in those
days accorded Douglass the friendship due him as a man and
a fellow human being: Amy Post, Ida Post, Miss Maria
Porter, her brother, Samuel Porter.
Miss Anthony stated that when she promised to preside at
the meeting she at once wrote to Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
of the following Rocheslerians among the few who in those
assembled. Mrs. Stanton was a staunch friend of Douglass,
who had championed the cause of equal suffrage for her in
the -first woman's political convention, called in Seneca Falls,
July 19, 1848, winning a majority vote for Mrs. Stanton's
proposition that the right of franchise was the first right
of every individual from an assembly that had at first been
opposed to it. Mrs. Stanton's reply, which was read by Miss
Anthony, was as follows:
26 West Sixty-first Street,
New York, Feb. 13, 1897.
Dear Miss Anthony: For noble Frederick Douglass 1
have varied memories; sad for all he suffered from cruel
prejudices against his race and the insults to his proud
nature; and pleasant for the tender love and friendship of
his noble soul. I love him as he loved me, for the indignities
we alike endured. I am happy to learn that the people of
Rochester, who would never treat him as a social equal when
living, purpose to build a monument to his memory at last.
On a visit once at Peterboro, Douglass came there, too.
Some Southern women guests wrote a note to Mr. Smith to
know "if Douglass would sit in the parlor and at the dining
table; if so they would remain in their rooms." My cousin
replied: "Certainly, he will. I feel honored to have the
greatest man that ever graduated from the 'Southern Tnsti-
7(5 HISTORY OF THE
tution' under my roof." When Douglass arrived, Cousin
Gerrit met him with open arms and kissed him on either
cheek. He staved with us two weeks, and all that time the
two ladies took their meals in their apartments, while the
rest of us walked about the grounds, sat under the trees,
played games and sang songs with Douglass, he playing the
accompaniment on the guitar. Our ladies, in their solitude,
no doubt often regretted that they were voluntary exiles
from all our enjoyments.
I met Douglass for the last time in Paris, when he and his
wife dined with my son Theodore. On parting he said:
"You have been denied the rights of an American citizen be-
cause of your sex, I because of my color ! I hope we shall
stand on equal ground with the angels in heaven !" "Alas !"
said I, "we better not be too sure of that; earthly prejudices
die hard. There may be those who will write Peter a note
to know if you and I are to be there — and if so they will take
their meals in their own apartments!'' How hateful any
prejudice looks in retrospection ! I am thankful I never had
hut one, and that one I have sedulously cultivated year by
year. When I reach heaven I shall write a note to Peter
to know if there are any religious bigots there — and if so
to request them to stay in their own apartments, leaving the
negroes, women, infidels, Socialists, Jews, Chinese and In-
dians free to roam whithersoever they will.
When in Paris, my son took Douglass to the Chamber of
Deputies and introduced him to the member who had ban-
ished slavery from all the French colonies. His name I can-
not recall. He is always spoken of as the William Lloyd
Garrison of the Chamber. When he met Douglass, he, too
threw his arms about him and kissed him on either cheek.
"Ah !" said he, "you are the one American above all others I
have longed to see !" Think of such a man born a slave in
this republic ! A political nonentity, a social pariah ! in-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 7-
ferior in position to all ignorant white men and women !
Then think of seventy-five years in such an atmosphere ! It
is a depressing thought to estimate his feelings; but infinitely
worse to have been one of the number who helped thus to
degrade a man. I never felt more deeply this hateful preju-
dice of color than when witnessing in an Episcopal church the
administering of the communion: After a succession of
white men and women had knelt at the altar, a splendid black
man, who, dressed in new livery, looked like an African
prince, so stately was his carriage as he walked up the aisle
and knelt alone to receive the communion. A little white
child under his care slowly followed and seated herself beside
him. "When the service ended, hand in hand they walked
back to the negro pew ! He was a man of unblemished vir-
tue, respected by the whole community, loved and honored
bv the family he served; yet no Christian could celebrate
the last supper in memory of Jesus by his side !
I sincerely wish the monument Eochester proposes to build
in honor of Douglass might be a schoolhouse or a tenement
for the poor. It seems a pity to raise so many useless shafts
of marble and granite, while the homes of the poor, the
schools and prisons are so overcrowded !
With best wishes to all assembled, and for many public
honors to Frederick Douglass, an eloquent orator, a faithfui
friend and a lover of justice, liberty and equality for all man-
kind ! No Parian marble too pure for his monument; no
garlands too beautiful for his shrine !
With sincere love,
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON".
Applause greeted the reading of Mrs. Stanton's letter; and
then Hiss Anthony introduced as the speaker of the evening,
Mrs. Victoria Earle Mathews, representing the National As-
sociation of Women, who made a tour through the country
in the interests of the women of her race.
7g HISTORY OF THE
In presenting Mrs. Mathews the chairman told how,
upon being introduced to her at the Unitarian Church
the day before she had asked: "Mrs. Mathews, is it
possible there is a drop of black blood in jour veins?'' "I
tell you I was born a slave," was Mrs. Mathews' reply.
"What were we thinking of," exclaimed Miss Anthony,
"when fathers sold their own sons and daughters on the auc-
tion block and counted them merely as so much goods and
chattels I"
Mrs. V. E. Mathews expressed some embarrassment in ad-
dressing so large an audience, saying that nothing but the
seriousness of her cause could prompt her to stand as a
speaker upon the platform with Miss Susan B. Anthony and
Miss Anna Shaw arid attempt to address so large an audience.
After stating that she was the representative of a Na-
tional movement of women of her race Mrs. Mathews drew a
vivid picture of the condition of the mothers and young girls
in the South, as they flock to the cities from the plantations
and find their way to the slums. "What is being done for
them" she asked. "What is to be done for them? Have
you ever stopped to think of the seriousness of this ques-
tion?"
Turning to a consideration of the proposed monument to
the memory of Frederick Douglass the speaker took issue
with Mrs. Stanton's suggestion of a utilitarian memorial,
speaking in part as follows:
"Ours is a communion of tears. We know that our chil-
dren are naked and ignorant and in need of schools; we
know that there is great need of rescue and relief of homes;
we do not underestimate the value of education; but as
mothers we see the destiny and ambition of our children
hanging in the balance, but as to a monument in memory of
Frederick Douglass the (colored people have one to whom
they can point as an example, an incentive, to their children.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 79
When it is known that worth and not power will be honored
it will indeed stimulate a higher type of the youth of our
race."
Rev. Anna Shaw beamed with enthusiasm as she rose to
deliver the final address of the evening. She was glad that
Mrs. Mathews, with her white face, still belonged to the
African race. And the speaker expressed regret that she
too had not a drop of black blood in her veins, so that she
might take her sister by the hand and say: "I, too, am of
your people."
Miss Shaw agreed with Mrs. Mathews on the monument
question, saying:
"It is seldom that Mrs. Stanton makes a mistake; but she
did so there, when she allowed her love of the utilitarian to
prompt her to suggest a schoolhouse or a tenement house
for a monument to the memory of Frederick Douglass.
This monument is to be for the American people, to recall
To them the greatness of this man, who was born a slave,
but who lived to take his place among the noblest of human
kind. The one thing We need is more monuments, not
fewer.
"No, let him stand, magnificent in bronze, where people
can see that wonderful, that collossal figure of him who,
born a slave yet lived to die one of the foremost men in one
of the foremost nations of the world; one at whose bier
statesmen stood in silent reverence; one who lived the life,
of a man; born a slave, but not enslaved; one who stood firm
for the principle of universal liberty, who recognized the
great law of universal freedom; one who recognized that one
only is our Father, even God, and that we are all brethren.
"Rochester will never have the opportunity to honor her-
self as she will have it in helping the colored citizens to erect
a monument not only for Frederick Douglass and his race,
but for all the American people."
8Q HISTORY OF THE
Miss Susan B. Anthony then announced that a collection
would be taken, the proceeds to be devoted to the Douglass
Memorial Fund. Her apt and pointed eloquence in this line
was not without its effect.
ENOCH K. SPAULDING.
CHAPTER XI.
UNVEILING EXERCISES AND DISAPPOINTMENT
AT NON-ARRIVAL OF STATUE.
The Chairman of the committee fixed the date for the un-
veiling exercises, September 14th, according to the follow-
ing from the agent of the Smith Granite Company, W'ester-
lJ> E- L: Utica, N. Y., April 5, 1898.
John W. Thompson, Chairman Committee of Douglass Me-
morial, Rochester, N. Y. :
Dear Mr. Thompson: Yours received. I presume with-
out doubt, that our sculptor is in Washington, although the
company have not notified me. There will be no doubt
about getting the statue ready by August 2d. The monu-
ment is a small matter as it is all done now except the panels.
I inclose plan of the lettering which shows its location on
the die. These all have to be cast in plaster and then in
bronze.
Kindly see that they are correct in every particular and
return to me as soon as possible and I will forward to
Westerly. I am, Mr. Thompson,
Yours very sincerely,
(Dictated) G. W. SANBORN.
All arrangements for the unveiling exercises were complet-
ed and invitations to the family had been sent, and accepted,
and these were present: Mrs. Helen Douglass, Mrs. Rosa
Douglass Sprague, Miss F. Douglass Sprague, Messrs.
Charles R. Douglass, Lewis H. Douglass and Joseph H.
Douglass, grandsons of Fredrick Douglass, with many other
persons of note, from many sections of the country.
It was not known until the afternoon of September 12th
that the statue would not be in the city for unveiling.
82 HISTORY OF THE
After writing and telegraphing for some days the fid-
lowing were received:
Utica, X. Y.j September 12. 1898.
John W. Thompson, Rochester, X. Y. :
Am writing to Westerly to find out about statue.
G. W. SAXBORX.
The same day this was received by the Chairman:
Westerly, R. I., September 12th.
John W. Thompson:
Douglass statue cannot be shipped from Philadelphia until
26th. See letter.
SMITH GRAXITE COMPAXY.
On receiving the news the feeling of disappointment can-
not be described. Charles R. Douglass, who had gone to
Brockport to visit friends after reading of the disappoint-
ment in the newspapers, called up Chairman Thompson over
the telephone and advised him to go on with the exercises
which he did.
At 2 o'clock, September 14, 1S98, nearly three thousand
people assembled in Fitzhugh Hall to pay honor to the mem-
ory of Douglass.
The contractors who were to model and cast the bronze
statue of Frederick Douglass failed to have the statue in
the city. The unveiling ceremonies did not take place in
the morning, but the exercises attending the presentation
of the monument to the city were held in the afternoon and
< vening at Fitzhugh Hall, addresses being delivered by prom-
inent orators, the monument being formally accepted in be-
half of the city by Mayor Warner. The audience, which al-
most entirely filled the hall, was composed of some of Roch-
ester's foremost citizens, the representatives of both races
being about evenly divided. Upon the platform were seat-
ed, beside the general committee and the speakers, members
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 83
of the Park Board and Common Council, prominent residents
and representatives of the old abolitionist families of the
city. The interest of all present was held until the end.
Born in obscurity, forced to endure the tutelage of slav-
ery, within sight and sound of the ceaseless service our na-
tion offered up to liberty, breaking the bonds of his slavery
and mastering all the arts of civilization, of intellectual de-
velopment, of high manhood, working with the energy of a
Titan for the freed of his fellow serfs, and finding time to
plead for the rights of women, suffering untold indignities,
fleeing before the agents of a nation that stood for the rights
of men and religions, and triumphing at last until his name
and fame were honored in the land, Frederick Douglass was
the grand disciple of an oppressed race.
And so, September 14th, in the full light of the end of
the century's humanity, in the glow of a nation's victory for
the cause of manhood, in the city where he found a haven
when the clouds were darkest, the name of Frederick Doug-
lass was honored, not alone by men of his race, who showed in
their intellectual powers the fruits of the rights for which the
great freedman strove, but also by prominent public men,
who in the years past had fought the fight against prejudice,
and had even taken up arms against their brothers to defend
flic helpless slaves.
It was the prophecy of Wendell Phillips come true. The
name of the shire was printed in the great sunlight of truth,
the name of the man, who, with the matchless orator and
Garrison, the sturdy newspaper man, were the first apostles
of liberty.
THE EXERCISES AT FITZHUGH HALL.
The city of Rochester again took pride in honoring the
name of Frederick Douglass. After months of arduous
work, the committee having in charge the matter of the
erection of a monument to his memory was able to report
§4 HISTORY OF THE
the work completed, although even at the last unavoidable
circumstances prevented the unveiling of the monument it-
self. This' fact, nevertheless, did not detract from the inter-
est or significance of the memorial exercises which were
held in Fitzhugh Hall.
Among the prominent persons who were present at the
exercises were Miss Susan B. Anthony; T. Thomas Fortune,
of New York, editor of The Age; John H. Smyth, of Vir-
ginia, ex-minister to Liberia; Hon. John C. Dancy, collector
of customs of the port of Wilmington, X. C. ; Chris. J.
Perry, editor of the Philadelphia Tribune; Miss Mary An-
thony, Hon. Arthur E. Sutherland, Judge George A. Ben-
ton, Mayor George E. Warner, Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf,
Dr. E. M. Moore, Bishop Alexander Walters, D. D., James
N". jSTeib, editor of a prominent journal in Philadelphia, and
all of the surviving members of the family of Frederick
Douglass, including his children and grandchildren.
WHY THE STATUE WAS NOT UNVEILED.
It was the intention of the committee to have the statue
of Douglass in the city and placed for the unveiling, but
Chairman Thompson presented the following letter to ex-
plain why the ceremony w7as postponed:
Westerly, K. I., Sept, 12, 1898.
J. W. Thompson, Esq., Rochester, N. Y.:
Dear Sir: After receiving your telegram on the 9th we
telegraphed to Philadelphia for the earliest date, and re-
ceived reply that they would ship the statue on the 26th.
We wrote them, asking them to hurry it and ship it as much
earlier than the 26th as they possibly could.
You doubtless know that we had delays in Washington,
caused by our Mr. Edwards being unable to obtain the as-
sistance he required, which has put us behind just the num-
ber of days to complete the statue on time. A letter to this
effect was dictated to you on the 9th, but by an oversight
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 35
on the part of the stenographer it was not written. "We
are very sorry, both for the statue not being completed on
time and for our letter failing to go on the 9th, which would
have explained matters to you before this time.
Yours respectfullv.
THE SMITH GRANITE CO.
J. R. Randal], Secretary.
COMMENCING OF THE EXERCISES.
The memorial meeting was called to order at 2:30 o'clock
by Chairman J. W. Thompson, of the monument commit-
tee. He gave a cordial invitation to all friends of Douglass,
any Grand Army men who might be present, and all city
officials, to occupy seats on the platform, an invitation which
was supplemented by Miss Susan B. Anthony, who said thai
every old-time abolitionist ought to be proud to take a seat
on the platform where exercises in honor of a man who
stood not only for the freedom of his race, but also for the
emancipation of women, were being held. A number
availed themselves of the invitation.
The exercises were opened with music by an orchestra
from the Fifty-fourth Regiment Band, which played a med-
ley of patriotic airs. Following this a forceful and eloquent
prayer was offered by Bishop Alexander "Walters, D. D. J.
W. Thompson then briefly explained the circumstances which
had prevented the ceremony of unveiling the monument and
then introduced the Rev. Alonzo Scott, pastor of Zion
Church, who sang "His Name Shall Live Forever," com-
posed by himself for the occasion. He was accompanied by
a chorus of forty voices under the direction of Mrs. R.
Jerome Jeffrey.
POEM BY MR. T. THOMAS FORTUNE.
In introducing T. Thomas Fortune, of New York, editor
of The Age, one of the leading papers published in the in-
S(J HISTORY OF THE
terest of his race, Mr. Thompson paid a fitting tribute to his
abilities and his earnest efforts to secure the erection of the
monument. Mr. Fortune read an original poem, entitled,
''Frederick Douglass." The poem follows:
We cannot measure here the dizzy heights he trod
To whom this glyptic shaft is lifted from the sod,
Towards the matchless azure of sweet Freedom's skies,
If we forget the depths whence God bade him arise,
Above the slave's log cabin and a sireless birth,
To be a prince among the children of the earth !
ISTo giant who has placed one foot upon the land
And one upon the sea, with power to them command,
To bid the angry turbulence of each be still.
And have them bend obedient to his master's will —
Ever started lower in the social scale than he —
This Champion of the Slave, t hi- Spokesman of the Free !
In him the deathless lesson of our common race
Was taught anew — the lesson you who will may trace
From Babel's fatal tower to fateful Waterloo—
From Eden's blest abode to slavery's Tuckaho —
That still "one touch of nature makes the whole world kin,"
The world of love and joy, the world of woe and sin.
But such as Donglass was not born to wear a chain —
At the slave's task to bend and cower and cringe and
strain —
To bare his princely back to the rude lash whose welt
Produced no pain that his proud soul must have felt !
As Moses did, he served in bondage for an hour
The better to be armed to crush the master's power.
It has been ever thus since the old world was young —
The giants of the race from the head of woe have sprung —
Out of the agony and sweat and rayless hope
In which the swarming masses have been doomed to grope.
So lifts its head from rocks and sands the lighthouse brave,
To guide the fearless sailor o'er the treacherous wave.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. gf
I'i r who can sing of woe who never felt a pain —
Who never hoped 'gainst hope to know a joy again?
Who thirsl for vengeance on the skulking, coward foe
As he whose sire or mate has fallen 'neath the blow?
Who feel the vpnom of the slave's undying hate
As ho whose lot has been the slave's degrading fate?
'Twas a long way to the north star from Tuckaho —
From slavery's dark shade to freedom's electric glow —
From out the depths — "O the depths!" — of slavery's long
night—
To the high altitude of freedom's fadeless light!
And here he stood in winter's storm and summer's sun,
Majestic, brave, till the fierce war was fought and won.
We claim him as our own, the greatest of the race,
In whom the rich sun stamp of Africa you trace,
And we delight to place upon his massive* brow
Affection's crown of reverence, as we do now.
But, in a larger sense, forsooth, did he belong
To all the race, a prophet strong among the strong!
For he was large in stature and in soul and head
True type of Xew America, whose sons, 'tis said,
The western world shall have as glorious heritage —
That they shall write in history's fadeless, truthful page
Such deeds as ne'er before have wrought for liberty
And all the arts of peace — the strongest of the free!
And every depth he braved, and every height he trod
From earth's alluring shrines to the presence of his God;
And he was cheered by children's confidence and trust,
A tribute never withheld from the true and just;
And woman's sympathy was his, the divine power
That rules the world in calmest and stormiest hour !
To him all weakness and all suffering appealed ;
'Gainst none such was his brave heart ever steeled.
And pleading womanhood for honest rights denied
Xo champion had of stnrdier worth to brave wrong's pride —
To claim for her in all the fullest measure true
Of justice God ordained her portion, as her due.
88 HISTORY OP THE
He needs no monument of stone who writes his name
By deeds, in diamond letters, in the Book of Fame —
Who rises from the bosom of the race to be
A champion of the slave, a spokesman of the free —
Who scorns the fetters of a slave's degrading birth
And takes his place among the giants of the earth.
This shaft is lifted high in Heaven's holy air
To keep alive our wavering hope, a message bear
Of inspiration to the living from the dead,
Who dared to follow where the laws of duty led,
They are so few — these heroes of the weak and strong —
That we must honor them in story and in song.
So let this towering, monumental column stand.
While freedom's sun shall shine upon our glorious land,
A guiding star of hope divine for all our youth,
A living witness to the all-enduring truth —
The living truth that makes men brave to death, and true —
The truth whose champions ever have been few —
The truth that made the life of Douglass all sublime,
And gave it as a theme of hope to every clime !
Mr. Fortune's poem was followed by an excellent violin
solo by Joseph Douglass, of Washington, a grandson of Fred-
erick Douglass. The older members of the audience, who re-
membered the great frcedman's love for music, and his own
proficiency in the use of the violin, recalled many instances
and greeted the young player with enthusiasm. He played
a selection from Verdi's "II Trovatore."
EULOGY BY HON. JOHN C. DANCY.
Any eulogy I may make of Frederick Douglass can only
emphasize those already made by others who have preceded
me. The best tribute to his memory is tame in comparison
with the actual achievements of Ins life, considering its early
environments. He was indeed the architect of his own for-
tune, "the builder of the ladder bv which .he climbed." His
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 39
birth, his race, his condition as a chattel, were all against
him, and his first greatest obstacle was to conquer these, and
minimize their influence as recognized insurmountable bar-
riers. His boyhood did not prophesy one of the most re-
markable careers this Nation has seen; nor did anything in
his early life indicate that he was born to a noble destiny.
His mother was a greater woman than his father was man,
and he no doubt inherited from her the qualities of soul
which were in him the inspiring, overmastering power which
moved and electrified vast audiences, and made him the won-
der and admiration of the world.
Mr. Douglass always insisted that we must not be meas-
ured by the heights to which we have attained, but rather by
the depths from which we have come. These depths were
lower than those from which Garfield came — and he drove a
canal boat; or from which Grant came — and he was a tanner;
or Lincoln — and he was a rail-splitter. Douglass came from
depths far beneath any of these, for he was a slave, and had
to go further to reach their starting point than either of them
went iii the entire journey of their triumphs. Wisely and
philosophically did he remark, immediately after the war
closed, at a great meeting held in Dr. Sunderland's church,
"It is a long way from the cornfields of Maryland to Dr. Sun-
derland's church in Washington." The actual distance was
only about twenty miles, but it took Mr. Douglass forty ye ars
to go the journey — like Moses' forty years in the wilderness.
He has told me that he walked the decks of steamers that
plied between the ports of New York and Boston, because
he was denied accommodation elsewhere. And yet even this
affront to his sensitive nature did not curb his ambition, relax
his efforts to uplift himself and his race, or smolder the burn-
ing fires of his manhood. Obstacles which would have abso-
lutely sapped the vitality and the hopes of almost any other
man, seemed to be to him an inspiration, which nerved him
90
HISTORY OF THE
to more superhuman effort in order to more transcendent tri-
umphs.
But Douglass laid well his foundation. A fugitive slave
he began his life of liberty, as it were, under the shadow of
Plymouth Rock, at New Bedford, Mass. He early identified
himself with an unpretentious little A. M. E. Zion church
where he became sexton, steward, Sunday-school superintend-
ent, exhorter and finally local preacher. It was in these ca-
pacities that he was introduced to the "Whaling ( !ity," as his
splendid physique and magnificent presence as well as speech,
filled with soul, attracted to him the attention of all who saw
and heard him.
Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd Garrison found occa-
sion to visit New Bedford to hold an anti-slavery meeting.
The former, the most finished and eloquent orator of his
time; the latter, the prince of abolition agitators and chain
pions. Both filled with unconquerable zeal and enthusiasm
— they stirred that city on that great occasion, as it was never
stirred before. When enthusiasm had reached its zenith,
and the speakers had concluded their phillippics against the
most infamous of wrongs — slavery — a call was made for some
colored man in the audience to say a word describing the foul
wrong from the standpoint of his own experience. Then
some voice uttered the name of Douglass. The war was
waked anew. A grand form pushed its way to the front
through the surging mass. He was physical perfection —
calm, motionless, erect, he bowed his salutation, and warming
to his work he entered into a portrayal of the iniquitous insti-
tution from which he had made his escape, shook his majestic
head as a lion shakes from his shaggy mane the dew drops
of the morning, while his voice of deep-toned thunder uttered
such anathemas of denunciation, that the audience went mad
with wildest expressions of sympathy and indignation. Phil-
lips and Garrison gave vent to their feelings by securing
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 91
Douglass at once as a regular platform orator for the Abo-
lition cause. He awoke the next morning a great man — one
of the world's modern Seven Wonders.
When fierce gales bowed the high pines, when blazed
The lightning, and the savage in the storm
Some unknown godhead heard, and awestruck gazed
On Douglass' majestic form.
His fame was at once secure. Like the eagle from his
eyrie, beholding the approaching storm, with calm serenity,
so Douglass watched the gathering storm which was to erad-
icate slavery from "the land of the free." But unlike the
eagle, he did not wing his flight beyond the gathering clouds,
but rather boldly met those clouds and bravely aided in the
work of their dispersion in the abolition of slavery. In New
England, the West, Canada and Great Britain, he faced riot-
ous elements of opposition, and by the magnificence of his
eloquence, he transformed rebellious and antagonistic mobs
into enthusiastic supporters. In him the man and the cause
met, and the cause became a part of the man. If it was
charged that he violated the law, he joined with Seward in
the assertion that there was "a higher law," and he invoked
its intervention to insure American liberty "to each, to all,
and forever." He was aware that there were "depths of
infamy, as well as heights of fame," and he would lift his
proud land from the quagmires of the one into the glories of
the other. He believed with Webster in "liberty and union,
one and inseparable," but he realized the impossibility of a
secure union without the blessings of unrestricted liberty. He
made the silence of the seas articulate the songs of liberty,
and the darkness of the night became luminous with the rays
of approaching dawn. He agreed with Conkling in the dec-
laration that "from Bunnyinede to Appomattox, the jewel
for which civilized man has fought has been the law of the
land and equality before the law." In all these contentions
92 HISTORY OF THE
Mr. Douglass fought his own. way, won his own victories and
made his own fame. He was indeed a changeless sincerity.
He was never in masquerade or disguise. He loved, he
hoped, he believed in the justice of his cause, and prayed for
the time when right should rule supreme and conquer wrong.
Montesquieu, the French philosopher, taught that "the
animating sentiment of a monarchy is honor, while the ani-
mating sentiment of a republic is virtue." Douglass sought
to emphasize the truth of this remark and make the animat-
ing sentiment of his country, virtue, which should be the
cardinal and basic principle of every land and people. He
loved truth and impartial justice, and wanted them written
not merely in our laws, but in our lives, and in the hearts
and consciences of the whole nation. He did not dissemble
either with friends or foes, and was honored and respected
by men who hated his opinions, which were with him a posi-
tive conviction.
With Senator Charles Sumner he jointly urged President
Lincoln to issue a call for volunteer colored troops. The
country was against it — even the sympathetic North. The
President himself hesitated and agreed to pray over it. The
wisdom of the suggestion dawned upon the President later,
and the call was issued for 75,000 colored volunteers. It was
heard above all the din and smoke of battle, and above the
cries of the dead and dying, so that 200,000 ebony-hued sons
of Ham answered to that call. Mr. Douglass' sons were
among the first to enlist. He proved his faith by his works.
The courage, daring and heroism of these braves on hundreds
of battlefields, including Port AVagner, Fort Pillow, and
Petersburg, where they proved themselves as much the flower
of the Army as the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twen-
ty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry did in saving the Rough
Eiders and capturing El Caney and San Juan Hill from the
Spaniards in our recent war with Spain. All the world
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 93
knows of the glory of the Black Regiments which, will go
down the ages in song and story with the ride of the Six
Hundred, immortalized by Tennyson on the field of Balak-
lava. Douglass paved the way for this new found glory, and
thereby in this path-finding alone gave immortality to his
name and fame.
"The sword of Michael from the Armory of God seemed
given him,
Tempered so that neither keen nor solid might resist that
edge."
His triumphs are as inspiring in splendor as they are in-
finite in variety. Indeed, he does not suffer by contrast with
any of the great men of the century. Kossuth was a patriot
like himself, who befriended the oppressed of Hungaria, but
with no greater influence, power and success than Douglass;
Gambetta was the tribune of the French people, but with all
the fury of his wonderful oratory he could arouse no more
sympathy or support than Douglass; Bismarck was the acting,
controlling, directing force of the German Empire for a half
century, and yet he championed fewer reforms that meant
the uplift of the whole people than Douglass, the emanci-
pated slave; Gladstone was the commoner and most popular,
as well as the ablest champion of manhood rights since Pitt,
who defended the attitude of the Americans in their fight for
Independence, and yet Gladstone never dared go to the
limits to which Douglass went in seeking to establish a civili-
zation, not merely without a slave, but also without a preju-
dice. If Douglass did not attain to their stations, it was
more because he came from so much greater depths than be-
cause he merited less elevated heights. There was in him al-
ways a latent heroism that responded at once to an appeal
to give up all to some noble cause. His ideals were always
the highest, the best and the purest, and he reckoned no life
exemplary that did not comport with such ideals. A vein of
94
HISTORY OP THE
humor ran through some of his strongest utterances, but that
humor, like Lincoln's, was as the ripple of the surface of an
unfathomable sea. Honors were lavished upon him, not be-
cause he sought them, but because he earned them. He be-
came marshal, recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia,
member of the Commission looking toward the annexation of
San Domingo, and minister to Hayti. not merely becausi of
his color, but because of his ability. He did not occupy so
large a place in the public eye and esteem because he had
been a slave, but because lie became a man. He utilized the
opportunities which came To him to the best possible advan-
tage, and emphazised their value by the reward, in honor and
emolument, which sought him with such constancy as his staff
of life bent under the weight of years.
As with Douglass, so with us — the ideal determines the
character of the life. When the aim of life i^ right, rules
and 'precepts are merely subordinates. If wrong, rules
and precepts are worthless. Xothing so strengthens the
mind and enlarges the manhood and widens the thought, as
the constant effort to measure up to the high ideal, to strug-
gle for that which is beyond and above us. It s1 retches the
mind to a larger measure, and Touches the life to finer issues.
A stranger going through a public park in a leading city
observed an eagle walking around with The satisfied air of a
domestic animal. He could not understand it; he therefore
inquired the cause of a bystander. "Follow me," said the
friend. Coining close up lie was shown a net of wire on
either side and overhead. Said he, "That eagle was put in
that inclosure untamed, yea, wild. He made several attempts
to fly upward, but each successive Time he struck That wire
and fell back helpless. lie lost heart, courage and ambition,
and is now content with his state."
l\\v. Douglass came upon the arena at a time when an en-
lire race was under the same influence as this eagle. They
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 95
had made fruitless efforts to rise, but that wire of human
prejudice and bondage was ever there to beat them back in
their every attempt at ascent. They had grown spiritless
and disheartened, and had yielded to what seemed the inev-
itable. Douglass was one of them. He saw that wire and
had struck against it himself. But nerving himself to the
task, after falling back once, with courage bold, he made a
superhuman effort a second time, and with the strength which
God gave him, he hurled himself against it with redoubled
force and the wire gave way, and he stopped not in his ascent
until he reached the goal of his ambition. His race caught
and shared his spirit everywhere until to-day a Nation rises
from its spell of years to testify to the wisdom and courage of
a seer of the black race, who knowing his rights ('.'red to as-
sert and maintain them. With that wire broken we are at
Liberty to measure up to the higher ideal and struggle for
that which is beyond and above us. Bulwer's description of
the voice of O'Connell describes that wonderful voice of
Douglass during his contention for universal liberty:
"Aloft and clear from airy tide to tide
It glided easy as a bird may glide;
Even to the verge of that vast audience sent,
.It played with each wild passion as it went;
Now stirred the uproar; now the murmur stilled,
And sobs or laughter answered as it willed."
In-breaking thai wire Douglass played the whole gamut
of loftiest eloquence. He blended the deep-toned thunder
of Webster, the musical harmonies of Clay, the lightning
flashes of O'Connell and the charm and dignify of Wendell
Phillips. Tie believed his own race largely the safety-valve
of the Republic and pleaded for an opportunity for them to
prove it. Time, the Unerring arbiter, in two wars — and in
peace as well — has richly vindicated the wisdom of his plea.
(,,; HISTORY OF THE
Willi our young men distinguishing themselves in ever}
avenue of industrial and professional Life; with skilled me-
chanics and artisans, lawyers, physicians, learned ministers
of i lie < rospel and teachers, and a wealth running up to nearly
a half billion in money and homes; with improved churches
and schools and their constantly fencreasing ai tendance; with
three millions of us who can read and write in the face of
former laws which made the possession of such blessings a
crime; and another million in the schools, instructed by
twenty thousand trained teachers; with a population just
double what it was thirty-five years ago — nine millions in all
these wonderful transformations are the highest encomi-
um- that can be paid to the greatness of Douglass and his
compeers — Lincoln, Grant, Phillips, Garrison, Beecher, and
t heir allies, in giving us freedom, and in placing us, by an ap-
peal to the dread arbitrament of the sword, under the pro-
tecting aegis of the ample folds of the American flag.
Mr. Douglass addressed himself in the later years of his
life to reform conditions as they confronted the country, lie
was the uncompromising enemy of mob law, and especially
as it developed into lynch law — the worst form of mob vio-
lence known to any civilization, lie demanded a fair and
impartial trial for every man accused of crime, whether white
or Mack that his guill or innocence might be fully estab-
lished; he insist ed upon a free and unrestricted exercise of
the right of franchise, the right preservative of all rights —
the palladium id' American liberty; ho demanded the broad-
ening of the common school system so as to put its benefits
within the reach of the humblest child in tin1 land; he con-
tended for an industrial system that would open up avenues
of employment to all idlers, and thereby increase the produc-
ing class and minimize that class who are chiefly consumers
without the alternative nf being contributors to our product-
ive wealth; he was an emphatic champion of every moral
BENJAMIN MYERS
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
97
cause, whether it was temperance, religious or otherwise,
which promised favorable results to the Nation at large. He
had all the ardor of John Brown without his daring; all the
zeal of Beecher without his intrepidity; all the courage of
Wilberforce without his "winters of discontent;" all the de-
termination of Mrs. Harriet Beecher St owe and Miss Susan
B. Anthony, and "Sojourner Truth"' without their meekness
and patience and willingness to wait results. He believed in
woman's rights as much as he did in man's, and spent the last
day of his life giving them a final note of warning as to
what was the next best thing to do to strengthen the influ-
ence of their organized protest against existing wrongs aimed
at them. He believed that
"Woman's cause is man's;
They rise or sink together
Dwarfed or God-like, bond or free.1'
I saw Mr. Douglass under many and varying circum-
stances, but he was always the same grand, peerless character
in his personality. I heard him declare in a great conven-
tion, where weighty political interests were involved, and
party spirit ran high, that "the Republican Party is the ship
and all else is the sea"; I beheld him with cane in hand at the
Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, at a great congress, tell a
caustic critic of our race, in answer to his animadversions, to
desist from his unfair attacks and "go home, and learn the
truth, before attempting again to instruct others as to the
true status of a too long maligned and oppressed race;" I
heard him in a great National Republican Convention, speak-
ing of his own race, assert that "we may be many as the
waves, but we are one as the sea"; I watched him before an
audience made up chiefly of foreigners, at "Washington, dur-
ing the great. Ecumenial Conference, as he rose to the loftiest
pitch of overpowering eloquence and made a last appeal to
93 HISTORY OF THE
them on behalf of fair play for all mankind; I sat with him an
hour at the Executive Mansion, as he talked with President
Harrison, portraying the greatness of the people of Hayti,
whom he loved; I have seen him make merry at his home at
Cedar Hill, overlooking the Potomac, as he and his grandson
played in concert on violins his favorite, 'The Suwannee
River"; and to cap the climax, I beheld him as the orator of
the day, on the occasion of the unveiling of the Lincoln mon-
ument on Capitol Hill, at Washington, in April, 1876. Pres-
ident Grant and his cabinet, the Vice-President, nearly all
the United States Senators and members of Congress, the
Chief Justice and members of the Supreme Court, Governors
of different states, the Diplomatic Corps and other notable
persons were there — with an assembled mass of more than
50,000 persons, constituting the finest audience that ever
heard a plain civilian in this country, speak — and Douglass
never appeared to better advantage, as he addressed himself
so marvelously to that surging sea of upturned faces. It was
the speech of his life. But under none of these changed cir-
cumstances did he ever to our mind vary a hair's breadth
from the modest, sincere, brave, true, and unaffected Fred-
erick Douglass whom the world has known and honored for
nearly a half century.
But great as Douglass was as a statesman and patriot, lie
was no politician in the narrower sense. He comprehended
great questions of state and had vast influence with states-
men, but he knew little or nothing of the art of practical poli-
tics, and was therefore no competitor with men of much
smaller mental caliber when it came to a contest in the pri-
maries for leadership. But the primaries once over, the re-
sponsibility of carrying party principles to a successful issue,
rested on his broad and capable shoulders. In such case he
became the leader of leaders, the recognized tribune of the
people.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 9£)
But Mr. Douglass is dead. That magnificent presence is
no more amoug us to advise, direct, and encourage us; but his
example is still with us, and like Webster, he "still lives."
New questions of state and national policies will come up to
vex political leaders and disintegrate and cause a realign-
ment of political parties. The question of races will be
broadened under the policy of territorial expansion and
aggrandizement. Other dark races with an increase by the
enlarged territory of our nation, mil give us nineteen instead
of nine million of the dark races to be considered in the new
equation. "Whether present prejudices will wear away under
the policies to be inaugurated to settle the newer problem,
only time will disclose. At all events, we shall need the di-
recting presence of a Douglass that we may avoid Charybdis
in escaping Scylla. The question of education, of party affili-
ations, or moral and material development, of manhood
rights, of our present duties and obligations — all being ques-
tions which occupied the best moments of his life, are still
presenting themselves with added charm and force, and ap-
peal to our closest scrutiny and most careful consideration.
May God send us other guides to take up Sthe work where he
left off.
As a living example of the value to me, at least, of his
championship of human freedom, I stand here as one of the
manumitted slaves — born in the same month and year that
he made his famous address against the Dred Scott decision
by Chief Justice Taney — to bear testimony to his heroism
and lay at his feet this imperfect tribute to his worth and
character. I do not hesitate to declare that he was indeed
"A hero — a hero who dared to struggle in the solid
ranks of truth,
To clutch the monster Error by the throat,
To bear opinion to a loftier height,
To blot the error of oppression out
And load a universal Freedom in."
3081
100
HISTORY OF THE
Other great men have risen to fame and distinction, and
others will rise; but the like of Douglass we will hardly see
in this generation or the next. The occasion may never rise
for his like. I^o Vulcan need forge thunder bolts like those
prepared for him, as they are hardly required to carry the
same power of destruction, or to produce the same trepida-
tion and dismay. The power of the whirlwind and awe-in-
spiring tremor of the earthquake shock are hardly necessary
now as in darker days to arouse a nation to a full sense of its
duty and its danger — realizing as we do that a nation's chief
sin is its chief danger. In his own day, this sin denied his
manhood, humbled his pride, sapped his vitality and clouded
his future. He realized its dangerous influence and tendency,
and clutching it by the throat, assisted in choking it to death.
So we turn from this spectacle so grand in design, so true
in form, proportion and feature, so worthy of him whose
memory it seeks to perpetuate. Ho lived, fought, and sacri-
ficed for us and his country; let us not prove ourselves un-
worthy of his great triumphs, which were won in our defense.
This gathering is a slight testimonial of our abiding grati-
tude. Let us wind ourselves out of the labyrinths of doubt,
self distrust, and pessimistic forebodings, and like him whose
monument we erect to his memory, rise above every degrad-
ing environment into the higher life where dwell only the
pure, the worthy and the true. Then Douglass will not have
sacrificed in vain. Freedom will prove a blessing indeed,
and manhood rather than race will be the true badge of
honor, and the true test of character.
As one star differeth from another star, so one life differoth
from another life. Douglass was a star of the first magni-
tude— one of the proudest in the constellation of stars — a
comet, indeed, whose light emblazons the horizon long after
it has disappeared from sight. A life of sore trial, of con-
flict, of sacrifice, of constant plodding, of final triumph, both
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. -^q^
here and hereafter — it is to us an example and to the world
a benediction. Great as he was in life, and grand as he was
in death, we conclude the last tribute that the beneficiary can
pay to the benefactor by bidding him hail ! and farewell !
The next number was a solo by Mrs. Charles P. Lee, who
rendered in excellent style "The Sun is on the Hills," Miss
May LeLeon accompanist.
MEDAL FOR CHAIRMAN THOMPSON.
The programme was interrupted at this point by Walter
Stewart, of Elmira, who arose on behalf of the citizens of
Rochester, to present a token of their gratitude to John W.
Thompson, chairman of the committee, who had conceived
and engineered the plans for the memorial to the great leader
of his race. Mr. Stewart said briefly:
"It is a custom among all nations to perpetuate the mem-
ory of their greatest men who in some special manner have
stamped their names upon the hearts of the people, but as
far as I can determine this is the first time that a people have
met to perpetuate the memory of any of my race. This idea
was first promulgated by a citizen of Rochester in 1894, long
before Douglass was deceased. John "W". Thompson being
imbued with the spirit of his race, arose in a Masonic meeting
and first started this work. But ere he had perfected his
plans the grand old man had run his race. But at his death
Mr. Thompson put forth renewed energy, and though prog-
ress was slow he was conscious that he was right and worked
on and on without fear of failure or hope of reward, and to-
day he can look back upon a successful work. Often he had
to tread the winepress alone, yet I believe there was an un-
seen influence assisting him so that he could not fail.
"To-day John W. Thompson ought not to be without re-
ward, so in token of our appreciation for his efforts I wish to
present him with this gold medal."
1Q2 HISTORY OF THE
Mr. Thompson accepted the gift with a few words of grati-
tude, though taken entirely by surprise. The medal was a
handsome one, being a solid gold medallion, with an engrav-
ing of the Douglass monument and a personal inscription to
the donee. A pleasant and appropriate feature of the pro-
gramme was the reading by Miss Fredericka Douglass
Sprague, a granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, of an ex-
tract from the great speech of the freedman, delivered in
Washington on April 16, 1883, the occasion being the cele-
bration of the twenty-first anniversary of emancipation.
MISS ANTHONY'S REMINISCENCE 3.
Miss Susan B. Anthony was then introduced. She said, in
part:
"I am proud and happy to bear my testimony by presence
and words to the great truths that Frederick Douglass did so
much to vindicate by his life and works. It is not because I
have not been importuned to provide a sentiment for the
monument but because I have been busy and so at this late
hour I am going to read a testimonial from Frederick Doug-
lass to me and I think that this one sentence should be the
sentiment inscribed on the pedestal at Douglass Park:
" 'The cause of woman suffrage has under it a truth! as
eternal as the universe of thought, and must triumph if this
planet endures.'
"I must pay a tribute to the old abolitionists who have
passed before. Robert Pnrvise, Parker Pillsbury and all the
rest, but Elizabeth Herrick, a grand noble woman, was the
influence behind it all, when she made the utterance for imme-
diate emancipation. When he came to this country William
Lloyd Garrison brought with him a true, noble wife and
mother, and T believe that he could not have done the work
unless for her influence. And then there was the invalid
wife of Wendell Phillips, who read all anti-slavery literature
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. -j^Q3
and encouraged the great orator to go and speak for the op-
pressed. I think that Mr. Phillips' most magnificent speech
was made in Rochester when he stopped with John and
Mary Hallo well. I said to him:
" 'That's a great speech, Mr. Phillips.'
" 'Yes, but you must thank Ann for it.'
"And Ann was his faithful, loving wife, who encouraged,
helped, cheered him in his great fight for abolition.
"I remember well the first time I ever saw Douglass.
When I came home from school teaching. My father put
me in the buggy and carried me down to Alexander street to
see Douglass and his children, and through all the years after
the friendship was continued. Our happiest Sundays were
when Douglass and his family spent the day at our house.
We felt proud of those occasions. Douglass was a jolly fel-
low. He always brought that violin along.
"In our circle of friends we very often had those who visit-
ed us who were prejudiced. I didn't mean to persecute them
or make them unhappy, but I was mighty glad to introduce
Douglass to them. I am going to detain you to tell you one
experience.
"The son of my mother's brother was a real good, solid
Western New York Democrat. He had come out from the
city to spend his vacation at our beautiful little farm. He
didn't like our 'niggers.' One time when he was there
Douglass came. I invited him into the parlor to meet Doug-
lass.
He refused, but later consented to an introduction. He
began to ply his legal lore on Mr. Douglass and found him-
self wholly unable to cope with Frederick Douglass. Realiz-
ing this, he turned to Rosa Douglass, his daughter, and asked
her to play, and, unlike many white girls, she played without
dissent. She played another selection and finally my cousin
followed Rosa out to the table and nlaced a chair for her.
104 HISTORY OF THE
And before the evening was over that 'Lish,' that Democratic
ISTew York city lawyer, actually ran down and opened the
gate for Douglass to drive through when he started home.
Douglass overcame prejudice.
"I tell you the greatest thing that stands in the way of
advancement is prejudice. To negro men I say, don't imi-
tate white men. The women ought to be remembered, and
colored men should still stand by the women. Why the
white men propose to give the ballot even now to heathens
and leave Frederick Douglass' daughter under the heel of
prejudice.
MRS. IDA B. WELLS BARNETT.
One of the interesting addresses of the afternoon was that
by Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett, of Chicago, who is classed with
the leading female orators. Her life has been spent in advo-
cating the anti-lynching law. Mrs. Barnett said:
"I come as a pilgrim to a Mecca, a worshipper at the shrine
of one of the greatest men this country has produced. The
American nation owes Frederick Douglass a debt of grati-
tude because he helped her to cure herself of a radical evil.
It is not necessary to recount what he did for the United
States. We have come to know and love him because he es-
poused the cause of those who are victims of mob law. He
is not dead, his words live after him, and will be an inspira-
tion to us in the many problems which confront us."
The speaker referred to the work Douglass had done in
espousing the cause of the anti-lynch law, of woman's suf-
frage and against the "hydra-headed monster of prejudice,"
and said that the work that he did should be an inspiration
for the present generation to take up those questions with re-
newed energy, until perfect emancipation and freedom were
granted to all races and all sexes in the country.
"His Name Shall Live Forever," was rendered by a chorus
of forty voices. Mrs. R. Jerome Jeffrey, accompanist.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. " ^05
EX-MINISTER SMYTH'S EULOGY.
John H. Smyth, ex-minister to Liberia, and president of
the Reformatory Association, of Virginia, now a prominent
lawyer in the South, was to have delivered an extended ad-
dress, but it was late in the afternoon when the opportunity
was presented to him, and he confined his remarks to a few
brief words of tribute to the great freedman. Though he
spoke but a short time, Mr. Smyth showed that he was easily
one of the foremost orators of his race. By way of preface
he seconded heartily the suggestion of Miss Anthony that
the negro should not be an imitator of the white man. He
paid a high tribute to the women of the land, and stated that
it was doubtless through womanly influence that Douglass be-
came what he was. "It was due to the negro woman," he
said, "that we had a Frederick Douglass, or any other illustri-
ous negro in religion, politics or the field of battle.
"The man whose active, moral and intellectual agency aid-
ed in the destruction and extirpation from America of a
legalized infamy and degradation is no less a national bene-
factor than the martyr souls were human benefactors, wiio
went to God through Eome in its zenith, and the inquisiton in
protest against godlessness, heathenism and sin in the cause
of Christianity and its redemptive forces.
"It is ever of interest to have narrated the circumstances
connected with the birth and family of any great personage.
Alas ! for the negro in Christian lands — little that is anthem
tic that may be relied upon, can be said of such in this respect
who have lived so long as fifty years. Chronology in con-
nection with a nec;ro slave, had importance only with regard
to his ability to work. Genealogy, so far as blacks were con-
cerned, heretofore, was a matter of indifference. From our
emancipation and throughout all our future, chronology and
genealogy are to be factors in our life and history, which
under God, may be significant and important.
206 HISTORY OF THE
"Frederick Douglass' parentage and antecedents are
shrouded in mystery. It is not a surprising circumstance, as
all must realize, the result of human slavery in the United
States where he was horn.
"Through the warp and woof of his private and public life,
one purpose ran: Honesty, incorruptibility and loyalty to
the interests of his race. His uncompromising hatred of op-
pression and American prejudice distinguished him from
1838 to the end of an eventful, useful, effective and beautiful
life. His name will ever be 'great in tongues of wisest cen-
sure.' "
THE PRESENTATION.
( iharles P. Lee, a prominent attorney of Rochester, 1ST. Y.,
then made the presentation of the monument to the city. Re-
ferring to the noble work of the Monument Committee, Mr.
Lee said:
"The character of a country is often known by the class of
men it crowns. Monuments dedicated to heroes and patriots
disclose a nation's ideals and'reveal the growth and grandeur
of its civilization." Continuing, he said:
"This monument represents a great leader. God endowed
Douglass with all the qualities of exalted leadership, high
moral purpose, courage of conviction, great personal magnet-
ism, broad perceptive powers, iron will, matchless physical
endurance, restless industry, spotless integrity, commanding
and conspicuous figure, a leader by Divine right. Believing
the principles he defended and the cause he espoused were
true and righteous, he stood by them with unflinching fidel-
ity. This unwavering firmness made him strong in counsel,
steady in conflict, powerful with the people. Douglass was
a leader of fixed principles and unshaken integrity. He
would not sell the people's right for a seat in the Senate or
betray their confidence for a second-class appointment.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 207
"During the reconstruction period, Douglass devoted his
energies to the material advancement of the freedman and to
the graver conditions and circumstances growing out of
emancipation. His powerful appeals for justice — equality
before the law and absolute civil rights for his race — con-
tributed much toward the formation of that public sentiment
which gave a guaranteed citizenship. The trials and tri-
umphs of Douglass extended over all the thrilling period of
our national history.
He saw the flag of his country in dishonor — he lived to see
it restored in glory. He saw the constitution blotted by a
fugitive slave law— he lived to see it redeemed by the four-
teenth and fifteenth amendments. He saw slaves sold in the
public square — he lived to see them in the Senate of the
United States. He saw his race in political degradation — he
helped lift it to the heights of civil liberty and equality. He
saw his countrymen shut out from every avenue of trade, the
paths of polite industry and enjoyment — he died leaving
them possessed of every opportunity of elevation and ad-
vancement. All of this he saw and part of which he was.
In the economy of life Douglass filled many places, as editor
and author, diplomat and statesman, and in them all he ac-
quitted himself well.
"It repeats the story of the soldier and sailor, whose cour-
age in battle never faltered or failed, but with a heroism born
of inspiration, faced rebel ball and blade, for the Union, lib-
erty and law. On tented field and crested wave, where trea-
son trampled under foot the rights of man, and grim-visaged
rebellion besieged a nation's forts and firesides, they fought
and fell.
"Tt marks the majestic march of that public sentiment,
which, when the smoke of battle rolled away — in a spirit of
justice equal to the world's sublimest hope, stooped and took
108 HISTORY OF THE
the freedman by the hand, placed him in possession of polit-
ical rights, made him equal before the law, surrounded him
with great opportunities of advancement and elevation, in
the exalted duty and dignity of citizenship, bade him live and
labor for the grandeur of his country, the glory of his race
and God.
"This monument is a mute appeal to the Afro-American of
to-day. It implores us to show by our devotion to duty, our
love of truth, our zeal for knowledge and our acquisition of
wealth and prosperity, that we appreciate the advantages we
enjoy, that we are worthy of the liberty left us as a legacy
of love. It begs us to cultivate habits of virtue, temperance,
economy, industry and commercial activity, seeking ever that
righteousness which exalteth a nation, and by the nobility of
our lives, the purity of our characters and the material gran-
deur of our achievements, reach and realize the highest
privileges and possibilities of American civilization. It points
out to us the necessity of rising to the duty of the hour, of
realizing our part and place in the progress of the age, of
lending our effort and energy in defense of every measure
and movement beneficial to mankind, which marks the spirit
of the times, the triumphant march of the new republic.
"We know of no city more entitled to the honor of this
monument than Rochester. Douglass loved her with a de-
votion that was passing strange, and though separated from
her by ocean trips, or called away by public duty, he still
clung to her as his home. For nearly a quarter of a century
he was identified with her welfare, associated with her growth
and grandeur, and enjoyed her great generosity. It was
here that he toiled and triumphed and firmly laid the founda-
tion of that fame and fortune which cheered and comforted
his declining years. It was here he commanded and con-
trolled the thrilling conflict and tragic commotion of the anti-
slavery campaign. It was here he saw the light of liberty
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 109
break over the land of bondage. His life was closely inter-
woven with her own — and his mortal remains have found
lasting repose in her loving embrace.
"May she welcome this monument as a worthy contribution
to her Pantheon of glory, around which are clustered mem-
ories, that will inspire her youth for generations to come with
lofty hopes and heroism, and awaken in the hearts of her citi-
zens a high and holy admiration for the life and labor, name
and fame of this venerated apostle of liberty. In that silent
city of the dead — on the banks of the historic Genesee—
Douglass sleeps to-day — and the sun shines on no grander
spot than where his majestic form mingles with its mother-
earth — and where the lovers of liberty from every land shall
seme day come to weave a garland above his grave. Let none
of us approach that sacred shrine with feelings of resentment,
or come away to revive the flame of race animosity, but with
past trials forgotten, past wrongs forgiven, gather around
his tomb and recalling the cherished memories of his life and
invoking the sainted shades of his illustrious spirit, consecrate
ourselves anew to the Genus of Liberty— to the grandson of
free government. He lives, ever lives."
THE MAYOR'S ACCEPTANCE.
Mayor George E. Warner, in behalf of the city of Koch:
ester, accepted the monument, as follows:
"Eochester would prove herself unworthy of having been
the home of a great man if she would do nothing to perpet-
uate his memory. She has had many citizens, able in the
councils of the state and nation, alert in business, and of bril-
liant mind, but none as great as Frederick Douglass. He was
great on account of what he did for himself — because he
transformed himself from a piece of personal property on the
plantation of his master, contrary to the laws of the land and
the prejudices of the people, to a sage, the adviser of the
110
HISTORY OF THE
great ; and great on account of what he did for his people —
because he gave for their salvation the rarest endowments
of nature and the whole wealth of his mind accumulated
through years of the severest trials. He was the true self-
made man, for he could look back to the time when the laws
of the republic said he was not a man. He became a man
not with the aid of its beneficent laws, but in spite of its in-
human laws.
"The years he spent in our city were the ones in which the
greatest efforts of his life were put forth for his race. Here
he edited a newspaper for the publication of his views on
slavery. Between the hours of labor which he spent in this
enterprise, he traveled over the country lecturing. He also
held here a sort of central office for the "underground rail-
way." an institution for the humane purpose of conducting
slaves to Canada.. That he was well received by our people
he gives testimony in his autobiography. He notes that we
did not take the advice iof a Xew York paper and throw his
printing press into the lake. By financial contributions and
in other material ways he was assisted by our people in the
great work of his life.
'Tor twenty-five years he was a familiar figure on our
streets and in our public life. Our citizens learned to admire
and reverence him, and thousands gathered to hear his fre-
quent anti-slavery speeches. That he, too, had a tender feel-
ing for our city and people, appears from the following sen-
tence from his 'Life and Times:'
" 'I know of no place in the Union where I could have lo-
cated at the time with less resistance, or received a larger
measure of sympathy and co-operation, and I now look back
to my life and labors therewith unalloyed satisfaction, and
having spent a quarter of a century among its people. I shall
always feel more at home there than anywhere else in the
countrv.'
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. m
"Our city is proud for having sheltered him when other
cities would have refused him shelter. At his death she hon-
ored his remains and gave them a resting place at her door.
To-day her citizens honor his memory by erecting a beautiful
monument inscribed with his eloquent words.
"It is fitting that it should stand near a great portal of our
city where the thousands who enter may see that she is will-
ing to acknowledge to the world that her most illustrious cit-
izen was not a white man.
"As mayor of the city I accept this monument to a great
and good man. May it stand always to remind our people
of a life which should never be forgotten, and as an index
finger to a bright page in history."
Before the exercises were brought to a close, Miss Anthony
said that no public gathering could be complete without a
word from the venerable Dr. E. M. Moore, who occupied a
seat of honor on the platform. Dr. E. M. Moore spoke
briefly, saying that he was very glad to be present and thus
show his admiration and respect for a man who had at one
time been his fellow townsman and friend. Mrs. Jean
Brooks Greenleaf also made a few remarks in the same strain.
The afternoon's exercises were then brought to a close by the
singing of "America" by the audience, and a benediction by
the Bev. Alonzo Scott.
THE RECEPTION.
Probably no part of the programme was enjoyed by young
and old, foreigners and Bochesterians alike, more than the re-
ception and ball at Eitzhugh Hall in the evening. It was very
largely attended, though the guests wrere somewhat late in
arriving, it being fully 11 o'clock before the evening had
reached its zenith. It was well along towards the small
hours of morning before the ball was at an end. The music
was excellent, the floor was in fine condition and everything
H2 HISTORY OF THE
seemed propitious for a perfect evening's enjoyment, The
dancers were graceful in their movements as they responded
to the strains of harmony. The hall was handsomely decorat-
ed with flags of different nations, the Stars and Stripes, of
course, predominating. There were many handsome and
artistic costumes worn by the ladies, mostly of bright tints,
relieved by numerous white toilettes. Pink predominated,
but light blue, red and yellow made pretty contrasts, the en-
semble producing a brilliant scene. There were many hand-
some as well as stylishly gowned women present.
The Douglass party was in attendance as spectators, occu-
pying a place in the south balcony.
Taken as a whole the affair was a fitting finale to an event-
ful day in the history of Rochester. Many prominent white
citizens, both men and women, were present.
COL. NATHAN P. POND.
THE
NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Len,
CHAPTER XII.
THE DATE SELECTED, AND ARRANGEMENTS
COMPLETED.
The bronze statue arrived over the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road from Philadelphia, October 4, 1898. Weight 1,200
pounds; placed in position October 11th. October 12th had
been fixed for the unveiling. On October 9th Chairman
Thompson was taken dangerously ill which necessitated an-
other postponement. The Monument Committee at that
time was still in need of -$2,000 and had the monument been
unveiled at that time with that sum charged against the
committee, it would have been years before the same could
have been raised. This the chairman understood quite well
so he adopted the wise plan and waited until the next year
with the hope of having the Governor of the state fix the day,
and when that was done he knew the money would come
without much trouble. Up to that time he had received but
little encouragement from the members of his race. "When
the work was completed and after reading the sentiment on
the bronze tablets, Professor Booker T. Washington on a
visit to the city said : "This monument is grand and it is the
only thing we have."
As the news was flashed over the country that the unveil-
ing was again postponed there was some criticism from differ-
ent sections of the country by parties who did not under-
stand, but the most unjust of all appeared in the "Conserva-
tor," a paper edited by Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett, at Chi-
cago, which brought forth this able defense by Charles R.
Douglass, which was published in that paper, and duly ac-
knowledged :
114: HISTORY OF THE
609 F Street, K W.,
Washington, D. 0., Nov., 1898.
Editor, The Conservator:
My attention has been called to a most unjust criticism of
the "Douglass Monument" management contained in your
issue of October 20th instant. There is no truth in the state-
ment that the statue is not now in position, and was in posi-
tion two weeks prior to the issue of your paper of October
29th.
When Mr. John W. Thompson was putting forth his best
efforts to secure funds to erect a monument to the late -Fred-
erick Douglass, where were these critics that are now so
numerous — faultfinding because the monument was not un-
veiled as announced — not a nickle did they give.
Less than $500 came from the pockets of the 10,000,000
negroes in the United States. The little republic of Hayti,
numbering less than a million inhabitants, gave a thousand
dollars — more than was contributed by all the negroes in the
United States together. The balance of the $10,000 came
from white people.
Let Thompson alone. He has undertaken and accom-
plished more than has ever been accomplished before by any
negro. He has erected a monument to one of his race.
CHAS. R, DOUGLASS.
GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT NAMES THE DAY.
At the request of many prominent members of the G. A.
R. and other citizens, the committee was requested to fix a
day for unveiling, when there would be good weather, in
order that they could take part in the parade. J. W.
Thompson wrote Governor Roosevelt asking him to fix a
day for the unveiling, when he could be present, and request-
ed him to act with Senator Armstrong.
Mr. Thompson received the following:
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. H5
Albany, February 8, 1899.
My Dear Mr. Thompson: Replying to your letter of the
30th ultimo, in reference to the unveiling of the Douglass
monument, I will gladly come, but think I shall have to wait
until the Legislature adjourns. When the date for ad-
journment is fixed, will you write to me, and I will fix a date
for you. Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Following is the Governor's letter, and one from Senator
Armstrong to Chairman John W. Thompson of the Monu-
ment Committee:
Executive Chamber,
Albany, May 3, 1899.
Hon. W. W. Armstrong, Rochester, 2J5T. Y.:
My Dear Senator: Replying to yours of the 1st, would
say that I will make the date June 9th. The 7th of June I
have to spend at Columbia University.
Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Rochester, K Y., May 4, 1899.
John "W. Thompson, City:
My Dear Mr. Thompson : I have the pleasure of inclosing
you a communication from Governor Roosevelt, which I
know will be very pleasing to you. Please advise me if I can
be of any future service in the matter.
Yours truly,
W. W. ARMSTRONG.
This news was very pleasing to the chairman of the com-
mittee, as the citizens were getting impatient and tired of
seeing the canvas covered statue.
-Qg HISTORY OF THE
The chairman proceeded to make the arrangements for
the final event of June 9th. In order to get the Chamber of
Commerce interested, and assist in making the day one
of importance and dignity, as well as to secure the
$2,000 which was still due on the monument, he called
upon Mr. K. A. Sibley, president of the Chamber of Com-
merce, to entertain Governor Roosevelt on the occasion of his
visit to the city. While Mr. Sibley had the matter under
consideration it became known to many leading citizens that
such a request had been made, and the rumor came near
breaking up the parade. Prominent gentlemen called on
Chairman Thompson and made objections to the Governor
being taken to a private residence. One caller said indig-
nantly, that the Governor wanted to be among the people
and not carted off in a private carriage. Another said, "if
what I have just heard is true the G. A. R. won't turn out
and the school children will not march." He continued say-
ing, you had better have the Governor go right to the square
where the monument is to be unveiled, the people will come,
and don't have any parade. The chairman was perplexed,
and the outlook for a successful unveiling seemed dark.
Colonel James S. Graham, however, came to his rescue
from the unexpected troubles. After an interview with the
colonel, by appointment, Mr. Thompson met him in his office
at the Postoffice, the next morning, and walked over to the
office of Hon. W. W. Armstrong, where there was a con-
ference between the three. After the case had been stated
with all of its details, Senator Armstrong called these gen-
tlemen over the telephone to meet at the Rochester Whist
Club the same afternoon at 4 o'clock: Colonel N. P. Pond,
Hon. A. E. Sutherland, Hon. George A. Benton, Charles H.
Bastable. They were met by Hon. W. W. Armstrong,
Colonel J. S. Graham, Hon. John Van Voorhis and John W.
Thompson. The conference lasted two hours and a half.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. H7
Mr. Bastable acted as secretary, and was instructed to send
invitations to five hundred citizens to meet in the Supervis-
ors' rooms, Monday, June 4th, to make arrangements for the
Governor's reception and raise the balance due on the mon-
ument. It was decided further that Hon. George A. Ben-
ton should be the chairman of the meeting of citizens, and
Charles U. Bastable, secretary.
At the citizens' meeting, June 4th, Judge George A. Ben-
ton was unanimously elected chairman, Mr. James Fee, treas-
urer and Mr. Bastable, secretary. Judge Benton was au-
thorized to appoint an executive committee of ten. It
proved to be a hard task to perform satisfactory just at that
time, as the political pot had just began to boil fiercely. The
primaries were not to be held until September. Mr. Dewitt
C. Becker, of Perinton had announced himself a candidate
for the office of County Treasurer and was the choice of the
Republican organization, backed by Hon. George W. Ald-
ridge. Hon. J. B. Hamilton was also a candidate for the
same position and supported by all of the anti-organization
people, and many others. In appointing this committee it
was extremely hard for the Judge, while he wished to ap-
point only those who would act, and make the committee
work a success, he was accused of favoring the Aldridge fac-
tion of the Republican party, but such accusation was not
well founded. He desired men on this important committee
for something else other than honor. Of course all who
wanted the honor could not be appointed, but those selected
gave general satisfaction to the public, and at 11 o'clock
June 9th we had money enough raised to pay all of the ex-
penses of the Governor's reception and the balance due on
the monument.
Hon. H. S. Greenleaf was the first treasurer appointed.
He served nearly two years, but finally had to retire on ac-
count of illness. This caused much regret in the committee
llg HISTORY OF THE
and it was the opinion of many that his place could not be
filled. Mr. Greenleaf was a great admirer of Mr. Douglass
and was the first citizen to pledge $100 to the fund. After
some time the vacancy was filled by the appointment of Hon.
George A. Benton, as treasurer. The Judge accepted the
position and discharged its duties faithfully, being at all
times ready to confer with the chairman, and giving valuable
advice, never faltering. Judge Benton served Monroe coun-
ty six years as district attorney, and is now Surrogate of
Monroe county, N. Y. He is an able lawyer, and one of
the most prominent citizens of Rochester. The comple-
tion of the monument and its successful unveiling made
Treasurer Benton one of the happiest men in the city, espe-
cially so when he could make out the check for the last
$2,500 then due on the Douglass monument. When this
was accomplished it was truly a great relief to all, notwith-
standing the fact that the sum needed was collected in a
much shorter time than is usual in the case of erecting monu-
ments by popular contributions. When all things are con-
sidered, the accomplishment of the work in less than four
years was indeed remarkable.
PROCLAMATION BY THE MAYOR.
Mayor's Office, June 7, 1899.
On Friday next will occur the ceremony of unveiling the
monument erected by our citizens to Frederick Douglass.
Rochester may well cherish the memory of her great cit-
izen. His figure stands outlined on the pages of history as
one of the few great emancipators. No race or country can
claim him exclusively. He was the champion of man. He
fought, not in the forum or legislative hall, but before the
tribunal of public opinion. No people chose him for their
representative. His ideas of right and liberty were not lim-
ited by artificial lines. His was the spirit of true democracv.
His career is
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
119
Let us point hirn out to the youth, of the land as one of the
type of men who make offices and officers, political parties
and governments. Let us point to the position he held as
the highest that may be attained by a free citizen. This we
may do by honoring his memory.
Much preparation has been made for the exercises to be
held on Friday, and there can be no doubt but that the people
will heartily co-operate. It gives me pleasure to be able to
announce that his excellency, Governor Roosevelt, has con-
sented to come here and deliver an address.
Therefore, I would respectfully request that on that day,
after 12 o'clock noon, in order to fittingly celebrate the
event, business will be suspended as much as possible, and
that all the people assist in honoring the memory of our dis-
tinguished fellow citizen and join in showing respect to our
distinguished visitor.
I would also request that the same order and good judg-
ment be exercised by the spectators along the line of march
then that contributed to the enjoyment of all on a similar oc-
casion a short time ago.
GEORGE E. WARNER,
Mayor.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE UNVEILING CEREMONIES AT DOUGLASS
PABK
To live — that freedom, truth, and life
Might never know eclipse —
To die, with woman's work and works
Aglow upon his lips —
To face the foes of human kind
Through years of wounds and scars —
It is enough; lead on — to find
Thy place and the stars.
MRS. CRITTENDEN.
February 20, 1895.
With the laurel wreath of fame, Rochester, June 9th,
crowned the memory of the great orator, statesman and
apostle of enfranchisement — Frederick Douglass, her adopt-
ed son. Amid elaborate and impressive ceremonies, in the
presence of a mighty throng, honored by the presence of the
chief executive of the state, the shroud was lifted from the
bronze shaft cast to the image of the great apostle of liberty.
Eulogy of his life principle, his noble characteristics and his
supernatural efforts to uplift his race which groveled in the
mire of ignorance, was spoken in glowing terms of eloquence.
Judged not from the heights he had attained but from the
depths out of which he had risen, the citizens of Rochester
paid homage to the memory of the dead statesman in fitting
manner.
Beneath a sunless sky, hidden by clouds, the commemora-
tive and dedicatory exercises were conducted. Color was lent
to the general ensemble, for citizens had decorated their
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
121
buildings in flags, buntings and rosettes of Stars and Stripes.
Old Glory floated from all the public buildings, schools and
many residences. The proclamation of the mayor caused
many factories and business houses to close at noon and the
laborers augmented the throng.
Things so shaped themselves that there were four distinct
features of the occasion. Chiefly the memorial exercises
stood out in bold relief, then there was the big parade.
Aside from these was the presence of Governor Theodore
Roosevelt of New York state and lieutenant colonel of the
Rough Riders. Lastly came the receptions to and by him.
Three aides designated by Grand Marshal N". P. Pond, Hon.
A. J. Rodenbeck, Charles Van Voorhis and William H. Dris-
coll; left the city at 9:05 o'clock in the forenoon, bound for
Syracuse, to act as an escort of the Governor to the city.
They met the distinguished party about 1 o'clock and board-
ed the Empire State Express, where they were warmly greet-
ed by the Governor.
The fast train from Albany arrived two minutes ahead of
time, just as though the engineer appreciated the impatience
of the people and wanted to show his appreciation of the oc-
casion.
At 2:18 o'clock Governor Theodore Roosevelt stepped
from the parlor car Tioga with the aides, Bishop A. Walters,
Rev. James E. Mason and Rev. J. J. Adams. They were
warmly greeted by Senator W. W. Armstrong, L. P. Ross,
Edward Brown and Mr. Mitchell of the reception committee.
The Governor was dressed in a dark gray suit and wore a
light colored soft hat. After a few moment's consultation the
party moved through the trainhouse amid the deafening
cheers of the people assembled, to a carriage at the station
entrance, drawn by four magnificent iron gray horses,
and they were quickly driven direct to the reviewing stand in
front of the Court House. Along the way the Governor wa3
222 HISTORY OF THE
given a continual ovation. Upon his arrival at the stand he
was met by the executive committee, composed of Charles J.
Brown, Hon. W. W. Armstrong, Mayor George E. Warner,
James Fee, Charles U. Bastable, Charles H. Babcock, Valen-
tine Fleckenstein, Hon. George W. Aldridge, Colonel James
S. Graham and E. N. Walbridge. Seated on the platform
were: Mayor George E. Warner, Presiding Justice Hardin
and Associate Justices Spring, Nash and McLennan of the
Appellate "Division, Justices W. E. Werner and John M.
Davy of the Supreme Court, County Judge A. E. Sutherland,
Hon. W. A. Sutherland, Commissioners Knebel, Whalen and
Johnston of the executive board, Judge Adams, Bishop A.
Walters, Bev. J. E. Mason, John W. Thompson, Senator His-
cock, of Syracuse, Judge Haight, L. P. Boss, Alderman Cali-
han, Hon. C. L. Baker, George C. Treadwell, military secre-
tary to the Governor, Lewis H. Douglass, Mrs. Rosetta D.
Sprague, Charles B. Douglass, and Mrs. Helen Douglass,
widow of Frederick Douglass; Bev. M. Carruthers, Bosa
Sprague, granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, Mrs. Sarah
Blackall, Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell and Miss G. Page.
In addition to the above the following were invited to
seats on the grand stand at the monument:
L. P. Boss, Francis B. Mitchell, Edward S. Brown, A. G.
Yates, George Eastman, T. J. Nicholl, Walter B. Duffy, J.
L. Judson, George A. Benton, Hon. John M. Dunwell, Hon.
William E. Werner, Hon. John M. Davy, Hon A. E. Suther-
land, Hon. J. M. E. O'Grady, Hon. George A. Carnahan, Dr.
E. M. Moore, John M. Ives, B. A. Sibley, George Ellwanger,
C. B. Woodworth, Frank Fritzsche, George B. Watkins, Max
Lowenthal, Louis Greisheimer, L. M. Moore, J. Miller Kelly,
Oscar Knebel, Milton Noyes, William H. Tracy, Arthur
Luetchford, William R. Peters, T. J. Swanton, E. A. Kalb-
fieisch, S. B. Williams, Albrecht Vogt, Horace McGuire,
Joseph T. Ailing, George H. Perkins, J. P. Henry, T. Bick-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 123
ford, P. H. Yawman, J. L. Whalen, Grift' D. Palmer, L. L.
Williams, James Johnston, Frank Stecher, Nathaniel Foote,
James Palmer, John U. Schroth, A. J. Reibling, Dr. Ogden
Backus, Dr. E. B. Angell, A. T. Hagen, M. B. Schantz, B. B.
Odell, Granger A. Hollister, L. A. Jeffries, William H.
Jones, J. F. Wilber, George A. Redmond, George Roth,
Charles T. Chapin, William Beard, H. F. Remington, George
W. Archer, Hon. H. C. Brewster, Rev. J. W. A. Stewart,
Rev. Thomas A. Hendriek, Frank J. Defendorf, E. M. Up-
ton, W. W. Parce, J. H. Snow, H. F. Atwood, E. S. Etten-
heimer, F. G. Beach, G. E. McGonegal, C. C. Meyer, F. A.
Defendorf, Fairport; Carl F. Lomb, Charles Smith, R. M.
Myers, G. B. Miller, James H. Boucher, John Connell, S. A.
Servis, Henry Hebing, H. B. Hathaway, Lyman M. Otis,
Anson C. Allen, Sol Wile, Rev. F. Defendorf, Hon. John
Van Voorhis, George Everest, Captain H. T. Lomb, C. M.
Everest, H. W. Sibley, T. B. Dunn, James R. Davy, Dr. J.
M. Lee, J. G. Kalber, A. B. Hendrix, William Bartholomay,
Matthias Kondolf, Selden S. Brown, William Eastwood, John
Fahy, Hon. Charles S. Baker, Rev. C. A. Barbour, Hon. A.
J. Rodenbeck, Scott K Newcomb, W. M. Jones, W. M. Mal-
lett, Willis K. Gillette, Dr. T. F. O'Hare, Charles L. Hunt,
G. H. Kingsbury, Brockport-; Hon. B. F. Gleason, Brockport;
Hon. John W. Hannan, Chris Merlau, Fred R. Hixson,
Clarkson; George G. Mason, Webster; George Weldon,
Louis Ernst, A. Greenberg, Bernard Dunn, M. M. Meyer, B.
K Jacobson, F. T. Church, James Gillis, Thomas Doud,
John Owens, Brockport: James H. Redman, William C.
Barry, Thomas Devine, A. M. Lindsay, V. T. Whitmore,
Captain E. C. Parkinson, Fred Will, F. A. Brownell, Samuel
Wilder, Samuel Sloan, E. K Curtice, F. P. Allen, Hon.
Merton E. Lewis, D. C. Becker, William H. Driscoll, H. B.
Graves, Hon. J. Breck Perkins, Charles E. Angle, Julius M.
Wile, John B. Hamilton, Colonel H. S. Greenleaf, George
124 HISTORY OF THE
W. Percy, S. R. Mott, jr., Dr. C. R. Sumner, Josepli
Michaels, L. G. Wetmore, Levi Hey, George W. Thayer,
Frank Ritter, James D. Casey, Hon. George A. Hardin,
Hon. William H, Adams, Hon. Peter B. McLennan, Hon.
Alfred Spring, Hon. Edwin A. Nash, Hiram Shaw, John M.
Steele, W. A. Williamson, John A. P. Walter, Dr. A. R.
Gumberts, Hon. M. J. Calihan, Dr. D. H. Waugh, Dr. James
Buckley, John M. Louden, Albert Hondorf, David R. Sin-
gleton, E. A. Cross, Adam N. Finucane, Charles H. Sage,
Henry F. Marks, Henry L. White, Ansel E. Wright, Web-
ster; John R. Bourne, Frank G. Newell, George J. Wunder,
Frank Wilber, Joseph Keller, Edward Englehardt, John
Barnett, John M. Cashman, Dr. Wooden, Martin F. Bristol,
Frederick Michel, William Gleason, Daniel Leary, 0. B.
Webber, Herman A. Howard, Dr. Leroy Webber, John
Mitchell, Dr. B. I. Preston, Rev. J. P. Kiernan, F. L.
Dutcher, Dr. T. O. Tait, Edward Shaffer, James W. Clark,
William Thompson, Edward F. Wellington, Henry J.
Thompson, James Briggs, Edward F. Ellsworth, William J.
Quinlan, Joseph M. Schlesinger, Edgar Parkman, Charles L.
Yates, George J. Knapp, George W. Clark, Henry Oberlies,
George H. Smith, John E. Howard, Michael J. Ragan,
George M. Schwartz, Henry Bareham, Christian H. Tron-
son, William J. Schmitt, A. Emerson Babcock, Arthur A.
Sickles, Albert J. Gallup, Alphonso Collins, Edward E. Fris-
bee, James H. Redman, Marshall Todd, Rudolph Dubelbeiss,
George Webster, Oscar E. Nichols, Albert P. Beebe, Joseph
Hubbard Gaston, Dewitt C. Becker, Charles G. Schoen,
James L. Sackett, Joseph H. Sherman, John Sutphin, Frank
F. Jones, Philip Garbutt.
Along the line of march, which was South Washington to
Main, to State, to Central avenue, countermarch to Main, to
Franklin street and to the monument, throngs lined each side
of the street. Superintendent of Streets, Barnard, had roped
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 125
oft' the streets and perfect order resulted. From every point
one could see the marching companies without any obstruc-
tion breaking the evenness.
Thousands viewed the marching bodies from the front win-
dows of the tall buildings or from wagons drawn up at the
street crossings. Expressions of admiration were heard on
all sides, and it seemed to be the consensus of opinion that
the parade was the prettiest that Rochester has ever had.
The most imposing scene of the day was around the spot
where stood the bronze figure of Frederick Douglass, stand-
ing erect and portraying the colored statesman in his favorite
and most effective pose. Here, and occupying every inch of
the street and every foot of the grounds of the New York
Central station, were gathered thousands upon thousands of
citizens. Tn front of the large wholesale house of Garson &
Meyer, where the stand for the speakers was erected, the
crowd jammed and pushed, leaving scarcely room enough for
the parade to move when it reached the scene of the unveil-
ing, while from a hundred windows of that and adjoining
buildings, more people hung out in enthusiastic eagerness to
view the scene and hear the exercises. Upon the roof of the
Central station, and from a train of passenger cars drawn up
on the west end, spectators found room to stand or sit and
cheer. From the roofs of the other buildings men with
rifles fired volley upon volley of salutes as section after sec-
tion of the parade passed by the monument in line.
The spectators and distinguished citizens in the stand
looked down upon a sea of faces, presenting a scene of bright-
ness with summer gowns and gaudy ribbons fluttering in
the fresh breeze. There was a crush and jam, a pulling- and
tugging to obtain best positions, and the police found their
efforts useless to keep the crowd within the limits prescribed
by the ropes. It was not a disorderly crowd, but an animat-
ed one, and fed by the streams of people filing in from all
126
HISTORY OF THE
portions of the city, it grew to immense proportions. Prob-
ably 10,000 people saw the bronze statue of Frederick Doug-
lass revealed as the folds of the Stars and Stripes were drawn
aside.
THE ORDER OF PARADE.
Following was the order of parade:
Platoon of police, Captain McDerniott commanding, as-
sisted by Lieutenants Schwartz, Zimmerman, Sherman,
Eyan, Puss and Stetson.
Colonel K P. Pond, grand marshal, and aides: H. S.
Kedman, personal aide; Joseph P. Cleary, Maurice Leyden,
W. G. Kicker, E. W. Merrill, S. McAuliffe, Kobert Patter-
son, William Shelmire, Henry Ansell, B. F. Franklin,
George A. Benton, George S. Burke, J. A. P. Walter, James
Douglass, George Cripps, James R Chamberlain, F. D.
Mathews, Berry Jackson, Thomas Sprague, Walter Jones,
Thomas E. Shaw, Louis Wilson, Louis Sprague, C. V. Lodge,
George W. Thomas, 1ST. Huntington, John Galen, Frank Ells
worth, William A. Mblack, William Driscoll, W. Martin
Jones, Henry J. Simmelink, William S. Beard, C. L. Yates,
John Ashton, Francis S. Macomber, William K Cogswell,
Herbert Ward, W. H. McMath, Charles P. Lee, B. F. Glea-
son, H. C. Brewster, Ira J. Wile, Frank Fritzsche, Ogden
Backus, F. A. Brownell, J. P. Henry, T. B. Dunn, Percival
Oviatt, Frank Wurtz, Jacob Spahn, Charles L. Hunt, J.
Frank Wilber; Ernest Miller, bugler.
The various divisions of the parade followed as given be-
low:
FIRST DIVISION.
Commanded by Colonel James S. Graham, assited by the
following staff: Arthur Luetchford, Horace McGuire,
Thomas W. Ford, James Plunkett, C. C. Brownell, Dr. B. I.
Preston, Julius Armbruster, Fred P. Stallman, George J.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^27
Oaks, George Weldon, William Richards, Porter Farley,
James E. Chamberlain, W. K. Barlow, C. F. Wilson, Chris
Heilbronn, Ed. B. Chapin, Dr. Richard Curran, Thomas
Burchill, James Gosnell, James F. O'Neil, Milton Race, Ben-
jamin Jackson, J. J. Augustine, Alfred Elwood, James H.
Splaine, John Parks, Arthur S. Bostwick, John P. Hammill,
Selden Page, W. M. Kenyon, William Sheldon, Maurice
Leyden. James Douglass, Henry Norden, Anthony Wolters,
Fred Bach, W. R. Foster.
Fifty-fourth Regiment Band.
Eighth Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y., Captain Hen-
derson in command; 90 men.
First Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y., Captain Smith in
command; 104 men.
Naval Reserves, Lieutenant Walbridge in command; 75
men.
Walsh's Brigade Band.
Survivors of the Old Thirteenth Regiment, Colonel Frank
Schoeffel commanding; 30 men.
O'Rorke Post, No. 1, G. A. R. ; 80 men.
Peissner Post, No. 106, G. A. R,; 50 men.
George H. Thomas Post, No. 4, G. A. R. ; 50 men.
C. J. Powers Post, No. 391, G. A. R.; 60 men.
E. G. Marshall Post, No. 397, G. A. R,; 45 men.
T. F. Quinby Post, No. 640, G. A. R.; 35 men.
Myron Adams Post, No. 84, G. A. R.; 40 men in carriages.
Regular Army and Navy Union Veterans; 25 men.
Veterans of the Spanish War, comprising members of the
Seventh Battery and 202d Regiment. Captain William
Scanlan; 40 men.
Sons of Veterans' Martial Band; 30 pieces.
C. A. Glidden Camp, No. 6, S. O. V.; 60 men.
O'Rorke Camp, No. 60, S. O. V.; 50 men.
T. F. Quinby Camp, No. 13, S. O. V. ; 40 men.
128
HISTORY OF THE
J. P. Cleary Camp, S. O. V.; 60 men.
Beynolds Battery, Captain Gilbert Reynolds; 25 men.
Independent Martial Band of 20 pieces.
SECOND DIVISION.
Colonel S. C. Pierce, commanding.
First Battalion.
Principal Julius L. Townsend, commanding, headed by
Minges' Band of 25 pieces.
Xo. 3 School, 55 boys. Captain Stephen Lyons, First
Lieutenant Sidney Todd, Second Lieutenant Bay Simmons.
Xo. 4 School, 60 boys. Captain Clarence Bobinson, First
Lieutenant Sidney Todd, Second Lieutenant William Gor-
man.
Xo. 6 School, 60 boys. Captain William Johnson, First
Lieutenant Hawley Handy, Second Lieutenant William
Walker.
Xo. 10 School, 46 boys. Captain David Landau, First
Lieutenant Harry Simmons, Second Lieutenant Edward
Stahlbrodt.
Xo. 11 School, 30 boys. Captain Charles U. Bastable, jr.,
First Lieutenant Arthur Lowenthal, Second Lieutenant
Balph Clarke.
Xo. 1 2 School, 48 boys. Captain Lucius Irons, First Lieu-
tenant George Clark, Second Lieutenant Boy Qualtrough.
Xo. 14 School, 60 boys. Captain Clair Saile, First Lieu-
tenant Xorman Davis, Second Lieutenant Fred Meyer.
Xo. 17 School, 44 boys. Captain E. J. Wright, First
Lieutenant James Covill.
Xo. 18 School, 55 boys. Captain F. Herdle. First Lieu-
tenant E. H. Burns, Second Lieutenant E. W. Locks.
Xo. 19 School, 40 boys. Captain Ola Tefff, First Lieu-
tenant Forbes Ridley, Second Lientenant George Try.
HON. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
THE
NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY'
Astor, Leno>
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 129
JSfo. 20 School, 60 boys. Captain George Kogler, First
Lieutenant James Hotchkiss, Second Lieutenant Warren
Smith.
No. 15 School, SO boys. Captain Ronald Lehman, First
Lieutenant Carlyle Hattleman, Second Lieutenant William
Hall.
Xo. 23 School, 26 boys. Captain William Barrows, First
Lieutenant Edward Sickle, Second Lieutenant Glen Page.
Xo. 24 School, 42 boys. Captain John Mosher, First
Lieutenant Harry Gordon, Second Lieutenant John Parks.
Xo. 30 School, 25 boys. Captain Burton Harness, First
Lieutenant George Cannon.
No. 31 School, 32 boys. Captain C. Piatt, First Lieuten-
ant W. Horr, Second Lieutenant W. Clark.
Second Battalion.
Principal Richard R. Searing, commanding.
Xos. 7 and 34 Schools, 110 boys. Major J. H. Patricks;
Captains Walter McCauley and Harry Johns.
Xo. 1 School, 30 boys. Captain James Mungovan.
No. 13 School, 36 boys. Captain Milton Ingalls, First
Lieutenant Alonzo Murray.
Xo. 21 School, 32 boys. Captain Albert Boyce, First
Lieutenant Fred Macherlein, Second Lieutenant Earl Ken-
gal.
Xo. 22 School, 56 boys. Captain Fred Van Grafeiland,
First Lieutenant Charles Kingsley, Second Lieutenant
George Eberwein.
Xo. 25 School, 24 boys. Captain Frank Demmer, First
Lieutenant Sidney Hall.
Xo. 27 School, 36 boys. Captain John Harris, First Lieu-
tenant Gustave Swader.
Xo. 28 School, 40 boys. Captain Albert Wilson, First
Lieutenant Henry Freisch, Second Lieutenant Walter Smith.
130
HISTORY OF THE
No. 29 School, 80 boys. Captain Kalph Head, First Lieu-
tenant Harry Brightman, Second Lieutenant Alexander
Stewart.
No. 5 School, 42 boys. Captain William Crowley, First
Lieutenant W. Torkinton.
No. 32 School, 42 boys. Captain George Pierce, First
Lieutenant Floyd Brown, Second Lieutenant Albert Sutter.
No. 33 School, 36 boys. Captain Oscar Gulick, First
Lieutenant William Brown, Second Lieutenant Harry Glen.
No. 26 School, 150 boys. Captain John Horn, First Lieu-
tenant William Bracket!, Second Lieutenant Harlon Ray-
THIRD DIVISION.
Third division, under command of Colonel John J. Pow-
ers, with the following staff: Jefferson Young, L. C. Piper,
John Zellweger, George W. Powers, A. H. Babcock, William
A. Niblack, E. W. Budd, Fred Freund, A. S. Angel, Charles
U. Bastable, J. M. Wheeler, William S. Beard, William
Barr, W. W. Barnard, Joseph Weinberg, John J. Moynihan,
C. G. Galliger, F. B. Pierce, Henry Loewer, Dr. M. F.
Rutherford, William Boyd, E. H. Damon, C. L. Ball, F. W.
Sangster, P. A. White, E. G. Hartel.
Hebing's Band.
Anson Division, TL R. Knights of Pythias, Captain Stie-
fel; 40 men.
Imperial Division Knights of the Maccabees, No. 1, Cap-
tain D. J. Coakley; 40 men.
Knights of Calvin, Captain George Schmitt; 40 men.
Knights of Malta, Captain F. B. Pierce; 47 men.
City Newsboys, under command of Captain Isaac Lazarus,
75 men in uniform.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 131
FOURTH DIVISION.
The fourth division consisted of the State Industrial
School hoys, headed by the following members of the board
of managers in a tally-ho: Dr. G. G. Carroll, Captain
Henry Lomb, Mrs. F. H. Kuichling, Judge Thomas Raines,
Dr. G. W. Goler, Charles Van Voorhis, Miss Lura E. Ald-
ridge, Dr. C. H. Losey.
Colonel E. P. Kelly and Lieutenant Colonel A. I. Howard,
regimental adjutant; Eugene Johnsberger, trumpeter.
First Battalion — James Robertson, commanding; 25 men.
Second Battalion — L. A. Reilly, commanding; 200 men.
Third Battalion — Thomas Murphy, commanding; 200
men.
State Industrial School Band.
FIFTH DIVISION.
Fifth division under command of Major F. S. Cunning-
ham, with the following staff: Jack Alexander, Scottsville;
Thomas Sprague, Walter Jones, John Mines, James Holland,
John Dinkle, Scottsville; Frank Simms, Scottsville; Frank
Whiting. Buffalo: Thomas Payne, Buffalo; John Spears.
Lake View Band, 20 pieces.
City Cadets, under command of Captain Chatfield, 50 men.
Douglass Club, under command of Captain Henry Wil-
liams, 150 men.
Citizens in tally-hos and carriages.
Douglass Club and band of Albion, !N\ Y. ; 25 men.
SIXTH DD7ISION.
James W. Casey, commanding.
Ono hundred citizens and ladies in carriages.
Superintendent of Streets W. W. Barnard roped the
streets along the line of march and requested all persons to
keep on the walk.
132
HISTORY OF THE
Additional general orders for the parade were issued as
follows :
O'Rorke Camp, No. 60, S. 0. V.
The officers and members of O'Rorke Camp, No. 60, S.
O. V., are hereby ordered to report at the camp rooms, Citv
Building, Front street, Friday, June 9th, at 1 o'clock, P. M.,
promptly, for the purpose of participating in the parade in
honor of the unveiling of the Frederick Douglass monument,
Members will report in regular street uniform and white
gloves.
By order of G. E. SNYDER,
Captain.
GEORGE M. FLEMING, First Sergeant.
Headquarters Third Division Douglass Day Parade,
Rochester, K Y., June 7, 1899.
Having been elected commander of the civic organizations
in the city, and by order from the chief marshal, the same
will comprise the third division. And in assuming command,
will request that all uniformed companies or detachments
participating will form promptly at 1:30 o'clock on Clinton
street, between Main and Court, right resting on Court. All
lodges and organizations appearing for parade, not in uni-
form, will form on the left of the uniformed companies.
Twelve or more members appearing for parade from any
lodge will be given a place in line. From place of formation
of line the division will proceed at 1 :45 o'clock sharp through
Court, Exchange and Troup streets to place of formation on
Plymouth avenue, with the main line, for parade. As this
is to be a secret society division, it is hoped all will be out
with full ranks and on time.
The following aides are hereby appointed and will be
obeyed and respected accordingly: Jefferson Young, L. C.
Piper, John Zellweger, George W. Powers, A. H. Babcock,
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. I33
E. W. Budd, Fred Freund, A. S. Angell, Charles U. Bas-
table, J. M. Wheeler, William S. Beard, William Barr, W.
W. Barnard, Joseph Weinberg, John J. Moynihan, C. D.
Galliger, F. B. Pierce, Henry Loewer, Dr. M. E. Rutherford,
William Boyd, E. H. Damon, C. L. Ball, F. W. Sangster, P.
A. White, E. G. Hartel.
They will report for duty mounted and in uniform of the
organization of which they are a member (if possible), at 1
o'clock P. M., to chief of staff, corner of Clinton and Court
streets. JOHN J. POWERS,
Commanding Third Division.
E. K. WORRALL, Chief of Staff,
Headquarters Gerard Commandery, No. 254,
Knights of Malta.
Sir Knights: Yon are hereby ordered to assemble at
Commandery Hall, South Clinton street, Friday, at 1:30
o'clock P. M.j sharp, in full uniform, to take part in parade
and reception of Governor Roosevelt.
By order, F. B. PIERCE,
Commanding.
E. K. WORRALL, Recorder.
Headquarters Anson Company, No. 16,
Uniformed Rank, K. of P.
Rochester, N. Y., June 7, 1899.
The officers and members of this command are hereby or-
dered to appear at their armory in full uniform for parade
and reception of Governor Roosevelt, Friday, June 9, 1899,
at 1 o'clock sharp.
By order, JOHN J. POWERS,
Captain Commanding.
C. L. HOFFERBERT, Recorder.
134 HISTORY OF THE
General Order No. 3 :
The officers and members of Charles J. Powers Post will
meet at their rooms, at Odd Fellows' Building, North Clin-
ton, near East Main street, at 1 o'clock P. M., Friday, 9th
instant, to participate in the celebration attending the un-
veiling of the Douglass monument and the reception of the
Goveror of the State of New York. All veterans not con-
nected with participating organizations are invited to join the
command. SHERMAN D. RICHARDSON,
G. A. NICHOLETT, Adjutant. Commander.
Commander Graham issued the following order:
Headquarters First Division
Douglass Monument Parade,
General Order No. 1: June 7, 1899.
Having been assigned to command the first division of the
parade at the unveiling of the Douglass monument, all vet-
erans of the Civil and Spanish wars and Sons of Veterans are
cordially invited to parade in honor of an occasion proving
that in this republic the lowliest may rise to a high place in
the hearts of his countrymen, and also to give fitting welcome
to the Governor of our Empire State, and as an expression of
our esteem for him as a citizen soldier.
The several organizations will form promptly at 1:45
P. M., Friday, the 9th instant, on Spring street, facing west,
the right resting on South Washington street as follows:
Escorting the veteran division, the Eighth Separate Com-
pany, N. G. S. N. Y.; First Separate Company, N. G. S.
N. Y.; Naval Reserves, S. N. Y.; O'Rorke Post, No. 1, G.
A. R.; Peissner Post, No. 106, G. A. R.; George H. Thomas
Post, No. 4, G. A. R.; C. J. Powers Post, No. 391, G. A. R.;
E. G. Marshall Post, No. 397, G. A. R.; Myron Adams Post,
No. 84, G. A. R.; I. F. Quinby Post, No. 409, G. A. R.; vet-
erans of the Spanish war, Sons of Veterans.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^35
Other veteran commands and unattached members wishing
to parade, on application will be assigned places in the line.
The following aides are hereby appointed and will be
obeyed and respected accordingly:
Thomas C. Hodgson, special aide; Arthur Luetchford,
James Gosnell, Horace McGuire, James F. O'Neil, Thomas
W. Ford, Milton Race, James Plunkett, Benjamin Jackson,
C. C. Brownell, J. J. Augustine, D. B. I. Preston, Alfred El-
wood, Julius Armbruster, James H. Splaine, Fred P. Stall-
man, John Parks, George J. Oaks, Arthur S. Bostwick,
George Weldon, John P. Hammill, William Richards, Selden
Page, Porter Farley, W. M. Kenyon, James R. Chamberlain,
William Sheldon, W. K. Balon, Maurice Leyden, 0. F. Wil-
son, James Douglass, Chris Heilbron, Henry Norden, Ed-
ward B. Chapin, Anthony Wolters, Dr. Richard Curran,
Fred Bach, Thomas Burchill, W. R. Foster.
They will report mounted, wearing the uniform of their
organizations, or in dark clothes, to Thomas C. Hodgson, spe-
cial aide, at the corner of Spring street and Plymouth ave-
nue, at 1:45 P. M.
The attention of the commanders of organizations is called
to general order No. 1, by Colonel N. P. Pond, chief mar-
shal, published in the journals of the 7th instant.
By command, J. S. GRAHAM,
Marshal First Division.
Official:
THOMAS C. HODGSON, Special Aide.
Headquarters Monroe County
Spanish-American War Association.
Special Order No. 2 :
All members of this association are requested to assemble
at the New York State Armory at 1:30 P. M., June 9, 1899,
136 HISTORY OF THE
to participate in the parade and ceremony of unveiling the
Douglass monument. All regulars and volunteers residing
in this county, who enlisted for the Spanish-American war
are respectfully invited to join with us, wearing fatigue uni-
form and campaign hat.
By order of F. J. HESS,
Senior Vice-Commander.
COMMENCING OF THE EXERCISES.
It was but a few minutes after 3 o'clock when Governor
Eoosevelt was driven up Central avenue, and entered the
building of Garson, Meyer & Company, in front of which the
stand had been erected. Five minutes later the advance
guard of the procession, headed by Marshal N". P. Pond and
staff, swung into the square from Franklin street, and made
an attempt to lead the marching column in front of the stand.
For a time pandemonium reigned, as the square was jammed
with people, who had to move, and move quickly, to escape
the iron of the horses' feet. The policemen got out their
clubs and Colonel Graham issued his orders at the top of his
voice, but the swaying mass of humanity soon pushed itself
up against another solid mass of humanity in the rear, and
the horsemen were forced to halt, until the jammed mass
could be relieved from its outer edges.
As soon as the pavement in front of the stand had been
cleared to a small extent, the various companies were
marched in front, a portion of them countermarching, and re:
turning up St. Paul street, and others continuing to Central
avenue, and thus out to State street. In the meantime the
State Industrial School Band had gathered about the stand,
and as Governor Roosevelt took his place on the speakers'
platform they played the patriotic selection, "The Star
Spangled Banner." The crowd were not to be outdone, how-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 137
ever, and joined their cheers with the enlivening strains of
the music. As soon as quiet had been restored the regular
order of exercises began.
Arrangements had been made to accommodate about 200
people on the stand, which was filled with the members of the
reception committee, and other prominent citizens. Among
those to occupy seats near the Governor's table, were Mayor
George E. Warner, Senator W. W. Armstrong, J. W.
Thompson, Rev. T. A. Hendrick, Rev. J. E. Mason, Hon.
William A. Sutherland, Charles J. Brown, Rev. J. J. Adams,
Dr. Waugh and the Governor's military secretary, George C.
Treadwell. Grouped to the left of the speakers were the
Douglass family who were present in the city during the cele-
bration. The party was composed of Mrs. Helen Douglass,
the widow of Frederick Douglass, Mrs. R. Douglass Sprague,
and her brothers, Charles R. and Lewis H. Douglass, and
Miss Rosita Sprague.
Rt. Rev. Alexander Walters, D. D., Bishop of the Afri-
can Methodist Episcopal Church, offered the following
prayer:
O, Eternal God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for
what Thou art within Thyself, the Great and Mighty One;
the Creator of all things visible and invisible; the Giver of
all good and perfect gifts; the Author of everlasting life.
Truly Thou art worthy of the adoration of men and angels.
We thank Thee for the gift of Jesus, Thine only begotten
Son, and for the great salvation wrought out by His sacrifi-
cial death, for its extent and sufficiency, and for eternal life,
which comes to us through the Holy Ghost.
We thank Thee for this beautiful world which Thou hast
given us to enjoy. We thank Thee for the Christian church
with all its uplifting influences. We praise Thee for the
many auxiliaries of the church and the great work they are
doing for the uplifting of humanity.
138 HISTORY OF THE
We thank Thee for our great nation and her splendid insti-
tutions. We thank Thee for the love of liberty possessed by
the Pilgrim Fathers, which culminated in the independence
of our country, and later in the emancipation of the slaves.
AYe thank Thee for the human agencies which Thou hast
employed in bringing about reforms in all ages of the world,
and especially for the life, character, talent and work of him
whom we have this day assembled to honor. May this monu-
ment which has been erected to the memory of the foremost
negro of America be the harbinger of the banishment of
prejudice from our land, and the dawn of the day when char-
acter and intelligence shall be fully recognized, regardless
of color.
We invoke Thy blessing upon the promoters of this enter-
prise, Mr. Thompson and the committee associated with him,
the Mayor and other officials, and the generous citizens of
Rochester. We beseech Thee to continue with Governor
Roosevelt, whom Thou hast so signally blessed -in the past.
Guide, counsel and direct him in affairs of state. Wre pray
a blessing on all in authority with him. Grant to his Excel-
lency the President of these United States, his cabinet, con- '
gressmen and all rulers, Thy special favor. Give them wis-
dom and courage to perform their duty faithfully, and espe-
cially to put a stop to the lawlessness which is disgracing us
as a nation. May they be directed and guided by Thee in
all their councils.
Bless our foreign possessions; grant us sufficient wisdom
and grace to do whatever is best for their greatest develop-
ment, happiness and peace.
Continue Thy blessings upon our army and navy, our insti-
tutions of learning, and upon all hospitals and homes for the
poor and friendless.
Grant that truth, righteousness and fair play may prevail
everywhere. Give to every home in this land peace and
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^39
prosperity; save up from the pestilence that walketh in dark-
ness and the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Forgive us of all sins as individuals and as a nation. Give
us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in the inner man, to coun-
sel, guide and protect us, and finally bring us to the haven of
eternal rest.
And unto Thy name shall be all the praise, Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. Amen.
MAYOR GEORGE E. WARNER'S WELCOME ADDRESS.
Chairman Thompson introduced Mayor Warner, who
made the address of welcome. The Mayor said, in part:
"Soon after the death of Frederick Douglass, a representa-
tive of his race, John W. Thompson, said to me that a monu-
ment should be erected to the memory of Frederick Doug-
lass, and in honor of the deeds which he performed and the
heroic work he accomplished. He said he also believed it
should be erected in the city of Rochester, where Mr. Doug-
lass lived for so many years and formed so many ties of per-
sonal friendship.
"What he said at that time to-day is transformed into solid
truth, and you see before you this elegant monument, erected
by the enthusiasm and zeal of our people. It affords me
great pleasure to add that, owing to the indefatigable zeal of
some of our citizens who have been prominent in this work,
that it is entirely free from debt; the sum to secure such a
consummation having been completed within the last few
hours.
"The Governor of this state has consented to come to
our city for this day and event, and I am glad to see so many
of our people, regardless of politics, who have come here to
see him and to greet the chief representative of our great
state. I am glad to extend to you the hearty welcome of this
city, and may you take away with you a happy remembrance
of the city of Rochester."
^40 HISTORY OF THE
MONUMENT UNVEILED.
As soon as the Mayor had finished, Miss Gertrude Aleath
Thompson pulled the Stars and Stripes from the monument,
and the large, bronze figure of Douglass stood forth to the
view of the assembled crowd, and the people applauded.
Immediately a chorus of thirty voices, under the direction of
Mrs. E. Jerome Jeffrey, sang a song entitled, "His Name
Shall Live Forever." It was very effectively rendered. The
words are as follows:
Unveil the statue ! let us see
That noble face once more,
Which nations honor everywhere,
And we, his race, adore.
His history, his life, his death,
Are fresh before us yet;
His words of wisdom, and his work
We never can forget.
He came of lowly birth 'tis true —
A negro and a slave;
He proved what negro men can do,
When noble, true and brave.
Then we will follow in the steps,
And let the nations see,
That there are others in our race
As truly great as he.
Chorus.
And his name shall live forever,
For honor wrote it high ;
The memory of his greatness
Shall never, never die.
His name shall live,
His name shall never die.
The above was composed for the occasion by Alonzo Scott.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 141
SPEECH BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The chairman made a brief speech in presenting the Gov-
ernor, in which he said that it was not long ago when the call
came to protect the honor of the American flag and Gov-
ernor Roosevelt went to the front as the commander of the
Rough Riders. He achieved fame and won honor, and the
people called him to the chief office of the state. It will not
be very long before the people will call upon this brilliant
young statesman to be president of the United States.
"I now take pleasure," h said, "in introducing the Gov-
ernor of the state, Hon. Theodore Roosevelt."
As the Governor arose the crowd set up a hearty cheer,
and it was some moments before he could begin. But when
he did get started he succeeded in gaining the attention of
the multitude as none of the other speakers had. Of course
he was the Governor, and that counted for a good deal; but
he looked sturdy and determined, and did his own good share
in keeping the close attention that he held. He was some-
times interrupted with applause, but it could never be very
vociferous, for he immediately exclaimed, in a quick, decisive
way, "Just a minute; just a minute," and by that time the
cheering was stopped. He spoke entirely without notes, and
held his audience under his control with remarkable skill.
He said:
"Mr. Thompson, Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen: I now ask
you to be as quiet as possible. Avoid pushing for the sake of
the women in the crowd. I am glad to be here. I am proud
to do my part in honoring the memory of a man who was
worthy of his race, because he was a worthy representative of
the American nation.
"Doubly proud I am to take part in a representative way in
a demonstration in which so prominent a part is played by
the old soldiers, who fought for four years for that race to
which Frederick Douglass belonged, in order that there
142 HISTORY OF THE
might be an undivided and indissoluble union. Doubly proud
am I, comrades of the last war, that you and I had the chance
last summer to show that we were at least anxious to be not
unworthy sons of you who fought in the great war.
"Here to-day, in sight of the monument of the great col-
ored American, let us all strive to pay the respect due his
memory by living in such a manner as to determine that a
man shall be judged for what a man is; without regard to his
color, race or creed, or aught else, but his worth as a man.
That lesson has a double side and I would dwell upon one side
just as I would on the other side.
"The worst enemy of the colored race is not the white man
who abuses the colored man, but the colored man who fails in
his duty as a citizen. The worst enemy of the white race is
not some worthless wretch, some colored man who does an
infamous act against the white race; it is the white wretch
who acts so as to make us ashamed of our people.
"I would I could preach that doctrine, that it is best for
each to know and realize, that all over this country, not
merely in the South, but in the North as well, shameless
deeds of infamous hideousness shall be punished speedily; by
the act of law let shameful crime be punished, not avenging
it by another crime. I would preach to the colored man that
the vicious and disorderly elements in his own race are the
worst enemies of his race. I would preach to the white man
that he who takes part in lawless acts, in such lynchings as
we have recently known, is guilty not only of a crime against
the colored race, but guilty of a crime against his own race
and guilty of crime against the whole nation. Men who took
part in the present lvnchings were guilty of such hideous
atrocity as should forbid them forever to hold up their heads
as American citizens.
"If it were in my power, I would feel that I could render
service to mv country such as I would render in no other, by
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^43
preaching that doctrine in its two sides to all who are any
degree responsible for the crimes by which our country has
been disgraced in the past. It is for the interest of every
man, black and white, to see that every criminal black and
white, is punished at once, and only under the law. Every
body of men who usurp the province of the law, who usurp
it by committing deeds which would make a red Indian blush
with shame, prove that they are not only unworthy of citizen-
ship in this country, but that they are the worst enemies this
country contains.
"There is a great lesson taught by the life of Frederick
Douglass, a lesson we can all of us learn; not merely from the
standpoint of his relations with his colored race, but his re-
lations with the state. The lesson that was taught by the
colored statesman was the lesson of truth, of honesty, of fear-
less courage, of striving for the right ; the lesson of disinter-
ested and fearless performance of civic duty.
"I would appeal to every man in this great audience to take
to heart the lesson taught by this life; to realize that he must
strive to fulfill his duty as an individual citizen, if he wishes
to see the state do its duty. The state is only the aggregate
of the individual citizens.
"There is another thought that I want to preach to you, a
lesson to be learned from the life of the colored statesman,
Frederick Douglass; strive to do justice to all men, exact it
for yourselves and do it to others.
"I am glad of the chance to speak to you here to-day on
ihis subject. I am glad to have the chance of being here
to speak in honor of the distinguished services of an Ameri-
can, of a race that has been treated infamously in the past,
a race that is still treated unfairly and that it will require
years of toil before it can assume its proper place with the
other races in this country.
"I am glad Frederick Douglass has left behind him men of
144
HISTORY OF THE
his race who can take up his mantle: that he has left such a
man as Booker T. Washington, a man who is striving to
teach his people to raise by toil to be better citizens, by reso-
lute determination to make themselves worthy of American
citizenship, until the whole country is forced to recognize
their good citizenship.
"I am glad to have the chance to come here because I feel
that all Americans should pay honor to Frederick Douglass.
I am glad to be able to speak to so many men of his race and
to impress on them, too, the lesson to be drawn from the life
of such a man. I am more than glad to speak to an audience
of Americans in the presence of a monument to the memory
of Frederick Douglass; a man who possessed eminent quali-
ties of courage and disinterestedness in the service of his
country. To appeal to you to demand those qualities in your
public men that made Douglass great; qualities that resulted
in the courageous performance of every duty, private and
public.
"I wish to call your minds to a little application of these
principles of immense consequence at this time. During the
last session of the Legislature the members put upon the
statute books one of the most important laws ever recorded
there, which is that the corporation which benefits so much
from the powers given it by the people should bear a share of
the expense of government. We acted, not against any cor-
poration, nor as the friend or enemy of men of means, simply
as the friend of the state, by insisting that all men do their
duty. (Voice — "That's right.") I have seen in the public
press lately notices of more than one attempt that is to be
made by corporations in the courts to defeat, through some
technicalities, a law that was designed for their own protec-
tion. As a man to others and as one who deprecates class or
social hostility, I wish to emphasize the danger to which these
men by such an attitude expose not only the state but the cor-
MISS GKRTRUDE A. THOMPSON.
THE
NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
As tor, I
Foundations.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
145
porations as well. They may make up their minds abso-
lutely that the franchise tax law has come to stay. (Ap-
plause.) I am as sure as I can be that any successful at-
tempt made to overturn this tax will result in putting upon
the statute books a more drastic law than the one at present
there."
PRESENTATION TO MISS GERTRUDE A. THOMPSON.
A- soon as the Governor had finished speaking he pre-
sented a $20 gold piece and a handsomely engraved testi-
monial to Miss Thompson, in behalf of a number of citizens.
The testimonial read and was signed as follows:
Rochester, K Y., June 9, 1899.
We, the undersigned, friends and acquaintances of Ger-
trude Aleath Thompson, highly appreciate her appearance
on this memorable occasion, in unveiling the monument of
Frederick Douglass, statesman, and leader of his race, who
has fallen by the will of Almighty God. We therefore re-
quest the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Governor of the State
of !STew York, to present to her this gift of gold, asking the
divine blessing of the Almighty to rest upon her, now and
forever.
John Besinger,
Lewis Pigeon,
Andy Walsh,
Jane Morehouse,
Kate Fowler,
George Knobles,
William Raitz,
M. Roth,
Mary Moore,
Eugene Keefe,
H. Vandyke,
Albert Britt,
Emile Maurer,
H. Arnold,
Charles Yoshall,
O. J. Tassell,
J. A. Lautis,
E. R. Carscaden,
C. II. Johnson,
( reorge Miller,
T. Mullen,
William Salmon,
James Morgan,
Harry Purdy,
Walter Lewis,
H. Santee,
L. O'Brien,
Ella Jj. Jennings,
R. L. Kent.
Leon J. Du Bois,
Charles Colman,
Ernest Miller,
James Glasko,
Goehry,
George Driscoll,
Charles Lane:,
146
S. Millnian.
J. Reidy,
Tom Wilson,
H. Maxwell,
A. Klem,
Floyd Manning,
William J. Smith,
John Cooper,
Henry Tabb,
Charles Bleasi,
Henry Johnson,
George G. Gates,
John ^Noonan,
Howard Weller,
HISTORY OF THE
Lizzie Parker,
H. Jones,
S. Parker,
W. Ahearns,
George Copp.
M. McCarthy,
Charles Majett.
H. Stuimarch,
Mrs. O. W. Moore.
J. W. Hall,
Frank Pierce,
E. Bogner,
Eva Franc,
W. Santee,
Fred Cole,
P. Reidy,
Peter Young.
D. Deavenport,
Whipple,
Albert Moir,
Johana Heaney.
Mortimer Crouch,
Ft. G. Salter,
Delia Gorman,
John Roziskev.
John McCarthy,
Henry Wilson.
PRESENTATION TO GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT.
Then followed one of the prettiest and most effective
scenes of the day. Chairman Thompson raised his hands
for the people to become quiet, followed with the statement
that there was a delegation of the Rochester newsboys pres-
ent, and they would present the (Governor with a testimonial.
A- soon as the chairman had made the announcement, Enian-
uel Jacobwitz, representing the boys, stepped smilingly t<>
the front of the platform and presented the Governor with
a badge, saying:
"Ladies and Gentlemen: Perhaps it is astonishing to
you for me to address the honorable people of Rochester. I
could not express in words the greatness Douglass has done.
We, as a rising generation, look upon his monument not as
i he past but as an encouragement of great deeds for the
future.
"We read that about forty years ago the South fought
against the freedom of the negroes, but in this late war the
negroes proved not only one of the best fighting regiments,
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 147
but fought to uphold the honor of North, South, East and
West and all of this vast country under our flag of Old Glory.
"This monument should be a pride for the city of Roches-
ter, not only as a memento for the past statesman but also
to encourage the people to follow the steps of such illustri-
ous men as Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Even now in our presence stands a great man who proved
himself one of the heroes of this last war.
"Our Governor, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, we, the Roches-
ter newsboys, do hereby present to you this medal for a re-
membrance of us and of our appreciation of you for your
courage and ability and of our respect for you as a man."
The Governor accepted the gift and was much pleased,
thanking the newsboys and giving them at the same time
some good advice.
EULOGY BY HON. WM. A. SUTHERLAND.
Hon. William A. Sutherland was then introduced and de-
livered the following eulogy on Frederick Douglass:
"He was born a slave. He first looked out upon life from
behind the bars of a prison, unseen though not unfelt. His
first reflective thought was to comprehend that he was a
chattel, possessed of no right which a white man was bound
to respect. He was a mere piece of valuable property —
simply and only a thing!
"And yet, life was as dear to him, and liberty as sweet, as
to any of us. When therefore he was grown to the full sta-
ture of manhood as measured by years, though still of infan-
tile attainments, the soul within him so moved his strong
right arm that with one blow he burst the chains that held
him, and escaping to New Bedford, Mass., earned, by shovel-
ing coal, his own first free dollar. Then he was a criminal
in the eyes of the law of the land of his birth — a fugitive
from what was called justice in Maryland. Forty year^
afterward a marble bust of Frederick Douglass was placed
148 HISTORY OP THE
in our University of Rochester. To-day, twenty years later,
the city of Rochester attends upon the Governor of the Em-
pire State as he unveils and dedicates the statue of Douglass.
Decreed at birth to live and die in chains, doomed by the
law of the land to mental, moral and spiritual darkness, flee-
ing from the land of his unknown father, laboring with
hands hardened with plantation toil to support his wife and
family, a requisition for his arrest issued by the Governor of
Virginia, chased from Rochester to Canada by United States
marshals, he lived to be welcomed as a friend by the nobility
of Europe, to be a guest at the tables of the titled ones of
earth, and to carry his black face, and his back scarred by the
lash of the slave-driver's whip, into the electoral college of
the state of ]S7ew York, there to drop into the urn one of the
thirty-six votes which this imperial state contributed to tin;
re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant. What a mighty
span is measured by these events! From serfdom to sov-
ereignty; from barbarism to nobility; from a voice quivering
with fear !of his master to organ tones of one of the world's
orators; from a mere piece of merchandise on the shores of
the Chesapeake to a seat among the honored ones of earth —
Avhat a magnificent sweep !
"Except he was called of God he could not have been what
he became. His it was to fulfill a mission as divinely or-
dained as that given to Moses of old, or to Abraham Lincoln
of his own day. Frederick Douglass was sent to the white
people of the North, to prepare the way for the emancipa-
tion of his race. He spoke as no other did of the barbarism
of slavery, painting the picture with a brush dipped in his
own personal experience. With voice and pen he awoke
the slumbering conscience of the North. He aroused the
sluggish giant, public opinion, and the people, unconsciously
to themselves, were prepared for the settlement of a ques-
tion whose arbitrament was to be the sword.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 149
"At an anti-slavery convention held at Salem, Ohio, in
1847, Douglass toils us that when giving expression to his
belief that the abolition of slavery would only be accom-
plished by a blood atonement, he was interrupted by that
quaint old negress, Sojourner Truth, with the question:
'Frederick, is God dead?' 'ISky said Douglass, 'because
Cod is not dead slavery can only end in blood.' With pro-
phetic eye he foresaw I he sanguinary contest which must
wage before the grip of the slave holder would relax, tight-
ened as it had been by three centuries of self- feeding avarice
and petrifying cruelty.
"What would his prophetic eye see to-day, and what
would be his message could the bosom of the statue heave
and the chiseled lips niter speech?
"Would he warn the nation against a day of wrath on
account of outrages inflicted in these days upon the people
of his race?
"In the early days of his campaigning through the North
il was not fashionable to speak slightingly of slavery. There
were timid ones who said 'Hush !' when he decried the hor-
ribleness of human bondage. But God reigned and His
prophets thundered His message until the day dawned when
Douglass could triumphant sing, 'Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the coming of the Lord.'
"In these days it is thought by some not to be quite in
good taste to publicly disapprove of burning negroes to
death, lest it might wound the sensitive natures of those
who do the burning. But on such an occasion as this, when
we have unveiled Douglass' statue, and by that act have in-
voked the presence of his spirit upon this platform, surely
here it may be permitted to consider those evils which fol-
low the trail of slavery and did not perish with its extinc-
tion.
"The demoralization of the slave holder was part of the
^50 HISTORY OF THE
curse entailed by slavery. He who practices brutality upon
others becomes himself a brute. Cruelty is a demon, which,
finding entrance to men's souls, displaces the better nature,
waxing fat to expansion by feeding upon atrocities. Three
centuries of slavery brought the master, as well as the slave,
down from manhood towards the brute, and upward they
must climb together. Historians have pointed out the hell-
ish effect of the gladiatorial games upon the inhabitants of
ancient Rome; and those of our day who could delight in
Spanish bull fighting were well fitted to be the oppressors of
Cuba. We may not marvel then that the seeds sown in
the days of slavery spring up and bear fruit in the second
and third generation. To torture negroes to death is not
a new amusement in the South. I was told once by a gen-
tleman born and reared in a Southern state that in his vicin-
ity two young men out for a lark sought out, bound and
burned up a negro slave just for the fun of it, and that the
only human punishment inflicted upon them was the recov-
erv and collection of a judgment in favor of the master for
the value of his slave. The moral sentiment of the com-
munity in which this occurrence took place seems to have
been fully appeased by the payment of $1,000, not to the
widow or orphans of the deceased, but to the white man who
owned him.
"jNTo denial has been made of the recent publication in our
newspapers of a negro dying with smallpox, whose passage
into the next world was expedited by a gang of white men,
who set a torch to his little cabin and sent him to heaven in
a chariot of fire. There was no master to claim $1,000 in
this case, and of course the widow and orphans did not count
for they wore negroes also.
"A few months ago a negro accepted the appointment of
postmaster at Lake City, North Carolina, and no one has de-
nied that this was the reason why he was expeditiously mur-
DOUGLASS MONUMEXT. J5|
dered, one of his children burned up, and other members of
his family severely injured.
"A single justification is offered in the claim that these
things must, needs be in order to prevent the ravishment of
Southern white women, just as though every mulatto walk-
ing the streets of a Southern city does not in his own person
make significant reply to that allegation.
"But to the murderers' plea there is another answer. For
tour long years, from 1861 to 1865, all the white men in
the seceding states who could hear arms were at the front,
with their attention fully occupied by the boys in blue.
They left their wives, and. sisters and daughters to the mercy
of the black slaves, but the result was not mulattoes born of
white mothers, and the honor of the white women of the
South did not in those days need the guardianship of out-
rages inflicted upon black men.
"To the inhabitants of Rochester there is another answer.
Familiar with the active operations of the societies for the
prevention of cruelty to animals, we would not endure pub-
lic exhibitions previously advertised of cruel conduct even
to the beasts of the field. ]STo one would be permitted in the
community which has erected and unveiled Douglass' nion
ument to burn to his death even a mad dog, though he had
lacerated and poisoned the fairest and the best in Rochester.
"Whoever be the criminal, whatever be the crime, no
matter how great the horror of the community at the of-
fence, whoever is charged with crime, be he ever so guilty,
and especially if, peradventure, he be innocent, is entitled
10 receive from any people claiming to be civilized, a full,
fair, just trial, and punishment, if guilty, only at the hands
of the law. ISTo lover of his country, then, can contemplate
these unpunished outrages without deepest apprehension for
the future of the country which tolerates them. It is im-
possible to read accounts of excursion trains jammed with
152 HISTORY OF THE
white men, rushing to sniff the odors of burning human
flesh and to feast their eyes upon the agonizing death con-
tortions of a human face, without ;an unbounded sense of
amazement and horror at the display of brutishness nor
without shuddering at the fearful punishment which must
some day follow close upon such brutality.
"Doubtless many good men and women in the South de-
plore as deeply as do the good men and women in the North
these frightful occurrences, but they and we alike are guilty
unless their efforts and ours be united to put an end to these
inhumanities. Because the nation shut its eyes and folded
its arms in presence of slavery, God sent civil war. What
punishment shall be ours if we shut our eyes and fold our
arms in presence of these later days atrocities, only he
may know who saith 'Vengeance is mine. I will repay.'
"It is not so much for the colored man as the white that
1 raise my voice to-day. Because we suffered human slav-
ery in our midst the hand of God was laid upon the entire
country, and the North as well as the South felt the rod of
His chastisement. Expiation for the crime of slavery came
upon the Avhite man and white woman of the North as well
as of the South. If, therefore, these atrocities be un-
checked and their perpetrators go unwhipped of justice,
even as cruelty feeds upon cruelty, so will brutality unre-
strained and murder unchecked, feeding upon themselves,
breed an awful progeny of demoralizing passions among the
whites, until, as the fire and the brimstone were rained from
above upon Sodom and Gomorrah, even so will the lightning
wrath of heaven be sent to lick up the people given over to
this festering abomination.
"It is not so much for the negroes, then, that I plead to-
day. They display a marvelous patience and self-command.
The words of advice which have fallen from the lips of their
bishops and their leading public men are words of God-like
HON. WILLIAM A. Sl'THERLAND
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. J 53
counsel; and the meekness and humility with which this suf-
fering people accept whatever fate is in store for them surely
indicate the nearness of these, His black children, to our
Father which is in heaven.
"That they have not turned with terrible anger and awful
vengeance upon their persecutors is due neither to lack of
bravery nor of aptitude or skill in the use of arms. The
heroism of the colored troops in our Civil war is now un-
hesitatingly praised by those who wore the gray, as well as
bj those who wore the blue. The Ninth and Tenth Cav-
alry of our regular army, composed of colored men, recruit-
ed from the South as well as from the North, fought by the
side of the Rough Riders at the storming of San Juan Hill,
winning undying fame by their steadfast courage and their
indomitable pluck. ISTo man in this presence and in the
hearing of the Governor of our state, then colonel of the
Rough Riders, can dispute the bravery, the manliness, the
patience or the discipline of these black soldiers of our reg-
ular army. The war for the deliverance of Cuba uncovered
additional foundation for the song of Paul Lawrence Dunbar:
So, all honor and all glory,
To those noble sons of Ham,
The gallant colored soldiers,
Who fought for Uncle Sam.
"But the persecuted will not turn upon the persecutors,
and the oppressed will not become the oppressors, for the
Ethiopian has exhibited the noblest qualities of manhood.
Patient ,and well nigh uncomplaining under suffering, his
faith in the future righting of his wrongs by the guiding-
hand of an overruling Providence may well be studied to the
profit of his proud Caucasian brother.
"Perchance in these new days of expansion, when Avell
nigh against our will we are compelled to succor and develop
the mixed and inferior races of Cuba and the Philippine
154
HISTORY OF THE
Islands, the way may just now be opening up to lift this
black man's burden from his back by leading the white man
of all parts of this land away from the paths of cruelty and
into the paths of mercy.
"In Douglass' presence, whose .mission was To the white
people of the earth, let us, their descendants, take heed of the
Lessons so painfully learned from '01 to '65, and for the sake
of our white population, no less than for the black, give ear
to the cries of the oppressed.
Oh, Douglass, thou hast passed beyond the shore,
Hut still thy voice is ringing o'er the gale!
Thou'st taught thy race how high her hopes may soar,
And bade her seek the heights, nor faint nor fail.
She will not fail, she heeds thy stirring cry,
She knows thy guardian spirit will be nigh,
And rising from beneath the chast'ning rod,
She stretches out her bleeding hands to God !
POEM BY SHERMAN D. RICHARDSOX.
Sherman D. Richardson read a poem written in honor
of the dedication of the monument, entitled "A Tribute
From the G. A. R." The poem is here reproduced:
Beneath the Eastern skies amid old Egypt's sands
A godhead, hewn from out a rough rock mountain, stands;
A fossiled thought of man conceived when time was young
To wait until creatoion's final knell is rung.
Beneath Columbia's sky that arches Freedom's lands
A Sphinx of Liberty in solemn grandeur stands;
With gaze that seems to penetrate eternity
When man in God from earth and time is free.
That face was once the humblest form of potters clay
That scarcely knew the light or felt the warmth of day;
Imprisoned 'neath the rocks of sin so long-
That it had taken on the imagery of wrong.
But God was fash'ning out a likeness, ever planned,
With square and compass and the chisel in his hand,
And as the days of greatness rolled their torrents into years,
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^55
A masterpiece of glory from chaotic shade appears.
Hear the chisel slowly working in the clank of slavery"?
chain,
In the lashings deep of bondage, in a life of care and pain;
In the triumphs of a spirit, that was born to do and dare;
In the courage of a hero driving mammon to his lair;
In the thunder of the battle 'mid the carnage and the smoke,
Carving out the lines of glory with a never faltering stroke.
Ihil at last tht- work was finished, and the world with bated
breath
Saw unveiled the form majestic, by the royal hand of death;
Saw the look of solemn grandeur gazing up the steps of
time ;
Saw the sign of man's Jehovah on that likeness hewn sub-
lime.
The chorus of forty voices, under the direction of Mrs.
R. Jerome Jeffrey, sang "Old Glory," and Rev. J. J. Adams,
of Rochester, pronounced the benediction, thus bringing
the exercises to a close.
CHAPTER XIV.
DESCRIPTIVE AND INTERESTING FACTS AND
LETTERS.
The monument was made by the Smith Granite Company,
Westerly, R. I. The model for the bronze statue was made
in Washington, during the spring of 1898; Sidney W. Ed
wards, sculptor. Charles R. Douglass jxised for the hand-
some bronze statue that so gracefully portrays his illustrious
father in life, as he stood before an audience in Cincinnati,
Ohio, soon after the adoption of the fourteenth and fif-
teenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States,
and uttered these words:
"Eellow citizens: I appear before you to-night for the
first time in the more elevated position of an American cit-
izen."
The pedestal is made of the best Westerly gray granite,
is nine feet high, and the bronze statue eight feet high; total
height, seventeen feet. There are also four bronze tablets
containing these words, from some of his famous speeches:
On the east side of the shaft is the following, taken from
a speech made by Douglass on the famous Dred Scott de-
cision in 1857:
"1 know no soil better adapted to the growth of reform
than American soil. I known no country where the condi-
tions for effecting great changes in the settled order of
things, for the development of right ideas of liberty and
humanity, are more favorable than here in the United
States."
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ' 257
West side is the following extract from a speech on West
Indian emancipation, delivered at Canandaigua, August 4,
1857:
"Men do not live by bread alone; so with nations, they
are not saved by art, but by honesty; not by the gilded
splendors of wealth, but, [by the hidden treasure of manly
virtue; not by the multitudinous gratifications of the flesh,
but by the celestial guidance of the spirit."
North side are these quotations from the speeches of
Douglass:
"The best defense of free American institutions is in the
hearts of the American people themselves."
"One with God is a. majority."
"I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of hu-
manity."
South side:
"FREDERICK DOUGLASS."
Between each tablet are handsomely carved palm leaves.
CHARLES REMOND DOUGLASS.
Charles Remoud Douglass, who posed for the Douglass
bronze statue, youngest son of the late Frederick Douglass,
was born October 21, 1844, in Lynn, Mass. At the age of
four years his father's family removed to Rochester, N. V.,
where at the age of six years young Douglass entered the
public schools of that city. He first attended No. 15 school
on Alexander street. While at tending school young Doug-
lass also assisted once a week in bis father's office, folding
and carrying to the city subscribers the "North Star," pub-
lished in the interests of the anti-slavery movement. At
the age of sixteen he left school and went to Lockport, N".
Y., to learn something of farming, and worked on the farm
of Thomas Pierson until the breaking out of the War of the
158 HISTORY OF THE
Rebellion. Just prior to this time, however, and a few
months before John Brown made his appearance at Harper's
Ferry, he acted as messenger for Brown, while he was in
seclusion at Rochester, having for a time full charge of the
carrying and delivery of his mail.
When it was announced that colored men would be ac-
cepted as soldiers, young Douglass was the first of his race t<>
enroll his name in the state of New York. He enlisted
February 9, 1863, with Major George L. Stearns, of Boston,
for the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He
served thirteen months with this regiment as acting first
sergeant, Company F, and was afterwards promoted to first
sergeant in Company I, Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, with
which regiment he served during the siege of Petersburg,
Va., and in the Army of the James until near the close of
the war.
After the war he was employed as hospital steward in the
Freedmen's Hospital at Washington, during the year of
1865. Tn the fall of that, year he resigned and returned to
his home in Rochester, where, in September, 1866, he mar-
ried Mary Flizabeth Murphy, who died some thirteen years
later.
Tn 1^67 young Douglass was appointed to a first class
eWkship in the War Department, being the second colored
man to receive sneh an appointment in the executive depart-
ments of the government since its foundation. Shortly
after said appointment, Senator Roscoe Conkling secured
him a similar appointment in the United States Treasury
Department, where he served for over seven years. Dur-
ing his service in the Treasury Department he was detailed
to accompany the Santo Domingo commission in 1871 to
that country, and served as clerk to the commission for
three months. Tn 1875 he was appointed United States
consul to Santo Domingo, serving in that capacity for three
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 1^59
years and until the serious illness of his wife compelled him
to return home, when he resigned.
After the death of his wife he again took up his residence
in Washington, where he niow resides. He jhas served for
a number of years on the school board of the District of
Columbia, was for several years secretary and treasurer of
the county schools of the district, was adjutant, captain and
major of the famous Capital City Guards, and also held
commissions from Presidents Cleveland and Harrison in the
District of Columbia militia. Besides these duties, he has
been a pretty active correspondent for several papers, and
has also been engaged in newspaper work together with lus
brothers, Lewis H. and the late Frederick Douglass, jr. His
second wife is the daughter of the late Alfred Haley, of
Canandaigua. N". Y. He has two sons, Joseph, the violinist,
and Haley G., who is about entering one of the Eastern col-
leges. He graduated from Harvard University in May.
(1900).
MRS. R. JEROME JEFFREY.
The subject of this sketch came from Boston, Mass., and
made her home in "Rochester, 1ST. Y., during the winter of
1891. Mrs. Jeffrey at once became very popular among the
citizens, taking an active part in every progressive movement
of the Afro-American citizens. She had always been a club
woman, and commenced at once attending the meetings of
white club women, and then organizing clubs among her own
race. She was appointed a member of the Douglass Monu-
ment Committee by J. W. Thompson, in 1897. Mrs. Jef-
frey did all within her power, and acted with the committee
until the work was completed. But she is at her best in or-
ganizing woman's clubs and working for the upbuilding of
the race as will be seen by the work accomplished by organi-
zations in Rochester.
IQQ HISTORY OF THE
One of the best organizations is the Susan B. Anthony
Club, in honor of the reformer who has always been so
friendly to the Afro- American race. One department of this
club is the Mothers' Council, whose object is to help mothers
of little children. Mrs. R. J. Jeffrey is the president of the
above named club, the Climbers, and also the Hester C. Jef-
frey ( In)), that has taken her name. The motto of the Climb-
ers is "Lifting as We Climb." The motto of the Hester C.
Jeffrey Club is "Higher, Still Higher." The last two organi-
zations are for young girls and young women. Mrs. R. J.
Jeffrey was the National Organizer of Colored Women's
Clubs, New York State President of the Federation of Cob
ored Women's Clubs, and was also sent as a delegate to the
state convent ion at Albany, by a white club of Rochester,
N. Y.
Mrs. Jeffrey held for some time the position of County Su-
perintendent of the W. C. T. U. and Secretary of the Third
Ward W. C. T. IT. and Section President of the Needlework
Guild of America.
TRIBUTE TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
On the morning of February 26 the body of Frederick
Douglass was brought to Rochester from Washington and
borne to City Hall, where it lay in state till the hour for the
funeral in the afternoon. It is eminently appropriate that
Frederick Douglass should be laid to rest in Mt. Hope. As
the older generation of "Rochester men remember, and as has
been repeatedly recalled within the past few days, it was
here that the "North Star" rose. In this city its first feeble
rays were turned on the darkness to the South. In Rochester
the foundations of its editor's fame were laid. It is fit then
that in Rochester the last wreath of praise should be laid
upon his coffin.
The wealth of a nation is its glorious names and the story
of their patriotic deeds. A city's great dead is a treasure that
CHARLES R. Dn I 'GLASS.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 1(51
is incorruptible and continually active for good. The tomb
of Frederick Douglass in time to come will bear mute witness
to the reward of uprightness and unselfish devotion to the
cause of right. To future generations it will evidence the
honor paid to the courage and honesty which not only over-
came the crudest handicap of birth, but was instrumental in
remolding the fate of a. wronged people. If the public sense
of justice should ever grow dim; if wrong should ever gain
the advantage, the grave of Frederick Douglass will be an in-
spiration for true men to rise again. This is why it is well
for this city that Frederick Douglass is buried here.
LETTERS OF REGRET.
Chairman Thompson, of the Douglass Monument Com-
mittee received many letters of regret from conspicuous
citizens of the republic, who were unable to be present, but
who desired to place themselves on record, as admirers of the
great man.
THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 3, 1899.
My Dear Sir: Your letter of the 30th ultimo, with re-
gard to the unveiling 0f the Douglass monument at Roches-
ter, X. V.. has been called lo my attention, and I very much
regret that it will be impossible for me to be present on
this occasion.
The life of Frederick Douglass presents many features
worthy of the closest emulation. His great work, first for
the emancipation of his race, and when that was accom-
plished, for its industrial, intellectual and moral upbuilding,
will cause his memory to be forever cherished in the hearts
of his people. As editor, author and lecturer he labored
zealously for their advancement, and it is altogether fitting
that permanent expression be given, in a monument raised
162 HISTORY OF THE
in his honor, of the admiration and respect with which his
life and character are regarded by his countrymen.
With hest wishes for the complete success of the unveil-
ing ceremonies, believe me,
Very sincerely yours,
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
New York, June 6, 1899.
Mr. J. AY. Thompson, Rochester, N. Y.:
Dear Mr. Thompson: 1 sincerely regret that I shall be
unable to attend the unveiling ceremonies. We are all
grateful to you for the splendid heroic work you have done
in raising this monument to our greatest and mosl beloved
man. Yours truly,
T. THOMAS FORTUNE,
Editor New York Ase.
1433 Bacon Street,
Washington, D. C, June 5, 1899.
Mr. John W. Thompson, Chairman, Rochester, N. Y.:
My Dear Sir: Many, many thanks for your kind invita-
tion to be present at the unveiling of the Douglass monu-
ment on the 9th instant. It will be an historic occasion,
and I deeply regret my inability to attend. The citizens of
Rochester are entitled to, and will have the thanks of the
entire race, for the patriotic and creditable manner in which
they have seen fit to honor and perpetuate the memory of
the race's world wide champion.
Yours very truly,
P. B. S. PINCHBACK,
Ex-Governor.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 103
Tuskegee, Ala., June 5, 1899.
Mr. John W. Thompson, Chairman Douglass Monument
Committee, Kochester, N". Y.:
My Dear Sir: T very sincerely regret that it is impos-
sible for me to accept the very kind invitation which you
have extended me to he present at the unveiling of the mon-
ument erected to the memory of Frederick Douglass. It is
a very fitting circumstance that, in Rochester, the scene of
his early trials and struggles, a monument should rear its
head heavenward to commemorate the worth and works of
one whose sincere service was ever in behalf of humanity.
Mr. Douglass is still our hero. His life will ever be an in-
spiration and a hope; and up from the depths from which he
sprang others of his race have come, and are coming, to
show, and to prove, that his great life in their behalf was
not lived in vain. Great, as was his life, and great as it now
appears, its influence will still grow upon us with increasing
years. But. of this, I need not write. Others to be pres-
ent will tell in story and in poetic song of the achievements
of the great American patriot, whose life was lived in be-
half of justice and for the well-being of all mankind.
Again expressing regrets that I am not permitted to share
in the exercises attendant upon the formal unveiling of the
monument erected to Mr. Douglass' memory, I am,
Yours very truly,
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
The Hon. John Dancy, collector of the port of Wilming-
ton, 1ST. C, who was one of the orators September 14, 1898,
expressed his appreciation of the character of Mr. Douglass
in the following letter:
] 64 HISTORY OF THE
Office of the Collector of Customs,
Port of Wilmington, K C, June 6, 1899.
Mr. J. W. Thompson, Chairman Douglass Monument Com-
mittee. Rochester, N. Y. :
My Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your kind invitation to
be present at the unveiling of the Douglass monument, the
9th instant, and to contribute to the programme as one of
the speakers.
I feel more than honored by the latter invitation, in view
of the fact that I enjoyed the rare distinction of delivering
an address in September last, in eulogy of the great race
leader and patriot. A second invitation lends to the belief
that I must have said something on the former occasion which
favorably impressed you at least.
I never tire of doing honor to Mr. Douglass, because he
never tired of defending my cause, when I was powerless to
defend nryself. And yet, withal, he was filled with that
spirit of conservatism which made him wise and safe in
leadership, and prepared him for every exigency in life,
which constantly changing conditions would suggest. I
heard him speak at a great colored industrial fair at Raleigh
in this state, in 1879. I enjoyed the rare distinction of in-
troducing him. But Governor Thomas J. Jarvis, then at
the head of the state government, preceded him in an ad-
dress of greath breadth, and full of kindly admonition to my
race. Mr. Douglass was momentarily overcome by so con-
servative and patriotic a speech from the Governor of a
Southern state. Tears of joy trickled down his cheeks. His
pencil rapidly ran through some of the more caustic of his
prepared utterances, until his speech harmonized in tone
and friendliness with the liberal sentiments of the Governor.
The Governor, who was quite a friend to our race, extended
the olive branch and our great champion was diplomatic
enough to accept it in the spirit in which it was offered. He
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
165
began his speech by remarking that he had hardly expected
in his own lifetime to see his race present so grand a spec-
tacle to the world as that exhibit of the handiwork then be-
fore his gaze; and especially the Democratic governor of a
great Southern state commending our efforts and encourag-
ing ns in such a speech as that to which he had just listened.
Overcoming his emotion, he for the next two hours, de-
livered one of the greatest and most comprehensive ad-
dresses of his lifetime. The influence of that speech still
remains with many of the white and colored people of the
state, as the harbinger of the day that will yet dawn upon
us all.
Let the lesson of the grand and magnificent life be with
us all, a joy and an inspiration forever. As long as we can
study and think of it, we have no just reason to lose heart or
to cease struggling for that which lives beyond, if it is pos-
sible of attainment. JSTo dark cloud failed to discover its
silver lining to him. A halo of glory in personal achieve-
ment and triumph encircled his brow long 'ere the noon of
our hopes had stranded its crescent on the early breakers of
the morning. The monument that you erect to his memory,
magnificent and uniform in its symmetry and proportion,
is excelled only by the grander one he erected for himself,
by the splendid and eternal lessons of his wonderful life.
"For out of the gloom future brightness is born,
As out of the night looms the sunrise of morn."
Very sincerely yours,
JOHN C. DANCY.
THE DOUGLASS MONUMENT COMMITTEE.
John W. Thompson, chairman.
Mrs. R. J. Jeffrey.
Henry A. Spencer, secretary.
R. L. Kent, assistant secretary.
Hon. George A. Benton, treasurer.
Ex-Congressman H. S. Greenleaf.
Hon. Charles S. Baker.
Bishop Alexander Walters, D. D., N. J
T. Thomas Fortune, New York City.
Benjamin N. Simms.
F. S. Cunningham.
Thomas E. Platner.
E. R. Spaulding, Owego, N. Y.
Thomas H. Barnes, Olean, N. Y.
Rev. James E. Mason," D. D.
Benjamin F. Cleggett, Geneva, N. Y.
Theodore Duffin, Geneva, N. Y.
CHAPTER XV.
HOW DOUGLASS WAS REGARDED BY THE ROCH-
ESTER PRESS.
FROM THE ROCHESTER UNION AND ADVERTISER.
The morning of February 26, 1895, the body of Frederick
Douglass was brought to Rochester from Washington and
borne to the City Hall, where it lay in state till the hour
lor the funeral in the afternoon. It is eminently appropri-
ate that Frederick Douglass should be laid to rest in Mount
Hope. As the older generation of Rochester men remem-
ber, and as has been repeatedly recalled within the past few
days, it was here that the "North Star" rose. In this city its
first feeble rays were turned on the darkness to the south.
In Rochester the foundations of its editor's fame were laid.
It is fit then that in Rochester the last wreath of praise
should be laid upon liis coffin.
The wealth of a nation is its glorious names and the story
of their patriotic deeds. A city's great dead is a treasure
that is incorruptible and continually active for good. The
tomb of Frederick Douglass in time to come will bear mute
witness to the reward of uprightness and unselfish devotion
to the cause of right. To future generations it will evi-
dence the honor paid to the courage and honesty which not
only overcame the crudest handicap of birth, but was in-
strumental in remolding the fate of a wronged people. If
the public sense of justice should ever grow dim; if wrong
should ever gain t lie advantage, the grave of Frederick Doug-
lass will be an inspiration for true men to rise again. This
is why it is well for this city that Frederick Douglass is
buried here.
1(38 HISTORY OF THE
FROM THE ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE.
The unveiling of the Douglass monument June 9, 1899,
was an event of more than local significance. It is not sim-
ply the figure of one who was formerly a distinguished resi-
dent of Rochester which is to be uncovered in the presence
of a great multitude, but that of a man who in intellectual
stature and gifts, as well as in the services he rendered to
the cause of Freedom, was the supreme representative of his
race.
Frederick Douglass was a princely man; princely in form
and bearing, and princely in the qualities of his mind and
heart. Born under the most disabling conditions which
could encompass a human being in this land of ours, he
broke, one after another, the fetters that bound him and
rose to an altitude of moral and intellectual influence hardly
equaled by that of any other man in the country. He owed
nothing to adventitious fortune or aid. Always, from the
hour when, as a slave boy, he asserted his right to liberty by
leaving his master and home, down to the days of dignity
and honor in old age, surrounded by the comforts as well as
the luxuries of life won by his own efforts, he maintained
unsullied the independence of his manhood. He was never
the man to
— bend the supple hinges of the knee,
That thrift might follow fawning.
Often subjected to slurs and insults on account of his race
and color, he maintained the simple dignity of his character,
standing erect but not defiant, looking unabashed upon the
liliputians whose sneers were of no more account to him than
the humming of gnats in the air of a summer evening.
God endowed him with the gift of eloquent speech, speech
that came from a heart large and tropical in its warmth, but
not volcanic in its outbursts except against wrongs embodied
in institutions and laws; speech that flowed in rounded sen-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
169
tences, in vivid metaphors, in swordlike thrusts of wit
around which always played the lambent light of a sunny
humor. He had a broad, generous nature. He could make
allowance for weakness, and pitied, as the Man of Galilee
did, the unfortunate and the suffering. He loved the
bright and happy phases of life. The bitter and acidulated
spirit of cynicism met with no responsiveness from him.
From first to last he was true to the cause of oppressed hu-
manity whether it was found under the dark skin of his own
race or among those who had formerly been his oppressors.
It is in honor of such a man that the monument provided
for by the colored people of Rochester is to be unveiled to-
morrow. The name and fame of Douglass have filled the
world. In I he days when his powers were at their zenith
his eloquent voice was heard pleading for the rights of hu-
manity, not only in the presence of great audiences and,
sometimes, of hostile mobs in his own country, but before
the great and the titled in foreign lands. It is therefore an
honor to Rochester that a monument to his memory, sym-
bolizing his personal presence, shall stand in one of our pub-
lic places to remind citizen and stranger that Frederick
Douglass always esteemed this as his home city. His dust
lies embalmed in the sacred soil of Mount Hope, and his
image will henceforth greet the eyes of our people, the
token of a noble manhood which should prove an inspiration
to future generations.
The event of June 9, 1899, will bring to Rochester the
distinguished Governor of this commonwealth and other
visitors of note. There will be a parade worthy of the oc-
casion, and the citizens will have an opportunity to show
that in this land of ours high merit, though it may have to
fight many a battle against bigotry and prejudice, may in
the end receive cordial recognition and sincere acknowledg-
ment from all the people.
170 HISTORY OF THE
PROM THE ROCHESTER TIMES.
"What though on namely fare ye dine,
Wear hodden grey an' a' that;
Clic fouls their silks an' knaves their wine;
A man's a man for a' that."
To the memory of a man who dressed in plain clothes,
who wore the garb of a slave, whose environments taught
him that his color placed him in bondage; whose future, had
he not hewn it out for himself, would have been cast in long
days of unrequited toil; who saw dimly the light of liberty
and being, like Samuel, called of Grod to speak I'm- his race,
faced prejudice and politics and made the way plain to that
end that the curse was removed from the land, — to his mem-
ory The city of Rochester, regardless of color, uniting with
the people of the state, arc paying tribute to-day.
There was no reason, as men reason things, why Frederick
Douglass should not, have remained a slave all his life ami
died a slave, unknown, unsung, forgotten. Because he did
not, because he climbed the Hill Difficulty ami met and con-
quered every obstacle, we remember him to-day.
It is indeed the purest tribute of a grateful people when
one who held no high civic place is remembered, as is Doug-
lass. Republics are not always ungrateful, as monuments to
heroism and worth the country over attest.
To-da\ in Rochester we renew our faith in the republic
at the foot of the slat ue of a man horn a slave. Again we
declare that liberty shall he proclaimed throughout all the
land "and unto the people thereof," as we speak of the
struggles of the black man whose figure towers in metal at
St. Paul street and Central avenue.
PROM THE ROCHESTER MORNING HERALD.
In Rochester yesterday was celebrated an event unique
in the history of the American nation — the unveiling of a
statue immortalizing in imperishable bronze the form and
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 171
features of a negro. It was not a celebration restricted to
the representatives of the negro race, but an event gladly
participated in by the entire population of the city, for Fred-
erick Douglass belonged nol to his race alone, bu1 to the
American people. He represented nol only the highesl
achievement and development of his race, he was equally a
type of superior manhood and representative citizenship.
Frederick Douglass established a precedent, fulfilled an ideal,
that should serve -will serve -as an inspiration to the negro
nice in America for all time to come.
Against the black scroll of race hatred and race prejudice,
now happily fading from a clear national sky, this bronze
statue of Frederick Douglass stand- as a memorial in gold,
a lasting tribute to a greatness of character and nobility of
life thai even the shackles of a slave could not bind down
nor the black skin of a slave cloak from public view and
recognition. By the sheer impetus of his own force of
character, Frederick Douglass rose from a Southern slave
pen to be the associate of presidents and the confrere of
statesmen. The silver tongue of his oratory thrilled the
ear of the English speaking world; and among the most po
tent agencies for the abolition of slavery must be included
the voice and heart and brain and soul of Frederick Doug-
lass.
Ko words can picture the boundless possibilities of influ-
ence of such a life upon the people Frederick Douglass rep-
resented. In that life the Afro-American will find never
failing inspiration. If Frederick Douglass could accomplish
what he did when he did, what may not the negro of to-day
and to-morrow hope to attain? No goal is closed to him;
no avenue of honorable endeavor is barred; he has at his dis-
posal every legitimate means for his advancement as an in-
dividual, his betterment as a race. The future of the negro
in America rests largely in his own hands. Beside him, at
272 HISTORY OF THE
once an inspiration and a benediction, stands the gigantic
figure of Frederick Douglass, shedding the shining light of
an illustrious example upon the future pathway of the race.
From the executive mansion in the capital, the Governor
of the Empire State came to do honor to the name and mem-
ory of Frederick Douglass; in the parade were the veterans
of the war waged to emancipate his race; the public schools
turned out their miniature companies; the uniformed socie-
ties were represented; the business and traffic of an entire
city were stopped while its citizens turned their steps toward
the statue of Douglass. This was but the tribute of a day,
however, the appropriate accompaniment of the ceremony
of unveiling. In the years to come the real tribute of his
race to the memory of Frederick Douglass will be found in
their high standard of citizenship, their loyalty to the in-
spiring ideal he established, their progress along the lines of
right living and honorable endeavor. And as their fellow
citizens of another cplor marched with them side by side to
the unveiling of the Douglass monument, so should they
stand with them and stand by them in their every future
effort to be worthy of their illustrious prototype, Frederick
Douglass. As Rochester was honored by his life among us,
so is she honored by his grave and by his monument, two
visible memorials of a great man and an honorable life.
FROM THE ROCHESTER POST EXPRESS.
The 9th of June the monument to Frederick Douglass was
unveiled. The city was thronged with visitors to witness
the ceremony. Eloquent tributes to the memory of the
great anti-slavery agitator were pronounced. But nothing
was said or done that will give an adequate idea of the man
or of the work that he did. Much less was anything said or
done that gave an adequate idea of the age in which he lived
and labored. It is only glimpses of him and of his times
that can be had on such an occasion. Even if full knowl-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^^3
edge of both were available, time would be lacking to set it
forth. But these glimpses will serve a useful purpose. They
will suggest to the generation that has grown up since the
anti-slavery agitation and the great struggle that followed
it that their country has a history — has heroes worthy of
their study and admiration.
It is not easy to overestimate the part that Douglass
played in the abolition of slavery. At the time he first be-
gan to appear on the anti-slavery platform and to deliver his
powerful phillipics against the curse of American civiliza-
tion, it was by no means generally conceded that the negro
was a human being. While it was admitted that he had a
certain mental and moral capacity, he was regarded by most
of the advocates of slavery only as a superior kind of animal.
While he could laugh and talk, learn a trade and do some
other things common to Avhite people, he did not possess
those higher traits that no animal ever exhibited. He did
not have a soul: he could not reason; he felt none of the
lofty emotions of the Caucasian. When, therefore, Doug-
lass appeared before vast audiences, and thrilled them with
an eloquence that rivaled the eloquence of Beecher and Phil-
lips, he gave a blow to slavery from which it never recov-
ered. He proved that the negro was something more than
an animal, and that he was fitted to be something more than
a slave; he was a human being, capable of all the emotions,
thoughts, and achievements of any other human being.
Tt may be said, as it has often been said, that Douglass
was not a pure blooded negro, and was not, therefore, a fair
example of the capacity of his race. Tt has been claimed,
and it is still claimed, that whatever genius he exhibited
was due to the white blood that flowed in his veins. But
the argument never counted for much. He did not have
white blood enough to blanch his skin, or to convert his fea-
tures into those of a Caucasian, or to deliver him from the
I 74 HISTORY OF THE
cruel lash of the slave driver the moment he became old and
large enough to add to the wealth of his master. He was
regarded as a negro. He was oftem subjected to the dig
criminations against his race Even if it were to be admit-
ted that his white blood was a priceless advantage, it is cer-
tain that his African blood did not prevent him from rising
from the lowesl depths of degradation and obscurity to a
fame that filled the whole civilized world. Such a fact, im-
mutable and unanswerable, swepl away the mass of sophisms
based upon the theory that the negrO was aol really a man —
that he was destined by his creator to be a slave. It was
more potent with doubting minds than all the logic and elo-
quence of the whole army of abolitionists.
Bui the work of Douglass was not confined to an illustra-
tion of the moral and intellectual capacities of his race. It
included energetic, aggn ssive and tireless warfare on the in-
stitution thai he'd his race in bondage. From the time ho
gained his freedom until every right enjoyed by a white man
under the Constitution was guaranteed to the negro, he de-
voted his gianl strength and splendid powers as an orator to
its overthrow. The iron of slavery had pierced his own
heart, and he knew no other duty night or day but its imme-
diate and complete destruction, lie could not rest as long
as he knew thai one man was the master of another and had
over him the power of life1 or death. But the abolition of
slavery did not contenl him. ITe felt that unless the blacks
had the same rights of citizenship as the whites, their free-
dom could not be guaranteed. As soon as the war was
over, he worked unceasingly to give them the ballot. But
he knew that the ballol was not enough to insure them
against oppression, lie felt that they must be educated,
and become the possessors of. property. As soon as right of
suffrage had been gained, he devoted himself to the work
of fitting the emancipated race for the exercise of that right.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 1^5
He encouraged all educational and industrial enterprises.
At tlic time of his death, he had the satisfaction of seeing
negroes enjoy educational advantages not inferior to those
of whites. He saw them increasi in wealth almost beyond
the dreams of the most ardent friends of the race.
We have spoken of Douglass' ability and achievements. A
word remains to be said about hi- character. Beset on every
hand as he was for many years by the most pitiless enemies,
they were never aide l<> point to an ael unworthy of an hon-
est and pure-minded man. Il was believed at one lime that
he was implicated with the treason of John Brown, and at
the urgent solicitation of friends, he lied to England. But
if lie were guilty of complicity against the government of his
country, il was no sidti^h motive that inspired him. His
only aim was I he deliverance of his country from an evil that
he believed to be greater than an insurrection. Enemies
have licensed him of selfishness. Bui a man that could suc-
cor a victim of age ami penury thai had howled for his own
life, or thai could devote fifty years to the betterment of his
own race and at the same time suffer all the obloquy attached
t<> a despised cause, was hardly guilty of thai infirmity. Al-
though if may be said that he felt toward the South after the
war as he did before the war, it should not he forgotten that
his sufferings at tin1 hands of the slave power were not like-
ly to soften any heart. But after all just criticism has In en
made upon his attitude toward that section, il must be ad-
mitted that his work in behalf of humanity entitles him to
the everlasting remembrance of every friend of freedom and
of every enemy of wrong.
FROM THE ROCHESTER UNION AND ADVERTISER.
Several years ago prominent colored citizens of Rochester
organized a movement for the erection of a monument to
the memory of the colored soldiers who died in the war for
the Union and invited co-operation by their white fellow
176 HISTORY OF THE
citizen*, which was given, and initial steps had been taken
for accomplishing the object when, on the 20th of February,
1895, Frederick Douglass died al Washington. This oc-
currence induced the committee to decide that a me-
morial to him would embody what they had designed, and at
the same time pay broader tribute to the achievements of
representative men of their race, and so the work went on to
the eud of the presentation made to-day in the unveiling of
the Douglass statue in this city.
Back in the centuries, when England, Spain and Portugal,
other countries contributing, and the American colonies
themselves taking a hand as soon as they were able, planted
the curse of African slavery on this continent, they little
dreamt of the evolution that was to occur ere the dawn of
1900. At what period it is impossible to determine, but cer-
tain that at some time in the distant past the maternal an-
cestors of Frederick Douglass were taken from the wilds of
Africa, either bv stealth or purchase, and sold into slavery
upon the Atlantic coast of this country. In 1817 there was
born to a slave mother of this African descent upon the plan-
tation of Colonel Edward Lloyd, in Talbot county, Maryland,
on the east shore of Chesapeake Bay, and putatively to him,
a son who took on the name of Lloyd, but subsequently
changed it to Frederick Douglass. After escape from his
master, purchase of his freedom with money contributed by
friends in England, which country he had visited, and pass-
ing through the many vicissitudes incident to such a life as
circumstances compelled him to follow and which embraced
a fair self-education, Mr. Douglass made his advent in Roch-
ester at the age of 30, in 1847, and established the "North
Star," a weekly journal devoted to the abolition of slavery,
of which he was editor. He was modest and unassuming in
demeanor, was warmly received and substantially encouraged
by many citizens, especially of the Quaker element, and was
MRS. R. JEROME JEFFREY.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. tf->7
respected by all. If lie was bitter and severe, as lie some-
times was, in handling the subject of slavery without gloves,
the "Hardshells" and "Silver Greys" of the old political par-
ties "who were classed as pro-slavery sympathizers becau-e
upholding the Constitution and the laws enacted thereunder,
took no exception. They said he had a. right to be bitter
and severe, and even unreasonable and unpatriotic, while
they had no patience with his white associates of the Garri-
son school who, on the 2d day of February, 1859, in conven-
tion at the capital of this state, declared in a resolution writ-
ten by William Lloyd Garrison, "that in advocating a disso-
lution of the Union the Abolitionists are justified by every
precept of the Gospel, by every principle of morality, by
every claim of humanity; that such a Union is a covenant
with death, which ought to bo annulled, and an agreement
with hell which a just God cannot permit to stand; and that it
is the imperative and paramount duty of all who would keep
their souls from blood-guiltiness to deliver the oppressed out
of the hands of the spoiler and usher in the day of Jubilee;
to seek its immediate overthrow by all righteous instrumen-
talities." It was on the line of Garrisonjan warfare that
Mr. Douglass conducted his agitation against the institution
of slavery, down to the eve of the slaveholders' rebellion
when the publication of his paper ceased and he, although
maintaining a nominal residence here, lived elsewhere, and
after the war became a permanent citizen of Washington,
where he was given a number of offices of honor and profit
by the Republican administration, of which he had been a
hearty supporter from the foundation of the Republican
party and nomination of Fremont and Dayton at Philadel-
phia in June, 1856, on a platform that declared for prohibi-
tion by Congress in the territories of "these twin relics of
barbarism — Polygamy and Slavery." Although when, in
1871, Mr. Douglass was given the Republican nomination
HISTORY OF THE
for member of Assembly from the district then composed of
the city of Rochester, against George D. Lord, Democrat,
Iris party constituency failed to support him as it should have
done. The city was at that election Democratic by a bare
majority — 151 for the head of the state ticket, "Willers, over
Scribner, Rep.; but Lord's majority over Douglass was 1,186
— the aggregate vote of both parties in the city having been
less than 10,000. The Assembly would have furnished a
fine field for display of Mr. Douglass' oratorical powers, and
test of his legislative abilities. It is, really, in sentiment, a
tribute to the opportunities of evolution in American life,
despite aparently insurmountable obstacles, that the Doug-
lass statue stands before the public gaze, rather than a mon-
ument to an individuality, or to the achievement of some
great object of local or general public concern. Mr. Doug-
lass himself expressed the idea forcibly in a. letter to his
friend, and the friend of the lowly and oppressed every-
where, the late Samuel D. Porter, of this city, when he said:
"It is not, however, the height to which I have risen, but
the depth from which I have come, that amazes me." This
idea is emphasized by the memorable reference of Chief Jus-
tice Taney of the Supreme ( -ourl of the United States, born
in Calvert county, Maryland, on the oposite shore of Chesa-
peake Bay from Talbot county, in the Dred Scott case to the
historical fact that "for more than a century previous to the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence negroes,
whether slave or free, had been regarded as beings of an in-
ferior order and altogether unfit to associate with the white
race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior
that they had no rights which the white man was bound to
respect." And the Constitution itself, based upon the Dec-
laration of Independence, provided for perpetuation of the
slave trade with Africa for a period of twenty years after its
adoption, and for the return of slaves escaping from their
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 279
owners in one state and seeking freedom in another. In all
this there has been wonderful evolution, of which the statue
of Frederick Douglass is the personification. And it is in
such character that the statue is to be looked upon and con-
sidered, as imparting the lesson of Pope's lines:
"Honor and shame from no condition rise*
Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
CHAPTER XVI
HOW GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT WAS ENTER-
TAINED IN ROCHESTER.
After the exercises at the monument had been concluded,
Governor Roosevelt, accompanied by Military Secretary G.
C. Treadwell and Senator W. W. Armstrong, James S. Wat-
son, L. P. Ross and E. S. Brown, members of the reception
committee, visited the State Industrial School. Amid great
cheering, the Governor and party arrived at 4:30 o'clock
and remained at the school until 6 o'clock. The Governor
many times expressed his admiration of the various depart-
ments, and was much interested in the way the school was
conducted.
Eleven military companies, drawn up outside the entrance
to the school, saluted the Governor, and as he alighted,
he was greeted by ex-Judge Thomas Raines, Charles
Van Voorhis, Dr. G. W. Goler, Dr. C. H. Losey, Dr. George
Carroll, Mrs. Emil Kuichling and Miss Aldridge, members
of the board of managers of the school, Superintendent F.
H. Briggs and the assistant superintendents and heads of de-
partments.
Light refreshments were served beneath the trees in front
of the woman's department. The luncheon was in charge
of Miss M. E. Craig, matron of the institution, and was the
handiwork of inmates of the department. The school band
rendered pleasing music during the luncheon.
After the party had done ample justice to the repast, the
Governor was conducted to the chapel. When he appeared
he was greeted with tremendous cheers by the 750 boys and
the 300 girl inmates. Under the leadership of the musical
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. -j^
directress, J\J iss E. Y. Sharp, the boys and girls sang
"Anchored" with much enthusiasm.
In introducing Governor Roosevelt, ex- Judge Thomas
Raines told the boys they might well derive inspiration from
the life of the Governor, who, in war and peace, had made a
record of which his countrymen were very proud.
Governor Roosevell spoke, in part, as follows, to the as-
sembled inmates:
"I was very much pleased with the way you conducted
yourselves when 1 arrived. Your officers must have drilled
you well, and you must have learned that the duty of the
line soldier is to obey orders.
"I think when the time comes, you boys will make good
husbands and fathers. And I sincerely hope you will not
forget your duties to the state, and that you will use your in-
fluence to secure the election of good men to office.
"The discipline and order which you have been taught
within these walls will be of much use to you in after years.
Most of the great men in this world have become great be-
cause they did little things with precision and faithfulness.
The men in my regiment who did brave fighting in Cuba
were the men who never complained if they were told to
wash dishes or do the other disagreeable things of camp life.
"I feel much pride when I look into your smiling faces,
and have great hopes of your success in future years. All I
ask of you is that you shall face the big world and that you
will remember the many lessons you have learned here, and
be an honor to the country of which you are citizens."
The exercises ended with the singing of the "Marseillaise
Hymn" in a manner which called forth favorable comment
from all present.
After the exercises, the Governor and the members of the
reception committee visited the various departments of the
institution. The directors pointed out the interesting fea-
182 HISTORY OF THE
tures of the institution, and Superintendent Briggs explained
the workings of the institution in detail to the Governor.
The power house, laundry, carpenter shop and the cloth-
ing and shoe departments were first visited. The Governor
appeared to be much interested in the caps turned out by the
youths in charge of the clothing department.
The machine and printing shops were next visited. The
Governor remarked that the boys who erected the building-
containing these departments had done much credit to them-
selves. After hurried visits to the pattern and blacksmith
shops and the armory, the • Governor visited the new build-
ing of the boys' department. He was much interested in
the supper of the youngsters. He went about the dining
room speaking kindly words to each of the boys.
He was next shown a company at drill, and talked to sev-
eral of the individual members. As he was getting inter-
ested in the boys, a messenger brought word from Senator
Armstrong that the Governor was several minutes behind
time. On the way to his carriage, a large number of girls
sitting on the lawn, greeted the Governor with cheers.
When the Governor arrived at the carriage, he expressed
much surprise at the lateness of the hour, and reluctantly
left the institution. During his visit the Governor walked
about the grounds with a stride which surprised the fastest
walkers in the party. At the buildings, however, he was
frequently told he could not tarry longer for lack of time.
Amid cheers from the teachers and pupils of the institu-
tion the Governor waved his good-byes and took a last look
at the school, apparently much pleased with his visit.
DINNER AT GENESEE VALLEY CLUB.
Dinner was served at the Genesee Valley "Club at 0
o'clock. In the yellow room, at a round table, decorated
with peonies of yellow and white, the club colors, were seat-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
183
ed the guest of honor and his entertainers. On the right of
Governor Roosevelt was seated Senator Armstrong and next
to him James S. Watson. H. G. Danforth was seated at tha
Governor's left and Military Secretary Treadwell occupied
the seat next to Mr. Danforth. The others at the table were
L. P. Ross and Edward S. Brown. Though of the best and
elegantly served, the dinner was a very simple affair and
there was no accompanying music.
Those of the party who had never met the Governor be-
fore described him as a very entertaining talker and ex-
pressed themselves as delighted with his recitals of his
Cuban experiences, which occupied the greater part of the
dinner hour. It was a Little after 7 o'clock when, the dinner
being over, the party entered carriages and were driven to
the Court House for the public reception.
RECEPTION AT THE COURT HOUSE.
Monroe county's million dollar marble Court House proved
an ideal place for holding such a reception. -Festooned in
the central rotunda, near the dome, and standing out from
the marbles and brasses along the galleries, were draperies
of the national colors and at intervals Hags at full length re-
lieved by beautiful palms in abundance. Brilliant with
many lights, the elegant bronze candelabra, halls and open
court presented a dazzling scene.
On the right and just past the staircase, inclosed with vel-
vet ropes, stretched between the two great marble pillars,
was a platform raised about a foot above the floor. On this
and with the coal of arms of the Empire State emblazoned
on a banner above, the Chief Executive of the common-
wealth stood for nearly an hour giving hearty handclasps to
the citizens of the Flower City. Rich and poor, young and
old. black and white received the same cordial grasp of the
hand and the same friendly smile.
184
HISTORY OF THE
All day long the decorators, Bickford Brothers, were at
work in the Court House, and Charles IT. Bastable of the
general reception committee was at all times present to over-
see and direct the work. The plan to hold the reception in
the Court House originated with Mr. Bastable and its un-
qualified success proved the value of the suggestion and the
necessary executive ability to carry it out. Maurice Moll's
orchestra of fifteen pieces discoursed music from the gallery
on the second floor during the progress of the reception.
Seven o'clock had been announced as the hour for the
opening of the reception, but it was half an hour later be-
fore the Governor and his party arrived. Nevertheless all
who were assigned to duty were promptly on hand. Lieuten-
ant Russ with twelve of the handsomest men on the police
force arrived early. Xew York's Broadway squad in its
palmiest days never presented twelve finer looking men than
Officers Stein, Heinlein, Tindell, William O'Connor, Eugene
Sullivan. Saunders, Sharp, Pearson, Decker, Schmucker,
George Sullivan and John Lane; every man of them over six
feet tall. Two of. the Protective police, Officers Simson and
Smith, in their gray uniforms, were stationed at the stairways
and took tickets from those were were admitted to the upper
galleries.
LOCAL, MILITARY STAFF.
"Marching Through Georgia" was played by the Fifty-
fourth Regiment Band, which escorted the special staff of
local militia officers assigned to duty on the platform Avith
i lie distinguished guest. They were Captain H. B. Hender-
son, Captain F. G. Smith, First Lieutenant F. "W. Bailey,
First Lieutenant A. F. Smith, Junior Lieutenant F. M. Enos
and Second Lieutenant F. T. Eigabroadt. In their elegant
full dress uiforms they added a military halo to the scene.
Then arrived in full dress Chief of Police Cleary, Cap-
tains McDermott and Baird and Lieutenants Zimmerman,
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 1£5
Sherman, Stetson., Schwartz and Ryan, and a moment later
the Eighth Separate Company, Lieutenant E. N. Walbridge
commanding;, marched into the building.
Fifty members of the Eighth New York Cavalry, veterans
of the Civil War, under General William H. Benjamin,
after their annual reunion at Trondequoit Bay, marched to
Powers Hotel to tender their services as escort to the
Governor and his party to the Union League Club.
RECEPTION AT THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB.
As soon as the reception was ended at the Court House
the party was driven directly to the Union League Club
wigwam, on Grand street, where the members tendered a
rousing reception. The drive was a lively one, for all along
the streets approaching the wigwam there were red lights,
fireworks and the firing of guns. The street in front of the
club's headquarters was filled with people, and they cheered
lustily as the Governor's carriage appeared, headed by the
drill corps of the club, who had marched down South avenue
to meet the party.
The wigwam was handsomely decorated with flags and
bunting, and the platform was arranged as an alcove, hand-
somely festooned with flags. On the rostrum were Assem-
blyman A. J. Rodenbeck, Hon. John Van Voorhis, Treas-
urer Hamilton, Postmaster Graham, Charles J. Brown and
others.
WELCOMED IN POETRY.
J. Frank Wilber welcomed the guests and the Governor,
and said that the club had never been sorry for the loyal
support it had given to the honored guest of the evening last
fall. He introduced D. L. Ainsworth, who welcomed the
Governor with the following poem:
IgQ HISTORY OP THE
Soldier boys and civilians too
Extend their thanks for this interview.
It carries ns back to ninety-eight
When your valor honored the Empire State.
We saw you leading with courage and skill,
Cowboys and clerks up San Juan hill —
We saw you again at later date
Stumping for justice the Empire State.
You conquered the Dons and the Tammany Scouts,
And American manhood won both bouts.
With Justice the watchword in each strife
You battled each time for a better life.
Alive and alert you have not slept,
But your every promise faithfully kept.
Whether in field or halls of state.
Your service was worthy to emulate.
A classic man you have put aside caste
And merit deferred from first to last.
Labor and capital, rich and poor,
Enter alike at Roosevelt's door.
AVhether as Governor, civilian or scout.
You have worked your way from the inside out.
Inspired by justice to do the best
Your every action has stood the test.
The Union League grateful and true
Ardently, earnestly welcomes you.
Welcome the man who gave his youth
In defense of freedom, justice and truth.
Welcome the man of common clay
Whose deeds have earned him the right of way.
Comrade, brother, patriot true,
We honor, admire and welcome you.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^gf
WELCOMED IN PROSE.
The poem of welcome was followed by a speech by C. A.
Simmons, the captain of the drill corps. He said:
Mr. President: T am called upon to perform an excep-
tionally agreeable task to-night. The Union League Club
has been greatly honored by the presence as its guest of
that idol of the people of the State of New York and the
hero of this broad land of <»urs — that man of men — Hon.
Theodore Roosevelt.
In a time of the country's need that gentleman resigned
his position as an executive officer of the United States and
recruited that famous body of men — that fearless, awe-in-
spiring, zealously patriotic regiment of lighters — the Rough
Riders. Called upon to finally assume full control of the
destinies of that command he responded in a manner which
history will still repeat when all that lingers of the present
generation is but a memory.
It is not fitting that I should here more than merely men-
tion that famous .charge of San Juan hill, the land battle
which more than any other in the late war served to place
the nation on a plane higher than it had ever before attained.
Last fall this club stood heart and vote for Theodore
Roosevelt and not a solitary member has just cause for regret.
Proudly conscious of the great trust the sovereign people
reposed in his manhood and his integrity, he has borne him-
self such that they have come to realize a glowing fulfillment
of their innermost desires — an honest, patriotic executive.
On yonder wall, fondly wrapped in the flowing folds of
the American flag, that emblem for which he fought so
nobly and so well, and that of freed Cuba, in whose late his-
tory he played so conspicuous and remarkable a part, hangs
a picture of a man whom the members of this club and the
people of this city, this state and this country love to honor
— Colonel Theodore Roosevelt.
188
HISTORY OF THE
That picture was painted by Captain Russell, a veteran
of the Civil War and a member of this club, and is to hang
in the meeting room of this organization a mute but a glow-
ing testimonial of the fidelity of the man and the devotion of
the club. It is the earnest and sincere wish of the members
of the Union League Club that time may still further heap
bountiful honors on the name and the fame of our distin-
guished guest.
THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.
President Wilber accepted the picture in behalf of the
club and introduced Governor Roosevelt, who said in part:
"I very deeply appreciate the honor you have conferred
upon me, and the thoughtfulness you have shown in present-
ing this club with my picture, painted by a soldier of the
great war, one who fought years where we fought months.
You can hardly appreciate the way I 'am affected by the
spirit you have shown in receiving me. I think you know
I generally say what I mean and mean what I say. I assert
that no political honor could compensate for this spirit of de-
votion on your part.
"I think every man should be honored for what he accom-
plishes as a man, and for the fidelity he displays in keeping
the promises he has made. No single promise I made or im-
plied, but I have tried to the best of my ability to keep. I
will make mistakes, we all make them, but they will be mis-
takes made trying to serve my party by trying to make it
stand for the safety and progress of the commonwealth.
"Fundamentally a man must create his own happiness and
welfare, but the state can do something to help him in re-
ceiving the rights and liberties which we all inherit. It can
equalize the burdens he must bear, and make the difficulties
of government as light as possible. In matters of taxation
and labor I have done the best I could to make my office one
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. jgQ
in which all men are treated equal, showing no favor to race,
origin or creed.
"I appreciate the honor you have shown me, and shall en-
deavor to so conduct myself in the year and a half which
remains to me in office that I shall have a free conscience
when I front you again — for after all a man must be true to
his own ideals. Therein lies the best test of honest govern-
ment. I again thank you for the honor you have conferred
upon me in hanging my picture in your club rooms and in
giving me this splendid reception."
DOUGLASS DAY.
With flags flying from every masthead; amid the acclaim
of the largest concourse of people in many years; a parade
that included nearly all the military and civic organizations
of the city; with exercises in which the Governor of the
Empire State participated; with the booming of cannon and
the cheering of the populace; the statue was unveiled that
had been erected to the memory of the foremost colored
statesman known to modern history, the most conspicuous
historic figure ever seen in Rochester.
Frederick Douglass has always held a warm place in the
memory of Rochester. During many of the most active years
of his life, when he was fighting his hardest battles for the
freedom of his race, when he was -winning the great fame
that gave him the high place he holds in history, he was a
resident of this city. Here he had a wide circle of friends
and was known to most of the older inhabitants of the city.
Although in the later years of his life he lived in Washing-
ton, it was his dying wish that Rochester be his final resting
place. Here his body was brought four years ago and here
in the beautiful Mt, Hope cemetery his remains will repose
forever.
It was most fitting that the statue to the memory of Doug-
lass should be erected in the city of his adoption; that Roch-
190 HISTORY OF THE
ester should be the place for his public monument. In pay-
ing this tribute to the memory of a distinguished citizen the
city honored itself.
June 9th was a gala, day in Rochester. The people turned
out in such throngs as to crowd every available inch of space
within 300 feet of the monument, standing for hours during
the unveiling ceremonies. They thronged the Central sta-
tion when Governor Roosevelt arrived and they lined up all
along the streets through which the parade passed.
The programme began at 2:20 o'clock in the afternoon,
when the Governor reached the city, and did not end until
late in the evening, when the various entertainments that
had been arranged in his honor were concluded. The fea-
tures of the day were the big parade that passed through the
main streets of the city, the exercises connected with the
unveiling of the monument on the square at the junction of
Central avenue and St. Paul street, the public reception at
the Court House, and the entertainments at the Union
League Club and at Fitzhugh Hall.
While there was homage paid to the memory of the dead
statesman, there was mingled a tribute of respect to the Gov-
ernor of the state, wdio played a conspicuous part in the cere-
monies of the day. Governor Roosevelt came to Rochester
in an official capacity, as the head of the state government.
As such he was welcomed by the municipality; the guest of
the city. There was nothing, of course, that savored of par-
tisanship or politics in this visit of His Excellency to Roch-
ester. Democrats vied with Republicans in showing him
respect and in helping to entertain him.
CHAPTER XVII.
COMMENT OK DOUGLASS' LIFE BY THE AMERI-
CAN PRESS.
He figured in a revolutionary time and will be set down in
history as one of the most notable men of a fiery epoch. —
Elmira Gazette.
He lived in the stormiest epoch of our national existence
and in his person typified the woes and oppressions of the
black race. — Albany Journal.
He was an eloquent speaker, a good debater, a man of
business ideas, a devoted friend of his race and one of its
most honored and most worthy representatives. — Syracuse
Post.
Certainly his was the school of adversity, and that he tri-
umphed over obstacles such as would cause the bravest to
turn back shows the unshrinking courage of the man. — Troy
Times.
The struggles of his life were many and hard, but by force
of character he surmounted them all and became by all odds
the most conspicuous negro America has ever known. — Utica.
Observer.
As orator, editor and patriot he has left an impress upon
history which will be ineffaceaMo. What a commentary is
the career of Frcdoriek Douglass upon the institution of
slavery ! — New York Advertiser.
If a list were to be made of the Americans who have done
the greatest service to large numbers of their fellow citizens,
the name of Frederick Douglass would have a high place
upon it. — Buffalo Express.
192 HISTORY OF THE
Born a negro slave, he won freedom, distinction and wide-
spread influence by his OAvn efforts and his own abilities.
Author, orator, statesman and leader of his race, he achieved
a position and wielded an influence to which few men eau
a spire. — New York World.
There are many distinguished and honored citizens of
African lineage in the United States, but not one of them,
not all of them, has done so much to advance the interests
of this important element in American citizenship as the
great man who died suddenly February 20, 1895, in Wash-
ington— Brooklyn Times.
The slave-born Fred. Douglass had a great career. He
became the most commanding member of his race on this
continent. Fraancipation has so far failed to evolve a rival.
His brethren may well mourn to-day. They have lost a
sturdy friend, one who honored his kind Peace to his ashes !
— Troy Press.
To the last Mr. Douglass showed a keen interest in the
welfare of the colored people South as well as North. But
he was by no means a man of one idea. His sympathy with
the general progressive movements of the time was often
made manifest. His presence will be missed in many a
circle. — Boston Globe.
To "New England, and particularly to Massachusetts, he-
was looked upon almost as an adopted son, for it was in the
Old Bay state that his first words as a defender of his race
were spoken, and during the anti-slavery agitation he was a
prominent and welcome figure at many of the public meet-
ings held in this section to protest against the bondage of his
race. — Rochester Herald.
Frederick Douglass is not much more than a name to the
present generation, but in the period of anti-slavery agita-
tion the negro orator who had escaped from slavery was a
conspicuous figure. He had a natural gift of eloquence that
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. ^93
had been well cultivated, and that, with a picturesque ap-
pearance and considerable earnestness, enabled him to plead
for his race with uncommon force. — Philadelphia Times.
ISTo one could start in life in more forbidding and discourag-
ing circumstances than the boy who was destined to become
celebrated on two continents as Frederick Douglass, the
anti-slavery orator. His denunciations of slavery had not
only the force of conviction, but the irresistible quality de-
rived from personal experience. American annals furnish
no more captivating illustration of a self-made man. — New
York Tribune.
Mr. Douglass was one of the closest and most cogent
debaters of the slavery question, and a most earnest and con-
vincing advocate. On several occasions, in Syracuse, he was
threatened with mob violence, once or twice was rotten-
egged by slavery apologists and negro-haters; but he in-
variably preserved his temper, and was never provoked to
diversion from the discussion of principle to personal contro-
versy.— Syracuse Journal.
Mr. Douglass was a symmetrical character, free from the
hatred and bitterness manifested by many of the early aboli-
tionists, strong in argument and eloquent in speech. The
people trusted him from the first, and those who were nor.
unfriendly to slavery would listen to him when they would
not listen to white men expressing the same sentiments. His
good sen so, tact and judgment made his aggressiveness seem
to many a sort of pathetic earnestness, and he won the re-
spect even of those who insisted on calling themselves his
enemies. — Chicago Tnter-Ocean.
The lesson of Douglass' life is that of self trust and ener-
getic action. He was a grand illustration of what a mar),
may do for himself, his people and his country. With every-
thing against him he conquered a place for himself where he
was looked up to. even by his former enemies. He was not
194
HISTORY OF THE
a weak pleader or petitioner, but a man of iniative. It
was not because lie advanced the interests of the negro that
men will honor his memory to-day, but because, by advanc-
ing the interst of the negro he raised the level of all man-
hood and made the whole world better by living in it. —
Brooklyn Eagle.
A few years ago Frederick Douglass remarked to a friend
that he had often thought of spending his remaining days
in England because everywhere in the United States he wa3
constantly reminded of the prejudice against his race. — Buf-
falo Courier.
His inspiration was in his experience, and his impassioned
denunciation of the system from which he had been freed
carried with it a convincing force against which the cooler
expounders of the law could make little headway with those
avIio felt rather than thought of the legal restraints imposed
upon them. The great representative of his race was not al-
ways within the pale of the law, but he was always in deadly
earnest and. always sincere. — Detroit Free Press.
For more than half a century Mr. Douglass was a distin-
guished leader of his race by virtue of his intellectual gifts
and marked oratorical powers. In recent years he had fig
ured less prominently in the field of national discussion, but
his career, which began in slavery, was full of ripe honors
in the later years — civil, diplomatic and literary — and fur-
nishes a lustrous demonstration of the possibilities that un-
fold before character and worth in this republican land with-
out regard to the tint of a man's complexion. — Philadelphia
Record.
A good many years ago he was on a lecture jbour &n a
Northern state where the railroad companies provided sep-
arate ("Jim Crow") cars for negroes, as is still the custom,
we hear, in some parts of the Union, and required the ne-
groes to ride in them if they rode at all. The rule was im-
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
19j
perative. Nevertheless Douglass, by way of protest, calm-
ly took a seat in one of the cars reserved for white folks. A.
friendly conductor came along. He recognized his distin-
guished looking and already famous passenger at a glance,
and he was very reluctant to disturb him. "Indian?" he in-
quired, with a wink and smile. "No, nigger," said Fred-
erick Douglass. There was character in the answer. The
man who made it would not obtain personal consideration
and comfort at the price of a denial of his race and blood. —
Hartford Courant.
Frederick Douglass was the peculiar product of peculiar
conditions, and there was an element of romance in his life
of vicissitude which kept him clearly in the public eye long
after his real work was clone. He would hardly have at-
tained to so prominent a position as he did in the abolitionist
movement had he been forced to rely solely on his personal
qualities; it was the fact of his origin and his bitter experi-
ence in bondage that mainly won him attention and made
him a helpful force in those days. Not that he was lacking
in strong qualities of his own ; he was a man of a degree of
intelligence that would put to shame many whose ante-
cedents and early opportunities were vastly better than his,
and he had an oratorical ability of no mean order. But he
did not find in later life any work to which he could apply
himself quite so successfully as in earlier years to the libera-
tion of his fellow slaves, and there was no topic on which he
could think so clearly and talk so effectively as the wrongs of
that bondage which he himself had suffered. It was given
to him to perform a prominent and useful part in the toil-
some work of arousing the public. — Providence Journal.
CHAPTER XVIII.
HOW THE NATIONAL AFRO-AMERICAN COUNCIL
WAS FORMED.
August 23, 1898.
Mr. John W. Thompson, Rochester, N. Y.:
Esteemed Friend: I am in receipt of your communica-
tion of the 16th instant. It found me in moderate health.
Accept my congratulations on your great success; you have
immortalized yourself by this wonderful achievement. Long
may you live to perform such deeds in the interest of your
race. You may expect my presence on the 14th of Septem-
ber. I shall issue an order at once to the brethren to send
in their subscriptions to me. Rest assured I will leave no
stone unturned to collect every dollar subscribed. I had a
conference with Friend Fortune, Durham and others about
calling the proposed meeting at Rochester at the time of the
unveiling. Fortune has agreed to make a call for a con
ference of the leaders throughout the country, to meet at
Rochester about that time; he does not care to have a great
meeting of the rabble, but simply twenty-five or fifty of the
leaders of the race. I think this will add to the occasion.
He informed me that you had requested him to call a meet-
ing there. "Watch the "Age" of next week and see what his
decision will be (his final decision). If a call is made, notify
me at once, at the general postoffice, Detroit, Mich., as I will
be there the first week in September. I will notify the pas-
tor at Rochester, so he can assist you in making preparations
for the convention. You can depend upon me for any aid
or encouragement necessary. Yours very truly,
A. WALTERS.
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 197
This book would not be complete without giving the
facts connected with the formation of the Afro-American
Council in Rochester, September 15, 1898, at the request of
many leading Afro- American citizens from all over the coun-
try.
T. Thomas Fortune, president of the Afro- American
League, called a conference of the leaders of the race and
selected Rochester as the place of meeting, on account of
the unveiling of the Douglass monument, which was to have
taken place at Rochester, X. Y., September 14, 1898.
Tn the following letter to Bishop A. Walters, President
Fortune selected that city as the place of meeting:
To Bishop A. Walters, Jersey City, N. J.:
Mv Dear Sir: On the 10th of March last you did me the
honor to suggest that T issue, as president, a call for the res-
urrection and rehabilitation of the Afro- American League,
which was organized at Chicago, January 15, 1890, the sec-
mid and last annual meeting of which was held at Knoxville,
Tenn., in 1892. Since the first publication of your request
in "The Age," March 10th last, numerous persons, to the
number of one hundred and fifty, have joined in the request,
and their names have been published from time to time, at-
tached to your request, and have therefore become a part
of it, attaching national importance to the desire for some
organized expression of Afro-American opinion of the con-
ditions which confront the race, and which differ but little
from those stated by me in 1890, as a sufficient provocation
for calling the Afro-American League at Chicago.
I have given your request long and faithful consideration,
and have reached the conclusion that the popular sentiment
behind the request does not justify me in acceding to it.
There is just as much need of the Afro- American League to-
day as there was in 1890; there is even more need for such
an organization; but 1 do not believe that the masses of the
1Q8 HISTORY OF THE
race are any more ready and willing to organize local and
state leagues of the National League and to sustain them by
moral and financial support than they were in 1890 and
1892. I am therefore not willing to take the responsibility
of undertaking the resurrection of the Afro-American
League when the chances of effecting a permanent organiza-
tion are so very doubtful.
But, in deference to the desire of yourself and the persons
who have joined you in the request, and after consultation
with responsible men and women in all parts of the country,
who feel with me that something of an organized nature
should be done to stem the tide of wrong and injustice of
which the race is made the victims, I have decided to call a
conference at Rochester, N". Y., September 15, 1898, to con-
sider existing conditions and to take such action as may be
wise, loyal and patriotic for the future, the conference to be
composed of those who have joined in the request for the
resurrection of the Afro-American League, and who shall
determine upon the admission of such others as may appear
at Rochester and desire to participate in the work of the
conference.
My excuse for calling the conference at Rochester is to
take advantage of the race sentiment which will be invoked
by the unveiling of a monument to Frederick Douglass, in
Rochester, September 14th, a city in which Mr. Douglass
spent some of the best and happiest and most fruitful years
of his life, and one of the freest and most tolerant cities in
the republic, whose hotels and homes and press will receive
the conferees with open arms and generous hospitality.
Persons desiring to attend the conference should write to
Mr. John W. Thompson, P. O. Box 493, Rochester, N. Y.,
for railroad rates and hotel accommodations.
Invoking the Divine blessing on the proposed conference,
and thanking you, Bishop Walters and your co-signers, for
DOUGLASS MONUMENT.
199
the honor you have done me in your request, I am, with sen-
timents of high regard, yours truly,
T. THOMAS FORTUNE.
September 15th, at 10:45 o'clock promptly, Mr. T.
Thomas Fortune opened the meeting and called upon Rev.
Mr. Bowens, of Troy, to pronounce an invocation. J. W.
Thompson introduced Mayor Warner in the following words:
"I am pleased to welcome you to this important confer-
ence. Many of you are strangers here. I take great pleas-
ure in introducing to you Mayor George E. Warner, who
will make you welcome to our city."
Hon. George E. Warner said:
"Should any one assert to-day that the colored people are
not capable of becoming good citizens and enjoying the lib-
erties a short time ago presented to them, you may answer
by referring him to the words uttered in Fitzhugh Hall yes-
terday, to the monument then dedicated, and to the life of
Frederick Douglass. Not the least good done by that great
man for his race was his demonstration of his ability to pros-
per under good lawrs.
"It is to be hoped that the time may soon arrive when
the colored people will be able to cease their battle against
race prejudice and concentrate all their efforts for the full
development of all the abilities of the race. The events of
recent years show that time is the main element required to
make a good citizen of every colored man in the country.
Steady improvement lias been made in recent years in the
condition of the colored people of this country, due largely
to the increased educational facilities furnished throughout
the United States, the records showing that there has been
a steady increase in the number of colored people attending
our schools and colleges.
"Not only in the arts of peace but in those of war also,
the colored citizen has proven his worth. It was true Amer-
200 HISTORY OF THE
ican honesty which gave the colored troops before Santiago
their full share of the glory. There is not a citizen of the
country who is not proud of their record.
"It gives me pleasure to welcome you to our city. We
feel honored by your selecting our city as the place for your
conference. There are thousands of your race all over the
Union who grace every profession and calling, and I am sure
that a body of men more capable of dealing with questions
of public importance it would be difficult to find.
"We have in this city a large number of colored inhabi-
tants, whom we esteem as worthy citizens. Our city wa3
friendly to the colored race in days when that friendship was
criminal, and she is friendly still.
"I trust that your deliberations here will be profitable,
and result in increased benefit to the people you represent."
C. J. Perry, of the Philadelphia "Tribune," said: "There
is no city I have visited where I have noted the spirit of pa-
triotism to so great a degree. We have been charmed by
your commercial prosperity and the dignity of your citizens.
We expected to find these things. Kochester's name and
fame have gone out because of her business and literary ad-
vancements. Believe us, sir, when we say that we know full
well something of the spirit of freedom prevailing here, the
seed of which was sown by those some of whom are sitting
here to-day. How proud we are to know that the people of
this city do whatever they can to diffuse the spirit of gener-
osity over .the land.
"It was because of this generous spirit, the president of
the league selected Rochester as the new starting place for
the league. Fortunately for your city, sir, you are not sat-
isfied to rest upon glories of the past. Yesterday's dedica-
tion added only one more link in the chain of memories which
have made your city great, grand and glorious. We appre-
ciate your words of welcome."
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 201
Mr. Fortune then said: "As I am responsible for the
calling of this conference, it is fitting that I should say some-
thing of the object of the meeting. It was a long time be-
fore I decided to call the meeting. I do not think I shall
have anything further to do with an organization organized
for the benefit of the people in general unless the women
are given a voice in its affairs."
Miss Anthony interrupted: "I wish you could get a
white man to say that."
"They will have to say it ere long, Miss Anthony," replied
Mr. Fortune.
"I have had my experience in trying to create an organi-
zation out of an incongruous mass. And I stand here to-day
and say that I do not think the great mass of the colored
people of this countiy is prepared for a national organiza-
tion. Just as the Irish people were not prepared for organi-
zation when it was attempted.
"The poverty and ignorance of our people is against the
plan for they have had but thirty years in which to recover
from 250 years of bondage. We may not be able at once to
control the mass, but if we as individuals can get together
and devise a plan we may move the masses. Our attendance
here to-day is affected by the fact that the monument exer-
cises were postponed and then again taken up.
"The race as a whole is not in condition yet to combat the
prejudice against the race, but Bishop A. Walters, Collector
J. C. Dancy and others here think that even a handful can
sow the seed. I am almost persuaded that we cannot accom-
plish our object any more than we could the abolition of slav-
ery unless the white men and the black men, the white
women and the black women, join the movement.
"Three states, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana,
have disfranchised us as entirely as we were before the war.
Alabama is to do the same thing. Where it is not done by
202 HISTORY OF THE
constitutional enactment, it is done by scheme and fraud.
One half of the electoral vote of the South is disfranchised.
"The Southern sentiment that has been carried into the
new possessions will result in a revolution in ten years, un-
less care is taken. If you rule the black and yellow people,
in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines as the South has
been and is being ruled, you will have revolution upon revo-
lution and you ought to have it.
"If you expect to lift up the South by putting only the
white men forward, you are going to have trouble right
along. You have made 20,000 black teachers in the South
and have taught our people freedom, but in 'the South the
people are teaching out of text books fifty years old. You
cannot put the two classes together without a clash. Mob
law prevails in the South, and mob law leads to revolution.
You are sure to have it. It is the result of injustice.
"Take the separate car law. I ride in a Pullman car
when I want to. If I had my way I would build a monu-
ment to George M. Pullman so high you could not see the
top of it. If I ever had any trouble in securing a seat in a
Pullman car, all I needed to do was to telegraph headquar-
ters and my seat was ready at the next station and the con-
ductor who first refused me lost his job. Mr. Pullman died
too soon.
"I\Tow on the home question. I am opposed to having dif-
ferent marriage and divorce laws in the several states. While
this is the case we have no high standard of morality."
Taking up the subject of the Scotch woman who was re-
cently detained by the immigration commissioners at New
York because she came to America to marry a black man,
Mr. Fortune said he demanded to know the facts and through
his persistent efforts the woman was released and was mar-
ried to the black man.
"Revise your laws regarding the intermarriage of the
DOUGLASS MONUMENT. 203
races," continued Mr. Fortune/'if you wish to conduce to
morality. If a white woman falls in love with a black man
and they are not allowed to marry they will live together
illegally. The trouble is in your laws. Go South and you
will see the yellow color of the people. The black man did
not make the yellow color. Whose fault is it? Twenty-
four states in this union have laws prohibiting the intermar-
riage of the races. These laws should be wiped out. Surely
we have sufficient provocation to have an association for the
uplifting of the race."
Upon the motion of Bishop Walters, Mr. T. T. Fortune
was made temporary chairman. Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett
was made secretary. Upon motion of Mr. J. C. Dancy a
committee of three was appointed to ascertain the composi-
tion of the conference. This committee consisted of Messrs.
Dancy and Walters and Mrs. R. J. Jeffrey. The matter
was quickly settled by asking all who wished to participate in
the conference to come within the railing, there being no re-
striction as to color or sex.
Miss Susan B. Anthony made interesting remarks in behalf
of the colored people. As she stepped to the platform where
President Ward is accustomed to view the deliberations
of the Common Council, she said:
"I would like to stand at this side of the desk but I can-
not for here is a large spittoon; and there on the other side
is another. I wonder if when the black man is elected to
represent his ward in the august assemblage of the city
legislature, he will need a washtub at the side of his desk?"
The chairman appointed the following committees:
Organization — Bishop A. Walters, Charles R. Douglass,
John W. Thompson, Mrs. R. J. Jeffrey, Rev. W- E. Bowen.
Resolutions — John C. Dancy, Mrs. Rosita D. Sprague,
C. J. Perry, Mrs. Ida Wells Barnett, F. S. Cunningham.
At the afternoon session the committee on permanent or-
204 HISTORY OF THE
ganization made its report, which was adopted and Mr. T.
Thomas Fortune, of New York, was elected president; John
C. Dancy, North Carolina, vice-president; Mrs. Ida B. W.
Barnett, Chicago, Til., secretary; John W. Thompson, N. Y.,
treasurer.
For some reason Mr. Fortune resigned as president, and
Bishop Alexander Walters was elected president, to succeed
Mr. Fortune, who was afterwards elected chairman of the
executive committee, which consisted of these members: J
C. Dancy, Mrs. Ida B. W. Barnett, B. W. Arnett, J. W.
Parker, C. J. Perry, H. T. Keating and Bishop A. Walters,
ex-officio.
Prominent among those present were Mrs. Helen Doug-
lass, widow of the late Frederick Douglass, Mrs. Emily How-
ard, Mrs. Sarah C. Blaekall, Mrs. L. C. Smith, Washington,
D. C, and Rev. Joseph Dixon, Buffalo, N. Y.
Mrs. Frederick Douglass addressed the newly organized
Afro-American Council, taking for her subject the Frederick
Douglass Memorial Home.
The conference reassembled at 2 P. M., and was called to
order by Chairman Fortune.
John H. Smythe, of Richmond, Va., addressed the
chair and said he could not become a member if the confer-
ence opposed separate schools and favored mixed marriages.
He asked the chair to rule on his status. Mr. Fortune de-
clared that if Mr. Smythe favored separate schools and mar-
riages he could not be a member. The matter was put to a
vote and the chair was not sustained, whereupon Mr. Fortune
left the chair. The question was reconsidered, the chair's
decision was upheld and Mr. Smythe left the meeting.
THE END.
JAN 2- 1931