Page:The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race (1919).djvu/19



HE NEGRO RACE has developed some unique characters who stand out conspicuous in their line of endeavor. Not the least among 1 these is Sojourner Truth a wo man -of considerable native ability though an illiterate.

She was born a slave in Ulser County, N. Y., about the year 1775 and died in Battle Creek, Michigan, Nov. 26th, 1883. She was held in slavery even after its abolition in the same State. In 1827 she escaped from her owner and went to New York City and from thence to Northampton, Mass., and then to Rochester, N. Y.

Like Joan of Arc, she claimed that she was called to her work through a vision.

Her mother was brought from Africa, but her father was a mixture of Negro and Indian blood.

The early training of her mother influenced her entire after life. She taught her the value of honesty and truth and directed her mind to contemplate God as a Father and friend to whom she could go in confidence and trust.

Naturally Isabella (her slave name) developed a very religious trait.

She learned the true meaning of prayer and approached it in the spirit of a confident telling her troubles to God and invoking his aid.

One day she thought that she met God face to face and it so startled her that she exclaimed : "O God, I did not know you as you was so big !"

She changed her name from Isabella, the one given her by her master, to Sojourner, claiming that the Lord had bestowed it upon her in a vision and added the appellation "Truth" because that was the substance of the message she felt impelled to declare to men.

From the issue of her marriage Sojourner be came the mother of five children, the father dying when they were quite young, left their care and support to her.

The following incident tends to show that the mother instinct was strong in her.

One of her sons was sold into slavery in Alabama and she was anxious to find him so she sought council of God. Now simple and child like her plea, "Now, God, help me get my son. If you were in trouble as I am, and I could help you, as you can help me, think I wouldn't do it? Yes, God, you know I would do it. I will never give you peace 'till you do, God!" and then taking it for granted that she would receive the required help, she continued, "Lord, what would them have me do?" the answer coming, "Go out of the city." Not knowing the direction she should take, she made further inquiry and received instruction to "Go East."

Accordingly on the morning of the first day of June, 1845, with a few clothes in her bag, a few shillings and a basket of food, she left the city and turned her face towards the rising sun.

It was on this morning that she gave herself, feeling divinely directed, her new name, saying that since she was to be a traveler, a sojourner, her name should be Sojourner. Being asked her sur name she exclaimed that she had not thought of that, but immediately went to God about it and in her characterictic way exclaimed, "Oh, God, give me a name with a handle to it," and then came the thought that God's name was truth and she at once adopted that as her sur-name, which so pleased her that she lifted up her eyes to God in thanks, saying, "Why, thank you God, that is a very good name."

Sojourner was a woman of great shrewdness, wit and impressive voice which together with force of character made her an effective speaker.

The great theme of her lectures and the object of her effort was the emancipation of her people, though she touched upon woman's rights, temperance and political reforms.

She traveled widely ijj the northern part of the United States, but during the Civil War she spent much of her time in Washington.

Her power to electrify audiences was compared with that of the great French actress, Rachel.

On one occasion Frederick Douglass was speak ing to a large audience and was painting a gloomy picture of the conditions of slavery and was up braiding the church and State. Just as he had got the audience under his sway, Sojourner suddenly arose in the rear of the room and cried:

"Frederick! Frederick! is God dead?" It broke the spell of pessimism and for a time left the audience and the speaker dumbfounded.

She composed a battle hymn for a Negro regiment of Michigan and sang it herself both at Detroit and Washington:

"We hear the proclamation Massa, hush it as you will; The birds will sing it to us, hopping on the cotton hill; The possum up the gum tree couldn't keep it still; As we went climbing on."

Her's was a life of service and though of humble origin and of meager ability other than that conferred upon her by nature, she died in her home in Battle Creek, Michigan, with the satisfaction that she had contributed her mite in the service of her people.