By the Rivers of Water

by Erskine Clarke

  That evening there was a great palaver for Wasa, who was accused of giving information to the missionaries about the theft, but William Davis and Kra, another of the king’s brothers, stood up for Wasa and there was a decided majority in his favor. Nevertheless, when Wasa returned to Fair Hope, he gathered all of his possessions and sent them to Paul Sansay on Bayard Island to keep for him, for he feared he would be heavily fined.36

  The next day, Griswold and Walker went to Big Town for another palaver. Freeman explained how he had been insulted by the charges, saying they had made his heart burn. Then he said to the young Vermonters: “American black man was all the same as himself,” implying that as white men they did not have the same relationship to the Grebo as the black settlers. Freeman told Griswold and Walker that as they had just arrived at the Cape and were soon going away, they did not understand the way a palaver worked. You “make this palaver wrong,” said the king. Freeman then stood, said the palaver was settled, and went off greatly pleased with himself. The missionaries believed that Russwurm had been acting behind the scenes to encourage Freeman to ignore them and walk away from the palaver.37

  The matter thus rested for the next two weeks while the men went about their business. Walker and Griswold began negotiations with Russwurm’s father-in-law, George McGill, who was eager to purchase the buildings at Fair Hope and get control of the Fair Hope land. In spite of the dispute with Freeman, Griswold was busy treating ill Grebo, even amputating a hand that had been badly mangled by the explosion of a gun.38

  Then the dispute suddenly entered a dangerous new phase. Word arrived that a US man-of-war, the Vandalia, was approaching Cape Palmas to avenge the plunder of an American trading ship and the murder of its crew by a non-Grebo village some fifty miles south of Cape Palmas. Rumors spread that the navy would come to the aid of the missionaries and force the return of the stolen goods. William Davis came out to Fair Hope and reported that a settler had told him that the navy could not offer the mission any help unless the governor requested it. Russwurm, Davis said, was incensed that Griswold had not followed the protocol of asking him to negotiate the palaver with Freeman. Russwurm seemed determined to make the missionaries acknowledge the authority of the black colonial officials in any dealing with the Grebo.39

  When the Vandalia arrived, its captain, William Ramsay, invited Walker and Griswold on board together with Lancelot Minor, an Episcopal missionary. Griswold, not feeling well, declined, and Walker and Minor spent a seasick day on the ship. Ramsay wanted to learn if they had heard any details about the plundered American ship. They had little to add to what Ramsay already knew, but during the course of their conversation, Walker told the captain of the difficulties the mission was having with Freeman and the Grebo. Minor then told how both the Episcopal mission and the mission of the American Board felt constantly harassed by the colonial authorities. Both missions, he said, had moved their work beyond the boundaries of the colony. Ramsay apparently found it very strange that the colony should take such a stand in regard to the missions. But more significantly, he said that since the colony was not recognized by the United States, he would act as if there were no colony or colonial authority at Cape Palmas.40

  If Ramsay had no authority to recognize the settlement at Cape Palmas as a legitimate state, he did have the responsibility of protecting American citizens and their property. He consequently told the missionaries that he would send his first lieutenant to talk with Freeman and the Grebo headmen. The lieutenant would tell them that restitution must be made immediately or the captain would fire on them and destroy all their towns.41

  Later in the day, Russwurm and George McGill came on board. For the first time in the seven months he had been in Africa, Walker met the governor. There had been no welcome from him when the missionaries had arrived. And when Russwurm had failed to attend Prudence’s funeral or to send condolences, Walker had made no effort to visit the governor. Their relationship was thus strained even before their first meeting on the Vandalia.42

  Ramsay, trying to gather whatever information he could about the plundered ship, asked Russwurm and McGill if they knew any details about what had happened. Russwurm went over what he had heard and then made the mistake of telling Ramsay how he should retaliate. The captain responded coolly, apparently thinking the governor presumptuous, and said he would act as he chose. Russwurm and McGill left the ship late in the afternoon without the captain saying a word to them about the colony and its relationship with the missions or his plans for dealing with the Grebo. The captain of an American merchant ship anchored at Cape Palmas told Walker the next day that the governor was not satisfied with his reception on board the Vandalia and that Captain Ramsay was as little satisfied with the governor.43

  Several days later, Ramsay followed up on his promise to help the missionaries recover their stolen goods. The lieutenant whom he sent ashore, a “Lt. Ring,” came with some marines. Ring immediately sent for Freeman to meet him at Fair Hope. The king delayed and then said that Ring should come to Big Town for the palaver. Ring sent word again that the king should come to Fair Hope or he would have him brought there. Finally Freeman arrived with his headmen. He told Ring how such matters had been handled in the past—the governor had called on the king to return the stolen goods or make restitution, and then had waited on him to do so. The lieutenant took no notice of this earlier protocol but proceeded to enumerate the stolen goods. He then asked Freeman if they would have the goods returned to Fair Hope. The king said the same thing over again—how in the past the governor had asked Freeman for the return of the goods and then had waited for the king to make restitution. Ring told him he had heard that once and would not hear it again. He must say yes or no very quickly. Ring reported his instruction from Captain Ramsay: he was “requiring the return of the goods and promise of good conduct in the future, or he should proceed to punish them by destruction of their town and by hanging up the King and headmen.” This, noted Walker, “cut the old King dreadfully. He found himself in close quarters. He then said, ‘We will pay it.’” Ring had Freeman and his headmen put their marks on an agreement to have the stolen goods returned. After inscribing their marks, they left, saying, “Them be too big men. We fraid of them.”44

  Walker and Griswold found themselves agreeing with the Grebo. Ring, although a pleasant man in their estimation, had looked savage, Walker wrote, because of his irritation with Freeman’s delays. What worried the missionaries was their fear that Ramsay and Ring had put themselves in a difficult situation. If the Grebo failed to return the goods, would Ramsay actually fire on them? The missionaries, having raised the issue with the navy, now found that they had unleashed the possibility of a violent military response. The guns of the Vandalia might end up destroying Big Town and killing some of the very people the mission had been established to serve. Having long taken the stand that the mission could not participate in any military action against the Grebo, they now faced the embarrassing and potentially disastrous possibility of having instigated a naval bombardment of Big Town! Meeting with the Episcopal missionaries, they sent a joint note to Captain Ramsay insisting that they could recommend only peaceful measures.45

  When Russwurm learned of the palaver at Fair Hope, he was outraged that he had been bypassed. He sent a protest to Ramsay and included documents asserting his authority. The captain ignored the documents, except to ask why they had been sent. Russwurm then sent a note to Ramsay, which the captain, in disgust, sent to Fair Hope for Griswold and Walker to read. In it, Russwurm pointed out that the colonial government was the legally established government of the colony and had responsibility for dealing with the Grebo. He said that as governor of the colony, he had not been treated with all due respect by the missionaries in their palaver with Freeman. For their conduct, he concluded, “the government can assign but one cause—bitter prejudice, which as Christian missionaries, should be laid aside for the time being, at least, while they continue in the black man’s country.” Moreover,
wrote Russwurm, there had been a want of courtesy on Ramsay’s part in his dealing with the colonial government—the captain had failed to consult the colonial authorities before sending Lt. Ring to Fair Hope and holding the palaver with Freeman. The captain thought the governor impertinent and did not reply to his note.46

  At this dangerous point, William Davis became a critical player in the negotiations, serving as a middleman between the various factions. Freeman was still delaying the return of the stolen goods. Davis called a palaver with his brother and the other Grebo leaders and told them they must act quickly to return what had been stolen; if the goods could not be returned, they would have to pay for them. Freeman and the leaders protested, saying that Russwurm had said they did not have to pay; indeed, they believed they would be fools to do so. But Davis persisted, saying that he had heard that Ramsay was planning to send a boat to take Freeman and some headmen on board the Vandalia and keep them there until the stolen goods were returned or restitution made.47

  Nothing was settled by the palaver, but Freeman was clearly growing anxious. The Grebo were realizing that Ramsay was serious and intended to use his naval power to secure some compensation for the missionaries. Davis sent a note to the captain asking for twenty-four hours to try to settle the matter. Ramsay responded positively and asked Davis to write to him and tell him what he knew. Had Russwurm, the captain wondered, tried to interfere behind the scenes in the negotiations between the missionaries and the Grebo?

  Davis wrote the captain and gave him details that went back before the arrival of the Vandalia. Immediately after the goods had been stolen, Griswold had sent a letter to Freeman via Wasa. The king had gathered the headmen and had had Davis read the letter to all of them. Griswold said in the letter that he didn’t want to hurt the Grebo and had urged Freeman to return what had been stolen before the man-of-war arrived. The king, Davis wrote the captain, responded to Griswold’s letter by saying that he did not believe the US Navy would act on behalf of the missionaries. Davis had persisted and had asked his brother and the people “how much rice you gone to pay.” They responded by saying that the governor and some leading settlers told them that “we must no pay anything to these ministrys.” But, Davis wrote Ramsay, he was now hearing the people say, “Gov. tell no truth.” After I heard this, Davis said, “I feel sorry because I fear them to get heavy palaver.”48

  In the end, under Davis’s leadership, a palaver was settled, the goods were paid for in rice and cattle, the guns of the Vandalia were not fired, and Freeman was soon back at Fair Hope eating dinner and going to church. Russwurm, however, sent a protest to the naval authorities in Washington. Ramsay informed the colonization board of Russwurm’s interference with the missionary’s palaver. The naval authorities cleared Ramsay—he was doing his duty to protect Americans, and the US government did not recognize Maryland in Liberia as a state.49

  Latrobe and his colleagues, however, were outraged. A year earlier they had given their rose-tinted report to the Maryland legislature, claiming that a happy relationship—“in every way satisfactory”—existed between the colonization society and the missionaries. Now, in December 1842, they wrote the mission boards that if the missionaries ignored the colonial government again, the missions would have to leave immediately. Anderson replied apologizing for Griswold, saying that he was young and did not understand the established protocol; if Leighton had been there, things would have been different. And he wrote a scolding letter to Griswold which the Vermonter vigorously rejected. If placed in the same situation again, Griswold wrote back, he would pursue precisely the same course. Moreover, if he had been wrong, then he was the one to make an apology, and he was sorry that Anderson had presumed to apologize for him. The US government, he reminded Anderson, did not recognize the authority of the colonial government; the Grebo had not submitted to the authority of the colonial government; and Russwurm did not have even the shadow of authority over the Cape Palmas Grebo. Griswold pointed out that he had not become a citizen of the colony, and Anderson and the American Board were not to attempt to settle his civil relations; nor should they pretend to have the power to surrender him to any foreign government. The young Vermonter and Yale graduate, who had stood with the Amistad prisoners, was not going to be intimidated by a mission board in Boston!50

  Later, when he learned of the whole affair, Leighton backed him up. In a more restrained and diplomatic manner, he wrote to Anderson that he would have done the same as Griswold, as Russwurm had no authority over the Grebo. James, who had been at Fish Town during the controversy, was even more circumspect. As an African American missionary, he wrote as well, quoting the part of Russwurm’s letter in which he accused the white missionaries of ignoring him and of being prejudiced against him as a black man. “With regard to W and G refusing to ask Gov R.’s assistance I have nothing to say,” he wrote. “Your decision on the matter will be perfectly satisfactory to my mind knowing as you do the state of affairs between the colony and the mission.” And the mission board itself—much to the delight of abolitionists—finally publicly declared that the missionary movement and colonization were not compatible.51

  But it was all, of course, already a settled matter as far as the mission at Fair Hope was concerned. A few weeks after the Grebo had made restitution with rice and cattle, Griswold and Walker, together with the widow Mrs. Dr. Wilson and some more teachers and students, sailed for Gabon. James, Margaret, and Catherine, however, stayed behind at Fair Hope. Margaret was pregnant, and they didn’t want to leave the old mission cottage until the baby had been born and had passed safely through the seasoning fever. They planned to stay until Leighton returned for a short visit to close up the affairs of the mission in 1843; at the same time, Leighton would be meeting Jane upon her return from the United States.52

  The days of Fair Hope mission thus drew close to a conclusion. The mission was leaving behind as its legacy a Grebo grammar, dictionary, hymn book, school books, and part of a Grebo Bible. It was also leaving behind William Davis and a cluster of other Grebo Christians. The converts were already beginning to attach themselves to the Episcopal mission and its schools and stations, which lay beyond the colony’s borders. None of those leaving and none of those staying could have imagined that in the years ahead a Grebo Christian leader would emerge who would transform the religious life of a great multitude of West African people.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “The Liberty of Choosing for Themselves”

  As Jane sailed toward New York through the rolling waters of the Atlantic, she no doubt thought of her sister, Margaret, and Margaret’s husband, James Eckard. She was eager to see them and had learned shortly before leaving Fair Hope that they, too, were returning to the United States. Already in the summer of 1842 they were on board some ship moving through the waters of a distant ocean toward home and a reunion with family and friends.1

  The Wilsons had kept up with the Eckards through letters from home that conveyed news of them, as well as by reading missionary papers that gave reports from scattered but rapidly growing mission stations around the world. But there had also been letters from Margaret and James that had made their way across oceans to Cape Palmas. Sometimes they arrived as a surprise when a ship sailing from Ceylon or India stopped at Cape Palmas. But most often they came doubling back, having been received by some friend in England who forwarded them to Fair Hope. These carefully folded pieces of paper with their messages in ink—often smudged or blotted—arrived as welcomed news after their long journeys and as indicators that the ocean highways of an Atlantic world were connected to other highways that crossed other oceans in great circular networks. Traveling along these highways were people, animals, plants, and pathogens; cloth and spices; guns; and any other article of trade that promised a profit. And along these highways and their connecting dusty or muddy roads, Protestant missionaries had been traveling and sending letters and reports in increasing numbers for several decades.2

  The missionary journals
and religious papers that had arrived at Cape Palmas in carefully packed bundles had been reminders to Leighton and Jane that their mission at Fair Hope was part of a worldwide mission effort among Protestants. The Missionary Herald from Boston, the Missionary Register and the Missionary Herald from London, the Charleston Observer from South Carolina, and the Home and Foreign Record from New York—these and other journals and papers had come to Fair Hope as manna from heaven and had been slowly and lovingly consumed. Leighton and Jane had carefully paced themselves in order to spread over as many days as possible the pleasures of reading about a world beyond the surf at Cape Palmas. They had read about Leighton’s friend John Adger, who was working among the Armenians in Turkey, translating the Bible into modern Armenian while being protected by the Turkish government. They had read of J. L. Merrick, Leighton’s classmate at Columbia, and his work in Persia, and about missions in southern Africa and in India and China and on the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean. But most of all, they had read with intense interest the reports on the life and work of the Eckards in Ceylon among the Tamil people.3

  James Eckard had been teaching at Batticotta Seminary on the Jaffna Peninsula, where a strong educational system was being rapidly developed by Protestant missionaries from the United States and Britain. He had taught in both English and Tamil and had assisted in the production of thousands of tracts and books pouring from four missionary presses on the peninsula—13,289,000 pages had been produced in 1839 alone! Cholera was the great scourge among the people there, and James often had to act the role of physician. He later told Charles Hodge that he gave cholera sufferers a mixture of calomel and opium, and that if the potion was retained, it usually resulted in a cure.4