Emanuel, " God With Us ", 1865

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
' Plucked from the headlines' as it were, rife with controversy on other fronts, a state and an entire country bleeds. The thing is, each time this awful event is referred to you hear this lovely place of worship referred to as ' An Historic African American Church '. Historic? Oh my.' The Church' anywhere refers to the congregation, the church body- never the wooden or stone or brick structure housing worship. Emanuel's is the oldest we have in our country, the longest History bar none- no matter the place or structure or laws or numbers. It's a tremendous story. And it's still here.

church emanuel2.JPG





Emanuel “ God With Us “. 1865



“ CNN)The roots of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church run deep in Charleston and its history is one of perseverance in the face of racial hostility.It was borne of discrimination, burned to the ground in hate, and rose again. “

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/us/charleston-emanuel-ame-church-history/

church denmark vesey.JPG

Denmark Vesey


Here’s an extraordinarily deep History and an awfully important one. Yes, all the heck all over the news and for tragically the same reason struggles through time mock our nation’s ability to claim the much vaunted misnomer ‘ Melting Pot ‘. Several articles used, truncated of necessity- reprinting entire articles understandably not a possibility.

I’m very sorry to have not discovered the existence of Emanuel until thrust unwillingly, again tragically and bloodily into our national psyche- a little unforgivable given how important a role this church community has played on the stage of an Historic saga whose actors had no choice but to undertake roles of immeasurably heroic significance.

“ The church was founded in 1816 by African American former members of the MethodistEpiscopal Church in Charleston, who left the church because of a dispute over burial grounds. The white churches, particularly the Methodist Episcopal Church, had increasingly discriminated against them in the prior years, and "capped the insult when they built a hearse house on the black burial ground. In 1818 a church leader, Morris Brown, left a white church in protest, and more than four thousand Black members followed him to this new church.

State and city ordinances at the time limited worship services by black people to daylight hours, demanded that a majority of congregants in a given church be white, and prohibited black literacy. In 1818, Charleston officials arrested 140 black church members and sentenced eight church leaders to fines and lashes. City officials again raided the church in 1820 and 1821.

In 1822, Denmark Vesey, one of the church's founders, was implicated in an alleged slave revolt plot. Vesey and five other alleged organizers were executed on July 2 after a secret trial, and the original church was burned down by ****s before being rebuilt. However, in 1834 all-black churches were outlawed in Charleston, and the congregation met in secret until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

After the war ended, Bishop Daniel Payne installed ReverendRichard H. Cain as the pastor of the congregations that would become Emanuel A.M.E. and Morris Brown A.M.E. In 1872, after serving in the South Carolina Senate(1868-1872), Reverend Cain became a Republican Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, continuing a tradition of religious leaders serving in political positions.

The congregation rebuilt the church between 1865 and 1872 as a wooden structure, under the lead of the architect Robert Vesey, the son of the abolitionist and church co-founder Denmark Vesey

After an earthquake demolished that building in 1886 President Grover Cleveland donated ten dollars to the church to aid its rebuilding efforts, noting that he was "very glad to contribute something for so worthy a cause." However, being a Democrat, he also donated 20 dollars to the Confederate Home, a "haven for white widows." The current building was constructed in 1891 The location of the post-Civil War churches is on the north side of Calhoun Street; blacks were not welcome on the south side of what was then known as Boundary Street when the church was built





http://www.emanuelamechurch.org/churchhistory.php

"Mother Emanuel" A.M.E. Church History

The history of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church reflects the development of religious institutions for African Americans in Charleston. Dating back to the fall of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Richard Allen founded the Free African Society, adhering to the Doctrines of Methodism established by John Wesley. In 1816, black members of Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church withdrew over disputed burial ground, and under the leadership of Morris Brown. The Rev. Morris Brown organized a church of persons of color and sought to have it affiliated with Allen's church. Three churches arose under the Free African Society and were named the "Bethel Circuit". One of the Circuit churches was located in the suburbs of Ansonborough, Hampstead, and Cow Alley, now known as Philadelphia Alley in the French Quarters of Charleston. Emanuel's congregation grew out of the Hampstead Church, located at Reid and Hanover Streets.

In 1822 the church was investigated for its involvement with a planned slave revolt. Denmark Vesey, one of the church's founders, organized a major slave uprising in Charleston. Vesey was raised in slavery in the Virgin Islands among newly imported Africans. He was the personal servant of slavetrader Captain Joseph Vesey, who settled in Charleston in 1783. Beginning in December 1821, Vesey began to organize a slave rebellion, but authorities were informed of the plot before it could take place. The plot created mass hysteria throughout the Carolinas and the South. Brown, suspected but never convicted of knowledge of the plot, went north to Philadelphia where he eventually became the second bishop of the AME denomination.

During the Vesey controversy, the AME church was burned. Worship services continued after the church was rebuilt until 1834 when all black churches were outlawed. The congregation continued the tradition of the African church by worshipping underground until 1865 when it was formally reorganized, and the name Emanuel was adopted, meaning "God with us". The wooden two-story church that was built on the present site in 1872 was destroyed by the devastating earthquake of August 31, 1886. The present edifice was completed in 1891 under the pastorate of the Rev. L. Ruffin Nichols. The magnificent brick structure with encircling marble panels was restored, redecorated and stuccoed during the years of 1949-51 under the leadership of the Rev. Frank R. Veal. The bodies of the Rev. Nichols and his wife were exhumed and entomed in the base of the steeple so that they may forever be with the Emanuel that they helped to nurture
. "
church cain1.JPG

Reverend Cain
chuch cain2.JPG






" In 1822 the church was investigated for its involvement with a planned slave revolt. Denmark Vesey, one of the church's founders, organized a major slave uprising in Charleston. Vesey was raised in slavery in the Virgin Islands among newly imported Africans. He was the personal servant of slavetrader Captain Joseph Vesey, who settled in Charleston in 1783. Denmark remained with him until in 1799, when he was able to purchase his freedom with a winning lottery ticket worth $1500. He became a successful carpenter, especially among Charleston's majority black population. Beginning in December 1821, Vesey began to organize a slave rebellion, but authorities were informed of the plot before it could take place. Three hundred thirteen alleged participants were arrested, and 35 including Vesey were executed. The plot created mass hysteria throughout the Carolinas and the South. Brown, suspected but never convicted of knowledge of the plot, went north to Philadelphia where he eventually became the second bishop of the AME denomination. "

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/ema.htm

church charelston emanuel.JPG



In March 1909, Booker T. Washington spoke at Emanuel AME Church.Among the attendees were many whites, including a member of the supreme court of Pennsylvania and Robert Goodwyn Rhett, the mayor of Charleston, lawyer and controlling owner of the News and Courier newspaper.

By 1951, the church had 2,400 members and had just completed a $47,000 ($427 thousand in 2015 dollar) renovation project, which earned an "outstanding improvement" award from the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.

In 1962, at a church meeting,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Wyatt T. Walker of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference urged church members to register and vote. CorettaScott King led a 1969 march of some 1,500 demonstrators to the church in support of striking hospital workers in Charleston. At the church, they faced bayonet-wielding members of the South Carolina National Guard; the church's pastor and 900 demonstrators were arrested.

The church building took damage from
Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Even though major repairs were made, the tin roof soon rusted and leaked, forcing it to be changed out for interlocking copper shingles.
 
Back
Top