In Washington, D.C. today U. S. Senator John B. Henderson of Missouri submits a joint resolution for a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. Although the legislation does not pass this year, Henderson’s resolution signifies the momentum of the movement toward the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment and the abolishing of slavery on February 1, 1865. Meanwhile,…
Following U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s Emancipation Proclamation of January , 1863, a group of approximately 75 enslaved blacks escaped from Boone County, Missouri and made their way northward. Many if not most were of the Baptist faith. Accounts indicate that the runaway slaves traveled part of the way by river and were rescued and towed…
Shortly after the new year begins, the white First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee establishes a “Second Colored Baptist Mission” in Edgefield (on Fatherland Street), East Nashville. Directed by a white committee and George Dardis, a free black preacher, the Second slave congregation is co-sponsored by Nelson G. Merry, the free black pastor of the…