Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony, 1862-1867

328 Pages·2001·3.342 MB·English

by  Patricia C. Click

Time Full of Trial

TIME
The Roanoke Island
FULL OF
Freedmen’s Colony,
TRIAL
1862—1867
PATRICIA C. CLICK
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill and London
∫ 2001 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by April Leidig-Higgins
Set in Monotype Bulmer by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence
and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for
Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Click, Patricia Catherine.
Time full of trial: the Roanoke Island freedman’s colony,
1862–1867 / Patricia C. Click.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8078-2602-2 (alk. paper)
isbn 0-8078-4918-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Freedmen—North Carolina—Roanoke Island—History—
19th century 2. Freedmen—North Carolina—Roanoke
Island—Social conditions—19th century. 3. African
Americans—Missions—North Carolina—Roanoke Island—
History—19th century. 4. North Carolina—History—Civil
War, 1861–1865—African Americans. 5. North Carolina—
History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Social aspects. 6. United
States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—African
Americans. 7. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–
1865—Social aspects. 8. Roanoke Island (N.C.)—History—
19th century. I. Title.
f262.r4 c58 2001 975.6%175—dc21 00-069951
05 04 03 02 01 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of
the men, women, and children who labored
in the Roanoke Island freedmen’s colony

We are beginning in the very wilderness, to lay the foundations of
[a] new empire, but the results when carried out to their proper results
no mortal mind can foresee. We sow in faith, and expect to reap in joy.
capt. horace james,
Superintendent, Roanoke Island, 5 September 1863
It is with a heart full of gratitude to God that I seat myself to write you
this morning. It brings to mind the scenes through which we have
passed since the time when my quarterly report ought to have
been written—a time full of trial and yet full of joy.
ella roper,
Missionary Teacher, Roanoke Island, 31 May 1864
These are truly missionaries, and indeed greater ones than many
about whom history tells wonderful and famous things.
maj. gen. carl schurz,
Roanoke Island, 5 April 1865

Con†ents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
chapter one
This Important Victory: Battle and Aftermath 19
chapter two
An African Village of Grand Proportions: The Birth of the Colony 35
chapter three
A New Social Order: Horace James’s Ideas for the Colony 57
chapter four
Tossed upon a Sea of Troubles: Missionary Work in the Colony 73
chapter five
Letting In the Light: Education in the Colony 105
chapter six
Stamp Down or Troden under Feet:
The Military’s Treatment of the Roanoke Island Colonists 125
chapter seven
No Foot of Land Do They Possess:
The Decline of the Freedmen’s Colony 153
chapter eight
And the Partings Are Sad:
The Final Days of the Freedmen’s Colony 177
Epilogue 191
appendix a
Constitution of the American Missionary Association 207
appendix b
Beliefs of the National Freedman’s Relief Association,
as Stated in Its First Annual Report 209
appendix c
Horace James’s Letter to the Public, 27 June 1863 211
appendix d
Missionaries Who Served on Roanoke Island 213
appendix e
Extant Lists of Freedmen Who Lived in the Roanoke Island
Freedmen’s Colony 215
appendix f
Petitions from Freedmen Wishing to Stay on Roanoke Island,
December 1866 and December 1867 225
Notes 229
Bibliography 273
Index 287