SOJOURNER TRUTH: THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO WIN A CASE AGAINST A WHITE MAN

Sojourner Truth (Circa~1797 - November 26, 1883) former slave, abolitionist, preacher and advocate of women's rights who was the first black woman to win a case against a white man.

Born Isabella Baumfree, self-named Sojourner Truth escaped from slavery in the 1820s. She was the first black woman to win a case against a white man to get back her son. This abolitionist was
 a traveling preacher, wrote about racial inequality and helped black troops in the Civil War.




                                                    Sojourner Truth



Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 on the Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh estate in Swartekill, in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York. Her given name was Isabella Baumfree (also spelled Bomefree). She was one of 13 children born to Elizabeth and James Baumfree, also slaves on the Hardenbergh plantation. She spoke only Dutch until she was sold from her family around the age of nine. Because of the cruel treatment she suffered at the hands of a later master, she learned to speak English quickly, but had a Dutch accent for the rest of her life.




                                     Photograph of Sojourner Truth  
Source: Beinecke


She was first sold around age 9 when her second master (Charles Hardenbergh) died in 1808. She was sold to John Neely, along with a herd of sheep, for $100. Neely's wife and family only spoke English and beat Isabella fiercely for the frequent miscommunications. She later said that Neely once whipped her with "a bundle of rods, prepared in the embers, and bound together with cords." It was during this time that she began to find refuge in religion -- beginning the habit of praying aloud when scared or hurt. When her father once came to visit, she pleaded with him to help her. Soon after, Martinus Schryver purchased her for $105. He owned a tavern and, although the atmosphere was crude and morally questionable, it was a safer haven for Isabella.

But a year and a half later, in 1810, she was sold again to John Dumont of New Paltz, New York. Isabella suffered many hardships at the hands of Mrs. Dumont, whom Isabella later described as cruel and harsh. Although she did not explain the reasons for this treatment in her later biography narrative, historians have surmised that the unspeakable things might have been sexual abuse or harassment (see the biography on Harriet Jacobs, the only former slave to write about such), or simply the daily humiliations that slaves endured.

Sometime around 1815, she fell in love with a fellow slave named Robert, who was owned by a man named Catlin or Catton. Robert's owner forbade the relationship because he did not want his slave having children with a slave he did not own (and therefore would not own the new 'property'). One night Robert visited Isabella, but was followed by his owner and son, who beat him savagely ("bruising and mangling his head and face"), bound him and dragged him away. Robert never returned. Isabella had a daughter shortly thereafter, named Diana. In 1817, forced to submit to the will of her owner Dumont, Isabella married an older slave named Thomas. They had four children: Peter (1822), James (who died young), Elizabeth (1825), and Sophia (1826).


The state of New York began in 1799 to legislate the gradual abolition of slaves, which was to happen July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised Isabella freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if she would do well and be faithful." However, he reneged on his promise, claiming a hand injury had made her less productive. She was infuriated, having understood fairness and duty as a hallmark of the master-slave relationship. She continued working until she felt she had done enough to satisfy her sense of obligation to him -- spinning 100 pounds of wool -- then escaped before dawn with her infant daughter, Sophia. She later said:
"I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right."
Isabella wandered, not sure where she was going, and prayed for direction. She arrived at the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen (Wagener?). Soon after, Dumont arrived, insisting she come back and threatening to take her baby when she refused. Isaac offered to buy her services for the remainder of the year (until the state's emancipation took effect), which Dumont accepted for $20. Isaac and Maria insisted Isabella not call them "master" and "mistress," but rather by their given names.
Isabella immediately set to work retrieving her young son Peter. He had recently been leased by Dumont to another slaveholder, who then illegally sold Peter to an owner in Alabama. Peter was five years old. First she appealed to the Dumonts, then the other slaveholder, to no avail. A friend directed her to activist Quakers, who helped her make an official complaint in court. After months of legal proceedings, she won the custody of her child. Peter returned to her, scarred and abused.

During her time with the Van Wagenens, Isabella had a life-changing religious experience -- becoming "overwhelmed with the greatness of the Divine presence" and inspired to preach. She began devotedly attending the local Methodist church and, in 1829, left Ulster County with a white evangelical teacher named Miss Gear. She quickly became known as a remarkable preacher whose influence "was miraculous." She soon met Elijah Pierson, a religious reformer who advocated strict adherence to Old Testament laws for salvation. His house was sometimes called the "Kingdom," where he led a small group of followers. Isabella became the group's housekeeper. Elijah treated her as a spiritual equal and encouraged her to preach also. Soon after, Robert Matthias arrived, who apparently took over as the group's leader, with the activities becoming increasingly bizarre. In 1834, Pierson died with only the group's members attending. His family called the coroner and the group disbanded. The Folger family, whose house the group had moved into, accused Robert and Isabella of stealing their money and poisoning Elijah. They were eventually acquitted and Robert traveled west.


Isabella settled in New York City, but she had lost what savings and possessions she had had. She resolved to leave and make her way as a traveling preacher. On June 1, 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and told friends, "The Spirit calls me [East], and I must go." She wandered in relative obscurity, depending on the kindness of strangers. In 1844, still liking the utopian cooperative ideal, she joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Massachusetts. This group of 210 members lived on 500 acres of farmland, raising livestock, running grist and saw mills, and operating a silk factory. Unlike the Kingdom, the Association was founded by abolitionists to promote cooperative and productive labor. They were strongly anti-slavery, religiously tolerant, women's rights supporters, and pacifist in principles. While there, she met and worked with abolitionists such as WilliaSm Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles. Unfortunately, the community's silk-making was not profitable enough to support itself and it disbanded in 1846 amid debt.

Sojourner went to live with one of the Association's founders, George Benson, who had established a cotton mill. Shortly thereafter, she began dictating her memoirs to Olive Gilbert, another Association member. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave was published privately by William Lloyd Garrison in 1850. It gave her an income and increased her speaking engagements, where she sold copies of the book. She spoke about anti-slavery and women's rights, often giving personal testimony about her experiences as a slave. That same year, 1850, Benson's cotton mill failed and he left Northampton. Sojourner bought a home there for $300. In 1854, at the Ohio Woman's Rights Covention in Akron, Ohio, she gave her most famous speech -- with the legendary phrase, "Ain't I a Woman?" :
"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place, and ain't I a woman? ... I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me -- and ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well -- and ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children and seen most all sold off to slavery and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me -- and ain't I woman?"
Sojourner later became involved with the popular Spiritualism religious movement of the time, through a group called the Progressive Friends, an offshoot of the Quakers. The group believed in abolition, women's rights, non-violence, and communicating with spirits. In 1857, she sold her home in Northampton and bought one in Harmonia, Michigan (just west of Battle Creek), to live with this community. In 1858, at a meeting in Silver Lake, Indiana, someone in the audience accused her of being a man (she was very tall, towering around six feet) so she opened her blouse to reveal her breasts.

                                     Sojourner Truth with President Abe Lincoln

During the Civil War, she spoke on the Union's behalf, as well as for enlisting black troops for the cause and freeing slaves. Her grandson James Caldwell enlisted in the 54th Regiment, Massachusetts. In 1864, she worked among freed slaves at a government refugee camp on an island in Virginia and was employed by the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington, D.C. She also met President Abraham Lincoln in October. (A famous painting, and subsequent photographs of it, depict President Lincoln showing Sojourner the 'Lincoln Bible,' given to him by the black people of Baltimore, Maryland.) In 1863, Harriet Beecher Stowe's article "The Libyan Sibyl" appeared in the Atlantic Monthly; a romanticized description of Sojourner. (The previous year, William Story's statue of the same title, inspired by the article, won an award at the London World Exhibition.) After the Civil War ended, she continued working to help the newly freed slaves through the Freedman's Relief Association, then the Freedman's Hospital in Washington. In 1867, she moved from Harmonia to Battle Creek, converting William Merritt's "barn" into a house, for which he gave her the deed four years later.

In 1870, she began campaigning for the federal government to provide former slaves with land in the "new West." She pursued this for seven years, with little success. In 1874, after touring with her grandson Sammy Banks, he fell ill and she developed ulcers on her leg. Sammy died after an operation. She was successfully treated by Dr. Orville Guiteau, veterinarian, and headed off on speaking tours again, but had to return home due to illness once more. She did continue touring as much as she could, still campaigning for free land for former slaves. In 1879, Sojourner was delighted as many freed slaves began migrating west and north on their own, many settling in Kansas. She spent a year there helping refugees and speaking in white and black churches trying to gain support for the "Exodusters" as they tried to build new lives for themselves. This was to be her last mission.
                                          Sojourner Truth   Source: NYPL

Sojourner made a few appearances around Michigan, speaking about temperance and against capital punishment. In July of 1883, with ulcers on her legs, she sought treatment through Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at his famous Battle Creek Sanitarium. It is said he grafted some of his own skin onto her leg. Sojourner returned home with her daughters Diana and Elizabeth, their husbands and children, and died there on November 26, 1883, at 86 years old. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery next to her grandson. In 1890, Frances Titus, who published the third edition of Sojourner's Narrative in 1875 and became Sojourner's traveling companion after Sammy died, collected money and erected a monument on the gravesite, inadvertently inscribing "aged about 105 years." She then commissioned artist Frank Courter to paint the meeting of Sojourner and President Lincoln.

Sojourner Truth has been posthumously honored in many ways over the years:

               Sojourner Truth Monument
              12 foot tall Sojourner Truth Monument located in downtown Battle Creek, MI
  • a memorial stone in the Stone History Tower in Monument Park, downtown Battle Creek (1935);
  • a new grave marker, by the Sojourner Truth Memorial Association (1946);
  • a historical marker commemorating members of her family buried with her in the cemetery (1961);
  • a portion of Michigan state highway M-66 designated the Sojourner Truth Memorial Highway (1976);
  • induction into the national Woman's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York (1981);
  • induction into the Michigan Woman's Hall of Fame in Lansing (1983);
  • a commemorative postage stamp (1986);
  • a Michigan Milestone Marker by the State Bar of Michigan for her contribution (three lawsuits she won) to the legal system (1987);
  • a marker erected by the Battle Creek Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs (also 1987);
  • a Mars probe named for her (1997);
  • a community-wide, year-long celebration of the 200th anniversary of her birth in Battle Creek in 1997, plus a larger-than-life statue of her by artist Tina Allen; and
  • the First Black Woman Honored with a Bust in the U.S. Capitol (October, 2008)
DATE OF DEATH: November 26, 1883
PLACE OF DEATH: Battle Creek, Michigan
PORTRAYED BY: Stephanie Tolliver (source:http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm)

                              A bronze sculpture of Sojourner Truth by Sculptor Larry Johnson

Sojourner Truth:
"Ain't I a Woman?", December 1851
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883): Ain't I A Woman?
Delivered 1851
Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio 

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.

This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history. Source; http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp

                                                      Bust of Sojourner Truth
Below is the story of how Sojourner delivered that her epoch speech and was witnessed by feminist Frances Dana Baker Gage and the original American vernacular she spoke in.

1863 version by Gage

The speech was recalled 12 years after the fact by Gage, feminist activist and one of the authors of the huge compendium of materials of the first wave, History of Woman Suffrage. Gage, who was presiding at the meeting, described the event:
The leaders of the movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban, surmounted with an uncouth sunbonnet, march deliberately into the church, walk with the air of a queen up the aisle, and take her seat upon the pulpit steps. A buzz of disapprobation was heard all over the house, and there fell on the listening ear, 'An abolition affair!" "Woman's rights and niggers!" "I told you so!" "Go it, darkey!" . . Again and again, timorous and trembling ones came to me and said, with earnestness, "Don't let her speak, Mrs. Gage, it will ruin us. Every newspaper in the land will have our cause mixed up with abolition and niggers, and we shall be utterly denounced." My only answer was, "We shall see when the time comes."
The second day the work waxed warm. Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Universalist minister came in to hear and discuss the resolutions presented. One claimed superior rights and privileges for man, on the ground of "superior intellect"; another, because of the "manhood of Christ; if God had desired the equality of woman, He would have given some token of His will through the birth, life, and death of the Saviour." Another gave us a theological view of the "sin of our first mother."
There were very few women in those days who dared to "speak in meeting"; and the august teachers of the people were seemingly getting the better of us, while the boys in the galleries, and the sneerers among the pews, were hugely enjoying the discomfiture as they supposed, of the "strong-minded." Some of the tender-skinned friends were on the point of losing dignity, and the atmosphere betokened a storm. When, slowly from her seat in the corner rose Sojourner Truth, who, till now, had scarcely lifted her head. "Don't let her speak!" gasped half a dozen in my ear. She moved slowly and solemnly to the front, laid her old bonnet at her feet, and turned her great speaking eyes to me. There was a hissing sound of disapprobation above and below. I rose and announced, "Sojourner Truth," and begged the audience to keep silence for a few moments.
The tumult subsided at once, and every eye was fixed on this almost Amazon form, which stood nearly six feet high, head erect, and eyes piercing the upper air like one in a dream. At her first word there was a profound hush. She spoke in deep tones, which, though not loud, reached every ear in the house, and away through the throng at the doors and windows.
History of Woman Suffrage2nd ed. Vol.1. Rochester, NY: Charles Mann, 1889., edited by Elizabeth Cady StantonSusan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage.
                        UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1986: stamp printed by United States of 
                         America, shows Sojourner Truth, abolitionist, circa 1986

[edit]The speech as recalled by Gage

The following is the speech as Gage recalled it in History of Woman Suffrage, which was, according to her, in the original dialect as it was presented by Sojourner Truth:
"Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o' kilter. I tink dat 'twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de Norf, all talkin' 'bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all dis here talkin' 'bout?"
"Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!" And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked. 'And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"
"Den dey talks 'bout dis ting in de head; what dis dey call it?" ("Intellect," whispered someone near.) "Dat's it, honey. What's dat got to do wid womin's rights or nigger's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yourn holds a quart, wouldn't ye be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full?" And she pointed her significant finger, and sent a keen glance at the minister who had made the argument. The cheering was long and loud.
"Den dat little man in back dar, he say women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wan't a woman! Whar did your Christ come from?" Rolling thunder couldn't have stilled that crowd, as did those deep, wonderful tones, as she stood there with out-stretched arms and eyes of fire. Raising her voice still louder, she repeated, "Whar did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothin' to do wid Him."
Oh, what a rebuke that was to that little man. Turning again to another objector, she took up the defense of Mother Eve. I can not follow her through it all. It was pointed, and witty, and solemn; eliciting at almost every sentence deafening applause; and she ended by asserting:
"If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let 'em." Long-continued cheering greeted this. "'Bleeged to ye for hearin' on me, and now ole Sojourner han't got nothin' more to say."
Gage described the result: "Amid roars of applause, she returned to her corner leaving more than one of us with streaming eyes, and hearts beating with gratitude. She had taken us up in her strong arms and carried us safely over the slough of difficulty turning the whole tide in our favor. I have never in my life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish spirit of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes of respect and admiration. Hundreds rushed up to shake hands with her, and congratulate the glorious old mother, and bid her God-speed on her mission of 'testifyin' agin concerning the wickedness of this 'ere people.'"

"Sojourner Truth is the First Black Woman  that has  been Honored with a Bust in the U.S. Capitol"
In honoring Sojourner Truth’s work, Secretary Clinton remarked:

"Was any person ever better named? Think about it. She is a sojourner of truth, by truth, and for truth. And her words, her example, and her legacy will never perish from this earth, so long as men and women stand up and say loudly and clearly: We hear you echoing down through the years of history, we believe that your journey is not yet over, and we will make the rest of that journey with you."

For Secretary Clinton’s full remarks, click here: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/122342.htm
    The First Lady Michelle Obama and Former first Lady Clinton unveiled Sojourner Truth`s Bust at the    Capitol. source:http://nolimits.org/my/blog/honoring_sojourner_truth/.

    Sojourner Truth Memorial Bust
Unveiled at US Capitol, with Michelle Obama and Nancy PelosiFirst Lady Michelle Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi look on as the memorial bust of Sojourner Truth is unveiled at the US Capitol, April 28, 2009.

        Michelle Obama applauds during the unveiling April 28 of the bust of Sojourner Truth in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. "I hope that Sojourner Truth would be proud to see me, a descendant of slaves, serving as the first lady of the United States of America," Obama said. "Now many young boys and girls, like my own daughters, will come to Emancipation Hall and see the face of a woman who looks like them." - Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP
See:
WEB SITES:
Sojourner Truth Institute
Sojourner Truth - Stamp on Black History profile
Sojourner Truth - Memorial Statue Project in Florence, Massachusetts
Sojourner Truth - Battle Creek Historical Society
"Ain't I a Woman?" Speech - Fordham University
"Ain't I a Woman?" - speech and history of, on About.com
"Keeping the Thing Going While Things are Stirring" - speech delivered at the American Equal Rights Association in 1867
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth - online text of her autobiography, at A Celebration of Women Writers
Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl - Article by Harriet Beecher Stowe, appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in April 1863
Women and Families in Slavery - links to essays and first-hand accounts and letters about the lives of female slaves



Comments

  1. Thank you for a most interesting read.
    After consideration you may find a few words regarding Sojournertruth name of some interest. This is information which many followers of Sojournertruth are unfortunately not aware of. I trust that you and your readers will gain from information being power!

    Sojournertruth & Matthias
    The name Sojournertruth has become established with in the hearts and minds of modern humanity, she is a symbol of Freedom, Justice, Strength and Endurance. The established Icon of Sojournertruth helps humanity understand the importance of communication and honesty. The name Sojournertruth is a pseudonym adopted after the point of departure from New York in 1843.
    Within the book "Clash of the Prophets, The Beginning" we read:
    In time and between the years of 1843 and 1850 the evidence, both direct and indirect, confirms the evolution of Isabella's name from "SOJOURNER" into "SOJOURNER TRUTH."
    The name of "Sojourner truth" was penned by Mr Oliver Gilbert in 1850. When Gilbert penned this name he placed a space between the "SOJOURNER" and the "Truth."
    In time the name once again evolved and the accepted name for Isabella is now established within the hearts and minds of humanity as "SOJOURNERTRUTH." The name of "SOJOURNERTRUTH" is recognised as a symbol of justice and freedom for all, regardless of nationality, gender, or religion!'
    The connections between Sojournertruth and Prophet Matthias are vitally important. Sojournertruth introduced Matthias into the Pierson Christian community. Within this community Matthias was able to infiltrate some of the most influential families within New York Society. As Matthias expanded his dictatorial control, Sojournertruth witnessed both his rise to power and his fall from grace and favour into the cells at Sing-Sing prison. She was the first to join with Matthias and the last to leave him.
    The true story of the connections between Sojournertruth and Matthias while together in New York should never be forgotten!
    Matthias called himself "the Spirit of truth."
    Isabella Van Wagener called herself "Sojournertruth"
    After reflection upon the activities within New York Isabella Van Wagener (Sojournertruth) concluded 'that she had been taking part in a great drama, which was, in itself, but one great system of robbery and wrong.'
    The heart breaking, shocking emotional full true Story of Sojournertruth and Matthias can be experienced within "Clash of the Prophets.
    More information can be found at; http://www.clashoftheprophets.com/indexmain.html


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trip Town Memory Lane has presented within this article one of the better overviews of Sojournertruths life. The connection into the principal of living history through remembrance has been exemplified when Secretary Clinton remarked:"She is a sojourner of truth, by truth, and for truth. We hear you echoing down through the years of history, we believe that your journey is not yet over, and we will make the rest of that journey with you."
      Part of the journey which all interested students and careful readers understand is the importance of continuous information and knowledge: with the aforementioned in mind may I present the following on Sojournertruth.

      When Sojournertruth arrived at the White House she was accompanied by her good friend Lucy Colman. Together the two friends communicated with President Abraham Lincoln. According to Sojournertruth:
      ‘The president was seated at his desk. Mrs. C. said to him, “This is Sojourner Truth, who has come all the way from Michigan to see you.” He then arose, gave me his hand, made a bow, and said, “I am pleased to see you.”
      I said to him, Mr. President, when you first took your seat I feared you would be torn to pieces, for I likened you unto Daniel, who was thrown into the lion’s den; and if the lions did not tear you into pieces, I knew that it would be God that had saved you; and I said if he spared me I would see you before the four years expired, and he has done so, and now I am here to see you for myself.
      He then congratulated me on my having been spared. Then I said, I appreciate you, for you are the best president who has ever taken the seat. He replied: ‘I expect you have reference to my having emancipated the slaves in my proclamation. But,’ said he, mentioning the names of several of his predecessors (and among them emphatically that of Washington), ‘they were all just as good, and would have done just as I have done if the time had come. If the people over the river [pointing across the Potomac] had behaved themselves, I could not have done what I have; but they did not, which gave me the opportunity to do these things.’ I then said, I thank God that you were the instrument selected by him and the people to do it. I told him that I had never heard of him before he was talked of for president. He smilingly replied, ‘I had heard of you many times before that.’
      He then showed me the Bible presented to him by the colored people of Baltimore, of which you have no doubt seen a description. I have seen it for myself, and it is beautiful beyond description. After I had looked it over, I said to him, This is beautiful indeed; the colored people have given this to the head of the government, and that government once sanctioned laws that would not permit its people to learn enough to enable them to read this book. And for what? Let them answer who can.
      I must say, and I am proud to say, that I never was treated by any one with more kindness and cordiality than were shown to me by that great and good man, Abraham Lincoln, by the grace of God president of the United States for four years more. He took my little book, and with the same hand that signed the death-warrant of slavery, he wrote as follows:
      For Aunty Sojourner Truth October 29, 1864 A. LINCOLN’

      Students of Sojournertruth and her New York years may find this interesting.
      FREE downloadable informed choices student guide. http://www.clashoftheprophets.com/documents/Informed%20choices%20guide.pdf

      More information at: https://cld.bz/J7EQAGt

      Main web site at: http://www.clashoftheprophets.com/indexmain.html

      Sincerely
      Mike Wilkins
      (Clash Of The Prophets The Beginning)

      Delete
    2. Attached to this disclaimer is the second synopsis of the book which has shocked and amazed in such a short space of time! The second link for this free information is: http://clashoftheprophets.cld.bz/The-Beginning-Synopsis1#
      Within Clash of the Prophets the Beginning the full story of Robert Matthews is explored as he transforms himself from boy into man: then man into prophet. His transformation is a story of sadness and madness!
      Arriving in New York City prophet Matthias embarks on a series of adventures which will take him from the Five Points to the higher echelons of New York society. Sojournertruth endured years of trials and tribulations with Matthias interestingly this is a true story full of melodrama and Christian delusion as the battle between the forces of good and evil present themselves fighting for the minds, bodies, and spirits of all involved within the Zion of Matthias! All who are interested in Sojournertruth and her New York years now have the chance to read the full story. Sojournertruth wanted her story told, her words actions and testimony are emotionally unforgettable!
      The connections between Sojournertruth and Prophet Matthias are vitally important. After she introduced Matthias into the Pierson Christian community he was able to infiltrate some of the most influential families within New York society. He expanded his dictatorial control as Sojournertruth witnessed both his rise to power and his fall from grace and favour into the cells at Sing-Sing prison. She was in fact his first acolyte and subsequently the very last to leave him. The true story of the connections between Sojournertruth and Matthias while together in New York should never be forgotten.
      After reflecting on the activities within New York Isabella Van Wagener (Sojournertruth) concluded 'that she had been taking part in a great drama, which was, in itself, but one great system of robbery and wrong.' The heart breaking, shocking emotional full true story of Matthias and Sojournertruth can be experienced within Clash of the Prophets the Beginning.

      Disclaimer:
      No religious viewpoint or intention to represent any proselyting into any religious Church, organisation, or lifestyle is intended or presented within CLASH OF THE PROPHETS THE BEGINNING OF SOJOURNERTRUTH.

      · 1. The full story of SOJOURNERTRUTH and her time spent with Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), during their time together in New York City: is presented within the first volume.
      · 2. The unforgettable emotional melodrama involving SOJOURNERTRUTH, PROPHET MATTHIAS, and many of their close friends are presented within the first volume.

      · 3. The curious connections between Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias) and the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith are briefly explored in the first volume.
      · 4. Investigations into the claimed evil spirits or demonic possession involving Prophet Matthias and Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet are presented within the first volume.

      CLASH OF THE PROPHETS THE BEGINNING OF SOJOURNERTRUTH: is a heart-breaking, shocking never to be forgotten reading experience. We present the different viewpoints of real people who lived and experienced the effects of walking in the shadows of men who claimed to be living Prophets of God!

      If you or your friends would like to buy the book from Amazon at the dramatically reduced price: please copy then paste into Google searches: MIKE WILKINS CLASH OF THE PROPHETS THE BEGINNING OF SOJOURNERTRUTH. You will find the AMAZON link at the top of the Google page. Alternately you can personally contact us via Facebook messenger and we will be very happy to send you the direct link into Amazon.

      Attached to this disclaimer is the second synopsis of the book which has shocked and amazed in such a short space of time! The second link for this free information is: http://clashoftheprophets.cld.bz/The-Beginning-Synopsis1#


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