Ministers and Masters: Methodism, Manhood, and Honor in the Old South

Introduction

1 Introduction There is no man on earth, whom I regard with so much reverence, as a Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ. He comes with no splendid retinue, to dazzle the senses; he bears no scepter, to awe me into terror! He possesses none of this world’s wealth, or honor, or power; and in the endowments of genius, he is perhaps inferior to a multitude of my acquaintances:—yet whenever I behold his features, hallowed as they are with the light of holiness , I am compelled to be solemn under the impressions which I feel, and humble for the greatness of the contrast between himself and me. —“The Faithful Minister,” Southern Christian Advocate, 1837 Peter died, and his master converted. For itinerant James O. Andrew, these two events, although seemingly disconnected, had a very direct relationship. After the burial of “old Peter,” a devout Methodist and a loyal slave, his master, H. B. Howard of Wilmington, North Carolina , embraced his former servant’s religion. It happened slowly, almost unconsciously, but over the first few weeks after Peter had been lowered into his grave, Howard visited the site and pondered the black man’s faith. According to Andrew, who served on the Wilmington circuit at the time and heard the story first hand, the grieving master spoke often of the old slave’s “honesty, his humility, his consistent and unobtrusive piety.” Howard contrasted this with his own infidelity and the sinfulness that stemmed from his skepticism. At the gravesite, Peter’s master reflected on the meaning of salvation and eternal life. Each visit would bring new conviction that Peter had died with a clear conscience and that his soul had undoubtedly entered the kingdom of heaven. Howard knew that he could never enjoy such bliss until he had given himself as Peter had to the Lord. “Yes, you are dead,” he exclaimed as he looked down at the earthen mound that held his servant, “but you are happy.” This realization forced the master to question his own life. He reasoned that Peter’s belief made more sense than his Ministers and Masters 2 own unbelief. “Peter was a Christian, and I have repudiated Christ and the revelations of the Bible altogether,” he thought, “if my doctrine is true, how can he be happy? and if he is happy, how can my doctrine be true?” Howard determined to read the Bible thoroughly, and after much thought and consideration decided, “Yes, this is the Book of God.” He then began attending Methodist meetings and encouraged his family, friends, and servants to unite with him in joining the Church and living a holy life.1 James O. Andrew included this parable in one of his journal entries for 1816, when he received an appointment to the circuit that included Howard ’s church. As his story suggests, Andrew believed in spiritual equality and the ability of all Christians (regardless of color, gender, or age) to have a religious impact on their community. He recognized the earthly disparity between Peter and his white master but focused on the slave’s spiritual capacity. This same minister who spoke of Peter’s religious authority, however , also owned slaves and practiced patriarchal government in his own household—two facts that to today’s society would seemingly detract from his more egalitarian views. Rather than consider the paradox of his life as slaveholder and Methodist itinerant, Andrew spent his time advancing both the principle of spiritual equality and the importance of maintaining the social hierarchy. Andrew became a powerful patriarch and a humble servant of God, a temporal master and a spiritual egalitarian, demonstrating the strange dichotomy at the heart of early southern Methodism. Born in Georgia in 1794 to a poor Methodist minister and his devoted wife, Andrew grew up surrounded by conflicting social and religious principles . His father, John Andrew, was devoted to Methodist doctrine and discipline. After John Andrew left his circuit to take a permanent position at a local church, he held a weekly Sunday school for the black community. Even as he delivered religious instruction to the slaves, the Andrew family patriarch also became a slaveholder. He bought a few slaves to tend the small farm on which his family lived while he fulfilled his ministerial responsibilities. Thus, James O. Andrew received a practical education in southern religion and social relations while living in his father’s household. As a boy, he learned to separate the spiritual from the secular and to accept both...