|
HISTORIC
CONTEXT:
African-American Community Development in Boyle County, Kentucky After
the Civil War
from the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, for
Clifton,1998
After
the war, many freed men and families moved to cities and towns, while
others sought work and homes in rural areas. In "Negro Hamlets and
Agricultural Estates in Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass" (Smith and
Raitz, 1974), the Negro hamlet is identified as a rural phenomenon of
the post-bellum era. The majority of Negro hamlets studied were created
when large estate owners, in need of labor forces, deeded or sold groups
of lots to former slaves who then established communities. Less
commonly, white entrepreneurs purchased rural land, divided it into
lots, and sold the lots exclusively to blacks. The origin of still other
hamlets remains unknown.
Along
with large estate owners, the Freedmen's Bureau also aided freed men and
women in obtaining land, starting schools and building churches
following the Civil War. Established in March, 1865, the Bureau sought
to "protect and care for ex-slaves and others set adrift by the war
in the former slave states (Kleber, 1992: 356)." One of the most
significant efforts put forth by the Bureau involved the establishment
of educational facilities for African Americans in southern states. In
Kentucky, the Education Division of the Freedmen's Bureau was
established in 1866. The Bureau felt it was crucial for ex-slaves to
obtain an education in order to move forward as most had been denied
formal schooling. Using money allocated from taxes paid by African
Americans, the Bureau was able to establish 219 schools throughout
Kentucky for 10,422 students by 1870 (ibid: 357). After the
disintegration of the Bureau in 1874, Kentucky's African Americans were
not assured accessibility to public funding for education until 1882
when the Kentucky legislature allotted monies for both African-American
and white schools from the same financial sources (ibid).
As
schools gained stature as important institutions within newly developed
African-American communities of the late nineteenth century, so too did
religious facilities assume prominent positions within the hamlets.
Since the eighteenth century, African-American religion was influenced
by the integration of traditions and beliefs belonging to both
Protestant and African-American religious doctrines. Prior to
Emancipation, slaves, freedmen and whites regularly attended racially
integrated church services, the whites believing it was important that
slaves learn to practice religion and good morals (Brown, 1993: NP).
Although services were integrated, seating remained segregated with
African Americans generally occupying balcony seats or rear aisles.
Church social activities likewise remained segregated as African
Americans were seldom allowed to take part in church decisions or social
affairs, except in the role of servant or cook (Ibid).
In
Kentucky, some African-Americans organized their own churches prior to
Emancipation. In Boyle County, for example, the first segregated
African-American church formed in 1846 in Danville, called the Green
Street Church. Members of the church met in various homes but were only
allowed to congregate occasionally as many whites felt the meetings
allowed for the planning of revolts. As a result of this distrust,
African-Americans deeply desired a freedom to control their own
religious organizations. The opportunity occurred at the end of the
Civil War (Ibid).
Writing
about the history of African-American religion, Marion Brunson Lucas
maintains that the church, almost single-handedly, shaped rural
African-American communities formed after 1865. Within such communities,
churches were segregated from white institutions, allowing the creation
of a non-white-influenced African-American religion (Lucas, 1988: 210).
Baptists led the way in the rapid establishment of African-American
churches in Kentucky following the Civil War, with the help of the
General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky, formed in 1865. The
organization, through the creation of a constitution and numerous
committees, faced issues plaguing African-American communities such as
education, missions and memberships within the church. Convention
leaders focused on the church as the sole institution that could reach
and educate the majority of African Americans, most of whom could not
read nor write even their names.
As
a result of the decisions and actions taken by the Convention's leaders,
the Baptist doctrine soon became that most widely followed by
African-American worshipers in Kentucky. Several reasons account for the
popularity of the Baptist religion at that time. First, the Baptist
philosophy was simple to understand. Second, the drama of outdoor
baptisms held a large appeal for converts. And finally, rural,
African-American communities in Kentucky were uniquely well-suited to
independent congregations where all took part in all aspects of church
services (Brown, 4993: NP; and Lucas: 211). The success of the Baptists
in establishing Kentucky church congregations was followed by the
Methodists, led by the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and by
the Christian Church.
In
Boyle County, at least five African-American communities were
established during the post Civil War era, including Clifton, Stoney
Point, Wilsonville, Needmore and Little Needmore (Brown, 1993: NP). The
hamlets developed on land donated or sold by farmers and laid into small
lots for residences and various other buildings. A large percentage of
male residents farmed as sharecroppers while others worked as
blacksmiths, carpenters, and in other trades. As seen in Figure 3, most
hamlets were created along well-traveled, secondary roads with few
having any commercial businesses or post offices.
Of
those Boyle County hamlets established in the late nineteenth century,
only Clifton and Wilsonville retain physical evidence of historic
community structures. The Wilsonville community developed in the
south-central portion of Boyle County, along the Louisville and
Nashville (L&N) Railroad. Residents of the community were likely
employed by the railroad, helping with the construction and maintenance
of the line. Although the vitality of this African-American hamlet has
declined, two important features remain, the Wilsonville A.M.E. Church
and the Wilsonville School. The church, having undergone extensive
alterations in the twentieth century, remains in operation with weekly
services performed by visiting pastors. The school building has been
vacant for a number of years and faces deterioration from neglect. The
Wilsonville complex is not eligible to the National Register of Historic
Places due to loss of physical integrity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown,
Richard C. "Keepers of The Faith: Black Churches in Boyle
County," as published in the "Kentucky Advocate",
Danville, Kentucky, February, 1993.
Kleber,
John E., ed. The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington: The University Press
of Kentucky, 1992.
Lucas,
Marion Brunson. A History of Blacks in Kentucky. Volume One. Frankfort:
Kentucky Historical Society, 1992.
Smith,
Peter Craig and Karl Raitz. "Negro Hamlets and Agricultural Estates
in Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass" in Geographical Review, April, 1974.
Vlach,
John Michael. Back of the Big House: The Architecture of Plantation
Slavery. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
|
