Not a Man, and Yet a Man

I was born in the Green River Country, Hart County, Kentucky, May 30th, 1851. I was a slave until the Emancipation. My parents left me and went to the Good Land when I was yet a boy. My chances for an education have not been good. In that matter, however, I have done what I could. I have labored with my hands, taught school, and preached a RISEN, present Savior—not a bad lot after all. I am now an Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the stationed pastor at Springfield, Ohio, and General Financial Agent of Wilberforce University. With this brief account of myself, I pass to notice the Institution in whose interest I have written, and whose permanent endowment I hope to secure.

Wilberforce University is situated three and one-half miles North-East of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio; surrounded by beautiful farms, and from the West, looked down upon by a group of heavily wooded hills. It is one of the most desirable College sites in Ohio. The locality is eminently healthy. A considerable creek, winding around the grounds to the Southward,drains the neighboring fields, and gives the whole surrounding an admirably neat aspect. A number of fine springs break out in the deep ravines around the College, bubbling and laughing, with lucid health sparkling in their faces. The campus is laid out on a beautiful plateau, lying South-East of the University, and covered by a splendid grove with here and there a neat cottage among the trees.