Chapter 13: 1746-1754, A Quaker abolitionist

The Spirit had been working on John Woolman’s mind for many years now, and he knew it was time to answer that calling. “I feel drawn to travel about and share with others the light which our True Shepherd has placed within me,” he confided to his friend Isaac. “I believe that I am drawn to that same calling!” Isaac replied. “I was hoping that you would say that,” John smiled.

2 “What do you think about visiting the Meetings in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia?” he pressed. “I would be honored to accompany you on such a journey, but we will have to seek the blessings of our own Meetings to do so,” Isaac answered. “Yes, if we desire to be accepted among Friends in those places, we will need certificates,” John agreed.

3 As a consequence, John brought the matter to the attention of the next Monthly Meeting at Burlington. And, after brief expressions of support, his brethren there decided to grant him the letter of introduction to the Friends in neighboring colonies which he had requested. Isaac received the same support from his congregation.

4 Thus, with the blessing of the Jersey Quakers, the two men set out full of missionary zeal and high hopes for the success of their enterprise. Along the way, they stayed in the homes of willing Friends and spoke with their brethren on First Day (Sunday).

5 As they traveled through Virginia, however, John was troubled by what he observed there of the institution of slavery. The work that the slaves performed, and their treatment by their masters, made quite an impression on his mind.

6 “I recall my first acquaintance with the sale of a Negro a few years ago,” he confided to Isaac. “My employer at the time desired me to write him a bill of sale for this woman, and I remember feeling very uneasy about writing an instrument of slavery for one of my fellow creatures” he explained.

7 “Although I executed the task which had been given to me, I told my master that I did not think that slave keeping was consistent with the precepts of the Christian religion.” Isaac was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “I understand what you are saying, but I think that we should be very careful not to offend our hosts.”

8 Nevertheless, at the very next home that hosted them, John was again distressed by what he witnessed there. The master of the house and his family lived very well and performed almost none of the tasks necessary to run the home or the lands which surrounded it. John decided that he simply could not remain silent about what he was observing.

9 “Can I speak privately with you?” he asked the man. “Of course, John, what is on your mind?” “Do you think that the keeping of Negroes as slaves is compatible with the love of Jesus Christ?” he blurted out. “Well,” the man cleared his throat, “I had not given it much thought.”

10 “Perhaps it would be better to treat them with the same mercy and compassion which we hope to enjoy in the Lord?” John suggested. “Does not God help us to shoulder our burdens when they are too heavy?” he pressed. “I will have to give this some thought, John,” the bewildered man offered with a weak smile.

11 John, however, was still troubled by what he had observed in the Southern colonies, and he decided to write a treatise on the subject when he returned to Burlington. Knowing that his intended audience would be unaccustomed to hearing what he had to say, he opened with an appeal for them to be willing to abandon customs and opinions which did not conform to the Lord’s standards. He then proceeded to make the case that the keeping of Negro slaves was one of those customs.

12 He wrote: “The general disadvantage which these poor Africans lie under in an enlightened Christian country has often filled me with sadness, and I think it my duty to offer some thoughts thereon for the consideration of others.” He then proceeded to remind his readers that the Lord had made all nations of one blood, and that we are all subject to the same afflictions and infirmities as humans.

13 He asked his White audience to try to imagine finding themselves in the same circumstances in which many of their Black brethren currently found themselves. “How should I approve of this conduct were I in their circumstance and they in mine?” he asked.

14 Next, he pointed out that the Lord had given to His people specific instructions about how they should treat strangers in their midst. He encouraged his brethren to compare the treatment which Africans received at their hands with the admonitions found in the Old Testament, and he quoted one of those passages to drive home his point. He wrote: “Thou shalt not vex him nor oppress him; he shall be as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”

15 John even anticipated some of the arguments that would be employed against his treatise. He realized that some would defend the practice by drawing attention to the fact that they had a considerable amount of money invested in their slaves, but he would not allow that to be employed as a justification for the practice. He wrote: “If I purchase a man who has never forfeited his liberty, he retains his natural right of freedom. Do I then have the right to keep him and his posterity in servitude and ignorance?”

16 He continued: “Whoever rightly advocates the cause of some, thereby promotes the good of all.” In other words, White Christians would experience personal spiritual benefits from taking up the cause of their downtrodden Black brethren. With that, John had effectively transformed his philosophical distaste for the practice of slavery into a moral crusade against the institution that would ultimately benefit all of society.

17 At first, John quietly shared his treatise with a few of his most trusted friends. Then, as he received more and more positive feedback about what he had written, he began to share it with all of the Quakers who lived near him. Finally, in 1754, the Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia approved the publication of John’s treatise under the title of Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes.” It would prove to be the opening salvo from a group of people who would come to be known as abolitionists by later generations. 

Chapter 12: 1742-1748, Marrying out of meeting

Thomas Ellis was now one of the most respected leaders of the Society of Friends in that part of Pennsylvania. In fact, he was the leading elder in the Exeter Monthly Meeting, and he was very conscientious about protecting his reputation and the way in which he handled his religious responsibilities. Even so, ensuring the proper moral behavior of his flock was often a difficult and thankless task; and that fact was about to be underscored by circumstances which developed within one of the most prominent families in the congregation.

2 Sarah Boone, the oldest daughter of Squire Boone, had fallen in love with a neighbor who was not a Quaker. “You know that a disorderly marriage will not be tolerated amongst God’s people,” her father told her. “But John is a good man, father, and I love him,” she replied. “Honor thy father, daughter, and do not bring him to grief,” her mother said in a soft voice.

3 “It is too late for all of that – I am carrying his child!” Sarah blurted out. Now her parents felt as if they had no choice – Sarah was allowed to go forward with the marriage.

4 Thomas liked Squire Boone, and he dreaded the duty which had fallen to him and two of his brethren in the faith. He knocked on Boone’s door and waited for a response. Slowly, the door opened and revealed Squire and his young son Daniel standing before him.

5 “Squire Boone, we would have a few words with thee,” Thomas began. “I have been expecting this,” he replied with a sigh. “Come in, friends and find peace here,” he offered. As they took their seats before the fireplace, everyone was quiet and filled with nervous anticipation.

6 “We are here to speak with thee about the fornication and disorderly marriage of thy daughter Sarah,” Thomas told him. Squire nodded. “As thou knowest, it is thy duty to bring her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” he continued. “Thou must set a good example in this matter for thy other children, and for thy brothers and sisters in the truth. Therefore, thou must confess thy fault and repent of thy sins before all, so that thou mayest be restored to thy proper relationship with the Lord and with them,” he finished.

7 Squire was silent for several minutes as he stared into the fire. “We understand, and we thank thee for thy concern for us and our family in this matter” his wife finally volunteered. “Please be assured of our sorrow and repentance,” she added. After they left, there was another long period of silence. “This does not feel right,” he told his wife.

8 A little less than five years later, the issue arose once again with the marriage of their eldest son Israel. This time, however, Squire would not be silent.

9 “A man must know how to rule his own household,” Thomas began. “My children have always honored us,” Squire protested. “Thy son has unequally yoked himself with an unbeliever,” Thomas gently reminded him.

10 “She is a good girl from a good family,” Squire replied. “Thou knowest that we cannot control who our children love,” he defiantly added. “Thou knowest that thou will not be permitted to have fellowship with us until thou hast acknowledged thy fault and confessed thy sin,” Thomas concluded in exasperation.

11 “I will not stand in thy way,” Squire told his wife after the others had left. He, however, never attended another meeting of the Quakers. And, later that same year, he gave his son Daniel his first rifle and taught him how to use it. 

Chapter 11: 1740-1755, A foot in both worlds

Edward had been raised among his mother’s people and within her clan, but his father had taken him along on many of his trips to the cities where the Whites lived for trade goods. As a consequence, he had learned to speak both English and Cherokee. And, when he reached adulthood, he had continued to trade with his mother’s people to supplement his farming.

2 “You must overcome your White heritage,” one of his customers had told him. “The Whites are filthy animals – they are not human!” the man had exclaimed.

3 “Ned, be careful that you don’t git in too thick with those damned savages,” one of his White neighbors had cautioned about the same time. “Those copper-colored heathens will steal you blind when you ain’t lookin,” he explained.

4 Thus, although many would say that Ned had a foot in both worlds, he had never felt completely at ease in either. “The girls on neither side want anything to do with me,” he complained to his mother. As a consequence, he had decided to marry a woman of mixed heritage like himself. Mary understood what it meant to be a half-breed.

5 Mary named her youngest son after her brother, Thomas. He was born in the spring of 1747, and he was fairer-skinned than his older brothers. And, as Ned had his older sons to tag along with him on his trips into the Cherokee back country, Mary was free to keep Thomas close to her and raise him amongst his White neighbors and kinfolks.

6 Thus, from an early age, Thomas was more closely linked to the culture of the Whites than he was to that of the Cherokee. “I want to learn about Scotland,” he told his father when he was eight years old. “You need to learn more about the forests,” his father responded.

7 “The forests are being felled, and crops are growing in their place” Thomas pointed out. “I guess that’s so,” Ned admitted as he looked down at his young son and scratched his chin. “I guess that’s so.”

8 The generations of John and Tikami Vann:

9 They were the ancestors of Edward Vann, Chief James Vann and the comedian Will Rogers.

10 Edward Vann married Mary Barnes, and they were the parents of Thomas Vann.

11 Thomas and Anne Vann were the parents of Dempsey Vann.

12 Dempsey Vann married Ruth Reed, and they were the parents of Bryant Vann.

13 Bryant Vann married Sarah Lemley, and they had children together.