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Harrison N. Bouey (August 4, 1849 – December 15, 1909) was a minister in
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, and
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
and a missionary in
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
. He was noted as a leader in efforts to help Africans emigrate to Africa at the end of
reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
in the 1870s. He was also involved in education in the south, and was an early leader of
Selma University Selma University is a Private historically black Baptist Bible college in Selma, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention. History The institution was founded in 1878 as the Alabama Baptist Normal and The ...
in
Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...
, and co-founder of Western College Preparatory School in
Macon, Missouri Macon is a city in and the county seat of Macon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,457 at the 2020 census. History Macon was platted in 1856. Like the county, Macon was named for Nathaniel Macon. A post office called Macon Cit ...
.


Early life

Harrison N. Bouey was born in
Columbia County, Georgia Columbia County is a county located in the east central portion of the US state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 124,035. The legal county seat is Appling, but the ''de facto'' seat of county government is Evans.
, on August 4, 1849. As a child he moved to
Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
, and as a young man he worked for two years as a painter's apprentice while he attended night school to get a basic education.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p951-953 In the mid-1860s he passed an examination for a teacher's certificate and taught two years in the Augusta public schools. In April 1870 he was Baptized and became a member of the Springfield Baptist Church. He also entered the Baptist Theological School in Augusta, later called the Atlanta Baptist Seminary, and now
Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...
. He graduated in the spring of 1873 and moved to
Ridge Spring, South Carolina Ridge Spring is a town in Saluda County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Mayor-Elect is Ms. Qwendolyn Etheredge. History Ridge Hill High ...
, to become principal of a school there. In 1875, he was elected probate judge of
Edgefield County, South Carolina Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. Its county seat and largest municipality is Edgefield. The county was established on March 12, 17 ...
, by the Republican Party which was in control of local politics there. In the fall of 1876 he was elected county sheriff, but was not granted the position. In 1877, reconstruction ended in that portion of South Carolina and Bouey and fellow black appointee, circuit court clerk Jesse Jones were pushed out of their positions. Bouey accused
Matthew Butler Matthew Calbraith Butler (March 8, 1836April 14, 1909) was a Confederate soldier, an American military commander and attorney and politician from South Carolina. He served as a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Ci ...
of threatening to kill him, Paris Simpkins and Lawrence Cain in a speech during Butler's successful
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
campaign. Leaving politics, he then was ordained by the Macedonia Baptist Church in Edgefield Court House, South Carolina. Shortly after he became general missionary of South Carolina, holding the position for just over a year.


Emigration to Liberia

He next responded to a call by a group of South Carolina Baptists led by Edward M. Brawley to start missionary work in Africa. Bouey, George Curtis, Benjamin F. Porter, Samuel Gaillard,
Martin Delany Martin Robison Delany (May 6, 1812January 24, 1885) was an abolitionist, journalist, physician, soldier, and writer, and arguably the first proponent of black nationalism. Delany is credited with the Pan-African slogan of "Africa for Africans." ...
, and others formed a Joint Stock Steamship Company of the Liberia Exodus Association to recruit as many as 300 people, equally divided men and women, to emigrate to Africa. Among those involved was William Coppinger, who sent Bouey literature to aid his cause, and John Mardenborough, who had left Edgefield County for Beaufort, South Carolina after receiving threats on his life. In South Carolina, Bouey and Mardenborough advocated for emigration of freedmen from South Carolina to Africa for both economic and religious reasons. This effort was opposed by local whites, who were afraid of losing an important labor source. He sailed from New York for
Monrovia, Liberia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...
via
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on April 11, 1879 aboard the ''Azore'' with over 200 South Carolina emigrants. In Liberia, Bouey worked among the
Gola people The Gola or Gula are a West African ethnic group who share a common cultural heritage, language and history and who live primarily in western/northwestern Liberia and Eastern Sierra Leone. The Gola language is an isolate within the Niger–Congo l ...
, and helped construct a road outside Royesville which came to be called the "Bouey Road".Murphy, Larry G., J. Gordon Melton, and Gary L. Ward. Encyclopedia of African American Religions. Vol. 721. Routledge, 2013. p18 In Liberia he organized a number of churches, two Baptist associations, and a National Baptist Convention, for which he was corresponding secretary and financial agent. He then returned to America as general agent of the Liberian convention set to enlist help for the mission from American Baptists. South Carolina's support for the Liberian Mission was initially strong, but declined when Bouey resigned from this role in 1882.Martin, Sandy Dwayne. Black Baptists and African missions: The origins of a movement, 1880-1915. Mercer University Press, 1989. p108


Later career

In March 1882 he became Sunday School Missionary for Alabama, and he held the position for four years. During that period he became financial agent for
Selma University Selma University is a Private historically black Baptist Bible college in Selma, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention. History The institution was founded in 1878 as the Alabama Baptist Normal and The ...
and was elected corresponding secretary of the State Mission Board of Alabama. In January 1886 he resigned from these positions to restore his health. At nearly the same time he was chosen associate editor and business manager for the journal, the ''Baptist Pioneer'', a position he held for one year. At that time, he was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Selma University, a member of the State Mission Board in Alabama, and the secretary of the Foreign Mission Convention of the United States for the Third District. He later served as pastor and superintendent of missions for Missouri Baptists and helped found Western College Preparatory School in Macon, Missouri. He again sailed to Africa in January 1902 returning to America in 1905. On December 11, 1906, Bouey and three of his four sons returned to Africa, his fourth son to join them later.


Personal life

In April 1882 he married Laura P. Logan of
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. Laura died in 1897. Bouey died on December 15, 1909, at Cape Mount and was buried on the banks of Lake Peause near the graves of Hattie J. Pressley and, allegedly, Henderson McKinney (McKinney's grave has not been found). At his death, he requested his sons be returned to the United States for their education, and L. G. Jordan and
William R. Pettiford William R. Pettiford (January 20, 1847 – September 20, 1914) was a minister and banker in Birmingham, Alabama. Early in his career he worked as a minister and teacher in various towns in Alabama, moving to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1883 ...
worked to help the boys.Rev. Dr. H. N. Bouey Dies, Richmond Planet (Richmond, Virginia) April 16, 1910, page 5, accessed January 11, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300251/rev_dr_h_n_bouey_dies_richmond/


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouey, Harrison N. 1849 births 1909 deaths People from Columbia County, Georgia People from Edgefield County, South Carolina People from Macon, Missouri 19th-century African-American educators African-American Baptist ministers Baptist ministers from the United States African-American journalists American male journalists Activists for African-American civil rights American civil rights activists People from Saluda County, South Carolina South Carolina Republicans Alabama Republicans Missouri Republicans Educators from Missouri 19th-century American educators Morehouse College alumni 19th-century American clergy 20th-century African-American people