Many knew little of the English tongue, and the few
who could understand his words had not yet learned that there was a God
who cared how they lived or what became of them. Their masters, as a rule,
thought the missionaries were attempting an almost hopeless task
in trying to lift these negroes above the brute creation,
but were quite willing to give permission and an opportunity to reach them,
and on this tour Boehler found only one land-owner who refused his consent.
Purisburg had been named as the location of the negro school,
but Boehler found there were very few negroes in the town,
which had been largely settled by Swiss, who had not prospered greatly
and had bought few slaves. The nearest plantation employing negroes
was five miles distant, and only seven lived there,
so the outlook was far from encouraging at that point.
Boehler and Schulius then made their way from one plantation to another,
until they reached Charlestown. The Rev. Mr. Garden,
to whom they had a letter of introduction, advised that the school
should be begun in Charlestown, where there was a large negro population,
perhaps a thousand souls.
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