Aged
Mammy Shames Him
Prays
for White Preacher Who Tried to Frighten Negroes
Pastor
and Others Fix Up Skeleton with Sheet in Cemetery, but
Colored Man Fires on “Ghost.”
Mar
19,1909
Monroe
City, Mo
“Aunt”
Sarah Potts, an old negress of Monroe City, shamed the
Rev. D. B. Weeks, pastor of the leading Baptist
church, when he called at her hut today to reclaim a
skeleton he and a party of friends abandoned hastily
in St. Jude’s Cemetery the night before. Not all
minister’s eloquence could persuade the “mammy”
to return him the skeleton until she had knelt before
him and prayed to the Lord to forgive the white man
who tried to frighten people of her race as they
returned from divine services.
In
a spirit of fun Thursday night, Mr. Weeks proposed a
prank, in which some half dozen boys of the city
joined him eagerly. St. Jude’s Cemetery, opposite a
row of negro cottages, known as “Baptist Row”, was
chosen as the scene, and a skeleton, sheets, and a
candle were the properties.
The
skeleton, draped, was set up on a tombstone near a
lane leading from the colored Baptist church, where a
revival meeting was in progress. When the services
closed the candle was lighted and set in the skull.
The minister and his companions hid behind, some
neighboring gravestones to await developments, which
came when the negroes, trooping along the road in a
body, singing, saw the “ghost” and heard its
groans.
They
fled like sheep to the nearest hut, and after a
prayer, “Brother” Mayfield, an aged negro, armed
with an old Zouave musket, led an attack. At the first
shot, which disabled the ghost, the minister and his
fellow conspirators fled to town, pursued by the
negroes.
During
the firing, which was as often “Brother” Mayfield
could reload his piece, the “ghost” was literally
shot to pieces. |