Mrs Amanda Smith
Amanda Smith was born in 1837, to a slave family in Baltimore County, Maryland, the oldest of thirteen children of two godly parents. Her father, Samuel Berry, was well-trusted by his owners and when their master passed away, his widow allowed Samuel to work to pay for his freedom. She allowed him in his trips to the city to sell the farm’s goods to also sell his own material. He was known to often stay up late in the night making brooms, placemats, and other household items to sell. He purchased his freedom, then continued to work to purchase each of his family members’ freedom. Once freedom for the family was secured, the family moved to Pennsylvania, in the Lancaster County area and managed a farm.
Her parents were avid readers, and encouraged all the children to read and become educated. Samuel, despite his very busy schedule, read from the Bible daily to his children. The children were invited to attend a school which was five miles away, but the school was structured in a way that the white children were given their lessons first and, only if there was time remaining, were the black children allowed to be taught. This proved to be not worth the effort, and they abandoned the idea of attending this school – instead opting to teach themselves with newspapers and Scripture. Amanda estimates she received only about three months of formal schooling in her entire life. Despite this, she learned from her parents and together with her siblings.
Sam Berry’s farm became a stop on the Underground Railroad. In those days, harboring a runaway slave was a crime – even in northern states. As a black family, they were watched very closely. Amanda notes that her father would often work a full day on the farm, come home to eat his dinner at night, sleep about two hours, then disappear around midnight leading a few runaways to the next stop, about fifteen miles away, return home and, after about an hour of sleep, work another full day on the farm.
As a young woman, Amanda was hired by a local doctor and his wife to help take care of their children. The family was very kind and they often invited her to church, and it was under their influence that Amanda found faith in Christ. Her heart was especially moved by a visiting missionary who told of God’s work in many places around the world.
In 1854, Amanda married. Her husband was killed in 1863 in combat in the Civil War. She remarried, and her second husband died of illness in 1869. Between her two husbands, she had five children – four of whom died very young.
After her second husband died, Amanda tried preaching. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, there was initial resistance to a woman preaching, but she persisted and won many to Christ. She became a popular speaker – eventually having doors opened for her across the United States, especially in the South.
The call to foreign missions beckoned, though, and when she got the chance to travel to England to work with churches, she jumped at the opportunity. After a year in England, she spent two years in India where she was fondly remembered for many years after her departure. Eight years in western Africa followed, where she was very active not only in preaching and ministering but in the Temperance movement – as active in Africa as it was in the United States. In Africa, she adopted two orphaned children.
A man named Bishop Thoburn, Methodist Missionary in India, who served closely with Amanda during her time in India wrote the Introduction to her autobiography, An Autobiography: The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, The Colored Evangelist. In the Introduction, he wrote of a few of his experiences with Amanda – we will recount two below:
First, he wrote of his first meeting of Amanda Smith, at a Camp Meeting near Cincinnati, while home on a furlough from India, where he served. Many were scheduled to speak, including Bishop Thoburn and Amanda Smith. He confessed that the meeting was not very successful and that a general feeling of depression had descended on the leaders of the meeting as they met to plan the next few days. To top it all off it began to rain, adding to the feelings of gloom. As they prayed, he was startled to hear singing. He looked up and saw Amanda, kneeling with hands spread out in prayer, singing what he called “a triumphant song” which changed the course of their prayer and the meeting. This left a very marked impression on Bishop Thoburn.
Secondly, he wrote of meeting her in India and being very delighted to have her company. He spoke of her being fiercely attacked in the local papers and her graceful tact in her responses. During a particular meeting in Calcutta, he recounted how they had a problem with young men purposely disrupting the open-air preaching by rushing the stage and beating the speaker. During one such meeting, they saw this group of young men getting ready to rush the podium. Amanda positioned herself between the speaker and the young men, fell to her knees in prayer, face lifted to Heaven. The young men stood still, unable to move. The rest of the meeting passed without incident.
Upon her return to the United States, Amanda settled near Chicago. She had to be coaxed into it, but eventually wrote the aforementioned autobiography. She used proceeds from the book and money from a missions organization in England to start the first orphanage for black children in Illinois.
Amanda had to retire, due to failing health, in 1912. An admirer paid all expenses for her to move to Florida and retire there. When she died in 1915, a large group of ministers accompanied her casket to the train in Florida. On March 1, 1915, one of the largest funerals Chicago had ever seen honored her memory.
From her autobiography:
“I often say to people that I have a right to shout more
than some folks; I have been bought twice, and set free twice, and so I have a
good right to shout. Hallelujah!
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/smitham/smith.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Smith
https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2006/10/amanda-smith.html
http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/r-s/smith-amanda-berry-1837-1915/
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