Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising

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The father of Rev. Mr. Perry was named Lewis Perry. He was a preacher of the Baptist faith. His mother’s name was Maria. She, too, was an adherent of the same faith. Both of them were the slaves of one Archibald W. Overton, Smith County, Tennessee. His father escaped to Canada when the boy was only seven years old. He was a very fine mechanic, carpenter and cabinet maker. He hired his own time from his owner, and was energetic enough to secure the means and carry the family to Nashville, Tennessee , where the boy ranked as a free child, attending the school for free Negroes, taught by Mrs. Sally Porter. After his father ran away, this temporary freedom was terminated, and the whole family were taken back to the plantation. The schooling which young Rufus had at this time and which he had received in Nashville, doomed him to the contempt of his fellow-bondsmen, and soon won for him among the white people the reputation of a "dangerous nigger.” He became so “ dangerous ” that in August, 1852, he was sold to a Negro trader, to be carried to Mississippi, but he remained with this trader only three weeks. Before he got ready to take him to Mississippi, he brought his reputed “ dangerousness ” and writing into requisition. He also fled to Canada. Mr. Perry was converted in the year 1854, and feeling a call from God, he decided to enter the ministry. To this end he studied in Kalamazoo , Michigan, at the Kalamazoo Seminary, with the class of 1861, and was ordained as pastor of the Second Baptist church at Ann Arbor, Michigan, on or about October 9, 1861, by a council of which the Rev. Samuel Cornelius was moderator, and Professor James R. Boise was clerk. As a preacher, he is fluent, graceful and earnest. He is a very logical, clear reasoner, close and active debater, deep thinker and an excellent writer. He is a man of splendid natural abilities, and goes at once to the bottom of any subject that he undertakes. His life has been full of success, filling very many positions in his church. He was pastor at St. Catherine’s, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. In 1865 he entered upon the general missionary and educational work among the freedmen, and has until the present day labored for the education, evangelization and genera1 elevation of his race, serving as superintendent of schools for freedmen, and as editor of the Sunbeam, coordinate editor of the American Baptist, now the Baptist Weekly of New York, editor of the People‘s Journal and publisher of the National Monitor, the last of which is still in existence, and is a spicy paper, full of matter of interest to his denomination, and such general literature as is elevating in its tone. He was for ten years corresponding secretary of the Consolidated American Baptist Missionary convention, and is at present Corresponding Secretary of the American Educational Association, and of the American Baptist Free Mission Society. He has given much attention to the study of ethnology and the classics. He has recently written a work entitled 'The Cushite, or the Children of Ham as seen by the Ancient Historians and Poets.’ In it he has exhibited wonderful research, and a more than ordinary grasp of the subject under consideration. After quoting very largely from many historians, he says : From these come three great and distinctly marked streams of people, reaching to this time through a period of four thousand two hundred and thirty-four years ; and presenting us, from the earliest stages of written history, a white Europe, a black Africa and a yellow Asia. In the race of life, the Cushite led the van for nearly fifteen centuries; and the Greek theatres in which he played the best, the regions of his noblest deeds and grandeur, were Egyptian and Ethiopia. But the enemies of the Negro maintain that the distinguished Ethiopians and the Egyptians of such frequent and favorable mention, in both sacred and profane history, were not black men. They ingeniously explained the black men away and cunningly substituted some other race. They seemingly forget that the ancient language is a constructive talebearer; that its roots are etymological indices, twinkling like the fixed stars to light up the pathway of the scholar engaged in historic research. One very eloquent passage shows the truth of our assertion that he is very learned and that his knowledge of history is not superficial, but extensive, deep and varied, Speaking of the Hamites, he says: He has had a checkered life it is true, but so have the Shemitic and the Japhetic families. He has been master and he has been slave; but this is no less true of Ham than of Japhet. In the world’s history of the rise and fall of nations, no race, no color, can boast of exemption from misfortune. But no race can boast of a higher celebrity in ancient times than the Negro, then called Cushites by the Hebrews and Ethiopians by the Greeks. We can be pardoned for giving another extensive quotation from this admirable work because we desire to show the ability of the man. Our statement as to his mental capacity and rare attainments might need endorsement did we not give specimens of his ability. We give this passage as much to show his eloquence and inform the reader as far any other purpose. We also hope that in doing this that it will cause the reader to view the whole work. He says: than theory. She had her Sesostris, her Memnon, her Shishak, her Zerah, her Nitocris, her Queen of Sheba, her Candace and her long line of great Pharaohs mentioned in Sacred Scripture. She had her Hannibal and her Terrence, the one distinguished for being the greatest general of whom the Romans ever measured swords, and the other for giving polish to the Roman tongue and for giving expression to a philanthropic sentiment for which even the Christian age produces nothing grander. Rev. Rufus L. Perry has long been recognized for his many valuable attainments in letters deep philosophical research. At the commencement of the State University, Louisville , Kentucky , May 16, 1887, he delivered a learned scientific lecture on the subject "Light.” On the following night the authorities, through the president of the university, conferred on him the title of Doctor of Philosophy-a title he well deserves. Without doubt, Rufus L. Perry is one of the ablest men.

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