Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Quacko Walker Lewis was an early African American abolitionist, Freemason, and Mormon elder from Massachusetts. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies Elder is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek Priesthood of denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement, including The Church of Jesus Christ The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States.

Contents

Family and personal history

Lewis was born August 3, 1798 in Barre, Massachusetts to Peter P. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1798 ( MDCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Barre is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Lewis and Minor Walker Lewis. His full name was Quacko Walker Lewis, named after his maternal uncle, Kwaku Walker (Kwaku meaning "boy born on Saturday" in Akan, and also spelled Quacko, Quork, Quock, Qualk, etc. See also Akan languages Akan is a language group spoken by related peoples in mainly Ghana and eastern Côte d'Ivoire. Introduction Quock Walker was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom in 1780 by using language in the Massachusetts Constitution )

Kwaku Walker was born in Massachusetts in 1753 to slaves Mingo and Dinah, who were owned by the prominent Caldwell family of Worcester County. Worcester County is a non-governmental County located in the U Months before his promised emancipation at the age of 21, his owners died and he became the property of Nathaniel Jennison, a cruel and violent man. Educated by the next generation of Caldwells who were now all abolitionists, in 1781 Kwaku Walker sued his owner for his freedom, basing his legal case upon the newly passed Massachusetts state constitution which guaranteed that all men are created free and equal. In 1783, the case went before the state Supreme Judicial Court, and Kwaku won not only his own freedom, but the emancipation of all slaves in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the second state to do so (Vermont had freed its slaves in 1776). Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America.

Kwaku's namesake, Walker Lewis, was one of nine children born to Minor Walker and Peter P. Lewis, and was raised in an educated, socially committed, politically active, and well-connected middle class black family. While Walker was still a young boy, Peter and Minor Lewis moved their family to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. There, Walker Lewis became a successful barber and earned enough money to purchase a residential and commercial building in Boston, Massachusetts.

In March 1826, Walker Lewis married Elizabeth Lovejoy (daughter of Peter Lovejoy, who was black, and Lydia Greenleaf Bradford, who was white) and their first child, Enoch Lovejoy Lewis, was born three months later. At this point in time, Lewis moved his young family to Lowell, Massachusetts, where the burgeoning industrial revolution was bringing new wealth to the state through the cotton mills. Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 105167 In Lowell, along with his brother-in-law, John Levy, Lewis opened a barbershop on Merrimack Street and eventually they purchased a two family home in the Centralville section of Lowell.

Freemasonry and abolitionism

While in Boston, Lewis was initiated into African Freemasonry about 1823, participating in Boston's African Lodge #459. In 1825, he became the sixth Right Worshipful Master and a year later was its Senior Warden. After the African Lodge declared its independence from the Grand Lodge of London and became its own African Grand Lodge, Walker Lewis was the Most Worshipful Grand Master of African Grand Lodge #1 for 1829 and 1830 (see: Prince Hall Freemasonry). Prince Hall Freemasonry derives from historical events which led to a tradition of separate predominantly African-American, Freemasonic fraternal organization in

Around the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Lovejoy in 1826, Walker Lewis and Thomas Dalton helped organize the Massachusetts General Colored Association (MGCA), the first such all-black organization in the United States. Thomas Dalton (1794-1883 and Lucy Lew (1790-1865 were African Americans in Massachusetts In 1829, the MGCA helped David Walker (no relation) to publish the radical, 76-page Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World which demanded unconditional and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the USA. David Walker may refer to Dave Walker (born 1945 British musician member of the band Fleetwood Mac David Walker (abolitionist (1785-1830 Walker Lewis personally assisted in this endeavor by arranging to have the same Boston printer who published the Articles for the African Grand Lodge, to print the controversial Appeal. In 1831, Walker Lewis served as President of the African Humane Society in Boston, which provided funeral expenses for the poor, assisted widows, built the African School in Boston, and also sponsored a "settlement project" for African Americans who wanted to return to settle in Liberia.

In Lowell during 1840s and 1850s, Walker's home was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and he even housed for quite some time the escaped slave, Nathaniel Booth. Walker Lewis and many of his brother and sisters and their families were actively involved in the abolition and equal rights movement throughout Massachusetts and the Northeast.

Conversion to Mormonism

Sometime about 1842, Lewis, who had fellowshipped with the Episcopal Church, officially converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States and the largest and most well-known It is believed he was baptized by Apostle Parley P. Pratt. Parley Parker Pratt ( 12 April 1807 &ndash 13 May 1857) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of One year later, in the summer of 1843, Lewis was ordained an Elder in the LDS Church by William Smith, an Apostle and brother to Joseph Smith, becoming the third black man known to hold the Mormon priesthood (The first two were Elijah Abel and a man only known as Black Pete). William Smith (also found as William B Smith) ( March 13 1811 – November 13, 1893) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement Elijah Abel ( July 25, 1810 – December 25, 1884) was the first black elder and seventy in the Latter Walker's firstborn son, Enoch Lovejoy Lewis, also joined the Mormon Church, but probably did not hold the priesthood. Enoch later married a white Mormon woman named Mary Matilda Webster in Cambridge, on September 18, 1846. Events 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated For the game see 1846 (board game. Year 1846 ( MDCCCXLVI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display They too lived in Lowell, Massachusetts, where Enoch ran a used clothing store (mainly to assist escaping slaves from the south to change their appearances with new and better clothing), while his father, Walker Lewis, would barber their hair into different hairstyles to further disguise them.

Priesthood ban

Meanwhile, at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, Brigham Young was dealing with the erratic behavior of a half-African, half-Indian Mormon musician named William McCary (who probably also held Mormon priesthood). Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2500 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846-1847 for better Brigham Young (June 1 1801 &ndash August 29 1877 was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. William McCary was an African American convert to Mormonism who was expelled from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church in 1847 for On March 26, 1847, Young confronted McCary and made a clear statement that Mormon priesthood bestowal was not race-based, but only based on the man's personal worthiness. Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Young specifically told McCary, "Its nothing to do with the blood for [from] one blood has God made all flesh, we have to repent [to] regain what we av lost � we av one of the best Elders an African in Lowell" here referring to Walker Lewis. Unfortunately, Young's view of both Lewis and blacks holding priesthood radically changed by the end of that year.

Just weeks later, William Ivers Appleby, a conservative Mormon Elder, arrived in Lowell, Massachusetts as a missionary, to discover that the most prominent Mormon there was an African-American Elder, and a radical abolitionist, Walker Lewis. And not only that, but Walker's son has married a white Mormon woman, which incensed the missionary. Appleby promptly wrote a letter to Brigham Young on May 31, 1847, informing the new Mormon president that,

At Lowell� I found a coloured brother by name of �Lewis� a barber, an Elder in the Church, ordained some years ago by William Smith. Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common This Lewis I was informed has also a son [Enoch] who is married to a white girl [Mary Matilda Webster Lewis]. and both members of the Church there. Now dear Br. I wish to know if this is the order of God or tolerated in this Church ie to ordain Negroes to the Priesthood and allow amalgamation [inter-racial marriage]. If it is I desire to Know, as I have Yet got to learn it.

Appleby had sent the letter to Young at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, but Young was actually in Utah, and therefore did not receive Appleby's missive until the first of December 1847, when he returned to Winter Quarters. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. Quite coincidentally, Appleby himself arrived in Winter Quarters on December 2. Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Young read Appleby's letter and then had him personally report to Young and the eight Apostles who were then in Nebraska. According to the minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve for December 3, 1847, Young confided to the Apostles that he would have both Enoch Lovejoy Lewis and his wife Matilda killed "if they were far away from the Gentiles"[citation needed] instead of living in Massachusetts. In the Latter Day Saint movement, the quorum of the Twelve (also known as the council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council Events 1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Young continued,

when they mingle seed it is death to all. If a black man & white woman come to you & demand baptism can you deny them? the law is their seed shall not be amalgamated. Mulattoes r like mules they cant have children, but if they will be Eunuch for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake they may have a place in the Temple. [citation needed]

Young later (in 1863) reiterated,

Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110)[1]

After settling in Utah in 1848, Brigham Young announced a priesthood ban which prohibited all men of black African descent from holding the priesthood. In connection, Mormons of African descent could not participate in Mormon temple rites such as the Endowment or sealing. In Latter Day Saint theology the Endowment usually refers to an ordinance or ritual that is performed in Latter Day Saint temples. In Mormonism, a sealing is an ordinance (ritual performed in temples by a person holding the Sealing power. These racial restrictions remained in place until 1978, when the policy was rescinded by President of the Church Spencer W. Kimball. In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church Spencer Woolley Kimball ( March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day [2]

Moves

In 1850 Walker Lewis began to prepare to migrate to Utah with the main body of the Mormons. Lewis left Massachusetts at the end of March 1851 and arrived in Salt Lake City about October 1. Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. He received his Patriarchal Blessing under the hands of Patriarch John Smith, an uncle of Joseph Smith. In the Latter Day Saint movement, a patriarchal blessing (also called an evangelist's blessing) is a blessing or ordinance given by a patriarch After arriving, he asked a black Mormon from Connecticut, Jane Elizabeth Manning James, to marry him as his polygamous wife, but she turned him down. Jane Elizabeth Manning James (1822 - 1908 was an early African American member of the Latter Day Saint movement who lived with Joseph Smith Jr Otherwise, Lewis was completely ignored by his fellow Mormons. The missionaries and Apostles who had stayed in his home, eaten his food, and worshiped God under his roof refused to even acknowledge his presence now that he was in Salt Lake City.

Even worse, two months after Walker's arrival, Brigham Young loudly stumped for, and the Territorial Legislature (composed only of high-ranking Mormon leaders) dutifully passed, the Act in Relation to Service. This new territorial law not only made slavery legal in the state of Utah, but Section Four of the statute seemed directly pointed at Walker Lewis and his son, Enoch, for it provided harsh punishment for "any white person. . . guilty of sexual intercourse with any of the African race," regardless of their being married, consenting adults. This anti-miscegenation law was not repealed in Utah until the 1960s.

After only six months in Salt Lake, Walker Lewis left with the spring thaw and returned to Lowell, Massachusetts. There were difficult times on Lewis's return to Lowell; his daughter-in-law, Mary Matilda Webster Lewis, died from "exhaustion" just after Christmas 1852 in the State Hospital at Worcester, Massachusetts. His son, Enoch Lovejoy Lewis, married again--this time to African American Elisa Richardson Shorter--in 1853, at a time when he was slowly going insane.

Death

Walker Lewis died on October 26, 1856 in Lowell of "consumption" (tuberculosis). Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Lewis may have returned to St. Anne's Episcopal Church where his wife Elizabeth Lewis was an active member, as Reverend Theodore Edson conducted his funeral services, and Lewis was buried in the family lot in the Lowell Cemetery, a beautiful, private, cemetery.

Troubles for the Lewis family continued as Enoch Lewis became so insane that he was institutionalized. Linus Child, a former state Senator, Agent of the Boott Cotton Mills (Lowell), and close friend of Walker and Elizabeth Lewis, acted as Enoch's guardian; Child also served as guardian for their young son, Walker Lewis, Jr. A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the Upper house in the Bicameral legislature of 49 U

See also

External links

See Blacks and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for information specific to that branch in this movement The Latter Day Saint movement has had
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic