Looking for the past in Akropong II

My parents migrated to the Gold Coast not
any outward advantage which they hoped to get, but from the true love they had for the Lord and also to witness the grace of God not only to the white man, but also to the Black Man. Their only prayer was that the eyes of the blacks whom they regarded as their brothers may be opened to see Jesus as Savior of the world.
Peter Hall
Pioneer Series:
Autobiography of Rev. Peter Hall

The librarian at the theological institute didn't seemed the least surprised by my question: ' Hi, I would like to browse the library to see what information I can find on the Jamaican missionaries who moved to Ghana. Could you possibly help me? I am actually from Jamaica and I realized that my mother's maiden name and my own surname are mentioned in the list of missionaries who came'.

Her ' ah' and her look of 'business as usual' told me that this wasn't the first request of this nature she had had. In fact while poking through the books and records - each time adding the to the pile that she had almost immediately placed before me - she informed me that quite recently another Jamaican from the UK had visited asking the same question. Coincidence - he did share my surname! She also told me that in Akropong itself ' just down the road' was a house of Mullings and a house of Halls, both families direct descendants of those missionaries that had come. The house I would perhaps be most interested in (i.e. the one that shares my surname) could be found in Osu.

The stack of literature in front of me was substantial - photocopies from old Presbyterian Church manuals and notes made by different missionaries, books written by historians and others, and even several thesis's done by scholars who had researched the history of religion, the Presbyterian Church in Ghana etc. Time not being on my side, I started to flip through the various records, keeping an eye out for references to Jamaicans missionaries. The bits and pieces gathered were quite interesting :

• The Basel Missionary had in fact decided that they would stop sending missionaries to the then Gold Coast. Their missionaries were dying and as one author noted, but for the 'Jamaican experiment' it seemed that the work in the Gold Coast was about to be abandoned. It was the idea of one of the missionaries, Andreas Riis, that this 'new faith venture' could be done with families from Jamaica, ushering in a new phase of mission work in the Gold Coast.
• Riis' idea was to 'establish a colony of English-speaking black Christians at Akropong. (He) proposed bringing some former black slaves, now liberated and converted to Christianity, from the West Indies to Akropong'. The Basel Committee hoped that the West Indians would lead by example and would be seen as 'a light and a pattern for the local people' ... 'a desirable spectacle of an ideal Christan community which would dispel the idea that Christianity may be a good religion for white men but not for black people'
• Interestingly, the missionaries sent from Jamaica were not Presbyterian themselves, but were rather Moravian Missionaries. A total of twenty four were ' enlisted' as colonists for Akropong.

And so began the return journey.

The West Indians included 12 married couples, 3 unmarried people and 8 children. They left Jamaican on February 7th, 1843 (some records say the 8th), landed at Christianburg* on April 16th, 1843. (*this is the same old slave Castle that now is the official residence and office of the head of state, i.e. the President). They travelled overland to Akropong and arrived on June 18, 1843.

The West Indians - I will try not to refer to them as solely Jamaicans as there was 'a man from Antigua' - actually had to sign an agreement, which in effect demanded:

• the form and workshop and discipline of the Moravian Church were to be maintained
• they would willingly perform every legitimate service for the mission in return for which they would be maintained by the society during the first two years
• soon after their arrival on the Gold Coast the society would give them land to build houses and make farms on and they would be allowed at least one day in a work to work therein
• as soon as they ceased to be supported by the society they would be at liberty to work for the Mission at cheap cost
• after a stay for five years they could return to Jamaica. If they desired to go the society would pay for the journey if during this time they had not been guilty if any moral offense

On arriving in Akropong the West Indian missionaries immediately started to work, as the houses they were promised were in disrepair. Interestingly, the literature also notes that they built the first stone buildings in the town and 'some of these buildings still stand today as a monument to their skills and workmanship'. The area where the Jamaicans settled became known as Hanover, an interesting link to the parish (aka region for my Ghanaian readers) that they came from in Jamaica. In another parallel of what they left behind, Hanover was described as a 'community lined with mango trees' - a must in many Jamaican communities even till today.

The Jamaicans, it is said, settled in and as one author noted ' trusted that Akwapem people'. Sadly however, the missionaries and their efforts were affected by political unrest in Akropong during the period 1839 to 1850. Some records indicate that ' by January 1845 some of the West Indian Christians had grown weary of the Christian experiment and wrote to the Basel to request repatriation but the mission refused' claiming that it was contrary to the agreement signed.

In 1848, some of the families opted to make their way back to Jamaica, leaving five of the original group behind. Those that stayed behind included Hall, Clerk, Rochester, Mellings* (* spellings for the various names differed amongst the literature consulted), and Miller. It was documented that: ' the mission took steps to secure framing land for the West Indian families that decided to stay. The mission purchased land near Adami for the Miller and the Hall families and at Adobesum on the road to Amanprobi for the Mullins and Rochester families. Land was secured for the Clerk family in Aburi at the place they call Jamaican today. These families planted tropical fruits they had brought from the West indies. It was the West Indians who introduced cocoyam, which became a staple in the country'.

My hand - which was by this time cramped from all the scribbling and the writing - coupled with the prick of conscience - yes, it does occur from time to time - that this was in fact not my main reason for being in Akropong signaled that it was time to leave - at least for now. Promised myself that this would be something to follow up on in the new year. My list of things to do growing with each thought:

• Check with my friend H., to see what he found while visiting Jamaica - he being Ghanaian had gone to trace the roots from the other end!
• Find the family house in Osu
• Write up the info gathered for my blog (done!)
• Find sometime to go back and read more
  

Packing up my notes and while still somewhat dazed by all I just read, I told the the librarian 'thank you' as I was about to walk out, only to hear her sternly say ' that will be GH 1 please'! Needless to say that was the best one ghana cedis I have ever spent!

Documents consulted: * forgive my poor attempt at a reference list - this is what one gets for scribbling on a million and one pieces of paper! Argh! Note to self: add to list of things to do - get list of proper references!

• An Outline history of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, Rev. E. A. Asamoa
• Texts and Documents: A Short History of the Basel Mission, Paul Jenkins, Basel Missionary No. 10, May 1989
• Pinoeers of Church and Education in Ghana: Danish Chaplains to Guinea 1661 - 1850 Hans Debrunner
• Presbyterian Church of Ghana Pastors Manual Rev. Dr. Sam Prempeh, B.A., M, Th, PhD.
• African Sacral Rule and the Christian Church: An Investigation into a Process of Change and Continuity in the Encounter between Christianity and African Traditions with particular reference to Cameroon and Ghana Pasacal Possouo, Phd Thesis 2003
  

Looking for the past in Akropong

It was my first time visiting a cemetery out of curiosity rather than compulsion. I really didn't intend to, but yes, curiosity won over and there I was.

I actually didn't start the day planning to go grave-hunting. On the contrary, it started ordinarily enough. Was working outside of Accra and visiting some schools in the Eastern Region and ended up at the Akropong Presbyterian Teacher Training College. On reaching the cooler climes of Aburi, already one could see the influence of the Presbyterian Church by way of the names of the schools - Presbyterian Senior High School, Ebeneezer Presbyterian, Presbyterian Teacher Training College - by way of some examples. All along the ridge there are beautiful old churches that seem to be guardians and sentinels of that time past.

Historically, the Basel Missionaries started the 'seeds' of Presbyterian Churches in Ghana and to link to a previous post they were also the group responsible for bringing over the Jamaican missionaries in 1843. It suddenly occurred to me that this was the perfect time to go information hunting on the topic.

After finishing the work I had set out to do at the Presbyterian Training College in Akropong, I started chatting with some of the teachers about the Jamaica-Ghana link and then so any things began to make a connection. They took me to an old cemetery on the grounds of the College, tucked away beside a beautiful old Church. They explained that many of the Missionaries that had started the Church and the Teacher Training College - including some descendants of the Jamaican families - had built the church and were in fact buried here.

I took some time out to wander among the graves, hoping to see and make some connection to my own family names, but alas, alas, time had eroded the grave stones, save one. Am sure with a bit more research and a bit more digging - for information, not literally! - I could find out if any of these were in fact descendants of those families that had returned to the then Gold Coast.

I popped into the Church, which was empty, quiet and cool. The stained glass windows providing a filter not just for the sunlight, but seemingly for everything else that seemed to be happening around me - both mentally and physically. Towards the end of each year, I always find myself reflective and this seemed to be the perfect place for that. I spent a couple minutes, reluctant to leave, but duty called and I had one more stop to make in this information hunt which was right next door at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture. If I needed to find more information on those Jamaican families their library was the perfect place to search. More on that in my next post - promise!

An aside: so the woes and wows (no didn't make that up, rather fell in love with it and borrowed the phrase from a book I am now reading, Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong'o) of 2008 are over. I find a new year a bit like opening a new book. There is the promise of a plot - hopefully not too dramatic, new characters to discover, or ifs a sequel old ones to be reacquainted with. One of course is never quite sure where the twists and turns will lead to, but at the end of it all, one hopes that it would have been satisfying. 2008 has been a good year - few regrets, some disappointments, but yes overall satisfactory. Here's to a New Year - all the best it has to offer to you and yours!