Rev. Dr. Hatcher’s Surprising Assertions
June 23, 1894
Summary
Rev. Dr. Hatcher asserts that he does not believe lynchings are a problem in the South.
Transcription
Our attention has been called to an article by Rev. Dr. Hatcher of this city in The Baptist of May 23, 1894, a journal published weekly at Baltimore, MD.
Under the caption of “A Baptist Blunder” he makes assertions as surprising as they are untrue, and for the time being we were bewildered to understand how a minister of his standing and influenced could be guilty of giving voice to the assertions accredited to him.
We cannot even now believe that he knowingly misrepresented facts, but that his attention to study had caused him to be oblivious of his everyday surroundings as well as ignorant of the contents of the white daily newspapers.
Our colored Brethren will be as much as surprised as we, and the white ones too for that matter when they observe the statement said to have been made by the Rev. Dr. over his own signature. Here is what he says:
“This time the blender had its birth in a foreign country, and was born in London, on Thursday, April 27, at the spring meeting of the Baptist Union of England. We are such as far as dependents on the cable dispatches for our report of the affair, but in the language of Dr. Clifford, one of the apps in the performance, “We cannot impeach the facts, though in some cases they perhaps are exaggerated.”
It seems that some kind so proposed to send greetings to the American Baptists. That seemed to be an innocent proposition. But the objective was there and he attac denies the resolution quite fiercely, and the Curious fact was that he based his objection on the ground that the Americans did not treat the Negroes properly. The special complaint was that they Lynch the poor creatures most cruelly and profusely. It was added that the crow business is carried on by mobs which are generally half-drunk, half insane, And always bestial. Dr. John Clifford, one of the Baptist nobilities of London, said that the fax were such as to not be impeached, though in some cases exaggerated. He favored the motion not to greet the bloody minded Americans, but to pass a protesting resolution telling the Americans how bad they are and with the hope of simulating them to “ secure Elementary right to the Negroes”.”
The Rev. Doctor proceeds further...
Under the caption of “A Baptist Blunder” he makes assertions as surprising as they are untrue, and for the time being we were bewildered to understand how a minister of his standing and influenced could be guilty of giving voice to the assertions accredited to him.
We cannot even now believe that he knowingly misrepresented facts, but that his attention to study had caused him to be oblivious of his everyday surroundings as well as ignorant of the contents of the white daily newspapers.
Our colored Brethren will be as much as surprised as we, and the white ones too for that matter when they observe the statement said to have been made by the Rev. Dr. over his own signature. Here is what he says:
“This time the blender had its birth in a foreign country, and was born in London, on Thursday, April 27, at the spring meeting of the Baptist Union of England. We are such as far as dependents on the cable dispatches for our report of the affair, but in the language of Dr. Clifford, one of the apps in the performance, “We cannot impeach the facts, though in some cases they perhaps are exaggerated.”
It seems that some kind so proposed to send greetings to the American Baptists. That seemed to be an innocent proposition. But the objective was there and he attac denies the resolution quite fiercely, and the Curious fact was that he based his objection on the ground that the Americans did not treat the Negroes properly. The special complaint was that they Lynch the poor creatures most cruelly and profusely. It was added that the crow business is carried on by mobs which are generally half-drunk, half insane, And always bestial. Dr. John Clifford, one of the Baptist nobilities of London, said that the fax were such as to not be impeached, though in some cases exaggerated. He favored the motion not to greet the bloody minded Americans, but to pass a protesting resolution telling the Americans how bad they are and with the hope of simulating them to “ secure Elementary right to the Negroes”.”
The Rev. Doctor proceeds further...
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Carlos Serrano
Citation
“Rev. Dr. Hatcher’s Surprising Assertions,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed October 9, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1530.