The Journals of Church Missionary Society Agent, James Thomas in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Nigeria Introduction and Notes by Femi J. Kolapo
Kolapo, Femi James

Description

This book consists of the complete compiled transcriptions of a nineteenth-century Christian missionary in Nigeria. James Thomas was born into slavery, and then converted to Christianity. Later in his adult life he was transformed was rescued from slavery by a British anti-slave trade squadron. He was then turned into a Christian missionary who converted people and built churches in Nigeria. This book not only gives a rich history of certain regions of Nigeria in the nineteenth-century, it also shows how Christianity and the slave trade molded its history as well. The book shows the history of the Nigerian Middle Belt, including the Niger-Benue Confluence area.

The author has compiled diaries and letters of James Thomas, a Church of England native missionary to Nigeria’s Niger-Benue Confluence area (or Upper Niger River). Transcribed are the letters and diaries from original archival sources and they are here provided with an introduction and annotations. As primary source documents they detail the career of James Thomas and his colleagues at their mission posts during about two decades of service.

They also provide information on the introduction of missionary Christianity to interior Nigeria. Some of the prospects and challenges that the missionary Christianization program faced in mid-nineteenth century Niger-Benue Confluence area of Nigeria are documented.

These letters and diaries open a revealing window onto the economic, political, cultural and social developments ongoing in the immediate vicinity and in the larger region of the Niger-Benue confluence area during the second half of the 19th century. There are glimpses into the early moments and the gradual process of the project of modernization to this part of Nigeria. James Thomas’s documents highlight the local and regional contexts of wars, displacement, and enslavement that various communities of Niger-Benue confluence area witnessed at this time. It shows how these processes were linked to the wider global currents that swept across both the Atlantic and the Sahara.

Reviews

“These diaries and letters provide an important source of information on many aspects of life in the confluence area in the nineteenth century, and its links to the wider world.”

-Prof. Ann O’Hear,
Niagara University

“The richness of this new historical source relies upon the mode of representing the writings by an indigenous actor within the unfolding of the Christian enterprise and European civilizing agency within Nigeria in general… this book is a valuable resource for understanding the history that constitutes the Niger-Benue confluence area.”

-Prof. Attah Anthony Agbali,
Indiana University

“Any work that provides primary sources written by Africans during colonialism is significant and commendable, and this manuscript falls into that purview.”

-Prof. Kwabena Akurang-Parry,
Shippensburg University

Table of Contents

Foreword by Ann O’Hear . . . . i Preface. . . . . . . iii Map of the Niger-Benue Confluence Area. . . vii Introduction to James Thomas's Journal. . . 1 Biography. . . . . . 9 Residence in Sierra Leone. . . . 11 Pre-enslavement History. . . . 13 Missionary Service. . . . . 17 Gbebe Mission station. . . . 21 JAMES THOMAS’S JOURNAL. . . . 35 Document No. 1 [Letter from] Clarence Cove, Fernandopo, June 15th 1858 . . . . . 37 Document No. 2 [Letter from] 8 Street, Wellington. Nov 21th 1861 47 Document No. 3 Journals of James Thomas from June 25th 1858 to September 26th 1859 . . . 49 Document No. 4 [Letter from] Jas. Thomas. Gbebe September 2nd 1859 . . . . . 95 Document No. 5 Gbebe. The Account first commenced November 1th(sic) 1859 By me James A. Thomas . 99 Document No. 6 [Letter from] Mission House, Gbebe, October 8th 1860 . . . . 123 Document No. 7 Journal Kept By James Thomas Native teacher from October 19th 1862 to June 9/63 . . 125 Document No. 8 [Letter dated] June 9th 1863–Gbebe Mission house 147 Document No. 9 [Letter from the] Mission House, Gbebe in Confluence. August 10th 1864 . . 151 Document No. 10 [Letter from the] Mission House Gbebe. 13th Oct. 1864 . . . . 157 Document No. 11: Gbebe 1863. Journals kept by me James Thomas - Native Teacher . . . 159 Document No. 12 The Journal of James Thomas - Native teacher at Gbebe 1864 -1865 . . . . 175 Document No. 13 Journal of James Thomas. One of the Native Teachers, Lokoja. From October 1866 to 1867 189 Document No. 14 [Journal for 1867-1868 . . . 209 Document No. 15 Journal of James Thomas Native teacher from Oct 4 1868 . . . . 225 Document No. 16 The Journal of James Thomas Native Teacher Lokoja From 1869-1870 . . . 241 Document No. 17 Journal of James Thomas [1870-71] . . 253 Document No. 18 The Report of Mr James Thomas for the year ending September 30th 1874 . . . 259 Document No. 19 [Letter from] Lokoja: River Niger. August 29th 1874 . . . . 265 Document No. 20 The Journal of Mr. James Thomas. [1874-1875] 267 Document No. 21 Lokoja, September 20th 1879 [Report] . 279 Bibliography . . . . . . 283 Index . . . . . . . 287

ISBN10:  0-7734-2935-2   ISBN13:  978-0-7734-2935-2    Pages:  316    Year:  2012   

Series: hors série Number: 0

Subject Areas:  19th Century Studies, African Studies, British Studies, Mission Studies - Religion,

Imprint: Edwin Mellen Press

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