The students of the Radical University: Alonzo G. Townsend

Alonzo G. Townsend
From The Times and Democrat.  July 21, 2011.

Alonzo Gray Townsend (b. August 29, 1853; d. March 13, 1937)
South Carolina.  Black.
Occupation:  clergyman, farmer, minister, preacher, teacher.

Alonzo G. Townsend was born in 1853 in South Carolina to Richard and Julia Johnson Townsend.  His death certificate lists his birthplace as Orangeburg county, but he grew up in Charleston.  Townsend's early life was marked by hardship as his father died when he was two years old and, to help support his mother, he started working when he was nine.  He was able to overcome these challenges and graduated from the first class of the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston (Class of 1872) and then began attending Howard University in Washington DC.

Townsend attended Howard from 1870 to 1874, completing the (College) Preparatory Program and leaving during his sophomore year in the Collegiate Department.  He studied alongside a number of other future University of South Carolina, namely Joseph W. Morris, T. McCants Stewart, William M. Dart, Paul J. Mishow, John M. Morris, Lawrence O. Posey, and Cornelius C. Scott.

When the University of South Carolina began admitting African Americans, Townsend left Howard and returned to South Carolina.  Entering the university in January 1874, he was part of the first class of African American undergraduate students.  He received an A.B. degree from the University of South Carolina in 1876.

After receiving his degree, Townsend began serving the Methodist Church. He was licensed as a minister in the Methodist Church in 1878.  Three years later (in 1881), he became an ordained elder.  Townsend served as a minister in Gaffney (1879), in Society Hill (1880), in Cheraw (1880-81), at Claflin University (1883-90, 1898), in the Florence District (1892-96),  in Kingstree (1891), and Charleston (1899-1900). While in Charleston, he was a pastor at the Centenary Church.

In addition to working as a minister, Townsend taught at Claflin University in Orangeburg for a number of years. Townsend probably was hired in the 1880s. He submitted his resignation from his position in 1890. He offered no public explanation for his resignation. However, he resigned shortly after his colleague and former classmate I. N. Cardozo was assaulted by a white Claflin professor, and his resignation was probably offered as a show of support for Cardozo. The incident involving Cardozo is described in greater detail in his entry. While Townsend's resignation was announced in newspapers, it appears that it ultimately was not accepted. For example, he held the position of Professor of Metaphysics in the 1897-98 academic year. In 1900, Claflin awarded him an honorary D.D. degree.

In addition to his work as a minister and educator, Townsend worked as a bank casher in 1908. He was employed by the Zion Saving Bank, the first Black-owned bank in Orangeburg. 

Townsend was active in politics, although he never held a major political office. In 1883, he participated in a "Colored Convention" in Columbia, SC. Townsend served on the convention's Committee on Address and Resolutions. This six man committee also included two of Townsend's former classmates: E. J. Sawyer and R. L. Smith.

The Committee issued a report that was adopted at the convention to loud applause. The report laid out the grievances of African Americans in South Carolina. The report criticized the national Republican party for having neglected the political needs of African Americans for the past six years. However, most of the report was devoted to criticizing the South Carolina state government which they called the "most damnable form of State Government, to which a free people have ever been subjected."

The complaints about the state government focused on the criminal justice system and the public schools. African American in South Carolina, the report stated, were denied the right to a fair trial. Judges and juries made decisions based on the "condition and color" of the accused. Furthermore, often African Americans accused of crimes were not tried in court and instead were killed in extrajudicial lynchings.

African Americans convicted of crimes in a court  of law faced the prospect of being hired out, or leased, to work for private companies. The state newspapers had recently reported on practice, and their reports documented that convicts often faced horrific working conditions. The report thanked the press for condemning the convict leasing system and called on the Legislature to end the practice. 

Finally, the report criticized the state public school system. The schools, the report said,  were so poorly funded that many schools were open only a few months a year and many teachers were forced to take on additional work. 

On August 10, 1897, Townsend was part of a delegation that presented Governor Ellerbe a letter asking him to prevent extrajudicial lynching of African Americans.  Also part of the delegation was E. J. Sawyer, another former U of SC student.  The letter was published in The State newspaper on the next day.

Townsend was in the national news in 1936.  That year the oldest living alumnus of the University of South Carolina died, and the Alumni Association publicly announced that they had opened a search for his replacement.  After Townsend wrote in response that he believed he was now the oldest alumnus, the association invited him to receive a gold-tipped cane at a public ceremony that was publicized in newspaper.  However, upon learning that Townsend was African American, they rescinded the offer.  The association secretary told one news-reporter, "The members [of the association] . . . are all white and contemplated that the award should go to one of the white alumni, of course."  He further added that the university had repudiated diplomas issued during Reconstruction and "everything connected with it."  The decision was reported in national periodicals such as The Literary Digest and Newsweek magazine.

Townsend died in Sumter on March 13, 1937, a few months after the Alumni Association rescinded their offer.  He is buried in Orangeburg Cemetery in Orangeburg, SC.

Alonzo G. Townsend
From palmettoislandgirl

Sources:
1).  "As To Lynchings Second Delegation of Negroes Waits on Governor." State (published as The State),  August 11, 1897. Page 2.

2). "USC alumni snubbed Townsend despite his many accomplishments".  The Times and Democrat. July 21, 2011.

3). 1900; Census Place: Charleston Ward 6, Charleston, South Carolina; Page: 4;

4). South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Sumter.  Certificate Number: 004516.  Volume Number: 10

5). Methodist Episcopal Church. Minutes of the annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Volumes 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, G. Lane & C.B. Tippett for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1773-1940.

6) "Colored Convention." The watchman and southron, July 24, 1883, p. 2.

7) "As to lynchings." The Newberry herald and news, August 13, 1897, p. 1.

8) "Holds College Diploma Signed by Chamberlain." The Anderson daily intelligencer, April 3, 1915, p. 3.

9) "South Carolina Conference Opens." The watchman and southron, December 9, 1922. p. 4.

10) 1930; Census Place: Blenheim, Marlboro, South Carolina; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0025; FHL microfilm: 2341939

11) 1910; Census Place: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1465; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0119; FHL microfilm: 1375478

12) 1880; Census Place: Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: 1225; Page: 297D; Enumeration District: 003