Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony, 1862-1867

By Patricia C. Click

In February 1862, General Ambrose E. Burnside led Union forces to victory at the Battle of Roanoke Island. As word spread that the Union army had established a foothold in eastern North Carolina, slaves from the surrounding area streamed across Federal lines seeking freedom. By early 1863, nearly 1,000 refugees had gathered on Roanoke Island, working together to create a thriving community that included a school and several churches. As the settlement expanded, the Reverend Horace James, an army chaplain from Massachusetts, was appointed to oversee the establishment of a freedmen's colony there. James and his missionary assistants sought to instill evangelical fervor and northern republican values in the colonists, who numbered nearly 3,500 by 1865, through a plan that included education, small-scale land ownership, and a system of wage labor. Time Full of Trial tells the story of the Roanoke Island freedmen's colony from its contraband-camp beginnings to the conflict over land ownership that led to its demise in 1867. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Patricia Click traces the struggles and successes of this long-overlooked yet significant attempt at building what the Reverend James hoped would be the model for "a new social order" in the postwar South.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807826022
• ISBN13: 9780807826027
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Trial of a Time

"It is with a heart full of gratitude to God that I seat myself to write you this morning. It brings to mind the scenes through which we have passed since the time when my quarterly report ought to have been written - a time full of trial and yet full of joy." - Ella Roper - Missionary Teacher - roanoke Island, 31 May 1864 In TIME FULL OF TRIAL, Patricia Click introduces why she feels that the story of the Roanoke Island's freedmen's colony is one of national significance. She explained that she initially got interested in the subject matter of the Freedmen's Colony when she took a summer position as an historian-in-residence for the town of Manteo, North Carolina. The town of Manteo sits on the eastern side of Roanoke Island. Roanoke Island is located between the North Carolina mainland and the Outer Banks. For those of you familiar with English history, this is where the first English settlements in America were located. The last of these colonies was known as Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony because it mysteriously disappeared in the 1580's. The mayor of Manteo suggested to the author that an interesting project for her internship would be to write a history of the colony of former slaves that was established on the island during the Civil War which at the time of the Civil War was known as the Roanoke Island freedmen's colony. Click began some research; but really did not know where to start. She discovered that there was an evangelical missionary organization that had tried to do missionary work at that time. She located many letters that were written by the American Missionary organization housed at the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. She also discovered thankfully that a microfiche had been made and was housed at the University of Virginia. She ended up just writing a paper that summer giving an overview of the colony; but she felt that at a later date she might want to write a complete history of the colony itself; but she correctly determined that a summer internship was certainly not going to give her the time she needed. It wasn't until ten years later that she revisited that summer internship project and then realized that it was much bigger than she even imagined at the time. Click contemplated that what had happened to the colony was the result of a mixture of "evangelical, traditional republican, abolition sentiments that were tempered by the crucible of the military experience." She knew that this local experiment actually had national implications. She decided to focus not only bringing the story of the Roanoke Island freedmen's colony alive; but she also wanted to write a book which would give a scholarly account of freedmen's camps and the missionary work which was done. She was however very concerned about the lack of substantial primary source material from the freedmen's perspective. Click emphasized that she tried to remain faithful to the terms used at that time. At first, the former

Perfect for the Scholar and Enthusiast Alike

As a novice Civil War Buff and North Carolina Historian, I found the book very comprehensive in its coverage of this interesting facet of Civil War, Reconstruction, and North Carolina history. Click focuses on a group of slave refugees set up in a freedmen's colony by Northern evangelists and Union military personnel and their struggle to survive in a post-slavery world. The book's rich detail is further strengthened by its ease of read and overall interestingness making it a true gem for someone researching or just looking for a good read.

Roanoke Island Colony of Freedmen

Even though I am a self-taught researcher of local and NC history and genealogies, I had not heard of this publication until I saw the author on PBS TV. I ordered the book from ... and am still in the process of reading it. It seems well documented and contains information I was not aware of until I read this book. I have helped two different African-American individuals research their families and so this subject was of interest to me. I recently was in court as a juror and was approached by a bystander who heard me describe my "line of work." I told her of this book and how she could obtain a copy. She said she would like to add this publication to her personal library of publications on Black Research. I purchased this book for our local historical/genealogical library so that it could be used by everyone doing black research. I ony live about 60 miles as the crow flies from Roanoke Island and had never heard of this Freedmen's Colony until now.