User:Ta'mar0388/Memoir of Old Elizabeth

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The Memoir of Old Elizabeth is a short diary-like autobiography about the life of a 97 year old Black woman who was born into slavery and became a minister.(8) The real author of the memoir is unidentified. There are many copies of the memoir naming the author as Old Elizabeth or Elizabeth, while other editions identify the author as Anonymous or unknown. Some scholars have used the memoir as a source for the time from 1765 to 1866, when Old Elizabeth may have lived. The memoir was originally published in 1863 in Philadelphia by Collins, Printer, 705 Jayne Street. Six Women's Slave Narratives (7) is a scholarly anthology that contains the Memoir of Old Elizabeth alongside other enslaved women's autobiographical accounts.

Early Life
According to the narrative, Old Elizabeth was born into slavery in Maryland in 1766. Old Elizabeth had numerous siblings. Both of her parents were very religious; they belonged to the Methodist Society and attended Sunday church services. Old Elizabeth felt a deep connection to her religion at a young age. She wrote: "I often felt the overshadowing of the Lord's Spirit, without at all understanding what it meant; and these incomes and influences continued to attend me until I was eleven years old, particularly when I was alone, by which I was preserved from doing anything that I thought was wrong."(1) At the age of 11, Old Elizabeth was transferred to another farm far from her family. Old Elizabeth would travel back her family due to feeling loneliness. Old Elizabeth would spend several days with her family until being sent back to the new farm.(1) Being away from family Old Elizabeth was overcome with sorrow and stopped eating. One night Old Elizabeth felt so weak she prepared for death. It was then that she had a spiritual awakening.

Spiritual Awakening
Laying on a bench Old Elizabeth described herself as feeling ready to die until her soul screamed out at her and she questioned if this is the way she would like to end her life. "My spirit cried within me, must I die in this state, and be banished from Thy presence forever? I own I am a sinner in Thy sight, and not fit to live where thou art. Still it was my fervent desire that the Lord would pardon me. Just at this season, I saw with my spiritual eye, an awful gulf of misery"(4). hearing the words rise up Old Elizabeth was found strength and began to pray. eminently after what Old Elizabeth explain as a directer came clothed in white raiment, took her by the hand told her to "come with me"(10). Old Elizabeth went to the old fiery gulf were she began to scream. Believing that she would be going to hell Old Elizabeth screamed for mercy, " thinking I was about to be plunged to the belly of hell, and believed I should sink to endless ruin. Although I prayed and wrestled with all my might, it seemed in vain. Still, I felt all the while that I was sustained by some invisible power."(5) at That moment Old Elizabeth was believed to have seen a hand with a silver hair that said, "the hope I had of being saved was no more than a hair"(1). Old Elizabeth continued to pray and with each payer she believed she was being raised higher and higher. Old Elizabeth then recounted that they saw the Savior and was then forgiven for thou sin. Old Elizabeth then accounts that they were raised to heavens door and was asked "Art thou willing to be saved in my way?" (10). Old Elizabeth then heard another voice, "If thou art not saved in the Lord's way, thou canst not be saved at all"(1). Old Elizabeth claimed yes to the voice and then felt as if light was entering their body. they were able to see the dark miserable world and was told that is were they should go to call the people to repentance. Old Elizabeth then began weeping and was told, "weep not, some will laugh at thee, some will scoff at thee, and the dogs will bark at thee, but while thou doest my will, I will be with thee to the ends of the earth."(1)

Old Elizabeth claims that the next day she felt as though she was a new creature of Christ and that all she wanted to do was to see Christ again.

Ministry Life
Old Elizabeth began her ministry journey at the age of 42. She first taught herself to read though she did not get far. She went to many ministers to study and each one told her it would be hard or impossable for a women to journey as a minster. One day Old Elizabeth asked an elderly woman to hold a religious women's gathering and she was able to close the meeting. At the end a man caught them and told them the women they were creating a disturbance.(1) Old Elizabeth told the man,"a good racket is better than a bad racket. How do they rest when the ungodly are dancing and fiddling till midnight? Why are not they molested by the watchmen? and why should we be for praising God, our Maker? Are we worthy of greater punishment for praying to Him? and are we to be prohibited from doing so, that sinners may remain slumbering in their sins?" the man was shaken and left saying he would not disturb a religious gathering again.(1)

Old Elizabeth continued the majority female religious gathering until the town of which she held them band her. Old Elizabeth went into hiding making new meeting ever where she went but would alimentally need to leave again due to backlash and of fear of being ostracized my the church. Old Elizabeth continued until another elderly lady gave her a house to use for meetings but few attended. Over time the meetings were advertised though word of mouth and many more people, both Black and white, started to attend the meetings.

Old Elizabeth continued to travel through different states, including Maryland and Virginia. IDuring her time at Virginia Old Elizabeth was imprisoned for speaking against slavery while she preached. As old Elizabeth continued to travel she believed that white ministry were unfit most of the time of the position as minsters, "As I travelled along through the land, I was led at different times to converse with white men who were by profession ministers of the gospel. Many of them, up and down, confessed they did not believe in revelation, which gave me to see that men were sent forth as ministers without Christ's authority."(10) Old Elizabeth would travel to remote places as well as traveling all the way to Canada traveling through people of color settlements. Old Elizabeth continued to travel until she reached Michigan were she stayed for 4 years. (4)

End of Life
In the four years that Old Elizabeth spent in Michigan, she established a school for Black orphans. (10) "the great importance of the religious and moral agriculture of children, and the great need of it, especially amongst the colored people. Having white teachers, I met with much encouragement."(1)

Old Elizabeth continued to travel till she turned 87 and contracted a disease, whereupon she settled in Philadelphia. Old Elizabeth's last entry in the memoir is at the age of 97 which is presumed the age at which she died.

Bibliograph

 * 1) Elizabeth. “The Memoir of Old Elizabeth, A Colored Women: Electronic Version, Elizabeth, 1765?-1866.” Documenting of American South (blog). National Endowment for the Humanities, November 5, 1999. :https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/eliza1/eliza1.html.
 * 2) Prince, Monique. “Elizabeth, 1765?-1866 Memoir of Old Elizabeth, a Coloured Woman. Philadelphia: Collins, 1863. Summary.” Documenting the American South (blog), 1999. https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/eliza1/summary.html
 * 3) Pierce, Yolanda. “A Public Praise with Neither Purse nor Scrip: Old Elizabeth and Womanist Theological Ways.” Theology Today 70, no. 1 (2013): 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040573612473631 .https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0040573612473631
 * 4) Elizabeth, "Memoir of Old Elizabeth A Colored Women." Project of Gutenberg's : 2006. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17826/17826-h/17826-h.htm
 * 5) Anonymous, "Memoir of Old Elizabeth A Colored Women." Internet Archive: Project of Gutenberg's, 2006. https://ia902803.us.archive.org/8/items/memoirofoldeliza17826gut/17826.txt
 * 6) Joycelyn, Moody, "Sentimental confessions: spiritual narrative of the nineteenth century African American Women", Internet Archive: PG12, Athens: University of George Press. 2001, https://archive.org/details/sentimentalconfe0000mood/page/46/mode/2up?q=Old+Elizabeth
 * 7) Andrew, William. “Memoir of Old Elizabeth A Colored Women.” Essay. In Six Women's Slave Narratives, Reprinted., 96–116. Oxford University Press, 1988.https://archive.org/details/sixwomensslavena00newy_0/page/n115/mode/2up
 * 8) Hogeland Lisa Maria, Mary Klages. 2004. The Aunt Lute Anthology of U.S. Women Writers. 1st ed. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
 * 9) Elizabeth Elizabeth and Tract Association of Friends (Philadelphia Pa). 1889. Elizabeth a Colored Minister of the Gospel Born in Slavery. Philadelphia: Published by the Tract Association of Friends no. 304 Arch Street.
 * 10) Elizabeth. Elizabeth, a Colored Minister of the Gospel, Born in Slavery. Philadelphia: Published by the Tract Association of Friends, no. 304 Arch Street, 1889, https://archive.org/details/DKC0180/mode/2up