Nursed in the Arms of Poverty

Abstract This chapter traces John Wesley Gilbert’s family origins (noting the possibility that one or more of his enslaved ancestors came to Georgia from Antigua), then examines his birth into slavery in 1863. It reconstructs his childhood and family life in Augusta, Georgia, and his early education in the public schools of that city. It examines his studies at the Baptist-sponsored Augusta Institute, a training school for black ministers and teachers. When the school moved to Atlanta and became the Atlanta Baptist Seminary, Gilbert moved to Atlanta with it to continue his studies but was forced to return home by lack of funds. The chapter then traces Gilbert’s work as a teacher in Augusta, followed by his enrollment at Paine Institute, a joint foundation of the white Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) and the Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church. The chapter focuses on Gilbert’s relationship with Paine president George Williams Walker, who would become Gilbert’s lifelong colleague and father figure. It also introduces other key figures in Gilbert’s life, including John Hope (later the first black president of what is today Morehouse College). The chapter ends in 1886, with Gilbert’s completing school as one of Paine’s first seven graduates.