Enslaved African converted by the Moravians

THE SERIES started with, among other things, the question of how a formerly enslaved African, Aniaso, renamed Archibald John Monteath, came to be buried in the Carmel Moravian Churchyard in Westmoreland when during his time, deceased enslaved people were not allowed to be so honoured and respected, especially with a headstone.

In her 2016 article, Paynestown in Our History’, Professor Maureen Warner-Lewis writes, “But Archibald’s grave with its clear headstone lies in the churchyard of the Carmel Moravian Church, in proximity to the graves of European Moravian missionaries who died here, because Archibald had become a significant evangelist in the early Moravian Church.”

He had been kidnapped in Igboland in present-day Nigeria in the early 1800s and brought to Jamaica where he was sold to John Monteath of Glasgow, Scotland. In his autobiography, Archibald gave a poignant account of how he was removed from the coast in Africa to the West Indies.

In her book, Archibald Monteath – Igbo, Jamaican, Moravian, Professor Maureen Warner-Lewis also writes that Aniaso reported that he and about 11 other boys travelled across the Atlantic in the captain’s cabin and were allowed freedom to play and move about. After several weeks at sea, the ship in which Aniaso was transport arrived in Kingston, Jamaica.

But, Aniaso was not allowed to leave the ship, for unknown reasons, despite asking constantly to do so. After he was eventually disembarked, he and some other youngsters were kept in a yard, until someone took them to Kep in St Elizabeth, John Monteath’s estate.

“Having arrived at Kep, Monteath’s estate … they were allowed a week’s rest. Probably, this was a week further in which they were fed, fattened and brought up to strength. Aniaso then indicates that the estate manager, either the attorney, but more probably the overseer, took him as his house servant, and that before a year was out, John Monteath made him a house servant at his own home,” Professor Warner-Lewis writes. At one point he was called Toby, but was officially named Archibald John Monteath.

Toby was surrounded by and acquainted with affluent people and families with influence. Professor Warner-Lewis writes in her 2016 paper, “The Cokes were religious, and held services at Paynestown for whites and also for the enslaved. A memorial tablet to Edward and Juliana Coke adorns a wall of the Black River Anglican Church.

“Coke’s sister was the wife of Frederick Cooper who owned The Cruze or Cruse, which was near to Paynestown. Another neighbour of the Cokes was Hutchinson Mure Scott who owned Lenox Sugar Works and Hopeton Pen, two adjoining properties.”

“These three families held evening prayers and singing, and it was in this milieu that Archibald John Monteath learnt to write, despite the ridicule from his enslaved colleagues for engaging in these alien ways. Hutchinson Mure Scott donated land for the building of the New Carmel Moravian Church, which still stands atop a hill on the road between Newmarket and Paynestown.”

After John Monteath died in 1815, ownership of Archibald changed hands a few times, including that of Nancy, Monteath’s mistress. He lived and worked on various properties doing an assortment of jobs, including that of headman, a privileged and trusted position.

“Another asset that such a person could posses was loyalty. In the case of Archibald, his loyalty had been tested in the 1831-1832 upheaval in western Jamaica. These events had clearly demonstrated the trustworthiness of Archibald John Monteath to his owners,” Professor Warner-Lewis writes in her book.

“Although Archibald did not participate in the general struggle for freedom in 1831-32, he was not disinterested in the proposition of free status … he was seriously investigating the likelihood of securing his own freedom, and, no doubt at a later date, the liberty of his wife as well.”

The 1831-32 uprisings were a catalyst for the abolition of slavery in 1838. The law allowed for a period of Apprenticeship until full free in 1840. Enslaved people were still officially tied to the plantations. But, Archibald could not wait. He purchased his freedom in mid-1837, and in 1839 he also bought a piece of land and built a house in which he, his wife, and daughter lived.

“By the late 1820s the Moravians found in the committed Archibald John Monteath an individual who was not only a local assistant to the European missionaries and their few overseas staff, but who by the 1830s was prepared to work full time in the church ministry. Furthermore, his evangelical zeal was enhanced by his learning to read and write, rare commodities in a local population with minimal literacy skills,” Professor Warner Lewis writes in her book.