John Cajay
Defining Freedom and Builder of Community during Reconstruction
(b. 1835 – ?)
John Cajay, born in New York City in 1835, and a member of the New York State Militia in the Civil War, arrived in St. Mary’s County in 1870 on assignment from the Freedman’s Bureau. He stayed for decades developing young minds as an educator and participating in local politics. He taught and was principal at The Pine (“colored” school #2) in Ridge, Maryland.
On September 30th, 1885, Mr. Cajay gave the following inspiring speech to mark the laying of the cornerstone of the Knights of St. Jerome Hall in Dameron, MD. His speech was printed in full in The Beacon newspaper on October 8, 1885, an indication of the importance of the event to the community. Read the text of the speech, reprinted below, to understand and appreciate the attitudes, hopes and dreams held by African Americans just twenty years after the Civil War. (Fifteen years earlier, Mr. Cajay had addressed a gathering in the Sheep-Pen Woods outside Leonardtown to celebrate the newly won enfranchisement of African American men.)
As you read, look beyond the flowery language full of images and unfamiliar allusions, and reflect on the messages Cajay is sending to his listeners and readers. What might he be trying to achieve with his words? Was he addressing more than one audience? Why do you suppose the local white-owned newspaper which had held Southern sympathies in the Civil War, would take the unusual step of printing in full this remarkable speech by a local African American man?
The following speech was given by Mr. Cajay at a Dedication Ceremony for the Knights of St. Jerome beneficial organization September 30, 1885, as printed on the front page of The Beacon, October 8, 1885:
Friends and Fellow Citizens:
We have assembled here today to dedicate an emblem to our progress – a temple to the honor of the Knights of St. Jerome – a temple dedicated to Love, Charity and Benevolence, the great trip that makes the good and patriotic citizen – Love with its never ceasing adherence to the Great Giver of all good for His many blessings. Charity, like its foster-sister, Love, makes friend and foe clasp hands in one general embrace and brightens the home of the orphan and the widow, the poor and the needy, the homeless and the friendless, the heathen and the savage, then voices in one general shout the thanksgiving for the many blessings bestowed by its munificence. The last of the trio, Benevolence, last but not least, joins with the rest in rendering the necessary support to carry on the great cause of Humanity.
Through Benevolence we have raised a temple, not to Apollo nor Minerva, not to Jupiter nor to Mars, not to Bacchus nor to Venus, but to Freedom, Liberty and Christianity. This triumvirate is the foundation of this order and upon its crest we have laid this stone as a memento to our posterity and a monument of our advancement.
Reared in the arms of Slavery, rocked in the cradle of Adversity, clothed with the lash of Oppression and bathed with the tears of our loved ones, we stand today like Calvert at St. Mary’s where, mingled with the Protestant and the Quaker, the Indian and the Catholic around the cross of Christianity, offering up prayers that there had been found a land of deliverance and a home where “none dare molest them or make them afraid.”
Yes, today the Caucasians and the African, the Master and the Slave, stand side by side under the blue canopy of heaven and vie with each other to see who shall do the most in honor of this noble occasion. The slave, rejoicing with his Hallelujahs at his deliverance from bondage to freedom, the master taking up the echo and passing it over the magnetic wires from the noble Atlantic to the majestic Pacific, from the frozen fields of the North to the sunny slopes of the South, that there is found in the grand old fabric of 1776, which is cemented together by [illegible] and hands of steel, a land where in the Caucasian and the African, the Chinaman and Indian could, under the azure blue and scarlet stripes with its galaxy of bright stars, found deliverance from oppression where none dare molest or make them afraid.
The flag of our country! How grand it floats over our heads and protects within its folds American citizens in every clime! The corner stone that was laid in 1776 laid the foundation of the temple of freedom. This assemblage proves its good works today, for the corner stone which is here laid by the Knights of Jerome lay the foundation for advancement, elevation and protection to our posterity.
Then let us all rejoice that the era of good feeling and brotherly love may always exist among us. There are no rents in the grand old fabric now. They have all been mended. The wounds on many battle fields tell how many rents were made and what heavy stitches it took to prevent the old corner stone from being rent asunder. Mounds now bedecked with the green sod commingling with the daisy and the violet, the pink and the pansy, the willow, cypress, and the rose, cover beneath their tendrils the remains of some loved one. The white and the black, the blue and the gray, with arms folded across their breast in mother earth are mementos of the struggles. Weep not for dear ones gone before. They have done their duty to God and their country. They have cemented the rents in the old stone and maintained the good old flag. Well can we say our flag is still there.
Now, one word to our fallen foe. You heroes of the Lost Cause, we extend to you as black Americans the right hand of fellowship and hope that the fraternal feeling which now exists among us may exist forever. The black man in blue shakes hands with the white man in gray. The destinies of our country depend upon our united efforts to maintain it, and I believe that the many old veterans I see of the Lost Cause doing homage to the Negro’s elevation mean to prove to him their promotion and the perpetuation of interest in our union. We know that your homes like our own have been desolated by the ravages of war, and we feel for you. Although we were foes in the strife, let us be forever friends in peace.
Yes, peace, while we live in this life,
No more to battle and to flight
The strife is o’er, the battle won,
All is bright beneath our sun.
Solders of those trying days,
Our flag still floats, our country saved,
And beneath its folds in fond embrace
Rest the blue and the gray face to face.
Now let the youth emulate the Knights of St. Jerome. Let them swell its numbers to such an extent that there will be a necessity for several corner stones to be laid in old St. Mary’s. Let them lay the corner stone of knowledge within their brain – Education; the corner stone of wealth – Prosperity; the corner stone of respect – Truth; the corner stone of Christianity – a faithful performance to God and your church.
By laying these corner stones upon firm foundations, you will be able to accomplish much. You will be able not only to build temples to yourselves but to God, your race and your country. Five years ago, the fox, the hare and the squirrel gamboled and sported in these wilds and by their antics, they frightened the sire and the matron, the lover and his lassie, the youth and the maiden, the child and the babe, by the rustling of the leaves. Little did they think that the spot that frightened them would scare them no more. Time moved on until 1885. The old trees that stood in these woods began to bow their heads. The oak whispered to the gum, the chestnut to the pine, the small ones thrashed and tugged at the old giants to know what was the matter, but time moved on. A noise was heard in the distance like the tramping of feet. What noise is that.
It is the onward march of civilization, the advance guard of the Knights of St. Jerome. With axes and hoes they cleared this spot, the promised land of their advancement and erected this Temple. There it stands a monument to their genius and perseverance. How elated they must feel at their success!
The road has been a rugged one. The stumbling blocks of bondage, hatred, prejudice and spite which have impeded the progress of our race for over two hundred years, have been obliterated. Bondage has turned to freedom; hatred turned prejudice to charity and spite to benevolence. Freedom has made us citizens of one common country. It transformed us from chattels into soldiers and sailors. Lawyers and physicians, Congressmen and Senators, Governors and Foreign Ministers and last of all, it has made us Christians and philanthropists. It has given us our schools, our churches, our academies, our colleges and universities. It has educated our children and made our homes beautiful and happy. It has enlightened our race and driven superstition from the field. It is the great corner stone laid by the immortal Lincoln cemented to its foundation by the willing hands and loving hearts of all the citizens of our now glorious country.
Yes,
Freedom came with silent tread
And whispered in our ears,
Be brave of heart, hold up your head,
Be calm and dry your tears.
The Herald shouted as he passed,
Freedom today has come,
And Africa’s sons are free at last
To bid it welcome home.
The aged mother raised her head,
Says dear son, how can this be?
He whispered softly in her ears
There’s no slaves in the land of the free.
Yes, there are no slaves! All are free, and we thank God for it!
Knights of St. Jerome, this Temple that you have erected should always be uppermost in your mind. It should be revered as the corner stone for the advancements of the Negro in old St. Mary’s. It should be reverenced as the great lever that will press you to be self-reliant, self-sustaining and self-confident. How beautiful it must be to you when you look upon this noble edifice. You can exclaim like Payne, “Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.” Yes, there is no place like home, for here under your own vine and fig tree where none dare to molest or make you afraid, you have this home erected by your own hands. The land was bought, the trees were felled, the design was made, the draught was drawn, the sills were laid, the building erected everything done by the members of the Knights of St. Jerome.
Yes, here under the branches of these spreading oaks, sheltered by their leaves from the rays of a Summer sun, we stand upon free soil in our Maryland. Our Maryland. Incorporated into the grand body of progressive Americans we fall into line and march on with mother time to battle for life and the pursuit of happiness.
In after years when the veil is drawn over these scenes and those that are yet to come, our posterity will reap the benefit of the work of the Knights of St. Jerome. The bright aurora in its resplendent glory now pursuing its daily course in the Heavens, sheds its bright rays upon us. The birds carol their sweet songs through these woods; the wind with its gentle zephyrs making music among the leaves of these majestic oaks, join in the chorus in paying homage to us on this occasion.
What a beautiful picture is here represented! The aged Negro of ye olden times, the young men of the present, backed up by the law makers of our land, standing here beneath the flag of their country, speak volumes for you and your noble effort today. In after years when your locks have become hoary with age, and your frame has become feeble and old, and you have passed from life to mother earth, the children will take up the requiem and sing their praises for the good work you have left behind. Now, let us draw a veil over the scene. Let us with clasped hands and quivering lips give thanks to the Giver of all good for his assistance,
Then let the noble work go on
Let our labor never cease
Until we reach the golden shore
Of bright celestial peace.
Additional Resources
HMdb.org The Historical Marker Database, Defining Freedom and Building Community Historical Marker (hmdb.org)
