Project #1655
Stiles M. Scruggs                                                                       3
Columbia, S.C.

A SON OF SLAVES CLIMBS UP.

	The Rev. John B. Elliott, A.B.A, A.M.,D.D., 1315 Liberty Hill Avenue,
Columbia, S.C., is the son of slaves. He was born at Mount Olive, N.C., in
1869, and missed being a slave by only four years. His college degrees were
won at Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C., and the degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred on him by Allen University of Columbia, S.C.
	Sitting on the parsonage piazza recently, the Rector of St. Anna’s Epis-
copal Church talked about his struggle for education, and his labors up from
slavery.
	“I was born at Mount Olive, N.C., the son of Soloman Elliott and Alice
(Roberts) Elliott. They were slaves when they married, and I escaped bondage 
by only four years, since slaves were not freed in the South, until 1865.
	“My father was owned by Robert W. Williams, of Mount Olive, and he was
the most highly prized Negro in the vicinity. He was a natural carpenter and
builder. Often he would go to the woods and pick out trees for the job in
hand. Some of the houses he built there are standing today. Mother was equally
trained and well equipped to make a home and keep it neat and clean. When they
were free in 1865, half the community was eager to employ them and pay them well
for their services. And, when I came along, they were living in their own house
and prospering.
	“I chose a religious career when quite a boy, and, when I was ready for
college, I was much pleased. I finished at Shaw University at Raleigh, took a
year’s study at Columbia University in New York and then finished a religious
course at the Bishop Payne Divinity School at Petersburg, Virginia, where most