Robert Smalls died in the house where he was born. That may sound like a small life but his is far from that.
Robert Smalls was born a slave in 1839 to a South Carolina man named Henry McKee. His mother, Lydia Polite, delivered him in a cabin behind the main house. She passed her Christian faith to him. At the time, his mother worked inside the house though she’d spent most of her life in the fields. The clearly very bright Robert Smalls was favored by McKee so his mother actually requested that he be made to work in the fields in the harsh sun and to witness whippings.
When not yet even a teen, Mr. McKee hired the young Robert out in Charleston. There he worked as a laborer, most of his earnings going to Mr. McKee. He found work on the docks of Charleston and soon found himself working as a longshoreman and even a sailmaker. He eventually worked his way into being a wheelman and steered his boat through the very busy Charleston Harbor.
Just before turning 18, Smalls married an enslaved hotel maid named Hannah Jones. She had two previous children and then gave birth to a daughter with Robert. They also had a son who died young.
The Civil War began and Smalls was assigned to steer the CSS Planter, a lightly armed Confederate military transport. The job of The Planter was surveying waterways, laying mines, and delivering dispatches, troops and supplies. Smalls was so skilled as a pilot that he often piloted the ship through Charleston harbor and up and down the coast.
In 1862, the North blockaded many ports in the South. As a pilot his job was to avoid these blockades. He did so exceptionally well. But Robert was exceptionally smart and he hatched a plan.
On May 12, 1862, the Planteer was delivering guns and ammunition to a fort in Charleston. When the Confederate officers left the boat in harbor to dine. Smalls had the boat and put his plan into action. He grabbed his wife and children and told them of his plan. She said, “It is a risk, dear, but you and I, and our little ones must be free. I will go, for where you die, I will die.”
Wow.
Robert grabbed many friends and their families and brought them onto the boat. Smalls put on the captain’s uniform and wore a straw hat similar to the captain’s. He passed many checkpoints and waved as he passed.
He then turned the ship over to the Union Navy. As a result of his heroism, President Abraham Lincoln allowed black men to fight in the Civil War.
This man’s amazing life doesn’t end there. He became a wealthy businessman and even a Congressman, serving as a Republican.
As he got older he went back to South Caroline and purchased the McKee plantation where he had been a slave. This is where the story gets even more amazing. Mrs. McKee, the widowed wife who owned Robert, suffered from dementia and would appear from time to time at his door, forgetting that she no longer lived there. Robert learned that Mrs. McKee was destitute as well as her children.
So, Robert Smalls did the unthinkable. He took them into his house and cared for them. Because she was so confused he even allowed Mrs. McKee to sleep in the master bedroom.
That is one of the most amazing and Christian stories I’ve heard in a long time. How is this story not told in every classroom?
This is a man who lived out his Christian beliefs fully. He is a great example of a Christian and an American.
