Church at Beaufort, S. C. At the same time he was made
principal of Harbison Institute. Rev. Ellerson labored with
a marked degree of success on the Beaufort field from
November, 1898 to April, 1901, when he was urged to accept a
call from the Laura Street Presbyterian Church at
Jacksonville, Fla., where he is at present prosecuting the
work of his church with success. For a young man of his age,
Rev. Ellerson evidently stands high in the estimation of his
fellow Presbyters. This is evinced by the fact that he has
already filled some of the highest offices in the gift of
his brethren. In 1898 he was unanimously chosen moderator of
Fairfield Presbytery at Camden, S. C. In 1899 he was made
the choice of Atlantic Synod for moderator at Columbia, S.
C., and in 1900 he was unanimously elected to represent the
Presbytery of Atlantic in the General Assembly which met in
St. Louis, Mo.

He has filled each of these offices with credit and ability.
The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Biddle
University, his Alma Mater in 1900.

If it is true that man is naturally a religious being, then it is
pre-eminently true in the case of the Negro. If the Negro is anything
at all he is religious. It matters not in what walk of life you find
him or what may be his personal or individual character, it is a very
rare case indeed when you find a Negro who indulges in doubt as to the
existence of a supreme being or the existence of a future state of
rewards and punishments. With him these are fixed points of belief.
But as much as may be justly said regarding the Negro's natural piety,
it must be observed and admitted by all who know the Negro best that
his religion is very much defective in its practical application to
the principles of right conduct and living. And this, we perceive, is
the main point at issue, for when we discuss the Negro as a Christian
we must of necessity feel called upon to distinguish between his
native piety and his applied Christianity. We wish it understood, too,
that the general observations made here refer to the masses of Negroes
rather than to the individual.

We unhesitatingly affirm that individuals of our race have risen to as
true and as high a Christian status as has mankind anywhere. And
although we know and confess that the masses of our race have not yet
come up to the genuine standard of the New Testament