Historic U.S. Army Chaplains, Chaplain Allen Allensworth and Chaplain Cephas Bateman, as portrayed by living historians Rev. Earseye Ross and Rev. Paul Moore will lead Interdenominational Worship Service.
The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society will conclude Fort Bayard Days 2014 with a U. S. Army Interdenominational Worship Service on Sunday, September 21 in the New Deal Theater at Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark.
The service will begin at 9:30AM with a short concert of religious music of the late 1890s and early 1900s performed by the 4th Cavalry Regimental Band of Tucson, Arizona.
At 10 AM the worship service of 'preaching and teaching' will commence, with . Choirs from the Brewer Hill Baptist Church and The Church of the Good Sheoherd will also sing anthems of that period, At the close of the service a pot-luck meal will be shared.
Chaplain Allen Allensworth, potrayed by Rev. Ross, served at Fort Bayard U.S. Army Post from 1888 - 1896. Upon arrival, Allensworth set up classes for both enlisted soldiers and children at the post, as well as teacher training. A pamphlet titled "Outline of Course of Study, and the Rules Governing Post Schools of Fort Bayard New Mexico" describes his educational program. He was promoted to major in 1904 and on the day of his retirment in 1908, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Chaplain Cephas Bateman, as portrayed by Rev. Moore, served at Fort Bayard U.S. Army Hospital from 1906 - 1913. After serving in the Spanish American War, he was often invited to speaking engagements throughout the southwest. However, his main duty was to serve as a hospital chaplain bringing comfort to the tubercular patients at Fort Bayard.
Period 1888 to 1897 (from a history book)
In 1888 while stationed at Fort Bayard, Allensworth started a school to teach reading, writing and arithmetic to black soldiers, many former slave children from Louisiana, who had received no formal schooling.
He was able to get teachers from among those with education to help in this work. He had 118 men as students and his efforts brought him many laurels within the Army and provided an example for similar schools at other posts, which had a lot of black troops.
A formal photo of Rev. Allen Allensworth, below.