George Clinton Rowe made his mark as a minister, editor and author in the Deep South during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on May 1, 1853, the son of Solomon D. and Adeline S. Johnson Rowe. Until he was twenty-three Rowe lived in Litchfield, attended its schools and served an apprenticeship on theLitchfield Enquirer (1870-73), where he earned the first certificate of trade granted to  a black man by that paper. Rowe developed a youthful interest in natural history and donated his collections of minerals, birds' eggs and reptiles to Litchfield schools. from 1876 until about 1880 Rowe worked at the Normal School Printing Office in Hampton, Virginia, on theAmerican Missionary, Southern Workman, Alumni JournalandAfrican Repository. His life's service as a missionary began here with his establishment of the Ocean Cottage Mission in Little England and the building of Hampton Institute's chapel.

Rowe had studied theology privately in Litchfield and had been examined by  the board of examiners of Yale College. However, his active Congregational work began in 1881 with ordination by the Georgia Association at Cypress Slash. from 1881 to 1885 Rowe was pastor of Cypress Slash Congregational Church at McIntosh, Georgia; from 1885 until 1897 he led the church, mission and school activities of Plymouth Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During his term as a missionary in Charleston, Rowe published the 113-pageThoughts in Verse (1887), followed byOur Heroes: Patriotic Poems(1890) a poem,Decoration (1891); severalMemorial Souvenirverse tributes (1890, 1894, 1903); and an address,The Aim of Life (1892).

Rowe was not only a respected missionary and prolific author but also an editor and a busy organization man. for three years he edited and published theCharleston Enquirer(1893-96.) He stated the Enquirer's goal in a letter to Professor Charles J. McDonald Furman, a subscriber who became a helpful critic of Rowe's poetry" "We are trying to make the paper one that is helpful to our people; one that throws light on our race development, that our friends and enemies may see that we are not retrograding nor standing still" (1895.) Rowe sent copies of his books to Furman, and in later letters told of literary honors he had received: he won a gold medal for the best poem on the A.M.E. Zion Church at its 1896 centennial in New York (1897); his publications were exhibited at the Paris Exposition and brought a "pleasant recognition" from President McKinley (1900); and he delivered his poem, "Race Development," at the dedication of "the Negro Building" of an interstate exposition (1901.)

Rowe worked for race advancement with many organizations from the 1880's until his death. For eight years he was statistical secretary and treasurer of the Georgia Congregational Association (about 1888-96); president of the Preacher's Union, a Charleston interdenominational body (about 1891-96); a delegate and moderator at National Councils; member of an anti-lynching convention; trustee and treasurer of the Frederick Deming, Jr., Industrial School, Maryville, South Carolina; and member of the Literary Congress for the Atlanta Exposition. 

Rowe's vocation remained missionary work, and in 1897 he left Plymouth Church for Charleston Battery Mission, where he organized the Battery Church and led it for the six years until his death. At the age of fifty George Clinton Rowe died of heart disease on October 3, 1903, in Charleston. He was survived by his wife Miranda Jackson, whom he had married in Litchfield on July 8, 1874, and seven of his nine children. In his portraits Rowe appears an unimposing man. His dark oval face with heavy-lidded eyes, high forehead, close-cropped hair and generous handlebar moustache suggests a mild and bookish nature. But in a relatively short lifetime Rowe wrote, preached and worked vigorously to promote Christianity and Afro-American progress. A fitting epitaph for Rowe might be taken fromA Noble Life, his memorial to the Reverend Joseph Price, president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Caroline:

The tongue of fire is silent now,

The loving heart is still,

the mind, surcharged with burning thought,

Yet loyal to God's will —

Hs ceased to plan for mortals here,

Is active in another sphere.

Source: Invisible poets : Afro-Americans of the Nineteenth Centuryby Joan R. S herman, 1989

George Clinton Rowe made his mark as a minister, editor and author in the Deep South during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on May 1, 1853, the son of Solomon D. and Adeline S. Johnson Rowe. Until he was twenty-three Rowe lived in Litchfield, attended its schools and served an apprenticeship on theLitchfield Enquirer (1870-73), where he earned the first certificate of trade granted to  a black man by that paper. Rowe developed a youthful interest in natural history and donated his collections of minerals, birds' eggs and reptiles to Litchfield schools. from 1876 until about 1880 Rowe worked at the Normal School Printing Office in Hampton, Virginia, on theAmerican Missionary, Southern Workman, Alumni JournalandAfrican Repository. His life's service as a missionary began here with his establishment of the Ocean Cottage Mission in Little England and the building of Hampton Institute's chapel.

Rowe had studied theology privately in Litchfield and had been examined by  the board of examiners of Yale College. However, his active Congregational work began in 1881 with ordination by the Georgia Association at Cypress Slash. from 1881 to 1885 Rowe was pastor of Cypress Slash Congregational Church at McIntosh, Georgia; from 1885 until 1897 he led the church, mission and school activities of Plymouth Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During his term as a missionary in Charleston, Rowe published the 113-pageThoughts in Verse (1887), followed byOur Heroes: Patriotic Poems(1890) a poem,Decoration (1891); severalMemorial Souvenirverse tributes (1890, 1894, 1903); and an address,The Aim of Life (1892).

Rowe was not only a respected missionary and prolific author but also an editor and a busy organization man. for three years he edited and published theCharleston Enquirer(1893-96.) He stated the Enquirer's goal in a letter to Professor Charles J. McDonald Furman, a subscriber who became a helpful critic of Rowe's poetry" "We are trying to make the paper one that is helpful to our people; one that throws light on our race development, that our friends and enemies may see that we are not retrograding nor standing still" (1895.) Rowe sent copies of his books to Furman, and in later letters told of literary honors he had received: he won a gold medal for the best poem on the A.M.E. Zion Church at its 1896 centennial in New York (1897); his publications were exhibited at the Paris Exposition and brought a "pleasant recognition" from President McKinley (1900); and he delivered his poem, "Race Development," at the dedication of "the Negro Building" of an interstate exposition (1901.)

Rowe worked for race advancement with many organizations from the 1880's until his death. For eight years he was statistical secretary and treasurer of the Georgia Congregational Association (about 1888-96); president of the Preacher's Union, a Charleston interdenominational body (about 1891-96); a delegate and moderator at National Councils; member of an anti-lynching convention; trustee and treasurer of the Frederick Deming, Jr., Industrial School, Maryville, South Carolina; and member of the Literary Congress for the Atlanta Exposition. 

Rowe's vocation remained missionary work, and in 1897 he left Plymouth Church for Charleston Battery Mission, where he organized the Battery Church and led it for the six years until his death. At the age of fifty George Clinton Rowe died of heart disease on October 3, 1903, in Charleston. He was survived by his wife Miranda Jackson, whom he had married in Litchfield on July 8, 1874, and seven of his nine children. In his portraits Rowe appears an unimposing man. His dark oval face with heavy-lidded eyes, high forehead, close-cropped hair and generous handlebar moustache suggests a mild and bookish nature. But in a relatively short lifetime Rowe wrote, preached and worked vigorously to promote Christianity and Afro-American progress. A fitting epitaph for Rowe might be taken fromA Noble Life, his memorial to the Reverend Joseph Price, president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Caroline:

The tongue of fire is silent now,

The loving heart is still,

the mind, surcharged with burning thought,

Yet loyal to God's will —

Hs ceased to plan for mortals here,

Is active in another sphere.

Source: Invisible poets : Afro-Americans of the Nineteenth Centuryby Joan R. S herman, 1989