Black Livingstone: A True Tale [Paperback]

More research may have only helped a little as there does not seem to be a whole lot of information available about William Sheppard. Born in 1865 in Virginia he attended Hampton Institute and then entered the ministry in Alabama. After pastorships in Georgia, this young black man in the predominantly white Southern Presbyterian Church was offered a position as missionary to the Belgian Congo in 1890. He and a fellow missionary - 23 year old white Alabaman Samuel Lapsley set off for what would be a 20 year adventure for Sheppard. Lapsley on the otherhand lasted no time at all. He died from fever in 1892, eventually being replaced by William Morrison who came out in 1897.

Writing style and paucity of research material on the main subject notwithstanding, the book does a good enough job with the descrition of some of the adventures that Sheppard embarked on. Such as his journey to the land of the Kuba peoples "who lived at the end of a labyrinth of secret paths; anyone who told the way into the city would be beheaded." This was also Congo under the rule of the rapacious Belgian King Leopold II and one of the duties assigned to Sheppard following Morrison's arrival was to document the cruel exploitation of the locals by the Europeans. Sheppards' uncovering of a massacre of locals by a cannibalistic king working at the behest of the Belgians showed both his bravery and his ability to handle tricky situations.

In the end the man was undone not by tribal feuding, politics or Belgian revenge, but by subtle human failings. He was found guilty of adultery having taken a few African mistresses while on service and was called home to answer charges by the church. It is strange that in discussing this episode the author is not as forthcoming with proposing what Sheppard might have been thinking or feeling. Perhaps it is finally a recognition that we simply can't know.

William Sheppard comes through as a brave, enterprising, and intrepid person. More akin to adventurer than missionary. He certainly rises above his fellow church workers. If BLACK LIVINGSTONE had been simply a telling of his story rather than guessing his thoughts, then the book would have been as enjoyable as the man was interesting.

This book is about a black man named William Henry Sheppard A/K/A
The Black Livingstone...for good reason. Others complain about using conjecture in writing this story, however, the author, Pagan Kennedy, admits there are huge holes missing in the life of William Sheppard and I believe she did a fine job in telling this story. To make it interesting she just had to use conjecture or there would have been no book. There are plenty of facts, however, to prove that a whole lot of life-threatening danger was involved and original exploration and pathfinding done by the Black Livingstone.

This is the story of a black man's life that started as a nobody, then through hard work and some chicanery became a sought after celebrity and then in the waning years again became a nobody.

The relationship between Sheppard and his wife is an interesting one. All of her life she dreamed of living a certain way and after MANY decades she finally realized her dreams as outlined in the epilogue.

This was a fine book for me as the author did well in assembling the information at hand. I had never heard of Sheppard and the others in this story and am glad I read it!