Samuel Kaboo Morris (1873 - May 12, 1893) was a Liberian prince who converted to Christianity around the age of 14. Around age 18, he left Liberia for the
United States to achieve an education and arrived at Taylor University in December 1891. There is now a residence
hall at Taylor University bearing his name. He died in 1893 from complications
of a respiratory infection.
Morris's life has been the subject of five
novels, over a dozen biographies, a 1954 film, and a 1988 documentary. Taylor
University has named numerous buildings, scholarships, and a society in his
honor. His story helped to inspire other people to go to Africa to preach the
gospel.
Early life
Samuel was born in Liberia, in 1873. Little is
known of Samuel Morris's early life. When he was 14 years old, his tribe,(the Kru) was attacked by the Grebos one day
and Kaboo was captured. He was used as a "pawn", meaning the Kru would have to bring the
Grebos a present each month if they wanted to see their prince again. His
father, the chief, came each time but what he brought was never enough. Finally
the Kru could bring no more and Kaboo was beaten every day. One night, though,
during one of his beatings, there was a flash of light and a voice told Kaboo
to flee. His ropes fell off and his sick body gained strength. He ran off into
the jungle, where he wandered for days living off such things as snails and
mangos until he came to a coffee plantation owned by a former slave. The slave
had come to Liberia and was a Christian. It was this slave that Kaboo worked
there with another boy from his village before coming to America. His
motivation to come to America was learning more about God and the Holy Spirit.
One of the missionaries there told him all she knew. Samuel asked who it was that
taught her. She told him it was a man in New York named Stephen Merritt. He
decided he would go to New York to find this man. As he walked to the shore he
prayed that there would be a boat there that could take him. There was a ship
there called a tramp ship. The crew of this ship made money by trading.
It was very profitable for them because natives often sold goods for useless
trinkets. God told Samuel that the captain would take him to America. When
Samuel asked, the captain refused at first. Later, when two of his crew members
ran off leaving the captain short-handed, he accepted Samuel on-board taking him
for an unemployed sailor. When he arrived on the ship, he was disliked and
abused, but by the time the ship reached America, they were all praying and
singing hymns.
Samuel in America
In America, Samuel found Stephen Merritt. Mr.
Merritt had to attend a prayer meeting that night so he asked Samuel to wait
for him at his mission. When Mr. Merritt came back, he found Samuel in a prayer
meeting of his own with the people of the mission. On his first night in
America, he had led nearly twenty men to Christ. Impressed by Samuel’s
anointing and confidence, Mr. Merritt invited Samuel to stay at his house, much
to his wife’s dismay. However, in time, Samuel won her over, as well. Not only
did Samuel win over Ms. Merritt, he also won over the people at Mr. Merritt’s
church. In a time when racism was commonplace, these men were colorblind. They
saw that God was working in Samuel and created the Samuel Morris Missionary
Society to collect money to send Samuel to college at Taylor University in
Indiana so he could advance his knowledge of God and the Bible.
While at Taylor University, Samuel was used by
God mightily to draw people to the Lord. Students would stop by his dorm room
to pray with him. People from around the world would come to hear him speak and
to have him pray for them. He was known (and heard) to spend hours in prayer
with God, from late at night to early in the morning. He inspired others to
look at their relationship with God. Newspapers printed stories of the boy from
Africa who was charging Fort Wayne with the electric power of God. He was an
active member of Berry Street Methodist Episcopal Church and regularly attended
East Wayne Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
It was his desire to be educated in the Word of
God so he could go back to his homeland of Liberia and teach Jesus to the
people there. However, that was not God’s plan for his life. Late in 1892,
Samuel came down with an illness(Pneumonia) that he could not shake. Though
he’d been sick before and prayed for God healing and received it, this time the
illness wouldn't leave. In time, God explained to Samuel why his illness hadn't left him. He told him that his work on earth was done and that it was time for
him to come home. When Samuel related this to his fellow students, they would
ask about his dream of returning home to preach the Gospel. Samuel is reported
to have said, “It is not my work, Dr. Reade. It is His. I have finished my job.
He will send others better than I to do the work in Africa.
On May 12, 1893, at approximately 20 years of
age, Samuel Morris, aka Prince Kaboo, died. Fellow students served as
pallbearers at his funeral. After his funeral, many of them said they felt led
to go to Africa to be missionaries in Samuel’s place, fulfilling Samuel’s
prophecy.
Though it was the custom in those days to bury
blacks in the Negro section of the cemetery, Samuel’s body was later moved to
the centre of the cemetery, linking blacks and whites in death like he did in
life. A memorial is placed at his grave site that reads:
Samuel Morris 1873-1893 Prince
Kaboo Native of West Africa Famous Christian Mystic Apostle of Simple Faith Exponent
of the Spirit-filled life Student at Taylor University 1892-3 Fort Wayne, now
located at Upland, Indiana. The story of his life; a vital contribution to the development
of Taylor University The erection of this memorial was sponsored by the 1928
class Taylor University and funds Were contributed by Fort Wayne citizens
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