Colorado County Citizen | 2019 Black History Month Tab by Gretchen Dyson

Faith, Family & Community

History celebrating

BLACK

MONTH

A PUBLICATION OF

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

The Colorado County Citizen

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THE 2019 BLACK HISTORY MONTH SECTION F or the second year in a row, The Colorado County Citizen has worked diligently to produce a section honoring the rich black history that is prevalent throughout Colorado County. This year the section is entitled, “Faith, Family, & Community,” and we asked readers to submit family and church histories for publication. We received and have published a number of church histories for the county’s many black churches in this section. In keeping with the theme, we have highlighted some history of emancipation celebrations in Columbus, as those celebrations and today’s modern Juneteenth celebrations remain a cultural, community, and historical touchstone for the black community in Colorado County. Colorado County, in fact, has its own unique Juneteenth history dating back to the very first year of emancipation. Although we did not receive any family histories for the publication this year, it is our sincere hope that many of the black families of our county will take 2019 as an opportunity to compile and share their rich histories and interesting person-

ages—not only for themselves, but for posterity. The Citizen is hopeful we will have more family-related content next year. In place of some of the family history we’d hoped to receive, we’ve highlighted a number of important black personages from Colorado County history— past and present—to help remind all citizens of the county of the accomplishments and important firsts achieved by many of these men and women. This was also the newspaper’s first year to celebrate Black History Month with a standalone insert section. In 2018, the section front of our B Sections for four weeks were dedicated to black history. At the request of readers across the county, this year we combined our efforts in to one special section to make it easier to treasure as a keepsake. We look forward to bringing you a larger and expanded Black History Month section next year. We are grateful for the many advertisers who made this year’s section possible. Thank you for supporting The Citizen’s efforts to illuminate our county’s rich history to her people.

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COLORADO COUNTY BLACK HISTORY

An update on stories we first brought you in 2018 FROM STAFF REPORTS In The Citizen’s Black History Month coverage in 2018, we brought you a couple of stories we have updates on as a result of additional research, current events, or new photos.

Here are a few of those updates: ETTA MOTEN BARNETT. Since we revealed to the people of Colorado County that her most famous daughter is likely Weimar-born Etta Moten Barnett, who was the first black woman to sing solo in the White House, the Texas Historical Commission has approved a subject marker for her to be placed near the Gazebo in Weimar. Additionally, we have learned more about Moten Barnett’s early life, including additional places she lived in Texas, and that she was responsible for leading the charge on integrating the swimming pool at the University of Kansas during her tenure there, and later was instrumental in helping recruit Wilt Chamberlain to play basketball for the school. Vince Leibowitz of The Citizen prepared the historical marker application to honor Moten Barnett. CICERO HOWARD. Cicero Howard, a longtime black County Commissioner from Colorado County, will be honored with an historical marker in Eagle Lake soon. Sandra Thomas, a longtime Eagle Lake Historian, prepared the historical marker application for Howard. Additionally, we have learned more about how Howard came to Texas. We believe Howard most likely came to Texas with others from Missouri who had previously fought

for the Union as part of the 7th Missouri Infantry, also known as the Irish Brigade, because of the number of Irish citizens in the unit. We plan to reveal more history about Cicero Howard when his marker is dedicated, hopefully next year. TEDDY ROOSEVELT JORDAN. Teddy Roosevelt Jordan was a graduate of Riverside High School who was Colorado County’s first casualty of the Vietnam War. Recently, more photos of Jordan--who previously was known to our readers only from grainy photos copied from old editions of the newspaper--and a letter he wrote home from Vietnam. The letter, photographed and uploaded to a military memorial site, is in an envelope postmarked October 22, 1965. This was the day Jordan was killed in action. Photos shown are two photographs of Jordan that were not available when the 2018 Black History Month coverage was printed, and a photo of the letter postmarked the day he was killed. JUNETEENTH & EMANCIPATION. Since the publication of last year’s black history month section, more research has been conducted by our staff in to the history of the holiday and the realities of emancipation in Colorado County. See page X of this section for the history of why June 22 and not June 19 was the day freedmen and women in Columbus celebrated emancipation in the early years of Reconstruction.

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Granddaughter of former slave hand transcribed BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com

COLUMBUS—In the vast archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus are tucked away two manuscript boxes full of hundreds of pages of the Colorado County’s early black history, transcribed painstakingly by hand in the beautiful script of a woman no one alive in the county today has ever met. Three decades before the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress teamed with socalled “citizen archivists” to digitally transcribe tens of thousands of pages of the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau (more formally known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands) through the use of the internet, Velva Whitley Burrell, pen in hand, extracted every single record of the bureau as it related to the former slaves and freedmen of Colorado County. Although much of her life remains a mystery to local historians, there is no question as to why Velva Whitley Burrell had an interest in these records: her grandfather, Rev. Daniel L. Whitley of Eagle Lake, was born a slave in 1849. Not only did Burrell transcribe Freedman’s Bureau records, she also transcribed early court records of the county as they related to early black residents, and dozens of other types of records relating to the county’s earliest black citizens. From school records to legislative records, the information is all handwritten on ruled notebook paper. She did this not from anywhere in Texas, but from her home in Philadelphia, Pa.

Who was Velva Burrell? While Burrell was careful to piece together every scrap of history about the county’s earliest black residents she could find, she left behind precious few clues about her own life. Velva Whitley was most likely born in Houston—but possibly in Columbus, as it isn’t clear when her family left the county—between 1915 and 1916. She was the granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Whitley, a

Courtesy | Velva Burrell Papers, Nesbitt Memorial Library Archives

Courtesy | The Velva Burrell Papers, Nesbitt Memorial Library Archives

Rev. Daniel Whiteley was born a slave February, 1849, on the plantation of James S. Montgomery near Eagle Lake. His parents were Nelson and Emeline Whitley. He died in 1908.

Ella Whitley, who was considered the family historian of the Whitley Family, was born October 16, 1877 in Columbus. Ella Whitley is an aunt of Velva Burrell.

Rev. Grant Elisha Whitley, was born in Columbus in 1875. He died in 1945. The son of former slaves Nelson Whitley and Millie Pillows Whitley. He may have been Velva Whitley Burrell’s father or uncle.

The Whitley family is one of the most prominent black families in the county’s history, and its descendants are scattered around the U.S. today. John Whitley, the noted art restorer who was the son of Rev. Daniel Whitley (see the Feb. 7, 2018 Citizen for more on Rev. Whitley), was the uncle of Velva Whitley Burrell. He was the brother of her father, Grant Elijah Whitley, who married Carrie Cassie Sutton. John Whitley was raised in the household of Velva Whitley Burrell’s aunt, Cornelia Whitley, who married Cicero Howard, a longtime County Commissioner in Colorado County.

former slave, who died in 1908. He was born in Feb. 1848, on the plantation of James S. Montgomery, near Eagle Lake. His parents are identified in the Burrell papers only as Nelson and Emeline. Daniel married Millie Pillows, also a former slave from the Montgomery plantation, who died in 1934. It isn’t clear who Burrell’s parents were; of the few photographs in the collection, her father or an uncle could be Grant Elisha Whitley, born in 1875 in Columbus. Ella Whitley, born in 1877, also in Columbus, appears to have

been an aunt. In 1990, Burrell told Stein her parents left the county sometime in the early 1900s for Houston. The family left Houston in 1917; Burrell was a year old. The family moved to the northeast, and Burrell eventually made her home at 551 E. Walnut Lane in Philadelphia. Burrell told Stein the family left Houston in the aftermath of the so-called Houston Riots, sometimes called the Camp Logan Riots, which occurred in 1917. Many black families fled Houston for

the north following the incident because racial tensions ran high in the city. The unrest at the former Camp Logan, a World War I army base, followed an incident of unprovoked police brutality against a black soldier, and rumors of additional violence. Black soldiers at Camp Logan, some of whom had recently fought Pancho Villia’s forces and served in areas of the country where strict racial segregation was not the custom, headed out of the camp and toward the main parts of town after gunfire was heard near the camp on Aug. 23, 1917, hours after a Houston policeman brutally beat a soldier who was questioning him about another violent incident that occurred earlier in the day. More than 100 black soldiers clashed with police and civilians. Fifteen people were killed, including four police officers; 21 people were wounded. The largest courts marshal in American History followed, with 63 soldiers initially on trial. Thirteen were hanged on December 11, 1917. Little of Burrell’s life in Philadelphia is known. She stopped corresponding with Bill Stein in 1993. According to the Philadelphia Daily News of May 24, 2001, she died May 22, 2011. She was survived by a daughter, Theresa M. Bailey, and a son, Michael S. Burrell, as well as two sisters, Hazel Harris and Bertha Taliaferro.

The papers The papers are arranged in two archival manuscript boxes, by topic, along with Burrell’s correspondence with local historians. Not a single page Burrell sent was typed. It is all written in a distinctive but readable longhand cursive, in black ink from a common ballpoint pen. “You can feel the love in those pages,” Susan Chandler, Director of the Nesbitt Memorial Library says. At some point in her life, Burrell started collecting everything she could find about early black residents of Colorado County, including census records and public school records. According to the notes of Bill Stein contained in her papers, Miss Lee Nesbit, the namesake of

■ VELVA, 5

The Colorado County Citizen

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

hundreds of pages of county’s early black history Velva

Citizen | Vince Leibowitz

One of the boxes and a folder from the Velva Burrell Papers in the archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus.

Continued from 4

Courtesy | Family of Velva Burrell/Nesbitt Memorial Library

Velva Whitley Burrell

Columbus’ library, helped her track down some information from local documents. The Freedmen’s Bureau records were transcribed from microfilms. It is possible Burrell used the microfilms at the National Archives branch in Philadelphia, or at a local library there, as the records had been filmed and made available for loan to libraries in the 20th Century. “The purpose of this documentary history is to preserve for posterity, the century and more old documents, writings, and news articles on blacks of the county, compile them in a single source, so as to make the facts more easily accessible for reference use for researchers, students and all other interested persons,” Burrell wrote in the preface to her manuscript. She extracted those and other records, and compiled a three-part manuscript

addressing the history of slavery in the county, the history of freedmen, and the early school system established by the Freedmen’s Bureau. The first inkling of Burrell’s project was sent to Columbus without a proper address, and found its way in to the post office box of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. From there, it made its way to Stein and the local library. She completed the project in the early 1990s. The copy in the Nesbitt Memorial

Library Archives is the only copy of Burrell’s work in existence. Her correspondence with Stein indicates she maintained no other copy. She attempted to gain funds, from the Colorado County Historical Commission and possibly other groups, to publish the work in book form, but it never materialized, and remains a handwritten work, albeit perhaps the single-most extensive documentation of the early black history of Colorado County.

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Emancipation Day in County was originally June 22 BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com

In the modern era, June 19—known to most by the portmanteau “Juneteenth”—is celebrated as the anniversary of the date in 1865 that news of emancipation reached Texas. On June 19, 1865 in Galveston, General Gordon Granger, who had arrived in the city the day prior with 2,000 federal troops to occupy the state, stood on the balcony of Ashton Villa, and read aloud General Order No. 3, which proclaimed the total and complete emancipation of slaves Richard V. Cook served following the civil as State Senator from Colorado County from war. August 1866 until FebThat news, howruary 1870. He spoke ever, didn’t reach at the 1867 Emancipatoo far outside tion Day celebrations of Galveston that in Columbus. day. Some of the 2,000 troops that came to Galveston with Granger were sent other places across the state. Articles from the Galveston News indicate that federal troops made their way to Brenham, and that General Order No. 3 was read in that city on June 21. The next day, June 22, 1865, federal troops reached Columbus, and General Order No. 3 concerning emancipation was read in the city. The historical record doesn’t include information on where the proclamation was read, but clearly records June 22 as the date it was read in Columbus.

From the June 30, 1867 Galveston Daily News. This article was written by an unnamed correspondent who was in Columbus on the second anniversary of emancipation. This day, the 22nd of June, has been a gala day with the freedmen of Columbus and the surrounding country. It is the second anniversary of their freedom, and they are out in large numbers to celebrate this day. The [blacks] in Houston celebrated the 19th, and after inquiring why different days were appointed, I was informed that they do not select the actual day upon which their freedom was achieved (the surrender of the army), but the day on which they first heard the fact. Hence the difference, and it may be said that Houston [blacks] have been free two days longer than those who were on the Colorado. I have been particularly struck to-day with the perfect good order and unexceptional behavior which have attended all the exercise. The celebration itself took me by surprise, as I had heard nothing of it. Quietly seated upon the front gallery of one of the hotels, enjoying the cool morning shade, my attention was directed to a large procession attending with numerous banners, entering the town from the west, gaily dressed women and children, and men on foot and on horseback, all covered with badges and regalia and insignia of office. As they passed where I was sitting, I took a count of the numbers and found nine hundred and twenty eight… The crowd repaired to a large grove of spreading live oaks in the suburb of town, where a barbecue was served….. Colonel R.V. Cook, of Columbus, formerly State Senator from Colorado County, was speaking when we reached the ground. The next speaker was Lieut. Rock, U.S.A. of the Freedmen’s Bureau at Richmond….

Emancipation was celebrated for a number of years on June 22 in Columbus, in fact. By 1867, the emancipation celebration in Columbus had grown significantly. An observer at the June 22, 1867 celebration wrote to the Galveston Daily news that he counted over 900 freedmen and women in a parade that came through town.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Colorado County Citizen

Faith, churches cornerstones of black communities in county Editor’s Note: The following items are taken from the chapter on Black History in the two-volume book, Colorado County Chronicles. That chapter was written by Mrs. Dorothy Fitzgerald of Columbus, a longtime teacher at Riverside High School and later Columbus High School.

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Matthews The Mt. Zion Baptist Church was organized on the Chummy Place, near the Colorado River, in 1876. The church was organized under the leadership of Reverend Isaac Wright. Mr. Arie Baptist Church, Weimar In 1879, a group of Christians met in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Henry to review the plans for organizing a church. The following people attended the meeting: Mr. and Mrs. Sam Henry, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Night, Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Bremby, Mrs. Chaney Dobbins, Mrs. Drue Sully Long and Mrs. Dealie Washington. The group purchased the lot where the church is presently located. The pastors who have served Mt. Arie are: Reverends S. C. Smith, L. K. Williams, T. S. Boone, and others.

Friendship Baptist Church, Eagle Lake In 1897, the Friendship Baptist Church was organized. Reverend White was the initial pastor. Some of the Charter members were Seena Long, Ida Johnson, Stanford Anderson, Seena Polk, Maude Wright, and Mary Guidan. The church began as a brush arbor. The seats were nail kegs and boards given by McClanahan Lumber Company. The tract of land where the church now stands was given by the late Elsie Thomas in 1900. Ida Johnson was responsible for naming the church. Union Baptist Number Two, formerly lake Live Oak and Pleasant Hill Baptist Churches were merged in 1948. Lake Live Oak Baptist Church was organized by the Reverend “Father” Crockett in Eagle Lake, Texas. Some of the charter members were John Keeney, Joe Smith, Dick Conick, Julia Keeney, Hag Smith, and Rachel Conick. Only two pastors served as ministers of Lake Live Oak Baptist Church, namely, the Reverend “Father” Crockett and Reverend N. Boulden. Pleasant Hill Baptist was organized in 1891 by Reverend Ike Wright in the Eldridge Community. In 1913, Pleasant Hill

History of St. Paul United Methodist Church SUBMITTED BY ST. PAUL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF COLUMBUS The writers of history always have a difficult time because they never know whether all of the information and facts have always been obtained. Therefore, those who have compiled this brief history with to apologize should they fail to give due credit and recognition for services rendered. In the year 1866, St. Paul Methodist Church was organized and erected as a part of the Mississippi Conference, under Bishop Matthew Simpson. The ministers who spearheaded the leadership of the church at that time were: Rev. W. Welch, B. F. Williams, and M. S. Jordan. The trustee during the organizing and erect of St. Paul were: Brother B. Nor-

man, E. Toller, W. Hunter, and E. Eason. The Texas Conference was organized from the Mississippi Mission Conference which included the entire State of Texas. The West Texas Conference which is our present conference was organized under the leadership Bishop Thomas Bowman in Austin on Jan. 23, 1874 at Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. St. Paul Church was host to the Annual Conference in 1875 and it is interesting to note that it has entertained six other annual conferences. St. Paul was once the leading and largest church in the Columbus district. The district later became known as the Victoria District and is now known as the Austin-Victoria district.

■ ST. PAUL, 8

was rebuilt, with Bumey Hill being the carpenter. Ministers serving as pastor were: the Reverends A. Francis, W. Randolph, Hill, Wells, and N. Boulden. In 1948, the late Reverend N. Boulden, inspired by God, was able to merge the two churches. Now Union Baptist Church Number Two, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church was used for worship services by the members until June 1962. In 1962, the present Union Baptist Number Two Church was constructed and used for worship services under the present pastor, the Reverend Coby Shorter, Jr.

New Greater Smith Chapel Baptist Church, Columbus In January 1899, the New Greater Smith Chapel Baptist Church was organized in the U.S.G.A. Hall. Reverend T. H. Green, and Reverend A. Denmon were the representatives of the La Grange Baptist District Association responsible for organizing the church. Reverend S. C. Smith was the initial pastor. Early in 1900, the La Grange District bought the plat where the church now stands, from Mr. W. E. Bridge for $250. Other pastors who have served the church are

the Reverends I. T. Burley, T. H. Green W. Anderson, C. L. Coleman, L. C. Hennington and presently, R. B. Sanders.

Olive Branch Baptist Church, Glidden

Colorado County Chronicles | Original image provided by Mabel Doyle

Rev. W.M. Andrews, pastor of Olive Branch Baptist Church in Glidden with Mrs. Anderson in 1910. The exact date of this church’s organization is unknown since the original church records were destroyed by fire some years ago. Some of the Christians who were instrumental in starting Olive Branch Baptist Church are Gus Smallwood, Jim Smallwood, Jim Shepherd, Jeff Collier, Elijah Smallwood, Albert Smallwood, John Turbin, Jack Johnson, Mary Shepherd, Sally Cole, Anne Courtney, Gracie Jarmon, Jane Collier and Texanna

■ FAITH, 8

St. James AME Church of Weimar History SUBMITTED BY ST. JAMES AME CHURCH, WEIMAR The oldest church in Weimar was established in Feb. 1874, just four months after the railroad reached this community on Oct. 3, 1873. A town called Weimar came into being. D. W. Jackson and Col. T. W. Pierce desired to see the blacks in the community own this plot of land for the purpose of a church building. The land was purchased at the cost of $75 to be paid out over a period of three years. Col. Pierce was president of the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway, and was introduced by Jackson to extend the rails to Weimar from Columbus. The name of the first church designated was St. James. The first church build-

ing was a crude structure of unfinished boards that never knew paint, but it was a steeple. This small rectangular building faced east and had a side door on the south for the preacher to enter. It was located on the corner of North and Eagle streets and later was moved on the other side of the block, 412 North Street, Andrews. The former location was later sold to the school district. The first four trustees were not members of any church, but they possessed knowledge and understanding needed in that crucial time. Their names were Ledbetter Williams, Crockett Hunter, Clifford Gilliam, and George Morrow. Morrow became the church secretary because he could read and write. In Nov., 1877, the

■ ST. JAMES, 8

The Colorado County Citizen

St. Paul

walls began to come up and the church began to take on its present form. The members soon had a nice building in which to worship and serve God. Before the church was completed, Rev. Hardeman was moved to another church. His successor was Rev. C. W. Franklin, whose leadership led to a parsonage for St. Paul Methodist Church. Rev. B. A. Byars was the next pastor to come to the St. Paul station. He was followed by the late Rev. S. H. Harvey who first instituted the idea of getting a loan

and donation from the board of mission and church extension of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rev. S. N. Harvey passed before his idea could become a reality. Rev. L. D. Washington, associate pastor of Trinity Methodist Church of Houston, replaced by Harvey during the middle of the Conference year. Through his leadership, the Church Extension of the Methodist Church, a $5,000 loan was secured from the Columbus State Bank. The present church and the interior of the parsonage

was renovated under the dynamic leadership of this young energetic pastor. St. Paul made wonderful progress under the leadership of Rev. Lavalle Lowe Jr., who succeeded Rev. Washington. It was under his leadership that the building fund indebtedness was cleared up, and the purchase of pews was made, but before all of this indebtedness was cleared up, the officials saw need of his type of leadership and services some place else, and so, he was sent to answer the call. He was succeeded by Rev. John W. Elliot Sr., who came right in and took up the cross. Under his leadership the indebtedness of the pews was cleared up. The church program was revised greatly. Renovation of the church kitchen and parsonage was made which added wonderful appearance to the church premises. Editor’s Note: Due to length, we were unable to include the church’s complete history. The full history appears online at ColoradoCountyCitizen.com under “Black History.”

and the parsonage were remodeled by many pastors. Rev. D. E. Small is honored in purchasing the present parsonage. The first pastor was Rev. Fanorary. During the 136 years there have been 51 other pastors. These were pastors over the years: Reverends Fanaroy, Joe Mcoy, Niders, Swans, Carmichiel, Karnes, C. A. Harris, Daniels, Willard, G. Ballard, F. F. Washington, W. R. Beamer, F. F. Moten, M. L. Pendergraph, R. S. Slaughter, J. M. Gentry, O. B.

Marshall, E. A. Anderson, H. T. Whitmire, G. W. Howard, D. D. Cole, J. A. Howard, J. B. Butler, E. A. Thomas, G. A. Roberts, G. Lewis, W. McNeil, J. M. Boulden, C. A. Reed, C. W. White, T. R. Clemons, N. H. Melton, W. P. Perry, I. G. Greene, A. A. Coates, W. M. Moulden, A. R. Smith, P. D. Saddler, Jr., S. N. Hobbs, L. E. Ausbie, D. A. Smith, D. E. Small, G. L. Mays, M. L. Lewis, N. H. Franklin, C. Tatum, Jr., J. L. Woodfaulk, P. Chenault, Jessie M. Battles Jr., T. L. Craig, Sr., and serving

this present time as pastor is Rev. Joyce A. Mitchell. From its beginning, St. James is a lighthouse to weary travelers. St. James has weathered many storms because it is founded on the solid rock of Jesus Christ . . . and it shall stand until the end of time proclaiming the motto of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: “God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit our Comforter, Humankind our Family.”

of the original members were Mrs. V. President, Mrs. E. Speaks, Mrs. L Gant, Mrs. S. Conway, Mrs. C. Williams, and Mr. and Mrs. E. Wilford. The land for building the church was purchased with the profit the members made on a cotton crop.

known when the name of the church was changed from Granger Colony to Independent. Some of the pastors who have served this church are Reverends M. Smith, E. Cooper, M. Jordan, and others.

their profits toward the purchase of land for building a church. Frank Braden and Sons built the first church in the Gay Hill Community. Later, the congregation decided to move to the church from Gay Hill to Columbus.

Continued from 7 St. Paul was rebuilt and first colored windows were used during the pastorate of Rev. M. S. Jordan. The church was also remodeled under the leadership of Rev. J. W. Wormely and again in 1928 under the Rev. George Waters. In 1932, during the pastoral ship of Rev. C. H. McCuthin, St. Paul was blown down by a storm. From the best pieces of lumber that were left, a tabernacle was erected for church services. At the following Annual Conference Rev. McCutchin was moved from St. Paul. Rev M. Freeman who succeeded Rev. McCutchin raised the first funds for the rebuilding of the church. Rev. Obie Coe succeeded Rev. M. Freeman as pastor of St. Paul. Rev. J. J. Hardeman, a very inspired minister was sent by the annual conference to the pastorate of this church, and through his untiring efforts, St. Paul’s

St. James Continued from 7 third year, these men went to Jackson and Pierce Land Office with the final $25 payment on the land and was given the deeds and abstracts. This present building was erected in 1921 by Rev. J. A. Howard. The edifice was the third for our congregation. The church

Faith Continued from 7 Moore. There were numerous stalwart lay ministers who directed the efforts of the church. Two of these were Reverend R. A. Amos and Reverend M. Brown.

Mount Mariah Baptist Church, Alleyton In 1907, a few brave Christians banded together and formulated a plan to organize a church. After meditation and prayers; it was named “Mount Mariah,” after one of Christ’s noted place of teaching. The initial pastor was Reverend L. W. Machey. Some

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The members of St. Paul United Methodist Church at their recent 153rd anniversary celebration.

Independent United Methodist Church, Independent The first building was near Devil’s Pocket, where the old cemetery is located. The church where it now stands, had the name, Granger Colony. The present location is on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Granger and Mr. and Mrs. Dick Granger. The Tanner brothers built the church in 1881. It is not

The Church of God Under Grace and Truth, Columbus In November 1914, Wyatt Crockett and Mary Jones journeyed to Colorado County from San Antonio to conduct a meeting in the home of Jim and Liza Perry. Early services were held in the homes of George and Cherry Scott, Eliza Vinson and Luella Stallion. The rise of cotton prices due to World War I allowed members to raise

White Cloud Baptist Church, Eagle Lake In 1944, Reverend Marshall Simmons gathered a small group of Christian believers together and organized White Cloud Baptist Church in the New Town Community. The church was first organized under a tent and later a small frame building was constructed. The present pastor is Reverend Obie Rhodes.

The Colorado County Citizen

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

NOTABLE CITIZENS ROBERT LLOYD SMITH

JOHN WHITLEY

Smith was last Noted restorer Whitley recalled as caring man black legislator BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com

Also federal marshall In addition to founding the Farmer’s Home Improvement Society [see the Feb. 14, 2018 issue of The Citizen, page B1], Robert Lloyd Smith had the distinction of being the last black member of the Texas Legislature prior to the modern age. When he left the Texas House of Representatives in 1899 after two terms, it was 1966 before Barbara Jordan and two other black legislators were elected to serve in that body.

■ SMITH, 11

BILL CHAVIS

Served as sheriff’s deputy, Eagle Lake police officer Bill Chavis stands out among Colorado County men as among the first black peace officers of the mid20th Century. He was among the first, if not the first, black deputy for the Colorado County Sheriff’s Department. Chavis also served the Eagle Courtesy | Wintermann Lake Department as Library Archives, Eagle Lake a police officer. He served a total of 39 years as a peace officer. Even after retirement, he continued to serve in a part-time capacity as a peace officer. Chavis married Luevenia Sutton on June 17, 1939. He died in 1989.

Among Colorado County’s most prominent sons is John Whitley. The son of Rev. Daniel Whitley, a freed slave born in bondage near the Garwood-Matthews Area, Whitley became a noted art restorer responsible for the restoration of much of the art in the Texas Capitol and in the collection of J. Frank Dobie, was raised in the home of longtime Colorado County Commissioner Cicero Howard, who married Rev. Daniel Whitley’s sister, Whitley’s aunt. Whitley was orphaned at an early age. Born in 1888, Whitley went on to attend the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Ala., where

Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver became his mentors. Much has been written about Whitley’s life, but little has been written about his personal life. His daughter, Barbara Johnson, and Courtesy | Barbara his grandson, Johnson & Ron Lee Ron Lee, shared John Whitley is shown some memories in his later years in this of Whitley. photograph from the “He was a very, family’s collection. very giving person,” Johnson said. Johnson notes that while she is technically Whitley’s step-daughter, neither Whitley nor her ever considered the relationship as

such. “When he married my mother, he took both of us to the bank he did business with so we could get credit started,” she said. “We never called him step-dad, we called him dad,” she said. On his birthday, July 8, the entire family would travel to Galveston to celebrate, and Whitley looked forward to this every year, she said. “When my son was six years old, dad asked if he could come stay with him,” she said. Lee also shared a fact that is little-known about Whitley. “In 1941, he was one of the organizers of the first times that blacks had rode a Greyhound bus,” he said. “They went to Bastrop State Park and made a day of it,” he said.

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ROBERT CONNOR, JR.

Columbus' first black police chief Robert Connor, Jr., was Columbus' first black police chief. Robert Connor, Jr., was the first black police of the city of Columbus' police department. He served the city from 1989 until his death in 2003. He was a founding member of the Afro-American Sheriff's Deputy League and had previously run for constable in Harris County. A native of Weimar, his father also served on the Columbus Police Department. He was a graduate of Prairie View A&M University. He also worked for the police department at Prairie View.

979-942-9101

The Colorado County Citizen

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

NOTABLE CITIZENS CICERO HOWARD

Served when courthouse was built BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com

EAGLE LAKE—Among the long list of important names of people in Colorado County who made history and effected change is Cicero Howard. Born in 1850 in Missouri, Cicero Howard came to Eagle Lake in 1871, and married Cornelia Whitley, sister of Rev. Daniel Whitley, founder of Greater Mt. Olive Baptist Church. One of the few blacks of the time who could read and write, he was elected County Commissioner of Precinct 4 in 1878. Howard was a Republican at a time when black voters voted Republican because Lincoln had freed the slaves and because Republicans led federal reconstruction efforts throughout the South following the Civil War. Howard defeated three white opponents by a majority of the 245 votes cast in the election, and took office in Dec. 1878. He served seven terms (terms were two years in Texas until the later part of the 20th century). Howard was a farmer, and owned his land. He was also the foreman on the cotton farms of Captain William Dunovant of Eagle Lake. It has been reported that Howard handed out pay to men who worked on the farm in the form of silver dollars. Though he and his wife were childless, they raised John Whitley, the youngest son of Cornelia’s brother. Howard was a County Commissioner when the contract for the present county courthouse was let, and also a key figure in the incorporation of the city of Eagle Lake. He died Jan. 9, 1919; more than 400 people attended his funeral.

ETTA MOTEN BARNETT

First black woman to sing solo in White House born in Weimar BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com

WEIMAR—Noted jazz singer Lena Horn called her a role model. Film historians call her uncredited but pivotal role in “Gold Diggers of 1933” a breakthrough for black actresses. George Gershwin wrote the role of “Bess” in Porgy and Bess with her in mind. The United States government appointed her a representative on cultural missions to ten African countries. This woman was Etta Moten Barnett, and she is a daughter of the small, Colorado County city of Weimar, though few there today would recall her name in spite of her fame. Born November 5, 1901 to African Methodist Episcopal minister Freeman F. Moten, and Ida Mae Norman Moten, a dressmaker, she began teaching Sunday School and singing in the church choir an early age. Sometime around 1918, she married Curtis Brooks, one of her high school teachers. The two had three daughters in six years, and then divorced. Moten Barnett then attended college Western University, a historically black college in Kansas, before graduating from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in voice and drama in 1931. She joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority while in college. Her senior recital at the University of Kansas was attended by 1,000 people; the attention she gained led to an invitation from Eva Jessye, a frequent collaborator with George Gershwin, to perform with her choir. She left her three children with her parents, visiting them on weekends, and headed to New York. Later, she was cast in the short run of the Broadway musical Fast and Furious. She then was cast in Zombie, which toured the country, taking her to the West Coast and California. 1933 would be a pivotal year for the

young singer from Weimar. That year, she scored roles in films as a singer, “Flying Down to Rio,” and, her most famous role, as a war widow singing “My Forgotten Man” in Busby Berkeley’s “Gold Diggers of 1933.” The role In “Gold Diggers,” was one film historians would call a breakthrough for black actresses: it was the first film role where a black woman was cast as something other than a domestic servant. Still, Barnett wasn’t even credited for her role. In 1989, the Chicago Tribune said of her groundbreaking performance, “Here was a black woman who wasn’t playing a servant, who wasn’t fat, middle-aged, or maternal in appearance, who was, indeed, sexy and glamorous and who sang a torch song rather than a Negro spiritual.” In the film, Barnett performs a chorus of the song, “Remember the Forgotten Man,” solo, and other white actresses sing the song, too, all as war widows. Her performances caught the attention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and she was invited to perform for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birth-

day in 1934, making her the first black woman to perform solo in the White House. The same year, after returning to New York, Barnett married the head of the Associated Negro Press, Claude Barnett. In 1942, she returned to the Broadway stage to perform the role George Gershwin wrote, some say for Etta, 1935—that of “Bess” in the opera Porgy and Bess. She refused, however, to perform the songs including racial pejoratives, and Ira Gershwin wrote the word out of the libretto. Performing the role Gershwin wrote for her, however, would ultimately lead to the end of her singing career. Barnett was a contralto, and the role of Bess is designed for a soprano. According to an interview with Barnett in later years, “He told me I was Bess, that I had the verve and the looks he wanted. She asked him to transpose the song down to her range; Gershwin refused. “He said Bess was ‘a bad good girl,’ which meant she had to be a soprano. I told him a contralto can be good and bad, too. Ann Brown ended up playing the role of Bess on Broadway in the 1942 revival initially, but the opera was truncated and returned to Broadway following Gershwin’s death. Barnett performed the role on Broadway for six months, and then toured with the company for two years. “I sang it too long,” she told Ebony in 1997, and the strain of performing almost daily as a soprano permanently damaged her voice. She ended her performance career in 1952. By the 1950s, thanks to her Chicago radio show, “I Remember When,” she was appointed as a representative on U.S. government missions to ten nations in Africa. In 1957, at a celebration marking Ghana’s independence

■ BARNETT, 11

The Colorado County Citizen

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Barnett

Whitley

Continued from 10

Continued from 9

from Great Britain, she interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was present but not in an official capacity. King, who had recently participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, was concerned with oppression not just in the U.S., but globally. A recording made of the interview by a Ghanian radio station and its transcript circulate widely to this day. Her husband died in 1967, and she became an active philanthropist and active in organizations including the National Council of Negro Women and the Chicago Lyric Opera. In 1987, she addressed the International Women’s Conference in Nassau, Bahamas. She delivered an address entitled, “Woman to Woman: Single Parenting From a Global Perspective.” She died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago in 2004, at the age of 102.

Whitley was also the first black to serve on a grand jury in Travis County, and has a street that bears his name in Austin. Lee said Whitley took him under his wing when it came to his art restoring business. “He did work for the Driscoll hotel, and in the Capitol. He taught me how to

Smith Continued from 9 Born a free man in South Carolina in 1861, he moved to Oakland in Colorado County in the 1880s after graduating from Atlanta University in 1880. He began his education at the University

do it—it’s in my memory bank, how to make picture frames, and gold leafing,” he said. “He was also a master at canvas and color repairing, but that part I never got,” Lee says. He was a very calm man, you never saw him get angry. His best friend was J. Frank Dobie, and he worked with the paint company for a couple of years. He was very innovative in his thinking, and an all-around good person,” Lee continued. Jordan recalls a story about when she

was pregnant with her last child, that displays the modesty of the man who was responsible for so much. “When I had my last son, my husband and I were in the kitchen not knowing what I was having, and dad asked what I thought I would name him if it was a boy,” and I think I said, ‘James is nice,’ and and he said, ‘I think john would be a mighty nice name,’ so my son was named John,” she recalls. “He didn’t want to ask,” she says. “He had a lot of wonderful characteristics,” she said.

of South Carolina, but was forced to leave there in 1877 when the university stopped admitting black students. He became actively involved in politics in the 1890s, and was elected to the 24th and 25th Texas Legislatures, serving in the Texas House of Representatives representing Colorado County and surrounding areas. He was first elected to

serve in 1894, taking office in 1895 and winning two terms as a Republican. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Smith as a Deputy United States Marshall for the Eastern District of Texas. He later went on to become active in the National Negro Business League, and organized the Farmer’s Home Improvement Society.

Robert L. Smith

• State Legislator representing Colorado County • Founder of Oakland Normal College • Founder of Farmers Improvement Society

John L. Whitley

• Noted Art Restorer • Eagle Lake Native

“Passionate about YOUR nancial success.” The First National Bank of Eagle Lake

EAGLE LAKE 100 Commerce

COLUMBUS 1001 Milam

EAST BERNARD 138 South Dill St.

The Colorado County Citizen

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Saluting Living Black History:

HARVEY STEWARD Weimar’s First Black City Councilman

t 92, Harvey Steward is still driving his pickup truck around Weimar, and spends most afternoons at the American Legion Hall on Converse Street. He is widely known around the small Colorado County city for his service on the Weimar City Council and his work at M-G Feed Mill. He was born in Fayette County on April 17, 1925. His parents, Lewis Steward and Lela Williams Steward, lived in the Osage community, about ten miles north east of Weimar on FM 102. His dad was one of five Steward brothers who were landowners in the area: Lee, Will, Allen, Walter, and Lewis. “From the time I was a child, they had their own farms— all five of them had separate farms. Two were in Pleasant Union,” and the rest were in Osage, he says. EDUCATION teward began his education at Pleasant Union, in a segregated school. He matriculated to high school in Weimar. “They had a school they called the colored school. It became Karl Downs. It didn’t go any further than the tenth grade,” at the time he attended, he recalls. He completed tenth grade in 1942. In 1943 when he was 18, he was drafted. He ended up in the Navy, he says, because, “I didn’t have no choice—the army wouldn’t take me, the marines wouldn’t take me, and there was a Navy man, he had on a white suit, and they said ‘go over to him.’ I don’t know if I was too light-weighted or what, but I didn’t weigh but about 135 pounds. I was tall and skinny,” he recalls. After initial examinations, in November of 1943, he boarded a train in Weimar, and headed off to basic training in Corpus Christi.

The armed forces were not fully integrated at the time; he started off as a cook. After basic, he was shipped off to Seattle, Wa., to prepare for sea duty. He stayed there about three months. From there, he was shipped to Oceanside, Calif., and later San Diego Naval Air Station. AT SEA teward’s group was put on the USS Estes. The Estes docked in the Philippines for a while. When the group got stateside waiting for a new ship, they were given 15 days leave, and Steward headed home for Weimar. The ship was on the sea en route to Japan when the Japanese forces surrendered. He was part of a small gun crew on the topside of the ship. “It felt good, because we knew we were going to come home,” he says. He was discharged in 1947, as a Seaman, First Class.

BACK HOME e came home, and then went to Houston where he worked at The Great Atlantic Tea Company, a grocery supply. “I stayed a year and a half, and had to come back home because my parents were getting old, so I had to come back to help them on the farm. He took vocational agriculture classes under Willie Fitzgerald, and learned, “all about agriculture and farming and doctoring calves, and just about everything about farming,” he says. He stayed on and farmed his parents’ place. After both parents passed away, he quit farming and went in to the cattle business. He met his wife in 1954. She was from Oakland. When they married, he moved in to town. He still owns his family

farm in Osage, and leases part of the farm out. After moving to town, he worked at the M-G Feed Mill in Weimar for close to 40 years, retiring in the mid 1980s. “I still fooled with cows after that, and didn’t retire from that until the 2000s,” he says. DRAFTED, AGAIN n the 1990s, Steward was drafted to service yet again. “They drafted me, that’s what I called it,” he says. The then mayor and city manager of Weimar came to his house and asked him to run for city council. “I said I can’t beat nobody in a city council race, and they said, ‘yeah, you can.’” When he worked at M-G Feed Mill, he says, for many years, he literally made every sack of feed with the push of a button, and that resulted in his building a large network of folks who knew him. “A lot of people knew me. I didn’t know who they were well, but they knew who I was,” he says. “Everyone I talked to and went by to talk to, the doors were open. They knew me, but I didn’t know them,” he says. He served 15 years on the Weimar City Council. One of his proudest achievements was working with another military veteran on the Council to convince the owner of the land now occupied by Love’s and other businesses to sell that land to the city for development. “They told the mayor, ‘if it hadn’t been for Steward and the other councilman—the two veterans—he wouldn’t have sold that land to the city,’ and we rejoiced in that. We had a part in it, you know?” A member of Greater Mt. Airey Missionary Baptist Church, he has two children, Ruby and Ronald. Ronald lives in New York; Ruby lives in Houston.

Ken Kram-State Farm is proud to salute HARVEY STEWARD as living history.

Ken Kram, Agent

401 E St Charles | Weimar, TX 78962 Bus: 979-725-9564 | www.kenkram.com