George Berry Washington Jr.

BLACK HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

By CLAYTON ADAMS

Special to the Times A s I mow, rake, and pull up weeds at the burial site of George Berry Washington, Jr., (GBW) I survey the surrounding land he once owned, imagine his house, cotton gin, and store that once stood across the dirt and gravel road that now paved.

There are no remnants of his “Main Place,” alongside the banks of the Tyronza River that would tell of his life, work, and family except an angel.

He stands out in the history of Crittenden County and the state of Arkansas as a man of intellect capable of managing and growing his farm operations, buying, and selling of property, bene_tting his family, friends, and the communities of Earle and Norvell. He was a man of Christian faith.

The Angel in the Field, erected by his wife and two daughters stands watch over GBW as he rests in the land he once farmed. Most people drive past and never see this amazing site and very few stop to read the epitaph upon his grave.

Mr. Washington was born on December 25, 1864, and died on August 30, 1928. Throughout his life he helped sustain others as they scratched out a living as sharecroppers and the day laborers.

There is a vast untold history of Black and white folks who lived and died as they cleared the east Arkansas primordial forests. These forests were so thick and guaranteed to ood each year that few people ventured to make a living in this swamp. During the next 100 plus years the swamp water was drained, levies were built and land was put _rst into use growing vegetables to sustain the settlers, then the cash crops (to sell or trade) were needed and then, _nally in the 1800’s cotton was introduced.

With the planting of cotton, the landscape forever changed and it bound the lives and history of Black, white, Indian, Hispanic, German, Jew, Italian, Greek, Chinese and other people groups together. We are a _nely woven tapestry; our culture is made of brightly colored individual threads.

Each thread has unique qualities and are part of the fabric that makes up the American culture. Try as we may to avoid, diffuse and cut the ties that bind us together we are held together with a common history and a very common future.

GBW is part of this heritage and his life can teach us lessons to have a better future.

When Mr. Washington was born his parents had little thought their son would become a minister, plantation owner, ginner, store owner and one of the largest landowners in Crittenden County. Mr. Washington was labeled as a mulatto (“Mu” according to the U.S. Census of the 1800’s). Mulatto was the of_cial designation of all people having “some proportion or perceptible trace of negro blood.” He was able to read and write although most Blacks or freed people were unable to read or write.

GBW married his _rst wife, Ella Roselle (in some historical sources Rostelle) on 25 May 1883 and from this union two daughters were born; Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Arrener (Irene). Little information is available concerning Ella but it is assumed she passed early in their marriage.

On 27 May 1897 Mr.

Washington married Lula Wright from Memphis, TN.

Lula and George continued to build the plantation, (referred to as “The Main Place”) buy and sold property and helped hundreds of people.

In 1920 there were dozens of cotton gins in Crittenden County. Mr. Washington owned his own gin but unfortunately his cotton gin exploded killing one worker and was never rebuilt.

“Modern” farm equipment was used on his properties.

Behind the car is the home of Mr. Washington. His daughter Elizabeth owned the car.

The small country store owned and operated by GBW was just down the road from the Gibson Bayou Church and Cemetery.

After church, many children would walk down to the store were given small amounts of candy.

According to deed documents in the Crittenden County Courthouse, GBW and his wife Lula donated four acres of land on December 23, 1919 to the Gibson Bayou Cemetery and Pentecostal Church Association. S.A. Shannon, J.R. Abbott, and Lyman Mc-Coy the three trustees of the Gibson Bayou Association signed the contract.

As part of the same transaction, an additional one-acre of land owned by Mr. Washington was sold for $500 to the Association.

Although Gibson Bayou Cemetery has been a historically white cemetery it was George Berry Washington, Jr., who helped sustain and expand the cemetery through his donation of land. Interestingly, S.A.

Shannon, J.R. Abbott, and Lyman McCoy are buried in Gibson Bayou Cemetery just down the road from Mr.

Washington’s resting place.

George Berry Washington, Jr. died suddenly of acute gastritis on August 30, 1928. His funeral was held at the First Baptist Church in Earle and was well attended. The above photograph was taken just after the service (casket is visible in the middle under the poles). The men with the two poles are Masons from the local Prince Hall of Freemasonry of which Mr.

Washington was a member and helped purchase the land for a meeting place in Norvell.

George Berry Washington, Jr., served as a pastor and often preach to the many workers employed on his plantation as well as ministering in St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist and Spring Hill Missionary Baptist churches within a few miles of his Main Place.

Mr. Washington serves as an example of a person who faced great disparities and dif_culties and overcoming those obstacles. Mr. Washington endured the disparity of education, wealth, discrimination, opportunities, food, and the then cultural observance that prevented a white person referring to Mr. Washington as “Mr.” or “Sir” he was “Brother Berry” or George instead.

Whatever the disparity, one only needs to look at the many examples of individuals who have strived to overcome his or her disparity. George Berry Washington, Jr., is an example of a person overcoming great adversity and disparities in life.

WASHINGTON