After the death of Professor William Henry Burnett in 1943, the African American Community simply picked up where he left off and carried the torch. Over the next two decades, we saw an increase in African Americans attending school. A sense of pride had risen from the grave and the words “educate our children” became the norm and not the exception…
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1787 and had over 20,000 members in the northern states at the beginning of the Civil War. It launched a major missionary effort to southern blacks after the war and was a leading source of resistance to Jim Crow. Many of the first black politicians and teachers from the North were ministers of the AME church. St. James A.M.E. Church was established in 1875. Under the leadership of Rev. F.P. Bradley, the congregation started with 20 members. By 1894, the church had grown to 140 active members with properties valued over $2,500.00. (Kaufman Weekly Sun, dated 1894). The church had its humble beginning on Bradshaw Street. In time as the membership increased, a new location was acquired on the corner of Grove and Catherine Street. In 1918, the members of St. James A.M.E. Church moved into a new church built on the corner of Rockwall and Rochester. The earliest known church picture of the members and some of their children (Mrs. Wesley’s Kindergarten Class) were taken in the year 1922 (Kaufman County Genealogical Website). Under the direction and leadership of Rev. Billy C. Wren, the church built a new structure adjacent to the existing one. On June 12, 1977 the members made their official move into the new facility. As a matter of preserving the historical significance of the church, the member transferred the stained glass windows (known as European Art glass) and light fixtures from the church that was built in 1918.
Political: One of several places available to the community for political meeting, the church serve as a crucial meeting place for members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Social Functions: As recorded in the words of Addie Helen Foster, the church served not only as a place to worship but a place to meet and socialize. Specifically, holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas usually encompassed speical services and special social functions. Members from far away would travel back to Terrell to participate and catch up on old times.
Education: William Henry Burnett was born October 17, 1872 on a farm near Waxahachie. His early education included attending a community school in the South Prong area of Ellis County, Texas. He attended Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After receiving his degree there he returned to home town to teach school for one year. He became Principal of the Colored Schools in 1901. A position he held until 1943. By the time of Professor Burnett’s death in 1944, he had gained a reputation throughout Texas as an educator and public speaker. One spring he brought the commencement address for the combined graduating classes of all the Negro High Schools in Houston, Texas. He had served as an Elder at St. James A.M.E. Church and was noted with numerous speaking engagements for the church as far south as Galveston, Texas. He was frequent speaker at seminars and special events at Prairie View College. Notable citizens who attended his funeral were Superintendent J.E. Langwith and R.C. Goodman.
Sports/Athletes: Luke Else of St. James AME Church was considered one of the most prominent black prize fighters in Kaufman County. Once considered the “Jack Johnson” of Terrell, Luke was scheduled to fight Sam Ridge of Dallas, Texas in January 1910. However, Sam Ridge left Terrell one day before the fight and was subsequently arrested for the murder of a local Chinese laundry business owner. (Kaufman County Public Records) 1978-1979-Terrell High School reaches the State Basketball Tournament for the first time in the school’s history. Three of the basketball players are members of St. James AME Church: Dewayne Sheffield, Carl Holland, and Ray Williams. Carl Holland was voted the North Zone District’s Most Valuable Player.
A Christmas Story by Addie Foster: Many years ago, the Christmas of 1929 was very dear to me. I lived in Oklahoma City. The week before Christmas Day I prayed that I would be home. Times were hard and I worked hard to buy toys and presents for all that lived at home. I would buy a roundtrip ticket to Terrell and then ride the Rock Island Train to Dallas and catch the trolley car from Dallas to Terrell. They ran every hour. At the station you would meet old friends. Then, I would walk to Catherine Street in the mud or ride in a wagon driven by Isom Lane for 25 cents a trip. The house had the smell cedar. The kitchen was the main room. A large table with Rodgers silverware only used a holiday time. The long white table cloth on the table held all kinds of cakes, pies, turkey, ham, and a big bowl of ambrosia. On Christmas Eve we went to church for games and fun in the dirt covered basement.
For over 100 years, St. James A.M.E. Church has served as a lighthouse for the African American Community in Terrell, Texas. Since the days of Post Reconstruction, The Roaring Twenties, The 1929 Stock Market Crash, The Great Depression, World War I, World War II, The Korean War, and Vietnam, the door’s of St. James have always been open to the community. We have a history that is rich in love and peace for all who have passed through our doors.
For Comments: Contact Drew at dmsoms@yahoo.com
In remembrance of those who came before me, I am posting some names that may or may not be recognized by the African American Community of Terrell. Their legacy has an impact that reach far beyond the city limits of Terrell.
William Henry Burnett was born October 17, 1872 on a farm near Waxahachie. His early education included attending a community school in the South Prong area of Ellis County, Texas. He attended Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After receiving his degree there he returned to home town to teach school for one year. He became Principal of the Colored Schools in 1901. A position he held until 1943. By the time of Professor Burnett’s death in 1944, he had gained a reputation throughout Texas as an educator and public speaker. One spring he brought the commencement address for the combined graduating classes of all the Negro High Schools in Houston, Texas. He had served as an Elder at St. James A.M.E. Church and was noted with numerous speaking engagements for the church as far south as Galveston, Texas. He was frequent speaker at seminars and special events at Prairie View College. Notable citizens who attended his funeral were Superintendent J.E. Langwith and R.C. Goodman.
Dave Hawkins, a pioneer colored citizen of Terrell, and a man universally admired by both whites and blacks for his many sterling traits of character, died this morning at 5 o’clock at his home on South Adelaide Street after a brief illness. As the recognized leader of his race in Terrell and as the embodiment of all that is highest and noblest in citizenship, regardless of color, The Transcript gladly publishes the following tribute to the character of deceased from W.H. Burnett, principal of the colored school: “Dave Hawkins, colored, was born in Washington, N.C., March 10, 1846. He came to Texas before the Civil War; married Patsy Holmes in 1863, and raised a large family. He worked for the late firm of Dr. Childress & Bro. for twenty years. He moved to Terrell with the Childress Family in 1876 and has lived here continually since that date. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church and also treasurer of the Colored Masonic Lodge for twenty years. The death of Dave Hawkins has removed, from among the colored people, a landmark, a counselor of peace, an example of thrift and industry, and the very embodiment of old-fashioned honesty. If an honest man is the noblest work of God, Dave Hawkins was indeed a paragon of excellence.” Dave Hawkins was buried at the colored cemetery on September 24, 1909. Terrell Transcript, September 1909.
Nora B. Adams, a Seattle public-school educator was involved in the district’s desegregation plan and later became one of its first black female principals. Her career as an educator spanned 37 years, beginning at the now-shuttered Sharples Junior High School in 1952 and ending with her retirement from Seward Elementary School in 1989. The importance of education was a family legacy for Mrs. Adams, who was born and raised in the town of Terrell, Texas, where her father was principal of the elementary school she attended. After one year of college in Texas, she moved to Seattle in 1946 to continue her education. She received her bachelor of education degree from Seattle University in 1952, the year she began her teaching career. Mrs. Adams taught in the Seattle School District for eight years, earned a master’s degree in education administration and supervision from Seattle University and moved to New Jersey, where she spent the next decade teaching and later served as an elementary-school principal. She returned to Seattle in 1970 to accept a job as principal of T.T. Minor Elementary School, becoming, according to some accounts, the first African-American woman in the district to have that role. She also was involved in the district’s voluntary desegregation busing plan. In 1989, she retired from Seward Elementary School, having also served as principal of Bryant, Sacajawea and Dunlap schools.
Earnest “Ernie” Shaw was born in Terrell, Texas. He grew up milking cows, slopping hogs, herding cattle and doing all the other things farm boys do. However, his Silver Star Medal suggests he is much more than that. The Korean War combat veteran earned the nation’s third highest award for gallantry near Mungdung-ni, Korea. At that place, better known as Heartbreak Ridge, 1st Lt. Ernie Shaw had commanded a platoon in the 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was cited for destroying a bunker, leading a flamethrower team and rallying his unit to attack when they were just preparing to hold ground. In fact, his platoon was pinned down by intense enemy small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire. Shaw suffered leg wounds from shrapnel on Nov. 1, 1951, but refused to leave the firing line.
Luther “Luke” Else was born in Terrell, Texas in 1888. His family moved to Terrell by the 1900s. Luke was an accomplished boxer whose named was well recognized in the African American community. His boxing skills were so great that he was often referred to as “The Jack Johnson” of Terrell.
Esthers Nabors was born in Terrell, Texas in 1912. He recalls growing up in Terrell, leaving Terrell and later returning in his later years, playing in the Negro Baseball League prior to the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball, and working as a barber in Hollywood where he cut the hair of many famous blacks.
Floyd Iglehart, a graduate of Burnett Colored High School. Floyd was drafted in 1958 by the Los Angeles Rams in the 6th Round. He attended Wiley College where he made All-American as a receiver one year and then as a quarterback the next. Hensley Sapenter played college football against Iglehart and talked about a comparison of Iglehart to Vince Young, “Vincent Young a very talented young man and deserves all the attention he gets,” said Sapenter. “Iglehart was a better all-around quarterback and maybe a better athlete. Iglehart was also an outstanding basketball and baseball player. He could take you on the golf course and beat your socks off. He came along during the time when black quarterbacks were not given a chance to play quarterback. A season ending injury as ended his professional football career. Terrell Centennial 1973; located at the Terrell Public Library; Reference page 11 which listed the names of African Americans who helped to build the city of Terrell, Texas: Jim Gibbs, Albert Polk, Bob Nelson, John Wiggins, Glasco Jones, Alex Shaw, Tom Terrell, Dennis Gray, Watson Durrough, Sam Shannon, Jim and Charley Johns and their mother “Aunt Judy,” Jim Crenshaw, Dave Hawkins, and Ned Finney. For more information about African Americans of Kaufman County, please go to the Kaufman County Texas Genealogy Website at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txkaufma/
Drew Williams (http://www.geocities.com/dmsoms/)
KC African American Genealogy Specialist
It was a chilly night on the outskirts of Terrell. As usual during this time of the year, the temperature had risen to 55 degrees making it feel like a cool summer’s night. It was January 22, 1910. The city marshall and the night watchman make a raid on a bunch of Negro crapshooters near Payne’s Cotton Yard. Eleven Negroes were arrested. When the marshall knocked on the door and identified himself, a wide panic began. Some Negroes ran into the stables and hid, some slipped under the beds, while others tried to exit through the back door. The night watchman smoked a corn pipe and carried a 40-odd caliber pistol. Those who tried to escape through the back door found him waiting on them. As he pointed the pistol at the group, one of the Negroes screamed out, “Yuz got us boss; we ain’t goin’ to try to get away.” Up to this time, only 9 Negroes had been found. When the watchman entered the house, he heard noises under the bed. Using a walking stick, he prodded under the bed and discovered two more Negroes. Out of all the Negroes arrested, only one was from out-of-town. His name was Moss and he gave his city of residence as Dallas, Texas. All but five of the Negroes were able to post bond and leave on the spot. They were placed in the “Misery Box” for transportation to the local jail. Little did these men realize that their time in jail would be intertwine with one of the most gruesome murders in the history of the county. Go back in time and solve this classic who-dun-it. Was he telling the truth or was it just whispers in the wall?