Celebrating local Black history

The life and legacy George Berry Washington Jr.

By CLAYTON ADAMS

claytonpadamslll@gmail.com A s I mowed, raked, and pulled weeds at the burial site of George Berry Washington, Jr., (GBW) I have surveyed the surrounding land he once owned, imagining his house, cotton gin, and store that once stood across the dirt and gravel road that is now paved. There are no remnants of his “Main Place,” alongside the banks of the Tyronza River, just two miles north of Earle, AR., which 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 stands as a memorial to this man. The angel was erected by his wife and two daughters (imported from Italy) and stands watch over GBW as he rests in the land he once owned. 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 day laborers.

There is a vast untold history of Black and white folks who explored, settled, lived, and dyed on the land they worked so hard to bring into production. The east Arkansas primordial forests, especially Crittenden County were treacherous and a treasure. 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 many years the swamp water was drained, levies built and the land was _rst put to use growing vegetables to sustain the settlers, then cash crops (to sell or trade) and _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.

When Mr. Washington was born his parents had little thought their son would become a minister, plantation owner, cotton 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

See BLACK HISTORY, page A2

The Angel in the Field, by George Berry Washington, Jr., in Earle, Arkansas.

Courtesy of the Crittenden County Museum

George Berry Washington, Jr., Angel Sculpture Medallion Now on display at the Crittenden County Museum

George Berry Washington, Jr., and daughter Elizabeth on display at the Crittenden County Museum.

From page A1

able to read and write although most Blacks or “freed” people were unable to read or write.

GBW married his first 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.

Recorded in official deed records 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 McCoy 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 Mc-Coy are buried in Gibson Bayou Cemetery just up 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.

Mr. Washington, Jr., served as a pastor and often preached 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.

GBW serves as an example of a person who faced great disparities and difficulties and he overcame many of these obstacles in his life. Mr. Washington endured the disparity of education, wealth, discrimination, opportunities, food, and the then cultural observance that prevented a white person to refer to Mr. Washington as “Mr.” or “Sir” he was “Brother Berry” or Uncle George to the white community.

Whatever the disparity, one only needs to look at the many examples of individuals who have strived to overcome his or her disparity to be encouraged and strengthen their own resolve for success.

George Berry Washington, Jr., is an example of a person overcoming great adversity and disparities in life. His story should be taught in schools and certainly observed during Black History Month.

This beautiful burial site and Angel was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1994. This site is the only surviving evidence of the life of George Berry Washington Jr.

Two years after Mr. Washington’s death, his land was sold for farm loan debts. Most of his family moved to Memphis and some into south Arkansas. The Crittenden County Museum in Earle has a small pictorial display of George Berry Washington, Jr.

According to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program documents from a geological survey of the burial ground, “revealed no evidence that the mound has any but a natural origin.” This amazing natural rise from the earth is the final resting place for a humble man that serves as an example of what is possible to accomplish in life.

Unfortunately, through the years, there has not been a concerted effort by the city of Earle, Crittenden County, or the state of Arkansas to care for this historical site.

Through the years weed killers and other chemicals have been sprayed on the field that surrounds the statue killing the grass causing considerable erosion of the base of dirt which holds this monument mound together.

Through the years farmers have plowed, cultivated, and harvested so close to the statue and surrounding wall that it disturbs the entire mound causing additional erosion. Without proper care and maintenance the wall and cornerstones will fall (one cornerstone has already detached from its base). Very soon this valuable piece of history will disappear.