James T. White (August 25, 1837 – March 13, 1892) was a Baptist minister and state legislator from Helena and Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and later the Arkansas Senate in the late 1860s and early 1870s. He was also a member of the Arkansas constitutional conventions in 1868 and 1874. He edited the Baptist newspaper, The Arkansas Review. He was an African American and a Republican. In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas House.[1]
James T. White | |
|---|---|
 White in 1887 | |
| Born | August 25, 1837 New Providence, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | March 13, 1892 (aged 54) Helena, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, minister, politician, journalist |
| Political party | Republican |
| Personal | |
| Religion | Baptist |
Early life
editWhite was born in New Providence, Indiana, to James and Catharine White. The family moved to the capital city of Indianapolis in 1850. His parents had died by 1860. White joined the Baptist church at the age of 17 and became a minister at the age of 21.[2]
In the spring of 1865, he was sent to the Consolidated American Baptist Convention held in St. Louis Missouri.[2] In May of that year, more than 600 Baptist clergymen and a large number of lay delegates attended a number of concurrent conventions in that city. The largest such organization was the American Baptist Union. Other groups that met included the American Baptist Publication Society, the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and the American Baptist Education Society.[3] While there, he was invited to Helena, Arkansas, where, on August 21, 1865, he became a pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Helena.[2] White moved to Helena with a unit of African-American Union Army soldiers.[4] The situation in Helena was uneasy. A part of the Confederacy, many Arkansas veterans resented the presence of newly freed slaves. White became pastor of a church that met in a government stable until Colonel Charles Bentzoni of the 56th United States Colored Infantry permitted them to move into the old Cumberland church, where services were held for two years until White was able to build a small house for services.[2]
Move to Arkansas and career
editPolitical success
editIn 1867, White organized an Arkansas Missionary Baptist convention in the capital city of Little Rock. In 1868, White supported Reconstruction efforts and, in the fall of that year, he was elected to the state convention to frame a new constitution for Arkansas.[2] He was one of eight black delegates at the convention, along with J. W. Mason, Richard Samuels, William Murphy, Monroe Hawkins, William Grey, Henry Rector, and Thomas P. Johnson.[5] He was a strong advocate for black enfranchisement, and, after the convention, opposed the imposition of a poll tax that would restrict the ability of poor blacks to vote.[6] He was then elected to the state House of Representatives[7] serving the 11th district, which consisted of Phillips and Monroe counties. He served on the penitentiary committee, the committee on impeachment and removal from office, and the committee on miscellaneous provisions.[8] He was reelected to the house twice, and then elected to the state Senate, where he served one term[2] in 1871.[5] He was then appointed to the position of commissioner of public works and internal improvements.[2] In the 1868 and 1869 sessions, there were seven blacks in the Arkansas Legislature. In the 1871 session, there were eleven in the House and two, J. W. Mason and White, in the Senate.[5] In 1872, white newspapers in Arkansas noted a split in the Phillips County black leadership between White and H. B. Robinson.[9] In the 1873 session, there were 20 African Americans in the Arkansas legislature, four in the Senate and 16 in the House. James' brother, Rev. R. B. White represented Pulaski in the upper body of the general assembly.[10] White was defeated in campaigns for legislature in 1873[11] and 1881.[12]
During this time, he continued his work as a minister, and he succeeded in building two new churches, one in Helena and another in Little Rock. The church in Little Rock was destroyed by fire but rebuilt. He also organized the first Baptist District Association for Arkansas.[2] In 1874, White was attacked by a group of Democrats and thrown into the Mississippi River, which ran beside Helena.[13]
Political failures and later career
editEarly in 1874, Republican Governor Elisha Baxter moved to re-enfranchise former Confederate soldiers, a move that alienated many of his base. His opponent in the 1872 election, Joseph Brooks, was then declared governor by a county judge who declared that election to be fraudulent. Each side raised militias mostly of black men, who fought several bloody battles, known as the Brooks–Baxter War. Phillips County Republicans desired to raise men to fight for Brooks, and White made a largely successful effort to prevent Phillips County men from joining.[14]
Later in 1874, White was elected to a second convention for the writing of a new state constitution. He then endeavored to raise money for a college, which was to be known as Helena University. This project failed, and White turned his effort to other work.[2] The organization was led by Rev. George Priest of Jonestown, Mississippi, Rev. Moses Proffit of Phillips County, and White.[15] Many elected and appointed positions in Phillips County were held by blacks from Reconstruction until about 1878. White played an important role in this, supporting an alliance between blacks (who were mostly Republican) and conservative white Democrats. Beyond White's legislative seats, blacks held positions as coroners and assessors, and H. B. Robinson served as county sheriff from 1874–1878,[16] defeating White in an election for that position in October 1874. In 1876, White ran for the position of circuit court clerk and lost. He then ran for the position of chancery clerk,[17] but lost.[18]
In 1884, he began to work for the Benevolent and Church Aid Society and became editor of The Arkansas Review.[2] In 1886, he was a delegate at the American National Baptist Convention led by William J. Simmons and Richard DeBaptiste. A major issue facing the group was unifying black Baptists for mutual support and to increase their "race confidence" as Solomon T. Clanton put it in a presentation of a paper he wrote. White's contribution included noted the importance of economic progress, how black Baptists were looked down upon in comparison to black Methodists, and especially the need for loyalty to the denomination.[19] White was involved in Freemasonry.[20] He was an active worker for education and helped organize public schools in Helena and in 1873 was a member of the Helena Public Schools' board of directors.[21]
Death
editWhite resigned from the pastorate of the Second Baptist Church in Helena in March 1891.[22] He died a year later of pneumonia in Helena, Arkansas.[23]
References
edit- ^ "Black History Month 2021".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p590-593.
- ^ Convention of Baptist Clergymen. Newark Daily Advertiser (Newark, New Jersey). Saturday, May 13, 1865, Page: 2
- ^ Rosen, Hannah. Terror in the Heart of Freedom: Citizenship, Sexual Violence, and the Meaning of Race in the Postemancipation South. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2009. p99
- ^ a b c Work, Monroe N., Thomas S. Staples, H. A. Wallace, Kelly Miller, Whitefield McKinlay, Samuel E. Lacy, R. L. Smith, and H. R. McIlwaine. "Some Negro Members of Reconstruction Conventions and Legislatures and of Congress." The Journal of Negro History 5, no. 1 (1920): 63–119.
- ^ Graves, John William. Town and country: race relations and urban development in Arkansas 1865–1905. University of Arkansas Press, 1978. p48
- ^ Debates and Proceedings of the Convention which Assembled at Little Rock, January 7th, 1868 ...: To Form a Constitution for the State of Arkansas. J. G. Price, printer to the convention. 1868.
- ^ Arkansas History Commission, Rev. J. T. White, summary, Persistence of the Spirit Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at https://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/47211026
- ^ The Minstrel Split in Phillips County, Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) August 10, 1872, page 2. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7289912//
- ^ The Colored Legislators. Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) February 1, 1873, page 2. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7289953/the_colored_legislators_daily_arkansas/
- ^ Lee County. Rev. J. T. White—His Congressional Aspirations—The Banner County. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) Tuesday, June 17, 1873. Page: 1
- ^ Running Down Slanders. The Truth About the Election in Phillips County. No Republicans Prevented From. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas). Tuesday, September 12, 1882. Page: 4.
- ^ Work Projects Administration, Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Arkansas Narratives, Part 4, page Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson Person interviewed: Ellis Jefson (M. E. Preacher), Hazen, Ark. Age: 77. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at https://archive.org/details/slavenarrativesa25154gut
- ^ Brooks at Helena, Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) April 29, 1874, page 1. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7290068/brooks_at_helena_daily_arkansas/
- ^ Facts [Illegible] at the University for Colored People at Helena. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas). Thursday, February 3, 1881. Page: 1.
- ^ Stockley, Grif. Blood in Their Eyes: the Elaine Race Massacres of 1919 (p). University of Arkansas Press, 2001. p21
- ^ The "New Deal" Ticket. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) Saturday, July 29, 1876. Page: 2. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299318/the_new_deal_ticket_arkansas_gazette/
- ^ More Fun. Second Day's Proceedings—A Full State Ticket Nominated. Second Day's Proceedings. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) Saturday, July 29, 1876 Page: 4. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299669//
- ^ Washington, James Melvin, The Making of a Church with the Soul of a Nation, 1880–1889, in eds West, Cornel, and Eddie S. Glaude, eds. African American religious thought: An anthology. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. p419
- ^ Cox, Joseph. Great Black Men of Masonry. iUniverse, 2002. p338-339
- ^ Hon. J. T. White. Morning Republican (Little Rock, Arkansas) Tuesday, February 25, 1873. Volume: 6 Issue: 274 Page: 2
- ^ Driftwood, The Appeal (Saint Paul, Minnesota) March 14, 1891, page 1. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299767/driftwood_the_appeal_saint_paul/
- ^ The Rev. J. T. White, Helena, Ark, Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) March 16, 1892, page 5. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at https://web.archive.org/web/20170816012108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299785/the_rev_j_t_white_helena_ark/