The students of the Radical University: Clarence W. Fox

Clarence W. Fox, ca.1903
Men of Massachusetts

Clarence W. Fox
From The Western Druggist, August 1893

Clarence Woodbury Fox (b. April 12, 1857; d. February 12, 1912)
New York.  White.
Occupation: clerk, merchant.
Father's occupation: clergyman, farmer, teacher.

Clarence W. Fox was born in Ashland, New York to Clarinda S. and Henry J. Fox. Henry was originally from England.  Henry embraced Methodism and, in 1844, left England.  He planned to go to Canada, but during a stay in New York City, he was convinced by Methodist ministers to stay there and work as a pastor.

The year Clarence was born (in 1857), his father Henry J. became the president of Ashland Collegiate Institute (a school in Ashland, New York which was open from 1858 to 1861). That year his father also received an A.M. degree from Wesleyan University.  Over the next few years, the family moved around the state as his father changed jobs and continued his education.  The father received a D.D. degree from Union College (in Schenectady, New York) in 1866.  During this time, Clarence studied at public schools.

The family left New York for South Carolina in 1869. They first moved to Chesterfield County, and the father tried to start a farm. The family had a difficult time there. Recent immigrants like the Fox family were subject to Klan violence, and the Fox family ended up abandoning their farm. They left Chesterfield for Charleston in 1872. That year Clarence's father Henry J. was appointed to a church in Charleston. 

The family moved again in 1873. That year, they moved to Columbia, South Carolina because the father had been given the position of Professor of Rhetoric, Criticism, Elocution, English Language and Literature at the University of South Carolina.

On July 27, 1874, Clarence applied to be a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Pont. His application was sponsored by Robert B. Elliott. West Point records indicate that Clarence was ultimately rejected as a candidate.   At the time, upon arrival on campus, candidates to the Academy were required to undergo a physical examination and academic testing.  Presumably Clarence was rejected on that basis, although Academy records justify the rejection with the unknown abbreviation "Ac. Bd."  

Clarence registered as a university student at the University of South Carolina on November 21, 1874.  He entered into the college preparatory (or sub freshman) class, but had moved to the college class following the modern studies track by 1876. The university closed before he completed his degree.

Clarence's formal education ended with the university's closure. He entered business and moved to Boston.  He lived in Saugus, a town in the greater Boston area. For several years, he worked as a bookkeeper at L. C. Paul & Co., a company that made bottle glassware and "druggists' sundries." In 1882, he decided to start his own business and, in partnership, he formed Fox, Fultz & Webster which later became Fox, Fultz & Co.  Like L. C. Paul & Co., his firm sold things like glassware to pharmacists.

Clarence's contributions to the glassware industry was not limited to running his business. He also worked as an inventor. He received at least nine U.S. patents. For example, he received a patent for a shaker for mixing drinks in 1891. 

Beyond his work, Clarence was a member of the East Saugus M.E. Church and active in local politics.  He served as a Saugus selectman and was twice a Republican delegate (in 1894 and 1900).  

Clarence died on February 12, 1912 from heart trouble after a brief disease.  His death certificate lists the cause as grippe followed by interstitial nephritis with angina pectoris. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Saugus. His death was reported in The National Druggist, a periodical for pharmacists. That periodical described him as "a man of liberal views, kindly in nature and much loved by his fiends, of whom he had a great many."

Clarence W. Fox
From New York, the Metropolis

Clarence W. Fox in 1905
Boston Globe, February 28, 1905

Clarence W. Fox was elected Saugus selectman in 1905
Boston Globe, February 28, 1905

  

Advertisement for Fox, Fultz & Co.
From American Druggist And Pharmaceutical Record, Volume 36: 1900.

The Fox, Fultz & Co. building

From New York, the Metropolis

Patents

1) C. W. Fox. "Glass Holder." No. 378,361. United States Patent Office. February 21, 1888.

2) C. W. Fox. "Shaker for Mixing Drinks." No. 447,069. United States Patent Office. February 24, 1891.

3) C. W. Fox. "Device for Washing Bottles." No. 457,603. United States Patent Office. August 11, 1891.

4) C. W. Fox. "Spatula." No. 479,937. United States Patent Office. May 19, 1892.

5) Clarence W. Fox. "Funnel." No. 502,881. United States Patent Office. August 8, 1893.

6) C. W. Fox. "Machine for making suppositories." No. 509,154. United States Patent Office. November 21, 1893.

7) C. W. Fox, J. G. Blount, & B. J. Noyes. "Machine for making tablets, pills, &c." No. 597,110. United States Patent Office. January 11, 1898.

8) C. W. Fox. "Nursing Bottle." No. 898,975. United States Patent Office. January 5, 1907.

9).  C. W. Fox. "Liquid-Receptacle."  Patent No. 901,433. United States Patent Office. October 20, 1908.

Sources

1). "New England Letter" The Western Druggist.  August 1893,  Volume XV,  Number 8: pp. 338-339.

2). National Wholesale Druggists' Association.  Proceedings of the National Wholesale Druggists' Association.  Volume 38.  1912.

3). "Clarence W. Fox"  National Druggist. March 1912:  p. 170.

4). 1910; Census Place: Saugus, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_588; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0482

5). 1880; Census Place: Saugus, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: 527; Page: 274C; Enumeration District: 146

6). 1870; Census Place: Old Store, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1491; Page: 359A

7). 1870; Census Place: Old Store, Chesterfield, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1491; Page: 366A

8). Warriner, Edwin.  Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn N. Y.: An Illustrated Centennial Record, Historical and Biographical.  Phillips & Hunt, New York: 1885. pp. 331-333.

9) 1900; Census Place: Saugus, Essex, Massachusetts; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 0464; FHL microfilm: 1240648

10) Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911

11) 1860; Census Place: Ashland, Greene, New York; Page: 897; Family History Library Film: 803758

12) "Clarence W. Fox Buried." February 16. 1912. p. 11. 

13) "Saugus solid for Hayes" Boston Globe September 19, 1894. p. 4.

14) "Caucus results Elsewhere." Boston Globe, April 19, 1900. p. 3.

15) "Six Aspire to Board." Boston Globe, February 28, 1905. p. 5.

16) "Here From Many States." Boston Globe, September 9, 1903. p. 4.

The students of the Radical University: Nathaniel Middleton

Nathaniel Hill Middleton (b. April 7, 1856; d. March 31, 1900)
South Carolina.  Mulatto/Black.  
Occupation: instructor, physician. 
Father's occupation: minister, tailor, teacher, carpenter.

Nathaniel Hill was born in 1856 in South Carolina to Abram and Sarah Bing Middleton.  Sarah was a free person of color.  Abram was born into slavery in Charleston, although he led a life of relative privilege.  He was a literate skilled laborer who worked as a carpenter.  After the Civil War, he moved  the family to Midway, South Carolina and worked as a school superintendent.  He was a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention and a founding member of the Trustees of Claflin University.  Abram's brother Benjamin represented Barnwell County in the South Carolina House of Representatives, 1872-74.

Nathaniel registered as a student on April 1, 1874.  He entered as a freshman in the college student following the modern track.  The university closed before he completed his studies.

In 1880, he was working as a teacher in Orangeburg, South Carolina. During the 1878 election, he served as a supervisor of election at the polling station for Bull Swamp (in Orangeburg County). Each polling station was assigned two election supervisors, one appointed by the Democrats and one appointed by Republicans. Nathaniel was the Republican representative, and his Democratic counterpart was W. C. Wolfe, a White farmer.

The 1878 election was an important one as it was the first election held since the end of Reconstruction. Statewide, the election resulted in an overwhelming victory for Democrats. Republicans contended that Democrats had won the election through acts of voter fraud, such as ballot box stuffing.

Allegations of voter fraud in Orangeburg County attracted particular attention. The county was part of the 2nd congressional district. The incumbent district Representative, Republican Richard H. Cain, chose not to run for re-election, and the election ended up being a contest between Democrat Michael P. O'Connor and Republican Edmund W. M. Mackey. Both were White South Carolinians who had previously served in state government. The general election saw O'Connor winning the election after receiving 20,568 votes to Mackey's 13,182. However, Mackey contested the outcome, claiming that reported outcome was fraudulent and he had received a majority of the votes legally cast.

Congress investigated Mackey's claims and took testimony from individuals involved in the election. Both Nathaniel and the other election supervisor offered testimony. To maintain order, a (Republican) U.S. deputy marshal and some (Democratic) state constables were present at the polling station. However, they presence proved unnecessary as the election proceeded in a "peaceably and quietly" manner. However, when the election supervisors and the election managers counted ballots, they found irregularities. Over the course of the day, they had kept a list of everyone who had voted. They counted that 328 people has cast votes, but 429 ballots were found in the ballot box. Furthermore,  some ballots had been submitted with extra ballots folded inside. They destroyed those extra ballots, and then an election manager pulled out ballots and destroyed them until the count of ballots agreed with the count of voters. The election return was then found to be 205 votes for O'Connor, 122 votes for Mackey  and 1 ballot left blank. When this outcome was announced, many African-Americans voters appeared "discontented." Upon seeing this, Nathaniel remarked to them that they would have been more successful if they had supported the Wade Hampton, the popular Democratic governor, instead of Republican candidates. This reflected a view held by some Republicans that it was a mistake to have run candidates for the election instead of supporting the ticket headed by Hampton (who was seen as a moderate within the Democratic party). 

Congress ultimately upheld the legitimacy of the election and O'Connor remained in office. However, two years later (in 1880), O'Connor ran for re-election against Mackey. O'Connor was declared the winner of the election, but Mackey alleged that the victory was secured through fraud and contested the outcome. Unlike the previous election, this time Congress affirmed his claim and awarded him the congressional office. 

While Congress was deliberating, Nathaniel continued his studies at Claflin University, and he graduated with an A.B. degree around the Congress made its ruling. Nathaniel was one of the first two students to receive a college degree from Claflin. He left for Tennessee shortly after completing his studies.

Nathaniel moved to Tennessee to attend Meharry Medical College. He began his studies there in fall 1882. There he studied alongside fellow former U of SC students James E. Asbury,  J. J. Durham, and Zebulon W. McMorris.  Nathaniel graduated and received his M.D. in 1884.

After completing his education, Nathaniel moved to southeastern Texas.  He first moved to Oakland (a small town in Colorado County) and started a medical practice with Governer R. Townsend.  Governer had graduated with Nathaniel from Meharry and had moving to Texas from Lumberton, North Carolina.

Nathaniel's partnership with Townsend seems to have only lasted a year as Townsend then left Oakland and moved to Victoria, Texas, a town about 80 miles away.  Nathaniel himself left Oakland for Columbus, the county seat, around 1887.  He remained there for about 10 years before returning to Oakland.

In Oakland, Nathaniel was joined by his former UofSC classmate Robert L. Smith.  Nathaniel and Robert seem to have remained in touch after they moved to Texas.  Around the time he returned to Oakland (In 1893), Nathaniel purchased roughly one-third of an acre of land adjacent to a tract owned by Robert.

Sadly, Nathaniel was found dead in the Navidad river on April 1, 1900.  A local newspaper reported that he had fallen in the river and drowned, possibly after suffering an epileptic fit.

Sources
1).  1870; Census Place: Midway, Barnwell, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1484; Page: 292A.

2). 1880; Census Place: Orangeburg, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Roll: 1237; Page: 266A.

3).  Middleton, Earl M with Barnes, Joy W. Knowing Who I Am: A Black Entrepreneur's Struggle and Success in the American South.  University of South Carolina Press.  2008

4). Beckford, Rhoades Beckford.  Biographical Dictionary of American Physicians of African Ancestry, 1800-1920.  Africana Homestead Legacy Publishing, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.  2011.

5). Meharry Medical College, “1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890  Meharry Medical College Catalogue,” Meharry Medical College Archives.

6). United States, Congress, House. E. W. M. Mackey vs. M. P. O'Connor: Papers in the Case of Mackey vs. O'Connor, Second Congressional District of South Carolina. Government Printing Office, 1880. 46th Congress, 2nd session, Mis. Doc. No. 40., Part 1. pp. 345-346. 

7). United States, Congress, House. E. W. M. Mackey vs. M. P. O'Connor: Papers in the Case of Mackey vs. O'Connor, Second Congressional District of South Carolina. Government Printing Office, 1880. 46th Congress, 2nd session, Mis. Doc. No. 40., Part 2. pp. 1290-1301. 

The students of the Radical University: T. F. P. Roberts

Thomas Francis Parks Roberts (b. June 28, 1858; d. February 26, 1883)
South Carolina.  Black.
Occupation: pastor

T. F. P. Roberts was born on June 28, 1858 in Charleston, South Carolina to unknown parents.  He registered at the University of South Carolina on October 5, 1874, entering the college program and following the classical studies track.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

Roberts continued his education at Atlanta University, entering the university as a sophomore in the 1877-8 academic year.  At Atlanta University, Roberts was joined by a number of former U of SC students including John L. Dart, J. J. Durham, Fletcher H. Henderson, J. J. Holland, Samuel Henry McCoy, Edward Johnson Stewart, and Philip G. Drayton.  Roberts received an A. B. degree from the university in 1880.

After completing his education, Roberts worked as a Methodist Episcopalian preacher in Elberton, Georgia.  By February, 1883, he had fallen ill with consumption and returned to Charleston.  There he was treated by his former classmate W. D. Crum.  Despite medical care, he died on February 26, 1883.  Roberts is buried in the Friendly Union Society Cemetery.

Sources
1). South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1875-1899; Death County or Certificate Range: Charleston

2). Adams, Myron W. General Catalogue of Atlanta University: 1867-1918.  Atlanta University Press.  1918.

The students of the Radical University: Edward Johnson Stewart

Edward Johnson Stewart (b. 1855; d. 1884)
South Carolina.  Mulatto.
Occupation: teacher
Father's occupation: farm laborer?

Information about Edward Stewart's before his enrollment at the University of South Carolina is incomplete.  He may be the Edward Stewart, born 1855, that appears in the 1870 U.S. Census living in Scott (in Colleton Country, South Carolina).   If so, then his parents are Nelson and Susan Stewart.  Nelson was working as a farm laborer in 1870.  By 1874, Stewart was living in Newberry, South Carolina.

Edward registered at the University of South Carolina on April 1, 1874.  He was part of the college class and followed the classical studies track.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the university closure, Edward moved to Atlanta University, which he attended from 1877 to 1879.  After graduating with an A.B., he moved to Washington, Georgia.  There he taught school until his death in 1884.


Sources
1). General Catalogue of Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia 1867-1918.  Atlanta University Press.  1918.

2). 1880; Census Place: Washington, Wilkes, Georgia; Roll: 172; Page: 321D; Enumeration District: 136

3). 1870; Census Place: Scott, Colleton, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1492; Page: 139A

The students of the Radical University: Owen L. W. Smith

Owen Lun West Smith (b. May 18, 1851; January 5, 1926)
North Carolina.  Born enslaved.  Mulatto/Black.  
Occupation: U.S. ambassador, minister, teacher.

Owen L. W. Smith
From One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Owen. L. W. Smith was born a slave in Sampson Country, North Carolina to Ollen (or Allen) and Maria Hicks Smith, both enslaved African Americans.  During the Civil War, he served as a personal servant in the Confederate Army.  He was present at the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865.  That battle saw the defeat of a Confederate army by General Sherman, and Smith followed Sherman's army afterwards.  With the army, he traveled through North Carolina and to Washington D.C.  According to some accounts, he was present at the May, 1865 Grand Review of the Armies in D.C.

After the Civil War, he returned to North Carolina, where he worked as a farmer and furthered his education. In May, 1870, he set out for New Orleans, but he ended up staying in South Carolina.  He started teaching in a public school in 1871, and two years later year, he was appointed as a trial justice in Aiken country by Governor Franklin J. Moses Jr.  (Trial justice was a low-level judicial position similar to a Justice of the Peace.)

Smith enrolled as a student at the University of South Carolina in April 1, 1874.  Several accounts state that he studied law, but university records describe him as an undergraduate college student following the modern studies track.  The university was closed before he completed his degree.

After Reconstruction, Smith returned to North Carolina and became involved in the AME Zion church.  He converted to the religion at a 1880 camp meeting, and the next year, he joined the North Carolina Conference (the church's regional administrative body).  He then began working as an AME Zion minister in various parts of North Carolina.  In November 1883, he became pastor of St John's Church in Wilson, North Carolina.  During this time, he served as corresponding editor of the Star of Zion, the official journal of the AME Zion Church.  In 1898, he was awarded an honorary D.D degree by Livingstone College.

President McKinley appointed Smith to two terms as the U.S. ambassador (or Minister Resident/Consul Genera) to Liberia from February 1898 to May 1902.  Before arriving in Liberia, he traveled in England, and his accounts of those travels were published in the Star of Zion.  

Smith died in January 1926 after a long period of poor health. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Wilson, North Carolina.

Hon. Owen L. W Smith, Minster to Liberia
From the Schomburg Center

Owen L. W. Smith
From Wilson County Public Library

Sources:

1). "Rev. Owen L.W. Smith, US Minister to Liberia." Wilson County Public Library Local History and Genealogy Blog.  Accessed March 21, 2020.

2) 1870; Census Place: Lisburn, Sampson, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1159; Page: 258A

3). 1880; Census Place: Whiteville, Columbus, North Carolina; Roll: 959; Page: 96A; Enumeration District: 053.

4). 1910; Census Place: Wilson Ward 3, Wilson, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1137; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm: 1375150.

5). 1920; Census Place: Wilson Ward 3, Wilson, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1327; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 113.

6). Johnston, Hugh Buckner and Eagles, Brenda Marks. “Owen Lun West Smith.” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, P-S.  Volume 5. 1994.

7). Hood, James Walker.   One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the Centennial of African Methodism.  AME Zion Book Concern, New York.  1895.

The students of the Radical University: Whitfield McKinlay

Whitefield McKinlay
From the Library of Congress

Whitefield McKinlay (b. September 15, 1855; d. December 14, 1941)
South Carolina.  Born free.  Mulatto.
Occupation: note-broker, real estate agent.
Mother's occupation: dressmaker, seamstress.

Whitefield McKinlay (or Whitfield, spelling vary) was born in Charleston, South Carolina to George and Mary E. Weston McKinlay, free persons of color.  The father George worked as a tailor. George saw sufficient financial success that he was able to purchase enslaved workers during the 1830s. However, it appears that he made the purchases so that the enslaved persons could largely live as free persons of color.  (At this time, manumitting a slave was only possible through an act of the legislature.)

(A "Whitefield J. McKinlay" appears in Eric Foner's book Freedom's Lawmakers, but this appears to be a different person as the McKinley appearing in Foner's book was born in 1835. The Wikipedia entry for "Whitefield J. McKinlay" appears to erroneously conflate the two individuals.)

Whitefield was educated at the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston. He graduated in 1873. The year after he graduated (on April 16, 1874), Whitefield was nominated to be a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point by Alonzo J. Ransier.  However, he was ultimately rejected as a cadet. Prior to admission, nominees were required to travel to West Point and take a series of medical and academic examinations. The medical examiners found that McKinlay demonstrated "want of physical development" and had a minor medical condition (varicocele of the left spermatic cord, a condition that can cause infertility), and recommended that he be put on probation for a year and then assess whether his conditions were serious enough to be disqualifying. However, the issue became moot after he failed his academic exams. He was found to be deficient in three of five subjects: arithmetic, geography, and grammar. (An obituary for Whitfield states that he was rejected because failed a physical examination, but it is erroneous.)

Whitefield was one of the first Black men nominated to West Point, and all of the Black cadets experienced severe racial harassment. It is unclear if Whitefield experienced harassment and whether racial discrimination played a role in his rejection. One Black cadet (Henry O. Flipper) wrote that he was treated well when he was being examined and only began experiencing harassment when he began living at the academy. The details of academic examination were not recorded, but his medical records indicate that he was underweight at the time of his exam (he was 5' 4'' tall but weighed only 106 pounds).

After being rejected from West Point, Whitefield entered the University of South Carolina.  He registered on October 5, 1874, as a college student following the classical studies track.  The university closed before he could complete his degree.

After the closure of the university, Whitefield taught school for a period and then in 1879 moved to Grinnell, Iowa and studied at Iowa College (now Grinnell College).  In moving to Iowa College, he was following his former professor Fisk Brewer and his former classmate Hannibal Kershaw. Kershaw graduated the year before Whitefield arrived, so they did not overlap in Iowa. However, Whitfield was able to renew his relationship with Brewer and stayed with his family during his first two years at college.  Whitefield attended Iowa College from Fall 1879 to Spring 1882.  Of Whitfield's time at Iowa College, a 1910 article in an Iowa newspaper reported that "He is said to have fitted in well to the college life and to have made his mark in the athletics as well as in study."

Whitefield left Iowa College in 1882. He did not receive a degree because he never completed coursework in analytic geometry. He moved to New York and Chicago.  One account says that he worked as a Pullman porter. In 1884, he moved to Washington D.C.

In Washington D.C., he worked in real estate and was appointed to several government jobs.  His first appointment was to the Government Printing Office. He relinquished the position in 1885 when Grover Cleveland assumed the presidency. (At the start of his presidency, Cleveland instituted a general reform that shrunk the number of federal employees).

After leaving the Printing Office, Whitefield opened a real estate and loan office.  He continued to work in the business for most of his adult life, and saw good financial success.  In an article on former U of SC students, C. C. Scott described Whitefield as "one of the most prosperous and prominent businessmen in Washington."

While he was never elected to a major political office, Whitefield was influential in politics.  Whitefield knew President William McKinley and was a personal friend of President Theodore Roosevelt.  He helped Roosevelt build relationships with African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington.  Shortly after taking office (in October, 1901), Roosevelt invited Washington to the White House for dinner.  Whitefield helped arrange the dinner and hosted Washington in his home during his visit to D.C.  The dinner was a major event as it was the first time an African American had dined with the President.  It was discussed in the national press and provoked much controversy with Southern whites. Ben Tillman, then a U.S. Senator from South Carolina, was quoted as saying, "The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that [expletive deleted] will necessitate our killing a thousand [expletive deleted] in the South before they will learn their place again."

One year later (in August, 1902), Whitefield himself was a guest of President Roosevelt.  He was part of a delegation that visited the President at his home Sagamore Hill (in Oyster Bay, New York). This provoked less controversy than the visit of Washington as it was at Roosevelt's private residence rather than the White House.

Later in the Roosevelt presidency (in 1902), he advised the President to appoint his former classmate William D. Crum as Collector of the Port of Charleston.  Roosevelt followed the advice.  Like Roosevelt's dinner with Washington, his appointment of Crum was highly controversial and was criticized by Southern whites.  A group of South Carolina politicians, including Senator Tillman, attended a Senate committee meeting while which the appointment was pending and condemned the appointment. Furthermore, he preferred charges against Crum, essentially to the effect that he had traded political support for the appointment.  Crum was defended by P. B. S. Pinchback, the former Governor of Mississippi, and Whitefield.  Crum ultimately receive the appointment, although it was not approved by the Senate until 1905 (3 years later).

Whitefield received political appointments from U.S. Presidents.   In 1907,  President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Whitefield to a Housing Committee charged with investigating living conditions in slums.  He was appointed Collector of the Port of Georgetown, DC by President Taft in 1910.

In addition to his political appointments, he advised and provided financial support to local church leaders, members of the Howard University Board of Trustees, and African American politicians like Robert Smalls and P. B. S. Pinchback.  He remained in contact with a number of former U of SC students and professors such as George Clinton, William D. Crum, Richard Greener, Isaac L. Purcell, and John A. Simkins.

Whitefield died at age 89 in his home on Rhode Island Avenue in D.C. and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.  His papers form part of Carter G. Woodson Collection in the Library of Congress.

Whitefield McKinlay
From Honor to Booker T. Washington

Sources

1). Hilyer, Andrew F.  The Twentieth Century Union League Directory.  The Union League.  Washington D.C. 1901.

2). Yenser, Thomas.  Who's Who in Colored America.  1941-To-1944 (Sixth Edition).  Brooklyn NY.  1942.

3). "Whitefield McKinlay." The Journal of Negro History 27, no. 1 (1942): 129-30.

4). 1860; Census Place: Charleston Ward 5, Charleston, South Carolina; Page: 376

5). 1870; Census Place: Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1487; Page: 338B

6). 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 14

7). 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_211; Page: 1A

8). 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 9B

9). Charleston, South Carolina, City Directory, 1878

10). "Journeyed to Oyster Bay."  The colored American, August 23, 1902, p. 6.

11). "Opposition to Crum is Bitter."  Birmingham age-herald, January 23, 1903, p. 1.

12). "New Collector of Customs."  The Statesman, August 6, 1910, p. 10.

13). The Colored American, November 9, 1901, p. 12.

14).  "Grinnell and Vicinity"  Marshalltown Evening times-Republican, July 23, 1910, p. 8.

15) Koger, Larry. "Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860." McFarland & Company, North Carolina,  pp. 54-55.

16) "Biographical information: Mckinlay, Whitefield. Grinnell College Libraries Special Collections. Reference Code: US US-IaGG Pamphlet 52-52 pM1-pM253-52 pM20.

Thanks to Dan Kaiser for information about McKinlay's time in Iowa and correcting an error about McKinlay's place of death.

The students of the Radical University: Johnson Chesnut Whittaker

Johnson Chesnut Whittaker
From Wikipedia

Johnson Chesnut Whittaker (b. August 23, 1858; d. January 13, 1931)
South Carolina.  Born enslaved.  Mulatto.
Occupation: lawyer, teacher.
Father's occupation: tailor
Mother's occupation: domestic servant

Johnson Whittaker was born into slavery on Mulberry Plantation in Camden, South Carolina to Maria J. and James Whitaker.  James was a freedman who worked as tailor, and Maria was a house slave. Johnson's father left the family shortly after Johnson was born, claiming that Johnson and his twin brother were not his offspring.

Johnson and his mother Maria were enslaved  by Colonel James Chesnut, a wealthy planter.  His daughter-in-law was the author of A Diary from Dixie Mary Boykin Chesnut.  At the start of the Civil War, the Colonel owned almost 500 slaves and several plantations.  Mulberry Planation was sacked by Union soldiers in early 1865.  Once the Union army took control over the region, the Whittakers became freedpeople.

As freedpeople, the Whittakers remained in Camden, and Johnson's mother worked as a domestic servant for a relative of Colonel Chesnut.  She was professionally successful and, by 1876, owed property, a rare achievement for a freedperson.

During this time, Johnson attended a freedmen's school in Camden and later was privately tutored by the minister of his church, Edward M. Pinckney.  He was friends with fellow future U of SC student William Boykin.  In July 1874, he took the entrance exam for the University of South Carolina and was awarded a scholarship.

Johnson registered at the University of South Carolina on October 5, 1874.  He entered into the sub freshman (or college preparatory) class, but by January 1876, he was in the college class, following the classical studies track.

Johnson left the University of South Carolina in 1876 to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point.  Richard T. Greener, one of his professors, had encouraged him to apply, and he received an appointment from U.S. Representative Solomon L. Hoge.

West Point had only started admitting African Americans in 1870, and at the time, no African American had graduated.  The African American students had very difficult experiences: they experienced abuse and social ostracization by white cadets.  When Johnson entered West Point, all but one of the African American students had left.

The one remaining African American, Henry O. Flipper, was Johnson's roommate his first year.  Early during that year, Johnson was struck in the face by a white cadet.  Johnson reported the incident to school authorities, and the cadet was court-marshaled and received a suspension.  The rest of the year was largely uneventful.

At the end of the year (in June 1877), Henry O. Flipper graduated, and a new African American cadet, Charles A. Minnie, entered.  However, Charles was dismissed in January 1878 due to poor academic performance.

The departure of Charles left Johnson as the only African American cadet at West Point, and he experienced extreme social isolation.  The white cadets "cut" him, that is they refused to interact with him except when required at formal functions by school officials.  This treatment evidently took a toll on Johnson as he academic performance began to decline.  However, he endured and remained at the school until summer 1880.

On the morning of April 5, 1880, Johnson was found tied to his bed, bruised and bleeding from cuts to his ears, face, and hands.  He claimed to have been attacked at night by three cadets and, as evidence, produced a warning note he had received the previous day.  School officials responded by accusing him of fabricating the attack to avoid taking examinations.  What exactly happened was debated in legal proceedings that took place over the next two years.

Three days after the incident (on April 8, 1880), the Superintendent of West Point John Schofield established a court of inquiry to investigate the matter.  The court proceedings were followed by the national press.  After 2 months (on June 25, 1880), the court found that Johnson's wounds were self-inflicted and recommended he be separated from the academy.  Johnson was suspended, pending a trial by court martial.

The court martial was established on December 31, 1880.  Johnson was defended by former South Carolina Governor Daniel H. Chamberlain and his former professor Richard T. Greener.  At the trial, his former professors Henry J. Fox, Anson W. Cummings, and William Main testified in his defense.  Despite their testimony, on June 10, 1881, the court found Johnson guilty of mutating himself, forging the warning note, and then lying to the court of inquiry.  They recommended he be dishonorably discharge from the academy and forced to perform hard labor for 1 year at a penitentiary.

The court's decision was reviewed by President Chester A. Arthur, and on March 22, 1882, the President voided both the sentence and the decision.  He justified his action by arguing that the court martial had improperly admitted evidence.  Despite this, Johnson was discharged from West Point on the grounds that he had failed a philosophy examination held during the court of inquiry.

In the summer of 1882, after being dismissed, Johnson gave public lectures on his experiences at West Point.  His lectures were well-received, but he began to fade from the public eye.  After his summer lectures, he largely avoided discussing his experience at West Point.

By January 1884, Johnson had returned to South Carolina and was teaching at the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston.  He also began studying law and was admitted to the South Carolina bar on May 26, 1885, possibly after taking law classes at Claflin College (which maintained a law school in the Charleston).  He ran a law practice in Charleston until around 1887 when he moved to Sumter.

In Sumter, Johnson continued to practice law.  He was one of the lawyers who represented Republican politician Thomas B. Johnston in contesting the 1894 election for House Representative of the 7th District.  The lawyers achieved modest success: a congressional committee declared the seat void, a decision that removed Johnston's opponent from office.

Johnson also continued to work as a teacher.  He taught at Lincoln school, Sumter's first school for African Americans.  The school describes Johnson as serving as a principal from 1890-94 and 1895-1900. However, Johnson was also living in Washington DC and working as a clerk in the U.S. Census Office in 1891 and 1893.

Johnson left Sumter for Orangeburg in 1900.  He moved to accept a faculty position at the Colored State College (now South Carolina State University).  He taught chemistry and mathematics, and later served as principal of the preparatory department.  He also took over the military science program.  Around the time he moved to Orangeburg, Johnson stopped practicing law, reportedly after deciding that it was contrary to Christian principles.

Johnson left South Carolina for Oklahoma in 1908.  His son John was experiencing health problems, and the family thought Oklahoma's climate would help him.  They settled in Oklahoma City, and Johnson worked at Douglass High School, serving as teacher, assistant principal, and then principal.  One of his students was the celebrated novelist Ralph Ellison.

In 1925, after his children had grown and left the house, Johnson moved back to South Carolina and returned to teaching at State College.  He worked as principal of the preparatory department and professor of psychology and education.  He was remembered by students as a stern, although soft spoken, disciplinarian.

Johnson died on January 13, 1931.  He is buried in Orangeburg Cemetery.

Johnson was posthumously awarded a military commission by President Bill Clinton on July 25, 1995.  His experience at West Point is the subject of the stage play Matter of Honor and the 1994 TV movies Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker.

Johnson's son Miller F. Whittaker was the Third President of State College, serving from 1932-49.  The university library is named in his honor.

Sources
1). Marszalek, John. Assault at West Point: The Court Martial of Johnson Whittaker. Touchstone (1994).

2). Hine, William C. South Carolina State University: A Black Land-Grant College in Jim Crow America. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2018.

3). Washington, D. C. City Directory, 1890. Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk Co., 1890

4). Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1893

5). Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1893

6). Burke, W. Lewis.  All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868-1968, University of Georgia Press, 2017.