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Article

Fuller, Thomas Oscar  

Richard D. Starnes

Article

Publication History:

Published in print:
15 March 2013
Published online:
31 May 2013

educator, clergyman, and politician, was born in Franklinton, North Carolina, the son of J. Henderson Fuller and Mary Elizabeth (maiden name unknown). Fuller's father was a former slave who had purchased his freedom and later his wife's with money earned as a skilled wheelwright and carpenter. As a slave, the elder Fuller taught himself to read, and after the Civil War he became active in Republican politics. During Reconstruction he served as a delegate to the 1868 state Republican convention and as a local magistrate.

Fuller completed his primary education in local schools and subsequently attended the Franklinton Normal School, an institution founded to educate black teachers. He graduated from Shaw University in 1890 and received a Master of Arts from the same institution in 1893 After graduation Fuller simultaneously pursued careers in education and the ministry Raised in a devoutly religious family he was ordained ...

Article

Johnson, Edward Austin  

Elizabeth Zoe Vicary

Article

Publication History:

Published in print:
21 January 1999
Published online:
01 December 2006

Johnson, Edward Austin (23 November 1860–24 July 1944), educator, lawyer, and politician was born near Raleigh North Carolina the son of Columbus Johnson and Eliza A Smith slaves He was taught to read and write by Nancy Walton a free African American and later attended the Washington School an establishment founded by philanthropic northerners in Raleigh There he was introduced to the Congregational church and became a lifelong member Johnson completed his education at Atlanta University in Georgia graduating in 1883 To pay his way through college he worked as a barber and taught in the summers After graduation he worked as a teacher and principal first in Atlanta at the Mitchell Street Public School 1883 1885 and then in Raleigh at the Washington School 1885 1891 While teaching in Raleigh he studied at Shaw University obtaining a law degree in 1891 He joined the faculty shortly ...

Article

Williams, George Washington  

Stephen Gilroy Hall

Article

Publication History:

Published in print:
15 February 2001
Published online:
01 December 2006

Born in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, to Thomas and Ellen Rouse Williams on 16 October 1849, George Williams was the oldest son of five siblings. Given the lack of educational opportunities for African Americans in western Pennsylvania, Williams received little formal schooling. In 1863, at the age of fourteen, he enlisted in the Union army. After leaving the army in 1868, Williams applied for admission and was accepted at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1869. He dropped out, however, and entered Wayland Seminary, also in Washington. In 1870 Williams entered Newton Theological Institution outside of Boston. Upon graduation from Newton, Williams was ordained and then offered the pastorate of a prominent African American congregation in Boston, the Twelfth Street Baptist Church, in 1875.

While pastor at Twelfth Street Baptist Church, Williams wrote a monograph, History of the Twelfth Street Baptist Church He left ...

Article

Williams, George Washington  

John Hope Franklin

Article

Publication History:

Published in print:
15 March 2013
Published online:
31 May 2013

soldier, clergyman, legislator, and historian, was born in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas Williams, a free black laborer, and Ellen Rouse. His father became a boatman and, eventually, a minister and barber, and the younger Williams drifted with his family from town to town in western Pennsylvania until the beginning of the Civil War. With no formal education, he lied about his age, adopted the name of an uncle, and enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in 1864. He served in operations against Petersburg and Richmond, sustaining multiple wounds during several battles. After the war's end Williams was stationed in Texas, but crossed the border to fight with the Mexican republican forces that overthrew the emperor Maximilian. He returned to the U.S. Army in 1867 serving with the Tenth Cavalry an all black unit at Fort Arbuckle Indian Territory ...

Article

Williams, George Washington  

Gloria Grant Roberson

Article

Publication History:

Published in print:
06 April 2006
Published online:
01 December 2006

George Washington Williams had a pioneering spirit throughout his life as a soldier clergyman, journalist, historian, lawyer, author, and state legislator. Often aided by influential social and political alliances, he made valuable contributions to the cultural enlightenment of black people. However, as an ambitious and abrupt young man, Williams's drive for success often antagonized those whose support he needed.

Williams was born in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, to Thomas and Ellen Rouse Williams. He had one older sister and three younger brothers, but little is known of his siblings—Margaret, John, Thomas, and Harry. In his thoroughly researched biography, John Hope Franklin noted that Williams was a “wicked and wild” child who spent time in a boy's shelter. Departure from home at age fourteen to join the military reveals young Williams's propensity for adventure. His positive adjustment to military life is evidenced in his reenlistment patterns from 1864 through 1868 ...