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BEN
BERKSHIRE, who came to Macon county in 1834
with James Geddes and John Sawyer,
was the first colored resident of the county.
He had no surname, the name, Berkshire, being
used after he came here. Black Ben,
as he was called, had a disfigured hand, caused
by having been burned by his master, when he was
a slave, either as a punishment or mark of
identification. He may have been running
away from his master at the time he was picked
up by the two men, Geddes and Sawyer,
who brought him along to Macon county.
Ben remained with Geddes until
Geddes married; then he lived alone in a
cabin that stood on a bluff near the river.
It is the hill which stands on the west side of
the lake, south of the hard road near the
William street bridge.
That was his home until the time came when he
was unable to care for himself and he was then
taken to the county farm, where he died.
He made his living by selling berries, fruits,
game, and fish, raising hogs, making and selling
medicine. He gained a good reputation as a
hunter and as a cook and he was taken along on
many hunting parties.
Dalton Stewart was the second man in
the county called colored. He was not a
negro, being the son of a Choctaw Indian and a
German girl, but he married a colored woman, and
chose to be considered a member of that race.
When Stewart was one day old, he and his
mother were stolen away by Germans who raided
the Indian camp, and the mother died. He
lived in the German settlement until he was
seven years old, then was taken by his father to
an Indian settlement, at Wood River, Ill.
At the time of the Mexican war he was taken
along with Colonel John J. Hardin's
regiment and was with the army during that war.
After that Stewart spent five years in
the west and northwest among the Indians, as
interpreter for the Choteau Fur Trading company.
On his return he went to Springfield and there
he was a janitor of the law office of Lincoln
and Herndon and was employed at a barber
shop, where he often shaved Abraham Lincoln.
He bought a barber shop and went into
business in Decatur Feb. 21, 1853 brining with
him Steve Stewart, who was the first
colored man in the city of Decatur and the
second in the county.
Dalton Stewart's wife, who had been
Mary Dixon of Springfield, was the first
colored woman to come to Decatur to live.
Dalton Stewart had no education in his
youth but he was anxious to learn and he
borrowed books and studied. He was a
charter member of the Decatur lodge of colored
Masons, and was sometimes called the father of
the lodge. He was a charter member of the
Decatur lodge of colored Masons, and was
sometimes called the father of the lodge.
He was a charter member also of the colored Odd
Fellows lodge in Decatur. He was
energetic, educated his children, and was a
dependable citizen.1 Finally old age
overtook him, he was unable to work, he lost his
little home, and despondent over his lack of
support and inability to make a living, he took
his own life Sept. 19, 1913.
A few other colored people came to Decatur
before the Civil war. They were free
persons. After the war colored people began
coming in larger numbers.
In 1857 the Antioch Baptist church was
organized with fourteen members. Rev. Mr.
Reasoner was the first pastor. The
ground for a church building was donated by
Captain David L. Allen. The first
building erected stood a little east of the
present one. In this building the colored
children first went to school. The church
structure now in use was built in 1907 when Rev.
A. J. Crockett was pastor.
St. Peter's African Methodist church was
organized in 1863 by Elder F. Meyer.
The organization took place in the Masonic
temple building which stood on the present site
of the Citizens National bank. Charles S.
Jacobs was the leader in the movement to
organize.
For about two years services were held at
different places. Captain Allen
offered to give two lots for a building, with
the restriction that no debt ever be placed upon
the land and that if used for any other purpose
it would revert to the Allen estate.
In order to get a clear title, the church
purchased the ground, and a church building was
erected in 1865. That building burned
down. Three other buildings have been
erected since. The present church on the
west side of Greenwood avenue was erected in
1927. Rev. J. H. Sydes started the
building fund, Rev. I. M. D. Washington
added to it, and Rev. R. H. Hackley
completed the building project.
On the first board of trustees, elected in
1864, were George Winston, Larkin
Kindred and Charles S. Jacobs.
When the first church was built the basement was
fitted up for school purposes, and school was
moved there from the Antioch Baptist church.
It was continued at that place until 1874 when
colored children were admitted to public
schools.
In recent years several churches of other
denominations have been organized among the
colored people.
Colored Masons organized a lodge here July
15, 1874, officers of the Springfield lodge
being in charge. The organization took
place in the old Masonic building. The
first officers were: Isaac Rogan,
W. M.; Gilbert Vernon, S. W.; and Peter
White, J. W. The lodge used rented
rooms until it purchased the house at 251 East
Macon street in September, 1928.
The Odd Fellows lodge was organized Sept. 29,
1882, by officers of the Lincoln lodge.
The first officers were: J. W. Woodford,
H. Singleton, Dalton
Stewart, Louis Stewart, W. H.
Price, Henry Wells, Stanton Fields
and M. S. Randolph.
The colored people also have a strong Knights
of Pythias order. It was reorganized in
1906, M. F. Mumphus
being named chancellor commander.
St. Francis Court, Heroines of Jericho, was
organized in 1878. Mrs. Cornelia
Hollinger was the first most ancient matron.
The Household of Ruth was organized in 1882.
Mrs. Barbara Rhodes was the first most
noble governor.
Several other lodges have been organized by
the colored people.
Decatur has a branch of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People. Included in its membership are
both white and colored people. Rev. E. M.
Antrim, then pastor of the First Methodist
church, was the first local president and Mrs.
Lillian Buster, secretary. It has
taken part in untangling differences and
promoting good fellowship between the races.
The Big Sisters club has done much charity
work since it was started in 1908 by Mrs.
Lillian Jameson.
Isaac Rogan was the first colored man
to be a member of the board of supervisors of
Macon county. He was an influential man,
and was active in St. Peter's church.
James Hollinger, who came to Decatur
in 1862, served on the board of supervisors for
fourteen years. He was a barber by trade
and was active in local politics.
Houston Singleton for forty years ran
a restaurant on Lincoln square, served on the
board of supervisors twelve years, was a
prominent Mason, and was active in politics.
He purchased the building in which he had his
restaurant and when it burned he erected a new
one to take its place. He also built a
handsome home at the north edge of the city.
Cook Long was elected to the board of
supervisors in 1920 but his death occurred the
same year. Mr. Singleton took his
place. Following Mr. Singleton's
death Dr. J. C. Ellis became supervisor.
Seven colored men have served on the police
force. They were John
Williamson, who served twenty-one years;
Thomas Miller, John Moore, W. C.
King, Shadrick Kemp who served
fourteen years; Monroe
Denny and Charles C. Johnson.
Wayman Wilkerson, who lived in Decatur
a number of years and who was a deputy sheriff
for four years, later became a banker and
undertaker at Memphis, Tenn.
Louis Stewart, son of Dalton
Stewart, was the first colored man to be
employed in federal service. He was a
postman for thirty-two years. Baker
Nickens was the second in federal service.
He served as mail carrier for ten years or more.
Carl Watkins, W. H. Hammons and J.
Harry Johnson
were other colored men who became mail carriers.
SOLDIERS
Decatur has furnished a number of soldiers
from the ranks of colored people. Many men
who fought in the Civil war have lived in
Decatur, but there is record of only two having
enlisted from here. They were John
Bird and Richard (Dock) Steward.
In the Spanish-American war and in the World
war colored men went from here to serve in the
army.
During the World war ten or twelve colored
men were in the Eighth Illinois, later the Three
Hundred Seventieth U. S. infantry, which saw
service in France and which was one of four
negro regiments to receive the Croix do Guerre
award from the French military authorities for
heroism.
Harry Pearson of the Three Hundred
Seventieth and Joel
Motley of the Three Hundred
Sixty-seventh, both of Decatur, were among those
receiving individual citations for bravery.
Harry Warfield was the first colored
Decatur youth to die in France in the World war
and the American Legion post made up of colored
men was named for him.
Decatur has had several colored physicians,
Dr.
Majors being the first. Later came
Dr. H. C.
Ganaway, who was killed in a I. T. S.
wreck at Staunton in 1910; Dr. Harry
Buster, Dr. Luke Parker and Dr. J.
C.
Ellis.
Dr. Stephen Duncan, dentist, located
here about 1921, but left owing to ill health.
Dr. Clarence
Allen
was the next colored dentist, but he remained
only two years. The third colored dentist
here was Dr. Francis C. Rogan, who has
been practicing here since 1925.
Dr. George E. Lee, chiropodist, has
had an office here for a number of years, first
in the
Rodgers shoe store and now in the
Standard Life building.
Robert R. Rogan was first colored boy
graduate from Decatur high school. That
was in 1882. Laura White was first colored
girl graduate.
Since then many colored students have
graduated, and many of them have won high places
in their chosen lines of work. Some who
have attended James Millikin university
have won honors there. Edwin
Sheen, '25, was an honor student each
year of his course there and won the University
of Illinois scholarship, receiving his A. M.
degree from that school in 1926.
Gradually the number of business concerns run
by colored people has increased. In
factories and other industries they are
attaining better positions. As a race they
are putting the hardships of the past behind
them and reaching upward to a higher goal.
So far in this chapter most space has been
given to men - their achievements in politics,
business and other ways. Some reference
should be made to women, but space does not
permit specific reference. Many colored
women have long been known for their faithful,
helpful, kindly service, much of it inspired by
loving hearts and given for small reward.
Some of these women, as well as many more men,
are spoken of somewhat in detail in a history of
the colored people of Decatur written by Mrs.
Marie Gray Baker in 1929, the history from which
the material for this chapter is taken.
**********
1Dalton
Stewart had the distinction of being the first
colored man in Decatur to cast vote after the
15th Amendment went into effect. The
occasion was more or less notable.
Stewart and Dr. George W.
McMillan, an Old
Hickory Democrat, locked arms and went to the
polls in the old court house, and cast their
ballots.
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