Daviess County Historical Society, Black History Month
February 23, 2016
To celebrate Black History Month, we have partnered with Daviess County Historical Society to publish an article about local African American roots and beginnings. Go ahead and read the article below and learn more about local history!
Written by Vincent A Sellers, Daviess County Historical Society
The first African-Americans to reach the Daviess County area were slaves. Although slavery in the Northwest Territory had been forbidden by the Ordinance of 1787 and the Indiana Constitution of 1816, loopholes were given to allow white settlers from slave-holding states to bring slaves with them to the frontier. Eli Hawkins and William Ballow, two of the most prominent early white settlers, both owned a number of slaves whose descendants remained in Daviess County for many generations.
The first African-Americans to reach the Daviess County area were slaves. Although slavery in the Northwest Territory had been forbidden by the Ordinance of 1787 and the Indiana Constitution of 1816, loopholes were given to allow white settlers from slave-holding states to bring slaves with them to the frontier. Eli Hawkins and William Ballow, two of the most prominent early white settlers, both owned a number of slaves whose descendants remained in Daviess County for many generations.
A series of lawsuits brought by slaves and abolitionist lawyers culminated in a trial at the Indiana Supreme Court which permanently ended slavery in the state in 1820. One of the newly-freed slaves in Daviess County was Jacob Hawkins, who would go on to become a prominent local citizen credited with owning over 1,000 acres of property. Despite being in free territory, the proximity to the slave state of Kentucky and presence of slavery sympathizer could still lead to harassment by fugitive slave hunters.
In 1848 Hawkins, along with a group of other local black citizens, founded the Beulah African Methodist Episcopal church at his home in west Washington. At one time in the 19th century, the church boasted 127 members, though for much of its history it has been considerably smaller. Despite this, the congregation has remained active until the early 21st century.
Some black families came to Daviess County, as many others did, to work in the railroad industry. One such family were the parents of Dave DeJernett, who would become a basketball standout at Washington High School, leading them to a state championship in 1930. DeJernett would go on to play professional basketball for various barnstorming teams throughout the 1930s, and was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976.
As a child, DeJernett had attended the segregated Dunbar school at 809 West Walnut St. in Washington. From the late 1800s until its closure in 1950, Dunbar was considered by “tradition” if not by law to be the local school attended by young black children. The Daviess County Museum has in its collection a teacher's desk which was used at this school.
A decade after DeJernett was a star at WHS, Charles “Chuck” Harmon led the Hatchets to back-back state basketball titles in 1941 and '42 while also excelling on the baseball diamond. It would be in baseball where Harmon would leave his biggest national legacy when in 1954 he debuted with the Cincinnati Reds, becoming that franchise's first African-Americans player. After a four-year career, Harmon would go on to spend much of his life as a professional scout. A youth baseball field in Washington is named in his honor.
As of the 2010 census, 0.5% of the population of Daviess County classified themselves as black or African-Americans.
The Daviess County Historical Society is dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, organization, exhibition, and/or acquisition of artifacts, documents, sites, and other historical relics, regardless of medium, which are significant to the history of Daviess County, and thereby educate by promoting the historical study of said county, and strive to describe, or illustrate, the social, political, industrial, and educational progress of Daviess County Indiana. (Daviess County Historical Society)
