For Black History Month, a tale of the Wharton County Courthouse cornerstone

A century ago, no such thing as Black History Month existed. However in Wharton, it might have been called Erase Black History Month if there was one then.

I will tell you a dismal tale, but it was followed by an act of redemption one century later. It has to do with the stately Wharton County Courthouse, erected in 1889. 

The names of two county commissioners disappeared from the building's original cornerstone. Julie Freeman, in her 2015 master's thesis, writes: 

The original stone bore the names of the county’s first two black county commissioners, who were elected during Reconstruction. They resigned amid racial tensions after the White Man’s Union Association took political control of Wharton. The story is told that the original cornerstone was dropped and its pieces dumped into the Colorado River during the 1935 renovation to obscure the significance of blacks in Wharton’s history. 

That excerpt is from "Up She Rises: The Birth and Legacy of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program," published by Baylor University, 2015. 

I covered the debate over whether to save, restore, or demolish the county courthouse from the day I became a reporter in September 1982 until the day I left for the chamber in June 2007. If walls could talk. 

The year 2007 was same year as the dedication of the fully restored county courthouse, a miracle, considering the roller coaster ride of politics that got us there. But there was another miracle: a huge, one. 

Freeman writes: 

Even the courthouse cornerstone was recreated. ... (T)he county’s true history was restored along with a cornerstone that had been duplicated, down to the very font used in the original inscription. 

The two Black county commissioners that returned to the cornerstone were R.H. Tisdale and A.D. Speaker. Tidwell's and Speaker's descendants were invited and came to the courthouse rededication on Aug. 4, 2007. The descendants were given front row seats. 

I remember it was hot that day, with a large crowd

on the Houston Street-side of the county courthouse. The story of how we got there was told. The people involved were thanked. And the building's cornerstone, corrected as it should have been all these years, was unveiled. 

Does this story have a happy ending? It's a chapter, not a book, however. Let's agree, at the very least, that it gives a person hope. 

God bless you all. 

Correction: This ceremony took place on April 16, 2005.

Special thanks go to Patricia Blair, president of the Wharton County Historical Commission. Her husband, Jeffrey, should also be thank — he was instrumental in the drive for the complete restoration of the courthouse and was the master of ceremonies on Aug. 4, 2007.