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Priest of
Jonestown, Mississippi, Rev. Moses Proffit of Phillips County, and White. Many elected and appointed positions in Phillips County were held by blacks from Reconstruction until about 1878. White played an important role in this, supporting an alliance between blacks (who were mostly Republican) and conservative white Democrats. Beyond White's legislative seats, blacks held positions as coroners and assessors, and H. B. Robinson served as county sheriff from 1874–1878, defeating White in an election for that position in October 1874. In 1876, White ran for the position of circuit court clerk and lost. He then ran for the position of chancery clerk, but lost.
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commissioner of public works and internal improvements. In the 1868 and 1869 sessions, there were seven blacks in the
Arkansas Legislature. In the 1871 session, there were eleven in the House and two, J. W. Mason and White, in the Senate. In 1872, white newspapers in Arkansas noted a split in the Phillips County black leadership between White and H. B. Robinson. In the 1873 session, there were 20 African Americans in the Arkansas legislature, four in the Senate and 16 in the House. James' brother, Rev.
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Work
Projects Administration, Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Arkansas Narratives, Part 4, page Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson Person interviewed: Ellis Jefson (M. E. Preacher), Hazen, Ark. Age: 77. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at
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counties. He served on the penitentiary committee, the committee on impeachment and removal from office, and the committee on miscellaneous provisions. He was reelected to the house twice, and then elected to the state Senate, where he served one term in 1871. He was then appointed to the position of
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efforts and, in the fall of that year, he was elected to the state convention to frame a new constitution for
Arkansas. He was one of eight black delegates at the convention, along with J. W. Mason, Richard Samuels, William Murphy, Monroe Hawkins, William Grey, Henry Rector, and Thomas P. Johnson. He
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Later in 1874, White was elected to a second convention for the writing of a new state constitution. He then endeavored to raise money for a college, which was to be known as Helena
University. This project failed, and White turned his effort to other work. The organization was led by Rev. George
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During this time, he continued his work as a minister, and he succeeded in building two new churches, one in Helena and another in Little Rock. The church in Little Rock was destroyed by fire but rebuilt. He also organized the first
Baptist District Association for Arkansas. In 1874, White was
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put it in a presentation of a paper he wrote. White's contribution included noted the importance of economic progress, how black
Baptists were looked down upon in comparison to black Methodists, and especially the need for loyalty to the denomination. White was involved in
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Work, Monroe N., Thomas S. Staples, H. A. Wallace, Kelly Miller, Whitefield McKinlay, Samuel E. Lacy, R. L. Smith, and H. R. McIlwaine. "Some Negro
Members of Reconstruction Conventions and Legislatures and of Congress." The Journal of Negro History 5, no. 1 (1920):
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Washington, James Melvin, The Making of a Church with the Soul of a Nation, 1880–1889, in eds West, Cornel, and Eddie S. Glaude, eds. African
American religious thought: An anthology. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
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More Fun. Second Day's
Proceedings—A Full State Ticket Nominated. Second Day's Proceedings. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) Saturday, July 29, 1876 Page: 4. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at
208:. While there, he was invited to Helena, Arkansas, where, on August 21, 1865, he became a pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Helena. White moved to Helena with a unit of African-American
286:, was then declared governor by a county judge who declared that election to be fraudulent. Each side raised militias mostly of black men, who fought several bloody battles, known as the
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196:. In May of that year, more than 600 Baptist clergymen and a large number of lay delegates attended a number of concurrent conventions in that city. The largest such organization was the
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Rosen, Hannah. Terror in the Heart of Freedom: Citizenship, Sexual Violence, and the Meaning of Race in the Postemancipation South. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2009. p99
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290:. Phillips County Republicans desired to raise men to fight for Brooks, and White made a largely successful effort to prevent Phillips County men from joining.
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that would restrict the ability of poor blacks to vote. He was then elected to the state House of Representatives serving the 11th district, which consisted of
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permitted them to move into the old Cumberland church, where services were held for two years until White was able to build a small house for services.
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216:, many Arkansas veterans resented the presence of newly freed slaves. White became pastor of a church that met in a government stable until Colonel
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Debates and Proceedings of the Convention which Assembled at Little Rock, January 7th, 1868 ...: To Form a Constitution for the State of Arkansas
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The Minstrel Split in Phillips County, Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) August 10, 1872, page 2. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at
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Graves, John William. Town and country: race relations and urban development in Arkansas 1865–1905. University of Arkansas Press, 1978. p48
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Facts at the University for Colored People at Helena. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas). Thursday, February 3, 1881. Page: 1.
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Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p590-593.
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represented Pulaski in the upper body of the general assembly. White was defeated in campaigns for legislature in 1873 and 1881.
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The "New Deal" Ticket. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) Saturday, July 29, 1876. Page: 2. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at
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The Colored Legislators. Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas) February 1, 1873, page 2. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at
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moved to re-enfranchise former Confederate soldiers, a move that alienated many of his base. His opponent in the 1872 election,
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In 1867, White organized an Arkansas Missionary Baptist convention in the capital city of Little Rock. In 1868, White supported
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in 1850. His parents had died by 1860. White joined the Baptist church at the age of 17 and became a minister at the age of 21.
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The Rev. J. T. White, Helena, Ark, Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) March 16, 1892, page 5. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at
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Arkansas History Commission, Rev. J. T. White, summary, Persistence of the Spirit Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2016 at
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Hon. J. T. White. Morning Republican (Little Rock, Arkansas) Tuesday, February 25, 1873. Volume: 6 Issue: 274 Page: 2
318:. He was an active worker for education and helped organize public schools in Helena and in 1873 was a member of the
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Stockley, Grif. Blood in Their Eyes: the Elaine Race Massacres of 1919 (p). University of Arkansas Press, 2001. p21
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https://web.archive.org/web/20170816012108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299785/the_rev_j_t_white_helena_ark/
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White resigned from the pastorate of the Second Baptist Church in Helena in March 1891. He died a year later of
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was a strong advocate for black enfranchisement, and, after the convention, opposed the imposition of a
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Running Down Slanders. The Truth About the Election in Phillips County. No Republicans Prevented From.
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Driftwood, The Appeal (Saint Paul, Minnesota) March 14, 1891, page 1. Retrieved November 3, 2016 at
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In the spring of 1865, he was sent to the Consolidated American Baptist Convention held in
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In 1884, he began to work for the Benevolent and Church Aid Society and became editor of
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170:. In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas House.
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182:, Indiana, to James and Catharine White. The family moved to the capital city of
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301:. In 1886, he was a delegate at the American National Baptist Convention led by
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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7289953/the_colored_legislators_daily_arkansas/
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200:. Other groups that met included the American Baptist Publication Society, the
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Lee County. Rev. J. T. White—His Congressional Aspirations—The Banner County.
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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299318/the_new_deal_ticket_arkansas_gazette/
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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7299767/driftwood_the_appeal_saint_paul/
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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7290068/brooks_at_helena_daily_arkansas/
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Cox, Joseph. Great Black Men of Masonry. iUniverse, 2002. p338-339
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Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives
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conventions in 1868 and 1874. He edited the Baptist newspaper,
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in the late 1860s and early 1870s. He was also a member of the
583:(Little Rock, Arkansas). Tuesday, September 12, 1882. Page: 4.
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https://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/47211026
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soldiers. The situation in Helena was uneasy. A part of the
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African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era
568:(Little Rock, Arkansas) Tuesday, June 17, 1873. Page: 1
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19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States
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attacked by a group of Democrats and thrown into the
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https://archive.org/details/slavenarrativesa25154gut
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518:. J. G. Price, printer to the convention. 1868.
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133:(August 25, 1837 – March 13, 1892) was a
768:Republican Party Arkansas state senators
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202:American Baptist Home Mission Society
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271:Political failures and later career
222:56th United States Colored Infantry
166:. He was an African American and a
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753:African-American Baptist ministers
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470:). Saturday, May 13, 1865, Page: 2
206:American Baptist Education Society
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793:Deaths from pneumonia in Arkansas
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140:and state legislator from
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91:, politician, journalist
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788:Baptists from Arkansas
322:' board of directors.
198:American Baptist Union
334:in Helena, Arkansas.
320:Helena Public Schools
299:The Arkansas Review
163:The Arkansas Review
605:Brooks at Helena,
468:Newark, New Jersey
311:Solomon T. Clanton
307:Richard DeBaptiste
303:William J. Simmons
178:White was born in
288:Brooks–Baxter War
265:Mississippi River
233:Political success
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70:(1892-03-13)
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728:1892 deaths
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257:R. B. White
214:Confederacy
146:Little Rock
717:Categories
408:References
401:Journalism
210:Union Army
204:, and the
174:Early life
168:Republican
100:Republican
87:Educator,
49:1837-08-25
353:Biography
332:pneumonia
191:St. Louis
389:Politics
277:Governor
248:Phillips
244:poll tax
194:Missouri
138:minister
115:Religion
110:Personal
89:minister
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377:Indiana
339:Portals
220:of the
135:Baptist
119:Baptist
252:Monroe
142:Helena
78:, U.S.
59:, U.S.
326:Death
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43:Born
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