James H. Washington

Washington's seat in the House was only part of his politics. The Handbook of Texas lists him as a vice president of the Republican state conventions of 1872, 1873 and 1876, and on the state executive committee and committee on address of the 1873 Colored Men's Convention. That convention met at Brenham on July 3 and 4, 1873, under Norris Wright Cuney, called for a federal civil rights act, open political meetings and Black landholding, and condemned the violence Black Texans faced. He served on the party's executive committee again in 1884, 1888 and 1890.

What the plaque says

James H. Washington [Part of the special series of 23 markers produced to fulfill SB667 The Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act] Following the American Civil War and emancipation of slaves in 1865, it was not until 1871 that African Americans in Texas were able to uniformly register to vote, following the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While African Americans served as delegates to state constitutional conventions prior to 1870, the first African Americans elected to serve in the Texas legislature were elected to the 12th Legislature, which convened in provisional session on February 8, 1870. Prior to the end of federal reconstruction in 1870, twelve African Americans served in the Texas House of Representatives, and two served in the Texas Senate. This marker is erected in honor of: James H. Washington (1850-December 23, 1916), representative in the 13th Texas Legislature, representing Grimes, Madison, and Walker counties. Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Washington attended Oberlin College and thereafter lived briefly in Washington D.C. He settled in Navasota in the early 1870s, where he was principal of the city school. District 15 voters elected Washington to the 13th Legislature as a Republican. After his term, he moved to Galveston, serving on the city council as alderman of the Eighth Ward and as customs inspector. In 1890, he moved to La Marque to farm until his death. He is buried in Galveston's new city cemetery, with his wife Mary Campbell, daughter of Baptist preacher Rev. Isreal Campbell, he had one daughter, Elvie. (2023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Navasota — 1.0 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 5.6 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 5.6 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 9.4 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.

More markers nearby

• George Washington Carver High School — steps away
• Freedman Town — 0.3 mi
• Home of Lt. Gov. George D. Neal — 0.7 mi
• First Baptist Church of Navasota — 0.9 mi