YOUNGSTOWN Book, articles look at history of blacks in area

Early blacks made lasting contributions to the Mahoning Valley.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A population of no more than a few thousand. Vast amounts of available land. A new area with the potential for growth, but growth that had thus far been void of any permanent black settlers.
That is likely what Malinda Knight and her family encountered in 1831 as they made their way into the Youngstown area. By most accounts, the Knights were the first blacks to make Youngstown a permanent home.
The book "A Rediscovery of Part of the Past," published by the Afro-American Bicentennial Committee in 1976, says Knight and her husband, Daniel, who was of American Indian descent, settled on West Boardman Street, where they had bought two dwellings. Malinda Knight later bought land on Garfield Street, where she remained until she died.
In a section of the book called "Celebrate '96 An Ethnic Encyclopedia," written by Bettijane Walker and Herbert Armstrong, there were only 18 blacks in the Youngstown area by 1840. That number grew to 30 by 1865 and by the 1870s, the number of blacks in the area totaled 132.
Notable families
Many of those "first families" have left lasting impressions on the area in several ways. Two of those most notable families are the Stewart and Berry families. The Stewarts were related to the Knights.
P. Ross Berry and Lemuel Augustus Stewart were bricklayers who applied their trade on many projects in the area during their time, including The Rayen School, St. Columba's Church, First Presbyterian Church, a "lock-up" prison on Hazel Street, a Dollar Savings and Trust Company building at Wick and Commerce streets, a governor's mansion on Holmes Street and the Grand Opera House.
The contributions of these two families to the area did not stop with the brick and mortar projects of that time. They have gone on for generations.
William R. Stewart, an attorney and son of Lemuel Stewart, was, in 1888, the first black elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He initiated legislation enabling the construction of the Market Street Bridge -- now the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge -- sponsored legislation providing for pensions for police and firefighters and helped in the passage of an anti-lynching bill.
His wife, Consuela, was the city's first black female physician.
A well-known descendant of the Stewart family is Frankie "Mr. Lucky" Halfacre. Halfacre has been a longtime radio figure in the Youngstown area and beyond.
Wendy Webb, assistant superintendent of Youngstown City Schools, is a descendant of P. Ross Berry's. Webb, who will become superintendent this year, works from an office in the same building constructed by her great-great-grandfather in the 1860s.
Playing a role
During various stages of those early days of the city, blacks were still slaves in parts of the country, a civil war was fought and people began to relocate in droves looking for better job opportunities. Black residents of Youngstown played a role in those changes and events taking place across the country.
During the days of slavery in Southern states, many blacks escaped to the North and Canada by way of a series of secret houses and hide-outs called the Underground Railroad. The Youngstown, Warren and Columbiana area had several stops on that system.
According to a 1910 Vindicator account, those who participated in the Underground Railroad here were John Loughbridge in his home at Federal and Watts streets; Henry Burnett, who lived on Mahoning Avenue; James Calvin, who lived at Boardman and Phelps streets; John Kirk, who lived at Front and Hazel streets; and Daniel Heaton, who lived in downtown.
Past Vindicator stories show that a Mahoning Avenue home owned by Judge Leicester King was a stop on the Underground Railroad. There were also stops at the original First Presbyterian Church in Warren, the Thomas Douglass home on South Main Street in Warren and the Levi Sutliff home on High Street in Warren.
There were a list of other stops throughout the area.
Then, in 1861, the Civil War began, eventually ending the need for the Underground Railroad. The war raged until 1865, with blacks from the Youngstown area fighting in the war.
Fought in Civil War
Steffon Jones of Youngstown, who has extensively studied the local history of the Civil War, said about eight black men from Youngstown fought in the Civil War. About 20 other black Civil War veterans made Youngstown their home after the war.
Jones said the eight Youngstown men were James Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Matthew Johnson, Benjamin Scott, Samuel Scott, Jacob Robinson, Paul Robinson and George Porter Logan.
Jones said all eight men returned to the Youngstown area and led interesting lives in farming, bricklaying, barbering and other professions until their deaths. Jones said several of the Civil War soldiers are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery on the city's South Side.
After the war, Youngstown's black population continued to show steady growth. By 1900, the black population jumped to 915 and by 1910 had more than doubled to 1,932.
The community was growing in the 20th century, as would the infrastructure that would provide support for area blacks.