USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 105
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engaged at Langston for four years, or until 1914, when he was called to accept the position of dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wilberforce University, which position he has since occupied. Since taking charge of the liberal arts department of the university Doctor Jones has modernized the procedure in that department, has expanded the work to include general bio- logical research, securing for that department an admirably equipped labora- tory, and has directed special summer-school work there. The Doctor is a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and for several years has been working on a couple of books which he will shortly have ready for publication, one relating to the subject of psychology and the other having to do with the principles of teaching.
On June 8, 1910, Dr. Gilbert H. Jones was united in marriage to Rachel Gladys Coverdale, who was born at Germantown, Pennsylvania, and to this union two children have been born, Gladys Havena, born in May, 1911, and Gilbert H., Jr., September 25, 1914. Doctor and Mrs. Jones are members of the African Methodist Episcopal church and the Doctor is the Ohio state superintendent of the Allen Endeavor Society of that church.
WILLIAM SANDERS SCARBOROUGH, M. A., LL. D., PH. D.
SCARBOROUGH, WILLIAM SANDERS, university pres .; b, Macon, Ga., Feb. 16, 1852; s. Jeremiah and Frances S .; A. B., Oberlin College, 1875, A. M., 1878; Ph. D., Ky. State U .. 1892; (LL. D., Liberia Coll. W. Africa, 1882; Ph. D., Morris Brown Coll., Ga., I908: F. Ph., St. Columba's Coll., Eng., 1909) ; m, Sarah C. Bierce, of Danby, N. Y., August 2, 1881. Prof. classical Greek, Wilberforce U .. 1877-91; prof. Hellenistic Greek, Payne Theol. Sem. ( Wilberforce U.). 1891-5; prof. classical Greek, v .- p. and head of Classical Dept., 1895-1908, pres. since 1908, Wilberforce U. Exegetical editor of the S. S. publs. A. M. E. Church; del. Ecumenical Meth. Conf., London, 1901; del. Congress of Races, London, Eng., 1911. Mem. Am. Philol. Assn., Archaeol. Inst. America. Modern Lang. Assn. America, Am. Folk-Lore Soc., Am. Dialect Soc., Am. Social Science Assn., Am. Acad. Polit. and Social Science, Royal Soc. of Arts, London. Author : First Lessons in Greek, 1881 ; Theory and Functions of the Thematic Vowel in the Greek Verb; Our Political Status. 1884: Birds of Aristophanes, a Theory of Interpretation, 1886; also many articles on Negro folk-lore, the Negro question, classical, philol. and archaeol. subjects. Address: Wilber- force, O.
The above from "Who's Who in America" gives in a nutshell the out- standing facts in the life of Dr. W. S. Scarborough, president of Wilber- force University and for many years one of the most conspicuous figures in the world in the cause of Negro education and uplift. Doctor Scarborough has been a resident of Greene county ever since his call to Wilberforce Uni- versity as the head of the classical department of that institution in 1877. His early and continuous devotion to the cause of education and his lifelong interest in behalf of the youth of his race have given him a standing in edu- cational circles throughout the country and even in Europe that places him in a high rank among educators. Doctor Scarborough began to attract the attention of the leading educators of the country not long after he became a
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member of the faculty of Wilberforce University, when, in 1881, he pub- lished his notable Greek text-book, "First Lessons in Greek," the first and only Greek book ever written by a Negro. So simple and comprehensive were the lessons arranged by the young Negro scholar-for Doctor Scar- borough was not thirty years of age at that time-that the text-book attained instant recognition and was widely adopted as one of the most helpful aids to the student of Greek ever written. His utter devotion to the cause of edu- cation and his continued and undivided interest in behalf of the youth who came from all parts of the country and even from Europe and Africa to gain the benefit of the advantages offered the race at Wilberforce, naturally kept Doctor Scarborough's influence effective in the institution to which he had early devoted his life and it was regarded as eminently fitting that when the vacancy occurred in the executive chair of that institution in 1908 he was elected to fill the same. It is but proper further to say that the wisdom of this choice has been demonstrated throughout the years that the Doctor has been serving as president of Wilberforce University, for the many not- able improvements that have been made in the institution since he took charge as executive head have proved to all concerned that he indeed is "the right man in the right place." Doctor Scarborough's various scholastic activities have been briefly mentioned in the paragraph from "Who's Who in America," quoted above, but those strictly formal items of information barely touch on the greater and wider activities which have marked his lov- ing nurture of the interests of the great institution of learning of which he has been the head since 1908 and to which he has so unselfishly and ungrudgingly devoted his life since his arrival there away back in 1877, when, as a young collegian and with all a collegian's enthusiasm for the work that thus opened before him, he entered upon the labors which have been so wonderfully effective. No written page ever can carry the full story of those activities, for, even as is every proper labor of love, they have been of a ' character that the written word but coldly and ineffectively delineates. The story of these activities, however. has been written in indelible and imperish- able characters upon the hearts of thousands of the youth who have gone in and out before Doctor Scarborough at Wilberforce during the past forty years and are reflected in characters that glow wherever the better elements of a Negro population congregate in this country today. And wherever the wonderful story of the uplift that has marked the progress of the Negro race since the cruel days of slavery is told in this country today there is mentioned the name of Doctor Scarborough; and wherever there are found gathered two or more of those of all those thousands who have benefited by reason of his benevolent instructions, there his name is spoken in loving and grateful remembrance.
A few years ago the university published the following brief biography
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of President Scarborough: "William Sanders Scarborough, president of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio, U. S. A., was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1854. He received his early education in his native city before and during the Civil War. In 1869 he entered Atlanta University, where he spent two years in preparation for Yale University, but entered Oberlin College, Oberlin. Ohio, instead, in 1871, and was graduated from the de- partment of Philosophy and the Arts with the degree of A. B. in 1875. Later he received from his alma mater the degree of M. A. He has since been honored by various colleges with the degrees of Ph. D. and LL. D. He spent a part of the year following graduation in Oberlin Theological Seminary in special study of the Semetic languages and Hellenistic Greek.
"In 1877 he was elected head of the classical department in Wilberforce University. In 1881 he published, through A. S. Barnes & Co., a Greek text-book-'First Lessons in Greek' -- the first and only Greek book ever written by a Negro. This book was widely used by both white and colored schools of the country, especially in the North. He has also written a treatise entitled 'The Birds of Aristophanes-a Theory of Interpretation'- aside from numerous tracts and pamphlets, covering a variety of subjects, classical, archæological, sociological and racial. He has written many papers for various societies to which he belongs, especially the Philological Society. In 1891 he was transferred to the chair of Hellenistic Greek in Payne Theological Seminary of Wilberforce University, upon the opening of this school. In 1897 he was again re-elected as professor of Latin and Greek in the university and was made vice-president of the same. In 1908 he was elected president of Wilberforce University, a position which he now holds.
"In 1881 he married Sarah C. Bierce, a lady of high literary attain- ments, and a writer for many magazines.
"President Scarborough has long been a contributor to the press of his country, including the leading magazines. He has been for many years the exegetical editor of the A. M. E. Church Sunday school publications. He is a member of a number of learned societies: American Philological, American Dialect. American Social Science, Archæological Institute of America, American Spelling Reform, American Folk-Lore, American Mod- ern Language, American Political and Social Science, the Egyptian Explora- tion Fund Association, National Geographic Society, American Negro Academy, of which he is first vice-president. He has several times been one of the invited orators at the Lincoln League banquet of the state of Ohio. At a conference of the Negro leaders in Columbus, Ohio, he was elected president of the Afro-American State League, designed to further the inter- ests of the Negro throughout the country. He was appointed by the gov- ernor of Ohio a delegate to the national conference in St. Louis in the inter-
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est of Negro education. He is the only Negro representative on the board of the Lincoln Memorial Association of Ohio, which is presided over by the governor.
"He has now in press a volume of his work on the race question. He was a delegate to the Ecumenical Methodist Conference held in London in 1901, representing the African Methodist Episcopal church, and was in attendance upon the Universal Race Congress in London, representing Wilberforce University, of which he is president."
PROF. GEORGE THOMPSON SIMPSON.
"If there is such a thing as king of singers, Mr. Simpson is entitled to that honor." When the Baltimore American voiced the above sentiment it was not indulging in mere newspaper "puffery." When the Wheeling In- telligencer, referring to the same singer, said: "He has a beautiful, pure voice, under rare cultivation, especially sweet and true in the highest rotes," that paper was not merely filling space to give a complimentary account of a concert .. When the Pittsburgh Post referred to the same singer as one "whose vocal possibilities are so favorably compared to those of Campanini," it stated but a fact long recognized by musical critics, and when the Chilli- cothe (Ohio) Notes referred to the same gifted master of song as "one of the miost melodious tenor singers in the world," it voiced the opinion of all who have ever sat under the spell of the wonderful tones of one of the sweet- est singers of his race, the man who won a wide reputation as soloist during the world tour of the Fiske Jubilee Singers and who for the past twenty years has been the dean of the department of voice culture and theory of music at Wilberforce University.
George Thompson Simpson was born at Coal Hill, in Muskingum county, Ohio, son of M. M. and Martha (Guy) Simpson, both of whom were born in that same county, the former a son of Turner and Jemima Simpson (freeborn), who came to this state from the neighborhood of Har- risburg, Pennsylvania, in 1823 and settled in Muskingum county, leaders of a considerable colony of colored people that made their way into that county in that year and established homes in the then wilderness. Turner Simpson and his wife Jemima started a church and a school there and exerted an influ- ence for good that is still felt in the third and fourth generations of the descendants of those who made up that colony. Turner Simpson was a shoe- maker as well as a farmer. He and his wife were the parents of nine chil- dren and the descendants of these in the present generation form a numerous connection, many of the name having become well known among the lead- ers of their race, active as teachers or in the professions.
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M. M. Simpson, father of Professor Simpson, grew up in Muskingum county and was trained by his father to be a shoemaker. He married Martha Gny, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Beard) Guy, who had come from Hagarstown, Maryland, into Ohio and had settled in the colored colony in Muskingum county. M. M. Simpson was foreman of the cutting room of the shoe factory of Bethel & Delong for twelve years. In 1870 he moved with his family to Zanesville, Ohio, and went in business for himself. In 1899 he was made head instructor in the shoemaking department of the manual-training section of Wilberforce University and his last days were spent at Wilberforce, his death occurring there on June 18, 1903, he then being seventy-seven years of age. His widow survived him for six years, or until 1909. she also being seventy-seven years of age at the time of her death. They were members of the African Methodist Episcopal church and he was for years a steward in the same. They were the parents of nine children, of whom five are still living. Of these Professor Simpson is the eldest, the others being M. J., residing in Zanesville, this state; Martha, also a resident of Zanesville: Mrs. Nannie A. Luebers, also of Zanesville, and Mrs. William Clark. of Saginaw, Michigan.
George T. Simpson received his early schooling in the schools of Zanes- ville, and from his father learned the trade of shoemaker. From the days of his boyhood he had taken delight in singing and was encouraged to culti- vate this natural gift. In 1887 he entered the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin, working his way through that institution by "sticking to his last." Two years later he entered upon a course of instruction under a special teacher at Cincinnati and for thirteen months was drilled there in voice cul- ture. In the meantime, in 1889, he was engaged as soloist for the Fiske Jubilee Singers and with that organization made a tour of the world, singing in concert in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Switzerland. Italy, Egypt. Arabia, Ceylon, India, British Burmah, Pennang, Singapore, Johore, Borneo, China, Japan, the Philippines and Honolulu, returning by way of San Fran- cisco after a tour of two years. Upon the conclusion of this tour Professor Simpson made an extensive independent concert tour of the United States and Canada, singing in the chief cities of the country. In the meantime he continued his studies, attending summer courses at Northwestern Univer- sity at Chicago during the years 1903-05 and in the latter year was gradu- ated from the American Institute of Normal Methods as applied to the teaching of music. For two years, 1896-97, he was employed as teacher of .. singing in Morgan College at Baltimore and in 1898 he was invited to take the place of chief. instructor in theory of music and voice culture at Wilber- force University, an invitation he accepted and which position he ever since has occupied, now having about two hundred and fifty pupils in his depart- ment. In 1912 and in 1915 he took supplemental summer courses at North-
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western University. The Professor has written quite a bit of music and the fifth edition of his adaptation of "Jesus Lover of My Soul," has already sold beyond five thousand copies He still occasionally responds to demands upon his time for concert work.
Professor Simpson has been twice married. On August 31, 1898, he was united in marriage to Lillian Kelly, of Baltimore, Maryland, who died on August 2, 1899. On October 19, 1912, he married Mary Elizabeth Den- ham, who was born at Bethel, in Clermont county, this state, daughter of Erasmus and Emma (Brown) Denham, both now deceased. The Professor and his wife own a house just recently completed at Wilberforce. They are members of the local African Methodist Episcopal church and ever since entering upon his professional duties at Wilberforce in 1898 the Professor has had charge of the musical part of the vesper services at the university. He is a member of the colored organization of Masons at Xenia, affiliated with the subordinate lodge, the chapter, the commandery and with the West- ern Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Springfield, and his wife takes part in the work of the Eastern Star lodge.
CHARLES H. SCOTT.
Charles H. Scott, caterer and manufacturer and distributor of confec- tionary, ice-cream products and soft drinks and one of the best-known col- ored residents of the city of Xenia, was born on a farm in Xenia township, not far from the city, a son of John and Julia (Scurry) Scott, natives of Tennessee, who were married in that state and later came up into Ohio, settling in Greene county, where the father became engaged as a farm laborer. John Scott and his wife were the parents of two children. the sub- ject of this sketch having had a sister, Sallie, who died at the age of sixteen years, and they were members of the African Methodist Episcopal church.
Charles H. Scott received about five years of schooling in the public schools as a child and when eleven years of age began making his own way in the world, working at such jobs as his hands could find to do. In 1896 he started in as a porter in the depot restaurant at a wage of three dollars and fifty cents a week and his board and later took charge of the dining room. It was in that same restaurant that Thomas Taggart, former United States senator from Indiana, also worked when a boy. In the year just named Charles H. Scott married and he and his wife decided to start out "on their own" instead of working for others. With this end in view they opened a small ice-cream "parlor," making their own ice cream in a hand- freezer, and it was not long until they found themselves on the way to the creation of a real business in the city of Xenia. In 1900 Mr. Scott located
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in his present quarters at 412-14 East Main street, rebuilt and remodeled the same, and has ever since been engaged in business there, three auto deliveries now being required to cover the field of trade he has built up. He and his wife also make a specialty of catering to fashionable parties. In addition to his business house and residence in Xenia Mr. Scott owns a farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres in Spring Valley township, besides residence property in the city.
In 1896 Charles H. Scott was united in marriage to Florence E. Rus- sell, who was born in Xenia, daughter of Levi and Ella Russell, both of whom are now deceased, and to this union one child has been born, a daugh- ter, Gladys, born in 1897, who was graduated from the Central high school at Xenia and is now attending the University of Illinois, where she is taking special courses in household science and in languages and who was the first colored girl ever given a place on the honor list of that university. The Scotts are members of the First African Methodist Episcopal church at Xenia and Mr. Scott is one of the stewards of the same. He is a Repub- lican and, fraternally, is affiliated with the local lodge of colored Masons.
REV. SAMUEL THOMAS MITCHELL, A. M., LL. D.
When the historian of the future comes to make up the record of the growth and development of Wilberforce he will perforce need to reserve space for a review of the life and works of the late Rev. Samuel Thomas Mitchell, who for a period of sixteen years served as president of that institution and who while thus engaged rendered an inestimable service in behalf of the race which he thus so unselfishly, devotedly and ably represented in its highest aspect. Not only was Doctor Mitchell recognized as one of the leading Negro educators of the world, but as a minister of the gospel he took high rank and in the councils of his church was long recognized as one of the foremost figures there, his work as an intellectual and moral educator being so closely interwoven that it was almost impossible to speak of one with the other. Compelled, in June, 1900, on account of failing health, to resign the presidency of the educational institution to which he had so long and so untiringly devoted the best energies of his mind, of his heart and of his body, Doctor Mitchell did not long survive, his death occurring at Wilber- force on April 10, 1901, and his body was laid to rest at Cedarville.
Samuel Thomas Mitchell was born in the city of Toledo, Ohio, Septem- ber 24, 1851, a son of William and Nancy A. Mitchell, both of whom were born in the state of North Carolina. William Mitchell was a freeman and was on his way from the South to Canada, where he hoped to secure a degree of recognition that was denied him in his native state, but upon
REV. SAMUEL T. MITCHELL, A. M., LL. D.
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reaching Toledo found conditions there favorable to his location and he stopped in that city, for several years thereafter being there engaged working at his trade, later moving to Cincinnati and thence to Indiana, where his last days were spent. His widow later became a resident of Wilberforce, keep- ing house for her sons while they were attending the university, the family occupying the old brick mansion which is now occupied by the students of the theological seminary, and there she spent the remainder of her life. Will- iam Mitchell and wife were the parents of ten children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the last-born. The eldest son, the Rev. John G. Mitchell, for years one of the foremost clergymen of the African Methodist Episcopal church, was a graduate of Oberlin College and during the time luis brother, Doctor Mitchell, was president of Wilberforce University was dean of the Payne Theological Seminary of that institution, and in his time occupied some of the most influential pastorates in his communion, for some time pastor of a church at Pittsburgh and later, of the Metropolitan church at Washington, D. C.
Having been but a child when his parents moved from Toledo to Cin- cinnati, Samuel Thomas Mitchell received his first schooling in the public schools of the latter city and was fourteen years of age when in 1865 he accompanied his mother to Wilberforce, where he grew to manhood, a student in the university, from which he was graduated in 1873 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Two years later he was licensed by the African Metho- dist Episcopal church to preach; in 1881, received from his alma mater the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1889 received from the Kentucky State University the degree of Doctor of Laws. Even while pursuing his studies in the university Doctor Mitchell had earned the right to teach and during the closing semesters of his course there was engaged as a teacher in the lower classes. Upon receiving his diploma he was engaged as a teacher in the colored schools at Wilmington, in the neighboring county of Clinton, and was thus engaged for two years, at the end of which time he was called to accept the principalship of Lincoln Institute, a state school for colored pupils at Jefferson City, Missouri. For three years he occupied that position and then returned to Ohio to accept the position of principal of the colored schools at Springfield, which position he occupied for five years, or until 1884, when he was elected president of Wilberforce University and thus entered upon a new period of service in behalf of his beloved alma mater. The history of Doctor Mitchell's service as president of Wilberforce does not need to be told here. It is a part of the unchangeable history of the university and is also written on the hearts of that great multitude of stu- dents who came under the influence of his personality during the period
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of his service there. It is but proper to say, however, that during Doctor Mitchell's presidency Wilberforce witnessed its greatest growth, its capacity being largely increased and the scope of its activities greatly extended. It was during that period that the military department of the university was inaugurated and it was also due to the Doctor's well-directed efforts that the state by legislative enactment inaugurated here the Combined Normal and Industrial Department which has done so much to widen the influence and the efficiency of the university. Doctor Mitchell was an able organizer as well as a ripe scholar. In 1884 he was a delegate to the general conference of his church at Baltimore and was the author of the measure which led to the inauguration of Endowment Day and the effective general educational scheme under which the African Methodist Episcopal church has since carried on its aid to schools. He was for years one of the most active and influential members of the Colored National Teachers Association, president of the same at the time of his death, and during his term of service as principal of Lin- coln Institute effected the organization of the Missouri Colored State Teach- ers Association and was elected first president of the same. During the progress of the Columbian Exposition or World's Fair at Chicago in 1893 Doctor Mitchell was one of the vice-presidents of the educational congress held there and under his direction Wilberforce University was represented at that exposition, at the New Orleans Exposition and at the Paris World's Fair, and received from the Columbian Exposition a special award for excel- lence of methods.
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