A Soldier's Story: Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams

 

Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams was born on October 16, 1849, in Bedford Springs, Pennslyvania. He was homeschooled in his early years and then trained as a barber in the Pennslyvania House of Refuge. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington WIlliams ran away from the House of Refuge when he was fourteen to enlist in the US Army and fought in the final battles of the US Civil War, including Gettysburg.

After he served during the US Civil War, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams enlisted in the Mexican Republican Army. He fought with General Espinosa to win Mexican independence from Spanish rule.  He returned to the United States and the US Army in 1867.  

He was assigned to the 10th Infantry and sent to the plains region of the United States near the current state of Oklahoma. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams was shot in the chest, perforating his lung, during a skirmish with a Native American people and medically discharged.

After the end of his Army career, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams went to Howard University, transferred to Newton Theological Institution, and became the first African American to graduate in 1974.   He was ordained and served in Baptist congregations in the DC area and also created a weekly journal called "The Commoner."

Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and began studying law. He opened a private practice, served as a judge advocate for the US Army, and became, in 1880, the first African American to be elected a state legislator. 

In 1880 Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams began his "History of The Negro Race in America," the first comprehensive history of African Americans. It was published in 1882. 

He served as US Minister to Haiti during 1885-1886 and then wrote "American Civil War, A History of Negro Troops in the War of Rebellion," published in 1887.  

In 1889 Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams traveled to Europe to write articles for SS McClures Associated Literary Press, met King Leopold of Belgium, and was invited to the Congo. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Williams was appalled by the conditions suffered by native Congons. As a result, he wrote "An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State Of Congo" on July 18, 1890. He publically denounced the treatment of the native Congon and the slavelike conditions found in the nation.

During his return to England, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Willams fell sick. He died of tuberculosis and pleurisy in London on August 2, 1891. He rests in Layton Cemetery in Blackpool, England.


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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

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