Welcome W. Chandler Chapter Daughters of the Republic of Texas celebrates the story of Buffalo Soldier George Edward Smith as one of the most illustrious veterans lying in rest in Greenleaf Cemetery.
Born into slavery in Virginia about 1847, 22-year-old Smith escaped, with his grandmother’s help, during the Civil War. He fled to Washington, D.C. where he eventually enlisted in the army and became one of The Buffalo Soldiers.
This adventure finally brought this veteran of the Indian Wars to Brownwood in 1885, where he became the groundbreaking Brownwood schoolteacher and pastor. He is one of six U.S. Army Buffalo Soldiers lying in rest at Greenleaf Cemetery.
To learn more about Smith and other extraordinary Brown County veterans, the public is encouraged to visit the Brown County Museum of History. Nineteen hometown veterans’ stories are told on posters currently displayed at the museum.
The poster exhibition is part of the DRT Wreaths Across America campaign offering wreath sponsorships at $17 each. DRT members’ goal is to place wreaths at the headstone of every veteran buried at Greenleaf Cemetery. There are 2,000 veterans buried at Greenleaf.
To purchase wreaths, mail checks to WW Chandler DRT and mail to Nancy Lowry, Treasurer, PO Box 272 Bangs, TX, 76823. To pay by credit card go to www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/TX1050P. Wreaths will be delivered to Greenleaf Cemetery on Dec. 16. The public is invited to attend the wreath-laying ceremony on the 16th at 10 a.m. All in attendance will be invited to help lay the wreaths.
For more information call Mary Lee Shelton at 575-644-5121.
Smith, said to be the first black citizen of Brownwood, arrived in 1885, fresh off the warpath with Apache Chief Vitorio. Buffalo soldiers had chased Vitorio and warriors into Mexico after battles like Rattlesnake Springs and Rocky Ridge.
Smith spent his last months as a Buffalo soldier at Fort Davis, TX, and Fort Concho, TX, near San Angelo, where he also worked as an appointed school trustee for “Colored District # 1” of Tom Green County.
After discharge Smith served as a deacon in the San Angelo AME Church and was soon appointed elder. The AME churches recruited “men of excellent character” to organize AME churches where there were none, initiating in 1885 the Brownwood/George Smith legacy.
Smith founded the first school for blacks in Brownwood. He became the first principal and teacher beginning in 1886 and established Lee Chapel African Methodist Church in Brownwood in 1888. Reverend Smith bought land for a home in Brownwood’s Bailey Addition. Brownwood’s George Smith Housing project is named in his honor.
Other Buffalo Soldiers laid to rest in Greenleaf Cemetery include Frank Caldwell, Arthur Smith, Leroy Watkins and Jerry Winslow.
Greenleaf grounds supervisor Shane Agan aspires to create a monument in honor of those Buffalo Soldiers buried at the cemetery. Purchasing wreaths from Wreaths Across America brings Agan’s aspiration closer to fruition.
Groundbreaking Brownwood schoolteacher and pastor George Edward Smith is one of six U.S. Army Buffalo Soldiers lying in rest at Greenleaf Cemetery. Smith, said to be the first black citizen of Brownwood, arrived in 1885, fresh off the warpath with Apache Chief Vitorio. Buffalo soldiers had chased Vitorio and warriors into Mexico after battles like Rattlesnake Springs and Rocky Ridge.
Born into slavery in Virginia about 1847, 22-year-old Smith escaped, with his grandmother’s help, during the Civil War. He fled to Washington, D.C. where he was considered “contraband” by the Union troops and forced to dig trenches around the city to protect it from Confederate soldiers. In 1869 he enlisted in Company C, 9th Cavalry, in Washington, D.C., later to be nicknamed The Buffalo Soldiers.
Smith spent his last months as a Buffalo soldier at Fort Davis, TX, and Fort Concho, TX, near San Angelo, where he also worked as an appointed school trustee for “Colored District # 1” of Tom Green County.
After discharge Smith served as a deacon in the San Angelo AME Church and was soon appointed elder. The AME churches recruited “men of excellent character” to organize AME churches where there were none, initiating in 1885 the Brownwood/George Smith legacy.
Smith founded the first school for blacks in Brownwood. He became the first principal and teacher beginning in 1886 and established Lee Chapel African Methodist Church in Brownwood in 1888. Reverend Smith bought land for a home in Brownwood’s Bailey Addition. Brownwood’s George Smith Housing project is named in his honor.
Other Buffalo Soldiers laid to rest in Greenleaf Cemetery include Frank Caldwell, Arthur Smith, Leroy Watkins and Jerry Winslow.
Greenleaf grounds supervisor Shane Agan aspires to create a monument in honor of those Buffalo Soldiers buried at the cemetery. Purchasing wreaths from Wreaths Across America brings Agan’s aspiration closer to fruition.
Information for this poster gleaned from Brown County Historical Society, TexasEscapes.com and Find A Grave.