Program

Hometown Heritage®

Subject

House, People

Location

681 W Broad St, Murfreesboro, NC 27855, USA

Lat/Long

36.444138, -77.09334

Grant Recipient

Cultivator, Inc.

George W. Reynolds was born in Murfreesboro, SC, likely in 1856 according to census records (1860 U.S. Census). George had an early interest in education, writing to the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1868 at 12 years old, petitioning them to establish a school in Murfreesboro for African American children and requesting that a Miss. Lydia Warrock of Raleigh, SC be appointed to teach again. When he was 14 years old, he was listed on the 1870 US census as a farm laborer.

In 1876 George was listed as a student in the Scientific Department of Shaw University in their 1876-1877 catalogue. It is unclear whether he attended for longer or graduated, but by 1880 at age 24 he was again listed on the U.S. Census as living in Murfreesboro with his family, and his occupation was listed as a house painter.

In 1888, he obtained a marriage license to Clara J. Green of Washington, DC and purchased the home at 616 E. Broad St. for them to live in for $300 (The Critic and Record, July 12, 1888; Deed of Sale September 12, 1888). The next year, in 1889, records show that he was appointed as postmaster for the town of Murfreesboro. There were objections to this, as he would have likely been the first African American Postmaster for Murfreesboro. The Murfreesboro Index ran a local news section writing, “We object to the appointment of a colored man to fill a position where nine-tenths of the business is for white people, yet, if we are to have a colored one, we prefer the one appointed to any other.” (November 8, 1889). At the time of his appointment, he was described as a schoolteacher and house painter.

In 1890, George W. Reynolds was published in Branson’s North Carolina Business Directory on a segregated list as a teacher in Murfreesboro, Hertford County. One year later, on July 29^th, 1891, George W. Reynolds sadly passed away from a fever, after serving two years as postmaster. His interest in education, for himself and for others, was lifelong.