All In The Family

        ​I have in the past presented a radical individual of Savannah but today I would like to examine a radical family. The Deveaux family had three generations leading the way in resistance to the white led suppression of blacks In Savannah. Catherine and John Benjamin Deveaux were the original couple to lead. Catherine Deveaux ran a school for slaves in a time that education for slaves was illegal and punishable by a $500 fine and thirty-nine lashes. John had been a leader in the black community starting as choir director at Second African Baptist Church. While he was choir director he established organized the "Old Hundred” music club dedicated to the study of music at Savannah in 1817. "Old Hundred” was the oldest recorded African-American music organization in America. He also later became a deacon in at Second African Baptist church. Second African Baptist was ostensibly started by First African Baptist Church because the white people of Savannah had become intimidated by the 1,000 plus slaves and freedmen who were gathering at their religious meetings. To alleviate the fears of the whites and to accommodate the growing numbers they decided to start another church. The Second African Baptist Church (pictured with monument here) would become historically important as the place where the Forty Acres and A Mule Proclamation was read publicly and the trial run Martin Luthur King Jr. would make of his famous I Have A Dream speech. It was the home church of the Deveaux’ s family until John became a pastor and went to Third African Baptist Church (now Bryan Street Baptist Church).
         Catherine and John would become the proud parents of Jane Deveaux in 1810. To ensure she received a good education she was sent North where the education of blacks was less dangerous and could continue beyond the elementary grades. Jane would return to Savannah and like her mother start a school for slaves in 1830. This slave school would be the longest running of any slave school in the United States. It ran for thirty years until 1860 the brink of the Civil War. Her students would carry schoolwork in buckets to give the impression they were running chores for their masters. She listed her occupation as a pastry cook. During the Civil War she was commandeered to sew outfits for the Confederacy but still was teaching slaves despite the laws against it. After the war was over because she had a good reputation for teaching she was sought after as a teacher and held classes with thirty-five students. The Freedman’s Bureau who would later come to Savannah during Reconstruction gave Savannah’s population of blacks a higher mark for literacy than other places in the South.
        Jane would give birth to John H. Deveaux. John H. was one of the leaders of the black community during Reconstruction and beyond. He cofounded and acted as editor in 1875 of the Colored Tribune. It changed its name in 1876 to the Savannah Tribune a black paper still publishing today. John H. would use his position to inform the black community of lynchings and political issues of the day. He also became a colonel in the black militia in Savannah. Black militias were formed in the south with the encouragement of the Federal Government as an effort to empower blacks to withstand white oppression. As you can imagine this did not go well with the plans the white community had to eventually reestablish control through Jim Crow laws. He also became a political stalwart of the Republican Party in the South.  So when President William Mckinley appointed John H. to the prestigious position of Collector of Customs this did not set well with some in the white community who complained. But eventually he won the majority of white’s support (or at least enough) because of his efficiency at the job.
       Today at 513 East York Street is a little two-story cottage built in 1853 for the estate of Catherine DeVeaux. This and the ongoing legacy of the Savannah Tribune are reminders of the three generations. They are buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery South.

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