November 2024 – theotheralexandria

Insight into the Life of Freeman H.M. Murray

It was a cold winter day in 1950 when an elderly man was walking toward Washington and Oronoco Streets in Alexandria; suddenly, as he walked across the Street, he was hit by a car. He dies two days later. The driver was a 29-year-old medical doctor who failed to yield to a pedestrian. The doctor was fined $5.

Who was this elderly victim? The man was Freeman H. M. Murray, 90. He had accomplished a lot in his ninety years and contributed his life to help better his race.

Freeman H. M. Murray was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1860 and came to the Washington, D.C., area to attend Howard University. He studied chemistry, physics, and languages there, mastering five languages. In 1883, he was the first appointed Ohio Civil Service in the records and pension division of the War Department in Washington, DC. He settled in Alexandria, VA, and retired after thirty years of service.

Mr. Murray had a second act: He founded two weekly newspapers, the Alexandria Home News and the Washington Tribune Newspaper, and the Murray Brothers Printing Company at 920 U Street, NW, Washington, DC.

Besides running his printing business, he was a religious leader and the author of “Emancipation and the Freed Man in American Sculpture.” He was a teacher and head of the primary Sunday School of Roberts Chapel Methodist Church (now Roberts United Memorial Methodist Church) in Alexandria for half a century. He was an organizer and director of the Alexandria Dramatic Club and a former member of the Niagara Movement, a pioneer civil rights organization, which included W.E.B. Dubois.

At the time of Mr. Murray’s death, he had four children, two boys and two daughters, and he lived at 813 Princess Street. One of his sons took over his newspaper and printing business, and his daughter, Florence, was the author of “Negro Yearbook,” which was published in New York. His daughter Katherine, through his first wife, Laura Hamilton, married Earl M. Luckett in Alexandria, Virginia. His granddaughter, Raye N. Luckett Martin, grew up at 405 North Alfred Street. She attended and graduated in 1943 from Parker-Gray High School. She became one of the first minority professionals in the Alexandria Juvenile Court System.

Raye was a Probation Officer for twenty-five years in Alexandria, VA. Before her appointment with the City of Alexandria, she was a law clerk for Otto Tucker, Esquire. Otto was the brother of the famous Civil Rights Lawyer, Samuel Tucker.

Like her grandfather Freeman, Raye was devoted to her church. She was a lifetime member of the Meade Memorial Episcopal Church in Alexandria, and her grandfather was a member of Roberts Chapel Methodist Church for sixty-seven years before his death.

There are many lessons to learn from Freeman Murray and his children. When they retired, they worked hard and invented new careers. In death, Freeman still teaches us the value of having multiple survival skills. But his greatest lessons are religion and education.

“Importance of Knowing Your History”

The City of Alexandria, Virginia, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Freedmen’s Cemetery and its Descendants in a three-day celebration that started on September 6, 2024.

From 2008 to 2014, the City’s Genealogist researched and located descendants of the Freedmen Cemetery. In 2014, the City dedicated the Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, and hundreds of people, along with National Television coverage, brought National recognition to this Cemetery. Before the celebration, many descendants had no clue about their family history related to the Civil War.

Through research, the City gave the descendants a part of their history that they never knew. After they received the news that their family was buried at the Cemetery and that they had arrived in Alexandria after running away from enslavement, they cried as they processed the information. But once they went through that process, their shoulders became straighter, and they knew their ancestors’ strength and determination of wanting freedom at any cost.

Just like their ancestors, who came to Alexandria for Freedom, Alexandria invited their descendants back to honor their ancestors’ Freedom. But what was the back story of their ancestors? The article on this page, which was published in the “Soldiers’ Journal,” stated that over seven thousand runaway slaves who were called contrabands wanted to taste freedom. They were hardworking people who wanted the same things that other free people had freedom.

In my book, “Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom,” on page 77, I discuss a child, John Gaines, who was buried at the Freedmen Cemetery in 1864.

“In 1864, the month of July was extremely dry, with the water levels low, grass growing in the reservoir, the temperature very sultry and mosquitoes abounding. During this extremely hot weather, eight-year-old John Gaines was buried on July 28, 1864.”

John Gaines’ parents were among the seven thousand people mentioned in the article who came to Alexandria for Freedom. His descendants, Lillian Locklear Alston and Wanda Ellis took part in the 2014 Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial Celebration, along with several hundred other descendants of people buried at the Freedmen’s Cemetery.

Everybody’s history is essential; we are the only living thing celebrating our past. If we do not study ourselves or create a study guide of our history and how we came about, then who else will focus on us? For the descendants of the Freedmen Cemetery, they had Alexandria, who gave them the most precious thing a human being can have, which is a piece of their history!

If you want to read additional stories and learn more about the Freedmen Cemetery, you can find the book, “Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom,” by Char McCargo Bah at amazon.com. Also, you can visit Alexandria and stop by the Freedmen Cemetery and the Alexandria Black History Museum.

Coming Home—Army -T/5 Julius J. Smith

It was a chilly day on December 7, 1941, in the Northern Virginia area when a Japanese Plane bombed Pearl Harbor. On the following day, the United States (U.S.) declared that they were at war with Japan and Japan’s allies. The U.S. announced a military draft, and many men were drafted; some enlisted, including men from Alexandria. One of those men who enlisted from Alexandria was Julius J. Smith.

Julius was the son of Moses Smith and Hester Carter Smith. On May 29, 1942, Julius married Lillian Virginia Newman. Both were only nineteen years old. Before his marriage, he lived with his parents at 606 South Washington Street, and Lillian lived with her parents at 601 North Pitt Street.

Julius worked at Leon Baltimore Radio Shop on Washington Street when he was a teenager. The skills he developed at the Radio Shop became helpful in the Military. When he married Lillian, he was working at the Southern Railroad. But his life changed quickly when the call for eligible men to enlist in World War II.

Twenty-nine days after he married, Julius enlisted in the Army in Alexandria on June 30, 1942. He did his basic training in the U.S. While waiting to go overseas, he could visit his wife, daughter, and parents. Julius was not assigned to a particular unit. He was classified as a T/5, which was a Technician Fifth grade. This rank was established in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1948. The rank was created to recognize enlisted soldiers with exceptional technical skills who were not trained as combat leaders. Julius was one of those specially trained people. In his teens, he worked as a radio repairman and knew the ends and outs of a radio.

Individuals with the T/5 rank were addressed as “corporal,” the same as the corresponding non-commissioned officer at the same pay grade. The technician ranks were removed from the U.S. Army rank system on August 1, 1948.

Julius was sent overseas to France in late 1943. While he was in France, he was directly in the combat areas. Several months into his assignment, he was involved in a fatal trucking accident. He died on July 3, 1945. Julius left his wife, daughter, and his one-year-old son, Linwood Smith, whom he never had a chance to see.

He was buried in St. Avold Metz, France, but his family petitioned the government to return his remains to the United States. On the Army’s transport, Carroll Victory Ship, on November 18, 1948, sixty-five deceased U.S. Soldiers from the District, Maryland, and Virginia area came home. Julius was one of those soldiers. His coffin was draped with the U.S. Flag and delivered to Alexandria, waiting for his last resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

On December 15, 1948, over three years after the death of Julius, his family attended his burial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Julius finally came home.

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