James Henry Smith

(1867-1934)

Narrative of Events That Led to Exodus

This is a brief reconstruction of events that prompted the exodus of the deeply rooted Gwynn’s Island Black community. More than 150 Black men, women, and children were displaced after a violent incident that pitted Black and White watermen against each other.

This account is based on oral history, extensive research in courthouse records, local history books, census records, and newspaper articles, including John Dixon's Black Americans of Gwynn's Island. For a more detailed "just-the-facts" account, including court records, click here: https://allisonthom.wordpress.com/2021/07/01/why-african-americans-left-gwynns-island-between-1916-and-1920/

In 1915, most men on Gwynn’s Island worked as pound-net fishermen and oystermen. Many farmed on the side as well. Older White men generally owned the fishing boats. They hired younger White men and Black men of all ages as crew. At the end of each day, White fishermen gathered in general stores to discuss the day’s catch, forecast the weather, and plan the day ahead. A scant few Black men had their own oystering boats., including William Smith. They could purchase items at the general store but knew not to socialize there.

On Christmas Eve 1915, White and a few Black watermen gathered at the Hudgins & Mitchem store, located where the Gwynn's Island post office is today. They were a mix of middle-aged (40+) men and youth (15-20 years old). Three of the men -- two White and one Black -- got into a fight. James Smith, a 47-year-old Black man and father of nine, entered the store, saw his brother-in-law, Arthur Respess, in a fight, and tried to break it up. The younger White men attacked Smith. Invectives and bottles flew. People were injured by flying glass.

When Smith tried to leave, White store patrons formed into a mob and chased him to another store – Grimstead & Adams. The shopkeeper, Herbert Grimstead, sent Smith to the second floor to hide. Grimstead then grabbed his shotgun from under the counter and held it on the mob, declaring that there would be no violence in his store and that the Sheriff would make an arrest if required. A lynching was thus narrowly averted.

When the sheriff arrived, he arrested Smith and took him to jail on the mainland. No one else was charged. James' father was also arrested, although no charges were filed against him.

In his January trial, Smith pled not guilty. The presiding judge instructed the jury to dismiss the charges if they believed Smith acted in self-defense. More than a dozen witnesses from Gwynn’s Island testified, including three Black people, and one of the White men involved in the original scuffle. The jury, made up of all White mainlanders, found Smith guilty of two counts of felony assault. The judge sentenced him to a total of 30 days in jail, plus $45 in fines for both charges.

Perhaps believing that Smith got off light, White Islanders threatened lynching or other violence to Smith and the Black community. By the time Smith was released from jail in February 1916, the Black community had decided to leave the Island. According to the local newspaper, most were gone by the end of August.

Nineteen people in six households stayed behind – including three elderly and ailing Black men, a childless couple, and two who were working for White people on the Island. The last Black family departed Gwynn’s Island in September 1920 after the  last death of an elder.

Gwynn’s Island had a reputation as a “sundown town” after 1920, meaning that Black people knew they could not live there and had to be off the island before nightfall. Moreover, it was widely referred to as a "white man's paradise," beginning with a reference in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 5 Oct. 1924, (“This white man’s paradise, where a jail is unknown and the highway bond issue controversy was a superficiality, is Gwynn’s Island….”). The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, 16 Nov. 1939, uses the same phrase (“Elaborate preparations are underway for an all-day program in connection with the opening and dedication of the new bridge connecting ‘The White Man’s Paradise,’ with the mainland of Mathews County….”), as does the Southside Sentinel [Urbanna], 7 Dec. 1939, in an article datelined Gwynn’s Island (“Twenty-five floats entered by the fraternal and civic associations of the county depicted the history of this ‘white man’s paradise’”).

Click buttons below to see list of families that departed the Island and people who were involved in the trial of James Henry Smith