Good news on the state front (still waiting for national publicity, though): the Texas Historical Commission (THC) has added the Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour to its Project Spotlight publication. It is good to know that the THC actually reads all the counties’ annual reports. The tour didn’t start out as a Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) project, but some of our members went above and beyond the call of duty to make it happen. And they are still bringing the history. I’ll leave the dates and times at the end of this blog.
While at Magnolia Cemetery last week, I learned that Operation Blue Remembrance (OBR) will be hosting a memorial service for the fallen deputy John E. Hutcheson, whose end of watch was June 28, 1925. The OBR is a non-profit organization from Baytown that was approved by the state and the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization on June 2, 2020. Its primary focus is “assisting the law enforcement community in any way” they can and visiting all the graves of fallen officers in Texas and a few other states. I’ll leave a link to their full story at the end of the blog.
The OBR’s motto is Nemo Oblitus, which is Latin for No One Forgotten. The reason the organization is coming here is that neither the family nor the county purchased a headstone for Deputy Hutcheson when he was buried in Magnolia Cemetery. The man was forgotten until the OBR went boots on the ground and discovered that he had no marker. Well, that will change on Wednesday, September 20 at 10:00 a.m., when they will set a brand-new headstone for the fallen deputy, paid for by the organization. Indeed, no one must be forgotten. Ever. Kudos to this group for doing this. Now that I know about them, I want to know about their next projects.
So, what happened to John E. Hutcheson? Here is what we know.
Deputy Hutcheson was shot and killed with his own revolver by an unruly prisoner in the county jail. The man was in jail for public drunkenness and was working off a $21 fine. At around 1000 hours, the prisoner threw a piece of metal at Deputy Hutcheson, grazing his head. The deputy reported the incident to the sheriff, who told him not to give the prisoner lunch without the assistance of the sheriff.
Deputy Hutcheson did not heed the warning and enlisted the help of two other prisoners to help serve lunch to the prisoner. As he entered the cell, the man hit him in the head with a pot and knocked him down. The prisoner then grabbed the deputy’s .45 caliber service revolver and shot him in the chest. The two other prisoners immediately attacked the prisoner and during the struggle, the suspect was shot in the head and fatally wounded.
The two prisoners who assisted Deputy Hutcheson were released from prison for their heroic actions.
Deputy Hutcheson was survived by his wife and four daughters. He was buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas.
Source: https://www.odmp.org/officer/17099-deputy-sheriff-john-e-hutcheson
A wife and four daughters usually don’t have the money for a headstone, especially if it’s 1925. I haven’t delved into the story here, but I want to learn more about it. The public is welcome to come out to the cemetery and attend the memorial service in remembrance of John E. Hutcheson, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will be well represented on the occasion.
On Thursday, I attended a virtual presentation by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission. It was called “The Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers in the 20th Century.” Cale Carter II, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston, did a superb job. He enlightened me on a few things about the 24th and 25th Infantry units in the Pacific theater of World War II that I would like to research.
The buffalo soldiers’ history is new to me, and I’ve only begun to discover their past. Here in SETX, we can confidently say that we have a buffalo soldier buried in Beaumont’s Evergreen Cemetery. For years, people speculated that there was a soldier buried there, but the facts weren’t available. Then, a researcher named Kate Hambright, who is also on the JCHC, found the last piece of the puzzle, which identified him as a soldier who fought in the Indian Wars.
Jerry Lloyd is an actual buffalo soldier because the units that originated this term were from 1866–1898. There were some Black units who fought in the Civil War on the Union side, and there were a few who fought for the Confederacy. I won’t get into this because I am not knowledgeable about the Civil War except that my great-great-grandfather came to this country in 1868 from Italy when “y’all got your sh*t together!” Some say we still haven’t, but we’re trying. I believe this is true!
George Shaw, who is also buried in Evergreen Cemetery, died in France in the Great War in 1918, along with our recognized fallen. He wasn’t a buffalo soldier, and that’s all right, but he did receive a new headstone, at the same time as Jerry Lloyd. Shaw did have a headstone, but it stated that he was a private. George Shaw was a sergeant, and when you die in a war that you didn’t ask for but participated in, accuracy matters. Thanks again to Kate for also discovering this! I will leave a link to the full video of the presentation. Thank you, Kristy Peloquin, development manager at the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission.
Well, that’s about it for this week. Until next time, Nemo Oblitus. Ever!
The times and dates of the Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour are as follows:
Thursday, October 19 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
2022 CHC Project Spotlights:
Operation Blue Remembrance:
https://operationblueremembrance.org/#
Buffalo Soldiers Museum: https://buffalosoldiersmuseum.org/
12 News Now: Jerry Lloyd and George Shaw
Friends of the THC:
Texas Historical Commission:
The Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers in the 20th Century (Full Video Presentation)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=267001102819972
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