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STORY OF BEVELINA PEARSON, GRANDDAUGHTER OF BEVERLY NASH, NEGRO EX-SLAVE,WHO TOOK BIG PART IN CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION IN 1868.
Bevelina Pearson, 1326 Park Street, Columbia, S. C., is a granddaughter of Beverly Nash, Negro, freed from slavery in 1865, who took a leading part in the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868. It was Nash who moved that "All clear lands, not cultivated, shall be taxed at a higher ratio than cultivated lands, for the benefit of free public schools". This germ is now the backbone of the Single Tax theory in the United States.
Bevelina Pearson here picks up the story, telling something of reconstruction days in South Carolina in which the tradition of the Nash family made the transition from slavery to freedom with credit and rapidity. "I am", she says, "the daughter of Charles Thompson and Doreas Nash Thompson. My mother was Doreas Nash, daughter of Beverly Nash, and she named me for him, when I came along. I was born in the house at 1105 Laurel Street, now the manse of the Arsenal Hill Presbyterian Church. It was owned by my grandfather and he resided there for several years, while he was in public life.
"Beverly Nash was a journeyman barber in Columbia during the years of slavery. All the barber shops in Columbia were owned, at that time, by Negroes who had gained their freedom, one way or another. Slaves were not allowed to own property. He learned to read and write before 1865, because he was in favor with both white and black folks practically all his life, so my mother tells me. She said he read, wrote or ciphered, for two hours or more, every night in the week. That is why, when he was set free in 1865, he was able to take an efficient hand in politics. He was elected to the South Carolina Senate, from Richland County, and he fought for educational and other welfare measures.
"In 1868 he was elected a delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention. Mother said he was very proud of that victory at the polls, because many white folks voted for him. In that race he had two opponents. One was a white man and the other a Negro. He caused many laughs by saying: 'My colored opponent says my white opponent is a carpetbagger. I don't know what a carpetbagger is. My white opponent says my colored opponent is a shyster. I don't know what a shyster is. But I fully believe they both tell the truth.'
"Grandfather was speaking in the convention, one day, and closed his remarks with: 'I stand at Amrageddon and I battle for the Lord!' As the applause died down, one of the Negro delegates asked him: 'How many did you kill, Senator?' 'Well,' said he, 'I killed as many of them as they did of me!' All of his witty sayings were innocent and clean. I have kept these clippings from the 'Columbia Telephone', which was the daily paper printed here at that time. Mother handed down the scrapbook to me.
"My grandfather was popular all his life. Mother said he would frequently come home to meals, accompanied by five, six, or more friends he had invited up the hill to dine with him. But he prospered, despite the expense, for he kept busy. Somebody in one of his campaigns twitted him about being a barber. He smiled and bowed, saying in reply: 'I am proud that I am a fairly good barber. The
Savior of the world, was a carpenter!' And mother's scrapbook, throughout, discloses to me, that the reason of my grandfather's success in life, was that he was clean-minded and loved his fellow man and his Savior.
My mother said Grandfather Nash was one of the two Negro delegates to the constitutional convention who could show State and County tax receipts. This, added to his natural ability and industry, she said, accounted for his friendships in the community. He never participated in drinking bouts, and he was deferential to old people of both races and to white friends wherever he met them.
"In one of his speeches in the State Senate, he was blusteringly interrupted by one of the white senators about the record that the Negro majority was making for extravagance. 'Well,' he replied, 'what could you expect of the Negroes, suddenly transformed from bonded slavery to legislation? They are not perfect here, of course. How could they be, when only a year or two ago, they were not allowed books, nor a chance to learn what is in the books.'
"Grandfather had several children, but they died young. My mother inherited the home at 1105 Laurel Street and other property. She sold the home several years ago and it was used as the manse of the Presbyterian Church, next door. She also inherited grandfather's views on education and she, like him, practiced what she preached. She sent me through high school in Columbia. Then she sent me to Claflin University at Orangeburg, S. C., where I was graduated in due time.
"For several semesters I taught school in Columbia. Then I married Henry D. Pearson, who is now a mail carrier at the Columbia post office. It is a comfort to me to know that I belong to a family that did its best for Columbia, over a long term of years. And I was tickled, too, to note the overwhelming Negro vote cast for President Roosevelt in 1936. That vote shows that Negroes are quick to recognize their friends."
(Pinnacle, Rev. Aaron, Murrells Inlet, S.C., Georgetown County, Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler)
